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Railroaded on Rohde story
Posted on June 29, 2009 by Richard Lodge
Filed Under First Amendment, New York Times | Leave a Comment
Man, you don’t know how hard it has been to resist commenting about the revelation The New York Times convinced dozens of media companies to keep quiet when Times reporter David Rohde was kidnapped in Afghanistan last Nov. 10. Rohde dropped off the map, as it were, and Times editor Bill Keller warned various newspapers and news companies that Rohde’s life would be in danger if his kidnappers read reports of his kidnapping and deduced how valuable their captive might be on the world stage.
Now we come to find out the powers that be at Wikipedia repeatedly removed entries from their site that made any reference to Rohde’s kidnapping. But more on that in a minute.
Rohde was part of a Pulitzer Prize winning reporting team at The Times and he is highly respected for the reporting he has done from that region. He was in Afghanistan working on a book, something Times reporters seem able to do in spite of the demands most newspaper reporters face.
Rohde and Tahir Ludin, a local reporter, climbed a wall and walked away from their captors to freedom on June 19, according to this Times report.
Much of the buzz in media circles after Rohde’s release was about how wise it was of major media companies to self-censor the news of the reporter’s abduction by members of the Taliban. But few asked what I think is an essential question: Why should a newspaper reporter’s kidnapping be treated differently from other people who have been abducted and held by groups hostile to the U.S.? And why would so many news organizations buckle so easily when asked to keep the news out of the news reports? Reporters have been abducted before and spent far longer in captivity (see: Terry Anderson, to name one) and yes, some have been killed while held hostage (Daniel Pearl being one of the most note-worthy). If David Rohde was so famous that news of his kidnapping had to be kept from the American public so his captors wouldn’t know how valuable he might be as a hostage, how hard would it be for his captors to Google Rohde’s name and come up with, presumably, dozens and dozens of New York Times bylines for Rohde?
I just don’t understand the justification for censoring news of Rohde’s capture and, in doing so, applying a different standard than would be applied for anyone else in the same situation.
And on the subject of Wikipedia sanitizing its listings to keep news of Rohde’s kidnapping out of the public eye, that pretty much sums up how non-credible Wikipedia can be. I long ago warned reporters and editors here to avoid using Wikipedia for verification of pretty much anything. Go to the primary source, I say, not an online reference that can - and is - edited by any number of people, many of whom are anonymous and may have agendas in adding or editing entries.
When I read that Jimmy Donal “Jimbo” Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, was behind the censoring of Wikipedia entries about Rohdes, the same question came to mind. I can see Wikipedia trying to edit out information that is either fake or libelous. But editing out facts because… why? Because The Times asked you to do it?
Jimbo, I just don’t understand how you expect your entries to have any credibility if people know you edit the facts to fit some amorphous idea of what should be facts and when they should be facts.
The Herald apologizes
Posted on June 27, 2009 by Paul Crocetti
Filed Under Boston Herald | Leave a Comment
The Boston Herald has apologized for its headline about Michael Jackson’s death.
The headline, “Fade to Blacko,” ran in Friday’s paper.
I wasn’t that surprised by it because the Herald has been obsessed with calling Jackson “Jacko” for years.
I’m also pretty sure the Herald did not mean anything racial with the headline. But the paper must have received many complaints because I can’t remember a similar apology in recent times.
TMZ gets the scoop
Posted on June 26, 2009 by Paul Crocetti
Filed Under Broadcast, Channel 7, TMZ | Leave a Comment
An interesting thing happened during the Michael Jackson coverage yesterday - Channel 7 said he had died before CNN, and other major stations, made the call.
The reason? Channel 7 went with the news that TMZ was reporting Jackson’s death - that was at least 30 minutes before CNN and other stations confirmed he was dead.
TMZ has proven to be correct with scoops on some major stories. But I still think Channel 7 jumped the gun because other places, such as ABC News, waited until they had more than one source confirming Jackson’s death.
Public school public property? No way, seyz Newton mayor
Posted on June 25, 2009 by jhilliard
Filed Under 1 | Leave a Comment
A Newton Tab reporter and photographer were blocked from touring the construction site of the city’s new $200 million high school, even though the tour included Newton’s mayor, David Cohen, several city aldermen and was posted as a public meeting.
The reason? The public, taxpayer-funded school is private property, duh:
“It’s an essentially private event on private property,” said mayoral spokesman Jeremy Solomon at the site. “It doesn’t entitle the media to attend.”
Solomon, who obviously missed a lecture on the First Amendment while actually attending school, goes further:
“Elected officials deserve the courtesy to ask any questions [of construction officials] without being concerned about how they’re portrayed in the TAB,” Solomon said. [Emphasis added.]
See? Not only is a public school in fact private property, but elected officials shouldn’t worry about some nagging reporters harshing their vibe. Also, school builder Dimeo Construction has refused to allow a TAB photographer take pictures of the construction site, “citing safety concerns.”
TAB publisher Greg Reibman notes the TAB and Cohen have a “rocky relationship,” and called the city “punitive and vindictive” for blocking his reporters from the site.
Interestingly, the story quotes Solomon as saying that under the construction manager-at-risk model, Dimeo and Turner have control over who comes on the site.
So either Solomon is directing blame at the builders for blocking the TAB from the tour - meaning the city’s mayor has no influence over the builders’ behavior toward the public - or city officials didn’t want the inconvenience of the press during the tour.
A new Day
Posted on June 25, 2009 by Paul Crocetti
Filed Under GateHouse Media, Newspapers | Leave a Comment
A new GateHouse publication debuted this week.
Cape Cod Day will be distributed for free from Tuesday to Saturday at hundreds of locations, such as newsstands and shops. It looks like at least some of the stories are making their way onto GateHouse’s Wicked Local Cape Cod site.
The key word here is “free.” The paper is geared toward tourists who want to know what’s going on down the Cape and don’t feel like forking over any dough.
The few comments under the story about the publication are all welcoming.
Hopefully the weather will change and vacationers can enjoy this paper on the beach!
Deal!
Posted on June 24, 2009 by Paul Crocetti
Filed Under Boston Globe, New York Times, Newspapers | Leave a Comment
Now why couldn’t this have happened weeks ago?
Management and the Boston Newspaper Guild have reached a deal that would cut employee salaries by 6 percent, versus the whopping 23 percent imposed on union employees last week. The deal also includes benefit cuts.
The union still has to vote on the deal but it looks like this one will pass. The Globe’s biggest union previously shot down an agreement that would have cut salaries more than this offer but benefits less.
AP puts screws to staff Facebook pages
Posted on June 24, 2009 by jhilliard
Filed Under 1 | Leave a Comment
The Associated Press has a new set of standards for employees who use Facebook, following an AP reporter who made a critical comment on his own page.
But the rub is how deeply the AP policy delves into personal posts (care of Wired.com):
The AP’s new guidelines say employees should avoid including political affiliations in their profiles “and stay clear of making any postings that express political views or take stands on contentious issues.” Stating the obvious, Gazlay’s memo adds, “virtually nothing is truly private on the internet.”
But the most contentious element in the new policy, which the union also decried as “vague,” gives this instruction to employees using Facebook: “Monitor your profile page to make sure material posted by others doesn’t violate AP standards: any such material should be deleted.”
The News Media Guild, which represents AP reporters, is reviewing the policy.
Boston Magazine lays off six
Posted on June 22, 2009 by Paul Crocetti
Filed Under Boston Magazine, Magazines | Leave a Comment
Boston Magazine is shaking up its forces.
The monthly has let go of six employees, including the magazine’s editor. The editor of Minnesota Monthly will take over. All employees will also take a one-week unpaid furlough.
The comments under the Boston.com story are pretty rough. Many speak of canceled subscriptions. Others were annoyed with the recent story about John Henry and his new flame.
Some complain that the magazine is physically difficult to read because of the many pages you have to sift through to get to the end of a story - a true statement.
There is one compassionate comment:
Herald’s Johnson charged with kicking 74-year-old
Posted on June 22, 2009 by jhilliard
Filed Under 1 | Leave a Comment
…at a laundromat, says the Eagle-Tribune.
O’Ryan Johnson, who is writing a series on amateur boxing for the Herald - check out his Facebook pic here - faces up to 10 years in prison.
Witnesses told police that Johnson asked for help with a washing machine at Classic Cleaners Laundromat at 4 Elm St. Tuesday afternoon. When Kent White, 74, of Georgetown approached to help, witnesses said words were exchanged and Johnson began swearing at the elderly man.
Johnson then kicked the 5 foot 6 inch, 130-pound victim in the chest, witnesses told police.
“The victim doesn’t remember what he said and then Johnson started swearing at him,” Deputy police Chief Jeff Gillen said. “The victim backed away and Johnson ran at him, kicking him in the chest.”
The case has been continued until July 23.
Escape to New York
Posted on June 22, 2009 by Paul Crocetti
Filed Under New York Times | Leave a Comment
What a story out of the New York Times over the weekend.
A Times reporter escaped from the Taliban after being held for seven months. We didn’t hear about the capture until now because the paper and the reporter’s family decided that media reports could jeopardize his safety. An Afghan reporter escaped as well.
The Times reporter, David Rohde, was researching a book and he knew he was in unsafe territory - he gave the Times instructions as to what to do if he did get captured.
Now that he’s safe, I can’t wait for more information about the past seven months. The only major negative right now is that another person who was taken hostage did not escape. I wonder if Rohde’s escape will be good or bad for him.
keep looking »
“The comments posted on this site are ridiculous. Let’s remember that while you may or may not enjoy the publication that these are real people with families and mortgages.”
A good point amid the anger.