Journalism

Homefront Confidential

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has released an updated report chronicling the effects the war on terrorism has had on the public's right to know. The 89-page report, called "Homefront Confidential: How the War on Terrorism Affects Access to Information and the Public's Right to Know," outlines actions taken over the last two years by state and federal government agencies that limit the ability of journalists to do their jobs.

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Belated Courage

Following recent revelations that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency misled the public about air quality in New York following the 9/11 terrorist attack, the New York Daily News has been crowing about how columnist Juan González "was the first to sound the alarm" that ground zero was a toxic dump after 9/11. As Cynthia Cotts points out, however, the newspaper "was not always so crazy about González's scoop.

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Terms of Authority

Alternative sources of news such as the Internet have made readers "more assertive and far less in awe of the press" than before, writes Jay Rosen. He highlights the case of Chris Allbritton, a former AP and New York Daily News reporter who became "the Web's first independent war correspondent," raising donor funds to support his weblog reporting on Iraq. "The Internet did the rest," Rosen writes.

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Consumers Trust Media Reports Over Advertising

"A clear majority of American consumers are more likely to trust media reports than advertising, according to a nationwide poll conducted by consumer research company RoperASW last month," PR Week writes.
"The study ... showed that 68%
of participants place more weight on news coverage than advertising when determining their trust of individual companies. While just 23% of respondents said they consider the

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The Washington 'PR'ess Corps

"The U.S. media model works beautifully: For the governing, that is -- not the governed," writes Stephan Richter for the Globalist. "What is truly shocking about the state of the U.S. media today is that, to an amazing extent, the belief to restrict themselves to the facts -- as they are provided by the government -- is willingly accepted by the mainstream U.S. media. ... In most countries around the world, journalists choose their profession with a proud claim that they are part of a permanent opposition.

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One Hundred Days of Ineptitude

The vacationing George W. Bush recently said from his Crawford, Texas ranch, "We've made a lot of progress" in Iraq. The pronouncement was timed with the White House release of a 24-page report called "Results in Iraq: 100 Days Toward Security and Freedom". Detailing "highlights of the successes" in Iraq, the report -- prepared by the White House Office of Global Communications and the staff of L. Paul Bremer, the U.S.

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The "Weaponization of Reporters"

Journalists and generals met in Chicago last week to discuss the media's role in reporting on the war in Iraq and agreed that the Pentagon's strategy of "embedding" journalists marked a sea change in combat reporting. "We brought the military service members into the homes of Americans, and they became spokespersons for the U.S. military," said an army chief of public affairs.

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Military Retreats On Journalist Restrictions In Iraq

The U.S. military ordered and then took back a directive that would have restricted journalists from going with American troops on all but routine missions in Iraq. According to the Associated Press, "The directive told commanders throughout Iraq that reporters, photographers and television crews would be prohibited from traveling with the military on some operations as so-called 'embedded' journalists. The U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad rescinded the order shortly after The Associated Press reported on it. No explanation was given. ... Media coverage of the frequent U.S.

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Killing the Messenger in Guatemala

Journalists in Guatemala have recently been attacked, one fatally, by mobs supporting former dictator Rios Montt who is campaigning to become the country's president. '"The press is the only functioning institution in this country. That is why they either have to control it or scare it,'" said Mario Antonio Sandoval, vice president of the daily Prensa Libre and president of the 6-month-old cable channel Guatevision.

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