Protecting innocence or seeking truth: CNN, other media decide how much to show of Miriam Carey’s child in White House car case
By Sophia Jones The death of Miriam Carey and the Oct. 3, 2013, car chase she led capitol police on that resulted in her death, was newsworthy. The fact that Carey led the car chase, not with a weapon or any other illegal substances, but with a 14-month-old child in the backseat of her car, […]
New York Times’ ‘Vows’ column comes up short in its New Age-y glossing over of a child’s death
By Kelcey Sexton On Sept. 20, 2013, a column titled “Found, a Soul Mate” was published in the “Vows” section of the New York Times, chronicling the relationship of two yoga-lovers, Erika Halweil and Corey De Rosa, in Sag Harbor, N.Y. Halweil meets and begins regularly bumping into De Rosa, “an intense, thoughtful yoga teacher” […]
On the ethics of making mistakes while reporting during a chaotic event: Lessons from the Washington Naval Yard
By Kelcey Sexton On the morning of Sept. 16, 13 people were killed at the Washington Navy Yard, one of the victims being the shooter, Aaron Alexis. In the midst of the chaos that morning, some news organizations were forced to retract reports including misinformation given to them by sources. Two of those organizations, NBC […]
Dutch reporter oversteps boundaries when interviewing 9-year-old orphan
Nov. 20, 2010 Ruben van Assouw, a 9-year-old boy and the only survivor of a plane crash in Libya, was interviewed from his hospital bed by the the Dutch daily newspaper, De Telegraaf. This is the original piece, and here is the translated copy. It was reported that Assouw couldn’t remember anything from the accident. […]
Video of teen’s beating sheds light on gang violence in Chicago
Nov. 20, 2010 In 2009, 16-year-old honor student Derrion Albert was beaten to death two blocks from his high school in one of Chicago’s roughest neighborhoods. Albert appeared to have been at the wrong place at the wrong time and gotten caught in between two fighting rival gangs. The next day, a reporter from Chicago’s […]
Favre’s “sexting” scandal: Worth paying for?
Nov. 20, 2010 What’s your problem? Deadspin website editor A.J. Daulerio paid an unnamed person an undisclosed amount of money to receive materials connecting Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre to former New York Jets game day hostess Jenn Sterger. The materials included voicemails allegedly left on Sterger’s cell phone, which Favre has since confirmed, and […]
Bomb victims compared to zombies
Nov. 20, 2010 Several British newspapers used a quote inspired by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video to describe the looks and actions of victims following the July 7, 2005 bombing of a London subway. The exact quote from a police officer on scene reads, “It was like Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. They were just covered in […]
A medal for fear
Nov. 4, 2010 On the days leading up to the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Keep Fear Alive” on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Internet and media outlets were buzzing with anticipation. The rally, which was being thrown on Oct. 31 by Jon Stewart, host of “The Daily Show,” and Steven Colbert, host […]
Can you still be a watchdog when working for client?
Oct. 7, 2010 James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times ran a column on Wednesday about the route consumer watchdogs have taken in the past few years. Names that consumers trusted to protect them, such as David Horowitz and Alan Mendelson, have left their former positions and joined the public relations side of business. Horowitz […]