Results matching “article examine”

The Editors Weblog obtained an exclusive interview with Philippe Karsenty, who is currently appealing a 2006 verdict that found him guilty of libel, in a trial opposing him to French public broadcaster France 2 and journalist protégé Charles Enderlin. The hearing on Wednesday Feb. 27 lasted over six hours, but the court adjourned its decision to May 21.

According to Karsenty, France 2's Al Dura "coverage is the media's biggest masquerade to have had such impact." But he doesn't believe that the allegedly fraudulent report is representative of more widespread manipulations in media coverage.

Quick recap of the story: in 2000, France 2 diffused coverage obtained from a local camera man, and voiced over by Enderlin, of the death of a Palestinian boy, allegedly killed by Israeli fire, an iconic image which was widely reproduced thereafter and used as a symbol by pro-Palestinian propaganda.

In 2004, Karsenty's Media-ratings company accused France 2's coverage of being a hoax - for a plethora of reasons. Karsenty was subsequently taken to court and found guilty in October 2006 of defaming journalist Enderlin and his outlet, public broadcaster France 2. He appealed the decision and during the new hearings on Feb. 27, a lot of time was spent reviewing and discussing the video footage and images. And as a Weblog exclusive, you can read the ballistic report, which was commissioned by Karsenty.

Without going too deep into the details about the new trial, Karsenty argues that a lot of coverage produced at the time was staged with the help of the local population, and this seems to be confirmed by footage viewable on Honest Reporting, as well as footage shown in court. "On that day in Gaza, it was a film set," he says. Other major news organizations, including Reuters and the Associated Press, were present.



Are these kinds of manipulative or staged media practices widespread?

"I'm not generalizing," says Karsenty, who insists his only claims are about this specific report in those circumstances. But this event should bring attention to international news organizations' use of local correspondents and camera staffers, whose content the outlets must often trust at face-value, he said.

In fact, the France 2 camera man's footage was offered to CNN, which refused to initially air the report because it didn't obtain the guarantees of authenticity it was asking for.

Whether these media practices are widespread internationally Karsenty didn't say, but he argues they correspond to the media's situation in Palestine, "a situation where the media bends over to the rules of Palestinian authorities," he says (see here about the monitoring of coverage of the Oct. 12, 2000 lynch).

There is another intriguing issue in this affair: in the years since this controversy has started, few French traditional media have openly taken Karsenty's defense or been willing to place it high in the news agenda.

Blogs and independent media have increasingly covered the story, many of them outside of France though. According to Karsenty, a similar affair would have never dragged on as long in the US, because bloggers and truly independent media would have long dug out the truth (evoking Dan Rather and the Killian documents controversy).

What the Al Dura affair also shows is that France is (still) a "system with dominating media that don't recognize their mistakes," says Karsenty. He points out that of the few established blogs and 'independent' news outlets in France, those that are considered legitimate by traditional media, all are held by professional journalists and former journalists who have worked within traditional media.

But Karsenty refuses to see the Al Dura affair as the symbol of commonplace manipulative practices in the media. Nor was France 2's report symptomatic of showbiz-news and news agendas increasingly led by eyeballs and sensationalism. For him, this is simply the story of a local camera man who submitted a faulty report, which was picked up by a mainstream media organization and its well-respected journalist, both of whom didn't recognize their mistake.

According to Karsenty, a US website will shortly be publishing the 18 minutes of raw footage that France 2 showed in court (out of 27 minutes filmed by the camera man).

Karsenty says he is confident about the outcome of the appeal. The court will make its decision public on May 21.

Source: Philippe Karsenty - Metro - Le Monde - Tribune de Genève - Honest Reporting

The Guardian boasts UK’s most popular newspaper site, yet its newsroom has been traditionally non-integrated – till the paper moves to its new premises next fall. In Part 1, several editors give a few details about the ‘liberal-ed’ approach to integration and describe some of the recipes for Guardian Unlimited’s success.

Jose Antonio Vargas of the Washington Post examines Faye Anderson, a prominent citizen journalist, in order to examine citizen journalism, what exactly it is, the credibility issue, and where citizen journalism stands in the future.

Due to changes in website organization and technology, leading online-measurement service Nielsen/NetRatings will likely drop page views as its dominant Web metric, in favor of total time spent.

The closing of hyperlocal news outlet, BackFence, has prompted The American Journalism Review (AJR) to examine the benefits of local news sites, as well as the dangers that come with the territory, most notably dismal revenue figures.

The French daily Libération’s woes continue. The board of directors, meeting to examine an editorial reform project proposed by the Société civile des personnels de Libération (SCPL), or the Civil Society of Libération Staff, suspended its decision after the paper’s main shareholder, M. de Rothschild, deemed the plan economically unviable.

If you have only one article to read on this blog today, read this one written by Arthur Sulzberger Jr, chairman and publisher, and Russell T. Lewis, chief executive, The New York Times. Here is the beginning of their article: "Last Thursday, a federal district judge ordered a New York Times reporter, Judy Miller, sent to prison (see former posting). Her crime was doing her job as the founders of this nation intended. Here's what happened and why it should concern you." But in my opinion, this affair could be seen as a real gift to The New York Times: a few weeks ago Judith Miller was in a very uncomfortable situation - it's an understatement - after her "revelations" about suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq... and now she becomes a hero defending press freedom! Well done! (Nevertheless, I have always considered the First Amendment as a fantastic tool to protect journalists and I agree with some of the article's statements).

If you have only one article to read on this blog today, read this one written by Arthur Sulzberger Jr, chairman and publisher, and Russell T. Lewis, chief executive, The New York Times. Here is the beginning of their article: "Last Thursday, a federal district judge ordered a New York Times reporter, Judy Miller, sent to prison (see former posting). Her crime was doing her job as the founders of this nation intended. Here's what happened and why it should concern you." But in my opinion, this affair could be seen as a real gift to The New York Times: a few weeks ago Judith Miller was in a very uncomfortable situation - it's an understatement - after her "revelations" about suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq... and now she becomes a hero defending press freedom! Well done! (Nevertheless, I have always considered the First Amendment as a fantastic tool to protect journalists and I agree with some of the article's statements).

The "We Media" report from The Media Center at The American Press Institute is now available in HTML format. It begins strong and from page to page, it's even stronger: "We are at the beginning of a golden age of journalism — but it is not journalism as we have known it. Media futurists have predicted that by 2021, "citizens will produce 50 percent of the news peer-to-peer."
On behalf of the Media Center - API, We Media, the report is written by Chris Willis and Shayne Bowman of Hypergene, a media consulting and design firm.