Post-class links

As we discussed in class today, the New York Times has a front-page story on some questionable dealings involving Bill Clinton, a uranium-mining mogul and the dictator of Kazakhstan. Should the Times have held the story until after Super Tuesday? Or did it have an obligation to run it now? Is it even a story, given that it's Hillary Clinton, not her husband, who is running for president?

In 2003, former New Republic staffer David Plotz wrote about the odd experience of seeing his life — not to mention is wife — depicted in "Shattered Glass."

And, yes, your one-page memo is due on Thursday, Feb. 7. I've corrected the assignment sheet, which you'll find under "Course Documents."

Your research-paper memo

I've posted the guidelines for your research-paper memo, which is due next Thursday, Feb. 4, at the beginning of class. I'll hand out hard copies of the guidelines in class tomorrow, and we'll take a little time to discuss it.

Caucusing over ethics

Now this is interesting. We know that journalists should stay away from political activism. But we also know that it's all right to vote. (Although Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. famously thinks otherwise.) But there's a gray area, and Denver Post editor Greg Moore (left; former managing editor of the Boston Globe, by the way) is trying to deal with it.

Moore wants to limit and discourage Post staff members from participating in the Feb. 5 Colorado caucuses without banning it completely. (Although certain categories of employees, most prominently those who cover politics, will be banned.) The theory: caucuses are not like primaries. You vote publicly, in front of other people, and therefore identify yourself as partisan.

In a memo to the staff, Moore writes:

I am trying my best to be sensitive to individual rights while at the same time protecting the credibility of the paper and our ability to continue to cover politics as best and as fair as possible.

I'd like to spend a few moments talking about this at the beginning of class on Thursday, so please follow the link and read Moore's memo.

Update: At the Denver Post's competitor, the Rocky Mountain News, editor John Temple just says no.

Assignment for Thursday

I had a request to upload a copy of the assignment that is due this Thursday. So here you go. It's in MS Word format. I'll add it to the Class Documents in the right-hand column as well.

Politicians, the press and the truth

Here is the video we discussed in class of presidential candidate Mitt Romney mixing it up with Associated Press reporter Glen Johnson:

As we saw, Rachel Sklar couldn't get a word in edgewise on MSNBC. Well, you'll find her commentary critical of Johnson at the Huffington Post.

Interestingly enough, John McCain, renowned for his "straight talk," has now been credibly accused of telling a knowing untruth — in English, we call that "lying" — about Romney. The AP published a story the other day that Minneapolis Star-Tribune headlined "Romney didn't say what McCain says he said on withdrawing from Iraq."

And so it goes.

The All (Britney) Press

The Associated Press, principally known for being a serious news-provider and the last redoubt of the inverted pyramid, is going all Britney, all the time. The New York Times reports:

"Now and for the foreseeable future, virtually everything involving Britney is a big deal," Frank Baker, the Los Angeles assistant bureau chief, wrote on Tuesday morning, three days after Ms. Spears was released from the hospital where she had been admitted in the wake of a custody dispute.

No one is saying that the AP is going to drop its traditional news coverage. But Baker's memo certainly speaks to misplaced priorities.

You also have to wonder whether this approach will work. When the AP competes with the likes of TMZ.com and PerezHilton.com, it's putting itself in a battle it's likely to lose.

Looking ahead

Next week we'll consider codes of ethics at news organizations and how they apply to real-world situations. See the online reading list. And please don't forget to continue with "The Elements of Journalism."

Looking back

We had such a good discussion going in class on Thursday that I never got a chance to hand out a couple of stories that I thought could serve as further fodder. Washington Post media reporter wrote a comprehensive roundup on the media's performance in New Hampshire for the paper's online edition. And, at Poynter.org, Butch Ward tells the media something they should have known in the first place: "Cover, Don't Predict."