PressEthic

Steve Lyons, baseball analyst for Fox Sports, was fired after making allegedly racially-charged comments Friday during game 3 of the ALCS. Evidently these remarks weren't the first offensive comments he has made on the air, though they would be the last.

When studies are released and the authors claim a trend based on the results it is incumbent upon the writer to research and find out if the claims hold water.

Last night a young woman asked me what I did for a living. When I replied that I was studying journalism, she practically sneered at me. Sure, the field encompasses the celebrity-stalking paparazzi and tabloid writers. On the other hand, there are reporters risking their lives around the world to get the story.

A media columnist explains why newspapers are afraid to admit it when they botch coverage.

As News Corporation shareholders prepare to vote on whether or not to maintain the anti-takeover "poison pill" this Friday, I am reminded what a ridiculous situation a large section of international media is in.

Writing books criticizing the Bush administration's approaches to Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and 9/11 seems to be what journalists are doing these days to keep busy, as if deadlines aren't enough. While Bob Woodward's book was number one on the AP's list of USA Today's top sellers, New York Times reporter Frank Rich's new book, "The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina" was number 48. Hopefully, Rich's appearance on Oprah yesterday will boost sales. If not, it certainly made for an interesting conversation about media and the Bush administration.

The Democratic candidate challenging Governor Schwarzenegger, Phil Angelides, claims he should receive equal time to appear on Jay Leno’s popular show claiming Leno gave the incumbent a “leg up” with late night viewers.

Insidious politics corrupt a profile story

An African child becomes an orphan every minute or so in Africa- what about all those children? Unfortunately, most of them will remain orphans or die due to diseases, starvation, etc... Madonna and Jolie are at least doing something to help and maybe it will spark an interest for our government to do something.

I recently read an article published in the "am New York" that discussed President Bush calling Foley's "acts disgusting" that I found really interesting. The coverage of this scandal is being approached from the angle that no one really new that these types of activities were going on with Foley and congressional pages. The media is almost portraying the account like its something that representatives in the House wasn't fully aware of, when in fact, I'm sure the topic was one that had been whispered and gossiped about for quite some time now. According to the article, Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, said he first learned of the approaches in late September.

Journalists have scored a victory in the passing of a British law that will allow the publication of allegations about public figures if their reporting is in serious public interest.

At its best, the law will allow members of the press the freedom to conduct investigative journalism without the fear of being sued; at its worst, it could further encourage the publication of gossip for the sake of gaining the attention of the public.

The New York Times reported today:

“The ruling, a unanimous judgment by the Law Lords, is a huge shift in British law and significantly improves journalists’ chances of winning libel cases in a court system that until now has been stacked against them.

In a column posted yesterday on the Harper’s magazine website, writer Ken Silverstein defended his publications decision not to run the news of the Mark Foley scandal months ago. He argued that because information of the inappropriate emails Foley sent to a young page was made available to media outlets months ago, there is little weight to the conservatives claim that the scandal was over-hyped and well-calculated by Democrats and, of course, the so-called liberal media.

With the possibility of a change in leadership in Congress, media coverage has also delved into the unassuming candidates, those potentially seeking a run at the White House in two years and the ongoing drama inside the beltway.

When the story broke about Cory Lidle's plane crashing into an upper east side high rise treatment seemed to cover the appropriate issues - memories of 9/11, response time of emergency personnel and the specifics of the plane crash and its occupants - but there are other questions germane to a plane crash in Manhattan.

Breaking news ups network ratings – that’s obvious. But what happens when there isn’t any news to break, when competition is tough and when ratings are falling? According to a study presented in 2005 by Andrea Miller and Lesa Hatley-Major from Louisiana State University, it just becomes a matter of definition.