Free Republic

We previously discussed the movement in journalism schools to get rid of principles of objectivity in journalism. Advocacy journalism is the new touchstone in the media even as polls show that trust in the media is plummeting. Now, former executive editor for The Washington Post Leonard Downie Jr. and former CBS News President Andrew Heyward have released the results of their interviews with over 75 media leaders and concluded that objectivity is now considered reactionary and even harmful. Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle said it plainly: “Objectivity has got to go.” Notably, while Bob Woodword and others...

In an age of rage, Washington Post columnist and MSNBC contributor Jennifer Rubin has long been a standout in her attacks on Republicans and conservatives: “We have to collectively, in essence, burn down the Republican Party. We have to level them because if there are survivors, if there are people who weather this storm, they will do it again.” However, her recent column shows that she has made a clean break not only from Republicans but from reason. The writer (long cited by the Post as their “Republican columnist” for balance) has called for the media to abandon balance and...

Waste fibers from hemp crops out-perform graphene for a thousandth of the cost, according to new researchIs there anything hemp can’t do? A year after hemp became legal to grow in the United States, we’ve seen its power to make better clothing, better buildings and better medicine. Now, there’s something else hemp appears to be better at – making batteries. Most auto batteries today are made from lithium-ion, an expensive, quickly disappearing material. A team of American and Canadian researchers have developed a battery that could be used in cars and power tools using hemp bast fiber – the inner...

Last week’s cover story in The Times Magazine, “Scott Walker and the Fate of the Union,” drew hundreds of reader comments – and some mail to the Public Editor’s office. Two of the emails presented questions that I decided to pose to the magazine’s editor, Jake Silverstein. [SNIP] Mr. Silverstein’s response: Thanks for your question. It’s a perfectly reasonable one. To me, the answer lies in the distinction between a magazine story and a story produced by the newsroom for the daily paper. As you note, “an article in the magazine is a feature and doesn’t have exactly the same...

Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor of the New York Times, moonlights as a standup comic. Rosenthal recently told the annual conference of the Association of National Advertisers that his paper "aims to ensure opinion and news are kept separate, even as the Internet increasingly blurs the lines," the Oct. 17 edition of Advertising Age reported. Stop, you're killing me. The New York Times is to objectivity what Jack the Ripper was to women's rights. If the Times strives to keep reporting and commentary separate, you and I aren't the only ones who've missed it. Earlier this year, a Rasmussen Reports...

Just as Charlie Gibson did in his interview with Sarah Palin, Katie Couric set out to humiliate the Republican vice-presidential candidate with a series of "gotcha" questions. This tactic -- rarely employed with major liberal candidates -- could be used equally effectively against Couric, or most any other liberal member of the television news media. It would be highly instructive to have Couric asked questions in the same way in which she (and Gibson) asked questions of Palin. For example: Q: Critics of the war in Iraq argue that prior to the invasion of Iraq, America had never attacked a...