In the weekend’s Sunday Telegraph, Glenn Milne reported a relationship between two MPs. This isn’t even news to Canberra insiders, says Bernard Keane, and it shouldn’t be news for anyone: there is no public interest.
Journalistic standards
How much did Gawker pay for its Balloon Boy exclusive?
Media gossip site and unapologetic fans of chequebook journalism Gawker beat the mainstream media to the weekend’s big scoop with its exclusive “I Helped Richard Heene Plan a Balloon Hoax” — but how much did they pay for the privilege?
NewsHour bumps regular economist for a rapping economist
PBS’s (and SBS’s) NewsHour with Jim Lehrer recently cancelled an appearance by economist Richard Rahn in favour of another economist — not one who was better qualified, but one who was prepared to deliver his points in rap form.
Lifting the game in video-game journalism
Video game journalism is crying out for help, says Patrick Brosnan. The average gamer is now 33 years old, but the journos are still writing for attention-deficient 13-year-olds. It’s time the industry grew up.
Great moments in journalism: America’s Next Top Pundit
The Washington Post is running a contest to find “America’s Next Great Pundit”. Contestants will face-off in a series of challenges, judged by Post staff, and readers will vote on who wins a coveted byline with the paper. No matter who wins, journalism is the loser.
Obama calls Kanye West a jackass; internet explodes
US President Barack Obama labled rapper Kanye West a “jackass” in off-the-record “banter” with journos yesterday. But one reporter just couldn’t help Tweeting it. Cue internet meltdown.
Video of the Day: Can the media be trusted to tell the truth?
Can we trust the press to choose facts over finances? Julian Burnside, John Fairfax, Jonathan Holmes, Simon Longstaff, Catharine Lumby, Stephen Mayne and Mark Scott debate the issue of truth in media.
Salute to The Sun: masters of errors and corrections
Craig Silverman, editor of the Regret The Error blog, which tracks newspaper errors and retractions, pays tribute to the frequent and farcical mistakes made by UK’s The Sun, offending gypsies, bus drivers and Sharon Osbourne.
Tough times for truth seekers
Between Birthers and town hall hellraisers yelling about “death panels”, America’s media watchdogs find it hard to get their voices heard over the mountain of myths and misconceptions permeating the country’s political thinking.
Busting the media’s bogus “trends”
It’s a classic lazy page-padding tactic of the press: find a few interesting but isolated anecdotes, and declare them a “trend”. Jack Shafer tackles the latest media-fabricated fashions, including “potbellies are back” and “coffee shops are banning laptops”.
The case for non-objective journalism
Remaining wholly objective is considered a fundamental tenant of quality journalism — but perhaps it’s time reporters started connecting and collaborating with their subjects, in order to preserve an even more important value: the truth. Writer Courtney E. Martin makes the case.
Gossip Cops to patrol celebrity news
The folks behind Mediaite have just launched GossipCop.com, a watchdog for celebrity news and gossip sites. “Think of it as TMZ meets Smoking Gun. Or maybe Perez Hilton meets Columbia Journalism Review” says the creator.
Madoff and Michael: the media circus is in town
The double feature of Michael Jackson’s death and Bernie Madoff’s imprisonment may have had us riveted, but the coverage went well beyond the parameters of acceptable journalism, argues Jon Friedman.
News Corp and Fairfax not the future of journalism
The future of journalism rests with journalists, not with the owners and managers of the processes of capital designed to deliver journalism, writes Dr John Cokley.
Crikey Says: Crikey Says
What happens when the editor of an important newspaper loses the confidence of his journalists?
New Matilda / Monday, 2 November 2009
Newspaper editors’ new schtick appears to be giving column inches to commentators whose words are controversial, but intellectually barren, says Jason Wilson. It may pull in more readers, but ultimately, it damages the masthead.