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Media
December 05,2008
Parent Alert!
NY Times reporter sought teens on Facebook
by Rhonda Roland Shearer
 
Parent Alert!
Cartoon depicts a NY Times sanctioned reporting method--contacting teens on Facebook-- that new guidelines only require  "prior consultation" with editors.

Clark Hoyt, The New York Times public editor, recently wrote about a "troubling issue" regarding how the Times deals with minors. Times reporter, Jodi Kantor, wrote what, Hoyt described, as "an unflattering front-page profile of Cindy McCain."

Kantor's reporting methods included soliciting teenagers on Facebook who attended Ms. McCain's daughter's school. Hoyt said, "Trying to find sources for information about Mrs. McCain, a reporter reached out to 16- and 17-year-olds through Facebook, the social networking site."

He continued, "Although the reporter, Jodi Kantor, said in a message to the teenagers that she was ' just seeking some fellow parents who can talk about what Mrs. McCain is like,' people I heard from thought it was wrong. 'Disgusting,' said Gwilym McGrew of Woodland Hills, Calif. 'Will she be contacting my 12-year-old soon, too?' " Indeed.

Kantor claimed she was not trolling for teens, just their parents. But the count tells the truth. She contacted only one school versus "eight or nine" teens. Her asymmetrical actions state loud and clear that Kantor was seeking teens to find out "what she [McCain] is like as a mother?"

Kantor's negative profile on Ms. McCain would naturally lead one to question, post hoc, if her upbeat message to the teenagers, was pure deception from the start.

» full story

 Recent Stories
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Hey, MsM and Bloggers, Dems and GOP:
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 Links

Ethics Sites
Media Ethics Division AEJMC
State of the News Media 2008
US Department of State Media and Ethics
Center for Media and Democracy
Poynter Media Ethics Bibliography
Society of Professional Journalists
Project for Excellence in Journalism
The Institute for Interactive Journalism
Committee for Concerned Journalists
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Nieman Center for Journalism at Harvard University
Accuracy in Media
Media Standards Trust


J-Schools
J-Schools (c/o journalism.org)
 
Ethics Blog
 


Media Blogs
Nieman Watchdog
PBS MediaShift
Little Green Footballs
Rathergate
Regret the Error


Media Criticism
American Journalism Review
Columbia Journalism Review


Media Roundup and Analysis
Newstrust


 MULTIMEDIA

"We Will Burn Doll: Reuters' real or placed doll needs test"


 StinkyJournalism Media Picks
Retired NYPD and DEA Agents Sue for Libel
by Danielle Elliot, StinkyJournalism  01/05/09


Retired NYPD and DEA Agents Sue for Libel
Retired NYPD and DEA agents are suing over comments made by drug trafficker Frank Lucas. (Image from ABC News).

Several retired NYPD and DEA agents are suing for libel. The lawsuit stems from the 2000 New York Magazine article "The Return of Superfly", a profile of 1960s-70s drug trafficker Frank Lucas. The article led to the film "American Gangster" and was re-released on the magazine's website in 2007, creating a wider audience. The agents are suing Lucas, writer Mark Jacobson, New York, publisher Grove/Atlantic and Primedia (New York's former parent).

According to the plaintiffs, the libel occurred in the article's description of, and Lucas's comments regarding, the day the agents raided Lucas's house. In the article, Lucas claims the agents stole millions of dollars in cash during the raid. According to police records, the police legally seized $585,000 in small bills, not the "9 or 10 million" that Lucas claims.

From the lawsuit: "Jacobson wrote the following passage in Superfly with respect to the search of Lucas' house: ‘ Those motherf...... just came in.’ Lucas says now....For years, he has contended that the cops took a lot more than $585,000 from him."

The lawsuit goes on the say that "a reasonable investigation prior to publication would have determined Lucas' accusations were false." It says an investigation would have revealed obvious evidence that the theft did not take place. For example, ' it would have required truckloads to remove 9 to 10 million dollars in currency from Lucas' house.' "

In addition to Lucas's libelous statements, the officers are looking to have their names cleared of statements made in the final scenes of "American Gangster." The statements wrongly claimed that Lucas's cooperation during the investigation helped expose corrupt police work.

In December 2007, ABC News blog "The Blotter" incorrectly reported that as the movie ends, "a screen appears that states three-fourths of the drug enforcement agents assigned to New York were convicted as a result of Lucas cooperation."  There were no such convictions, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says, and a group of former agents and the attorney who prosecuted the case are demanding a retraction.

Gregory Korniloff, the DEA case agent on Lucas's case, told The Blotter, "After risking life and limb for two and a half years in this investigation we are portrayed as a gang of corrupt hoodlums."



 Stinky Journalism News - The Real Fake News
Not all journalism stinks. But there are times when reported "facts" smell fishy. When news stories go bad, the reporter’s method is usually to blame. At Stinkyjournalism.org we advocate for more rigorous - and scientific - journalistic methodology.
» more


Links to Fred Noble's Stories 1  2  3  4  5  6

 

Journalism and Ethics

Breakthrough Timer

StinkyJournalism asked Reuters on 11/02/07:
"Did you have permission to enter a private home, take photos, sell & publish them?"


NEWS FLASH 01/08/08:  Reuters' Editor-in-Chief now admits their photojournalist Mario Anzuoni entered house during recent California wildfires evacuation without permission and they were wrong to do so. More info soon. Public announcement forthcoming . Time elapsed since SJ first asked Reuters...  

» Read Story    » View all Timers


 Special Reports
EXCLUSIVE: FOLLOW THE BACON : Part II
EXCLUSIVE: FOLLOW THE BACON Part II

  12 Year Old Monster Pig Hunter Faces Possible Animal Cruelty Charges in Alabama


REAL FIREPROOF DOLL... OR PLACED AFTER FIRE?
Real Fireproof Doll.. Or Placed After Fire

  Reuters declares photo of fire scene real, not with evidence, but because they say so.


Pit Bull "Molested And Attacked" Toddler?
Pit Bull- Molested And Attacked Toddler   Buffalo area media outlets reported the “bizarre and disturbing” story of a pit bull raping a two-year-old.
Hog Washed !: Part I
Hog Washed   Stinky Journalism investigation debunks AP and FOX News: “Giant Hog with Small Boy" Photo
   
 

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