Saturday Surfing
We awoke this morning to more signs of concern over the Washington Redskins and owner Dan Snyder's media consolidation. Pointing out the amount of programming now produced, and owned, by the team – including on the Web, television and radio, The Washington Post's Paul Farhi writes:
"Although the programs ensure visibility and a generally sunny view for the Redskins no matter how well the team is faring, the shows raise a journalistic question: Can local broadcasters fairly report on the Redskins when they're part of what is essentially a team-sponsored promotional exercise?Meanwhile, another columnist has been caught up in a payola scandal and has been fired after his company learned he had taken money from interests he wrote favorably about (hat tip Romenesko). BusinessWeek's Eamon Javers writes:Although the programs do not ignore obvious bad news, they tend to feature upbeat -- and at times adulatory -- segments about the team."
"Scripps Howard News Service announced Jan. 13 that it's severing its business relationship with columnist Michael Fumento, who's also a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute. The move comes after inquiries from BusinessWeek Online about payments Fumento received from agribusiness giant Monsanto -- a frequent subject of praise in Fumento's opinion columns and a book."But maybe there's hope for the future of journalism in the end after a group of student reporters uncovered a sex offender who was posing as a student at Stillwater High School in Minnesota. You can almost hear the 22-year old poser saying, "I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids." From the St. Paul Pioneer Press:
"Skeptical journalism students at Stillwater Area High School helped unmask a convicted sex offender pretending to be a jet-setting, teenage member of British royalty who wanted to enroll at the school.Stephen Colbert, host of "The Colbert Report' on Comedy Central, has stirred up a lot of attention and laughs on the Web by declaring the Associated Press the "Number one threat facing America." Why? It seems the legendary news service ran a story about the word "truthiness" – which Colbert claims he coined – without mentioning him. Hell hath no fury like a comedian scorned, it seems.The students' sleuthing took them across a range of Web sites, including one where the man claiming to be 'Caspian James Crichton-Stuart IV, the Fifth Duke of Cleveland' listed a goal for the year: 'to not make the front page of any paper.'
Call that thwarted by the staff of the Stillwater Pony Express student newspaper. Their detective work still had 'Caspian' scratching his head Thursday evening as he sat in the Winona County Jail. 'I still don't understand how they found out,' said Joshua Adam Gardner, 22, of Austin, Minn. 'I must have been good enough for them to believe me for so long.'"
And, finally, a growing number of self-described center-right bloggers have joined together in a call for reform in Congress – a subject roiling the current election for House Majority Leader. The statement could give a blog-boost to a new entry in the race, Congressman John Shadegg (R-AZ), who is emphasizing the reform issue. From The Truth Laid Bear:
"We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street.Click here to see the list of those joining in.
We are not naive about lobbying, and we know it can and has in fact advanced crucial issues and has often served to inform rather than simply influence Members.But we are certain that the public is disgusted with excess and with privilege. We hope the Hastert-Dreier effort leads to sweeping reforms including the end of subsidized travel and other obvious influence operations. Just as importantly, we call for major changes to increase openness, transparency and accountability in Congressional operations and in the appropriations process.
As for the Republican leadership elections, we hope to see more candidates who will support these goals, and we therefore welcome the entry of Congressman John Shadegg to the race for Majority Leader. We hope every Congressman who is committed to ethical and transparent conduct supports a reform agenda and a reform candidate. And we hope all would-be members of the leadership make themselves available to new media to answer questions now and on a regular basis in the future."