Author: William A. Babcock

The will to do better political journalism

Populist philosopher Will Rogers once said, “I’m not a member of any organized political party; I’m a Democrat.” This political season, though, it seems to be Republicans, not Democrats, feeding on their political young. Will’s likely turning in his grave in astonishment. Will also said, “There can be no higher law in journalism than to

Nepotism is nothing new in American politics

Liberals have for decades turned a collective blind eye when brothers Bobby, and especially Ted, so effortlessly fed off John F. Kennedy’s aura and jump-started their own political careers. And does anyone seriously think that “W” would have inhabited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue had papa Bush not been there first? Today’s Republicans seldom mention

Newspapers’ photo-finish sanctions

Newspaper photographs should be accurate. Readers know that. So do photographers, photo editors and managing editors. But what should a news organization do when a photojournalist’s work is less than accurate – or not completely truthful? When the Sacramento (Calif.) Bee discovered earlier this year that Bryan Patrick’s page one nature photo was

Harmony v. Freedom

I’ve either taught journalism or been a journalist for most of the past 40 years. Thus, on hundreds — perhaps thousands — of occasions I’ve chatted with and addressed individuals and groups of students, educators and journalists on how different news organizations, journalists and nations cover stories. Never before now, though, had I

MEDIA CRITICS BITE THE DUST

Just as there are fewer public/civic journalism initiatives and news councils are going the way of the dodo bird, it seems media critics are fewer and farther between these days than at any time in the past few decades. Slate and Poynter have been major players in