All Blog Posts from Public Eye

What do you get when you combine a sportscaster – who mostly gabs over highlight clips, with an occasional quip – with a controversial hard news story?

Among the printable ways I could describe it, how about …. Trouble?

CNN’s sports anchor Larry Smith was on the frequently-unwatchable “Nancy Grace” program last week, discussing the Michael Vick story. Grace was wondering why Michael Vick wasn’t choosing to face the media to discuss the federal case being brought against him and showed a clip of Kobe Bryant – during his sexual assault case – sitting before a throng of reporters, with his wife at his side. The discussion went like this:

Grace: That is Kobe Bryant after rape allegations were leveled against him, which he beat, I might add. And sitting next to him in that exact presser was his wife.

Out to Larry Smith, CNN sports correspondent and CNN anchor. What`s Vick afraid of? Come on. He`s been in front of the camera a million times. What`s so hard about declaring your innocence?

Smith: Yes, well, that`s -- he`s been in a lot of trouble lately, when you think about all the other incidents, and this is just the worst one of all. Keep in mind, too, that while Kobe Bryant is a situation we can sort of compare this to, this really is much worse. [Emphasis Mine] Not only can you argue that the crimes are much worse in terms of, you know, killing dogs and that kind of thing, but as an NFL starting quarterback, you are the most visible face in that city. I`ve said all along, in fact, you know, if you go through and, you know, very quickly name 10 mayors of major cities in the country...

Grace: Larry Smith, did I just hear you say...

Yeah, Nancy. You just heard what you thought you heard. CNN’s Larry Smith was saying that Michael Vick’s potential crime was “much worse” than the rape charges made against Kobe Bryant. That’s problematic on so many levels I don’t know where to start.

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On Monday, we told you about the decision by the "Saturday Early Show" to reach out Larry Seidlin, the oft-criticized judge in the Anna Nicole Smith case. "I have been extremely impressed by your compassion in the Anna Nicole case and I would love to discuss with you the idea of being our judge on a new segment, `Morning Justice,'" wrote senior producer Michael Rosen in a letter obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Now it seems that a "Sunday Morning" profile, airing over the weekend, will reveal that even CNN and Court TV host Nancy Grace – not exactly a darling of legal ethicists – has complaints about Seidlin. "As for the judge who heard the case, Grace joins the chorus of critics finding fault with his conduct," according to a CBSNews.com story. Said Grace: "It is about who is allowed to sit on a bench."

"Bloggers and website owners can all breathe a very big sigh of relief." That's Gregory Herbert, an Orlando lawyer who specializes in First Amendment issues, talking to USA Today about a ruling by the California Supreme Court that the groups "cannot be sued for posting libelous or defamatory comments written by third parties." Not breathing a sigh of relief? Nancy Grace, her producers, and CNN Headline News, which have been sued by the relatives of Melinda Duckett. Duckett killed herself following aggressive questioning from Grace concerning the disappearance of Duckett's son. Family members are arguing that the interview caused Duckett severe emotional distress and led to her suicide.

It's been a week since Al Jazeera English went on the air, and the reviews are starting to come in. "…delivering updates on an Israeli missile strike against Hamas officials in Gaza, the channel kept returning to images of two children wounded in the attack," writes Troy Stevens. "Others might have detected something propagandistic in the way the camera lingered on their blood-splattered faces, but it just looked liked old-fashioned tabloid style to me. The last couple days of Al Jazeera English suggest that its main bias is the universal one in favor of juicy drama."

And this week on PBS, Democracy on Deadline is looking at the role journalists play around the world – and the challenges they face. "The Global Struggle for an Independent Press follows teams of journalists into some of the most dangerous and secretive corners of the world to show how they obtain their stories in the face of suppression, lies, imprisonment and threat of physical harm," notes the program's Web site. Related: Today is Jailed Journalists' Support Day. Notes the Christian Science Monitor:

Reporters Without Borders says that 130 journalists worldwide are currently imprisoned for reporting the news or expressing their views in print or on the air. The nation with the most jailed journalists? China (32). It's followed by Cuba (24), Ethiopia (21), Eritrea (13), and Burma (7). Those in prison include Sudanese national Sami al-Haj, assistant cameraman with Al Jazeera TV, who has spent four years at Guantánamo, Cuba; and Eritrean poet Fessehaye Yohannes, who is considered a "threat to national security" for forming a labor union for journalists.

You can find out more here.

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