PressEthic

Will Business 2.0's new blogging project, which compensates staff reporters according to their blogs' traffic, encourage reporters to chase sensational stories and engage in less-than-desirable tactics to generate increased hits?

Bill Maher declared his opinion of a prominent GOP leader’s sexual orientation on CNN’s Larry King Live. One may question what is more disturbing, the fact that Maher had no qualms about asserting such information – or the lengths that CNN went to in order to pretend the entire situation never happened?

What would the world be like without the op-ed pages that influence America? Would it be a barren place bereft of political endorsements and criticisms of public policy? In an opinion column -- of all places -- for The Nation, Eric Alterman argues that the press and public would benefit from such a change.

Morgan Stanley wants to restructre the NY Times Co.'s stock ownership.

As I was glued to the news stations on Tuesday night watching election coverage, I detected some liberal bias showing through from many of the stations reporting the results. I wasn't watching Fox News, obviously.

New York Times public editor Byron Calame recently devoted an entire column to the subject of balanced reporting in terms of reporters making fair attempts at getting quotes from both sides of the stories they cover.

It seems as if I get to answer my own questions from of one of last week’s blog entries. Last week I did a blog entry regarding KFC’s new introduction of trans-fat components into its new and approved cooking ingredients. I asked the question if anyone thought that competitors like McDonalds and Burger King would follows KFC’s lead. The answer to the questions seems to be a blatant “No,” according to the Daily News. Although McDonalds has decided to cut the trans-fat out of its food in Europe, however, over here they’ll still be serving the artery-clogging food we’ve grown to love.

A New York Times op-ed piece claims that journalists' biases are rubbing off on one another.

For all those who live in public housing, you could be living next door to one of New York City’s sex fiends. According to an interesting article I read in Sunday’s Daily News, there are more than 200 registered sex offenders living in public housing. When reading this article, I was extremely shocked that the government would allow these felons to live in a place with women and small children. The article even made mention that earlier last week a registered sex offender living in Ravenswood Houses, in Long Island City, Queens, attacked a woman at the complex. I’m thinking this issue has been a failure of the government to keep a close watch on these criminals.

Newspapers are full of advertisements, and while most are of the tame and boring variety, publishers sometimes manage to slip in those that are silly or even embarrassing for the gentle reader.

Journalist Michael Weisskopf was sent to Iraq as an embedded journalist in late 2003. After less than a month on the war front, he lost his hand to a grenade. Waking up at the hospital, he realized that he had become a part of the battle he had merely been attempting to document.

Weisskopf recently documented his experiences in a book titled ‘Blood Brothers,’ and has vocally criticized the concept of embedded journalism.

In an NPR commentary on November 2nd, Weisskopf recounted his experience:

“For 20 days I had patrolled Baghdad with U.S. soldiers. Once I grabbed the grenade, I crossed the line from observer to participant. Now I was being asked to supply battlefield intelligence, a dubious milestone for a reporter engaged in what is called embedding. The Bush administration had invented the concept -- a policy that paid off in almost universally favorable press coverage. No complaints came from reporters who always want unfettered access to whomever they are covering.”

With the news of Rumsfeld's resignation, TIME magazine's online website critically analyzed the Defense Secretary's tenure under George W. Bush, calling it "A Long Overdue Departure"

"Young and In-Charge." These newsroom leaders are almost all under the age of 30.

Another score for the blogs! The Indecider was first to reveal that Rumsfeld would step down.

Just as the healing begins, after weeks of minute-by-minute “breaking” coverage, endless predictions and salacious battles in the midterm elections, television is at it again. The November “sweeps” period is upon us.