As local television news navigates a rapidly shifting media landscape, industry veterans are sounding the alarm on the mounting challenges that threaten both the business model and the journalistic mission of local stations. “We’re facing two forks in the road,” Jackson, Mississippi-based WJTV News Director Tai …
How do you produce fair and ethical political journalism? Ryan Schmelz is a Capitol Hill reporter for Fox Radio and in this politically divided country, he answers that question by returning to the fundamentals of all good reporting. “I think it's our duty to be fair, …
Effective journalism requires a concrete foundation of ethics for it to succeed and endure. According to Fred Young, former senior vice president for Hearst TV, there are two powerful incentives for ethical journalism: the moral incentive, which concerns decency and honesty, and the practical incentive, …
Chip Somodevilla is a senior staff photographer for Getty Images News based in Washington. Before moving to Washington in 2005, he worked for nine years at daily newspapers, including for the Detroit Free Press and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He was named Michigan Press Photographer …
The U.S. Surgeon General has reported that the likelihood of violence from people with mental illness is low. In fact, “the overall contribution of mental disorders to the total level of violence in society is exceptionally small.” The vast majority of people with mental illness …
The use of alluring headlines, or clickbait, to tempt readers is not new, but a recent study found mainstream media are increasingly active participants in the practice. The research found 33.54 percent of headlines from mainstream media could be considered clickbait, while in unreliable media it’s …
By Dylan M. McLemore, University of Central Arkansas, @voiceofD After the dust from our toxic post-election discourse settled, the talk of traditional and social media turned to “fake news” – a term that has taken on new meaning in recent years, and new prominence in the 2016 …
It was only eight seconds. Eight seconds of silence between a question and answer. But it didn't actually happen that way. And now, the decision to insert an 8-second pause in a documentary about a controversial subject has become a controversy of its own. The director of the …
You already know that Americans have little confidence in what they see, hear or read in the news media. Last year, according to Gallup, trust in media set a new low with just 7% saying they have a great deal of confidence in the news. What’s to be done? A new …
Looking back at the year gone by always gives me some insight into what's most important to you, NewsLab's readers, and you never let me down. You care deeply about doing good work and about the future of the news business. No surprise, then, that …
It was an ego trip. That's the explanation Brian Williams offered in a Today Show interview the morning after NBC News officially demoted him from Nightly News anchor and allowed him to return to the network after a four-month suspension. "I told stories that were not true," …
In what universe is it OK for a prominent journalist to make large contributions to a politically-connected foundation? In the universe of ABC News, apparently. ABC's main anchor, George Stephanopoulos, has acknowledged that he gave $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation over the past three years. He didn't …
