Search

The author reflects on the status of news organizations arguing that they need to act more boldly if they are to survive in the business. He describes the anxiety and uneasiness felt by journalists from a national magazine who gathered to discuss their future and how to prepare for it. Their major worries include whether they will be able to continue doing the job right with all the stresses and cutbacks, as well as how to maintain accuracy with less time.

The article focuses on the challenge facing journalists with respect to the use of the term person of interest in federal cases. Journalists should know how to handle the vague term. Reporters use the term without pressing police to define it. Because of its lack of real definition, the interpretation of the term is left to the audience. Kristin Gazlay, deputy managing editor for national news at the Associated Press, said that the media need to look at why a person is a person of interest and to recognize that police use the term a technique to pressure people to talk.

This article discusses that despite that most U.S. news media have drastically underplayed genocide in Sudan's Darfur region, there are several journalists who did outstanding work regarding the event. As the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide was being observed in 2004, news managers once again were under fire, this time for scant coverage of the bloodletting in Darfur, where millions have faced torture, starvation, rape and murder at the hands of brutal Arab militias known as Janjaweed. Many of the stories on Sudan published in the nation's newspapers tended to be 500 words or less, giving short shrift to a complex conflict with powerful ethnic, religious and economic factors. Many accounts lacked historical context or perspective, often oversimplifying the bloodshed in Darfur. And few of them appeared on the front page. Only a handful of newspapers have sent their own correspondents to the scene. Foreign desks more often turn to wire service briefs or an occasional piece by a stringer. Serious reporting on the subject largely has been absent on the networks and on cable. Loren Jenkins, foreign editor for National Public Radio, which has paid more attention to the issue than most news organizations, agrees that much more needs to be done. While the overall media performance on Darfur has been disappointingly weak, some news organizations have covered the story with distinction. The Washington Post and New York Times have emerged as leaders in persistent, on-the-ground coverage, not just at the Chad border, where tens of thousands of survivors have fled, but deep in vast wastelands where the Janjaweed have left a trail of scorched villages, rape and wanton killing. INSETS: Untitled;The Roots of the Strife;Untitled;Untitled

The article presents the views of journalists about confidential sources, based on a survey conducted by the "American Journalism Review." Seth Borenstein, a correspondent for "Knight Ridder," believes in the protection of the identity of a source after granting confidentiality. Jack Kresnak, a reporter for "Detroit Free Press," says that government offices have tightened the releasing of information. Robert McClure, a reporter for "Post-Intelligencer," stated that their policy on the use of anonymous sources is not to attribute information to unnamed sources except in exceptional circumstance.

Reports on the decision of U.S. news organizations to reduce the number of journalists stationed in Iraq as of December 2003. Primary reason behind the decision; Total number of journalists embedded with the military; Status of conducting media coverage in Iraq.

The article emphasizes the social significance of the mass media. The media coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana depicts the commitment of journalists to live by their duties. Journalists were very brave to search for information about the hurricane and report it to the public. The media was able to provide the public an up-to-date news about the disaster. This hurricane coverage is of great significance not only to journalists but to the public as well. The job of journalists is very important and it is one of the jobs that serves the public during any disasters.

The article notes the decision of the editors of American Journalism Review to include the front-of-the-book sections, The Beat and Drop Cap, in the periodical as of April 2004. The Beat, which replaces Bylines, will include longer pieces on people in the journalism industry. Drop Cap, on the other hand, is simply a hipper name for a section that both addresses serious media issues and includes fun and funky items about the press. Readers of the periodical will also notice that columns and other departments in the periodical have been given a new look, one that is modern and inviting.