Hi there Mr Editor,
Long time reader, first time writer. There’s just been something plaguing my thoughts for quite a while and every day it seems to get worse.
I’m an avid reader of blogs such as Mashable and TechCruch, and I subscribe to them via RSS using Google Reader. It is always a source of amusement seeing Asher Moses, the SMH’s technology reporter, lift stories I read up to four days ago from various tech blogs and report them almost verbatim in his column.
I would consider this rather redundant reporting, and one of my colleagues suggested, and I agreed, that your paper would be much better served if Asher’s column space was converted into an RSS reader (such as Google Reader) subscribed to all the websites Mr Moses lifts his articles from. For starters, it would be much more cost effective for Fairfax in these tough economic times, and your readers would also benefit by not getting news that is usually at least a day old from blogs!
Please let me know if you need assistance in setting this up, and I will more than happily show you how to do it.
It’s a win-win situation!
Sincerely,
Josh.
Josh, September 7th 2009 |
Tags: Asher Moses, Journalism, Sydney Morning Herald
Posted in Media Culpa
In the past few days, we’ve also seen a number of the commentators using the fires to get a free kick in for their ideological positions. Miranda Devine and Andrew Bolt have used this both as a time to paint the environmentally friendly and those who do believe in climate change, which is frankly, most of us, as uncaring bastards trying to gain attention at a time of national tragedy while at the same time claiming it is green policies that lead to the fires.
They’re happy to put the foot in when it suits them but if anyone argues differently, ‘it’s not the time’ to argue about this.
Not to mention 2GB’s Chris Smith, 2SM’s Grant Goldman and Fox News, among others, have all tried to blame the fires on Islamic terrorists.
In the meantime, the police today have arrested two people in relation to some of these fires. Lets hope the media, desperate for someone to blame, will remember the rule that they are ‘innocent until proven guilty’.
Josh, February 12th 2009 |
Tags: Bush Fires, Journalism
Posted in A Current AFail., Blog, Editorial
The bush fires in Victoria last weekend that have killed a confirmed 181 people with that number expected to rise is our worst ever natural disaster. For the most part, the media up to now have been top notch in their coverage of the fires.
But when does it stop being genuine coverage of grief and become exploitation media?
Read more…
Josh, February 12th 2009 |
Tags: Bush Fires, Journalism
Posted in Editorial
Activists descended on Canberra to protest the ongoing Northern Territory intervention. The Sydney Morning Herald via AAP writes:
The protest was over the federal government intervention into Northern Territory Aboriginal communities in response to harrowing claims of widespread child sex abuse.
My issue here is the encroachment of editorial comment into news reporting. It may just be me, but I feel the use of ‘harrowing’ betrays the authors own views – something journalists are supposed to steer clear of when presenting news. Read more…
Adam, February 4th 2009 |
Tags: Bias, Journalism, media, politics, Sydney Morning Herald
Posted in Blog, Editorial
Whether it is the latest celebrity gossip, candid shots or getting pictures of the latest car crash victim, journalists in newsrooms around the world are now scouring social networking sites for their stories. But questions are being raised about whether the increasingly standard practice of Facebook journalism is an ethical one.
Facebook places the responsibility for privacy firmly on their users by allowing users to determine who can see what information they list on their profile. Facebook’s privacy policy warns users to be aware of what information they post on Facebook as “this information may become publicly available”.
While most of the general public may rely on their relative privacy through obscurity, if they’re thrust into the public spotlight that information is there for the journalists’ taking.
Read more…
Josh, January 20th 2009 |
Tags: Facebook, Journalism
Posted in Editorial, Media Culpa
