The New York Times has raised the issue of he-said-she-said journalism. It should be discussed here, too, but it’s more complicated than media critics think.
Churnalism
Nice bit of gas-powered Churnalism
Why is Gladstone Observer and the Toowoomba Chronicle reprinting press releases for the Queensland Gas Company word for word and calling them news stories? asks Graham Readfearn
The shoddy craft of “churnalism”
“Churnalism” refers to the idea that the media is becoming increasingly drenched in PR related content lazily regurgitated by journos. It’s time we gave it more thought, writes Mr Denmore.
The media flogs Williams’ bloody corpse
Drug trafficker and hitman Carl Williams met his bloody demise in prison yesterday. It’s the story that has it all: murder, celebrity crims, betrayal, police corruption… but just how far will the nation’s papers go in celebrating the life and death of a murderer?
Spinning the Media: Pre-packaged journalism: just download!
PR companies are now delivering sound bites, interviews and footage straight to the journalist’s desk — and TV and radio news often run them unfiltered and unedited, writes Biwa Kwan.
Spinning the media: PR insiders on their ‘return on investment’
The public relations industry has its own term for churnalism: return on investment journalism. Sasha Pavey explains how PR executives have worked the current economic climate to their advantage.
Syndicated news goes A La Carte
CNN’s wire service, CNN Wire, is now offering newspaper editors the chance to buy individual stories for syndication — at $199 a pop. It’s like ordering off a menu instead of hiring a personal chef.
Facing some ugly truths about modern journalism
10,000 Words looks at 10 unfortunate realities of the modern media industry, like the unfortunate reliance on wire copy, the slipping standards of subediting, and the fact that no-one has the answers to fix it.
Pauline Hanson and me: a fake story
Okay, time for a confession, writes Jonathan Green.
Google lays in the boot over carbon footprint
If there’s one thing worse than journalists simply regurgitating figures from a press release, it’s journalists trying to do figures themselves, writes Ruth Brown.
The carbon footprint of lazy journalism
Think of all the carbon emissions that are saved by lazy editors and journalists who don’t bother fact-checking PR, writes Ruth Brown.
Infanticide in PNG: don’t let truth stand in the way of a good story
Media outlets around the world recycled a story from PNG last week about women murdering their male babies to end a tribal war. What a shame it wasn’t true, writes Eleri Harris.
The Atlantic / Thursday, 10 September 2009
How old video footage dug up by one man of then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor ended up running unquestioned on every major news network across the US, unfairly shaping the entire nation’s public perception of the judge. A case study in churnalism.