McGuire on Media

Category Archives: Media ethics

Let’s not let Medill Innocence Project be another Hazelwood

October 27, 2009 – 5:52 pm

I cannot remember anything about the day in 1988 that the Supreme Court issued its decision on Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. I cannot remember if my newspaper made a very big deal out of it, but the decision embarrasses the heck out me 20 years later.
The Supreme Court ruled in Hazelwood that high [...]

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Civil conversation and media criticism should co-exist

May 1, 2009 – 12:07 pm

The tools of production have been democratized and the power to create news has clearly shifted to the masses. All the hip authors tell us amateurs are on the brink of overpowering professionals. Legacy media is under siege because the mass advertising model does not work anymore. Despite all the dire predictions mainstream media seems [...]

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Horizon appearance addresses future of news and local startups

February 12, 2009 – 1:18 pm

Wednesday evening I appeared on the local public television show Horizon to discuss the future of news and two local startups: Arizona Guardian and Heat City. 
Here is the video of the segment
I deeply admire the spunk of the founders of both organizations, but spunk is very hard to eat and it doesn’t pay rent or [...]

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Bloodless journalism and mindless stats are not the way to report this recession

February 2, 2009 – 3:36 pm

The bright professional woman of a fairly conservative political stripe looked at me with plaintiveness in her eyes and said: “It’s almost as if the media are celebrating and reveling in this economic tragedy.”
I looked back at a woman I had disagreed with vehemently on other political issues and said softly, ” Anna, you are [...]

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Working journalists are the answer not the problem

January 28, 2009 – 6:28 pm

I don’t know why so many things in the newspaper business still stun me.  I should be inured by now to the craziness, but I’m not. The memo on Romenesko from Chicago Tribune associate editor Jocelyn Winnecke has me shaking my head. 
The memo tells Tribune staffers their attitude is going to be assessed as part [...]

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The access flap: Public perception and the fight for relevancy

January 23, 2009 – 11:27 am

The White House decision to restrict access to events such as the second swearing-in while distributing White House photos to the wire serves is one of those press issues most press people will care deeply about.  Regular citizens, like the person who shares my name and sleeps with me, not so much.
My former journalist wife [...]

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Getting students involved

October 29, 2008 – 3:22 pm

Today I have been asked to participate in a Cronkite School session on teaching methods.  Instructors will be coming together come together to share their thoughts on how to involve students in class discussion.  This is what I am going to share with that group.
I don’t teach “stuff.” I teach to provoke thought. I think [...]

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When the sheriff comes for me: When do we cover political abuse?

October 20, 2008 – 1:55 pm

Since the time of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the relationship between the press and politicians has been strained, contentious and controversial.  Despite what some politicians think, the press tries to be civil, but that has to be balanced with aggressive attention to the interests of the public.
The most remarkable press/politician relationship I have ever [...]

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Political campaign highlights diversity challenges

October 16, 2008 – 10:21 am

We are at a remarkable junction in our political and media history.  It is going to be fascinating to see how history judges politics and the media after we have had a 71-year-old candidate for president, a mixed-race candidate for president, a female vice presidential candidate and a woman who just missed getting the Democratic [...]

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Transparency for newspapers is crucial in times of change

October 8, 2008 – 2:00 pm

Front page letters to readers from editors are an age-old mechanism for sharing new features, innovations and improvements in your newspaper with readers. Randy Lovely, Editor, vice-president /news of the Arizona Republic, wrote one of those letters on Monday, Sept. 29, and then again the following Sunday, Oct. 6.
Lovely wrote: “For more than a year [...]

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