Submitted by Bob Burton on
In early June George W. Bush announced he was nominating sitcom producer, Warren Bell, to the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The corporation funds public radio and television programming.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Dell recently hired the GCI Group to help the computer company with a PR campaign titled "Rebuilding Corporate Reputation Through Grassroots Efforts" — a fancy way of saying they are trying to repair the company's reputation for poor customer service.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Reflecting on his 50 years of reporting Washington politics, Washington Post journalist, Walter Pincus, notes that media coverage has "become dominated by increasingly sophisticated public relations practitioners, primarily in the White House and other agencies of government." Writing in an edition of the Nieman Reports on the theme of "journalistic courage", Pincus argues that "journalistic courage should include the refusal to publish in a newspaper or carry on a TV or radio news show any state
Submitted by John Stauber on
It is nice to see that The Clarion Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi, added a link to the SourceWatch page on the Atlas Economic Research Foundation.
As conditions in Iraq continue to deteriorate, supporters of the war are casting around for someone to blame, and journalists are becoming an increasingly popular scapegoat — an ironic turn of events, since the mainstream media's uncritical support for the war helped get us into this mess in the first place.
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
"Adult shopping decisions might be affected by a sociological change called 'age compression'--the idea that kids may be getting older younger and demanding adult products," reports Andrea Canning. By ABC's count, kids are demanding cell phones, iPods, and may even want Japan's nonalcoholic "Kids'Beer." The story twice quotes Paul Kurnit, president of KidsShop Youth Marketing Company: "There is focus on a more savvy, more informed, more inclusive kid today," he notes.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
In an interview with Foreign Policy, former Newsweek Baghdad bureau chief Rod Nordland said the situation in Iraq is "a lot worse ... than is reported. The administration does a great job of managing the news." He added, "The military has started censored many [embedded reporting] arrangements. Before a journalist is allowed to go on an embed now, [the military] check[s] the work you have done previously.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Media today is so cynical that you have to come out and say that shilling without disclosure is a bad idea," writes BusinessWeek's Jon Fine. Fine reports on product placement on web logs or blogs. Ted Murphy of the Tampa, Florida ad agency MindComet launched the BlogStar Network in 2004, which paid $5 to $10 per post. He said "a couple thousand" bloggers had cashed in, via the network.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Seven reporters and editors have left the Santa Barbara News-Press, saying owner Wendy McCaw and interim publisher Travis Armstrong "had censored or killed news stories over editors' objections." On July 6, Armstrong "escorted the newspaper's editor, Jerry Roberts, out of the News-Press offices" while other employees "shouted obscenities at Armstrong." The departing staff say "standard journalistic ethics" were violated by such incidents as McCaw killing a story on Armstrong's recent drunk driving sentence.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
"Next time you see an 'exclusive' tag on a story about state politics, stop and have a closer look. The chances are that the story, far from being a feat of journalistic endeavor, is what we call in the trade 'a drop,'" writes Anne Davies in the Sydney Morning Herald. "You'll be able to tell it's a drop because it's likely to quote one side of politics only. This is often a condition of the drop." Drops, especially those in Sunday papers, help politicians influence the week's media agenda.
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