Reflections on ESPN’s apologies, actions

The rise of New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin is one of those feel-good sports stories. But there is an unwelcome undercurrent: racial references by fans, columnists and TV personalities, references that range from innocent-but-cringe-worthy to openly offensive.

ESPN went from the sidelines of this spectacle to center stage, issuing three apologies within 24 hours for “offensive and inappropriate comments” that led to one employee’s dismissal and another’s suspension for 30 days.

After examining the the two incidents, The Poynter Review Project sees one as a lapse in judgment by an editor working without a net and the other two as terribly timed slips of the tongue.

Print vs. online debate continues

More than a decade into online distribution of traditional newspapers, devotees of the print edition often voice their displeasure at what they view as the disconnect between the platforms.

How journalists can handle opinion polls

Journalists need to educate themselves about polls in the same way they educate themselves about other challenging subjects and then dig in when necessary and find out what’s going on.

ONO Bulletin — February 2012

BULLETIN #33 FEB 2012

Dear All –

Plans for the 2012 conference in Copenhagen are quickly coming together.

In the two attachments, please find a registration form that should be returned to Jacob, Debbie and me via email as soon as possible, along with conference registration fees.

As per last year’s conference in Montreal, the fees remain the same: $300 per attendee and $200 for accompanying spouses/partners. We need to start doing a head count very soon.

Also in the other attachment, you will find details on the hotel reservation requirements.

We will be at the Ascot Hotel which by …

British media probe lifts lid on a cesspool of violation

The Leveson inquiry into press standards is exposing large parts of the British media as simply and unambiguously corrupt. The probe was announced in mid-July last year as a reaction to the phone-hacking scandal.

In South Africa, notes Mail & Guardian Ombudsman Franz Krüger, “we would do well to pay more attention to the Leveson inquiry. For one thing, it is riveting stuff: you could not invent some of the things that are emerging.”

“At the same time, they hold grave implications for journalism in the rest of the world, including South Africa. Our credibility is also at great risk and institutional arrangements made in the United Kingdom will be very influential elsewhere. South African media should take the opportunity to show that we can do much better.”

Behind political endorsements and political ethics

Are political endorsements by newspapers helpful? It’s debatable, says Bob Richter, public editor of the San Antonio Express-News.

What buyouts reveal about The Washington Post’s strategy

“This is painful.” — Perhaps the most telling comment about The Washington Post’s fifth round of buyouts in nine years.

The dubious value of primary debates

U.S. presidential candidate debates are nothing more than TV shows. “They aren’t events arranged independently by candidates that the media then decide are newsworthy enough to broadcast,” says Washington and Lee University journalism ethics professor Ed Wasserman. “They are classic pseudo-events, in the late Daniel Boorstin’s memorable term — they happen only because they’ll be televised.” Platforms for public illumination they are not: “They’re both biased and belittling, and cater to some of the worst features of our political discourse.”

Keeping them honest

New York Times Public Editor Arthur Brisbane favors rebutting assertions in some routine news articles. But he says the paper “needs to be disciplined about it.”

Reviews released and under way

Recent reviews by the CBC ombudsman include reporting errors, day-to-day editorial decision-making, language, fairness, and the importance of exercising restraint.