Planet Abell

A lot of people thought the Washington Post opinion piece by Charlotte Allen – you remember, the one where she riffed on how women are weak and stupid after all -- was outrageous. Well, so does the Post ombud. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

There are plenty of people who really don’t like the term “citizen journalism,” but Todd Wolfson has a pretty interesting reason of his own for his displeasure with that appellation: plenty of the people he is training to make video reports for the Internet aren’t citizens at all -- at least of the United States . ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

In a ruling USA Today describes as “draconian and perhaps unprecedented,” a judge has ordered one of its reporters to reveal the names of confidential sources or pay more than $45,000 out of her own pocket – without help from others, including her own newspaper – and to do so immediately, even pending appeal. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

Gerri Peev, the Scotsman reporter who quoted Samantha Power as calling Hillary Clinton 'a monster,' said she could not 'in good conscience' have agreed to keep the remark off the record. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

Newspaper editorial cartoonists are a dying breed and those few who are still around are no longer expected to be in the forefront of pointed political debates and crusades ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

Florida’s Pensacola News Journal is fighting an $18 million jury award won by a man who alleged that its reference to an unflattering but true incident in his past violated the legal concept of “false light.” ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

The Swiss bank which obtained an injunction that 'shut down' wikileaks.org – before the judge reversed himself for probably violating the First Amendment – has now withdrawn the case. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

The New York Times is reporting that despite heavy-handed attempts by the Cuban government to put an air gap between the Internet and its citizens – the better to cripple the crowd – technological disruption is winning again. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

Like a modern-day land grab, news organizations and professional sports leagues are fighting over who gets to do what online with the sights and sounds captured by reporters covering games. While this may appear to be a crass battle over money, it does affect freedom of the press in a meaningful way. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

An investigation by Medill’s provost may have cleared Dead John Lavine of a breach of ethics in the use of anonymous quotes, but not everyone thinks the matter should be closed. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

You think the press is biased? You’re right. But it isn’t for Barack Obama or John McCain. No, what the media won’t tolerate is peace and quiet. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

Medill Dean John Lavine has been cleared of any wrongdoing for the use of anonymous quotes in an alumni newsletter. The announcement was made in a letter to the Medill community on Friday from Provost Dean Linzer, who said in effect that he considered the matter closed. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

What’s the difference between a blogger and journalist? Ask that in the wrong company and you’re likely to get your head handed to you. Same was true years ago but now the reason is diametrically opposed: there is more than a general consensus that the distinction is somewhere between trivial and non-existent.( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

The professional British media organization which crafted and policed a nation-wide wide agreement not to report about Prince Harry’s deployment to Afghanistan tells the story behind the story today in the Guardian. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

w hen you really, really want to insult a news organization you accuse them of being no better than the National Enquirer, it seems. But it looks like we set some kind of record for this invective in the past few days. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

w hen a story isn't a story but it generates a lot of stories, nobody looks particularly good. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

N ew York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt takes his paper to task for its original John McCain story as well as the Friday follow-up . Hoyt concludes that the newspaper didn’t have enough to report that top McCain aides had become “convinced” the senator’s was having an intimate relationship with a lobbyist, that they story did need that angle to make its points and that including it had invited distraction from what was otherwise “a good story.” ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

The New York Times insides its second-day McCain story, writes around the romance angle and offers no new reporting about the bombshell affair allegation which caused a substantial reaction from media critics and thousands of New York Times’ readers. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

Embattled Medill Dean John Lavine has apologized to faculty and students for "exercising poor judgment" but says he did not make up the anonymous quotes in an incident which has brought criticism from his colleagues and unwelcome press scrutiny. ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )

Newspapers have long endorsed candidates. Has the time come for this practice to end? ( Committee of Concerned Journalists )