The challenge of telling uncomfortable truths

“Remember this newspaper belongs, more than any other, to its readers, to you. Not the Pentagon, not the publisher, not the editors. Your subscription has been paid in blood and treasure, by you and generations before you. Defend it, and demand the best from it.”
— Parting words from Mark Prendergast in his final column as ombudsman for Stars and Stripes, the U.S. government-owned, editorially independent newspaper for the (overseas) U.S. military community.

Exposé or exploitation?

If a newspaper sets out to expose blatant exploitation, will it risk colluding in the very exploitation it is determined to reveal?

Evolution of the Express-News continues

The 147-year-old San Antonio Express-News, “the voice of South Texas since 1865,” is getting a makeover.

Special investigation: Mrs. Bhutto’s Murder (Part I)

Photojournalism, at its best, humanizes victims of disasters and conflict zones for American audiences. Yet the opposite can also be true. American photojournalism can also be lurid and sensational in its foreign coverage and, in the process, dehumanize its subjects. Rhonda Roland Shearer & Malik Ayub Sumbal of iMediaEthics, a non-partisan journalism ethics program of the Art Science Research Laboratory, probe these issues in Part 1 of a special investigation into the media coverage of the death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan.

‘Creative’ cartoon profanity is no joke

An editorial cartoon in the Kansas City Star crosses the line for reader and Reader Representative Derek Donovan agrees: “What we find funny is the essence of subjectivity, but I’d agree that this cartoon was inappropriate for The Star’s audience.”

Story ‘jumps,’ editorials, crime terms raise questions

Saying “It must be great to be the ombudsman, you are the only one who gets to actually criticize The Blade in print” is a bit like saying “It must be wonderful to be the umpire. Everybody loves you!” Well, maybe not so much, says Jack Lessenberry, the ombudsman at the Toledo Blade.

Should The Times be a truth vigilante?

The public editor of The New York Times asks for help from readers on determining how and when the newspaper should set the record straight on untruths in the news pages. Based on the response, Arthur Brisbane clarifies his position in an updated column and includes a note from Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson.

Letters give readers a chance to become involved

There is little that warms the cockles of a journalist’s heart more than reader responses to the things we publish. They prove that you are reading, are moved by what you see, and are willing to spend time telling us what you think.

What’s in a name? Depends on whether you use the tilde

It wasn’t the content of the article that brought criticism from a reader, but rather the spelling of the subject’s name.

A step in the right direction on openness

Identities of Defense contractors may no longer be concealed from public scrutiny without compelling justification under a “significant regulatory action” ordered by the Obama administration to increase transparency and accountability in all government spending.

“The Obama Administration’s new initiative is a step in the right direction,” says Stars and Stripes Ombudsman Mark Prendergast, “toward balancing vital, varied and sometimes even competing national interests.”