Free Republic

Is there an original way to comment on the badness of Tina Brown's new column in the Washington Post "Style" section? Brown's widely ridiculed Oct. 23 debut detailed the latest trial faced by "members of the Manhattan buzzocracy," of which Brown and her husband, Harold Evans, are queen and knave. Until this year, Hollywood studios distributed home-video versions of Oscar-contending films to the folks who vote for the Oscars, but evidence that pirates were copying and selling them prompted MPAA President Jack Valenti to ban the practice this go-round. So, as Brown details in her column, publicity agents are begging...

The ombudsman is here because the doctrine against it collapsed. But pride says the Times cannot copy the Post. What's Bill Keller to do?The argument for why an ombudsman would never be needed at the New York Times went like this. Every editor should represent the interests of the reader. That’s what good editors do. No ombudsman. Before you start poking at the logic, appreciate how long it stood and how well it served the authority of the Times. First ombudsman is 1967, Louisville Courier Journal. Thirty six years later, the New York Times agrees: maybe it’s a good...

<p>Who should wear the `terrorist' label?</p> <p>WITH THIS WEEK'S 9/11 anniversary comes reflection on all that has changed these past two years. Even our language has shifted; the word terrorism itself casts a different shadow. It has always, of course, been a powerfully negative label. But post-9/11 the word's potency has multiplied. In the current climate, the terrorist tag effectively banishes its holder from the political arena. More than ever, it condemns rather than describes.</p>

The New York Times has announced a new liberal executive editor, Bill Keller, and a report on the Jayson Blair scandal, and they both seek to perpetuate and expand the liberal diversity program that contributed to the plagiarism and fakery scandal in the first place. But this fact has been obscured by news that the paper intends to implement various reforms and appoint an ombudsman or "public editor."

EUPHEMISMS FOR EUPHEMISMS AT THE TIMESNew executive editor Bill Keller is at the helm of the New York Times now. Already there's progress, but it's progress West 43rd Street style -- all designed to preserve the dignity of the Gray Lady. Today the Times announced Keller will appoint a "public editor" to "serve as a representative for readers." They've often said they'd never never appoint an "ombudsman" like the Washington Post. And, indeed, they have not appointed an ombudsman. They've appointed a "public editor." And today's report of the Times' "Siegal Committee" -- appointed to look into the causes and...

NEW YORK (AP) - After an 11-week internal investigation of the Jayson Blair scandal, The New York Times said Wednesday it will create the first ombudsman's position in its 152-year history and re-examine the newspaper's policies on datelines, bylines and anonymous sources. The ombudsman, to be known at the Times as "public editor," will examine coverage, review reader complaints and write a periodic column in the newspaper, Executive Editor Bill Keller said Wednesday, his first day on the job. In addition, the paper will create two masthead-level jobs for a "standards editor" and an editor to oversee hiring and career...

Media Matters May 23, 2003 Did The Times' Diversity Program Fail Jayson Blair? By Jeffrey A. Dvorkin Ombudsman National Public Radio One of the issues around Jayson Blair's disgrace at The New York Times has to do with the awful entanglements around race relations in the workplace. Questions about race and affirmative action are priorities in most newsrooms including NPR. But many news organizations still struggle with finding the right balance among questions of race, opportunity and ability. One of NPR's most distinguished commentators, Marvin Kalb grasped the sharp end of the debate on Morning Edition on May 15th (Commentary:...

Ombudsman According to Someone By Michael Getler Sunday, May 25, 2003; Page B06[...]The Post, like other major news organizations, has rules about sourcing. It is naive to think that very sensitive material can be ferreted out without sometimes allowing sources anonymity. But The Post's guidelines call for reporters to make every effort to get the material on the record and, failing that, to report the reason for not disclosing identities and to provide as much other information about identity and motivation as possible. My impression is that these rules have largely fallen by the wayside, along with demands by editors...