Category: Media

By SCOTT LAMBERT// Weeks ago, lawyers for Jeffrey Sterling asked appeals courts to send his case back to the district court so his espionage trial could begin. As this happened, the press heated up its coverage of the coming trial and the future of both Sterling and reporter James Risen.

For the last couple of years reporters have concentrated on Risen’s refusal to disclose the source of his book chapter about a failed CIA plot directed at Iran. Stories are now starting to question the actual case against Sterling, who is accused by the government of providing the information to Risen.

What is surprising is that conservative pundits are defending President Obama for the espionage prosecution, while liberal pundits are criticizing him.

By SARAH GARDNER// It’s a cliché that journalists, whose lives are based on storytelling and presenting news and information, are not good at communicating with one another.

On a small scale, as in a daily newsroom, or on a larger scale, as in a national organization, that weakness is evident. On Sept. 11 and 12, 22 executive board members, region chairs and student chapter representatives from the National Press Photographers Association met in St. Paul, Minn. The goal was to bridge the gap between the national organization and its members, and rejuvenate its members — professionals and students alike.

By SCOTT LAMBERT// It’s amazing to see how a single video of a man punching a woman in the face can change everyone’s perspective.

Months ago, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was suspended for two games for punching his now wife, Janay Palmer, after a video showed up of Rice dragging her out of an elevator.

Some media members complained then about the NFL’s leniency toward physically abusing your future wife. But, the NFL rode out the storm, claiming that the police did little about the case, so why should they?

By GEORGE SALAMON// There it was, a story about what President Obama had called “the defining challenge of our time,” income inequality, or how the rich have been getting and keep getting richer and the poor have been getting and keep getting poorer.
The story in the September 5 New York Times, “Least Affluent Families’ Incomes Are Declining, Fed Survey Shows,” did not make it to Page 1 of the NYT news section. Instead, it landed on page 2 of the paper’s Business Today. What’s going on here?

By SETH RICHARDSON// Journalism has two cardinal sins: don’t lie and don’t steal.

Lying has generally been considered the worse of the two. Janet Cooke, Jayson Blair, Jack Kelley and Stephen Glass know the repercussions all too well. Each one was caught lying and completely blacklisted from the industry.

But this doesn’t seem to be the case with plagiarism.

The most recent example is BuzzFeed Political Editor Benny Johnson. Johnson was caught plagiarizing no fewer than 41 times. In one of his more popular pieces “How Well Do You Know Basic U.S. Politics,” Johnson even stole Wikipedia of all places.