Barron's was recently sued in Australia because of the content of its Web site. Australian law can be applied to anything downloaded there. This difference from American law, which applies only to where something is created, is one of the new complex issues the Web has created for journalist.

The Internet has removed the certainty journalist have in knowing the bounds of the law. According to the coverage of the Online News Association Conference journalist do not know exactly what law or in what country a journalist might face consequences.

Jonathan Hart, who wrote Law of the Web: A Field Guide to Internet Publishing, stated at the ONA conference that the available speed to correct errors mean that stories that stories that need correction should be fixed quickly and consistent to other corrections.

A law that is becoming less applicable, Section 230 of Communications Decency Act, provided protection to Internet service providers like those who allow many bloggers to post their writings.

The law may hold journalists or corporation for lack of corrections and thus more accurate news. But if the laws strangle journalist first amendment rights this issue will need to be revised and perhaps another form of policy passed to ensure free presses.
# posted by Luis @ 10:15 PM ::

Andrew Sullivan, who writes "The Daily Dish" for his site, was a keynote speaker at Online News Association's 2003 Conference, held this year in Chicago.

Sullivan said traditional op-ed columns are outdated:

"The op-ed column is a dinosaur as a genre. I think that in the future, newspaper editorial pages will have five bloggers rather than five columnists."

Print journalists can lose credibility because of their distance from the reader, Sullivan stated. The public can trust online news disseminators because it is easier to interact with them, via comments and other mechanisms, he declared. The flexible nature of blogs allow readers to comment on the topic long after the post was made, and also read numerous viewpoints of an issue by viewing other readers' comments.

Bloggers can lose credibility if the sources they posts are unreliable, they must be vigilant about posting material from unconfirmed sources, he said. The public can gain trust in a blog over time as it continues to deliver accurate depictions of news events.

And why limit yourself to a city or region? Blogs can offer a global audience.

I'm glad Sullivan is so gung ho to ensure his posts are error-free, and that his site is interactive, but his speech brings us back to the issue of "Is blogging journalism?" David Akin makes a terrific analysis of this topic in a recent post.

Sullivan's feelings are made known even from home base at his blog with a quote that reads: "The revolution will be blogged."
# posted by Alison @ 7:27 PM ::

With the release of Jessica Lynch's biography, the media fascination with her has returned full-force.

What's amazing, though, is how the media portrayed Lynch's ordeal in Iraq--it was highly exaggerated. This may be the fault of the military, which was trying to build support for the war, or it may be the fault of the media, which was hungry for a good story. It found one with Lynch.

Her biography reveals what truly happened in Iraq and debunks the myths that have been circulating.

For example, the hospital that she was in was not considered hostile territory, and her captors actually tried to help her. They even attempted to return her to American soldiers, but they came under fire and had to retreat.

It's amazing to think how incorrectly the military and media portrayed her story, but the stories we heard were more interesting to read about than what actually happened.

In conjunction with the book's release, Time's latest cover is devoted to Lynch, with no less than three stories about her.

In one interview, Lynch again clarifies what actually happened during her ordeal in Iraq.

In the frenzy to cover Lynch's story, other heartbreaking stories have been overlooked. Other soldiers who acted heroically or were killed are not receiving the attention that Lynch receives.

While this certainly is not fair, it's a symptom of the media fascination with the young, petite, blonde girl who was held captive by Iraqis. That's the kind of story the media wants to write about.

Besides releasing her book, she will appear on Letterman and Primetime this week.
# posted by Lauren @ 12:04 PM ::

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft spoke to about 550 students, alumni, faculty and administrators in the Reitz Union on Friday. He made a terrific speech in defense of the Patriot Act, and received standing ovations before and after the speech.

In his speech, Ashcroft cited statistics that show a massive reduction in crime rates for every demographic, geographic and economic region of the country. He said that wire taps that are allowed under the Patriot Act to track terrorists has always been allowed for tracking drug dealers, adding that there is not one case of reported mistreatment because of the Patriot Act.

As expected, the Attorney General spoke eloquently and made a great argument in favor of an act that has been harshly criticized by the left. Unfortunately, you would never know that by reading the Alligator. The newspaper did run two stories on the event, both on page 3 (the front page had a story about the football team). One reported on about 100 radicals who protested the event and the other story reported Ashcroft's speech.

The problem is that the story covering the speech, written by Tracy Swartz, didn't explain any of the arguments that Ashcroft made. Instead it focused on why the protestors don't like the Patriot Act.

550 people went to hear a speech by the active U.S. Attorney General, and the Alligator focused two stories on the 100 or so nobodies that protested the event outside and didn't even explain the arguments Ashcroft made.

A short time ago, Noam Chomsky, an anti-American critic of the Patriot Act, spoke at the O'Connell. The Alligator covered that story on the front page. And in that story, the writer said she could not find anyone who disagreed with Chomsky and wanted to be quoted (even though about half the people there disagreed with him).

Then when the Attorney General spoke to people that overwhelmingly agreed with him, the Alligator ran two stories on page 3, both focusing on the small minority that disagreed with him, even though those people did not even hear Ashcroft's speech!

If that's not bias, than bias does not exist.

Editors and reporters at the Alligator should be ashamed of themselves. They have turned their paper into propaganda posing as journalism. They cost their paper the little bit of credibility it had left. And if the editors and reporters at the Alligator are the future of journalism, the future looks as bleak as Howard Dean's chances of winning the White House.
# posted by Joe @ 2:28 PM ::

Many NBA scouts in America rated him the most talented amateur basketball player in America as a junior in high school. ESPN televised a crucial game of his to a national audience on prime time television. A bank granted his mother--who had no job and lived in public housing at the time--a loan for a new top-of-the-line, fully-equipped Hummer for her son's birthday. He even signed an endorsement deal worth more than $90 million with Nike and now stars in their latest regularly played commercial.

All this before 18-year-old LeBron James, now a forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers, had played even one minute of regular-season basketball for the National Basketball Association. A little bit of hype, anyone?

Some believe the sports media in America covered James obsessively. Analysts repeatedly bombarded NBA fans with their opinions about James's talent, upside and maturity. When the Ohio High School Athletic Association temporarily ruled James ineligible for the rest of his senior season for accepting some jerseys as gifts, every sports news organization in America covered the story.

Was it all too much attention for the high school superstar? I thought so at one point, but watching him wrap up the first week of his NBA career changed my opinion.

After struggling a bit throughout the NBA preseason, James mesmerized fans packed into the ARCO Arena in a 106-92 loss at Sacramento Wednesday night with 25 points and nine assists in his first career regular-season game. He followed that spectacular night with solid performances at Phoenix and Portland. For now, "King James" has me believing he's the real deal.

I don't think (correct me if I'm wrong) there has ever been an 18-year-old player with such a successful debut week in the entire history of the NBA. Teenagers aren't supposed to barely miss their first career triple-double in their second NBA game ever. At first glance, James looks as good as advertised.

I think his early success verifies that James will probably be, at the very least, a good NBA player. Maybe over the course of his career James will prove he merited all the hype, glamour and attention. We shall see.
# posted by Andres @ 10:40 AM ::