The Australian appears to have decided to not publish the results of an opinion poll on voting intention in the wake of last week’s outlier that had Malcolm Turnbull gaining ground on Kevin Rudd.
Media ethics
News Ltd blurs the line between ads and editorial
Several News Ltd publications are treading a very thin line between advertising and editorial by offering special product spruiks for high-paying advertisers — including an endorsement from the editor themselves.
Provoking public figures for publicity
The Tele’s Katherine Keating story is part of an old media game, says Margaret Simons: provoke a public figure, then make their reaction the news
Keating on the stairs: beating or beat up?
Insiders say a Sunday Telegraph alleging Paul Keating’s daughter kicked and threatened to kill one of its photographers was at best a beat-up, and at-worst a total fabrication.
rumour 
Which high-profile war correspondent is also a spy?
Three anonymous military sources have separately claimed that a high-profile journalist currently working in a war zone is also a secret agent, according to Gawker.
Crikey Says: No neutral territory between Mike Rann and the media
The murky controversy surrounding SA premier Mike Rann is now a public, not a private, matter. The demilitarised zone between Rann, the media and the voters has been well and truly breached.
For the West it’s no story without Stokes
You can’t keep a good media proprietor down, writes Perth paper watcher Skink. Kerry Stokes has been gracious enough to appear in his own TV studio, and on the front page of his own paper.
Who mops up when news sources leak?Twitter’s unethical, according to the AFR’s new code
Staff at the Australian Financial Review are being asked to sign up to an ethics policy under which they could be disciplined — even sacked — for taking part in political debates.
LEAKED: How the US press became Blago’s best friend
After he was arrested for corruption last year, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich took a hammering in the US press as a dodgy slimeball. But behind the scenes, emails leaked to Gawker reveal the press-pack engaged in some serious brown-nosing to score an interview.
Censorship and cowardice at Conde Nast
Publisher Conde Nast has buried a story from GQ on possible connections between Vladimir Putin, the KGB and a series of 1999 bombings officially blamed on Chechen terrorists, keeping the piece off the web and out of Russia, for fear of reprisals.
Was the AP right to publish a soldier’s dying hours?
The AP has come under some heavy fire for publishing a photo of a deceased US soldier shortly after he was fatally wounded by a grenade in Afghanistan. The NYT’s Lens blog looks at the ethics and precedent of going public with such a private moment.
Media says “Nyet!” to self-censorship
While magazine publisher Conde Nast’s attempts — and initial success — in censoring a story in GQ magazine are troubling, but it’s at least reassuring that GQ’s editors didn’t take it lying down, says Julian Sanchez.
When sports pundits are also punters
In a recent survey of sports writers, 40% of those polled admitted to betting on sports — though only 5% fessed up to taking a punt on the specific sport they cover. Are they gambling with their objectivity?
Berlusconi sues the European media
Irreverent Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi is launching legal action against a series of media outlets across Europe for their coverage of his private life, which his lawyer describes as an “intolerable campaign” of slander.
Invasion of privacy is not okay — even if it’s Kyle Sandilands’
Kyle Sandilands may have been one of the most repulsively cruel broadcasters in recent memory, but that doesn’t justify News Ltd tracking down and publishing the private financial arrangements between him and his banks, says Jeremy Sear
WSJ says no to embargoes
The Wall Street Journal will now only honour media embargoes when it has a story exclusively, says paidContent — embargoed stories sent to multiple media outlets are fair game.
A bridge too far in sub judice contempt
What is happening with the law of sub judice contempt? It seems to be becoming a movable feast, writes Margaret Simons.
Crikey Says: Crikey Says
Why we published audio snippets from that extraordinary meeting at The Age.
