Results matching “not responsible for comments”

Earlier this month, Mayhill Fowler, a citizen journalist, had reported comments made by U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama, describing rural, white voters as "bitter," to Huffington Post's blog "Off the Bus." Guardian America editor Michael Tomasky believes there is a need for blogging rules and questions the ethics of citizen journalism, while Jeff Jarvis of the blog Buzzmachine has similar beliefs as Robert Niles that "nothing is off-the-record anymore" and that citizen journalists are now necessary.

Jarvis: "Openness for all"
Jarvis begins by saying that rules are "corrupting" for journalism. Journalists should not engage in off-the-record talks and list unnamed sources because they should not help public officials hide anything from the public. Though some exclusives may be lost, there will be more stories with more openness and more reporting, "and politicians will learn that anything and everything they say and do can (and should) be reported," according to Jarvis. 

Furthermore, Fowler knew Obama's remarks "would be newsworthy," says Jarvis, and though she is an Obama supporter, she chose to let the public know about those remarks so that they could form their own opinions. Also, even if Fowler did not blog for the Huffington Post, she could have reported the story through YouTube or other platforms.

Essentially, journalism is evolving, says Jarvis, with coverage expanding from journalists, witnesses, readers, bloggers, etc.  "Journalism becomes less of a product and more of a process," he remarks.

Tomasky: "Call them "witnesses" and drop the whole conceit that they're journalists"
Though he embraces blogs, mostly for elevating debate, Tomasky cannot see the importance of knowing every single word public people say, since people misspeak and say things they don't really mean.

He argues that though "rules" may cause corruption and secrets, anonymity is sometimes the only way a source with important information will come forward, for example, the Pentagon Papers and intelligence assessments about Iraq before the war

Also, he concedes that most journalists would not be for "hiding" things from the public, but they would favor verifying something before it is published, which is "scarcely complicity in secret-keeping," but rather,  "just being responsible."

As for the Obama incident, Tomasky points out that Fowler got through the doors because she donated money to Obama's campaign, but "veteran journalists" were not allowed in the door. Had those journalists been allowed, they would not have kept those remarks secret.

Jarvis counters, "There's also a difference between verifying such a tip with reporting - which we'll all agree is necessary - and playing that tape-recording, which itself was the verification anyone needed. Obama's words and voice spoke for themselves."

He says that these "witnesses," or citizen journalists, now start the story with papers expanding on them and doing more in-depth research. Because veteran journalists may not be allowed through the door, they must rely on "witnessing," which "will still add up to journalism in the end."

Tomasky remarks that "it's a little sneaky and sleazy to be a citizen ... and then getting to be a journalist for the purposes of writing it up."

Source: Guardian.co.uk

A second court ruling within days may mark a switch in policy over a commonplace Internet practice: anonymous – and scurrilous – posting. A website may be forced to reveal the identities of fans of the Sheffield Wednesday football club, who could face libel charges after posting comments about the club’s management.

The South African Beeld (along with Volsblad and Die Burger) publishes JIP, a weekly youth insert. Gavin Rheeder, Marketing Communications Manager, debunks five myths about young readership.

During the week of June 25-June 29, nytimes.com featured digital news editor Jim Roberts in the weekly Q&A column, “Talk to the Newsroom.”  Answering user-submitted questions, Roberts discussed issues concerning the “task at hand” for The New York Times, celebrity news, website usability, breaking versus traditional news, user-submitted content, and the future of newspapers.

Defamation, invasion of privacy, misappropriation of likeness and right of publicity, infliction of emotional distress and negligence are just some of the concerns facing newspapers which allow user comments on their sites, according to Robb S. Harvey, an attorney at Waller, Lansden Dortch & Davis. 

Avoiding legal liability for comments made on their website by users is one of the main reasons that the Guardian post-moderates and removes offending postings on its website.  With 3 million comments posted since 2004 this seems to be prudent.

Blogger Jeff Jarvis of buzzmachine “despises” the blogger code of conduct recently drafted by publisher Tim O’Reilly and other bloggers, and feels that the “well-intentioned but misguided effort is ultimately dangerous” to the nature of the blogosphere.

Though this development doesn’t relate directly to newspapers, it could be of interest now that many newspaper journalists are blogging, and since online ethics is a much-debated topic. Internet pioneer Tim O’Reilly (founder of O’Reilly Media) has drafted a code of conduct for bloggers, suggesting among other things that bloggers who use crude language warn readers.

USAToday.com is about to unveil its revamped version, starting this week-end. Upgrades will focus on building a community and developing a ‘network journalism’ concept, through increased interactivity, the use of personal profiles and more. This might be the next step for newspaper websites.

One of this year’s major trends in newsrooms was the generalized evolution of the newsroom itself, into what was dubbed ‘integrated newsrooms’. Gannett came up with its own innovative version though, the Local Information Center (IC). The Editors Weblog interviewed one of the main engines of this venture, Jennifer Carroll, Vice President of New Media Content at Gannett Corporation.

A California supreme court recently ruled that web sites are not responsible for distributing libelous material written by others on their web sites.  The court case has set a freedom of speech precedent for website user comments and postings.

In the run-up to the US mid-term elections, many news organizations have been using interactives in their website coverage, and often taking advantage of Flash technology to do it.  Are these graphics effective?  Are they worth all the trouble?  Digital media experts Alberto Cairo, Mindy McAdams and Laura Ruel give their assessment, and offer tips for future news website content producers.

On 19 October 2006, French broadcaster France 2 won a libel case over accusations it faked a report into the killing of Mohammed Al-Dura, a Palestinian boy whose death in 2000 became a symbol of the uprising known as the second intifada. The Court of First Instance in Paris ordered Philippe Karsenty, director of Media Ratings, a website that comments on the media, to pay France 2 and its Israel correspondent Charles Enderlin symbolic damages of one euro each. Immediately, Media Ratings made an appeal and there will be a new lawsuit.

French media - especially newspapers - supported a lot France Televisions (see former posting) and its journalist during the last six years. The Editors Weblog prefers to ask the other part about the consequences of this - first - judgment and what it reveals about fairness in French media.

Half a year after its launch, the new Dutch morning newspaper NRC Next is quickly making its way towards success. The tabloid newspaper, created to grow readership among young and smart adults, has reached a circulation of 70.000. This number is much more then the first minimum target of 40.000, which was set for the first year. About 70 percent of the readers belong to the primary target group: the well-educated, non-reader under the age of 35

In light of the Telegraph’s high-profile advancements into the digital age, the Guardian’s Kim Fletcher asks, ‘Who wears the trousers at the Telegraph?’  Fletcher’s column probes the idea that the paper’s recent developments have shaken that age-old certainty of the industry: the editor in chief.

Online advertising is frequently perceived as a major threat to newspapers, luring advertisers away from traditional print format — and in the UK, the fear seems to be justified. Web advertising is predicted to overtake ad spending in national newspapers by the end of the year, according to a report by GroupM that will be released next month.

The first edition of the ‘new’ Berliner Observer, Britain’s oldest Sunday paper, debuted yesterday, with a full color news section, new columns, and a beefed up sports section amongst other features.

The American press has been subjected to much criticism for its reporting on the events in a West Virginia coal mine that culminated in the deaths of 12 miners.

Many newspapers have been criticised for releasing editions on Wednesday 4, January containing the false information that 12 miners, involved in an accident resulting from an explosion, had been miraculously found alive.

DailyMail.co.uk now provides readers with a comment feature for all articles. The website claims to be the first of its kind to offer such a service.

Since the introduction of the comment feature in July, the number of submissions per week has reached 2000.