Here’s how to screw-up a police story: Bury the lede. Wanna do better? Bury the facts, too.
The Cedar Rapids paper published this story today about the police department’s purchase of 10 new squad cars. The only thing wrong? They missed the news. Continue reading
U.S. news media credit themselves as being watchdogs, the vital Fourth Estate that balances the levels of power between the government and the people. For the most part, media likely do play such a role. How well they do so is a different story, though.
My question is, If media are watchdogs, who watches them? Continue reading
View Iowa City May 8, 2011 in a larger map
Two years ago, Mother’s Day — in what has been called the “Southeast Side” of Iowa City — erupted in violence. At least that’s how the story goes. Continue reading
If someone had traveled through Iowa City on Thursday, picked up the local newspapers, and later sat down, asking, “What is this Iowa City place?”, here is a selection of prominent stories they would have seen:
Story 1: A UI student says she and other students have been subjected to racial slurs, including the word Nigger, and that the university “has done nothing about it.” Continue reading
Letters to the editor are always interesting – too often overlooked. Today, though, there is a most-interesting take in the letters to the editor of the Iowa City Press-Citizen which focuses on journalistic practice.
The letter comes from two City High School students who suggested that Press-Citizen reporters (here is the story) failed to meet journalistic standards in the coverage of a “brawl” during prom night. The students suggest that the reporters failed to verify information (a traditional journalistic value and practice) by not contacting school officials and students to understand what the incident really was. Continue reading
