FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK | Commenting on comments

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Margaret Reinhardt writes:”Sometimes I think that newspapers have lost their way given the competition with other news sources particularly television. Newspapers have always had something that TV news doesn’t: the opportunity for readers to provide feedback via commentaries, letters to the editors, and op-ed pieces. Along comes online newspapers with a quick way to allow feedback, and publishers are back in the game of attracting readers. Indeed reader comments are popular, but are they the right thing to do?”To me, what is wrong with this picture is that most reader comments are neither news nor newsworthy. They are reactions and opinions and should be treated as such. Continue Reading

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK | Balloon boy’s questions for journalism

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The phony balloon boy story made headlines across the country, and raised questions about how the police and media got taken for a ride by a couple of unprincipled headline-hunters. Just in case you missed it, the story began when a frantic father called the police and media to tell them that his six-year-old son had climbed aboard a flying saucer-shaped helium balloon and drifted away into the sky and ended when the balloon landed, with no child inside, and the boy was found hiding in a garage. A week after the October 15 publicity stunt, the mother admitted it was a hoax. Reuters reported: According to a copy of a search warrant affidavit posted on the website of Fort Collins newspaper “The Coloradoan,” Mayumi told investigators she and her husband lied to authorities and knew their son Falcon was at home as rescue teams tracked the balloon believing the boy was inside.”The motive for the fabricated story was to make the Heene family more marketable for future media interest,” the affidavit states. Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute talked to news director Patti Dennis at KUSA in Denver to find out how and why the newsroom decided to run the story. Continue Reading

Thinking about race, gender and equity

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“I am a recovering chauvinist,” Metric Giles told the group gathered to talk about race and equity. “God blessed me with six daughters. And that brought me to realize that I have privilege as a man. I realize it – but I still have it, because the system still gives it to me. My decision is how to use it and what to do with it.” Continue Reading

Credit where credit is due

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The ongoing debate over fair use ranges AP’s attacks on aggregators to the question of when and how bloggers credit the original sources of stories. A parallel complaint from the blogosphere focuses on how the legacy media pick up stories or ideas from blogs, without giving any credit to the source. Recently, for example, Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab reported: The Post prohibits crediting blogs and other competitors for scoops, according to the reporter, Alex Ginsberg, who noted the zoning violation two weeks after it was reported by the blogger, who calls herself Miss Heather. “Post policy prevented me from crediting you in print,” Ginsberg wrote in a gracious comment on the blog. “Allow me to do so now. Continue Reading

Journalism and professionalism

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Critics of new media often say that bloggers, aggregators, and “new media” generally are parasites on the work of newspapers and other “real” or legacy media. They say that newspapers and legacy media pay for the real reporting work, and then bloggers and aggregators just come along and use it. In all fairness, bloggers are not the only ones who publish less-than-original reporting. As an editor, I see press releases come across my (electronic) desk all day long. Frequently, I see the same press release, with a few words rearranged, appearing as reporting in other local media. Continue Reading

Transparency and reporting

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We regularly publish Doug McGill’s excellent reporting on the local, Minnesota connections to global human rights issues, and just as regularly publish vitriolic attacks that come in the comment section from defenders of repressive regimes. These attacks regularly charge that refugees bearing the scars of torture are liars and that reporters who tell their stories are dupes. On the other hand, comments from victims and family members also pour in, thanking McGill for finally telling their stories. MORE Continue Reading

Transparency and reporting

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We regularly publish Doug McGill’s excellent reporting on the local, Minnesota connections to global human rights issues, and just as regularly publish vitriolic attacks that come in the comment section from defenders of repressive regimes. These attacks regularly charge that refugees bearing the scars of torture are liars and that reporters who tell their stories are dupes. On the other hand, comments from victims and family members also pour in, thanking McGill for finally telling their stories. This week, we published a photo with McGill’s article on Ethiopian human rights abuses in the Ogaden region.  McGill wrote an accompanying sidebar to the main story, acknowledging in the sidebar’s first two sentences that “doubts exist about the provenance” of the photo, which purported to show torture by Ethiopian soldiers, and continuing with a lengthy explanation about his concerns about its accuracy, the difficulty of verifying its origins, and his final conclusion that, “on balance, I believe the possible benefits of publishing the photograph if it is authentic, outweigh the possible costs of publishing it if is not.” Within half an hour of its publication, emails directed McGill to another source of the photo. Continue Reading

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK | Distance vs. transparency

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“Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know.” That’s part of the ethical standard on conflict of interest set out by the Society of Professional Journalists. Does that mean that journalists can’t contribute to political campaigns? Can’t participate in parent-teacher organizations? Can’t belong to civic organizations? Continue Reading

Recession stories

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The recession is not the only factor impacting school funding, but it is one large factor. We invite you to share ideas and concerns in the Daily Planet’s YOUR TURN: St. Paul Public Schools Budget Forum and to read a report from an SPPS listening session.Similarly, teens and young adults face challenges in finding those first jobs, in or out of recession, but their situation is more difficult now as experienced adults compete for entry-level jobs. Sheila Regan takes a look at youth employment today. Thursday’s articles looked at the impact of the recession on neighborhood businesses:
• Riding out the recession from The Bridge• Where the thistles grow: The new business landscape Uptown Neighborhood News
Wednesday’s stories focused on teens looking for summer jobs:
• Summer jobs for teens: Difficult but maybe not impossible •Teen job market worst on record • Volunteering can pay off for teens Continue Reading

Recession stories: Neighborhood businesses

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Continuing to look at the recession and its impact on our communities, today’s articles from The Bridge and Uptown Neighborhood News look at the impact of the recession on neighborhood businesses:• Riding out the recession from The Bridge• Where the thistles grow: The new business landscape Uptown Neighborhood News
Wednesday’s stories focused on teens looking for summer jobs:
stories look at teens seeking summer jobs. Read three perspectives in:
• Summer jobs for teens: Difficult but maybe not impossible •Teen job market worst on record • Volunteering can pay off for teens Continue Reading