Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich recently wrapped up a two-day media blitz of national media, chatting with just about anyone with a mic and national airtime, from Larry King to the panel on “The View.”
‘Blago’ was a soundbyte machine during his two-day media blitz. He plead his case to any and all who wanted to [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘journalism ideals’
December 31, 2008
Top 10 media blunders of 2008
Blunders are generally funny – but newsroom ’stratergy’ is the only explination for these ridiculous media missteps that made Politico.com’s list of ‘Top media blunders of 2008.’
For my money, the NY Time’s McCain-Iseman story is the winner of the year. It was weighed down by more innuendo than buoyed by fact, the article was an ill-advised and unsubstantiated [...]
June 30, 2008
Incredible and Unbelievable
Here’s a story y’all may or may not believe …
So a woman developed a little bit of an itch on the top of her head. Eventually, the itch got progressively worse and worse. Somewhere along the line, she starts itching her head during her sleep – and one fateful night she actually managed to scratch [...]
May 1, 2008
Loud Silence
Almost a week and a half ago, the New York Times published a damning article regarding the major TV networks and their military analysts. Reporter David Barstow’s original article was published on April 20.
This was no softball indictment of military analysts – many who are, according to Barstow’s article, are just mouthpieces for the White House, [...]
March 13, 2008
Becoming a part of the solution …
Journalists, take heart: Continue to fight the good fight.
Be a voice of dissent. If a reporter’s conduct or practices do not sit well with your journalistic integrity, then follow what your gut tells you is inherently wrong.
Challenge old methods. Reconcile the age-old journalistic principles with changing times.
Don’t allow newsroom ‘groupthink’ quash what you firmly believe [...]
February 22, 2008
Was the McCain-lobbist story ‘fit to print’?
The New York Times recently published an intriguing story, ‘For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk,’ that alleges a romantic relationship developed between the Arizona senator and a telecom lobbyist prior to John McCain’s presidential bid in 2000.
The Times-McCain story is one of a respected legislator who has been accused in a most [...]
February 20, 2008
Fidel Castro: Cuban President … Dictator?
The Miami Herald’s ombudsman has written a piece that notes how rarely the Herald refers to Castro as a ‘dictator’ as opposed to a ‘president’ or ‘leader.’
Apparently the Herald has taken some heat for being ‘naive and soft’ on the Cuban leader who recently announced he will not accept a new term as President. The [...]
January 31, 2008
Denver editors to reporters: Please don’t caucus
Colorado will be one of more than 20 taking part in ‘Super Tuesday’ this year – the closest thing the U.S. has to a national primary election. And if Denver-area newspaper management has its way, then NONE of their reporters will be taking part in what could be the most pivotal ‘Super Tuesdays’ in recent memory [...]
January 28, 2008
Does the suspect have a name?
Naming suspects.
It’s a dicey game.
Some brutal crime occurs somewhere in the city. A person (or persons) is found dead. Police had few leads and witnesses can only give a rough description of the person believed to have committed the aforementioned crime – but that suspect or ‘person of interest’ is nowhere to be found.
Eventually, word gets out of [...]
January 25, 2008
News on the ‘Internets’ is blowing up
A record number of folks got their news from the ‘Internets’ last year.
The Newspaper Association of America has released new numbers that indicate more people are also spending more time reading their news online. This is not shocking – but the numbers are worth looking at …
Online growth maybe the last hope for newspaper [...]
January 25, 2008
Newspaper industry cutbacks widespread
2007 was a rough year for those who work in the newspaper business.
And the first month of 2008 has started out with another wave of layoffs …
Cutbacks are gutting newsrooms across the board. The Chicago Tribune is looking to cut its newsroom by almost 20 percent. The LA Times has canned its third editor [...]
January 20, 2008
The dreaded ‘R’ word: recession
Recession is a big word to throw around.
Analysts say that just the concern of an economic recession is enough of a pressure consumers to pull back on spending and cause investors to hedge their bets. Thus, the worry of an event can become a step toward realizing/causing the dreaded event to become reality.
It bears repeating: [...]
January 19, 2008
Teens: The news is scary, stressful, boring
This just in: teens don’t give a crap about the news (especially of the local flavor), they are easy prey for catchy headlines (regardless of topic relevance) and topical news reminds teens that the world outside suburban developments can be dangerous…
Northwestern University has recently released a new study on the ‘online news experiences of teenagers [...]
