The panel included the Managing Editor of one of the leading national daily newspapers, the Washington Bureau Chief of a well-known wire service, the Chief Content Officer of a multinational mass media company that publishes hundreds of magazines, including perhaps the most popular newsweekly, and the vice president of content and news for a daily news broadcast on a large subscriber-based cable network. The topic, loosely organized under the title “Journalism in the Age of Trump,” drew a roomful of national business writers and editors, as well as several students from the Journalism school hosting the event.
Though billed as a discussion on “Fake News” and “Virtual Reality,” the commentary quickly turned to media bias. These newsroom pros were surprisingly candid. The Managing Editor bluntly revealed what we all suspected: Journalism today tends to attract those from only Continue Reading “Newsroom Pros Reveal Candid Truth About Media Bias”
Democracy Dies On The Blackboard
Perhaps because the phrase originated in a judicial ruling that echoed a modern myth about the role of newspapers in our country’s history. Judge Damon J. Keith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit wrote in his opinion for the court in Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft, 303 F.3d 681 (6th Cir. 2002): “Democracies die behind closed doors. The First Amendment, through a free press, protects the people’s right to know that their government acts fairly, lawfully, and accurately in deportation proceedings. When government begins closing doors, it selectively controls information rightfully belonging to the people.”
The opinion, and many subsequent interpretations of it, overstate the importance of Continue Reading “Democracy Dies On The Blackboard”