iHaveNet.com
World - On Journalistic Credibility | United Kingdom - British Current Events
  • HOME
  • WORLD
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Balkans
    • Caucasas
    • Central Asia
    • Eastern Europe
    • Europe
    • Indian Subcontinent
    • Latin America
    • Middle East
    • North Africa
    • Scandinavia
    • Southeast Asia
    • United Kingdom
    • United States
    • Argentina
    • Australia
    • Austria
    • Benelux
    • Brazil
    • Canada
    • China
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Hungary
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Ireland
    • Israel
    • Italy
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Mexico
    • New Zealand
    • Pakistan
    • Philippines
    • Poland
    • Russia
    • South Africa
    • Spain
    • Taiwan
    • Turkey
    • United States
  • USA
    • ECONOMICS
    • EDUCATION
    • ENVIRONMENT
    • FOREIGN POLICY
    • POLITICS
    • OPINION
    • TRADE
    • Atlanta
    • Baltimore
    • Bay Area
    • Boston
    • Chicago
    • Cleveland
    • DC Area
    • Dallas
    • Denver
    • Detroit
    • Houston
    • Los Angeles
    • Miami
    • New York
    • Philadelphia
    • Phoenix
    • Pittsburgh
    • Portland
    • San Diego
    • Seattle
    • Silicon Valley
    • Saint Louis
    • Tampa
    • Twin Cities
  • BUSINESS
    • FEATURES
    • eBUSINESS
    • HUMAN RESOURCES
    • MANAGEMENT
    • MARKETING
    • ENTREPRENEUR
    • SMALL BUSINESS
    • STOCK MARKETS
    • Agriculture
    • Airline
    • Auto
    • Beverage
    • Biotech
    • Book
    • Broadcast
    • Cable
    • Chemical
    • Clothing
    • Construction
    • Defense
    • Durable
    • Engineering
    • Electronics
    • Firearms
    • Food
    • Gaming
    • Healthcare
    • Hospitality
    • Leisure
    • Logistics
    • Metals
    • Mining
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Newspaper
    • Nondurable
    • Oil & Gas
    • Packaging
    • Pharmaceutic
    • Plastics
    • Real Estate
    • Retail
    • Shipping
    • Sports
    • Steelmaking
    • Textiles
    • Tobacco
    • Transportation
    • Travel
    • Utilities
  • WEALTH
    • CAREERS
    • INVESTING
    • PERSONAL FINANCE
    • REAL ESTATE
    • MARKETS
    • BUSINESS
  • STOCKS
    • ECONOMY
    • EMERGING MARKETS
    • STOCKS
    • FED WATCH
    • TECH STOCKS
    • BIOTECHS
    • COMMODITIES
    • MUTUAL FUNDS / ETFs
    • MERGERS / ACQUISITIONS
    • IPOs
    • 3M (MMM)
    • AT&T (T)
    • AIG (AIG)
    • Alcoa (AA)
    • Altria (MO)
    • American Express (AXP)
    • Apple (AAPL)
    • Bank of America (BAC)
    • Boeing (BA)
    • Caterpillar (CAT)
    • Chevron (CVX)
    • Cisco (CSCO)
    • Citigroup (C)
    • Coca Cola (KO)
    • Dell (DELL)
    • DuPont (DD)
    • Eastman Kodak (EK)
    • ExxonMobil (XOM)
    • FedEx (FDX)
    • General Electric (GE)
    • General Motors (GM)
    • Google (GOOG)
    • Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)
    • Home Depot (HD)
    • Honeywell (HON)
    • IBM (IBM)
    • Intel (INTC)
    • Int'l Paper (IP)
    • JP Morgan Chase (JPM)
    • J & J (JNJ)
    • McDonalds (MCD)
    • Merck (MRK)
    • Microsoft (MSFT)
    • P & G (PG)
    • United Tech (UTX)
    • Wal-Mart (WMT)
    • Walt Disney (DIS)
  • TECH
    • ADVANCED
    • FEATURES
    • INTERNET
    • INTERNET FEATURES
    • CYBERCULTURE
    • eCOMMERCE
    • mp3
    • SECURITY
    • GAMES
    • HANDHELD
    • SOFTWARE
    • PERSONAL
    • WIRELESS
  • HEALTH
    • AGING
    • ALTERNATIVE
    • AILMENTS
    • DRUGS
    • FITNESS
    • GENETICS
    • CHILDREN'S
    • MEN'S
    • WOMEN'S
  • LIFESTYLE
    • AUTOS
    • HOBBIES
    • EDUCATION
    • FAMILY
    • FASHION
    • FOOD
    • HOME DECOR
    • RELATIONSHIPS
    • PARENTING
    • PETS
    • TRAVEL
    • WOMEN
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • BOOKS
    • TELEVISION
    • MUSIC
    • THE ARTS
    • MOVIES
    • CULTURE
  • SPORTS
    • BASEBALL
    • BASKETBALL
    • COLLEGES
    • FOOTBALL
    • GOLF
    • HOCKEY
    • OLYMPICS
    • SOCCER
    • TENNIS
  • Subscribe to RSS Feeds EMAIL ALERT Subscriptions from iHaveNet.com RSS
    • RSS | Politics
    • RSS | Recipes
    • RSS | NFL Football
    • RSS | Movie Reviews
On Journalistic Credibility
Jules Witcover

HOME > WORLD

 

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

We Americans are doing a lot of finger wagging at the scandal unfolding in Britain around Rupert Murdoch's newspapers. Minions of the media mogul there are accused of phone and computer hacking into the lives of seemingly everyone from high government officials to the families of war victims. Added to that are allegations of bribing police at the hallowed Scotland Yard.

All this American carping is aimed at a naturalized American citizen from Australia whose publications and television properties on this side of the pond also are subject to wide criticism and accusations of yellow journalism.

Not excluded is Murdoch's most distinguished newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, which he bought from tired and money-hungry owners in 2007 amid solemn pledges that he would preserve the independence and integrity of the American bible of business. Some of the former owners have recently said they now regret selling the paper to him.

Even the Journal has lately come under some scrutiny for sliding standards, a diminished commitment to investigative journalism, and the departure of some of its more heralded reporters and writers. But so far, the widespread hacking that led Murdoch to shut down his hugely profitable News of the World weekly newspaper in Britain has not been detected in Murdoch publications here.

Another virus, however, has been increasingly attacking American journalism and its expanding universe of news-gatherers and rumormongers spawned by the computer age, television and particularly the Internet. Reputations have been shattered and privacy obliterated here not so much by hacking as by an anything-goes mentality that sanctions getting the story by whatever means, fair or foul.

While Murdoch's successful Fox News television channel styles itself "fair and balanced," its top-heavy use of conservative commentators and analysts has generated much ridicule, but also a loyal following.

A major contributor to the credibility gap has been the combination of intensified personal ambition among those who pursue information about public figures and the technological enablers of the wired world. The problem may have come well before the computer age with the advent of "gotcha" journalism -- catching a politician or other public figure in some sort or other of wrongdoing, and gaining fame and fortune by bringing the target down.

This exploitative side of journalism has certainly always been within the American brand. In the earlier years of the last century, New York gossip columnist Walter Winchell made a career of it. Later, Drew Pearson in Washington and then his protege and successor Jack Anderson did the same as scourges of the political high and mighty.

Arguably the greatest political story in American annals, the Watergate scandal that toppled a president in 1974, made the Washington Post team of Woodward and Bernstein the inspiration of a generation of young reporters in journalism. Unlike these two, who broke the story and pursued it to its dramatic end with relentless old-fashioned shoe leather, some of the newcomers cut corners in quest of the holy grail of fame or lucrative celebrity television careers.

The result often has been a much more adversarial relationship between politicians and reporters, who have suffered from diminished access to the public figures whose influential roles they seek to discover, examine and comment upon in print or on the air. With less access, and the erosion of longstanding standards of journalistic fairness and ethics, rumor and biased opinion too often now enter the mainstream of reporting and analysis.

Reporters getting too close or too chummy with the public figures they cover has always posed a peril to honest newsgathering and expressing of opinion. Also, it has not been unknown here, particularly in gossip or celebrity reporting, for sources to be paid in cash or certainly in favored treatment in what is written or aired.

The presence of self-appointed or hired bloggers published by old mainstays of American journalism like the Post and the New York Times have seen greater leeway in purveying what we used to call scuttlebutt in the Navy. What is being revealed now about the Murdoch empire in Britain is a cautionary note to the American news media about guarding their own credibility in the journalistic era of anything goes.

Twitter: @ihavenet

 

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

 

  • And, in the Background ... Our Numbers Still Grow
  • War Fatigue and the Un-Critical Critics of War
  • Obama's Expanded Militarism
  • Obama's Bush-League World
  • China Eclipsing United States in Global Reach
  • Debt Fight Reinforces China's Negative Views of America
  • Military-Industrial Journalism
  • Slapstick and Denial Highlight News International's London Testimony
  • Rupert Murdoch's Legacy -- Greater Press Controls
  • Decline of the English Scandal
  • Another Blow to Journalism's Image
  • On Journalistic Credibility
  • Is Italy on the Brink of Debacle?
  • European Debt Crisis: Could Italy Be Next?
  • Italy: Barbarians -- in Suits -- at the Gates
  • Looking at Greece in the Argentinean Mirror
  • The Rise of Turkey in the Balkans
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia Agree to Help Each Other on Road to EU
  • Turkey's Kurds Announce Plan For Democratic Autonomy
  • A Cyprus Solution By The End of The Year?
  • Some Albanians Consider Changing Nationality for Profit
  • Democracy in Mexico: The Past, Present, and Future
  • Making Room for Brazil's Growing Clout
  • Brazil's Deforestation Quagmire
  • Obama MIA in Latin America
  • The Other South Asia
  • The 2011 Mumbai Serial Blasts and India's 'Resilience'
  • Japan's Decline as a Robotics Superpower
  • Will Fukushima Survivors Be Doubly Victimized?
  • Why Palestinians Have Been Sitting Out the Arab Spring
  • Qadhafi's Days in Libya Are Numbered
  • How to Secure Peace in South Sudan
  • Handling Big Contradictions
  • Tax Havens: Shady Deals
  • Environment: Worlds of Water
  • Environment: Rebuilding Sandcastles
  • Economic Cost in Yemen
  • Egypt and Palestine: Internecine Alliance
  • In New Egypt Old Conspiracies Live On
  • Show Stolen From Egyptian Superstar in Anti-Mubarak Drive
  • Russia Has Syrian Blood on Its Hands
  • Syrian Revolution Gets Islamic Seal of Approval
  • Muslim Brotherhood Challenges Jordan's King
  • A Dumb and Dumber War in Libya
  • Libya and the Problem with The Hague
  • Are Palestinians Getting Cold Feet on Independence?
  • Tent Camp Rises in Tel Aviv To Protest Home Costs
  • Open Air Market at Heart of Jerusalem's Downtown Revival
  • Rwanda: A New Rwanda?
  • Somalia's Pirates: Ransom Cash 'Easy Come Easy Go'
  • Al-Shabaab Offer Somalis Kinder and Gentler Face
  • Mogadishu Hospitals Running Out of Medicine
  • Kenya Feels the Strain as Somali Refugee Numbers Soar
  • Ethiopia: Floods Pose New Threat to Food Security
  • Understanding Nigeria's Boko Haram Radicals
  • Turkey: Constitutional Overhaul?
  • European Action Service: Europe Eats Its Young
  • Spain: Playing at Revolution
  • Spain May Change Tone on Latin America
  • Britain's Tabloid Scandal Sounds Familiar
  • Britain's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Quits Over News Corp Phone Hacking Scandal
  • News of the World Editor Brooks Arrested
  • Headed to Europe This Summer? It's Going to Be a Riot
  • Europe This Summer: Go, But Carefully
  • South Korea's School Tablets -- a Test for All
  • Bombs Before Bread in North Korea
  • 'Unprecedented' Drug Trafficking Heightens Risk To Youth
  • Never-Say-Die Attitude Propels Japan to Victory Over USA In Women's FIFA World Cup Finals
  • Three Venezuelan Scenarios -- None of Them Good
  • Mexican President Congratulates Troops for Huge Marijuana Discovery
  • On Humanitarianism: Is Helping Others Charity or Duty or Both?
  • Financial Rebalancing Act: Stop Worrying About Global Flow of Capital
  • Globalization and Unemployment
  • The Divided States of Europe
  • The Secrets of Germany's Economic Success
  • Russia's Evolving Leadership
  • Does Obama Have a Grand Strategy?
  • The Crisis in Clean Energy
  • Why Middle East Studies Missed the Arab Spring
  • Egypt's Military and Upcoming Elections
  • Taliban Hotel Attack: Low Death Toll, High Psychological Value
  • Bin Laden's Re-branding of al-Qaida
  • Perfidious Pakistan
  • Effects of the American Drone Program in Pakistan
  • NATO After Libya: The Atlantic Alliance in Austere Times
  • South Africa's Land Reform Crisis
  • Defending Democracy in Cote d'Ivoire
  • Greece and EU Attempt to Avoid Disastrous Default
  • Greece Passes Second Austerity Legislation
  • Greek Parliament Narrowly Approves Austerity Program
  • Greece Should Not Be About Austerity, It's About The Future Of Democracy
  • Greek Crisis: Brace for More Volatility in Financial Markets
  • Violence Mars Strikes in Greece
  • Papandreou Seeks Greek MPs Support For Austerity Plan
  • Ten Million at Risk as Drought Strikes African Horn
  • South Sudan Teeters Weeks Before Independence
  • Moroccan Voters Asked to Approve Reforms
  • Myanmar Open To Microcredit Expansion
  • Thousands Protest in Bangladesh Against Islamic Constitution
  • New Evidence Not Sufficient to Retry Filipino Senator's Son For Rape and Murder
  • Government Boosts Disaster Preparedness as Latest Storm Subsides
  • Health Personnel Spreading Hepatitis in Pakistan
  • Pakistan: More Polio Cases Despite Efforts to Contain It
  • Brotherhood Gets Out Muslim Message with Movies
  • Rejecting IMF Loan Egypt Risks Undermining Economy
  • Arabs Divided on Prospects for Change
  • Arab Spring: From Textbook to Tahrir Square
  • Palestinian Inmates Put Away Their Textbooks
  • Israel's Army Becoming God's Army
  • Lebanon's New Leaders Face Economic-Credibility Problem
  • Lebanon's Clerics Attack Domestic Violence Law
  • Is Syrian Unrest an Invitation for Al-Qaeda?
  • UK Public Workers Strike Over Pension Changes
  • Belarus Holds Lessons for Syria's Asssad
  • Libya and America's Commitment Problem
  • Afghanistan: How Much Easier It Is to Start a War Than to Finish One
  • Obama's Afghanistan Plan and the Realities of Withdrawal
  • Confusing Reports of a Battle in Matamoros
  • Implications of El Chango's Arrest
  • All Wheat Varieties Will Have To Be Replaced
  • In the Desert Kingdom: No Grassroots Politics
  • Fear and Trembling in Saudi Arabia
  • Minister's Resignation Highlights Jordan's Tense Relations
  • Muslim Brotherhood Walks Democratic Path With Caution
  • Mentoring Tomorrow's Middle East Youth Movement
  • Saab Unable To Pay Employee Wages
  • KLM To Power European Flights With Used Cooking Oil
  • Mindanao Aid Plan Underfunded Says United Nations
  • Philippine Airport Operator Looks for Body Scanners
  • NATO Chief Welcomes Obama Decision To Withdraw Troops
  • Afghanistan Bracing For Reduced Wheat Harvest
  • Bangladesh Ethnic Communities Protest Islamization Of Constitution
  • Former Mexican Attorney General Suspected of Helping Drug Cartels
  • Canada to Issue New $50 And $100 Plastic Bills In November
  • Conflict In Sudan's Southern Kordofan Region
  • Michael David: 'My Duty Was Cleaning Guns And Shining Boots'
  • Insecurity and Land Conflicts Threaten Peace In Sudan's Upper Nile State
  • Children Unprotected as Polio Spreads in Chad
  • Muslim Brotherhood Walks Democratic Path With Caution
  • The Afghan Money Pit
  • United States and Pakistan: Afghan Strategies
  • Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad Admits Opposition Has Legitimate Grievances
  • Syria: The Last Domino
  • Turkey in Position to Lead Region Out of Tumultuous Century
  • Lebanon's Opposition Feeling Threatened
  • New Mexican President, Same Cartel War?
  • Limited Options for United States in Yemen
  • Yemenis Look To Tribes As Force For Change
  • In Arab Spring Chill United Arab Emirates Puts Bloggers On Trial
  • Hamas Leader Urges Fatah To Abandon West
  • Somalia Power Struggle Could Intensify As Premier Quits
  • Ousted Tunisian Leader Denies Charges Before Trial Begins In Absentia
  • Tunisia Risks Controversy with Travel Ads
  • New Insight Into Male Sex Work and HIV Epidemic in Africa
  • Angola's 'Sans Papiers' Violently Deported In New Wave Of Expulsions
  • Severe Drought and High Food Prices Hit Pastoralists In Africa
  • The Hidden Cost Of Piracy In Somalia
  • Flood-hit Mindanao Battles Water Lilies
  • No Clear Route Out Of Servitude For Indentured Girls
  • IMF Urges EU Leaders to Act Now on Greece Bailout
  • European Finance Ministers Delay Second Greek Bailout To July
  • European Union Assures Greece Bailout Funds
  • Spaniards Protest Against Euro-Pact and Austerity Measures
  • Greece Is The World's Least Credit Worthy Nation
  • A World of Three Reserve Currencies -- Good or Bad?
  • Europe Is Warning Us
  • United States Has Trust Issues With China
  • The United States - Russia Missile Defense Impasse
  • Al Qaeda's New Video: A Message of Defeat
  • Why Sudan's Peace Is in Jeopardy
  • Egypt's Interim Rulers Learn the Democracy Game
  • Egyptians Back Keeping Clerics Out of Politics
  • House Pushes Obama on Libya
  • Ignoring the War Powers Act
  • Congress' Bipartisan Vice Is Cowardice
  • Outgoing Robert Gates Outlines Future US Presence in Asia
  • Robert Gates: Parting Shot on Afghan Policy
  • An Invitation to Leave Afghanistan
  • Obama Undermines Prospects for Middle East Peace
  • Forty-Four Years Later, Israeli Attack on USS Liberty Provokes Strong Response
  • Saudi Arabia Orders Men Out of Women's Clothing
  • Gulf Becomes Fault Line for Sunni - Shiite Tensions
  • Double Whammy for Bahraini Peace and Prosperity Drive
  • The Human Cost of the Yemen Conflict
  • Yemeni President Saleh Is Out But Yemen's Future Uncertain
  • Turkey's Dilemma: Economy or Constitution
  • Turkey: Elections and Strained U.S. Relations
  • A Bad Day That Never Changes
  • G8 Leaders Vow Billions in Aid to Egypt and Tunisia
  • What 'Arab Spring'?
  • Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood on the March -- Cautiously
  • International Law, Palestinian Statehood and Israel's Security
  • The Palestinian Move
  • Israel's Borders and National Security
  • Netanyahu's Message Is Self-Defeating
  • Justice for a General -- At Last
  • Protective Intelligence Lessons from an Ambush in Mexico
  • Corruption: Why Texas Is Not Mexico
  • Politics Behind Thai - Cambodian Conflict
  • Re-examining the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
  • The Bin Laden Operation: Tapping Human Intelligence
  • Inside Pakistan After bin Laden
  • The Kaspersky Kidnapping - Lessons Learned
  • A Political Vision for Israel
  • 3 Ongoing Conflicts You May Not Be Paying Attention To But Should
  • Visegrad: A New European Military Force
  • Turkey Setting Poor Example for Other Arab Nations
  • IMF's Crisis-Management Challenge
  • Dominique Strauss-Kahn Scandal an Embarrassment for France
  • Going Cold on Bin Laden

 

Available at Amazon.com:

Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World

Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East (The Contemporary Middle East)

Enemies of Intelligence

The End of History and the Last Man

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

The Tragedy of Great Power Politics

 

Copyright 2011, Tribune Media Services, Inc.

 

Share / Recommend

Search Powered By Google

Google Search   

ADVERTISEMENT

Advertisement

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT

Job & Career Search

career & job search                    job title, keywords, company, location
  • HOME
  • WORLD
  • USA
  • BUSINESS
  • WEALTH
  • STOCKS
  • TECH
  • HEALTH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • SPORTS

World - On Journalistic Credibility | Global Viewpoint

  • Services:
  • RSS Feeds
  • Shopping
  • Email Alerts
  • Site Map
  • Privacy