2003 in Review

By: E&P Staff The Road to Baghdad: In the run-up to the attack on Iraq, the press fails to adequately explore the facts behind Bush administration claims on the existence of weapons of mass destruction and alleged Saddam Hussein links to 9/1l.

Embed, Baath and Beyond: More than 600 reporters join the Pentagon's embedded reporter program, resulting in many remarkable stories and photographs from the front lines -- but also debate over whether embedded also means indebted.

Blair Watch: Reporter turned serial fabricator Jayson Blair throws The New York Times into an uproar -- leading to departures of top editors Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd, the sudden promotion of Bill Keller to executive editor, and the arrival of the paper's first ombudsman Daniel Okrent.

Write and Wrong: The Blair scandal and other controversies, ranging from dozens of episodes of plagiarism to a sportswriter covering a baseball game over the tube, force newspapers to examine a wide range of ethical policies -- and, in many cases, come up with new safeguards.

Youth must be served: With circulation still in a funk, dozens of newspapers launch youth-oriented dailies or weekly sections, while more free commuter-oriented "metro" papers also appear in major cities.

Blah, blah, Blogs: Probably the most hyped online development in 2003 (along with growth in site registration), but will these self-important online journals actually change the way newspapers do journalism on the Web?

FCC You Later: After months of high hopes and wide protest -- poorly explained by the media -- the FCC attempts to change cross-ownership rules, only to see its efforts bogged down in the courts.

The Plame Game: Another media controversy is set off when columnist Robert Novak, with the help of a White House leak, breaks the CIA cover of Valerie Plame, wife of ambassador and Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson, allegedly after an administration source tells other reporters that she is "fair game."

Fight for Freedom: Much-anticipated sale of Freedom Communications Inc.'s 28 newspapers ends in anticlimax as board spurns big chains such as Gannett and MediaNews and decides to work with private equity firms instead.

Groping for the Truth: The Los Angeles Times, in the week before a special election, unveils stories from more than a dozen women alleging that candidate for governor Arnold Schwarzenegger groped or otherwise sexually mishandled them, setting off wide debate on whether the paper was out to terminate the action hero -- and, in any case, whether "late hits" in an election campaign are proper.

Paint it Black: Amid a scandal involving CEO Conrad Black (who steps down), Hollinger International puts its U.S. newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times, up for sale.

Lynching Party: Coverage of the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq by The Washington Post and other newspapers exaggerates the story so wildly that even Lynch ultimately denounces it.

Rocking This Joint: Frank Blethen makes good on his threat to try to end the joint operating agreement (JOA) between his Times and Hearst's Post-Intelligencer in Seattle, but after a heated court battle a judge throws up a temporary roadblock.

Meet the New Goss: Press manufacturer Goss International began the year by settling its lawsuit against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the competitor that sparked Goss' original dumping petitions in 1995, and ended the year by winning its suit against TKS, the suit's only remaining defendant.

Candid Comics: The increased use of candid words (e.g. "sucks") and topics (e.g. masturbation) in comics as some cartoonists try to address matters other part of newspapers and other media address.

Broadband Plays On: Many more consumers have it, so many more news Web sites offer more multimedia.