Rather Alleges that the Government Influences Media Outlets

Dan Rather, former CBS News Anchor, filed a $70 million lawsuit against CBS and Viacom Inc in September of 2007. He claims that he choose to sue because government has too much influence newsrooms. Samantha Gross, Common Dreams New Center affiliate, wrote an article about Rather's claims entitled "Rather: Government Influencing Newsrooms."

Rather was fired by CBS in March of 2005, after a botched report on President Bush's military service. In an interview on Larry King Live, Rather claimed that CBS and Viacom Inc. used him as a "scapegoat" information about Bush's military record was discredited.

"Rather narrated the September 2004 report that said Bush disobeyed orders and shirked some of his duties during his national guard service. It also said a commander felt pressured to sugarcoat Bush's records."

Critics of this piece questioned the validity of the documents that this information was based on, and they suspected a forgery. A panel made up of Louis D. Boccardi, retired chief executive of The Associated Press, and Richard Thornburgh, former U.S. attorney general, determined that the story was inaccurate, thereby discrediting it. Rather, the story's producer and 3 executives were fired because of this botched report. Rather calls the panel's decision a fraud and a set-up.

The panel members defended their work by saying that it was independent and that it spoke for itself, they offered not other comments. Rather made no mention of other news channels that have been similarly influenced by the government.

Media Convergence: Conflicting Opinions

In May of 2007 and article entitled "Big Media: Good, Bad or Both?" was posted on Poynter Institute online by freelance journalist Pat Walters. His article is about an FCC meeting held in Tampa, Florida, where advocates and opponents of media consolidation as well as people who see both good and bad aspects of it gave their opinions.

The FCC choose Tampa because it is considered to be one of the most converged media markets in the country. Tampa's largest newspaper The Tampa Tribune, major TV Station and a major Web site TBO.com are all owned by Media General.

The question as to whether media convergence is good or bad is more complicated debate than it seems. An advocate claimed the convergence promotes cooperation between journalists, and gives the people a sense that the media is a part off the community. On the other hand an opponent claimed that convergence does not improve the news, but homogenizes it, giving no diversity of coverage. This opponent alleges that this results in a blending, rather than an improvement in media coverage.

Poynter President Karen Brown Dunlap offered a practical solution to figuring out whether media convergence is a problem in Tampa or not. She suggested that a small group of citizens be appointed and access the media convergence and report their findings to community and station leaders and also the FCC. Dunlap said:

"Many communities suffer under under local owners who bleed their stations for profits to promote their personal interests. There are large corporations, including chain owners who serve local communities with outstanding service. "

This issue of media convergence and ownership is an issue that must be dealt with by the general public and especially by the journalists of America. This must be dealt with especially in this time of increasing media conglomerates.

Media Placing Positive Spin on Iraq War

In early August of 2007, Common Dreams News Center affiliate Norman Solomon wrote an article entitled "Media Blitz for War: The Big Guns of August." This article claims that in August the media was putting a positive spin on the unpopular war in Iraq. He cites that these Media outlets were focusing on the military victories and not to the political failures. In this way, the media was framing the Iraq war to place it in a positive light rather than in a negative one.

The author compares the PR campaign to improve the opinions of the public concerning the Iraq War to re-marketing bad products to rid the buyer of any remorse they may feel. He says the main message of this is that the war must go on. Solomon criticises so called critics of the war by alleging that they want more effective warfare not peace.

Solomon compares these recent media spins to the framing that took place to convince the American people to get into this war in the first place. He discusses the leaking of false information to the New York Times and other media outlets, by Vice President Dick Cheney other top officials. He says that this misinformation was presented to the American people as fact. Solomon's personal beliefs presents itself when he says;

"Arguments over whether U.S. forces can prevail in Iraq bypass a truth that no amount of media spin can change: The U.S. war effort in Iraq has always been illegitimate and fundamentally wrong. Whatever the prospects for America's War there, it shouldn't be fought."

Solomon says the most opponents of the war believe that the "tides of history" have shifted and that the Iraq War is basically over. The American public will be reassured by talk of military success, because the media is seemingly obsessed with militarism.

Media requests that Gag order on the Jena Six case be lifted

Although the Jena Six case is not in itself a journalistic issue, but the request of the media to lift the gag order on the court records in the case is an issue that involves journalism. In his article in the Shreveport Times, entitled "Media Seeking to Lift Gag Order, Unseal Court Records in Jena Six Case," affiliate Bill Sumrall he discusses the push from the media to lift the gag order and steps that have been taken.

Papers were filed on Monday October 23, these papers support the unsealing of the court records that pertain to the Jena Six case. The Times and Ganett Louisiana newspapers as well as the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, ABC news, and CNN support a petition to lift the gag order. The memorandum cites a Louisiana law to back up the need for this order to be lifted.

"Court documents, filed Monday on behalf of the media in part say the closure order in the case unquestionably violates Article 879(B) of the Louisiana Children's Code, which provides: 'All proceedings in a juvenile delinquency case involving a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B) of a delinquent act which is a second subsequent felony-grade adjudication shall be open to the public'"

The document also provides that all future court records pertaining to this case must be open to the public, to rectify the improper gag order put on the previous proceedings in this case. The document states that the gag order placed on this case is a violation the the first amendment right of the new media to report on the hearings, thereby making it unconstitutional.

Can Couric increase CBS ratings

Katie Couric replaced Dan Rather as the CBS Evening news anchor in 2006, the ratings have been on the decline ever since. In his article "Now the News: Couric Still Isn't One of the Boys," New York Times Correspondent Bill Carter, gives reasons why Couric will never be as good as former anchors. Former anchors that he lists include: Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter Jennings.

Carter cites several reasons why Couric will never measure up to these aforementioned giants of broadcast journalism. These reasons include: she is younger, she is a woman, she is more of a celebrity than a journalist, and she gained respect because of her winning personality rather than her journalistic ability.

CBS hired Couric to attract a younger audience. Instead they seem to be driving away their previously loyal viewers, rather than attracting new younger viewers.

"Instead of emphasizing how to keep the loyal audience, they wanted to go after new viewers. But their not going to get them. Yes, the loyal audience is older, but they're not about to die. They have another 20 or more years to live," former ABC correspondent Judy Miller.

The reasons for the decline in viewership according to a Project for Excellence in Journalism survey, at either the anchor or the what the new stories are handled. The top factor seems to be how comfortable the audience is with the anchor.

Carter alleges that their will be more problems with this in the future, not only for Katie Couric but other new anchors as well. As the old have retired, ratings have been on the decrease.

FOIA Amended.

Through our discussions in class about FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) I have realized how essential it is to our open, democratic government. I began sifting through new sites to see if any updates had been made to it, since its creation in 1967.

According to, "Freedom of Information Reform Bill Passes Senate," an article on the National Security Archive Web site, a bill concerning FOIA was passed by the Senate, in August. This bipartisan bill was proposed earlier in the year by Democrat Senator of Vermont Patrick Leahy and Republican Senator of Texas John Cornyn. The bill was put on hold by Arizona Senator Jon Kyl. A similar bill was passed in the House of Representatives in March of 2007. The bill (S.849) was passed by a unanimous vote, with the amendments that Senator Kyl made to it. The bill made a number of changes to FOIA, including:

• Requests that take longer than 10 days will be tracked.
  
• Agencies must accurately report to Congress.
  
• An ombudsman office in the National Archives to mediate conflicts.
  
• The purpose of FOIA will be spelled out.
  
• Incentives will be offered to encourage agencies to process requests promptly.
  

The bill is somewhat of a response to an audit, known as the Knight Open Government Survey, made by the National Security Archive, that was released in July of 2007. The survey found that FOIA requests in some agencies have been pending for up to 20 years. The survey made it very clear that changes needed to be made, and that FOIA needed to be better enforced. Time will tell if legislation will improve the timeliness of responses to FOIA requests.

Senate Judiciary Committee Aproves Shield Law Bill

Yesterday, the Associated Press released an article on the First Amendment Center Web site, "Senate Panel Endorses Shield Law", which discusses a shield law bill that has been approved to go to the Senate floor. This bill will protect journalists from being forced to reveal their sources, especially in federal court. The Judiciary Committee, in a vote of 15-2 sent this bill to floor of the Senate, where it will be debated and either adopted or discarded.Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives, told Associated Press editors that she hopes to bring a similar bill before the house, to be voted upon before the end of this year.

"This is fundamental to our democracy and fundamental to the
security of our country." Pelosi said.

Opponents of the bill, namely the members of the Bush Administration, fear that a national shield law would be a threat to national security. The Administration fears that this law would impede intelligence agents from tracing threats to national security. This bill creates a conflict of interest between supporters of the shield law and the Bush Administration. Supporters of this bill include many new companies, the Associated Press included.

The bill does have exemptions to the protection that is offers. For instance, this law wouldn't apply when it involves the issue of terrorism. Journalists could still be forced to reveal their sources in certain circumstances.

This shield law, if passed, would give journalists the must needed protection that they need. Journalists would in turn be able to protect their sources, without running the risk of going to jail. This shield law would be a great help to journalists, however its protection is not absolute.

The Ever Expanding Empire

In early August 2007, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, added Dow Jones & Company to his already vast media empire. Dow Jones & Company is the publisher of the well-known and respected Wall Street Journal. Murdoch also announced that he intends to launch the Fox Business Network in October of 2007. Many of his rival media conglomerates feel that this is an ominous sign. In his article "Murdoch's Expanding Empire Seen as 'Ominious' Sign" on the Inter Press Service Web site, affiliate Khody Akhavi tells us why the ominous feeling among competitors of Murdoch.

Murdoch has a certain reputation for disregarding the established and traditional models of honest journalism to further his own agendas, in terms of politics and business. Akhavi explains that many of Murdoch's competitors seen his acquisition of Dow Jones & Company as an attempt to make the launching of the Fox Business Network a success. Critics of this convergence, fell that this will turn the Wall Street Journal into a platform for Murdoch's own political views. Some do look upon Murdoch's venture as a positive, but by no means does everyone feel this way.

"While the coupling of Dow Jones and the new FOX venture is a victory for proponents of media consolidation , much of the anger throughout the journalist community has been directed at Murdoch's acquisition of the Journal --a publication many in the U.S. believe to be the most respected name in business reporting," Akhavi said.

Murdoch's already vast empire, News Corp., includes The New York Post, Twentieth Century Fox, and the Times of London, along with a variety of other publications in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Time will tell whether or not Murdoch's acquisition of Dow Jones & Company and subsequent coupling with the Fox Business Network will be a successful convergence or the downfall of the journalistic integrity of the Wall Street Journal.

Journalist Burnout

In his article, posted on the Poynter Institute Web site, affiliate Don Fry suggests that once journalists hit a certain level of competency, they plateau or burnout and simply stop improving. He views this plateau as a crisis that must be fixed; the article suggests causes as well as solutions to this problem.

Causes cited in the article range from lack of skill on the part of the journalist and low expectations from the editor to just plain boredom. Fry suggests:

“The key symptom of burnout is seeing oneself doing the same thing over and over forever, with no way to break out, dreading it.”

While Fry does believe that this is a major problem in the field of journalism, he also believes that there are solutions to aid this issue of journalist burnout. He suggests:

• Change
• Learning New Skills
• Raising Expectations
• Praising Good Work
  

These are a few of the solutions Fry suggests for burnt out journalists, they are explained in detail in his article, “The Perils of Plateau: Helping Stuck Journalists.” To be truly successful in their field aspiring as well as established journalists must be aware of this pitfall, along with its causes and its solutions.