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The Uniform Defamation Act was strongly opposed by the media and has been replaced by the Uniform Correction or Clarification of Defamation Act. The replacement legislation is seen by many as a balanced attempt to address concerns over media accuracy and the cost of libel claims. The act sets up a process for redressing damages caused by media inaccuracies before the parties concerned go to court. Some media representatives are worried about possible changes that state legislatures could make to the act., REVILED AS ONE of the greatest modern dangers to American media, the Uniform Defamation Act is no more. In its place stands the Uniform Correction or Clarification of Defamation Act, [...]

A USA Today news story and accompanying photo about Los Angeles gangs has become the focus of controversy and a lawsuit. Five gang members armed with guns posed for a photo that was to accompany a story purportedly about a guns-for-jobs program. Instead, reporter Richard Price focused on the explosive climate surrounding the Rodney King trial. The gang members have demanded a retraction. Price is suing the paper for libel, alleging that he was defamed in a follow-up article., A JOURNALIST PUNISHED by USA Today for allegedly arranging a posed photo of gang members with their guns plans to file a libel suit if published statements about him are [...]

The Department of Defense announced new guidelines for press coverage of future combat actions. However, journalists remain skeptical that the principles will resolve the issue of prior review. Military officials refuse to surrender their desire to review copy from a battlefield before it is released to the public. The basic document covering combat missions establishes certain rights for journalists covering the action, yet it still insists that battlefield reports should be subject to review., However, some in the media are skeptical because of the military's refusal to yield on the prior review issue Now that the chief news executives and defense department officials have [...]

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press' annual report on the Bush administration's interactions with the press lists 340 secrecy-related actions taken since Pres Bush took office. Over 100 of the actions occurred between Mar 1991 and Mar 1992. The president's Apr 1991 refusal to answer questions concerning Iraqi attacks on Kurdish refugees and the Sep 1991 FBI infiltration of the College of Mount St. Vincent journalism school are among the actions cited., The Bush administration may be accused of wavering on election issues, but when it came to dealing with the media last year, its 'secrecy as usual' policy held fast, according [...]

A journalism legend revisited To the world, William Randolph Hearst was a larger-than-life figure, creator of a media empire and journalism legend. In his new book, Hearst's son and namesake [...]

Congress steps into electronic information dispute As the case of the regional Bell operating companies makes its way slowly through the courts, Congress has begun its own investigations into whether [...]

Journalists recall the allure of Beirut American colleagues recount the times in Lebanon prior to the kidnapping of Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson In the 1980s, Beirut was exciting, it [...]

The Bush administration and the news media Restrictions on the media in the Persian Gulf were not an aberration, but rather indicative of the Bush administration's overall approach to the [...]

Where's the beef? The television showed live air raids, complete with visibly worried correspondents reporting through gas masks, and videos, shot from the noses of airplanes, of so-called 'smart' bombs [...]

Newsmen and legislators have mixed opinions about the National Presidential Debates Act and the Democracy in Presidential Debates Act, two bills currently before the House. The first would require candidates receiving matching funds to debate during primaries and general elections. The second would guarantee the inclusion of third-party candidates in such debates. Critics argue that legislation is unnecessary because of the uniqueness of the debating process and because debating has become institutionalized., Hearing held on two congressional bills that would regulate the presidential election debates TWO BILLS THAT would regulate presidential election debates have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. [...]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged former United Press International (UPI) CEO Earl W. Brian and three others with fraud in relation to the bankruptcy filing of UPI in 1991. The four individuals are charged with allegedly overstating revenues from a false sale and leaseback of equipment to two Financial News Network affiliated companies. The SEC also states in a complaint that the group allegedly engaged in an elaborate scheme to mislead auditors investigating the transactions., IN 1991, WHEN United Press International filed for bankruptcy, there were a lot of unanswered questions about certain lease agreements with then-sister company Financial NewsNetwork. Now the Securities and Exchange [...]

Many members of Congress were quite concerned when the Washington Post ran a series of articles based on documents in which the late US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall discussed the inner-workings of the Court. Some legislators felt the papers should not have been released until all involved members of the court were gone. However, Marshall had stipulated that release of his papers after his death, according to the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington. Previous revelations about the Supreme Court have not deterred other justices from donating their papers to research institutions., WHEN THE WASHINGTON Post ran a series of articles this spring based on the papers of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, it created quite a stir. The [...]

Harvard University professor Alan M. Dershowitz, addressing the Newspaper Assn of America's 1993 convention, suggested that journalism establish a peer-review body. He specifically proposed an internal correction court that would offer aggrieved parties an opportunity to have press errors corrected, based on peer appraisal. Dershowitz suggested that such a court could save journalists money by preventing lawsuits., CELEBRITY ATTORNEY ALAN M. Dershowitz has been at the center of plenty of media coverage, and as a result believes there ought to be some system of redress for the [...]

Arthur W. Arundel publishes 13 northern Virginia community newspapers. He said that he enjoys dealing with local news, in part because of its relevance. At age eight, he published Nicky's News, but he did not return to journalism until after a post-college stint in the Marine Corps. A biographical profile of Arundel's journalism career is presented., Community newspaper publisher Arthur Arundel has traveled the world, but the focus of his newspapers is close to home ARTHUR W. ARUNDEL'S travels and adventures have led him around the [...]

Carol Guzy, though she failed her first photography class, became a staff photographer for the Miami Herald and, later, the Washington Post. She has covered Colombian mudslides, Haitian unrest, the Berlin Wall's fall, Somalian and Ethiopian famines and Hurricane Andrew. She said that the Somalia assignment was especially difficult. A selection of Guzy's photographs are presented., AWARD-WINNING photographer Carol Guzy failed her very first photography class. Of course, back then she was a full-time nursing student in Bethlehem, Pa., and did not have enough free time [...]

Jack Nelson's newly published book, 'Terror in the Night: The Klan's Campaign Against the Jews,' tells in-depth about the ambush of a Klan member and his girl friend when they were planting a bomb at the home of a Jewish community leader. While the journalist was the Los Angeles Times' bureau chief in Atlanta, GA, he wrote a controversial article on this incident, including information about the informants who helped local police and the FBI. Nelson was criticized by the Jewish community, the police and the FBI for publishing the story. Unanswered questions about the event led Nelson to write the book., IN 1970, THE Los Angeles Times published a 6,000-word article by Jack Nelson about an FBI ambush of Ku Klux Klan leaders in Mississippi. But Nelson has only just finished [...]

Six media associations, encouraged by Pres Clinton's comments about open government, have sent him an information policy paper detailing their expectations. The paper offers suggestions about information access, the military, subpoenas, the National Archives and the impersonation of journalists. One leading organization, the Newspaper Association of America, chose not to participate, citing the stringent nature of the document and its call to appoint a new archivist., CALLING ON PRESIDENT Clinton to 'reverse the information policies and practices of previous administrations,' six media organizations have sent an information policy paper to the president and Vice President Gore. [...]

George Bush criticized the US press for being biased in favor of Bill Clinton, his rival in the 1992 presidential election. Analysts believe that Bush attacked the press because it accurately reported electoral trends unfavorable to the president. Bush, Clinton and Ross Perot all used untraditional media such as the Larry King talk show to speak to potential voters. Media experts believe that such exposure is useful to voters, but that well-informed beat reporters will always perform a valuable role in questioning candidates., AS OFTEN HAPPENS during election years, those 'nattering nabobs of negativism' took a bashing from the presidential candidates and their supporters. The disparagement even got to the point where the [...]

A nine-member drafting committee of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is ready to prepare a final version of the Uniform Defamation Act, to be presented to the full conference at its summer 1993 meeting. The act, if approved at them meeting, will serve as a model for state defamation acts. In hearings held by the drafting committee, newspeople expressed strong opposition to the act., Government committee begins hearings; newspapers come out swinging against it THE QUEST FOR uniform defamation acts across the country took another step forward recently, as the committee charged with drafting [...]

A new study, The News As If All People Mattered, has concluded that media coverage of minorities and women reflects and possibly promulgates polarization among those groups. The study, conducted by Unabridged Communications Pres M. Junior Bridge, found that media can advertently or inadvertently promote polarization by trying to reduce complex conflicts to simple dichotomies., WHILE THE MEDIA act as a mirror, reflecting the society they cover, they also can influence that image for the better or the worse. A new study has found that [...]

Stuart (FL) News reporter Tim Roche, sentenced to 30 days for refusing to reveal his source for the text of a supposedly sealed court order, has taken his case to the Supreme Court. The court has not yet decided whether to hear the case. Roche was convicted of contempt of court, but appeals courts have focused on whether publication of quotes from the order violated Florida law., A Florida reporter facing a jail term for refusing to reveal a source, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case, and his attorney is optimistic that the [...]

Terry Anderson, foreign correspondent for Associated Press (AP) and a hostage in Lebanon from 1985 to 1991, said that he approaches journalism differently now than before his captivity. He spoke of the toll that the job of a journalist takes on the individual and the need for journalists to use their own judgement and not be used by others. Anderson praised AP and its CEO Louis D. Boccardi for the work they did on his behalf while he was a hostage. Anderson has been given a fellowship from the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center and will be taking a one-year leave of absence to write a book., Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson spent his nearly seven years as a hostage doing a lot of soul-searching about his role as a journalist. He said one of the things [...]

Journalists debate the newsworthiness of former tennis superstar Arthur Ashe's disclosure that he has AIDS. Some journalists feel the story of AIDS is bigger than that of the public figure who has it. As a result, the media pursues the story more aggressively than if the person had another disease. Other journalists question whether the line between news and sensationalism was crossed. Ashe admits it was USA Today's pursuit of the story that caused him to call a press conference to announce he had AIDS., Was it news that former tennis pro Arthur Ashe has AIDS? Journalists debate whether the story should have been pursued The media found out last week that the boundaries of [...]

Name recognition no longer a problem for Bill Clinton after allegations of his extramarital affairs reach mainstream press Cash for trash. Dish for dollars. Tabloid terrorism. Journalistic cannibalism. This is [...]

Attorney says no sources will be revealed to investigators seeking to find leakers of Thomas-Hill hearing information There may have been only one time in U.S. history when reporters complied [...]

Not many press cases reaching the Supreme Court Only one media-related case scheduled to be heard by the High Court during 1992 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a handful [...]

United Press International has drafted a business plan for its future operations that is 'based on the cold, hard realities of the marketplace.' A draft of Operation Even Keel, as [...]

The Clarence Thomas affair Handful of journalists found media attention focused on them Most of the nation's media have been covering the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, but a handful of [...]

Stereotyping journalists Whether in movies from the 1930s or the 1980s, newspeople are usually portrayed as rude, divorced, hard-drinking, cigarette-smoking misfits Journalists are rude, many times divorced, hard-drinking, cigarette-smoking, social [...]

Layoffs begin again at UPI United Press International began its previously announced firing of some 150 employees, but it was unclear as E&P went to press whether UPI would be [...]

The press in Eastern and Central Europe The press in Eastern and Central Europe is on the way to freedom - although there is still a long way to go [...]

Press restrictions must GO The war in the Persian Gulf may officially be over, but the battle for more press freedom of coverage rages on. In a follow-up to a [...]

The changing role of the typographer The new 10-year contract between the Washington (D.C.) Post and the Columbia Typographical Union No. 101 has changed dramtically and permanently the relationship between [...]

Singling out one medium for taxation allowable Singling out one medium for taxation while exempting others does not violate the First Amendment, as long as the taxation is neither censorial [...]

Worldwide attacks on journalists decline Fewer journalists were reported killed in foreign countries in 1990 than in 1989, and the incidence of physical assaults and detentions were down, but the [...]

A sister's struggle Peggy Say talks about her six-year involvement in trying to save her hostage brother Terry Anderson This time, Peggy Say really believes her brother is coming home [...]

Missing in Iraq New York Times reporter among at least 28 journalists who left Kuwait for Basra unescorted and have not been heard from in days Chris Hedges of the [...]

War information hearings The various sides in another Persian Gulf conflict - media coverage of the war - recently had an opportunity to present their sides of the argument during [...]

Press pools - the military's view In less than a month, the number of media personnel in Dhahran grew by more than 400 to some 842 by early February, and [...]

Inside the industry's marketing realignment A perceived lack of leadership is at the heart of industry dissatisfaction with the American Newspaper Publishers Association and the Newspaper Advertising Bureau, each of [...]

Protesting the Gulf ground rules Criticism of the ground rules imposed on media covering Operation Desert Shield in the Persian Gulf came down fast and furious from many directions, including [...]