McGuire on Media

Category Archives: News decisions

This I believe about journalism, newspapers and the future of media

May 31, 2012 – 2:12 pm

  Tim J. McGuire, May 30, 2012 I believe it’s important to pause every now and then to write down my values and thoughts. That’s especially true in the ever-fluid media world where nothing is standing still. This missive will attempt to take stock of where my thoughts are on media on May 30, 2012. [...]

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Arizona Republic gets an A+ for reporting, B for its editorial and an F for publisher’s conflict

March 30, 2011 – 3:20 pm

I have just read every mesmerizing word of The Arizona Republic’s coverage of the Fiesta Bowl scandal in the printed newspaper. About five pages of space were dedicated to covering a Fiesta Bowl internal report of the scandal which was triggered by a Republic investigation written by Craig Harris. Harris recently won the first Toner [...]

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That loss of control that hit mainstream media is now the Meta story we have to cover better

March 7, 2011 – 5:23 pm

Charles Krauthammer on Sunday boldly credited the Bush doctrine for the tumult in the Mideast.  Krauthammer argued, “ the administration is rushing to keep up with the new dispensation, repeating the fundamental tenet of the Bush Doctrine that Arabs are no exception to the universal thirst for dignity and freedom.” I am no Charles Krauthammer [...]

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‘Peanuts and Crackerjacks’ and other projects that make me “belong” at the Cronkite School

March 3, 2011 – 5:06 pm

When I retired as editor of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis in 2002, many of my colleagues, pals and enemies were convinced I would desperately miss the fray.  Some opined I would not be able to live without being “in charge.” Others argued removing me from the excitement of the daily news helter skelter would [...]

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Objectifying celebrities and other humans becoming huge journalism sin

February 2, 2011 – 4:31 pm

I’ve known for some time that a lot of students thought it, but a student finally said it out loud in my Ethics class last Thursday. We were talking about celebrity foibles and the press’ interest in them. The Rex Ryan alleged foot fetish case, the alleged Brett Favre obscene picture situation and Lindsay Lohan’s [...]

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Colorful hyperbole and newspapering in 1982 and 2010

January 19, 2011 – 4:38 pm

All my friends know I can be given to colorful hyperbole. A few months ago I was making a guest appearance in a  media law course talking about the Cohen v. Cowles Media case which resulted from an editorial decision made in 1982.  In response to a question about thenews environment I said this: “Look [...]

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Arizona Republic did it right and reminded us again why newspapers matter

January 9, 2011 – 7:52 pm

The Arizona Republic rose to the occasion Sunday morning with a comprehensive, well-written report that answered the important questions in the tragic shooting of Gabrielle Giffords which killed six. I am not talking prizes or using the P-word here. The Republic simply did an outstanding job of sorting fact from fiction and humanizing a horrible [...]

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Journalistic transparency and humility in a multiple platform world

November 16, 2010 – 10:48 am

Paola Boivin is a good, veteran columnist for the Arizona Republic. She’s prolific, engaged with the community and she strikes me as a columnist who plays it straight. Saturday night Boivin covered a close, heart-breaking loss by the Arizona State Sun Devils to Stanford. Her column Sunday morning was tough. She beat up a bit [...]

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"Failure of Justice" in AZ Republic is a great investigative piece and that’s what makes me nervous

September 13, 2010 – 3:13 pm

Dennis Wagner of The Arizona Republic wrote a tremendous investigative piece Sunday called “Failure of Justice.” It was hard-hitting, it graphically showed a stone-walling, cover-your-ass bureaucracy and it shone a light on a group of traditionally voiceless people. The piece carefully showed how law enforcement, native and government, seriously botched investigations of a serial rape [...]

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Journalistic amnesia is a real negative when it comes to disability and the ADA

September 8, 2010 – 3:03 pm

The criticism leveled most often at journalists is we have amnesia.  We get incredibly excited over things like tsunamis, hurricanes and oil spills and then we tend to forget them even while real suffering continues. The same thing happens with large societal issues. There is certainly an argument that we got smug about race relations [...]

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