Why newspapers print opposing views…

December 16, 2002

Unlike reporters, the job of newspaper columnists is to tell you how they feel. It is more than a duty. It is a freedom sacred to U.S. journalists and should be to the American public as well. Columnists, including those at The San Diego Union-Tribune, are by their nature opinionated. It’s their job to tell readers where they stand on issues, even if they disagree with an editorial position taken by the newspaper.

But when two writers for The New York Times did just that, their columns were killed, jeopardizing the …

The Market…

The market

By Bernardo Ajzenberg

December 15, 2002

Even those who usually skip over the economic news have gotten accustomed to the large number of headlines and stories that have the market as their subject.

This massive presence returned to show itself on Friday with the repercussions from the announcement that Henrique Meirelles was appointed by incoming President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva as the next president of the Central Bank.

Folha had three headlines: Market says choices lack experience (headline); Lula appoints Cardoso ally to Central Bank; markets react with caution (page …

Why Little Creek ”moved” to Virginia Beach…

You may not have noticed, but we moved Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base.

No kidding. It was in Norfolk, and we moved it to Virginia Beach. Where it belongs.

You can thank Neal T. English for that, although the modest Virginia Beach resident shies away from the spotlight.

A retired public relations official, English heads a largely one-man effort called Hampton Roads Fairness in Media Policy (“It’s a baby in swaddling clothes at this point”). His efforts on behalf of media accuracy demonstrate the power of one to change things.

A while back, English wrote The …

Let’s keep a tight rein on stereotypes…

Stereotype. The word comes to us from the printing trade. In days of yore, stereotypes were the metal plates that went round and round on a newspaper printing press.

At the risk of oversimplification, let’s just say stereotypes were copies of the original type that was assembled in pages and locked into page formes.

Like most printing technology in vogue when the ombud was a 1960s kid reporter, the stereotype is a rare artifact in our high-tech age of computer wizardry.

Yet, the word “stereotype” has gradually assumed a new and negative meaning in our …

What Gets Covered in Sports Is Rarely a Slam Dunk…

Some readers call to critique the world and national news sections or the feature section or the Utah section, but their comments seldom reach the fever pitch of those aficionados who offer chapter and verse on what should be in the daily Sports section.

E-mails from fervent fans echo the concerns of callers. They all want to know why more emphasis is not put on their favorite sport or their favorite team. Why isn’t there more women’s volleyball; or stories on speed record trials in the desert?

Why is the sky blue and how …

‘Tis the season… for journalists to be wary…

A reporter asks about a dilemma that happens often at this time of year: what to accept or not from companies:

“I have a question about NPR’s policy and how I handle a gift from (a local industry).

I cover litigation issues and regularly use (company) officials as sources.

Each year they send me a massive box of their products… I’ve always considered it a conflict to keep, but rather than send back I donate to a local food bank. Is that the right way to handle it?”

NPR’s principal ethics officer is …

Why many stories are colorblind…

Readers such as Debra Terry are a joy to newspaper ombudsmen. When she

thinks she knows the answer to a question but is not absolutely sure, she

asks. And, if she’s wrong, she acknowledges it — with class.

After the Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon last month, Terry e-mailed

reporter David Washburn and sent me a copy of her note. She questioned

Washburn about his story on the parade, specifically about his lack of a

description for participant Julie Guity.

Wrote Washburn: “Julie Guity, who calls her family a `little United

Nations,’ couldn’t …

Columnists state their views subject to review…

The latitude allowed columnists in the news pages is a tricky privilege.

They write their opinions, which appear side-by-side with news stories intended to stick to facts.

They criticize, they praise, they put their singular perspective of the world before readers eyes in a way that few people can.

Readers might feel rewarded or assaulted for their time spent. Column subjects might feel blessed or cursed.

Good columnists have a voice, an identifiable perspective.

I do think readers understand that a columnist is a particular voice, said Peter Bhatia, executive editor of The Oregonian. That is, …

Without a free press, we all lose…

We’ll never know the answers to these questions, but I have to wonder…

Would Shawn Cripple have allowed a reporter and photographer to document his extreme motorcycle stunts had he known they would testify against him in trial?

Would Shawn Cripple and his gang of stuntmen still be terrorizing Route 8 motorists without the July 14th story?

My guess?

No, he never would have allowed it. And without Cripple’s cooperation, there may not have been a story, and most certainly there would not have been photographs.

And without that, we’d all still be driving …

Like It or Not, Copy Editors Are Forced to Use Four-Letter W…

Years ago, a writer for the now-defunct Miami News wrote a column about a newspaper copy editor who

had spent such a long time writing headlines that he awoke one morning to find he spoke in them. Short nouns

and verbs popped out of his mouth as his only means of communicating with others. For instance:

Copy Editor

Picks Eggs

At B’fast

or

Icy Blast Forces Florida Editor

To Wrap Wool Rug Around Self

This may seem far-fetched, but the fact is headline

writing is an art. Finding the words to summarize an

article …