journalism

As anyone who has been following the debate regarding the "future of journalism" knows, there have been a lot of ink (and bytes) spilled arguing over the role news aggregators are playing in the "decline" of traditional journalistic models.  Rupert Murdoch has labeled the practice of news aggregation by entities like Google News "theft," and a professor from the Wharton Business School recently called on lawmakers to

A federal appellate court has issued a swift ruling, in a high profile reporter's privilege case, that requires a filmmaker to surrender some of his unpublished footage to a powerful oil company.

A filmmaker's fight against an oil company seeking his raw documentary footage has spurred a national debate on the reporter's privilege, pitting media organizations and filmmakers against powerful corporations and criminal defense attorneys.  At stake is the breadth of the protection given to unpublished newsgathering materials and, ultimately, the basic trust between journalists and their sources.

Last week I discussed recent news stories highlighting the dangers of online retaliation. At worst, this form of retaliation chills speech and threatens critical reporting. But short of that, it can harm journalists in a number of ways, including third-party harassment (in the case that your personal information is published) and reputational damage (through fraudulent profiles, posts, defamatory comments, etc.).

Critics have always run the risk of retaliation. They have not, however, always run the risk of having their personal phone number micro-blogged to over 115,000 people in a split second.

For a long time, retaliating against a journalist meant grumbling to your friends or writing a phone number on a bathroom wall. Several recent news stories have cast new light on the practice, and suggest that people are increasingly taking their anger online and using social media tools to expedite their revenge. 

The Federal Trade Commission—which last year created guidelines to impose ethical standards on bloggers—is now taking on the ambitious task of saving the print media in the Internet era.

In preparation for the final in a series of hearings on the future of the news media, the Commission has released a staff report that makes some pretty bold proposals, including legal changes and even government subsidies for traditional media.  The final hearing will be held June 15 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.