The Quill articles from April 2002

The Quill archives from April 2002

Think through sources: Journalism's credibility depends on wise decisions. (From the Editor).(Editorial)
April 1, 2002... Jeffrey D. Mohl For this year's annual ethics issue of Quill, we focused our attention toward a universal topic that affects the work of every reporter - the sources of our information. Every news story that we write or broadcast depends...

Ethics provide balance to profit pressures: Journalistic principles are always important -- even in a weak economy. (From the President).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... One of my respected colleagues has long declined to join SPJ because the Society has a Code of Ethics, and he doesn't like the idea of anyone telling journalists how to behave -- even fellow journalists. It's an absolutist free-press stand,...

VOA reporter is pulled off air. (Odds & Ends).(Voice of America)(Spozhmai Maiwandi)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A Voice of America journalist who landed an exclusive and controversial September interview with the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has been taken off the air and reassigned to what she and the agency's news director call a "useless...

NYT highlights its errors in book. (Odds & Ends).
April 1, 2002... In an effort to collect the most embarrassing errors that ran in The New York Times, editors Linda Amster and Dylan Loeb McClain looked at 20,000 to 25,000 corrections over the course of a year-and-a-half to select almost 500 for the...

News magazines' circulations increase. (Odds & Ends).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... While covering the biggest story in decades, Time, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report saw their circulations increase in their traditionally modest newsstand sales. The Audit Bureau of Circulations showed that Time and Newsweek each...

Talk magazine folds in third year. (Odds & Ends).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Less than three years after it was started, Talk magazine, the glossy monthly that struggled to turn a profit, has become the latest publication to fall victim to the dismal economic climate. Tina Brown, the former New Yorker editor who...

Jury orders globe to pay $2.1 million. (Odds & Ends).(Boston Globe)(Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A Suffolk County, Mass., jury awarded Dr. Lois Ayash $4.2 million in February for lost wages and emotional distress for the way she was treated by The Boston Globe and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute following two chemotherapy overdoses in a...

Court won't hear Jewell's libel appeal. (Odds & Ends).(Georgia Supreme Court)(Richard Jewell)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Georgia Supreme Court has declined to consider the appeal of Richard Jewell in the former Olympic security guard's libel lawsuit against The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The court decided 6-1 against hearing the case, The Associated...

Reporter is fined for talking to juror. (Odds & Ends).(Carol Saline)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A Pennsylvania judge gave a Philadelphia Magazine reporter a suspended 30-day sentence and fined her the maximum $1,000 in February for speaking with a juror in November during deliberations in the Rabbi Fred J. Neulander murder trial. ...

Federal court throws out libel award. (Odds & Ends).(Randall "Tex" Cobb)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A federal appeals court threw out a jury decision that gave former boxer Randall "Tex" Cobb a $10.7 million libel award against Sports Illustrated and its owner, Time Inc. Cobb argued that Sports Illustrated and Time libeled him by...

LAPD pays to settle journalists' lawsuit. (Odds & Ends).(Los Angeles Police Department; journalists attacked)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Los Angeles Police Department paid $60,000 in January to settle a lawsuit brought by journalists who said police attacked them outside the 2000 Democratic National Convention. The police department also agreed to change the way it...

Knight Ridder profit rises as revenue falls. (Odds & Ends).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Knight Ridder swung to a profit of $75 million in the fourth quarter, coming back from a loss in the same period a year ago, when the media company took charges for write-downs of Internet investments and severance costs. Knight Ridder,...

Scripps: First quarter better than estimated. (Odds & Ends).(E.W. Scripps Co.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Newspaper and television company E.W. Scripps Co. in February said its network advertising revenues were somewhat" better during the first quarter than its previous estimate of a 5 to 10 percent decrease from a year earlier. E.W....

Reuters cuts jobs as profits decline. (Odds & Ends).(Reuters Group PLC)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Reuters Group PLC, the news and financial information provider, said in February that it would cut 200 additional jobs, as the global economic slowdown and fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks continued to depress earnings. The...

Media companies lay off more employees. (Odds & Ends).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Kansas City Star will reduce its work force by 50 more positions, after eliminating 176 jobs over a 14-month period that began about January 2001. The departments affected in the current cutback are security, dispatch, alternate delivery...

Lee Enterprises to buy Howard Publications. (Odds & Ends).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Lee Enterprises is buying Howard Publications, the technology-savvy chain of 16 dailies, in a transaction valued at $694 million, Editor & Publisher reported. "This is exactly the acquisition we've been seeking," said Lee Enterprises CEO...

Online news outlets considered credible. (Odds & Ends).(Online News Association report)(Brief Article)(Polling Data)
April 1, 2002... American Internet users believe that online news outlets are at least as credible as many traditional media sources, including newspapers, television broadcasts and magazines. According to a study published Jan. 31 by the Online News...

Unions approve job cuts to save Jersey Journal. (Odds & Ends).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Members of the newspaper drivers' union at The Jersey Journal voted in February in favor of an agreement cutting half their jobs to save the 135-year-old daily, a representative said. The drivers' union was the last of three unions to...

Workers sue Cincinnati Enquirer. (Odds & Ends).(1972 workers' contract)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Seventeen workers are suing The Cincinnati Enquirer, saying the newspaper violated a 1972 agreement that guarantees their employment until retirement. The composing room employees have been with the newspaper 30 to 53 years, according to...

Two papers return to afternoon editions. (Odds & Ends).(Arkansas' The Benton Courier and the Malvern Daily Record)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... While most newspapers are published in the morning, two papers in Arkansas have switched back to afternoon editions. The morning newspapers in Benton and Malvern were scheduled to return to afternoon editions in March, The Associated Press...

Pentagon sides with soldiers in dispute. (Odds & Ends).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Pentagon said U.S. soldiers were justified in keeping a reporter away from the scene of a U.S. missile strike in Afghanistan, The Associated Press reported. A Defense Department spokesman said that soldiers did not threaten to shoot...

War coverage relies on trusted sources: Reporters say the basics are the same as in peacetime -- but with more at stake. (Consider the Source).(Afghanistan conflict)
April 1, 2002... Operation Enduring Freedom has been described as a conflict unlike any fought by the U.S. armed forces in recent history, but wartime news coverage has been remarkable for its continuity with the past. Journalists involved in covering the...

When the story is personal: The Pearl kidnapping was a difficult story for the staff of The Wall Street Journal. (Consider the Source).(kidnap and murder of Daniel Pearl)
April 1, 2002... The headlines on the Web site highlighted the news on Feb. 20. Daimler-Chrysler was expecting its American division to break even. Consumer prices had risen. President Bush "continued his war of words with North Korea." Just off to the...

The lost middle voice: How can stories get beyond the usual suspects? (Consider the Source).
April 1, 2002... In the spring of 2001, Jeff Porter walked down what might charitably pass for a street in what might loosely be called a community nestled in Arkansas' part of the Mississippi River Delta. Walking through the grass sprouting on the dirt...

Avoiding the spin cycle: Relationships with PR people can be useful -- when used correctly. (Consider the Source).(journalists and public relations agents)
April 1, 2002... For many journalists, public relations agents are the used car salesmen of the communications industry. They will do what it takes to get you to buy a story pitch -- supply you with experts, find case studies, put you in touch with the...

Storytelling vs. sticking to the facts: 'It was a dark and stormy night' doesn't always serve readers. (Consider the Source).(news writing)
April 1, 2002... Howie Wright couldn't sleep. And now, after a fretful night, he could sense that the black nighttime sky beyond the drapes had turned to a slate gray. Tires were hissing on the wet freeway a mile from his trim suburban home -- commuters...

D.C. Pro Chapter to induct four to its Hall of Fame. (Chapter Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... WASHINGTON -- The Washington, D.C., Pro Chapter will induct four distinguished journalists into Hall of Fame during its annual Hall of Fame/Dateline Banquet June 11 at the National Press Club. This year's inductees are: Dorothy Gilliam,...

Northern California Chapter to honor 14 with FOI Awards. (Chapter Briefs).(Society of Professional Journalists' 17th annual James Madison Freedom of Information Awards)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter has named the recipients of its 17th annual James Madison Freedom of Information Awards, given to individuals and organizations who have promoted and defended free speech...

SPJ, SDX hire Terrence G. Harper as executive director. (SPJ Report).(Society of Professional Journalists and the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation)(Interview)
April 1, 2002... The Society of Professional Journalists and the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation on Feb. 7 announced the hiring of Terrence G. Harper, an Indianapolis-based association executive, as the new executive director of the two organizations. Almost...

2002 Pulliam Editorial Fellowship Banquet set for April 19. (SPJ Report).
April 1, 2002... Event: Eugene C. Pulliam Editorial Fellowship Banquet When: April 19- 6:30 p.m. Where: National Press Club, Washington, D.C. Leonard Downie, Jr., executive editor of The Washington Post and co-author of "The News About...

Give your reporters more resources, tools, connections: Buy their tickets to the 2002 SPJ National Convention. (2002 SPJ National Convention).
April 1, 2002... Dear Editor: Before you reject out of hand your reporter's request for the company to pay for his or her attendance at the Sept. 12-14 SPJ National Convention in Fort Worth, Texas, think a minute. A rejection this year could put you...

Just VCR required: Order Project Watchdog program in a box. (2002 SPJ National Convention).
April 1, 2002... Looking for an idea for Project Watchdog? All you need is a public audience, a TV and VCR. A 30-minute reel from the PBS series "Local News" that aired last fall is available to all SPJ chapters for $13, plus $1.50 shipping and handling....

What's the big deal about The Working Press? Students get compelling experience, connections. (SPJ Report).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... We wanted to produce the perfect newspaper. As an aspiring student journalist in charge of guiding a dozen other student journalists from around the nation, perfection just wasn't the right word to describe why all of us gathered in...

Code of ethics. (Society of Professional Journalists).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Preamble Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and...

Does the SPJ code need a wartime update? Members should respond to a recent discussion among the Ethics Committee members. (Consider the Source).(Society of Professional Journalists)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A funny thing happened on the way to writing this column. I looked, but could not find much written bout my topic -- the ethical questions raised in the coverage of military action during a time of war. Now, I confess right up front, I...

Find time to make the Code rhyme: Whether verse by verse, or a section at a time, it's worth giving thought.(Society of Professional Journalist Code of Ethics)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... There is little to criticize in SPJ's Code of Ethics, except perhaps that it is a little bit dull. It is instructive, but prosaic. It contains carefully evolved and thoroughly discussed precepts about ethical conduct. But like most things...

A balancing act: Top media managers discuss the role of advertising in editing. (Media Leaders Forum).
April 1, 2002... This is the 12th in a series of case studies exploring how top media managers make difficult decisions. When the marketplace of ideas meets the marketplace, sometimes there are problems with no perfect solution. Doing journalism in a...

If only FOI law came on stone tablets: The same principles underlie most battles for information. (Collecting Information).(freedom of information)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... One thing about writing on FOI issues -- there's never a lack of things going on. From dramatic changes in federal records policy to state legislators making frontal assaults on public access laws to government officials at all levels finding...

Giuliani records deal stirs controversy. (In-Brief).(Rudolph Guiliani)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The public is entitled to view records from Rudolph Giuliani's administration without the former mayor having a say in the process, New York state's top Freedom of Information official said. Robert Freeman, director of the state's...

FOI advocates worry about closed meetings. (In-Brief).(freedom of information)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A growing number of state lawmakers are closing doors to the public as they try to resolve the serious budget problems nearly all states face this year, and advocates for open government are worried by the trend. Almost the entire Alaska...

Sound ethics process helps in gray areas: Questions can often be answered after a series of decision-making steps. (Weighing the Impacts).(Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... This column is based on calls to the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists, a partnership between the Chicago Headline Club and Loyola University Chicago's Center for Ethics and Social Justice. The phone number for the AdviceLine is 312-409-3334....

Educators respond to call for diversity: Teaching students to be inclusive presents some unique challenges. (Varying the Voice).
April 1, 2002... Significant efforts to integrate diversity issues into journalism programs have been undertaken in universities throughout the nation, leading some educators to be cautiously optimistic that future journalists may be better equipped to...

Number of minority newscasters drop. (In-Brief).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The number of women appearing on the Big Three network evening newscasts is dropping, according to a new survey. During 2001,29 percent of the correspondents on the evening newscasts were women, down from 33 percent the previous year, The...

New database helps newsrooms diversify. (In-Brief).(Freedom Forum helps newspapers recruiting people of color)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... In an effort to help newspapers diversify their newsroom staffs, the Freedom Forum has announced the launch of a college database. Available on the Freedom Forum Web site, the database, called the Diversity Directory, provides information...

Supreme Court refuses to hear diversity appeal. (In-Brief).(Federal Communications Commission's recruitment rules)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Supreme Court in January let stand a lower-court ruling striking down as unconstitutional federal rules designed to promote employment diversity in the broadcast industry. Over a year ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of...

Threat of censorship has 'chilling effect': High school journalists try to continue work after clash with administration. (Developing Minds).(Omaha Central High School Register)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Back in November, the Omaha Central High School Register was in a lot of trouble. Our principal, Dr. Gary Thompson, took offense to several of the stories in the October issue of the student paper. Specifically, he took issue with a...

University papers' cartoons called racist. (In-Brief).(Syracuse University's "The Daily Orange" and Texas A and M University's Battalion newspaper)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Syracuse University and Texas A&M student newspapers are being criticized for running what some have labeled racist cartoons. The staff of Syracuse's The Daily Orange apologized in February for the cartoon and suspended the cartoonists...

Three editors are fired at Iowa State. (In-Brief).(Iowa State Daily)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Three editors at the Iowa State Daily were fired in February after their photographs and spoof descriptions were included in an issue of a cartoon newspaper. Sara Tennessen, Wendy Weiskircher and Valerie Dennis posed for a picture in the...

Press rights in Zimbabwe secure -- for now: Parliament disarmed a bill that could have restricted coverage of the recent presidential election. (Covering the Globe).(Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe deliberately delayed signing the recently passed Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill that drew international attention and condemnation. The bill, which was rushed through Parliament in time...

Russia's High Court favors journalist. (In-Brief).(Grigory Pasko investigated for treason)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Russia's Supreme Court in February dealt two blows in two days to the treason case against journalist Grigory Pasko. First, the Court nullified a military decree used to jail Pasko for treason. The ruling did not overturn his conviction,...

Colombian TV hosts leaves country in fear. (In-Brief).(RCN Television 's Claudia Gurisatti)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A popular Colombian television anchorwoman and talk show host fled Colombia Feb. 4 in fear for her safety, her station announced. It was the second time in a year that journalist Claudia Gurisatti of RCN television has left the country,...

Editor of Mexican magazine is gunned down. (In-Brief).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Unknown assailants gunned down the editor of a weekly magazine in northern Mexico after he filed a report linking an ex-mayor with drug traffickers, an international journalists' group has reported. Felix Alonso Fernandez Garcia, editor...

Haitian judge probing murder flees country. (In-Brief).(Claudy Gassant)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A Haitian judge assigned to investigate the slaying of a prominent journalist has fled to South Florida, saying he feared for his life. Claudy Gassant, 36, arrived in Palm Beach County in early January. Gassant had been ordered to...

Census data you can use: A lot of information is available on an easy-to-access Web site. (Mastering the Art).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Whether or not you're a census reporter, eventually you're going to need census data. When St. Louis Post-Dispatch features reporter Lorraine Kee was working on a story about a new Ken Burns documentary about Hannibal, Mo., she needed...

When what you hear ain't what you get: Mistakes of the ear can both confound and amuse. (Mastering the Art).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Most new television sets offer the hearing-impaired an on-screen text of what speakers are saying. This technology is in some cases based on speech-recognition programs -- that means the words on the screen are a transcription of how the...

John Bridges. (People & Places).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Austin (Texas) American-Statesman has appointed three editors to new leadership positions, according to The Associated Press. Former news editor John Bridges, 36, was named metro editor. He has been an editor at the American-Statesman for...

Deaths.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
April 1, 2002... Ray Barham, a convicted killer who wrote award-winning newspaper columns from his prison cell, died Jan. 28 of cancer in Concord, N.H. He was 72. Barham was serving a life sentence for the murder of his estranged wife's boyfriend in 1981....

John Drury. (People & Places).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... John Drury, the lead anchor for WLS-TV 7 in Chicago announced in January that he would be stepping down from his position after 17 years at the station owned and operated by ABC. He will continue to file special reports with Alex Burkholder,...

Tom Goldstein. (People & Places).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Tom Goldstein, dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism for five years, has announced that he will be stepping down in June. Goldstein, 56, who was dean of the graduate school of journalism at the University of California...

Richard Griffins. (People & Places).
April 1, 2002... Richard Griffins, sports editor of The (Fort Wayne, Ind.) News-Sentinel since December 1995, has been named managing editor. Griffis joined The News-Sentinel in 1994 as assistant executive sports editor. Under his leadership, The...

Richard J.V. Johnson. (People & Places).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Richard J.V. Johnson, chairman of the Houston Chronicle, retired April 1 after 45 years with the newspaper. Johnson, 71, will remain a consultant to the newspaper and its parent company, The Hearst Corp., according to The Associated Press....

Steve Lambert. (People & Places).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Steve Lambert, former editor of The EagleTribune in Lawrence, Mass., has been appointed editor of The San Bernardino (Calif.) Sun. Lambert, 45, joined the paper Feb. 26, succeeding Joe Happ, who resigned, said Sun Publisher Bob Gray. The Sun...

Jerry Roberts. (People & Places).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... San Francisco Chronicle Vice President and Managing Editor Jerry Roberts left the newspaper Feb. 11 after nearly 25 years working in posts ranging from reporter to editorial page editor. A Chronicle press release said only that Roberts had...

Martha Steffens. (People & Places).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Media consultant Martha Steffens, who was ousted as executive editor of The San Francisco Examiner in December 2000 after less than a month on the job, has been named the first Society of American Business Editors and Writers chair in...

Kelly Smith Tunney. (People & Places).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... For the first time in its 153-year history, The Associated Press has a female vice president. Kelly Smith Tunney, who joined the New York-based news cooperative in 1962 and spent the past two years as director of corporate communications,...