Category Archives: news

Is it time to consider new standards for news?

Posted on April 20, 2012 by

Investigate. Verify. Publish. Journalism used to seem so much simpler. As a graduate student at the University of Missouri in the mid-1970s, I memorized the somewhat lofty language of the Hutchins Commission, which in 1947 urged American journalists to “provide a … Continue reading →

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In Trayvon Martin case, news media need to examine their own role

Posted on April 3, 2012 by

Last spring, the Association of News Editors (ASNE) announced that the percentage of minority news employees at American newspapers and news websites had declined for the third consecutive year, even as the overall percentage of non-white Americans continued to rise rapidly. It … Continue reading →

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Why do 99 percent of journalists cover 1 percent of the news?

Posted on January 30, 2012 by

In 2006, Columbia University professor and New York Times columnist Samuel Freedman published “letters to a young journalist,” an inspirational entreaty that among other things calls on would-be reporters to “accept the burden of independent thought.” It is as if … Continue reading →

Posted in Brewer, news, news and speed, news media, newspapers, Obama, tarmac dust-up, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Are journalists supposed to look for the truth?

Posted on January 13, 2012 by

It’s bad enough that so much 24-7 cable television deteriorates into an unfinished food fight between Tweedledee and Tweedledum, typically moderated by a “journalist” lacking the interest or will to  figure out whose facts are right.  But when the public … Continue reading →

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The words used in news can report — or distort: Part II

Posted on October 15, 2011 by

The lead headline in at washingtonpost.com this afternoon reads: “‘Occupy’ demonstrations turn violent, go global.” To me that implies that the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States turned violent today.  From what I read, it did not. The … Continue reading →

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Why newspapers still matter

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

Like many of you, I suspect, I spend an inordinate amount of time scrolling the news online. These days, as I wait to have a cataract removed from my right eye, the computer comes in particularly handy: I can bump … Continue reading →

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