Journalism

Journalist Defends Misquoting Her Sources

I'm running this quote from syndicated newspaper columnist Penelope Trunk to make my wife -- and every other journalist I know -- cringe: As a journalist I hear all the time from people in business that they are misquoted. And you know what? People need to get over that, and I'm going to tell you why. ... If you do an interview with a journalist, don't expect the journalist to be there to tell your story. The journalist gets paid to tell her own stories which you might or might not be a part ... (read more)

2007/07/23

My Guess: Opie and Anthony are Screwed

The media's covering a tasteless sexual rant by a guest on Opie and Anthony's radio show Wednesday that was targeted at Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and First Lady Laura Bush, but no one's explaining what the guy said. I put the transcript and audio up on Watching the Watchers, so people can judge for themselves. I don't listen to the show, so I can't judge the comments in the context of what they do every day. I have trouble imagining a context in which the sentiments aren't ugly as ... (read more)

2007/05/11

Councilman: Stop Apologizing to American Indians

I filed my first story today for Watching the Watchers -- a Republican city councilman in Texas thinks its time to stop apologizing to American Indians: A Houston city council member said on his radio talk show that the U.S. should "stop the continuous apology for what was done to the American Indians" and drop federal programs and treaties that provide casino rights, educational support and welfare. Michael Berry, a Republican councilman in his third term and mayor pro tempore who hosts a ... (read more)

2007/04/02

Lee Padgett, the Blogger to Be Named Later

I'm pretty thick-skinned when it comes to criticism, because in eight years of blogging I've made the occasional gigantic mistake that sends my credibility crashing through the guardrails into a ravine like Toonces the Driving Cat. But a recent cheap shot by Paul McNamara, editor and blogger for Network World, has stuck with me: Cadenhead is a former newspaperman ... who appears to have forgotten a lot about the journalism business. (By the way, I worked for 20 years as a local newspaper editor ... (read more)

2007/03/23

Putting a Blogger's Identity on the Record

Network World blogger Paul McNamara covers the St. Augustine Record's attempt to out a local blogger, calling me a "former newspaperman ... who appears to have forgotten a lot about the journalism business." The Record, believing Padgett to be part of an organized political group out to unseat Rich, not merely a lonely pamphleteer voicing his displeasure with a public official, decided that making public Padgett's identity was the right to do. They were correct. While there may be a long-held ... (read more)

2007/03/11

Newspaper Asks Public to Identify Local Blogger

A Florida newspaper appears to have hit an all-time low in the relationship between bloggers and the media. The St. Augustine Record is asking the public to help expose the identity of a local blogger who recently started a site critical of county politicians. This evening, the paper's home page has a grainy surveillance photo of a man accompanied by this text: Who is this man? Believed to be connected to a politically charged but anonymously-run Web site targeting the character of members of ... (read more)

2007/03/08

Judge Censors Stories on Kansas City Power Company

A circuit court judge in Kansas City has issued a temporary injunction ordering two news sites to remove articles from their web sites published Friday about the city's Board of Public Utilities on the grounds the power company would be "irreparably harmed" by their publication. The articles, published by the Kansas City Star and The Pitch, describe a confidential document produced for the company in November 2004 that evaluates whether to tell the EPA that power plant upgrades did not comply ... (read more)

2007/03/06

Wikipedia Admin Loses His Religion

Seth Finkelstein covers the latest scandal to embarrass Wikipedia: a site administrator and Wikia employee who's been lying for years about his academic credentials. Ryan Jordan, a 24-year-old in Kentucky who's never taught a class, claimed on his Wikipedia bio and in an interview with the New Yorker to be a tenured professor of religion with four degrees: a bachelor of arts in religious studies, master of arts in religion, doctorate of philosophy in theology and doctorate in canon law. The ... (read more)

2007/03/01

Dancing Mortgage People Ate My Brain

My weblog entry on protecting yourself from dancing mortgage people attracted the attention of New York Times reporter Brad Stone, who tracked down Jennifer Uhll, the graphic designer who created the ads for LowerMyBills.Com. Whenever I see one of these ads, I'm reminded of the door-to-door meat salesmen who occasionally show up at my house offering steaks from a beer cooler in their trunk. Every time they do, I want to ask, "Who are the people keeping you in business?" I half expect to find ... (read more)

2007/01/18

Great Moments in Journalism with Michael Errington

Yesterday, Michael Arrington reported on TechCrunch that BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen is definitely on his way out at the company of the same name. He then bragged about how he and blogger Om Malik had scooped CNET: While CNET writers were all cozy in bed last night, Om and I were competing to break the Bittorent story. That's why blogs will win, and CNET will lose. Today, Arrington posted a correction: In a very tense conversation with Bram Cohen and BitTorrent's Director of Communications, ... (read more)

2006/11/30

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