PressEthic

There’s room for everyone in New York right… even the Mets?

In a 6 October 2006 LA Times Opinion Page column, Kirk O. Hanson, Executive Director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, and Jerry Ceppos, former Vice President/News of Knight Ridder and former Executive Editor of the San Jose Mercury News, present four easy steps for evaluating the ethical pros and cons of leaking. But are journalistic ethics really so simple?

It has been one week since tragedy struck the small Amish community of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. Americans are still engulfed by the story of the schoolhouse massacre and remain inundated with constant updates on each detail of that loathsome morning, paining to make sense of the horrible events.

Yet it may be a week still until the topic is covered in the Amish newspaper, if the community chooses to address the horrific day at all.

When journalists are murdered as a result of their work, as is the case of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, it is tragic on a human level and a professional level. And with the internet, it sure is hard to keep it quiet.

perspective

Let's all just take a deep breath and admit that not everyone has to sound the same.

CNN's new Events Division (a recent addition to the Advertising Sales Department) will now offer sponsorship opportunities for "panels, conferences and meetings on newsmaking and newsworthy subjects," which will feature CNN's reporters and anchors serving as speakers and moderators. But not to worry -- the network asserts that conflicts of interest won't be an issue.

Although I have managed to avoid a large chunk of the reality TV phenomenon, MTV’s ‘True Life’ has long had a strangely addicting effect on me. Perhaps it’s the fact that the series does not require a weekly viewing—each episode presents an entirely new set of characters with entirely new dilemmas—but whether it deals with plastic surgery or Star Wars-obsessed fathers, the documentary-based show is generally impossible for me to turn off. ‘True Life’ has ideally catered to both my primitive voyeurism and my journalistic interest. Yet, I haven’t always admitted my admiration—after all, MTV is often associated with easily digestible pop culture rather than serious reporting (never mind that its news team has indisputably made a noteworthy contribution to educating young people about issues like the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina).

Joe Maguire, an editor in charge of markets at Reuters, wrote a new book titled, “Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter.” According to an article printed in the New York Times on October 9, Maguire lost his job last Wednesday, the day after handing over the galleys of his book to his superiors at Reuters.

As I glanced through the paper this morning, it took me a second to realize that the ad on page A7 was actually an ad. The second glance made it clear, but it got me thinking. The separation between the editorial and advertising functions of the New York Times are clear, but how far should media go to question the ads they receive.

In Iraq, freedom of speech would appear to be nonexistent these days. An editorial in the New York Times said that laws in Iraq now forbid anyone from insulting the government. These journalists most certainly cannot carry out their duty as government watchdogs.

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

Believe it: They said the same thing about VCRs wiping out TV news, apparently.

So we all need to find other jobs--fast.

Congress passed a border wall. Is President Bush going to pocket-veto it? The press doesn't seem to be wondering... but Mickey Kaus is.