Journalism

Media Kept From Soldier Funerals

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"The Pentagon took another step in distancing the media from US casualties of war last week with the announcement of new restrictions on funeral coverage at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC)," PR Week's Douglas Quenqua reports. "Any reporter wanting to cover a soldier's funeral at the Virginia cemetery will now be required to stay within a distant, roped-off area. This 'bullpen' is described as an area far enough away from the proceedings that a clergyman or family member's words cannot be clearly heard.

No
Main Source: 
PR Week, November 24, 2003
Topics: 
Journalism
Secrecy
U.S. Government
War / Peace

Putting Things in Perspective

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"A number of explosions tore through the British consulate in Turkey today, killing scores of people. George W. Bush is in England, surrounded on all sides by enraged British citizens whose massive protests have required nearly every police officer in London to be put on the line of defense," writes William Rivers Pitt. "It is 3:16 p.m. on Thursday afternoon as I write this. CNN has been covering, with total exclusivity, a parking lot outside a police station for the last hour. They covered an airplane landing. They covered the same airplane sitting still on the tarmac.

No
Main Source: 
Truthout.org, November 21, 2003
Topics: 
Journalism
Arts / Culture
Terrorism
Ethics

Freedom of the Press in Iraq

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"Freedom of the press is beginning to smell a little rotten in the new Iraq," reports Robert Fisk, listing some of the fatwas that U.S. Proconsul Paul Bremer has issued against Al Jazeera and other Arab media. "Things are no better in the American-run television and radio stations in Baghdad. The 357 journalists working from the Bremer palace grounds have twice gone on strike for more pay and have complained of censorship.

No
Main Source: 
Capitol Times (Madison, WI), November 20, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Journalism
Democracy
Human Rights

The Birth of "Journo-Lobbying"

Submitted by John Stauber on

"James Glassman and TCS have given birth to something quite new in Washington: journo-lobbying. It's an innovation driven primarily by the influence industry. Lobbying firms that once specialized in gaining person-to-person access to key decision-makers have branched out. The new game is to dominate the entire intellectual environment in which officials make policy decisions, which means funding everything from think tanks to issue ads to phony grassroots pressure groups.

No
Main Source: 
Washington Monthly, November 19, 2003
Topics: 
Right Wing
Journalism
Corporations
Ethics
Lobbying

Invited Trespassers

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Georgia Military College officials sent out a news release earlier this week inviting reporters to hear a speech by a helicopter pilot involved in Jessica Lynch's rescue. When they came, however, the college informed them that the pilot, Marine Maj. Craig Kopel, didn't want the news media around. When reporters stayed, hoping to interview and photograph Kopel, the college said they were trespassing and called the police on them.

No
Main Source: 
Macon Telegraph, November 13, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Journalism
Human Rights
Propaganda

Media Blackout on Local Issues

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Local public affairs shows account for less than one half of one percent of all programming on local television stations, according to a study released by the Alliance for Better Campaigns. "Broadcasters have relegated local public-affairs programming to the very bottom of the heap - behind cartoons, kitchenware specials, reruns, courtroom dramas, dating shows and late-night talk shows," reports Jennifer Harper. "The analysis found, for example, that there were three times as many 'Seinfeld' reruns as local public-affairs shows on TV stations nationwide.

No
Main Source: 
http://www.bettercampaigns.org/press/release.php?ReleaseID=50
Topics: 
Journalism

Is Media Bias a Dumb Debate?

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"Denouncing bias in the media has become a dumb instrument. The cases keep coming. The charges keep flying. Often the subject - journalism - disappears," NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen. Rosen poses six questions about the bias question, and two answers. "Liberal spin. Corporate spin. Texas spin. Zionist spin. Republican spin. Hollywood spin. American spin. Anti-American spin. We want it out, out, out. Spin, that's bad," Rosen writes.

No
Main Source: 
PressThink, October 24, 2003
Topics: 
Left Wing
Right Wing
Journalism

Corporate Damage Control Turns Tough

Submitted by John Stauber on

Alicia Mundy writes that "I was about to go live on the
Today show to discuss my book on the fen-phen scandal when the host,
Maria Shriver, leaned forward and very kindly said, 'I'm really sorry
about the way we're doing this interview and the questions I have to
ask. You understand, don't you?' ... It seems that the pharmaceutical company, Wyeth-Ayerst, had been
calling. Wyeth, a major conglomerate, makes Dimetapp and Robitussin, as
well as hormone replacement products and other drugs, and was a huge

No
Main Source: 
Columbia Journalism Review, September/October, 2003
Topics: 
Advertising
Crisis Management
Journalism
Ethics

Reporters Without Borders Blasts U.S., Israel

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has published its second annual world press freedom ranking, criticizing Israel and the United States for unacceptable behavior toward journalists in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Iraq. RSF also criticized Arab countries for cracking down on media freedoms, but said standards were worst in Asia. Its worst ranking went to North Korea, followed by Cuba, which it said is "today the world's biggest prison for journalists."

No
Main Source: 
Reuters, October 20, 2003
Topics: 
Journalism
International
U.S. Government

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