Category Archives: News Media

I have a strange affection for newspaper editors. Not the uncomfortable Michael Jackson kind, or the even weirder Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes kind. And certainly not the kind of “affection” most reporters harbor, the kind that makes you daydream about being Russell Crowe and your editor being a hotel clerk. I understand editors. TheyContinue reading ““Alicia’s Story” Bridges the Divide Between Traditional and “New” New Journalism”

PBS’ NewsHour broadcast a definitive story about the future of news. It covers the gamut: Mainstream newspapers producing online video and other enhanced “on the go” content; citizen journalism; blogs and RSS; and mobile phones and other technologies that speak to today’s “what I want, where I want and how I want it” news consumersContinue reading “PBS Story on Modern News Media Trends Hits the Mark”

So now we know Mark Felt, a former No. 2 man at the FBI, was infamous Watergate informant Deep Throat. His was the voice that launched 1,000 journalism careers and helped bring down the Nixon White House. He also is indirectly responsible for Washington Post reporter Bob Woodard’s novel-writing career, but we shouldn’t hold thatContinue reading “Deep Throat Mark Felt Has Sense for Journalism History – and Irony”

Allan Jenkins posted a recent survey by the University of Connecticut that, on the surface, says nearly 1 in 4 Americans favor government censorship of the press. What the survey really says, however, is that 1 in 4 Americans are fear-absorbed, mush-minded, neo-con sycophants. Okay, that was an overstatement — I apologize. I didn’t meanContinue reading “Press Censorship Benefits the Censors, Not the Public”

Unnamed sources are part of the news business. Without unnamed sources there would have been no Watergate, no Iran-Contra scandal, and no knowledge of Renee Zellweger’s marriage or Britney’s baby. And without unnamed sources there would not have been the recent Newsweek story about U.S. soldiers desecrating copies of the Quran at Guantanamo Bay. ThereContinue reading “Newsweek and Unnamed Sources – With Deaths They Should Part”

Arianna Huffington kicked my ass in 1992. This wasn’t the first time I got taken down a Dixville Notch by a woman in politics; U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein and I went a few rounds a couple years before on the death penalty, and while I snuck in a few good punches, in the end sheContinue reading “Arianna Huffington Takes on the Web, No Holds Blogged”

It’s been a good week for BusinessWeek, which is how I assume the publication measures success – after all, it’s not called BusinessMonth, BusinessQuarterly or BusinessFortnight. Personally, I think there should be a NoneOfYourBusinessWeek, containing news that no one cares about or written in that secret language only twins understand. Actually, that publication is calledContinue reading ““Citizen Journalist” Bloggers Must Practice What They Preach”

I respect the hell out of James Wolcott and the dozens of other journalists and writers who are protesting Jeff Gannon’s appearance at an upcoming National Press Club forum. Gannon, also known as Jeff Guckert, is the conservative stooge and former male escort who got a White House press pass to “report” for his TalonContinue reading “What is Journalism? Don’t Ask the National Press Club”

“Big” journalism has its problems, from decreasing newspaper circulation and credibility issues to competition from citizen reporters. But the last thing news organizations should have to deal with is keeping its reporters out of jail for the offense of doing their jobs. I’ve followed the “Plame Affair” off and on since it began two yearsContinue reading “Robert Novak Must Face His Day in Court”