McGuire on Media

Category Archives: Media Criticism

Speech to Society of Features Editors argued for a changed journalism mindset

August 31, 2011 – 4:58 pm

This was presented to the convention of the Society of Features Editors, Saturday, Aug. 27, in Tucson, Az. I spoke to the predecessor of this organization in fall of 2001. It was a hard time. We were reeling from the events of Sept 11. The newspaper business was in what we thought were the pits. [...]

By admin | Also posted in Business journalism, Future of journalism, Journalism education, Leadership and Management, Newspapers, Online journalism, Social media, Speeches | Comments (0)

Message to high school J-students:Storytelling needs to survive the media tumult

April 28, 2011 – 7:35 pm

The following speech will be delivered at 7 pm. Thursday, April 28, 2011  to teachers and award-winning students of the Arizona Interscholastic Press Association.    Congratulations to all the award winners and to their teachers. In some ways it’s a ludicrous for me to be speaking to you tonight. You students represent tomorrow. My career [...]

By admin | Also posted in Future of journalism, High School Journalism, Journalism education, Reflection, Speeches, Storytelling | Comments (0)

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 [...]

By admin | Also posted in Media ethics, News decisions, Newspapers, Online journalism, Social media | Comments (2)

"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 [...]

By admin | Also posted in Business of journalism, Future of journalism, Investigative Journalism, Leadership and Management, News decisions, Newspaper legal issues, Newspapers | Comments (1)

Reynolds Business journalism study displays optimism not found in anecdotal reports

June 22, 2010 – 5:03 pm

Either the Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism found every optimistic journalist haunting newsrooms these days or the anecdotal reports of despair and teeth-gnashing in the nation’s newsrooms have been over-wrought. It has always been the journalist’s inalienable right to be angry, slighted and constantly in complaint mode. Since I left the newsroom in 2002 [...]

By admin | Also posted in Business of journalism, Future of journalism, Journalism education, Leadership and Management, Newspapers, Online journalism | Comments (3)

Sarah Palin and the media need to chill out about Down syndrome

February 24, 2010 – 5:05 pm

Some might argue this isn’t my standard media blog fare, but the media and Sarah Palin need to chill out. Media commentators should help Palin find reasonable ground on her Down Syndrome son. Palin is now firing shots at the Family Guy TV show for mocking her Down syndrome toddler Tryg. To set this up, [...]

By admin | Also posted in Media ethics, News decisions, Uncategorized | Comments (23)

Chris Jones story on Roger Ebert should bring us back to the journalistic ramparts

February 17, 2010 – 5:43 pm

For weeks I have had notes for a blog entry on why I am having increased concerns about newspapers and journalism. I’m going to save those notes because I had a transformational morning. that forced me to give a hard Ash Wednesday rethink to journalism and life.  Mid-morning I called my dearest friend, Gregory Favre. [...]

By admin | Also posted in Investigative Journalism, Leadership and Management, Media ethics, News decisions | Comments (4)

Ethics students face a tough set of choices as they move forward

January 13, 2010 – 2:42 pm

Journalism is marked by tough choices and a complicated set of responsibilities. There are few right and wrong answers, but there are responsible ways to think about those answers. When making ethical decisions we must get beyond “gut instinct” and use accepted decision-making processes and formulas. The media ethics landscape has been seriously complicated in [...]

By admin | Also posted in Future of journalism, Journalism education, Media ethics, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Effective public relations writing from the mind of a retired editor with a dose of "stickiness"

September 16, 2009 – 3:55 pm

I have been serving on a non-profit board at the Franciscan Retreat Center (The Casa) in Scottsdale for over a year. Because of the appreciation for my background with writing, the requests to write documents for every part of the Casa were overwhelming. If I fulfilled all the requests, writing church messages could take up [...]

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Twitter may not save the world, but its power to make me feel for Patrick is awesome

September 10, 2009 – 4:35 pm

On February 9 at 1:55 p.m. I filed my first ever Tweet. It read: “This is my maiden voyage. Call this the old man and the technology sea.” My world did not shake. My emotional moorings remain sound. Social media and I have gotten along just fine. My kindergarten granddaughter reading her first Junie B. [...]

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