"On the Media" Round-up
60 Years Late: An Untold Story: "When the atomic bomb exploded over the port city of Nagasaki, Japan in the late morning of August 9th, 1945, tens of thousands of civilian Japanese died immediately. By October, many thousands more were dying of a mysterious disease, but journalists were barred from the affected areas so few accounts of the suffering would reach readers here at home. Brooke talks with Editor & Publisher's Greg Mitchell about the very first reporter on the scene, George Weller, who wrote a series of articles that weren't published until 2005."
Chain Rule: "We all know that Orson Welles drew his inspiration for the film 'Citizen Kane' from the life of William Randolph Hearst. But over time, the character called Kane has become so conflated with the man named Hearst that we tend to think of the movie as a biopic. Kenneth Whyte's The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst separates the myths from the reality."
Does Science Fiction Predict the Future of Journalism: "What's the future of journalism? Amidst countless conferences, anxious op-eds and much hand-wringing, longtime journalist Loren Ghiglione believes he might have found some answers in an unlikely place - science fiction. Despite his initial disdain for the genre, Ghiglione argues that sci-fi is full of predictions that we'd be wise to consider."
The Semantics of the 'Ground Zero Mosque': "Political news this week was dominated by the so-called 'Ground Zero Mosque,' but the Muslim community center at Park51 is neither at Ground Zero, nor is it chiefly a mosque. Late this week several news organizations including the AP issued memos which offered guidance as to how to cover this story. We talked to Yahoo! News media reporter Michael Calderone about the origin of this phrase and how it became media shorthand for this controversial story."
It’s Over.com: "Facebook, Skype, and other new media are well known for their powerful ability to bring people together. But they can also serve as, shall we say, a unique method by which to disconnect. Ilana Gershon studied new media breakups for her book, The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media . Gershon says that although this behavior isn’t acceptable, she came to understand why some people chose digital separation."
Exit Operation Iraqi Freedom: "After seven years, a trillion dollars, tens of thousands of civilian deaths, nearly 35,000 US injured and 4,500 US dead, President Obama announced this week that the combat mission in Iraq is over. Historian Douglas Brinkley explains why this seemingly momentous moment received so little media coverage."
The Uncertain Future of the Iraqi Fixer: "Throughout the war in Iraq foreign journalists have relied heavily on fixers, the local feet on the ground who translate, find sources and help provide safety. Though many have since left the country, for fear that their work with Western media has made them targets, some fixers remain. Hussam Ali al-Mussawi, who worked for The San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, McClatchy, Newsweek and Der Spiegel, explains his uncertain future."
Israeli/Palestinian Peace Talks and Deja Vu: "If you felt a sense of déjà vu when reading about the latest round of Israeli/Palestinian peace talks this week, you were not alone. The situation seems intractable but the reporting too often follows a well-worn template. JJ Goldberg, senior columnist for The Forward, understands that déjà vu feeling but argues that savvy readers will find a different story this time."
The Art and Artifice of Counting Crowds: "From the Million Man March to the Obama Inauguration to Glenn Beck’s recent “Restoring Honor” rally, estimating the size of a crowd is both scientifically difficult and politically fraught. ASU professor Steve Doig, Washington Post editor Dan Keating and retired U.S. Park Police officer Carl Holmberg - crowd estimators all - weigh in."
The Great Ben Roethlisberger Hoax: "Earlier this week, Washington Post sports writer Mike Wise sent a deliberately false tweet about Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to prove to his audience that journalists will happily reprint rumors without confirming their veracity. But what did he really prove? Bob talks to Mike Wise and profootballtalk.com editor Mike Florio."
The Great Moon Hoax: "August was the 175th anniversary of the New York Sun’s Great Moon Hoax, when Richard Adams Locke created a sensation by writing a series of satirical articles, taken seriously by the public, about life on the moon. Matthew Goodman, author of The Sun and the Moon, says this story marked a paradigmatic shift in the way Americans perceived newspapers."
Chain Rule: "We all know that Orson Welles drew his inspiration for the film 'Citizen Kane' from the life of William Randolph Hearst. But over time, the character called Kane has become so conflated with the man named Hearst that we tend to think of the movie as a biopic. Kenneth Whyte's The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst separates the myths from the reality."
Does Science Fiction Predict the Future of Journalism: "What's the future of journalism? Amidst countless conferences, anxious op-eds and much hand-wringing, longtime journalist Loren Ghiglione believes he might have found some answers in an unlikely place - science fiction. Despite his initial disdain for the genre, Ghiglione argues that sci-fi is full of predictions that we'd be wise to consider."
The Semantics of the 'Ground Zero Mosque': "Political news this week was dominated by the so-called 'Ground Zero Mosque,' but the Muslim community center at Park51 is neither at Ground Zero, nor is it chiefly a mosque. Late this week several news organizations including the AP issued memos which offered guidance as to how to cover this story. We talked to Yahoo! News media reporter Michael Calderone about the origin of this phrase and how it became media shorthand for this controversial story."
It’s Over.com: "Facebook, Skype, and other new media are well known for their powerful ability to bring people together. But they can also serve as, shall we say, a unique method by which to disconnect. Ilana Gershon studied new media breakups for her book, The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media . Gershon says that although this behavior isn’t acceptable, she came to understand why some people chose digital separation."
Exit Operation Iraqi Freedom: "After seven years, a trillion dollars, tens of thousands of civilian deaths, nearly 35,000 US injured and 4,500 US dead, President Obama announced this week that the combat mission in Iraq is over. Historian Douglas Brinkley explains why this seemingly momentous moment received so little media coverage."
The Uncertain Future of the Iraqi Fixer: "Throughout the war in Iraq foreign journalists have relied heavily on fixers, the local feet on the ground who translate, find sources and help provide safety. Though many have since left the country, for fear that their work with Western media has made them targets, some fixers remain. Hussam Ali al-Mussawi, who worked for The San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, McClatchy, Newsweek and Der Spiegel, explains his uncertain future."
Israeli/Palestinian Peace Talks and Deja Vu: "If you felt a sense of déjà vu when reading about the latest round of Israeli/Palestinian peace talks this week, you were not alone. The situation seems intractable but the reporting too often follows a well-worn template. JJ Goldberg, senior columnist for The Forward, understands that déjà vu feeling but argues that savvy readers will find a different story this time."
The Art and Artifice of Counting Crowds: "From the Million Man March to the Obama Inauguration to Glenn Beck’s recent “Restoring Honor” rally, estimating the size of a crowd is both scientifically difficult and politically fraught. ASU professor Steve Doig, Washington Post editor Dan Keating and retired U.S. Park Police officer Carl Holmberg - crowd estimators all - weigh in."
The Great Ben Roethlisberger Hoax: "Earlier this week, Washington Post sports writer Mike Wise sent a deliberately false tweet about Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to prove to his audience that journalists will happily reprint rumors without confirming their veracity. But what did he really prove? Bob talks to Mike Wise and profootballtalk.com editor Mike Florio."
The Great Moon Hoax: "August was the 175th anniversary of the New York Sun’s Great Moon Hoax, when Richard Adams Locke created a sensation by writing a series of satirical articles, taken seriously by the public, about life on the moon. Matthew Goodman, author of The Sun and the Moon, says this story marked a paradigmatic shift in the way Americans perceived newspapers."