America's
Oldest Journal Covering the Newspaper Industry
Friday, November 20, 2009
Snakes on the Plame: Previews of Upcoming Film Based on CIA Leak Case Like everyone who covered extensively the CIA leak case, Judy Miller and the Scooter Libby trial, I am anxiously awaiting, with appropriate skepticism, the pending release of the first Hollywood treatment, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. Director Doug Liman offers a preview, and so does "anonymous."- October 28, 2009
'Boy in Balloon' Captivates Media: Did They Blow the Story? Tragic story or hoax? TV media and the press for hours today covered the saga of a 6-year-old boy who allegedly climbed into a homemade balloon aircraft in Colorado and floated away. Did they hype without verifying?- October 15, 2009
PBS Film Highlights 'L.A. Times' Role in Historic -- And Dirty -- Political Campaign The champion of all dirty races was the 1934 contest for governor of California. Like Barack Obama, Upton Sinclair led a "change" campaign in dire economic times. Like Obama, he was pictured as mysterious interloper. And like Obama, he was labeled a "Socialist." When it was over, the modern political campaign was born, dominated by spin doctors, ad men, attack ads on the screen, and Hollywood antics.- October 06, 2009
One Year Ago: The Media Helped Elect Obama--By Inspiring McCain to Pick Palin It was exactly one year ago this week that there was a true turning point in the 2008 race for the White House. And it had little to do with Barack Obama. One might even say that it boiled down to the media helping to elect him -- but not by supporting him, in the way conservatives often charge.- August 26, 2009
When Robert Novak Backed Giving Up Reporter's Sources Since the late Robert Novak became known for his stout defense of journalists' refusal to reveal sources -- in the wake of his entanglement in the CIA leak case -- it may surprise some to learn that he applied this principle selectively.- August 19, 2009
The Day After Hiroshima: How the Press Reported the News -- And the 'Half-Truths' That Emerged On Aug. 6, 1945, President Harry S. Truman faced the task of telling the press, and the world, that America's crusade against fascism had culminated in exploding a revolutionary new weapon of extraordinary destructive power over a Japanese city. He did not tell the full story.- August 07, 2009
When Walter Cronkite Took a Stand on Vietnam Yes, the JFK assassination and moon landing drew more viewers but this 1968 TV commentary would help save many thousands of lives, U.S. and Vietnamese, perhaps even a million. Here is the transcript -- and the context.- July 17, 2009
Roll Over, Beethoven, and Tell Newspapers the News More than 100,000 turned out for Beethoven in Central Park this week. But was this any place for a former rock 'n' roll editor back in the day when a generation's main exposure to Ludvig Van was via Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange"?- July 16, 2009
Missing from Robert McNamara Obits: When Protester Set Himself on Fire Outside His Window Yesterday I wrote about a young artist's attempt to heave the former Defense chief over the side of a ferry boat. Today: the case of Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker from Baltimore who, in 1965, handed his infant daughter off to a bystander, doused himself with kerosene and set himself ablaze under McNamara's window at the Pentagon.- July 08, 2009
Did the Media Destroy Palin? In fact, going back to right after being picked as a Veep nominee -- and before the media hits started -- Palin never really drew backing except from her "base," and this continues to the present day. - July 06, 2009
Why 'E&P' Went Along With Media Blackout on Kidnapping Remember: when Jill Carroll was kidnapped, the Christian Science Monitor only managed to keep it a secret over a weekend. She was then held for months. Daniel Pearl's kidnapping also emerged fairly quickly -- and we all know how that one ended.- June 23, 2009
Deadly Threats at the Holocaust Museum -- From the Very Beginning: A Firsthand Account My daughter, just out of college, worked at the museum during its start-up, in 1992, through its 1993 opening, and two years after that. She told me long ago, and again last night, about some of the scary threats she and others received just for working there, and the extraordinary security measures (little publicized) they had to take. - June 12, 2009
What the Media Missed in Museum Shooting: The Far-Right Reaction In all of the coverage of the murder at the Holocaust Museum today, much was made of the white supremacist writings of the alleged killer, James Von Brunn. But little appeared on the reaction to the tragic shooting within far-right circles. - June 10, 2009
'NYT' Issues Corrections on Botched Front-Page 'Gitmo' Story -- Then Public Editor Slams It A May 21 piece in The New York Times revealed that a not-yet-released Pentagon report declared that 1 in 7 prisoners released from Gitmo had returned to waging jihad. The paper ran a lengthy correction on Friday--and the public editor, Clark Hoyt (left), weighs in on Sunday.- June 06, 2009
One Year Later: How the Media Responded to Bill Clinton and the 'S' Word It wasn't the biggest scoop of the 2008 campaign, but it produced some rather barbed, funny and unusual commentary. Which news outlets, in this day and age, would quote an ex-president, even on the Web, using the word "scumbag"?- June 02, 2009
North Korea's Bomb -- And Those 'Hiroshima' Headlines It is almost impossible for us to work our will abroad on halting the spread of nuclear weapons given our long track record -- starting with Hiroshima. Yet how we are viewed usually is not reflected at all in comments by American pundits and politicos.- May 26, 2009
Killing of Comrades by 'Stressed Out' Soldier in Iraq: Inevitable? Some of us have warned about this kind of thing happening for years, but many in the media have either ignored the brutal and lasting effects of the war on our soldiers and veterans, or paid attention for just a short while and then moved along.- May 11, 2009
When the Watchdogs Are Asleep, We All Get Robbed In the wake of the financial collapse, I wonder if the remaining (if relatively low) public respect for the press is gone for good. Yes, the delivery platform of the future will change, but the content still has to be credible. And now it must be said: The media blew both of the major catastrophes of our time. - May 05, 2009
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