The title of a Wired piece revealed the ambition of Wikileaks, the document-leaking site: “Immune to Critics, Secret-Spilling Wikileaks Plans to Save Journalism … and the World” Said Editor’s Weblog: “Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, says his document-leaking site is helping journalists change the world … “For investigative journalists, this powerful new resource has the…
I expect journalists have always felt like ink-stained wretches at times — and especially now, with the Internet having devoured not only tens of thousands of our jobs, our hopes for financial security, and even the ink. The Poynter Institute’s Butch Ward offers some words of solace: “Remember how talented you are: You can write.…
Critics of a New York Times investigative story about a CIA interrogator, whom it named, say it “has made him a marked man.” Scott Shane, the reporter, and his editors said that using the name was necessary for credibility. The Times’ Public Editor Clark Hoyt weighs the issues, and concludes: “I understand how readers can…
Christopher Hitchens, a Washington-based journalist known for his support of the Iraq war and the U.S. war on terror, has subjected himself to waterboarding. The experiment was done in answer to critics who challenged him to try it after he defended U.S. treatment of Muslim prisoners, reported CBC News, which interviewed Hitchens about his upcoming…
Former Wall Street Journal editor Marcus Brauchli has been named executive editor of The Washington Post, stepping into the large shoes of the legendary Leonard Downie, Jr. Brauchli was briefly the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, but resigned shortly after Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. bought WSJ owner Dow Jones. Brauchli’s resignation — and…
Human Rights Watch has released a new report, “China’s Forbidden Zones: Shutting the Media out of Tibet and Other ‘Sensitive’ Stories.” It said China’s government “continues to block and threaten foreign journalists despite repeated promises to lift media freedom restrictions ahead of the Olympic Games.” Excerpts from the press release: — Local Chinese-language media is…
Canadian Press reports that a former energy-industry lobbyist and Reform party activist is expected to become Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s new communications director. An excerpt of the CP story: “Highly placed sources tell The Canadian Press that (Kory) Teneycke will take over Monday from Sandra Buckler, who announced her resignation June 26.” Kory Teneycke seems…
A release from the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada said online ad revenues in Canada rose some 38 per cent, to more than $1.2 billion, between 2006 and 2007. A hopeful sign? Or such a drop in the bucket that it’s really water torture for journalists suffering the transition from print to web.
I feel a little bit mean posting this, but it’s such a perfect example of why journalists have lost respect with the public (in this case anyone with basic science knowledge) that I’m going to post it. I had an email from This magazine, asking for donations to fund This’s investigative journalism. An excerpt: Dear…
Thought for the week: “Perhaps a nation can function without newspapers. But it would be a confederacy of dunces.”