The National Enquirer's story about what it calls "the Al Gore sex scandal" is a fascinating case study in journalism. Whatever you think about the newsworthiness of an updated police report about an incident that allegedly occurred four years ago and that police refused to investigate, …
Memo to television networks: Sunlight is the best disinfectant. A little transparency could have saved you from a lot of embarrassment and might have avoided more damage to the already shaky credibility of TV news. Take the report by ABC's chief investigative correspondent, Brian Ross, on …
People who have lost relatives or friends in a disaster are often the first target of journalists seeking to report on the event. How can journalists do their job of covering breaking news and informing the public, while showing sensitivity to victims? Sue Carter and Bonnie …
The more I read about how non-profit funding is going to save journalism, the more I wonder about the cost. As grant-supported news operations like Pro Publica and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Reporting proliferate, they're not just changing journalism's business model but also raising …
Sometimes the best way to make a point is to mock the point--at least that's Stephen Colbert's philosophy. Take the decision by ABC News to add fact-checking to its Sunday talk show, "This Week." The program announced earlier this month that it's hired the team from …
It's a common problem for websites large and small: How to keep user comments from turning into a sewer. Most news organizations use software to automatically filter out comments that include specific words, such as obscenities and ethnic or racial slurs. Some have learned the …
Exclusive! the headline screamed: "U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts considering stepping down." The story was posted around mid-day last Thursday on the gossip site Radar Online, owned by the National Enquirer. It said Roberts might step aside for personal reasons and could announce …
According to a new study, the vast majority of American companies--almost 70 percent--have no "formal policy regarding employee use of social networking sites." The number could be even higher among news organizations, says KOMU-TV news director Stacey Woelfel, given how loath newsrooms are to put …
Reporting with sound isn't just a technical challenge--it can raise ethical issues as well. How do you gather sound in the field and how do you use it? How much editing is okay? Guidelines like the RTDNA ethics code, which warns journalists not to "manipulate sound …
Remember when getting an interview with an elected official wasn't so darned hard? When government employees were actually willing to sit down with reporters to discuss the people's business? These days, says KOMU-TV news director Stacey Woelfel, the flacks have taken over and, what's worse, no …
Today, class, we begin with a pop quiz. Who is Jayson Blair? You know the answer of course, but some journalism students don't. Renee Petrina, who teaches at Ball State University, was shocked to discover that her students had no clue what Blair had …
The runaway balloon that didn't have a six-year-old inside was one of those made for television stories, all right. TV newsrooms didn't know just how manufactured the story apparently was until it was all over. Were they snookered? Sure, along with everyone else. It's easy to …
