Here is a news story from the New York Times:Fighting in Lebanese Refugee Camp Spreads
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
The official death toll from the two-week conflict reached
110, including 44 soldiers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/world/middleeast/04lebanon.html?th&emc=th
NOW FOR 20 EXTRA BONUS POINTS WHAT IS THE REAL STORY HERE? AND..WHY IS IT IMPORTANT!
Your assignment for this week is to write a sports or game story or a combination of them both. Deadline is Noon (12 o'clock) Saturday.

OK this weeks blog is very long. Your assignment this week is to find a story or advertisment in Japanese that has spin. Which means it has a planned slant or often angle which makes something bad look good. Propaganda in other words. You should translate the article and point out what the spin is. I'm going to show you some examples. This is the Weekly Spin and newsletter published by the Centre for Media and Democracy:

The Weekly Spin, May 30, 2007

Blog Postings

Democratic Spin Won't End the War in Iraq
by John Stauber

After several months of empty posturing against the war in Iraq, politicians in Washington have made what Democratic congressman James P. Moran called a "concession to reality" by agreeing to give President Bush virtually everything he wanted in funding and unrestricted license to continue waging the increasingly detested war that has made Bush the most unpopular president since Richard Nixon.

This is the outcome that we warned against two months ago when we wrote "Why Won't MoveOn Move Forward?" In it, we criticized MoveOn for backpedaling on its previously claimed objective of ending the war in Iraq immediately. Anti-war sentiment was the main factor behind last year's elections that brought Democrats to power in both houses of Congress. Once in power, however, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed through a "compromise" bill, supported by MoveOn, that offered $124 billion in supplemental funding for the war. To make it sound like they were voting for peace, the Democrats threw in a few non-binding benchmarks asking Bush to certify progress in Iraq, coupled with language that talked about withdrawing troops next year.

Read the rest of this item

Be a Citizen Journalist

New Participatory Project: Covering the 2008 Congressional Elections (U.S.)
Source: Congresspedia

Update: It's early, but the campaigns for the primaries of the 2008 congressional elections are starting to heat up, especially on the Democratic side, with everyone from Dennis Kucinich to Albert Wynn to Robert Wexler facing primary challenges. Please help out your fellow citizens by pitching in on this Congresspedia project to cover the campaigns and candidates of both the primary and general elections for Congress in 2008.

The Congresspedia staff editors will be kicking off a project soon to provide voters with comprehensive information on the congressional elections next year, including profiles on each candidate on the ballot in both the primary and general elections. More than 2/3 of the members of Congress hail from "safe" districts or states that overwhelmingly vote for one party, meaning that for most voters the primary election or caucus is the only way to hold them accountable. Before we get started on the profiles, however, we need to figure out when each state will be holding their primaries and when their ballots will be officially released. No one knows this better than you, the people who actually live there.

Please join us in helping your fellow citizens become educated voters by letting us know when those dates are. We've got an article set up on Congresspedia with spaces for every state. For many states we already found out which month they finalize their ballots, but we need to know the specific day and other information. You may need to dig around a bit on the websites of your state election authority or parties or even give them a call. If you do find any useful websites, please enter them under your state's entry so other citizen journalists can utilize them later.

If this is your first time editing, you can register as a SourceWatch volunteer editor here , and learn more about adding information to the site here and here. Have fun, and thanks for your help!

Comment on this item

Spin of the Day Postings

Nuclear Greenwashing
Source: San Francisco Bay Guardian, May 29, 2007

Professional Greenpeace turncoat Patrick Moore is going around with a slide show that "isn't as slick as Al Gore's," writes Amanda Witherell, promoting nuclear power as a safe, clean, reliable and emissions-free solution to global warming. Witherell discusses the role that the Nuclear Energy Institute and PR firm Hill and Knowlton have played in creating Moore's "Clean and Safe Energy Coalition" and takes a critical look at some of the factoids in his presentation, such as his claim that nuclear power plants could withstand a direct hit from a jetliner without breaching radioactive contamination.

Comment on this item

Australian Government Revokes Critic's Tax Status
Source: Sydney Morning Herald, May 30, 2007

A watchdog group that criticized the social and environmental failings of the Australian government's overseas aid policies has been stripped of its charitable tax status. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) informed Aid/Watch that it had lost it tax-deductible gift status because it was "trying to procure changes in Australia's aid and development programs". The ATO took exception to Aid/Watch urging supporters to write to the Government to put pressure on the Burmese military dictatorship and raising concerns about the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement. Dr Clive Hamilton, the Executive Director of The Australia Institute and co-editor of the book Silencing Dissent, believes the decision is also aimed at curtailing advocacy groups' election year campaigns. "A very clear message is being sent, especially in the lead-up to the next election, that the Government will crack down on non-government organisations it doesn't like," he said.

Comment on this item

Nigerian Election Good For U.S. Consultants
Source: The Hill, May 30, 2007


Joe Trippi
In a report filed with the U.S. Department of Justice, netroots guru Joe Trippi, who made his name advising Howard Dean's 2004 campaign on new media strategy, discloses he was paid $20,000 to advise former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the recent Nigerian elections. Abubakar, who also hired PR giant Hill & Knowlton and the James Mintz Group, lost the election to former President Olusegun Obasanjo's anointed successor, Umaru Yar'Adua. "Essentially, the text-messaging campaign said, 'Democracy is at risk right now with Obasanjo, do not let them take the election,' that sort of thing," Trippi told The Hill. An election monitoring group described the election as "a charade." The latest filings also reveal that since April 2006, Goodworks International, a PR firm co-founded by Andrew Young, was paid $500,000 by the government of Nigeria. Part of Goodworks strategy was to promote "the democratic election in Nigeria."
Comment on this item

Unhealthy Secrecy
Source: CanWest News Service, May 28, 2007

The chairperson of the Best Medicines Coalition (BMC), Louise Binder, recently appeared before the Canadian parliament's health committee to argue the case for patients gaining access to newer and more expensive drugs. When asked who funded BMC, Binder told the committee that half its funding came from the government agency, Health Canada, and the remainder was from the drug industry. However, CanWest News Service reports that the group receives all of its C$250,000 budget from the drug industry. (The Health Canada grant was in the preceding year.) Binder told CanWest reporter Carly Weeks that she would disclose funders it if she considered it "relevant." But she said, "I don't think it is." Alan Cassels, a drug-policy researcher at the University of Victoria, disagrees: "They don't have a disinterested position about the benefits or harms related to the drugs and they will maintain a position that's very much in their funder's interests."

Comment on this item

Muslims Don't Trust U.S.
Source: U.S. News & World Report, May 23, 2007


An in-depth poll of Muslim countries has found that large majorities believe undermining Islam is a key goal of U.S. foreign policy. Most want U.S. military forces out of the Middle East, and many approve of attacks on U.S. troops there. "While U.S. leaders may frame the conflict as a war on terrorism, people in the Islamic world clearly perceive the U.S. as being at war with Islam," said Steven Kull, editor of WorldPublicOpinion.org. However, respondents strongly oppose attacks on civilians. Large majorities approve of many of al Qaeda's principal goals, but believe its violence against civilians is "violating the principles of Islam."
Comment on this item

EPA Screens Have Gaping Holes, Warn Scientists
Source: Dallas Morning News, May 27, 2007

Will it be "one of the most comprehensive screening programs ever to check whether chemicals can disrupt human hormones" or "a misleading $76 million waste"? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, which is slated to begin tests in 2008, is already controversial. Some scientists are warning that the program will: use "a breed of rat that is relatively insensitive to several known hormone-disrupting chemicals"; feed the rats a soy-based chow containing natural hormone disruptors that may complicate test results; pay little attention to prenatal chemical exposure; test a too-high dosage range; and possibly allow "chemical companies to tailor certain aspects of the tests." The EPA counters that the program was developed "in an open manner to protect it from special interests," and that "it is not worried" about chemical industry involvement. Indeed, the EPA shaped the screening program with input "from people who may have financial interest in the outcome of the tests," using data from the American Chemistry Council and a toxicologist who works as an industry consultant.

Comment on this item

What's Fair in Coverage of RCTV Shutdown?
Source: Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), May 25, 2007

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) is criticizing U.S. news media for presenting Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's non-renewal of the television station RCTV's broadcast license "as a simple matter of censorship." FAIR points out that "RCTV and other commercial TV stations were key players in the April 2002 coup that briefly ousted Chavez's democratically elected government." Moreover, "the Venezuelan government is basing its denial of license on RCTV's involvement in the 2002 coup, not on the station's criticisms of or political opposition to the government." BBC News reports that the Latin American press is portraying Chavez as "authoritarian" and Venezuelan media as "increasingly suffocated." Journalism and human rights groups have denounced the non-renewal of RCTV's license. Governments have the right not to renew a broadcast license, but a standard process should be followed, international rights groups maintain. "We're not arguing that the concession ... should be given to RCTV," said the Committee to Project Journalists' Carlos Lauria. "We're just saying that there's no process to evaluate if it should be." Just Foreign Policy's Patrick McElwee agrees, but notes that a 1987 law -- enacted previous to Chavez -- "charges the executive branch with decisions about license renewal" and "does not seem to require any administrative hearing."

Comment on this item

Young, Reliable "Activists" Outed as Corporate Spooks
Source: Sunday Star Times (New Zealand), May 27, 2007


The Happy Valley Coalition protests Solid Energy
A private investigation company, Thompson & Clark, employed agents to infiltrate environmental, peace and animal rights groups in New Zealand, investigative journalist Nicky Hager has revealed. One of the company's clients was the government-owned coal company Solid Energy. A student was paid NZ$400 a month to infiltrate and report on the activities of Save Happy Valley, a group opposing a new coal mine. One task was to provide information on the group's legal strategies in response to being sued by Solid Energy over a spoof corporate social responsibility report. The Chief Executive Officer of Solid Energy, Don Elder, is unapologetic: "What do I think about it? So what? If Thompson & Clark had got someone to do the things you've said, then I would say good on them." The State-Owned Enterprises minister, Trevor Mallard, told Solid Energy that the spying operation is "unacceptable." However, Solid Energy has only said that it will consider the issue at its next board meeting.
Comment on this item

One Sham Nuclear Review Replaces Another
Source: The Guardian (UK), May 23, 2007

In a signal that the departure of Tony Blair as British Prime Minister won't result in any major policy shifts, Prime Minister-elect Gordon Brown has supported the construction of up to eight new nuclear power stations. In February, Britain's High Court ruled that a national energy review had been a "sham" consultation exercise. Despite the setback, Trade and Industry Secretary and Brown ally, Alistair Darling, has launched a new round of "consultation" on its latest nuclear power white paper. "We will consider carefully the responses we get and this will enable us to take a decision on nuclear power later in the year," the Department of Trade and Industry website states. Darling, however, is not waiting for the public response, ridiculing those opposing nuclear power as being "daft." Greenpeace director John Sauven said the British government "has tinkered with its failing energy efficiency and renewables policy while indulging its nuclear obsession."

Comment on this item

Automakers Fight Fuel Efficiency Standards
Source: The Hill, May 25, 2007

The Hill reports, "Automakers plan to attack congressional efforts to raise fuel mileage standards in a series of radio and newspaper advertisements this weekend, the unofficial start of summer driving season. The ad campaign, sponsored by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, focuses on states with a high proportion of truck and SUV drivers to stoke grassroots opposition to a Senate bill that would raise fuel standards for cars and trucks by 10 miles per gallon over the next 10 years. The Senate plans to take up the bill after the Memorial Day recess as part of a larger effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and wean the country off of foreign oil. The auto group plans to spend at least $1 million on the ad buy, a spokesman said. ... Fuel mileage standards for automobiles are currently set at 27.5 miles per gallon, and have not been raised since 1990." The auto lobby has a website at www.drivecongress.com with a toll-free number to get US drivers lobbying Congress against fuel efficiency standards.

Comment on this item

Hillary's Poison Penn
Source: Associated Press, May 24, 2007

U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton's top presidential campaign strategist is Mark Penn, worldwide CEO of the PR firm Burson-Marsteller and president of the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates. While the campaign says Penn "is currently working only with Microsoft" for his day job, an internal Burson-Marsteller blog "suggests ... he has been working with multiple clients," reports Bloomberg News. Blog posts by Penn mention work for Shell Oil, the energy company TXU, and the U.S. Tuna Foundation. In one post, Penn says "the mixing of corporate and political work" is "helpful in cross-pollinating new ideas and skills." The Nation notes Burson-Marsteller's astroturf "attacks against environmental and consumer groups," and its "confrontational relationship with organized labor," as well as Penn's polling firm's work for the nuclear power industry (which the Center for Media and Democracy previously reported on). AP reports that Colombia recently hired Burson-Marsteller on a $300,000-per-year contract, to "educate members of the U.S. Congress and other audiences" on "free trade" issues and Plan Colombia, a U.S. backed counter-narcotics program criticized by human rights groups. Colombia will also honor former president Bill Clinton "at a gala event next month in New York City." Her campaign said Hillary will not attend. The Colombian government's links to paramilitary groups led Al Gore to avoid an environmental conference last month that Colombian president Alvaro Uribe attended.

Comment on this item

Prices High, Credibility Low for Oil Industry
Source: PR Week, May 25, 2007


From a "Fun with Propaganda" graphics contest
Once again, the start of the U.S. "summer driving season" is coinciding with "record-high gas prices." The American Petroleum Institute (API) is ramping up media outreach, including bloggers for the first time. "We felt we should become more involved" in the blogosphere, explained API's Jane Van Ryan, "because there are a lot of policies and news-related items being discussed." The industry group has held three blogger teleconferences, "on subjects including energy and environment and, most recently on May 16, gasoline prices," reports Michael Bush. "Blogs the API has reached out to include The Oil Drum, Energy Outlook, and the Daily Reckoning." API's "team of seven media relations people" continues traditional media outreach, fielding "a 'huge amount of calls' from the networks, major dailies, trade press, small newspapers in 'virtually every state,' and consumers," after the latest price hike. Oil companies have their own PR campaigns, as well. Shell's president "is currently in the midst of a 50-city 'listening tour,'" and Exxon Mobil's Dave Gardner said they will "use our Op-Ed space - in national newspapers - to explain current gasoline price drivers to our customers."
Comment on this item

Crisis Management "Gold Standard" Actually Tinny
Source: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), May 22, 2007

As many speeches, magazines and books have done previously, the current issue of Fortune magazine calls Johnson & Johnson's (J&J's) response to the 1982 Tylenol capsule poisoning deaths "the gold standard in crisis control." O'Dwyer's PR Daily writes that "the Tylenol story, as commonly told, is a 'fairy tale,'" as PR executive James Lukaszewski once called it. J&J's CEO at the time, James Burke, "learned of the tragedy" of the seven Chicago-area deaths "on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and called a staff meeting for Monday" -- in contrast to the "myth" that he acted immediately. J&J also "tried to localize the problem, recalling two batches that were circulated in the Chicago area." A wider recall wasn't launched until "after another attempted poisoning using Tylenols took place on the following Tuesday in Oroville, Calif." And "while Burke has been lauded for his openness with the press, he did not hold a press conference." The problem was the capsules, which "some pharmacists would not stock," because they "could easily be taken apart and 'spiked.'" After another Tylenol capsule poisoning in 1986, J&J's Burke admitted he was sorry that the company "did not stop making Tylenols in capsules after the Chicago murders."

Comment on this item

The Not-So-Free Press, Worldwide
Source: Associated Press, May 21, 2007

After giving an interview to Afghanistan's Tolo TV in which she called the Afghan parliament "worse than a stable or a zoo," because "at least there you have a donkey that carries a load and a cow that provides milk," Malalai Joya was suspended from Parliament. Joya, a young lawmaker and rights activist, has been threatened by warlords, while Afghan officials have sought to intimidate Tolo TV. Human Rights Watch is calling for Joya to be reinstated. In Thailand, the government is closing down community radio stations, allegedly for using "illegal frequencies." Rights activists say the shut-downs are at least partially due to stations having aired interviews with ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. In Iraq, local journalists and news organizations, along with the Committee to Protect Journalists, are protesting the government's ban on journalists reporting from attack scenes. Lastly, the OpenNet Initiative found that 25 of 40 countries it studied "block Web sites for political, social or other reasons." The "most extensive filters" are imposed by China, Iran, Myanmar, Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam.

This weeks assignment is mostly research. You should find a small Japanese story or advertisment that has spin and translate it into English and point out the spin. Due noon Sat. I will be looking at and marking your blogs this weekend so hope they are in good shape.
Here is one expample of a newsletter that exposes Enviroment related stories that the regular press tends to ignore.
Environment Newsletter
May 28th, 2007
More from Environment »




Ethanol Booms, Farmers Bust
By Lisa M. Hamilton, AlterNet
From the news these days you'd think farmers have never had a better friend than ethanol. But if you actually are a farmer, ethanol, with the high corn prices it brings, is looking less and less like a blessing -- and more like a curse. Read more »



What's all the hype about ethanol? Lisa Hamilton writes about how farmers are really faring with a new ethanol-infused corn market.

Anneli Rufus documents Al Gore's new book promotion tour and what the climate guru has to say about the media, politics and our future.

And Jane Lampman exposes a new creation "science" museum that has hundreds of scientists fuming.

As always, thanks for reading.



Al Gore: Modern Politics' Movie Star
By Anneli Rufus, AlterNet
Like the children's classic "A Fish Out of Water," Al Gore has outgrown his fishbowl. He has developed a following of millions simply by reminding people that they can use knowledge as a source of influence.



Natural History, Bible-style
By Jane Lampman, Christian Science Monitor
A new creation "science" museum puts dinosaurs in the garden with Adam and Eve. Some 700 scientists have deplored its inaccurate exhibits, warning that students who accept them are "unlikely to succeed in science courses."



Women Emerge as Powerful Advocates at UN Environment Conference
By Regina Cornwell, Women's Media Center
At this month's UN Commission on Sustainable Development, women's organizations were were the most organized and effect segment.



ExxonMobil: Sex, Lies and Global Warming
By Sara Whitman, HuffingtonPost.com
ExxonMobil is refusing change its employment policy to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. They claim they are already doing the right thing. But, given their record, how can we believe them?



EarthTalk: Is the Bush Administration Censoring Scientists?
E Magazine
Word of the White House censoring federal climate scientists on global warming was leaked in Bush's first term in office, but only in the last few years have federal employees been willing to go on record with such accusations.



Carbon Emissions Exceed Highest Assumptions Used in Climate Change Studies
By Peter N. Spotts, Christian Science Monitor
While global warming deniers argue that most climatologists are alarmists, CO2 emissions in the past few years have exceeded the levels used in scientists' models -- signaling even more cause for concern.



U.S. Undermines International Action on Global Warming
By Josh Dorner
The U.S. is trying to undermine to the work of G8 countries on global warming.






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Hi the assignment for this week is that you write a story predicting something in the future. For example the weather this coming summer, fashion trend in the fall, Yen exchange rates in August. There are others were the media makes some prediction of an up coming event. Story is due by noon Sat. the 26th.
Also please read the following and have a look at the web links:
The "propaganda model" that Herman and Chomsky put forward in Manufacturing Consent has made the book notable (some would say notorious) as the most influential book by serious academics to challenge the common dogma of media objectivity in the United States. When it first appeared, it was almost unheard-of to suggest that U.S. media such as the New York Times, Time and Newsweek magazines and CBS News were propaganda vehicles.

Today things are somewhat different. Across the political spectrum, there is a widespread belief that disinformation, deception and propaganda pervade the media.
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6068
http://www.prwatch.org/

The France-based global press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French) is expanding its online operations into East Asia and out of reality.

On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, RSF announced the launch of its Web site in Simplified Chinese, as well as the opening of its newly furnished office in Second Life, an online virtual world.

The expansions aim to bring press freedom news, information, and resources to earth’s 1.3 billion Chinese residents and cyberspace’s six million Second Life residents.

RSF’s office in Second Life is the virtual world’s first international human rights organization; visitors are invited to learn about press freedom (in our world), participate in the organization’s campaigns, and view photos of RSF’s “34 Predators of Press Freedom.”

The Chinese language Web site hopes to strengthen the independent press in a country that is infamous for its tight government control over media, including the censorship of online materials. RSF has urged Chinese censors not to block the new site.

For more information, visit www.rsf.org (English) or www.rsf-chinese.org (Simplified Chinese). To find RSF’s virtual office, visit Second Life’s search engine and search for "Reporters sans frontiers.

Sorry I didn't put this up earlier. Your assignment for this week is to write an obituary of some living famous person. All the background information should be true. You can use your imagination on how they die. Story should come in by noon Sat. 19th. ALSO THE TOUR OF ASAHI SHIMBUN WILL BE ON JUNE 18TH A MONDAY. THERE WILL BE NO REGULAR CLASS THAT DAY.

This Thur. is World Press Freedom day proclaimed by the United Nations. I'd like you to look at these two web sites which talk about the decline of press freedom around the world:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6616701.stm http://www.cpj.org/backsliders/index.html
See you in class this afternood. Clark

Here is a story from slashdot about what is a dangerous trend in the news media.
| PC World Editor Resigns When Ordered Not to Criticize Advertisers |
| from the i-can-only-imagine dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday May 03, @14:46 (The Media) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/03/1810239 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
bricko noted a story of our modern journalism world gone so wrong it
makes me sad. "Editor-in-Chief Harry McCracken [0]quit abruptly today
because the company's new CEO, Colin Crawford, tried to kill a story
about Apple and Steve Jobs." The link discusses that the CEO was the
former head of MacWorld and would get calls from Jobs. Apparently he also
told the staff that product reviews had to be nicer to vendors who
advertise in the magazine. The sad thing is that given the economics of
publishing in this day and age, I doubt anything even comes of this even
tho it essentially confirms that PC World reviews should be thought of as
no more than press releases. I know that's how I will consider links from
them in the future. But congratulations to anyone willing to stick to
their guns on such matters.

Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/03/1810239

Links:
0. http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/05/pc_world_editor.html

Well most people sent in their sugidama story, good start. For information on some of the issues and info about what's happening in media you should check professor of journalism, City University London's Adrian Moncks blog at http://adrianmonck.blogspot.com
Also for your information if you are interested in digital photography check out free classes at http://www.sony101.com

We talked briefly about news that doesn't get published by the mainstream press and how the internet is changing that. Here is the example that I mentioned:http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Japan+dolphin+hunt&search=Search
Check it out.

Remember that your first reseach and story are due this Sat. the 28th. You have to find out what a Sugidame is and what it is for. A picture for the story is required. Good Luck.;>} Clark

Here are some good sources for news that is not always published in the regular media.
CITIZEN MEDIA

Digital technologies in the hands of growing numbers of individuals
could be put to use covering stories that do not normally get much
attention. The University of Maryland's J-Lab: The Institute for
Interactive Journalism is honoring 10 community news projects with New
Voices grants, offering more diversity in news coverage.

Among the projects awarded:

* Vermont Climate Witness will create interactive maps to track how
residents see climate change affecting the state's economy. DETAILS:
http://www.tamarackmedia.org/vtclimatewitness/

* Northwest Community Radio Network Collaborative Newscast will air
weekly hour-long newscasts culled from public-affairs programming
produced in isolated communities in the Pacific Northwest. DETAILS:
http://www.reclaimthemedia.org/

* Saint Paul City Newsdesk will create a network of citizen journalists
to cover neighborhoods and municipal news. DETAILS:
http://www.spnn.org/

* Building Blocks will launch a news and information site informing New
York City residents about major real estate development projects
affecting their neighborhoods. DETAILS: http://www.prattcenter.net/

According to New Voices adviser Peter Levine, such participatory
journalism could contribute to active civic involvement in the United
States. "Dissatisfied with formal institutions, citizens are working
together on community problems, building new associations--and creating
their own news media," he says.

SOURCE: University of Maryland J-Lab,
http://www.j-lab.org/nv2007_release.shtml

This is a short summary, I would like you to go and read at least half of the long story about this man, a great journalist and we will talk about why he was..a great journalist. Why do you think he was?

David Halberstam, 73, Reporter and Author, Dies
By CLYDE HABERMAN
Mr. Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, wrote
more than 20 books on topics as varied as the Vietnam War
and basketball.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/arts/24halberstam.html?th&emc=th

Welcome to the 2007 Journalism class. You look here for new information about what is happening in the media world as well as for what your next week assignment is. For example here are two news items which we will discuss briefly today:- TECHNOLOGY -


Yahoo Strikes Ad Deal With More Papers
By MIGUEL HELFT
Yahoo announced a broad deal with publishers representing
264 newspapers to sell national advertising across their
Web sites.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/technology/17search.html?th&emc=th
CANADIAN NEW MEDIA AWARDS NOMINEES NAMED
There were nominees from nearly every province as the Canadian New
Media Awards were announced Monday, in categories that include video
games, culture and arts, news and individual honours.
FULL STORY:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/04/16/tech-cnmanewmediaawards-20070416.html

How is the internet effecting print newspapers, well this is one indication: For every one percent of broadband growth, newspaper
circulation drops point zero two.

What drives change at todays newspapers? Well here is one thing:
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Newspaper Headlines Bow To SEO Demands |
| from the find-what-you-are-looking-for dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday February 03, @00:58 (The Media) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/03/0542243 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]prostoalex writes "News.com.com [1]says the art of writing newspaper
headlines is changing due to reliance on search engines for traffic to
newspaper archives. Forget about clever puns, double entendres and witty
analogies: 'News organizations that generate revenue from advertising are
keenly aware of the problem and are using coding techniques and training
journalists to rewrite the print headlines, thinking about what the story
is about and being as clear as possible.' One big winner for now is
[2]Boston.com, The Boston Globe property, which 'had training sessions
with copy editors and the night desk for the newspaper to enforce
Web-optimized keyword-rich headlines suitable for search engine
queries.'" Update: 10/30 14:1 GMT by [3]KD : Corrected mis-attributed
ownership: boston.com is owned by the Boston Globe, not the Boston
Herald.

Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/03/0542243

Links:
0. http://www.moskalyuk.com/blog
1. http://news.com.com/2100-1038_3-6155739.html
2. http://www.boston.com/
3. http://slashdot.org/~kdawson/

Well thanks to the students that hung in there last term. Here is one of the student evaluations. I really like the idea of a group project and will use it next term.
Thursday 5th period, Journalism(4-H-22 11303188)

Hello, I remember that you mentioned at the end of the class you told us that we had to write 2 things that we liked about the class
and 2 things we did not like about the class.

One of the things I liked about the class is that the fact that we had homework every week. Having homework every week motivated
me, and lead me to look for new news often, and be interested in the media. I think it is a good chance to always be aware.
Another thing I liked about the class is the field trip. It was only a day to go around the Asahi Shinbun, but it was a great experience.
I never knew how the newspapers were made exactlly. Also, I did not know how hard it is to make a news paper, and that there has
to be that many people in order to make the news paper each and everyday.
I do not really have anything that I did not like about the class, but it would have been better if we had a group assignment or something
that would involve the class mates, so that we could all know each other well.
It was a fun class, although it was a really really small class.
Thank you very much for teaching us for a year.

Kaori Takahashi

Happy New Year. Hope this year is your best ever. Last year was not a safe year for journalists -2006 A DEADLY YEAR FOR JOURNALISTS
This past year was the deadliest for journalists in more than a decade,
according to media watchdog Reporters without Borders.
FULL STORY:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/12/31/reporter-deaths-2006.html

Here is some update information on quality control in journalism, note the criteria they are using to judge quality:
NEWSTRUST.NET: A NEW OUTLET FOR CITIZEN JOURNALISTS
http://beta.newstrust.net
Late last month, NewsTrust went live. This non-profit online news
rating service aims to help people identify quality journalism - or
"news you can trust." The project is led by Fabrice Florin, a former
journalist and a digital media pioneer at Apple and Macromedia. The
concept is simple -- NewsTrust members submit articles, then read
and rate them based on key journalistic principles such as fairness,
balance, evidence, context and importance. The ratings are compiled
and each article is given an overall "grade." Based on the positive
reception it has so far received, NewsTrust plans to launch its full
service in 2007.
SOURCE: NewsTrust.net
To comment on this item, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5577

PR Watch, Spin of the Day, the Weekly Spin and SourceWatch are
projects of the Center for Media & Democracy, a nonprofit
organization that offers investigative reporting on the public
relations industry. We help the public recognize manipulative and
misleading PR practices by exposing the activities of secretive,
little-known propaganda-for-hire firms that work to control
political debates and public opinion. Please send any questions or
suggestions about our publications to:
editor@prwatch.org

OK here is an Xmas bonus assignment for you. Write a news story about your favorite music. Put it directly on your blog by Xmas morning and get bonus points. All your writting, even stories I have not corrected yet should go on your blog as you will be given a blog mark over the Xmas holiday and one more check the weekend after the last class. Have a wonderful holiday and I wish you a Happy New Year. Clark

The assignment for this week is a story about something to do with Christmas. It seems to be a big holiday hit in Japan. As with last weeks story it should be sent to carsurf@yahoo.com by noon next Tue. December 19th.

This weeks story -due on Tue. noon at carsurf@yahoo.com is a story about the story behind the story=what were the causes and effects? See you next Thur. Clark

---------------------------------------------+
| Reuters and Yahoo! Enlist Camera Phones |
| from the photoshoppers-holiday dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday December 04, @18:06 (The Media) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/04/2147259 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]eldavojohn writes "In a huge advancement of citizen journalism,
Reuters and Yahoo! are [1]asking average people to be journalists with
their cell phones. I hope participants don't run the risks others have
for [2]photographing the police. You can expect to see these new photos
being used at Yahoo! and Reuters.com starting tomorrow." From the
article: "'People don't say, "I want to see user-generated content,"'
said Lloyd Braun, who runs Yahoo's media group. 'They want to see
[3]Michael Richards in the club. If that happens to be from a cellphone,
they are happy with a cellphone. If it's from a professional
photographer, they are happy for that, too.' Users will not be paid for
images displayed on the Yahoo and Reuters sites. But people whose photos
or videos are selected for distribution to Reuters clients will receive a
payment."

Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/04/2147259

Links:
0. http://www.foundmagazine.com/
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/04/technology/04yahoo.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/30/0557216&tid=158
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Richards#Laugh_Factory_Incident

THIS IS THE FINAL NOTICE THAT WE HAVE A TOUR OF ASHAI NEWSPAPER PLANT ON MONDAY DECEMBER 4TH! WE WILL MEET IN FRONT OF THE ASAHI SHIMBUN BUILDING IN TSKIJI AT 12:50 AS WE HAVE TO BE EARLY FOR THE TOUR WHICH STARTS AT ONE O'CLOCK. YOU WILL PASS THE COURSE IF YOU ATTEND THIS TOUR AND PROBABLY FAIL IT IF YOU DON'T. HOPE TO SEE YOU ON MONDAY.

Now here is a very interesting story from Japan published in the U.S.:
| The Dark Side of the PlayStation 3 Launch |
| from the nothing-nice-to-say dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday November 12, @00:24 (PlayStation (Games)|
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/12/0338204 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

An anonymous reader writes "Kotaku is running an article prompted by an
email from a foreign student in Japan. The reader unveils the sad reality
of the modern gaming industry. Japanese businessmen made ample use of
[0]homeless people and Chinese nationals to obtain PS3s for re-sale.
There was also a large amount of pushing and shoving, some fights, and
almost no police presence at the most crowded stores." From the article:
"Based on my observations of the first twenty PS3s sold at Bic Camera,
they were all purchased by Chinese nationals, none of whom bought any
software. After making their purchase, television crews asked for
interviews but all were declined. These temporary owners of PS3s would
then make their way down the street where their bosses waited. After
several minutes, a dozen PS3s were rounded up, as their Japanese business
manager paid out cash to those who waited in line for them. I witnessed a
homeless-looking Chinese man, in his sixties or seventies get paid 20,000
yen for his services and was then sent away." Update: 11/12 05:40 GMT by
[1]Z : You're right. Sony only shares a portion of the blame here.
Offsides on my part.

Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/11/12/0338204

Links:
0. http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/foreigners-and-fights-ps3-jpn-launchs-dark-side-214130.php
1. http://slashdot.org/~Zonk/

I would like to talk some more about censorship and it's effects on freedom of the press and ultimatly our freedom, so look at this from the BBC:
'Enemies of the internet' named
A list of 13 "enemies of the internet" has been released by human rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
For the first time, Egypt has been added to the list while Nepal, Libya and the Maldives have all been removed.

The list consists of countries that RSF believes are suppressing freedom of expression on the internet.

The civil liberties pressure group has organised a 24-hour protest, inviting web users to vote for the worst offending countries.

Visitors to the RSF website are also invited to leave a voice message for Yahoo's co-founder Jerry Yang, expressing their views on the firm's involvement in China.

RSF has been outspoken in its condemnation of Yahoo. The search engine has been criticised along with other companies for helping the Chinese authorities block access to some online material.

Improvements


THE 13 COUNTRIES BLACKLISTED
Belarus
Burma
China
Cuba
Egypt
Iran
North Korea
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
The blacklist is published annually but it is the first time RSF has organised an online protest to accompany the list.

"We wanted to mobilise net users so that when we lobby certain countries we can say that the concerns are not just ours but those of thousands of internet users around the world," said a spokesman for RSF.

Many of those on the internet blacklist are countries that are regularly criticised by human rights groups, such as China and Burma.

Egypt is a new entrant and has been shortlisted for its attitude to bloggers rather than specific web censorship, said RSF.

"Three bloggers have been arrested and detained this year for speaking out in favour of democratic reform. This is an appeal to the Egyptian government to change its position," said the RSF spokesman.

"The fact that this year we have removed three countries from the list is encouraging. It shows that the situation can change for the better," he added.

On a visit to Libya, Reporters Without Borders found that the Libyan internet was no longer censored although it still considers President Maummar Gaddafi to be a "predator of press freedom".

Your next assignment is due on the last class of Nov. as we have two off Thursdays. You have to give me a video newscast on a news item that you select. We have looked at how this is done in the last two classes and we will review that in next weeks class. I also want you to look at this article from the New York Times on the bad and the good future on Newspapers:

November 4, 2006
What’s Online
Reading Between the Lines

By DAN MITCHELL
THIS week brought another spate of bad news for newspapers. Daily circulation is down an average of 2.8 percent over the last six months, continuing a slide that started at least a decade ago. Layoffs and labor strife continued across the country, from Philadelphia to Oakland, Calif.

There’s no question the newspaper industry is “under siege,” as a MediaNews Group publisher told his employees in a memo warning of layoffs at his San Francisco Bay Area newspapers

(eastbayexpress.com). But how bad are things, really?

For starters, those circulation figures may not be as dire as they sound. A “significant portion” of the drop “results directly from the industry’s long-term, and arguably long-overdue, initiative to eliminate inefficient vanity and promotional circulation,” writes Allen Mutter on his blog, Confessions of a Newsosaur (newsosaur.blogspot.com).

That means newspaper companies are cutting out discounted subscriptions, free papers at hotels and delivery to far-flung locales, none of them particularly appealing to advertisers and increasingly seen as not worth the cost.

Just as the lackluster circulation numbers were being dissected, the Newspaper Association of America released the results of a study it commissioned showing that when Internet readership is counted, the newspaper audience is actually way up — nearly 8 percent over all from February 2005 to March 2006 (naa.org).

But the study does not mention that newspapers still haven’t figured out how to make a healthy profit from Internet readership. Cluttered, hard-to-navigate newspaper sites proliferate. And many sites force readers to register, which Internet types say is counterproductive, when those readers can so easily go elsewhere for their news. In terms of the content itself, Louis Hau of Forbes.com thinks he has the answer: Look to New York City’s dueling tabloids, The Post and The Daily News. Even as most other papers had circulation declines, both tabloids picked up readers. The gains, Mr. Hau said, can be attributed to the fact that both papers “emphasize local coverage,” “offer stories you can’t get anywhere else,” “keep it short,” and present the news with “attitude” and “a point of view.”

Take a look at veeker.com

OK the assignment for next week is you send me a podcast (an audio file) as an attachment in an e-mail. I should be 30 second radio report on a news item that you find and report on. We looked at how this was done and how it is different then the reverse pyramid used in newspaper writing in class today on the video. This should be sent to me by Monday noon to a different e-mail address: carsurf@dragon.email.ne.jp. Hope to hear from you on Monday. See you in SecondLife or on Thur.

US Slips Again In Freedom of the Press Ranking |
| from the gosh-at-least-citizen's-rights-aren't-being-eroded dept.|
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Tuesday October 24, @07:39 (The Media)|
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/24/047209 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]npwa writes to tell us Reporters Without Borders has released their
annual [1]worldwide press freedom index. While developing nations like
Haiti and Mauritania continue to gain ground developed nations like
France, Japan, and the US continue their downward spiral. From the
article: "The United States (53rd) has fallen nine places since last
year, after being in 17th position in the first year of the Index, in
2002. Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply
deteriorated after the president used the pretext of 'national security'
to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his 'war on
terrorism.' The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 US
states, refuse to recognise the media's right not to reveal its sources,
even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all
with terrorism."

Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/10/24/047209

Links:
0. mailto:nalmassy@yahoo.com
1. http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=639

Check this out for next class you will be resposible for a knowlegeable discussion on the topic:
BENEFIT DEDICATED TO SLAIN REPORTER, NOBEL WINNER
Acclaimed Canadian and international writers are in Toronto to pay
tribute to a slain journalist, honour courageous writers and celebrate
freedom of expression at PEN Canada's annual benefit.
FULL STORY:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts-books/national/2006/10/20/pen-benefit.html

Two things for and before next Thur. class. The writing assignment for this week is for you to chose a beat that you think you would like to cover and write a story from that beats point of view. The journalism video covered some of the common beats but you can use your imagination and think of others. Second thing is SecondLife. Meet me there over the next week- Sunday and Monday would probably be best as I'll be on site (second life) more of the time on those days, although most nights between 9:30-10 p.m. Good Luck.;>}

On Tuesday, November 7th at 3rd period (Room to be announced) we will be hosting a distinguished visiting lecturer, the best-selling author of children's books, Lynne Reid Banks. The most famous of her works is the classic _The Indian in the Cupboard_, which has sold over ten million copies worldwide and was made into a feature film in 1995. According to her official bio at "She was born in London in 1929 and was an actress in the early 1950’s; later she became one of the first women TV news reporters in Britain. She has written forty books – her first, _The L-Shaped Room_, was published in 1960." [Of course, Night School students are welcome to attend the lecture if they're free at the time and don't mind making the journey to the Sagamihara Campus. Some of the students in Nibu have never been to the Sagamihara Campus and might like an excuse to visit.]

The assignment for next Tue. noon deadline is a story about animal rights that you research and write. I also want you to read through "The Weekly Spin" below. It is a valuable source for storys that don't often get widly published but should. The question for this week which you can e-mail the answer to carsurf@dragon.email.ne.jp, for extra credit is: What is liguistic framing? That would be a good subject for an academic paper. Send me your answers by this Sunday for cridit. See you next week. Clark
From: weekly-spin@prwatch.org
Subject: The Weekly Spin, October 11, 2006
Date: October 12, 2006 11:04:23 PM JST
To: cmd+weekly_spin-46979@lists.democracyinaction.org
Reply-To: weekly-spin@prwatch.org


THE WEEKLY SPIN, October 11, 2006

Sponsored by the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy:
http://www.prwatch.org

To support our work now online visit:
https://www.groundspring.org/donate/index.cfm?ID=2344-0|1118-0

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THIS WEEK'S NEWS

== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. Zigging and Zagging on Cutting and Running
2. Remember Those Term-Limit Pledges?
3. Accuracy of Report on Video News Releases Affirmed: CMD Issues Full Rebuttal of RTNDA Claims

== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
1. Hiding 600,000 Dead Iraqis
2. Spinning Bout the Nukes in the Bay
3. U.S. Army: From 'One' To 'Strong'
4. First Soda, Now School Junk Food: Clinton Deal Claims Lower-Cal Crunch
5. CMD's 2005 Annual Report Available On Line
6. PR or School Teachers? Maldives Party Asks
7. Blowing in the Wind
8. Hill & Knowlton Challenged Over Maldives Work
9. Losing Afghanistan Twice Over
10. European Drug Pushers
11. Burson Backs Licensing PR Professionals
12. Covering Up for Foley?
13. FCC Names Obesity/Food Marketing Task Force
14. The Best Book Ever?

--------------------------------------------------------------------

== BLOG POSTINGS ==

1. ZIGGING AND ZAGGING ON CUTTING AND RUNNING
by Sheldon Rampton

The Bush administration's use of the term "cut and run" to
caricature opponents of the war in Iraq is yet another example of
the attention that America's war party pays to rhetorical repetition
and linguistic framing at the expense of realistic discourse and
analysis. Bush himself has taken to using this catchprase
repeatedly. At a recent speech in Birmingham, Alabama, he declared
that "The party of FDR, the party of Harry Truman, has become the
party of cut-and-run." He repeated the charge a few days later, at a
political fundraising breakfast for California Congressman Richard
Pombo. "The Democrats are the party of cut and run," he said. "Ours
is a party that has got a clear vision and says we will give our
commanders and troops the support necessary to achieve that victory
in Iraq."
For the rest of this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5098

2. REMEMBER THOSE TERM-LIMIT PLEDGES?
by Elliott Fullmer

It's hard to believe that twelve years have passed since the Newt
Gingrich-led Republican Revolution of 1994.
In that year, GOP candidates launched a successful effort to
take control of both the House and Senate, something they had not
been able to accomplish in the previous forty-two years. Their
campaign focused heavily on the Contract with America, a list of
objectives that Republicans promised to pursue in Congress if
elected into the majority.
One of the key proposals of the document was the Citizen
Legislature Act, a measure which would amend the Constitution to
place limits on the number of terms members of both the House and
Senate could serve. The argument was that career politicians become
too distant from the people and need to be replaced by ?citizen
legislators.? In a show of support for the proposed amendment,
which eventually failed in the House, several GOP candidates pledged
to limit their own terms (independent of any legislation forcing
them to do so) if elected. Small numbers of candidates followed this
trend in future elections as well.
For the rest of this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5275

3. ACCURACY OF REPORT ON VIDEO NEWS RELEASES AFFIRMED: CMD ISSUES FULL REBUTTAL OF RTNDA CLAIMS
by Diane Farsetta

October 9, 2006 ? The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD)
released today a full rebuttal of claims made against its April 2006
report, "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed." The report
tracked television stations' use of video news releases (VNRs),
narrated pre-packaged segments produced by public relations firms
for their clients. The report documented 77 television stations
airing VNRs or related materials; not once did stations disclose the
client behind the segment. The report led the U.S. Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to launch an investigation of the 77
stations named, in August 2006.
Last week, the Radio-Television News Directors Association
(RTNDA), through the law and lobby firm Wiley Rein & Fielding, urged
the FCC to drop its investigation. RTNDA alleged that the
investigation has had "a chilling effect" on TV newsrooms. RTNDA
also issued a critique of CMD?s report that misrepresented and
distorted the substance of the report. CMD's full, point-by-point
rebuttal of the RTNDA critique is available online at:
www.prwatch.org/node/5282.
For the rest of this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5283

== SPIN OF THE DAY ==

1. HIDING 600,000 DEAD IRAQIS
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/world/middleeast/11casualties.html
Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber have a chapter in The Best War Ever
titled "Not Counting the Dead," reporting on how the US government
has chosen to hide the horrific impact of the US invasion and
occupation. Now the authors of a major study examined in the book
have a new study out. The New York Times reports, "A team of
American and Iraqi public health researchers has estimated that
600,000 civilians have died in violence across Iraq since the 2003
American invasion, the highest estimate ever for the toll of the war
here. ... It is the second study by researchers from the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. ... The study comes at a
sensitive time for the Iraqi government, which is under pressure
from American officials to take action against militias driving the
sectarian killings. In the last week of September, the government
barred the central morgue in Baghdad and the Health Ministry ? the
two main sources of information for civilian deaths ? from
releasing figures to the news media. Now, only the government is
allowed to release figures."
SOURCE: The New York Times, October 11, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5289

2. SPINNING BOUT THE NUKES IN THE BAY
http://www.sundayherald.com/58383
"Scotland's green watchdog played down the risks of radioactive
contamination at a popular coastal resort in Fife following an
11th-hour intervention by government spin doctors," reports Rob
Edwards. "Internal emails reveal the Scottish Environment Protection
Agency (Sepa) delayed and then altered a news release after it had
been described as 'not entirely helpful' by a senior Scottish public
relations official." The Sepa release announced a "hazard
assessment," which found that radioactive waste dumped decades ago,
after the closure of a naval air base, had resulted in 100 radiation
hotspots. The area includes "Scotland's largest sailing club and a
beach." The intervention by Scottish Executive PR official Neil
Trotter resulted in major changes to the release. The original
version estimated the likelihood of radioactive exposure to be
"around 1 in 900 a year for the whole beach, and around 1 in 90 for
the area with the greatest concentration" of waste. The published
version merely stated the "likelihood of harm ... is considered to
be low." Sepa denied that they had "tone[d] down" the release,
saying, "The content of Sepa press releases is decided by Sepa."
SOURCE: Sunday Herald (Scotland), October 8, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5287

3. U.S. ARMY: FROM 'ONE' TO 'STRONG'
http://adage.com/article?article_id=112420
"The Army spends more than $200 million annually on marketing -- the
biggest ad contract in the federal government," notes Advertising
Age. Ten months after winning the U.S. Army's main advertising
contract, the McCann Worldgroup firm announced the theme of its
first campaign: strength. "There's strong, and then there's Army
strong," explained a video from the firm. "There is nothing on this
green earth that is stronger than the U.S. Army." Like other
recruiting efforts, the Army's "strong" campaign "was developed to
specifically address not just those considering an Army career, but
family members and friends of potential recruits. Since the start of
the Iraq war, the U.S. military's advertising increasingly has
focused on convincing parents and peers that the choice of the
military career is a good one." The "strong" TV ads will start
airing November 9; print ads will run in 2007.
SOURCE: Advertising Age, October 9, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5286

4. FIRST SODA, NOW SCHOOL JUNK FOOD: CLINTON DEAL CLAIMS LOWER-CAL CRUNCH
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061006/ap_on_he_me/diet_school_snacks
"Kids will buy what they want. We just stop by the bodega on the way
home." So says one thirteen year old, unimpressed by what the adults
have just signed -- a "voluntary agreement" between five snack food
makers (Kraft, M&M Mars, Campbell Soup Co., Dannon, and PepsiCo),
the American Heart Association, and the Clinton Foundation in round
two of the former president's voluntary intiatives to discourage bad
eating habits in America's schools. The "deal" is this: where
schools agree to follow "Competitive Food Guidelines," vending
machines will stock only products that contain no more than 35
percent of their calories from fat, no more than 10 percent
saturated fat, and no more than 35 percent of sugar content by
weight. Although the guidelines have been commended, implementation
raises doubts. Janey Thornton, president of the School Nutrition
Association, said, "It has to have some enforcement behind it... .
[S]ome states have none and that's where I think the problem comes
in." The Center for Science in the Public Interest noted that local
schools and vending machine companies could completely ignore the
program. Gary Ruskin, director of Commercial Alert, criticized the
initiative as "a sham and a public relations stunt" by junk food
firms.
SOURCE: Associated Press, October 6, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5285

5. CMD'S 2005 ANNUAL REPORT AVAILABLE ON LINE
http://www.prwatch.org/pdfs/CMD_2005_Annual_Rpt.pdf
The Center for Media and Democracy's 2005 Annual Report is now
available online. Read CMD staff bios, descriptions of our projects,
a summary of media coverage we received in 2005, and our financial
statements. We appreciate the individuals and foundations that have
provided support for our work throughout the years. If you would
like to contribute to CMD, please click here to give through our
secure server.
SOURCE: CMD 2005 Annual Report
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5284

6. PR OR SCHOOL TEACHERS? MALDIVES PARTY ASKS
http://www.minivannews.com/news/news.php?id=2504
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has called for the termination
of Hill & Knowlton's contract defending the repressive government of
the Maldives. The MDP calculated that the PR firm has been paid
$800,000 over almost three years. "According to World Bank figures,
$800,000 is enough money to pay for the salaries of 290 Maldivian
secondary school teachers for a whole year," acting MDP President
Ibrahim Hussain Zaki stated in a media release. In response to
recent media coverage of Hill & Knowlton's role in the Maldives, Tim
Fallon posted a note on his blog defending his work as leading to
"seismic" changes in the Islamic nation. Dozens of visitors to the
blog aren't buying his story. "Why on earth would you help a brutal
dictator who has murdered his own people? This shows what kind of a
company Hill & Knowlton really is," wrote one.
SOURCE: Minivan News (Maldives), October 7, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5281

7. BLOWING IN THE WIND
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-rocketdyne6oct06,1,5612437,full.story
A five-year long study into the 1959 meltdown of a nuclear reactor
near Simi Valley in California has concluded that it could have
caused between 260 and 1,800 cases of cancer. The report could not
be more specific because the U.S. Department of Energy and Boeing,
the parent company of Rocketdyne, refused to provide the weather
data crucial to modelling where the radioactive pollution went. The
report states that Boeing officials told the researchers that the
wind data was proprietary information. "How can you possibly declare
a trade secret which way the wind blew on a certain day?" Dan
Hirsch, the co-chairman of the advisory panel that oversaw the
study, told the Los Angeles Times. At the time of the accident, the
lab issued a media statement claiming, "No release of radioactive
materials to the plant or its environs occurred, and operating
personnel were not exposed to harmful conditions."
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, October 6, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5280

8. HILL & KNOWLTON CHALLENGED OVER MALDIVES WORK
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1799467.ece
In an overview of the changes occurring in the Maldives, a cluster
of islands to the southwest of India, reporter Meera Selva sketches
how the repressive president, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, is failing to
respond to the either the democracy movement or the growing
influence of Islamic fundamentalism. "The government is aware that
the problems facing ordinary Maldivians may affect its tourism
industry, but its response has been cynical rather than hopeful,"
Selva writes. Tim Fallon from Hill and Knowlton's London office has
been working for Gayoom's government, to prevent a tourism boycott
in response to controversies over police brutality and the lack of
multi-party elections. Hill & Knowlton is reportedly on a ?13,000
(US$24,000) a month retainer. Speaking on BBC Radio, Maldives
democracy activist Jenny Latheef said, "I don't know why Hill &
Knowlton would support somebody like that. He's a dictator, a brutal
dictator."
SOURCE: The Independent (UK), October 5, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5276

9. LOSING AFGHANISTAN TWICE OVER
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/092506R.shtml
Some readers of Newsweek read a cover story in the October 2, 2006
issue titled "Losing Afghanistan: The Rise of Jihadistan," but not
readers in the United States. Editions destined for Asia, Latin
America, and Europe provided an in-depth analysis of the situation
in Afghanistan and the failures of the U.S.-led war such as, "The
harsh truth is that five years after the US invasion on Oct. 7,
2001, most of the good news is confined to Kabul, with its choking
rush-hour traffic jams, a construction boom and a handful of
air-conditioned shopping malls. Much of the rest of Afghanistan
appears to be failing again. Most worrisome, a new failed-state
sanctuary is emerging across thousands of square miles along the
Afghan-Pakistan border: 'Jihadistan,' it could be called." Readers
in the U.S. instead were given a retrospective of the career of
photographer Annie Leibovitz.
SOURCE: TruthOut.org, September 25, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5278

10. EUROPEAN DRUG PUSHERS
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15046930/
The drug industry is hopeful that it will succeed in watering down
the European Union's ban on direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) of
pharmaceuticals. Draft proposals from a working group, which
includes members of the European Commission and the drug industry,
have proposed a public-private partnership to provide patient
"information" on prescription medicines. It is a prospect that
horrifies the medical watchdog group Health Action International
(HAI). In response (pdf) to the latest EU push, HAI stated, "The
pharmaceutical industry is in no position to provide the information
people want, need and deserve; information that is unbiased,
reliable and comparative." In 2004 a push to weaken the EU's DTCA
ban was overwhelmingly rejected. HAI reports that one of the
European Union members of parliament defended the latest move on the
grounds that "70% of the current MEPs were new to their positions."
SOURCE: MSNBC, September 28, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5274

11. BURSON BACKS LICENSING PR PROFESSIONALS
http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/article/596797/Burson-calls-PR-industry-counter-bad-publicity/
Harold Burson, the founder of Burson-Marsteller, has flagged his
support for the licensing of PR professionals. "It would overcome
the derogatory manner in which we are depicted in the news media,"
he told a PR conference in India. The idea of licensing of PR
practitioners has a long history within the profession. PR industry
pioneer Edward Bernays supported it, while Burson previously opposed
it. In a speech in 1992, Bernays argued that without a system of
licensing, a set of guiding principles and "a strict ethical code,
PR will be relegated to an increasingly diluted status and waning
importance in our society."
SOURCE: PR Week (sub req'd), October 5, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5273

12. COVERING UP FOR FOLEY?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/washington/05hastert.html
Republicans in the U.S. Congress continue to grapple with the
controversy surrounding the resignation in disgrace of Rep. Mark
Foley. Former Foley chief of staff Kirk Fordham, who subsequently
became chief of staff to Rep. Tom Reynolds (chair of the National
Republican Congressional Committee), has resigned following reports
that he tried to stop ABC News from reporting on the sexually
explicit chats that Foley had with teenagers about the Grand Old
Party in his pants. But Fordham seems unwilling to play the role of
fall guy in the cover-up scandal. In a news conference he told
reporters that he had been warning people about Foley since 2003 or
earlier, holding "more than one conversation with senior staff at
the highest levels of the House of Representatives, asking them to
intervene when I was informed of Mr. Foley?s inappropriate
behavior." As the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz observes, "That's
what's driving this whole thing, the sense that key Republicans were
more concerned with the politics of the Foley mess than protecting
the teenagers he was hitting up online."
SOURCE: New York Times, October 5, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5270

13. FCC NAMES OBESITY/FOOD MARKETING TASK FORCE
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060928/ap_on_he_me/food_ads_kids;_ylt=AhJ8mx7X
Citing "a public health problem that will only get worse unless we
take action," Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin
Martin announced a joint task force on child obesity. The task force
currently brings together mostly corporate and conservative members,
including Walt Disney, media watchdog Parents Television Council
(which recently lauded General Mills for "family friendly
advertising" and specializes in indecency complaints to the FCC),
and the Beverly LaHaye Institute, which opposes sex trafficking,
promotes abstinence and attacks feminists. Sesame Workshop and
Children Now reportedly have also been invited to participate.
Children Now's board chair is marketing consultant and former ad
exec Jane Gardner. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), who urged Martin to
create the task force, said that he did not consult with any other
members of Congress. In the press conference announcing the task
force, Sen. Brownback appeared to propose his own conclusion to the
task force's work: further voluntary restrictions, rather than FCC
regulations on media marketing to children. "If we start down the
road of saying we're going to limit everything and we're going to do
it with a regulatory regime, I think you get everybody in a quick
adversarial relationship." The Institute of Medicine of the National
Academies has already recommended specific food marketing
restrictions.
SOURCE: Associated Press, September 27, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5239

14. THE BEST BOOK EVER?

Haven't had a chance to buy our new book, The Best War Ever?
Wondering what it's all about? Click here to read exclusive passages
from the book. Chapters excerpted include "Not Counting the Dead,"
"Rewriting History," and "Big Impact." We hope you'll take this
opportunity to whet your appetite and will go on to read the book in
its entirety. You can order it online, or ask your local bookseller
if they have it in stock. And after you read it, please consider
posting a review on Amazon to encourage others to read this
important book. And don't forget to visit The Best War Ever website
to watch the great four minute flash video about the book!
SOURCE:
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5265

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| Ask an Expert About the Future of 'Citizen Journalism' |
| from the mainstream-media-is-quaking-in-its-boots dept. |
| posted by Roblimo on Monday September 25, @12:20 (Media) |
| http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/25/1510234 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

People ranging from [0]Doc Searls to [1]J.D. Lasica to [2]Dan Gillmor to
[3]Craig Newmark have talked about how "citizen journalism" is
supplanting and/or augmenting professional reporting. (FYI: One of the
groundbreaking moments in "citizen journalism" happened right here on
[4]Slashdot.) This week's interviewee, NYU professor [5]Jay Rosen, is not
only a long-time proponent of [6]civic journalism, but has now started
[7]NewAssignment.net with seed money from Craig Newmark, a $10,000 grant
from the [8]Sunlight Foundation and, last week, $100,000 from [9]Reuters.
Jay Rosen is obviously not just an academic or theoretician, but is
actually doing things, which means he can answer almost any question you
may have about citizen (or civic) journalism. Usual Slashdot
[10]interview rules apply.

This story continues at:
http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/25/1510234

Discuss this story at:
http://interviews.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/09/25/1510234

Links:
0. http://www.searls.com/dochome.html#Bio
1. http://jdlasica.com/aboutjd.html
2. http://citmedia.org/blog/
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Newmark
4. http://features.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/10/07/120249&tid=149
5. http://www.poynter.org/profile/profile.asp?user=102644
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_journalism
7. http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/07/25/nadn_qa.html
8. http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/09/07/slt_gift.html
9. http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/09/20/rts_gft.html
10. http://slashdot.org/faq/interviews.shtml

PUT THIS DOWN ON YOUR SCHEDULE---DEC.4TH A MONDAY IS THE ASAHI SHIMBUN TOUR. THIS IS WORTH 50 POINTS FOR THE COURSE AND EVERY EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE TO ATTEND.

We will be looking at one of the great photojournalists in class next week. Although you will hear Larry Towell denia that he is one, he is! Maybe a more delicate Thompson. He comments that..."Poetry is literature with the water squeezed out of it." Kind of like journalism although we usually allow and want some of the H2O. He added to the last quote that.."When you go into the world you edit much more." That's the KISS of it. You might want to look at the web site for a preview at >http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/

Next weeks assignment is to write a movie or book review. You should mention the directors name and the main characters and actors. Discribe the story and then comment on how well everyone did their job. Deadline is noon on Tue. to carsurf@yahoo.com.

Have some sympathy for the guys running the show. It is in everyones best interest for there to be a sucessful conclusion to the war in Iraq. The trouble is that no one seems to know what is happening, let alone have solutions. Getting the information is difficult or as the opinion below from the Weekly Spin has in impossible.
IRAQ "98 PERCENT OFF-LIMITS" FOR PRESS CORPS
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003122985
"Everyone is kind of groping around in the dark," says New York
Times senior correspondent Dexter Filkins on his return from
reporting in Iraq. Despite employing 70 Iraqi staffers, the civil
war there (Filkins doesn't hedge--"Yeah, sure" it's a civil war) has
meant the Times cannot safely access stories. Its own five
correspondents primarily spend their time pasting together reports
by the Iraqi staff, protected by a small army of 45 security guards,
armored cars, and belt-fed rooftop machine guns. "Nobody trusts
anybody anymore. There's no law, and the worst people with guns are
in charge." The Iraqi reporters know that if their association with
the Times is revealed they may pay with their lives, Filkins told
the Committee to Protect Journalists at a September 14, 2006, talk
in Manhattan where he is preparing to serve a U.S. fellowship. His
advice to other reporters thinking about covering Iraq: "Don't go."
Filkins said that the U.S. military is similarly hamstrung in
getting quality information: soldiers rarely leave their bases and
don't interact much with average Iraqis. Ninety-eight percent of
Iraq, including Baghdad, is too dangerous for reporters to cover, he
said.
SOURCE: Editor and Publisher, September 16, 2006 (sub req'd)
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5227

Your assignment for next week,deadline Monday, is to write a news story about the news you personally thought the most important over the last summer. If appropriate find original sources rather then use just a news story, if it is a news story that you will use. The three new people, two of which have had trouble, should write an introduction to their blogs. If you still have problems we will work them out in the next class. See you next Thur. Clark

Information, news,public relations and propaganda. What are the differences between them? Try to think about this and define what each of the headings ie. info, news, etc. means.
GOVERNMENT PR: YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK
http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=2060330
"Agencies across government are under increasing pressure to sway
public opinions -- either to win funding from Congress, to satisfy
customers, to recruit new employees, to educate the public about new
programs, to minimize fallout from controversial policies," writes
Mollie Ziegler. With more U.S. federal agencies "applying
sophisticated public relations tools and tactics," government
spending on PR and marketing services skyrocketed from $39 million
in 2001 to more than $400 million for 2006 to date. For example, the
Federal Aviation Administration "hired a PR consultant last year to
help it put a more positive face on its decision to outsource 2,500
jobs, the biggest outsourcing deal yet by an agency." The Defense
Department hired consultants to survey college students, to improve
their branding and recruiting materials. And agencies are still
putting out video news releases, though the Government
Accountability Office ruled that segments that don't make their
government source clear are illegal covert propaganda.
SOURCE: Federal Times (U.S.), August 28, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5127

| Fake News Stories Probed |
| from the truthiness dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday August 16, @20:24 (The Media) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/16/2327242 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

An anonymous reader writes "From the article: "The U.S. Federal
Communications Commission has begun an [0]investigation of the use of
video news releases, sometimes called "fake news," at U.S. television
stations. Video news releases are packaged stories paid for by businesses
or interest groups. They use actors to portray reporters and use the same
format as television news stories.""

Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/08/16/2327242

Links:
0. http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/08/16/fake-news-probe.html

The ever present danger of Big Brother manipulating public discourse and perceptions is well illustrated here. Orwell we didn't really expect this, but should have.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| PR Firm Behind Al Gore YouTube Spoof? |
| from the new-intarweb-trolls dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Sunday August 06, @18:11 (Republicans)|
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/06/209244 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

mytrip writes to tell us ABC News is reporting that a supposed amateur
video posted to YouTube.com may have actually been designed and posted by
a Republican [0]public relations firm called DCI. From the article:
"Public relations firms have long used computer technology to create
bogus grassroots campaigns, which are called 'Astroturf.' Now these firms
are being hired to push illusions on the Internet to create the false
impression of real people blogging, e-mailing and making films."

Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/08/06/209244

Links:
0. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2273111&page=1

Here are the first few paragraphs of a well thought out medium long article on, what the writer believes is, the pathetic state of techno journalism. Think about it - read the whole article if you'd like and then think about it some more, and tell me - is he right?
7-28-06
Column: Get That Out of Your Mouth #27
The Next Gonzo Journalism
Column by Chris Dahlen
I keep hearing the same gripe from the critics of the critics of pop culture: Today's writers eat it. Nobody knows how to cover music, or movies, or video games, or any of the other media that matter. We need someone to swoop in and save us: We need a new Lester Bangs, or a new Hunter S. Thompson-- one of those guys who made criticism and alternative journalism seem so vital back in the 1960s and 70s. Where they hell did they go?
Chuck Klosterman writes in Esquire about the failure of the gaming press to cough up a single critic who embodies whatever Bangs was doing when he told people to listen to the Troggs. Old school fans of music crit watch the field slip into the morass of mp3 blogs, message boards, and kids who just shout, "Hey, can you YSI that to me?" every time a new album leaks-- and they wonder, what happened to the great critics? They want a tastemaker, a voice of authority, who can put it all in perspective and knock our heads together with his or her crazy-yet-dead-on arguments.

But I think I've found the answer: We don't have a new Bangs or Thompson yet because pop culture today is primarily a technology story. And we don't know how to write about technology.

Oh sure, we cover tons of stories about technology. We write up every new thing from could-be-big trends-- whatever happened to the podcast revolution, anyway?-- to tiny but buzzworthy ones, like that "personalized" Jessica Simpson download they're selling at Yahoo! Music. The problem is that every time we write about some new technology like podcasting, we go through the basic template-- explain how it works, decide whether grandmothers will care about RSS feeds, and so forth-- and we quote the same types of people: The early adopter, the industry analyst, the skeptic. And no matter what context the story falls into and how important the subject may seem, the overall tone is always the same: whatever it is, it's "neat."

Here is a very good article defending the newsworthyness of blogs and the choices we make when selecting news. It's written by the great Canadian Science Fiction writer and Creative Commons advocate Cory Doctorow and published by the Canadian Brodcast Corporation:
Truth and the Net
By Cory Doctorow


Trusting what you read on the internet is a dangerous prospect, but it beats the alternative. At least on the internet, you get to choose your bias.

You can't trust what you read online. You can't trust what you read in the paper. You can't trust what you see on TV, or hear on the radio. You can't trust what your friend swears her brother's girlfriend said is true.

You can't trust anything – not with the gospel, bet-your-life trust that you reserve for things like gravity and death and your family.

You never could.

But for a long time, it sure seemed like you could. It seemed like any enterprise to which the CRTC gave a broadcast licence would surely conduct itself with dignity, fairness and accuracy. Anyone with the wherewithal to put a newspaper in your door in the morning, or get a magazine onto the stands surely wouldn't risk seeming wild or foolish by publishing untruths.

In hindsight, we know how wrong that was. Look at the CBC's infamous "Hippie Bill" segment where a young William Gibson (later to become a world-famous science fiction writer, but even then something of a storyteller) guided a gullible camera crew around the hippie paradise of Yorkville, inventing hippie argot and "facts" about the hippie lifestyle.

CBC.ca archives video: Yorkville Hippie haven, 1967

Look at how the New York Times omitted mention of Stephen Colbert's virtuoso performance at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner, in which the comedian scorchingly denounced the press for its failure to address issues of moment in the Bush administration.

Consider the raft of woo-woo magazines advocating the use of crystal pyramids to improve gas-mileage, conspiracy books about alien abductions, racist monthly newspapers, nutjob talk-radio hosts, and the thousand other ways in which the truth is mangled, omitted, or reversed by the press. It's a truism that experts of all kinds wince when they see mainstream press coverage of their disciplines, anticipating the perennial clunkers, errors and mix-ups that characterize all generalist coverage of specialist subjects.

The most important difference between the internet and all the media that came before it is the cost of participation. On the internet, participation is pretty much free — or at least, it's in free-fall, with library terminals, cheap hardware, open WiFi and free training courses making the net available to ever-larger pools of people.

Almost anyone can participate. If having the money to run a publication was ever any kind of proxy for reliability, kiss it goodbye. You can't even count on a site's prominence as a barometer of its truthfulness. Wildly popular sites like the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia can be edited by anyone who comes upon them, anonymously, and those edits show up live the instant they're made.

Media scholar Clay Shirky calls the pre-internet era the "select, then publish" epoch. It was a time when industrialists hired editors to choose from among the pool of available accounts of the world and its workings and publish those that suited their taste best.

Now we're in the era of "publish, then select." Gone is the era of a few news outlets who divide the pool of advertising dollars into substantial chunks and use those chunks to staff a newsroom full of investigative reporters.

Good riddance. We've got something better in "publish, then select" land. Investigative bloggers like Kathryn Cramer — whose hobby is tracking the movements and deeds of mercenary armies — post their initial impressions of a story, with whatever details they've gleaned. A horde of readers converges on the post and sends her corrections, argument, accord, evidence, and opinion. Cramer sifts through this to find what she considers credible and coherent, and adds new posts. In this incremental fashion, a truth emerges. Not the only truth (lots of the subjects of Cramer's posts strenuously object to them and tell her so on her site and on their own), but a truth nevertheless.

Other collaborative projects like Wikipedia — an encyclopedia with more than one million entries that anyone can edit — go one further, deploying elaborate tool-suites so that readers can, with a little effort, see who contributed what to which Wikipedia posts and when. Wikipedia articles are just the surface, beneath which lurks a palimpsest, revealing the chatter, denunciations, and consensus-building that yielded the current version of the truth.

Wikipedia gets it wrong all the time. So do bloggers. But then, so do newspapers, magazines, TV and radio. The interesting thing about systems isn't how they perform when they're working to specification, it's what happens when they fail.

Blogs, Wikipedia, and other online media fail gracefully indeed. When a newspaper gets a story wrong, it can take 24 hours to get a correction out – if it corrects it at all. There's no ready way to link criticism of a newspaper article with the article itself. Certainly, you can't make the edits yourself.

But if you find an error in a Wikipedia entry, you can fix it yourself. You can join the discussion about whether a blogger got it wrong. Automated tools like Technorati link together all the different blogs discussing the same topic, turning them into a conversation.

As advertising dollars are gobbled up by Google, Craigslist and eBay, major media outlets are slashing their newsrooms and their editorial staff, making do with generic syndicated material off the wires, contracting "truth" to a few accounts, a few biases. Meanwhile, "citizen journalists" of publish-then-select are discovering that you can fact-check on the cheap, without a Chumcity or Torstar building behind you, provided you do so *after* you go to press.

The news isn't just something your audience/funders receive in completed parcels. It's something they come to understand by looking at the story from many angles, through a multiplicity of online sources.

A public service broadcaster that wants to truly provide a service to the public can do better than merely producing yet another account of events. It can provide tools to help its audience explore the story as it emerges.

Imagine a future where "public service" news is a set of collaborative online tools that help citizens piece together coherent accounts of events as they unfold: message-boards that let you fly over to get the gist of the conversation, or drill down to see the nitty-gritty of individual discussions. Something that helped users create persistent identities through which their contributions could be permanently linked over time. Something that turned the news into a palimpsest where every buried body could be disinterred and examined for wounds.

Most of all, a public service broadcaster could be the repository for the raw materials of the news: public, freely reusable databases of geodata, audiovisual news morgues, and user-created AV materials that the broadcaster could host permanently in a stable archive. As public service broadcasters around the world developed comparable archives, these could be reciprocally linked, giving Canadians access to the BBC, Britons access to Deutsche Welle, Germans access to Radio France. If bloggers and other citizen journalists represent a future for newsgathering and reportage, public service entities like the CBC should be working to fill in the infrastructure gaps that presently stand between them and a well-rounded, wide-ranging, timely and balanced view of the news.

Meanwhile, it's not sloppiness that compels a blogger to publish before all the facts are in hand. The way a blogger gets all the facts on hand is by publishing, attracting a discussion, and figuring out what's really going on, as best as anyone can figure it.

It's a lot of work, getting to the truth. Reading the newspaper is easy. Choosing whose news to believe is hard — but if it's the truth you're after, and not just some dominant narrative du jour, there's no getting around it.

Do you share Cory Doctorow’s view about the truth of what you read online? Are "citizen journalists" making the online world more trustworthy?

Share your comments »

Cory Doctorow (www.craphound.com) was born in Toronto and lives in London, England. He is a science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist and co-editor of the weblog Boing Boing (www.boingboing.net). Doctorow is a contributor to Wired, Popular Science, MAKE, the New York Times and other newspapers, magazines and websites. He is a former director of European affairs for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit civil liberties group that defends freedom in technology law, policy, standards and treaties. He currently serves on several boards and advisory boards including Participatory Culture Foundation and Technorati, Inc.

Doctorow was a keynote speaker at the CBC.ca Web Ed 2006 conference. He spoke on the limits of copyright online.