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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: journalistic ethics

journalistic ethics stories: 18 news summaries

NYT Cozied Up
to Spitzer Staff Amid Scandal

Emails reveal friendly exchanges between reporters, sources

Nov 4, 09 1:53 PM CST
(Newser) - The New York Times may have broken the news that Eliot Spitzer had a prostitute problem, but it was awfully nice to Spitzer’s staff amid the scandal. Gawker used New York’s open records law to snag a huge number of emails between reporters and Spitzer’s people,... More »

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journalism • Eliot Spitzer • public relations • Gawker • journalistic ethics • David Paterson • source

GQ Buries Story on 'Putin's Dark Rise to Power'

Piece on '99 bombings at odds with Condé Nast's biz in Russia

Sep 4, 09 1:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - GQ is keeping a tight lid on one of its own articles that questions the Russian government’s involvement in the 1999 bombings that catapulted Vladimir Putin to power, NPR reports. GQ owner Condé Nast operates in Russia, where dissent is often met with crippling “audits.”... More »

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terrorism • Vladimir Putin • censorship • bombing • Chechnya • Conde Nast • journalistic ethics • GQ magazine • Scott Anderson • expose

Gates Slams AP's Decision
to Run Dying Marine's Photo

Agency says it sought to show 'reality of war'

Sep 4, 09 1:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - Robert Gates is blasting the Associated Press for transmitting a photo of a dying 21-year-old Marine against his family’s wishes, Politico reports. The defense secretary calls the decision “appalling.” In a letter to Thomas Curley, the AP’s president, Gates asked him to reconsider, citing “common... More »

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Afghanistan • media • Robert Gates • death • Associated Press • journalistic ethics

 Afghanistan Forbids 
 Reports on Election Violence 

Karzai government says gag will 'control the negative impact of the media'

Aug 18, 09 10:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Afghan government ordered journalists to stay silent on any insurgent attacks that may happen during the presidential election Thursday, the Guardian reports. The gag order is necessary in order “to encourage people and raise their morale to come out and vote,” said a spokesman for President Karzai.... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • Hamid Karzai • journalist • journalistic ethics • election • gag order • Afghanistan election • media blackout

(Newser) - Ben Stein has been booted from his job as a New York Times columnist for shilling for an online credit report service, Gawker reports. Stein touts the value of FreeScore.com in television commercials, but the Times’ ethics policy states “it is an inherent conflict for... More »

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Internet • New York Times • economist • columnists • Ben Stein • newspaper editorials • journalistic ethics • credit score

UPDATED

Scotland Yard Launches, Ends Probe of News Corp. Hacking

Unsourced report broke no new ground: cops

Jul 9, 09 2:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scotland Yard, smarting from a report that it failed to inform victims of a British tabloid's rampant phone hacking, today opened and quickly closed an investigation into the potentially explosive matter, reports the New York Times. Cops reportedly had evidence of thousands of incidences of illegal activity by private investigators... More »

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newspaper • Rupert Murdoch • The Sun • United Kingdom • Scotland Yard • journalism • hacking • Les Hinton • News of the World • News Corp • journalistic ethics • Andy Coulson

LA Mayor Moves On to Another Anchor Gal Pal

Girlfriend filed story on Villaraigosa as recently as this weekend

Jun 2, 09 11:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - Two years after Antonio Villaraigosa had the affair with a local newscaster that led to the breakup of his 20-year marriage, the LA mayor has a new flame—yet another TV news anchor. Lu Parker, a former Miss USA contestant who reports for television station KTLA, has been dating Villaraigosa... More »

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Los Angeles • Antonio Villaraigosa • journalistic ethics • news anchor • television news

ANALYSIS

White House Reporters Trade Puff for Access

The 'beat sweetener' laudatory profile is early-term tradition

Mar 4, 09 1:22 PM CST
(Newser) - Readers of just about any national news outlet might’ve noticed a flood of good press about top White House aides lately. It’s not coincidence, and it’s not bias, Michael Calderone writes for Politico. Called a “beat sweetener,” such pieces aim to cultivate sources by praising... More »

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New York Times • Newsweek • Rahm Emanuel • journalistic ethics • Obama administration • reporters • Robert Gibbs • President Obama • White House press corps • Jonathan Alter • Mark Leibovich

Sky News Joins BBC in Refusing to Run Gaza Appeal

Both operations claim appeal would threaten image of impartiality

Jan 26, 09 7:00 AM CST
(Newser) - Britain's Sky News has joined the BBC in its controversial decision not to run a charity advertisement appealing for aid to Gaza, reports the Times of London. Sky News executives made the announcement as public and political pressure mounted for the BBC to change its stance. BBC officials said airing... More »

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Gaza • BBC • British Parliament • journalistic ethics • Disasters Emergency Committee

 Book 'Em: Tabloid Strikes 
 Gold With Mug Shots 

One thing's for sure: It's profitable

Jan 7, 09 6:00 PM CST
(Newser) - The Slammer, a North Carolina tabloid that gleefully prints local mug shots and crime reports, is flying off newsstands, and whether it’s helpful or shameful, it’s certainly profitable. “I don’t think (the Slammer) deserves the ‘journalism’ title,” publisher Isaac Cornetti, himself a former jailbird,... More »

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crime • journalism • tabloids • journalistic ethics • The Slammer • mug shots • Columbia Journalism Review • Isaac Cornetti

 NYT's Ethicist Rips Off 
 Colleague's Column 

Cohen nabs a previously-published question from another columnist

Nov 2, 08 3:53 PM CST
(Newser) - Is it right for an ethics columnist to steal a reader’s question from a colleague? It apparently is for the New York Times’ Randy Cohen, writes Alex Carnevale in Gawker. Today’s Ethicist column includes a question printed in another column last month. “The paper now has more... More »

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New York Times • media criticism • Gawker • journalistic ethics

Writing About Your Kids?
Set Some Limits

Some have age limits, others won't address certain topics

Jun 8, 08 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Writers can throw themselves head-first into the nasty, permanent archive that is the Internet—but what of their kids? Emily Bazelon polled writers for Slate and found that while details may differ, the general policy is, the more privacy the better. "The blog medium has a certain kind of... More »

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ethics • online privacy • children • journalism • personal privacy • journalistic ethics

Reporter Held in Contempt in Anthrax Story

Fine reaches $5K a day
until she discloses source

Mar 8, 08 7:16 AM CST
(Newser) - A judge yesterday held a former USA Today reporter in contempt of court for refusing to disclose her sources in stories about the 2001 anthrax attacks, the AP reports. He also ordered her to pay daily fines reaching $5,000 out of her own pocket until she cooperates . The reporter... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John Ashcroft • September 11 • journalism • anthrax • journalistic ethics • Steven J. Hatfill • Toni Locy

OPINION

The Cry
Echoes: Leave Britney Alone!

Tony Blair's spin doctor speaks up for
troubled pop star

Feb 1, 08 10:48 AM CST
(Newser) - As Britney Spears' public meltdown continues, the pop star has found an unlikely defender: Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair's spin doctor. Writing in the Times of London, Campbell confesses to being a big Spears fan—her songs keep "popping up in the '25 most listened to' on my running iPod"... More »

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Britney Spears • Tony Blair • journalism • Alistair Campbell • journalistic ethics

Husband Is Suspect in Disappearance

Case of missing Chicago woman embroiled
fired TV anchor

Jul 13, 07 9:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - Police named a suburban Chicago man a “person of interest” yesterday in the disappearance of his estranged wife, citing his lack of cooperation and their fears of foul play. Craig Stebic, who reported last seeing his wife on April 30, twice refused to let investigators talk to their children... More »

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divorce • journalism • Amy Jacobson • Lisa Stebic • Craig Stebic • disappearance • NBC5 Chicago • CBS2 Chicago • Plainfield, Illinois • missing person • journalistic ethics

Bikini Anchor Shouldn't Have Been Fired

Pool-party reporting wrong, Trib blogger says, but honorable

Jul 12, 07 5:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - As disgraced TV anchor Amy Jacobson pled her case in a series of interviews all over Chicago media today, Tribune blogger Eric Zorn made the (unpopular) case that she shouldn't have been fired. Accepting an invitation to a pool party at the home of a man she was covering showed... More »

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Amy Jacobson • Craig Stebic • NBC5 • journalistic ethics • news anchor

LA Mayor's Anchor Lover Suspended

TV station probes ethics of journalist's coverage despite liaison

Jul 6, 07 5:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - Telemundo officials yesterday suspended Mirthala Salinas, the Los Angeles TV reporter and anchor who covered of the break-up of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's marriage even while she was having an affair with him. Salinas was placed on a leave of absence while the Spanish-language broadcaster investigates whether she breached journalistic ethics,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
journalistic ethics • news anchor

Murdoch May Have Killed Story on Wife

Shafer ponders journalistic ethics
of Journal suitor

May 11, 07 9:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - Rupert Murdoch may have muscled an Aussie mag into dropping a profile of his third wife, Slate's Jack Shafer speculates. Good Weekend suddenly jettisoned a 10,000-word piece on 38-year-old Wendi Deng last month, after paying writer Eric Ellis $25 grand for the heavily-researched story. More »

MORE ABOUT:
ethics • Rupert Murdoch • Dow Jones • Wendi Deng • journalism • journalistic ethics

18 Stories


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