PressEthic

Richard Lugar (R-Ind) is co-sponsoring a bill aiming to protect journalists' right to keep confidential sources anonymous. But, while promoting the bill, he has aroused the blogosphere, saying that bloggers will 'probably not' be protected if the law should pass.

NYT Columnist John Tierney channels Bernard Goldberg and pens an Op-Ed piece bemoaning liberal bias, especially in J-schools like our very own.

The New York Daily News recently used an undercover reporter to test police vigilance in city's subways amid warnings of a highly specific threat involving the detonation of bombs in baby strollers. After three hours of subway riding with a baby carriage, the reporter claims to have received nary a second glance by the police. Was the undercover reporting honest and ethical? Perhaps not. But are New Yorkers better off knowing that the city's police force wasn't doing its job? Yes.

Advertising has successfully infiltrated every medium in the U.S., blurring the line between paid content and editorial. But, as yet another recent clumsy attempt shows, their errors in trying to co-opt the blogosphere have been more glaring than any success. Are blogs advertising-proof?

A new piece in the New Yorker has me contemplating the wisdom of attending Journalism School in this treacherous, bottom-line-driven environment. Profits certainly matter; this is, after all, the United States. But must they trump everything, including newspapers' ability to produce groundbreaking reporting? At the LA Times, one of the top newspapers in the country, the answer appears to be "yes."

Conservative pundit and former drug czar of the George H. W. Bush administration recently got himself in some hot water due to some outrageous comments he made on his radio program about race and abortion. Yet, if anyone took the time to look at the context of his remarks, they'd see he was being neither racist nor pro-abortion; he was simply making a rhetorical point. Still, most news reports led with the comment and buried the context, prompting calls for Bennett's resignation and enraged Op-Ed columns across the country. Where's the responsibility of the media?

With the near-ubiquity of the Internet, are libel laws unnecessary? Media pundits Jeff Jarvis and Susan Crawford think so. But wouldn't killing libel laws tacitly support irresponsible journalism?

The AP just released a news service specifically tailored to the whims of the 18-34 year old demographic. Is this the future of journalism?

Blogs are future! Blogs will revolutionize the way we consume news! Blogs will make newspapers obsolete! The sky is falling! How am I going to get a job! Or not. Let's all log out of BlogSpot, catch out breath and look at the 'Blog Revolution' with a clear head -- at this point, they simply don't exist without traditional media.

The FBI, at Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's behest, is hiring eight agents to combat "manufacturers and purveyors" of pornography. Not only that, but the initiative is being described as "one of the top priorities" of the Attorney General and FBI Director Robert Mueller III. No, this is not a joke.

According to Wired, CNN is experimenting with a program hosted by Wolf Blitzer called "The Situation Room," which aims to present the news as, "Your world raw, unfiltered and live.' CNN claims it's evolving with the times. Is it sacrificing the truth to keep up with the ADD generation?

The news media have gotten much positive press for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina, and deservedly so. But Anderson Cooper and Brian Williams finally holding our leaders accountable doesn't excuse shabby reporting, such as the news that raping and killing were widespread. David Carr of the Times corrects the record, but will it do much good when the perception of over-the-top chaos and lawlessness is already solidified in the minds of most Americans?

The Internet portal Yahoo! played a large part in the jailing of a Chinese journalist, giving the Chinese government key information to track him down upon request. Yahoo! says they were just following local laws. Does Yahoo! have any responsibility to uphold American ideals while doing business overseas? Or is its lone responsibility to shareholders?

What goes up must come down. It's true of gravity, and it goes double for the media. It looks like Anderson Cooper's honeymoon period is over.

If you're like the many Americans who start their day with a cup of coffee and a perusal of the New York Times' Op Ed page, you're in for a surprise next week. As of Monday, September 19th, "The Paper of Record" is introducing TimesSelect, which will be require a $49.95 deposit for online access to various functions of the Times, including the Op-Ed pages where such popular columnists as Maureen Dowd, Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman, and David Brooks practice their craft.