Media

Silence over reporter’s advocacy journalism is deafening

The press doesn’t cover nuance very well, especially when it is covering itself – or when a reporter is more of an advocate than an impartial observer. The recent NSA stories and those about leaks of top-secret information are good examples. Both are important stories raising serious questions about the right balance between liberty and security. But the failure to provide nuanced, balanced information has left Americans with a distorted idea of what is at stake.

Media

Spooks and suits united: Bedfellows for country and bottom line

Richard Nixon once said, “When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.” Not many fellow Americans bought into his claim. What U.S. intelligence agencies (the NSA, CIA and FBI) are doing together with a huge number of American companies is perfectly legal, but some Americans are troubled by how they’re doing it.

Media

Beef products legal team keeping busy

Beef Products Inc., makers of the infamous lean finely textured beef, a.k.a. “pink slime,” is keeping its legal team hard at work. The South Dakota-based ground beef processor made the news recently because of two separate settlements, as well as a ruling in a major defamation suit. A U.S. District Court judge ruled June 12 that BPI’s $1.2 billion defamation lawsuit against ABC News and others should be moved back to state court, where the suit initially was filed last September.

Media

Media fail to cover discrimination in USDA programs

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $1.25 billion settlement in the discrimination lawsuit by African-American agriculture producers. The case, commonly known as Pigford I or II, represents the largest civil rights settlement in the history of the United States. Yet very few media outlets provided original or continued coverage of the case. The two media outlets that most frequently gave the settlement attention were National Public Radio and the Washington Post. Both are based in the D.C. area and are known for covering the national political scene. The Associated Press had a handful of articles and briefs related to the case. The NPR reports and AP articles then were recycled through media outlets across the United States. Granted, limited attention is better than no attention – but why, in a region in which agriculture is a leading industry, did we not see more original reporting by Midwest media?

Media

Subtle but distinct differences in Pendleton shooting coverage

Before the nation heard of Hadiya Pendleton, the grim realities of Chicago’s gun violence had been largely overlooked by United States media outlets. Not anymore. The 15-year-old’s tragic shooting death in Chicago Jan. 29 highlighted the impact gangs and gun violence have had on the nation’s third-largest city. News coverage revealed that Pendleton, a high school honors student and majorette, had performed with her school’s band in the parade at President Obama’s inauguration just a week earlier. With that angle, the story immediately gained prominence over other similar incidents involving innocent teens being caught in gang members’ crosshairs.