PressEthic

We've discussed various papers' positions on Wal-mart and whether or not the corporation receives biased coverage. In today's Times, John Tierney writes a remarkably pro-Walmart op-ed, asking, "Has any organization in the world lifted more people out of poverty than Wal-Mart?"

YouTube's $1.65 billion dollar price tag - and the willingness of Google to lay it down - is yet another indication of a larger shift away from traditional media and towards the online forum.

The U.N. partners with Lonelygirl15 in its latest campaign to fight poverty by appealing to a younger, more web savvy demographic.

The results of a study released today show that The Daily Show coverage is just as substantive as that of network news broadcasts, which seems potentially problematic for Conservatives who were already hot and bothered that so many young people receive their traditional "news" from Stewart's show.

A front page article in the New York Times discusses the current problems with the housing market, as bolstered by Census Bureau data. This issue is not particularly "newsy," yet it indirectly taps into voters' negative feelings about the economy (and thus their tendency to turn on the party in power). With barely a month before mid-term elections, the decision to make this a front-page article is interesting, especially given the frequent accusations of liberal bias that the Times receives.

According to the Boston Globe, bloggers' book sales have been dropping, but publishers continue to pay six figures for works that are often no more than recaps of the blog.

In a three-part series that began its run today, the New York Times published the findings of a year-long investigation into New York State's town and village courts. These findings are horrifying, but the article is inspiring as a reminder of the tremendous good that journalists can do.

Has the Times undergone a series of changes in an attempt to increase readership and appeal to a broader demographic or is it simply a stylistic decision that will more explicitly differentiate between "objective" and "subjective" news?

Despite recent news that Time Inc. is selling off many of its niche publications and the constant reminder that we are entering "a dying craft," Ben Goldhirsh is starting a new magazine that aims to "stimulate the culture of good by creating dialogue around things that matter."

In a recent New York Times article, columnist Frank Rich uses a 9/11 photograph to bolster his argument that Americans "have moved on, but no one can argue that we have moved ahead." The photograph significantly assisted Rich in making his point, however, the assumptions that he (and the photographer) made about the subjects are completely inaccurate, as highlighted by Slate.com.

When creating a work of fiction based on actual events, how far is too far to stretch the truth? ABC's upcoming mini-series on the events leading up to 9/11 incites a wave of furor from bloggers, liberal groups and former government officials who accuse the network of dramatically fictionalizing (and falsifying) the events.