Newspaper "scandals"

[liamstliam]

I am curious about something.

As some of you know, I was a newspaper reporter for 11 years before becoming a teacher, I have worked part-time at papers on and off since then, and I am a total Web newspaper geek.

I wonder what some of you think about the reporting scandals at the New York Times and USA Today. When you have professional interests, sometime you overreact.

I recently read Jayson Blair's book, and most of the time, I had to explain to people who he was.

Comments

[theresat.livejournal.com]

There was recently an issue with one of the humor websites that I read daily, collegehumor.com. Apparently, the site ran a column called The Ten Commandments of College, and three days later, the Penn State newspaper ran a column called Ten College Commandments.

Since collegehumor.com has over 5 million readers, and two of their regular columnists go to Penn State, this was noticed, and remarked upon in a daily update.

Within two days, the Penn State paper had fired the writer (a senior journalism student), and had written an apology that was published in the paper (http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2004/04/04-19-04tdc/04-19-04dops-column-01.asp).

She does talk about the scandals at the NY Times and USA Today. And as she points out at the end of her column, they were running a full page spread on the awards that the paper's staff had recieved that year.

I guess that I hadn't really thought about Blair or Kelley too much, until now. Now that I've seen something that hits a little more close to home, a situation that I could more than imagine being in, I feel much more strongly about all of it. A college student run humor website is ripped off by a school paper. That's not something that I would never imagine could have happened back at the Colonel. You like to think it wouldn't, but obviously, it does.

I'm rambling now, but I just wanted to put in my two (or one and a half) cents.

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

Hey, T!

After I read that article, I forwarded the link to Jim Romasnesko, and it's up on his Media News site.

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45

At this time, it is the top item in the left-hand column.

Dad

[theresat.livejournal.com]

Did he put it up after you sent it to him, or before?

If it's after, I'm excited, because I helped spread the word. Awesome.

;)

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

Looking at the timing, I am pretty sure it went up *because* of my note to him, so, yes, you had an impact. (and I credited you in my note to him).

Dad