Published continuously since 1970
Between 2005 and 2006, The Spokesman-Review newspaper experienced a firestorm of ethical criticism from its readers and the journalism community. In addition to the normal ethical challenges facing a daily metropolitan newspaper, Editor Steve A. Smith said the paper went through the troubling investigation of Spokane Mayor Jim West on abuse of power charges in 2005 that also involved alleged sexual relationships with young men.
Newspaper and media experts have spent the last couple of decades like navel-gazing philosophers – analyzing, explaining, charting and graphing the decline of old-fashioned journalism.
American citizens find themselves struggling to come to grips with an argument over religion, especially in terms of Islam. A plan to build a mosque near ground zero ignited a conflict that has reached mosques across the country. In Kentucky, mosque issues have occurred across the state. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010309070101 But it’s not just happening in Kentucky. Murfreesboro Tennessee has been in the political spotlight for months because some citizens are protesting plans to build a new mosque on the outskirts of town. The Murfreesboro Daily News-Journal has been covering the issue.
I know a journalist freshly graduated from a midwestern University who, in these times of a somewhat floundering media world, eagerly accepted a position as a reporter at a small five-day weekly paper in Missouri.
A proposed site for a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., was vandalized last week, another case of religious intolerance as the debate over the ground zero mosque continues.
If you’ve ever strapped on shoulder pads and fastened up a helmet, this is a special time. High school football practices are gearing up across the nation and the media is pulling out all the familiar heart-string pulling methods to remind all of us too old to play but young enough to remember this time of year. This year the memories start by listening to country music radio stations.
It amazes me that a country founded on religious freedom has such a hard time embracing that freedom. But how else do you explain the controversy over the New York World Trade Center mosque?
Still no word on the Blagojevich trial. Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich still sits in limbo as the jury decides his fate on corruption charges and the media still has stories to write about the case. It may have quieted somewhat, but those on the beat must find something to write about every day.