tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074752076728949742024-03-13T15:09:11.780-04:00When Journalism FailsMedia Commentary & Analysis by Multimedia Consultant, Kent State University Prof. Karl IdsvoogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger211125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-85466960394325912482023-02-16T16:38:00.000-05:002023-02-16T16:38:52.059-05:00The Story Every Local TV Newsroom Should Have Done Years AgoWe've all watched/read stories on the disaster in Palestine, Ohio. One contributing factor that probably won't get discussed: the failure of the press.It's such an obvious story. You watch railroad tankers roll through your community. What are they hauling? Is it toxic? If there's a derailment, will the fumes pose a hazard? Will Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-10211739918510238322022-07-02T17:22:00.000-04:002022-07-02T17:22:27.093-04:00The Price We Pay for the Failure of JournalismAs we watch the Congressional hearings, one thing is missing: how the failure of the press made this tragedy of Trump possible.For years, reporters at every local TV station should have been questioning their members of Congress and asking basic questions:1. Why don't you object to Donald Trump making racist comments?2. Why don 't you object to Donald Trump making sexist Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-16365747765460412872021-09-16T11:13:00.000-04:002021-09-16T11:13:11.087-04:00Public Radio Newsroom Employees Told to Stay Quiet: They DoTwo Ohio public radio stations - WKSU and WCPN - plan to merge. That's a major story. It's a story neither newsroom did. Why? Because management told newsroom employees to say nothing.Discussions on the merger were done in secret. There was no public discussion. None. The newsroom employees told to be quiet did just that. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-33826972363201839312021-01-31T11:30:00.001-05:002021-01-31T11:30:58.945-05:00Why Don't Media Corporations Care About Sexual Harassment?Ask any media corporation if it cares about how women are treated and it will offer one bromide after another voicing concern. But for too many media corporations, what they say is contradicted by what they do.For many, their employment contracts require mandatory arbitration. And there is no exception for gender and sexual harassment. So if a woman is sexuallyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-40726732775086773832020-05-24T21:20:00.001-04:002020-05-24T21:24:36.854-04:00TWO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR TRUMP
There are two questions the Washington press corps must ask. And please, if anyone has ever heard either of these questions being asked, let me know when and where and by whom.
Question 1 for Donald Trump: Why do you insult people and call them names?
Question 2 for Donald Trump: Why do you lie all the time?
More importantly, are two questions local reporters Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-467115015410107382020-05-14T11:57:00.002-04:002020-05-23T12:50:00.726-04:00Easy way for MAC universities to save millions
Karl Idsvoog spent a career as an investigative reporter in broadcast and online journalism. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. Following the bankruptcy of APBNews.com, Idsvoog moved into media development and training. He has done media development projects for the U.S. Department of State, the International Center for Journalists, IREX, Internews and Radio Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-68465200228296210642020-02-29T13:57:00.002-05:002020-02-29T13:57:59.364-05:00Gretchen Carlson: Fighting for the Right to Speak
Full Disclosure: years ago, Gretchen Carlson and I worked in the same newsroom at WCPO in Cincinnati.
Every so often there's a cause that anyone concerned with basic human rights has to support. Gretchen Carlson, the woman who successfully sued Roger Ailes and won a 20 million dollar settlement, is leading one such cause.
Gretchen cannot talk about what Roger Ailes did toUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-9325360273327830122020-02-16T19:44:00.002-05:002020-02-16T19:44:49.202-05:00The Newsroom's Sacred Cow - College Athletics
The headlines across the country when it comes to higher education are dismally similar: states are cutting budgets. And in a state like Ohio, universities face a dwindling student population. And it's the students' tuition, room and board that brings in the money.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-19946596983131688252019-02-03T09:48:00.001-05:002019-02-03T09:56:39.015-05:00No Sports Reporters on Super Bowl Sunday
Is it hard to write while holding pom poms? Why are there virtually no sports reporters in America's newsrooms and just so many cheerleaders?
The New York Times did a great piece the other day on opioid addiction retired NFL players suffer. There's a great quote from the NFL Commissioner.
“We obviously put this as a huge priority for us, making sure that we are taking care ofUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-22723155100281102362019-01-23T09:38:00.001-05:002019-01-23T09:49:39.002-05:00How Local TV News Can End the Shutdown
How
can local TV news end the shutdown? There would never have been a
shutdown if local TV reporters had done their job. Their job is
simple: hold THEIR members of Congress accountable. Ask them
questions.
1.
Experts agree a wall across the entire border is a waste of tax money,
so what's your position? And on what Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-26225696218589743262018-03-21T12:02:00.000-04:002018-03-21T12:02:39.768-04:00Hey Morning Joe - Apologize!
Every television executive in America should be watching what Channel 4 in the UK has done: journalism.
Every television news executive at every local TV station in America should ask themselves one question: why doesn't our station hold our members of Congress accountable on anything?
And if you want to find out what your member of Congress thinks of what Cambridge Analytica has done, you'llUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-80963200719217857392018-01-31T18:46:00.001-05:002018-01-31T18:46:32.600-05:00A Message to Donald Trump
Click to Play
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-1107822605474322012017-11-22T13:07:00.003-05:002017-11-22T13:07:25.422-05:00Sexual Harassment and the Washington Press Corps
I'm watching MSNBC. It's acting with disbelief, shock and revulsion at the process a woman must go through to file a sexual harassment complaint in the House of Representatives.
What it should be asking is where was the Washington Press Corps?
How in the world does this system get put in place, stay there for years, and not be questioned by the Washington press corps?
Come on Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-20440696474444099522017-09-04T15:42:00.000-04:002017-09-04T15:42:21.529-04:00Why Eliminate a Government Agency Doing Great Work
There's a government agency that has done fabulous work not on behalf of corporate lobbyists or the big banks or even the pharmaceutical industry. It's an agency that has done fabulous work to help the average citizen.
It's the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The New York Times piece indicates the agency has done such fabulous work, it might be too difficult for Republicans to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-11822487095572496482017-09-01T17:23:00.000-04:002017-09-01T17:24:15.075-04:00Time for Brain Smash
It is brain-smash (football) season again. When do you think universities will recognize what medical science has discovered and do something about brain-smash season? When do you think a president of a university will object to a sport that causes brain damage?
When I was a kid, you could page through a magazine and find an ad featuring a doctor telling you what cigarette to smoke.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-56787072860032449562017-08-11T09:15:00.002-04:002017-08-11T09:15:38.234-04:00A 1-Question Story Every Station Should Do
Yes, newsrooms are under increasing pressure. Staffs have been cut. Reporters have to produce tweets, Facebook posts and more stories. Reporters have less time to crank out more work.
So here's an easy one. For television, reporters don't even have to leave the newsroom, just do it via Skype or Facetime. It's one question, and with the start of another Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-40257514764645392432017-06-17T09:02:00.000-04:002017-06-17T09:02:38.249-04:00Does NBC Believe in Journalism?
Does NBC believe in journalism? Megyn Kelly's interview with Alex Jones should answer the question.
Journalism is about holding those with power and influence accountable. If you're not doing accountability journalism, it's not journalism.
Will Megyn Kelly hold Alex Jones accountable? If she does, it can be a highly worthwhile program.
If she doesn't, then NBC Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-91475856435924218182017-06-01T15:09:00.002-04:002017-06-01T15:09:16.678-04:00Time to Change the Climate at the Networks
Any citizen concerned about climate change should send three letters, three emails and make three phone calls, one each to ABC, NBC, and CBS.
Ask one question: why hasn't your network ever done an in-depth piece of reporting on climate change?
Report what you find on social media.
There's really no need to ask the "who do you hate today network," Fox News anything. Climate changeUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-57272433360355812062017-05-28T11:38:00.000-04:002017-05-28T11:49:34.419-04:00President Trump Needs to Shake Hands With Media Reality
Here's a great paragraph from today's New York Times article on Trump berating the media.
“Whenever you see the words ‘sources say’ in the fake news media, and they don’t mention names,” he wrote on Twitter, “it is very possible that those sources don’t exist but are made up by fake news writers. #FakeNews is the enemy!”
The President needs to ask the New York Times or the WashingtonUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-618786326261255662017-04-21T07:56:00.001-04:002017-04-21T07:56:47.631-04:00FOX NEWS - BIGGEST FAILURE EVER
The network's biggest star is a serial harasser. What did FOX do years ago when associate producer Andrea Mackris wouldn't tolerate the harassment and filed suit? FOX paid millions to keep her quiet.
Review some of the material in the court record available with a click on your favorite topic
at the Smoking Gun to get a true flavor of just how despicable O'Reilly's behavior Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-10718186352676700942017-04-05T08:43:00.000-04:002017-04-05T13:40:00.611-04:00What Do Fox Affiliate General Managers Say about O'Reilly?
There is an astounding sentence that's hard to believe in this New York Times piece on Bill O'Reilly.
"And inside Fox News, three women who work in the newsroom said that the continued support of Mr. O’Reilly by Fox News and its parent company, 21st Century Fox, led them to question whether the company was committed to maintaining a work environment “based on trust and respect,” as Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-10063199016214431162017-03-25T08:09:00.002-04:002017-03-25T08:11:01.371-04:00Network Presidents Need to Apologize
Why does the United States have the highest cost of healthcare in the world?
Why aren't ABC, NBC, CBS examining that issue in depth? Why do the highly profitable corporate news organizations fail to do substantive reporting?
Fox isn't included because Fox has never made any pretense of being concerned about doing substantive journalism. Fox is there to drive a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-66964881360862298782017-02-15T17:58:00.004-05:002017-02-15T17:58:45.586-05:00Make Sure You Watch the Network Special Report on Healthcare
Watch the in-depth special report each of the networks has done on Healthcare.
Oh that's right, they haven't done one.
In addition to calling your members of Congress, call the CEO's of NBC, ABC, and CBS and ask them to explain why the network news divisions no longer do in-depth substantive reporting on important issues confront the country. No need to call Fox, the most Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-77197585900658566992017-02-14T21:07:00.006-05:002017-02-14T21:07:43.268-05:00Make Sure You Watch the Network Special on Climate Change
Make sure you watch the in-depth special report the networks have done on Climate Change.
Oh that's right, the networks have never done such a report.
Operating in the public interest is no longer required to get a license to broadcast.
In addition to calling your members of Congress, call the CEO's of NBC, ABC, and CBS and ask them to explain why the network news divisions no Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-507475207672894974.post-1157898227290774842017-01-31T21:37:00.000-05:002017-01-31T21:37:28.031-05:00A 1-Question SUPER BOWL STORY
Call the CEO of the corporations spending the big bucks to advertise on the Super Bowl and ask one question: Why does your corporation support a sport that medical science has documented causes brain damage?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/12/40-percent-of-former-nfl-players-suffer-from-brain-damage-new-study-shows/?utm_term=.941744a62635
http://Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0