Free Republic

Washington (AFP) - Just steps from the US Capitol, the Newseum's gleaming glass-and-steel structure has for over a decade been a shining symbol for the press and free expression. But in a reflection of the woes facing the US media industry -- which is itself struggling financially while also facing repeated attacks from political leaders -- the Newseum will be closing its doors on December 31.

"If Walter Cronkite was around today," USA Today founder Al Neuharth proclaimed in a speech in South Dakota last week, "I think John Kerry would be President" because of "the trust the people in Middle America had in Cronkite, when he returned from Vietnam opposed to the war, public opposition soon followed." As recounted by the Daily Republic in Mitchell, South Dakota, in addition to boasting of the influence of Cronkite's bias, Neuharth "said he thought if McGovern had won the presidency in 1972, U.S. troops would have pulled out from Vietnam a lot sooner with a lot fewer casualties,...

Web posted Friday, September 26, 2003 Neuharth Panel Asks: 'Is Media Fair?' BY RANDY DOCKENDORF P&D Regional Editor VERMILLION -- Are the media fair and accurate? Well, fairness, like beauty, becomes pretty subjective, a panel of the nation's top journalists said Thursday night at the University of South Dakota. The event, titled "Is the Free Press A Fair Press?," concluded a two-day celebration of the $5 million renovation of the Al Neuharth Media Center on the USD campus. Neuharth was on hand for the event, which was broadcast live on South Dakota Public Television. Neuharth, a 1950 USD graduate, founded...

<p>For 106 years, the venerable New York Times has carried this slogan on page one: "All the News That's Fit to Print."</p> <p>Now, The Times has published more than four full pages of apologies for dozens of articles that weren't fit to print. The Times says the stories, over a three-year span, were full of "fraud" and "fabrication." The reporter who wrote them, Jayson Blair, 27, was forced to resign.</p>