A news outlet confronts many conflicting demands when it comes to reporting sensational news. Some of them have to do with sensitivity. Some with service. Some with audience appeal. Some with raw competition. All have come into play in various ways this week. You may be interested in the Daily Herald’s approach, a policy that Read More …
Tag: media
Kneeling, patriotism, talking and the need to listen
“We need to talk.” It’s one of the most dreaded phrases in the English language. But when said, it’s usually true. Just as true and just as dreaded, though perhaps not as familiar, is its natural corollary: “We need to listen.” A newspaper or social media forum can easily — perhaps too easily — facilitate Read More …
Eclipse, Hurricane Harvey show our better nature
Last week started with the a solar eclipse. It ended with a devastating hurricane that was historic even by hurricane standards. It’s easy to see why primitive societies looked for messages from the divine in disruptions of nature. Today, we will leave it to sources more in touch with metaphysics to determine whether any such Read More …
Donald Trump, Billy Squier and thoughts on honest reporting
Why is President Donald Trump reminding me of an experience involving classic rocker Billy Squier, and can the connection teach us something about “fake news”? Let’s see. President Trump spent much of his Phoenix speech Tuesday night berating “the truly dishonest people in the media.” He exhorted the crowd to boo the people there chronicling Read More …
Zakaria, Williams add to rich blend of columnist voices
On the Daily Herald Opinion page, we aim to present a wide range of political and social thought. We believe our democracy and our communities are stronger when citizens see their own points of view reflected — and challenged — by articulate, knowledgeable writers of all stripes. Sometimes, too, routines just need to be shaken Read More …
Comparing protests is a misleading ‘litmus test’ for bias
For many people, the contrast of two Washington, D.C., demonstrations within a week of each other last month deserved intense scrutiny as a litmus test on press bias. I would not be one of them, but I would say that a discussion of the coverage afforded the national Women’s March on Saturday, Jan. 21, and Read More …
Objectivity, division and the challenge of trust in the media
Our Opinion page concluded 2016 with a series of editorials focusing on what we see as the state of the free press in America today and worrisome threats it faces. Criticism of the series has come from opposing camps, exemplifying some of the problems we wanted to describe and representing the polarized approaches to political Read More …
Old mantra still valid for New Media
(Read in the Daily Herald) Useful. Different. Relevant. Time was, those were the three most important words in the Daily Herald newsroom, as close to a collective mantra as a body of committed skeptics is likely to embrace. Our success depended on our ability to provide information and entertainment that aspired to those three standards. Read More …
From Brussels terrorism, the too-frequent deliberations on an iconic image of tragedy
(My most-recent Daily Herald column.) Nearly every afternoon’s meeting of news editors concludes with a review of options for the next-day print edition’s most prominent Page 1 picture. On Tuesday, March 22, the day of the terrorist bombing in Brussels, the selection was especially difficult. Editors sifted through a variety of dramatic images, all showing Read More …
Cheeky or not, a little #Thanks goes a long way
Read at Daily Herald website Should you thank the person who handed you your pre-commute latte this morning for getting up early on your behalf? Should we thank the mechanic we paid to change the oil in our car? Do we owe a debt of gratitude to the store clerks whose job it is to Read More …