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Herald taken to task on sexual-assault stories
John Carroll takes the Boston Herald to task for two stories about underage sexual-assault victims — one of whom is a 14-year-old girl described as allegedly having an “affair” with a 30-year-old...
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Off-duty reporters, political rallies and NPR
What does it mean to “participate” in a rally? It’s a question I’m asking myself after reading a memo from NPR management (via Romenesko) warning journalists to stay away from the Oct. 30 rallies being...
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Off-duty reporters, political rallies and NPR (II)
Management digs in deeper while still not explaining why off-duty reporters can’t attend and observe without participating. Will the next memo outline how much distance you have to keep from the crowd...
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Off-duty reporters, political rallies and NPR (III)
The Washington Post gets it right — or at least comes closer to getting it right. Michael Calderone reports.
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WikiLeaks and the media’s responsibility
Julian Assange The latest WikiLeaks document dump gives us all much to think about. Unlike the earlier materials, about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the latest revelations might actually make it...
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Dialing up outrage in New Haven
Michele Kearney Now, here is an interesting ethical dilemma. Last Friday morning, the New Haven Independent posted its final revision of a story reporting that the city’s police union had approved a...
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Beware the “Romenesko Effect”
Jim Romenesko Time was when a young journalist could recover from a lapse in judgment, learn from his or her mistake and get back on the career ladder. As NPR’s Nina Totenberg once said about having...
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How to drain the cesspool of news-site comments
Ethics of news site comments View more presentations from Dan Kennedy. I’m speaking to Professor Nick Daniloff’s Journalism Ethics and Issues class at Northeastern University tomorrow. Since the topic...
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Globe acknowledges lifting material from WBUR
The Boston Globe today admitted to “the use of material without attribution” in a recent editorial criticizing Vice President Joe Biden. The Aug. 17 editorial, which took Biden to task for his “put...
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When the news comes from agenda-driven sources
Palestinian refugees in Syria wait for food assistance. Yesterday morning I was talking with my students about the importance of independence in journalistic ethics. Today The New York Times reports...
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The 11th element of journalism
In Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel’s classic work “The Elements of Journalism,” they list nine (later revised to 10) qualities that define good journalism. These include principles such as an obligation...
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I will vote against Donald Trump. There, I said it.
Donald Trump in 2011. Photo (cc) by Gage Skidmore. Donald Trump represents a challenge on many levels. One of those challenges is to the traditionally independent role of journalists—even opinion...
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Should opinion journalists disclose whom they’re voting for?
Photo (cc) 2018 by Bill Smith Previously published at Poynter Online. We’re all familiar with newspaper endorsements. But what about individual journalists whose job descriptions include expressing...
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An ethical dilemma in Maine as a police officer pretends to be a reporter
Image (cc) 2008 via the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center Now here’s an ethical dilemma. In Livermore Falls, Maine, a man who had taken four people hostage in a home called a television news reporter who...
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Taking dictation from the police is no longer good enough. In fact, it never...
Photo (cc) 2013 by Victoria Pickering As you may have read elsewhere, the original police account of George Floyd’s death was mostly accurate yet completely false. It read in part: Officers were able...
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A Washington Post correction adds to confusion over Rudy Giuliani and the FBI
Rudy Giuliani. Photo (cc) 2019 by Gage Skidmore When you have to publish a correction, be forthcoming about it. The Washington Post failed to do that over the weekend, thus compounding the harm it had...
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NPR’s new policy on activism is smart — but will inevitably lead to confusion
Bonita Yarboro of Hamden, Conn., at the Boston demonstration against racism in August 2017. Photo (cc) 2017 by Dan Kennedy. Four years ago this summer, I walked alongside upwards of 40,000...
View ArticleAn ethical breakdown in Colorado shows the influence of the ‘Romenesko effect’
By now you may have heard about a remarkable 1,000-word retraction published by the Daily Camera of Boulder, Colorado, regarding a story about local residents’ memories of the terrorist attacks of...
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A curiously sourced story
Desirée Rogers, in White House kitchen, is to Michelle Obama's immediate right. The New York Times fronts an article by Peter Baker on the ugly departure of White House social secretary Desirée...
View ArticleHerald taken to task on sexual-assault stories
John Carroll takes the Boston Herald to task for two stories about underage sexual-assault victims — one of whom is a 14-year-old girl described as allegedly having an “affair” with a 30-year-old...
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