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In June of 1976, Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles, who covered organized crime, was murdered in the middle of the day in downtown Phoenix. What followed was a unique collaboration between dozens of investigative reporters from around the country who forgot that they were competitors and converged on Phoenix to finish Bolles' work. It was called The Arizona Project. KJZZ reporter Steve Goldstein recounts the tale.
The Times note underscores the argument over whether the coverage of Iraq has been too upbeat and needs correction, as conceded in the Times, or so excessively biased that it actually hurts the war effort, as charged by conservatives and some in the military. This week media critic and educator Jay Rosen wrote in his weblog, Press Think, that he objects to the very terms of that debate. It’s not about quantifying the positive and negative, it’s about completeness, he says. Jay Rosen joins Brooke to put forth his argument that the coverage is distorted because it’s too narrow.
The editor of the Appleton Post Crescent had received calls charging that the paper was biased against President Bush, and moreover, that it never printed any letters supporting him. So the paper responded with an editorial that said, "if you would like to help us 'balance' things out, send us a letter, make a call or punch out an e-mail." In other words, you don't like the letters? Write your own. Executive Editor Andrew Oppman tells Brooke of the contretemps that ensued.
In the letters section of the current Harper's Magazine, a reader named Nelson Marans weighs in on an editorial from last month. It's not the first time a missive from Mr. Marans has been published. It's the 31st time…this year. In an epistolary career stretching back to his retirement 17 years ago, Marans has successfully placed 966 letters in the pages of American newspapers and magazines. As he tells Bob, it's all about the catharsis.
This week's one-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq offered news organizations the opportunity to reflect on their coverage of the lead-up to war. And just in time, Knight Ridder reporters turned up more evidence that the U.S. media was used by those who directly stood to gain from Saddam's ouster. Bob talks to Knight Ridder correspondent Jonathan Landay about the echo chamber of bad intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs.
Media analysts have been wringing their hands more and more ferociously over the ubiquity of unidentified sources. And newspapers seem to be responding. Following similar moves by other papers, the New York Times this week instituted a new policy on the use of anonymous sources. But when it comes to stories like the fall of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide - stories that involve the federal government - will anything change? Brooke speaks with NYT Assistant Managing Editor Allan M. Siegal.
The oldest Russian-language newspaper in the U.S., Novoe Russkoe Slovo, has a new owner. Media tycoon Vadim Rabinovich has big plans for the sleepy broadsheet. But he also has a controversial reputation that some media watchers are worried will affect the news Russian immigrants read. WNYC reporter Fred Mogul reports.
After President Bush released his budget plan this week, the online community went into overdrive, picking apart not just the budget, but the coverage of the budget. Bloggers complained that though the numbers didn't add up, critical analysis was noticeably absent from the front pages of many newspapers. Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman agrees, and tells Brooke why.
