Founded as St. Louis Journalism Review in 1970
“Stand up. Speak out.” Those were words of advice from Mary Beth Tinker to more than 600 St. Louis area high school students. Tinker, who was a defendant in the landmark First Amendment case of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, was the keynote speaker at the Sponsors of School Publications of Greater St. Louis Spring Conference at Webster University March 11.
During the past three weeks the New York Times published five remarkable articles about America’s economic divide. Together they paint a devastating picture of a country moving inexorably toward a two-tier society in which the rich will continue to get richer while middle-class and-blue-collar workers cling to a life of stagnant wages and high unemployment. Reader response was heavy, on the whole indicting the government in Washington from the 1990s until now as “profit before people administrations.” But no response seems to be coming from the corridors of power in politics, finance and business.
Let’s face it. Any book with Harry Caray on the cover “behind the mike” is going to attract attention in St. Louis – and maybe north of the Gateway Arch, too. And any book about the history of local broadcasting compiled by Frank Absher, known for developing Media Archives, is going to be well worth a look. Absher has put together an excellent collection of illuminating photos and supplementary material for the “Images of America” series, his second about broadcasting for Arcadia, specializing in visual works, focusing on local history.
Can anyone post anonymous comments to a website that is privately owned but operates publicly? When media companies provide a platform for online comments, usually at the end of news stories, can anonymous ones be barred when they are racist, hateful, vile, disgusting or uncivilized? The answer to both questions is yes. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that anonymous speech is protected by the First Amendment from government interference. But website owners can delete anonymous comments as they see fit. And they generally cannot be held liable for the content of third-party postings. But media companies are trying to identify and curb the small number of so-called online “trolls”’ who seem addicted to attacking anyone – the writers, authority figures and even each other on the same website. These trolls hide behind their anonymity and avoid taking responsibility for what they say.
In celebration of March Madness and the thrill of sports, the Society of Professional Journalists is presenting “March Madness: Covering the Wide World of Sports” for this month’s News at Noon speaker series in St. Louis, which takes place March 14 in the AT&T Room of the Missouri History Museum (co-sponsor of the event), located at 5700 Lindell Boulevard in Forest Park. A panel of veteran sports journalists will share the ins and outs of covering sports, and speakers will reveal how they got the best stories of their careers. The audience will get an insider’s view of the interviews, sports personalities and even behind-the-scenes anecdotes that never made it to print. From the stars of the high school playing fields, to college athletes, to World Series champions, our speakers have worked on the stories that have captivated our region’s sports fans.