Shirky: ‘We are indeed less willing to agree on what constitutes truth’
Here’s what the “post-fact” literature has right: the Internet allows us to see what other people actually think. This has turned out to be a huge disappointment. When anyone can say anything they...
View ArticleWhy ethics and diversity matter: The case of Trayvon Martin coverage
If anyone asks why ethnic, cultural and gender diversity is important in journalism, advocates have a ready answer: Greater diversity equals greater accuracy and fairness. This belief is based, in...
View ArticlePoynter concludes tenure as ESPN ombud with 6 lessons learned
With this column, the Poynter Review Project’s work comes to an end. After nearly 40 columns reviewing ESPN content across all platforms, we’ll close with lessons learned over 18 months of observing...
View ArticleTampa Bay Times looked for clues that source might commit suicide
When they learned of their source’s suicide, the Tampa Bay Times journalists who had recently published a story about Gretchen Molannen’s medical condition looked back over their communications for...
View ArticleGene Patterson’s final thoughts on journalism: ‘Get over the pain, new stuff...
In late November 2012, Eugene Patterson, who died Saturday, prepared his thoughts about journalism in advance of a visit from an old friend. His edited reflections are reproduced here, direct from...
View ArticleSports journalism faces moment of truth in week of Lance Armstrong, Manti...
Almost exactly a year ago, “This American Life” did what it did best: ran a story that tugged at the heartstrings and enraptured its audience. The piece, “Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory,” so...
View ArticleThe short shelf life of today’s heroes, in sports and in journalism
Michael Wilbon was on ESPN radio discussing Lance Armstrong and Manti Te’o when he posed this rhetorical question: “What is the shelf life of a hero today?” An excellent question: What is the shelf...
View ArticleIt’ll take a village to redeem Jonah Lehrer, not just repentance
Jonah Lehrer played to his strengths Tuesday when he lectured and apologized at a Knight Foundation lunch. But in his extended examination of conscience, he lost sight of his own flaws and missed his...
View ArticleMost everyone gets asked to write for free, only some people say yes
The debate over how much professional writers should be paid — sparked by Atlantic’s request to publish Nathan Thayer’s work without paying him — is a window into how dramatically the Internet has...
View ArticleHow journalists can provide fair coverage when reporting on rape charge in...
Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus are household names. The three women, freed from a house in Cleveland after they were separately kidnapped as teenagers about a decade ago, are the...
View ArticleCBS memos suggest Logan had bias, but don’t say why no one addressed it
The CBS memos from Jeff Fager, chairman of CBS News, and Al Ortiz, executive director of standards and practices, suggest that correspondent Lara Logan had a preconceived bias that prevented her from...
View Article9 best practices for publishing provocative opinions in a polarized world
Clashes between professional provocateurs and the masses, like the recent criticism that rained down on Washington Post columnist George F. Will over #survivorprivilege, are on the rise. See...
View ArticleAdvice on publishing graphic photos from Iraq
It’s just a matter of time. That’s what I told a Kalish Visual Editing workshop on the campus of Ball State University just last week. I told the group that it was a matter of time before they were...
View ArticleEgg donation, first conceived as personal essay, becomes investigative report
When Sarasota Herald Tribune business reporter Justine Griffin set out to donate her eggs, her editors asked her to consider doing a personal essay. What she discovered during the year-long journey is...
View ArticleTime clarifies: Ruined images in D-Day video were photo illustration
After two stories questioning the authenticity of what looked like ruined images in a video for Time, “Robert Capa’s Iconic D-Day Photo of a Soldier in the Surf,” Time has added photo illustration...
View ArticleRay Rice video sparks ethics questions
After a series of famous journalism scandals in the early 1980s, I was asked to kick-start an ethics program at the Poynter Institute. I felt fully prepared to be a writing teacher, but not an ethics...
View ArticleBill Simmons’ ESPN suspension and the challenges of editing star talent
Whether you think Bill Simmons is the latest sacrificial lamb at ESPN, or that his suspension is really theater in the vein of professional wrestling, there are important issues behind the suspension...
View ArticleThe right way to publish a killer’s deranged manifesto
There’s a democratic value to publishing and referencing Elliot Rodger’s manifesto. The 22-year-old mass murderer left us a 141-page window into his deranged thinking. But don’t just publish it, add...
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Julia Dahl explores the tabloid world in her first novel
Julia Dahl’s first novel, “Invisible City,” is about a tabloid reporter in New York City covering the murder of a Hasidic woman. The novel, which came out in May, is fiction, but Dahl, a reporter for...
View ArticleIf you must unpublish, here’s how to maintain credibility
Gawker Gawker notes that BuzzFeed has unpublished more than 4,000 articles recently, disappearing posts on the 8-year-old company’s website. Editors at news websites usually take articles down with...
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