United States journalism scandals

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United States journalism scandals lists journalistic incidents in the United States which have been widely reported as journalistic scandals, or which were alleged to be scandalous by journalistic standards of the day.

Contents

[edit] Notable reports of United States journalism scandals

[edit] Katharine Weymouth private dinner salon (2009)

On July 3, 2009, The Politico website uncovered the story that Katharine Weymouth had planned a series of exclusive dinner parties or "salons" at her private residence, to which she had invited prominent lobbyists, trade group members, politicians and business people.[1] The cost of attendance to these parties was up to $25,000 per individual, and the events were to be closed to the press and the public. The Politico's revelation sparked controversy in Washington, as it gave many journalists the impression that these parties had the sole purpose of allowing a select group of Washington insiders and business people to purchase the right to be connected to individuals in positions of influence.[2]

[edit] John McCain-lobbyist article, New York Times (2008)

See also: John McCain lobbyist controversy, February 2008

The February 21, 2008 The New York Times published an article on Republican Party presidential candidate John McCain's alleged relationship with a lobbyist and other involvement with special interest groups.[3] The article received widespread criticism among both liberals and conservatives, McCain supporters and non-supporters as well as talk radio personalities. Attorney Robert S. Bennett, whom McCain had hired to represent him in this matter, defended McCain's character. Bennett, who was the special investigator during the Keating Five scandal that The Times revisited in the article, said that he fully investigated McCain back then and suggested to the Senate Ethics Committee to not pursue charges against him.[4]

Former staffer to President Bill Clinton and current Hillary Clinton supporter Lanny Davis said the article "had no merit." Stating that he did not support McCain's bid for the White House, Davis, who had himself lobbied for the same cause the lobbyist lobbied McCain for, said that McCain only wrote a letter to the FCC to ask it to "act soon" and refused to write a letter that supported the sale of the television station the article talked about. [5] Journalistic observers also criticized the article, albeit in a milder language. Tom Rosenstiel, the director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, suggested that the article does not make clear the nature of McCain's alleged "inappropriate" behavior: "The phrasing is just too vague." [6] The article was later criticized by the White House [7] and by several news organizations including the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board. [8] Commentator Bill O'Reilly raised the question about why the paper had endorsed McCain on January 25, 2008 for the Republican nomination if it had information that alleged an inappropriate relationship. [9] The Boston Globe, owned by the Times, declined to publish the story, choosing instead to run a version of the same story written by the competing Washington Post staff. That version focused almost exclusively on the presence of lobbyists in McCain's campaign and did not mention the sexual relationship that the Times article hinted at. [10]

In response to the criticism, the Times editor Bill Keller was "surprised by the volume" and "by how lopsided the opinion was against our decision [to publish the article]". [11] The diverse sentiments by the readers were summarized in a separate article by Clark Hoyt, the Times public editor, who concluded: "I think it is wrong to report the suppositions or concerns of anonymous aides about whether the boss is getting into the wrong bed." [12]

[edit] Coverage of China, CNN (2008)

On April 24, 2008 two Chinese citizens sued commentator Jack Cafferty and CNN $1.3 billion damages ($1 per person in China), in New York, for "violating the dignity and reputation of the Chinese people." This was in response to an incident during CNN's "The Situation Room" on April 9, where Cafferty stated "[the USA] continue to import their [China] junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food" despite his view that "[the Chinese leaders were] basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years." Further, amid China's Foreign Ministry demand for an apology, 14 lawyers filed a similar suit in Beijing.[13][14]

[edit] Jeffrey T. Kuhner, Insight false "Islamic seminary" report (2007)

On January 17, 2007 the online news magazine Insight published an anonymously written story which alleged that members of Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign staff had leaked information that rival candidate Senator Barack Obama had attended an Islamic seminary during his childhood in Indonesia. CNN sent a reporter to Indonesia who visited the elementary school which Obama had attended for one year and found that it was a public school with students of all faiths, not an Islamic seminary as Insight had reported.[15] In 2008 Insight ceased publication.

[edit] Hassan Fattah, New York Times' Abu Ghraib photos (2006)

In March 2006, the New York Times ran a front-page interview by reporter Hassan M. Fattah with an Iraqi who claimed he was the man hooded and hooked up to wires in the now infamous Abu Ghraib prison picture. The Internet magazine Salon quickly questioned the man's claim, as did the U.S. military, and the Times soon discovered that the man was not really the person in the picture. Furthermore, the Times had run the actual man's name in its own pages several years earlier. It admitted in the correction that it did not do enough to establish the man's identity. [16]

[edit] Radio Marti, El Nuevo Herald (2006)

On September 8, 2006, the publisher of the Miami Herald Jesús Díaz Jr., fired three journalists from its Spanish language newspaper, El Nuevo Herald, because they freelanced for Radio/TV Marti, a U.S. Government News Agency. [17]. Less than a month later, Diaz was instructed by his superiors at The McClatchy Company, the parent company of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, to re-hire the three journalists in question because they had prior approval to freelance for Radio/TV Marti from the executive editor of El Nuevo Herald, their supervisor at the time. Díaz resigned after reinstating the fired journalists. [18]

[edit] Jack Hitt and New York Times Abortion/Infanticide Article (2006)

On April 9, 2006, the New York Times printed an article by Jack Hitt[19] claiming a woman was jailed in El Salvador for having an abortion. On December 31, 2006, the New York Times published a correction by its ombudsmen where it explained that the woman had been convicted of murdering her child after birth. The author relied on an unpaid translator who had worked with an abortion rights group.[20]

[edit] CNN sniper video controversy (2006)

On October 18, 2006, CNN aired a small portion of a videotape sent to it which showed snipers shooting at and apparently killing American troops in Iraq.[21] After the news report was shown, Press Secretary Tony Snow accused CNN of "propagandizing" the American public.[22]. Representative Duncan Hunter, then-chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to remove CNN embedded reporters following the airing of the news report, claiming that "C-N-N has now served as the publicist for an enemy propaganda film featuring the killing of an American soldier."[23]

[edit] Thom Calandra, Marketwatch.com (2005)

The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Thom Calandra, founding editor of Marketwatch.com, of profiting from trades of stocks mentioned in his investment newsletter. The SEC said that from March to December 2003, Calandra made over $400,000 through buying shares of 23 different small-cap stocks while writing favorable newsletter profiles recommending the stocks, and then selling the shares after the stocks rose after his columns were published. Calandra settled the charges in 2005, without admitting or denying the allegations, by paying $540,000 in civil penalties. [24]

[edit] Eason Jordan, CNN (2005)

CNN news chief Eason Jordan resigned in February 2005 following a controversy over comments he made January 27 at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, accusing U.S. troops of targeting journalists. His comments were reported by a blogger who attended the forum, as well as U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, who publicly requested Jordan to offer proof of the accusations. A videotape of the private conference was never released, and CNN never asked for one. However, Jordan had made similar accusations in 2004 at a News XChange conference in Portugal.

Jordan's resignation further established the media role of bloggers. Unlike the Jayson Blair and Memogate scandals, which the mainstream press relentlessly covered, the Jordan affair was widely ignored by the mainstream media until Jordan's resignation forced the media to report it.[25] [26]

[edit] Bush administration payment of columnists (2005)

Main article: Bush administration payment of columnists

The Bush White House paid public funds to right-wing media commentators by several U.S. executive departments under Cabinet officials to promote various policies of U.S. President George W. Bush's administration. Thousands of dollars were paid to at least three commentators to promote Bush administration policies. This included Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher, and Michael McManus. [27]

[edit] Jack Kelley, USA Today (2004)

In early 2004, an anonymous letter to editors of USA Today triggered an internal investigation into the conduct of one of its star reporters, Jack Kelley. Kelley resigned after USA Today found letters from him to his friends on his office computer, asking them to pretend to be sources when editors verifying his stories called them. An internal investigation later found that Kelley had been fabricating stories or parts of stories since at least 1991, and that outside sources had been warning USA Today reporters about Kelley's conduct. Furthermore, investigators found a "climate of fear" in the news section that discouraged co-workers, many of whom were suspicious of Kelley's work, to come forward. The investigation concluded that editorial favoritism played a significant role, given that Kelley had "star" status at the paper. Previous attempts to examine discrepancies failed, according to the investigation, because editors set out with the goal of exonerating Kelley. USA Today's top two editors resigned as a result of the Kelley scandal. [28]

[edit] The Oregonian's coverage of the Goldschmidt scandal (2004)

The integrity of The Oregonian took a blow after it was revealed that the paper failed to act on evidence that former Democratic governor Neil Goldschmidt committed statutory rape. Willamette Week, a Portland alternative newspaper, ran a story that alleged that Goldschmidt engaged in sex acts with his 14-year-old babysitter. As with the Robert Packwood scandal in 1992, The Oregonian had information which it failed to seriously investigate. The Oregonian was further criticized for its follow-up coverage, which called Goldschmidt's statutory rape an "affair." Willamette Week writer Nigel Jaquiss won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage. [29]

[edit] The Boston Globe's Fake "GI Rape" Photographs (2004)

In May 2004, the Boston Globe published photographs it alleged were of United States soldiers abusing and raping women in Iraq. Shortly thereafter, these photographs were stated to be commercially-produced pornography that were originally published on a web site named "Sex in War". Other news sources had exposed the photographs as fake a week before the Boston newspaper published them. [8]

[edit] The ABC News election memo (2004)

A leaked memo dated October 8 from ABC News Political Director Mark Halperin to news staff told them to hold President George W. Bush to a higher level of scrutiny than Democratic challenger John Kerry since Bush's attacks on Kerry "involve distortions and taking things out of context in a way that goes beyond what Kerry has done." [30]

[edit] Carl Cameron, Fox News Channel (2004)

On October 1, 2004, Fox News Channel political correspondent Carl Cameron posted a news article on the network's website which apparently contained fabricated quotations attributed to Senator John Kerry, the Democratic candidate during the 2004 presidential campaign. The article -- titled "Trail Tales" -- falsely quoted Kerry as claiming to do manicures and being a "metrosexual" (a term referring to a man who is effeminate in appearance). Cameron also delivered a report on the September 30, 2004 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume covering the presidential debates, falsely claiming that Kerry received a "pre-debate manicure." Fox News later retracted the story, saying, "This was a stupid mistake and a lapse in judgment, and Carl regrets it.... It was a poor attempt at humor." Critics claimed that Cameron's article was a definitive example of Fox News' conservative bias. Fox News assured critics that Cameron was reprimanded, and the article was taken down from the channel's website. [31]

[edit] CBS News and the "Killian Documents" (2004)

See also: Killian documents

During the 2004 US presidential campaign, CBS produced a report using what may have been forged documents during a September 8, 2004, 60 Minutes Wednesday report on President George W. Bush's Vietnam-era service record. The documents were never authenticated nor could a chain of custody be established for them.[32]

Producer Mary Mapes was accused of liberal bias for working on the story for five years and putting Bill Burkett, the source of the memos, in contact with Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry's campaign. The panel investigation into what was called "Memogate" or "Rathergate" (named after news anchor Dan Rather who defended the legitimacy of the memos on television) accused Mapes of gross negligence for "crashing" the story six days after she received the copies of the memos and doing "virtually nothing" to establish a chain of custody. No original documents have been produced.

The aftermath of the independent investigation's report released on January 10, 2005 led to the firing of Mapes. She later wrote a book arguing that the memos were real.[33] Yet paradoxically Mapes also advanced a conspiracy theory that White House advisor Karl Rove had planted the memos in order to deflect attention from Bush's service record during the Vietnam War. Three CBS executives were asked to resign.

Rather stepped down as anchor of the CBS Evening News on March 9, 2005, with about two years left on his contract. Although denied by Rather and CBS, many critics believe that his early retirement was a direct result of the scandal. Rather has since told reporters that "even if the documents are fakes", he stands by the story. On September 19, 2007, Rather filed a $70 million lawsuit against CBS. Rather accused the network of making him a "scapegoat" in the Killian story. A CBS spokesman claimed that the lawsuit was "old news" and "without merit".[34]

[edit] Brian Walski, The Los Angeles Times (2003)

The Los Angeles Times fired photographer Brian Walski for digitally combining two photos taken during Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Iraq War. Walski claimed he was just trying to create a more compelling picture, but digital photo manipulation is believed to undermine the public's confidence in media. After Walski's picture ran on the Times' front page on March 31, 2003, editors at the Hartford Courant (which like the Times is owned by the Tribune Company) noticed that several people in the photo appeared twice. Walski, who had been on the Times staff since 1998, was fired the following day. [35]

[edit] CNN coverage of Iraq and Eason Jordan (2003)

Eason Jordan, news chief for CNN, admitted in the New York Times April 2003 that the network had been aware of then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's human rights abuses since 1990. But the network did not cover said atrocities so it could maintain access to Hussein and keep CNN's bureau in Baghdad open. Jordan also defended the decision by saying that reporting on Hussein's crimes would have jeopardized CNN journalists and Iraqis working for them. Critics pointed out that the information on Hussein's crimes against humanity held back by CNN was a critical part of the national debate over going to war to oust Hussein from power. [36]

[edit] Jayson Blair, The New York Times (2003)

In early May 2003, The New York Times reporter Jayson Blair resigned after being confronted with evidence of fabricating quotations and details in at least 36 articles. The incident, and the revelations about management that followed, shook the journalism community, given that many journalists regard the Times as the nation's most prestigious newspaper.

Scrutiny quickly fell on executive editor Howell Raines, and to a lesser extent managing editor Gerald M. Boyd, as testimony from Times watchers and employees disgruntled with Raines' autocratic management style showed the duo had fast-tracked Blair for promotion, despite warnings from other employees about Blair's erratic behavior and high error rate.

Times' Metro editor Jonathan Landman wrote in an e-mail to Raines that the paper "...need[ed] to stop Jayson from writing for the Times. Right now." On June 5, 2003, Raines and Boyd resigned as a result of this scandal. [37]

[edit] Rick Bragg, The New York Times (2003)

The New York Times discovered that reporter Rick Bragg relied heavily on stringers and interns. Bragg's May 2003 comments to The Washington Post, dubbed "infuriating and absurd" by business reporter Alex Berenson, fueled a heated debate in the Times newsroom about the mechanics of reporting, proper attribution, the limits of drive-by journalism and the granting of credit to unseen subordinates, freelancers, and interns who contribute behind the scenes. The repercussions were felt far beyond New York City, as news executives around the United States examined and in many cases tightened their policies. Bragg's defense -- that it is common for Times correspondents to slip in and out of cities to "get the dateline" while relying on the work of stringers, researchers, interns and clerks -- sparked more passionate disagreement than the clear-cut fraud and plagiarism committed by fellow reporter Jayson Blair. [38]

[edit] "Gropegate", The Los Angeles Times (2003)

The Los Angeles Times drew fire for a last-minute story before the 2003 California recall election alleging that gubernatorial candidate and film actor Arnold Schwarzenegger groped scores of women during his movie career. While the story itself was not discredited, the newspaper's motives and timing were brought into question. The newspaper ran the story days before the recall even though it had prepared the story weeks beforehand.

Columnist Jill Stewart pointed out that the Times did not do a story on allegations that then-Governor Gray Davis (who was the subject of the recall and eventually removed from office) had verbally and physically abused women in his office. The Schwarzenegger story was run with a number of anonymous sources (four of the six alleged victims were not named); however, in the case of the Davis allegations, the Times decided against running the Davis story because of its reliance on anonymous sources.

Times editor John Carroll stated that the Times lost over 10,000 subscribers due to the negative publicity surrounding this article.[39][40][41][42]

[edit] Story on Barbara Schwarz, Salt Lake Tribune (2003)

In 2003 the Salt Lake Tribune published an article entitled S.L. Woman's Quest Strains Public Records System[43] documenting Salt Lake City resident Barbara Schwarz's extensive pursuit of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) records. Schwarz sued the Tribune, claiming that the Tribune's use of “yellow journalism” resulted in “malicious defamation”, “emotional abuse” and was accomplished by deceiving her into giving an interview, unauthorized use of her photo, violation of privacy, refusing to print a correction or letter to the editor, in addition to theft of approximately 100 photos and negatives.[44]

In its ruling, a Utah appeal court stated: "The public interest in being fully informed about controversies that often rage around sensitive issues demands that the press be afforded the freedom to report such charges without assuming responsibility for them.”[44] Judge James Z. Davis further wrote that the Tribune article was protected by "the neutral reportage privilege because it contains 'accurate and disinterested reporting' of the information contained in the record."[45]

[edit] Christopher Newton, Associated Press (2002)

The Associated Press fired Washington, D.C. bureau reporter Christopher Newton in September 2002 accusing him of fabricating at least 40 people and organizations since 2000. Some of the nonexistent agencies quoted in his stories included "Education Alliance," the "Institute for Crime and Punishment in Chicago," "Voice for the Disabled," and "People for Civil Rights." [46]

[edit] Houston Chronicle Light Rail Controversy (2002)

In late 2002 the Houston Chronicle accidentally posted an internal executive memorandum to its website. The memo contained materials that appeared to outline a plan for intentionally slanted reporting that promoted a pending light-rail transit bond referendum in the Houston, Texas metropolitan region. The memorandum was widely circulated and criticized in other Houston print and electronic media outlets; however the paper quietly removed it from its website. When questioned about the memo, Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen replied that the memo was a "story pitch" and refused to apologize for it. Other than Cohen's remarks the paper made no comment. [9] (see article on Houston Chronicle Light Rail Controversy).

[edit] False "military expert", Fox News (2002)

For four months in 2002, Fox News used 'military expert' Joseph A. Cafasso who was supposed to be a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Special Forces, won the Silver Star for bravery, served in Vietnam and was part of the failed mission to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980. Cafasso assisted and shared tips with reporters, producers and on-air consultants at Fox. It was discovered that Cafasso had only served 44 days in Army Boot Camp and was discharged as a Private. After he left, Fox was criticized for using him as a 'Military Expert' without ever checking his record and credentials. [10][47]

[edit] "Palestinian" photo, Associated Press (2000)

In 2000, the Associated Press released a photograph of Jewish American man being protected from a Palestinian mob by an Israeli police officer. Its caption said: "An Israeli policeman and a Palestinian on the Temple Mount." The picture, with the misleading caption, was printed in the New York Times and other American newspapers leading to public protests. [48][49][50]

[edit] Patricia Smith, Boston Globe (1998)

Shortly after the Glass affair, award-winning columnist Patricia Smith was asked to resign from the Boston Globe. Smith, who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist that year and won the American Society of Newspaper Editors' Distinguished Writing Award for column-writing, admitted to putting fictional people in four of her columns.[51] The Globe later returned her ASNE award and withdrew her from consideration for the Pulitzer.

Race also became a touchy point in Smith's firing, because while the Globe fired Smith, who is black, it only suspended columnist Mike Barnicle for his plagiarism. Columnist Eileen McNamara argued that Smith's race caused her editors give her the benefit of the doubt when she had been previously suspected of fabrications.

Her editors proved that some of Smith's sources were faked when they could not find some of the people that were discussed in her columns, such as cosmetologist "Janine Byrne"; since cosmetologists' jobs are state-licensed, the Globe did a search for the name in the state's registry. [52]

[edit] Operation Tailwind, CNN NewsStand (1998)

On the June 7 edition of NewsStand, CNN alleged that the U.S. used nerve gas in Laos to kill American defectors during the Vietnam War. It retracted this statement and apologized to its viewers on July 2. [53] Time also retracted and apologized for its coverage of the story. [54]

[edit] Stephen Glass, The New Republic (1998)

Stephen Glass was a reporter and associate editor for The New Republic magazine during the late 1990s. On May 8, 1998, Forbes Magazine presented The New Republic with evidence that Glass completely fabricated the story "Hack Heaven", a piece about a 15-year-old computer hacker who breaks into a large company's computer system and is then offered a job by the company. Glass was fired, and an internal investigation determined that 27 of 41 articles he had written for the magazine contained fabricated material. His story was dramatized in the 2003 film, Shattered Glass. [55]

[edit] Michael Gallagher (1998)

Michael Gallagher, an investigative reporter with the Cincinnati Enquirer, co-authored an 18-page expose on Cincinnati-based Chiquita Brands International and its business practices in Central America. Gallagher's stories relied on internal Chiquita voice mails he said were acquired from an inside source, but he had actually been illegally tapping into the company's voice mail system. The paper retracted the stories, ran a front-page apology for three days and paid the company in excess of $10 million in damages, and allegedly agreed not to write further investigative pieces on the mammoth fruit company. The co-author of the stories was unaware of what Gallagher was doing. The paper's editor, Lawrence K. Beaupre, was reassigned to Gannett headquarters following accusations that he did not adequately fact-check the stories because of his eagerness to win a Pulitzer Prize. [56]

[edit] "Waiting to Explode", Dateline NBC (1992)

In a November 1992 segment on its Dateline NBC newsmagazine program called "Waiting to Explode", NBC showed a startling video which depicted a General Motors truck exploding after a low-speed side collision with another car. However, it was later revealed that the explosion was actually caused by hidden remote-controlled incendiary devices. [11] GM sued NBC and eventually won a settlement. NBC News President Michael Gardner wrote a lengthy correction that was read on Dateline, and he was forced to resign. [12]

[edit] The Oregonian's coverage of the Packwood scandal (1992)

The Oregonian was criticized when in November 1992 the Washington Post beat it to the story of sexual harassment charges against Oregon Sen. Robert Packwood. The Oregonian's editors had long known about Packwood's behavior, because he had forced a kiss on one of their female reporters. [57]

[edit] Janet Cooke, Washington Post (1980-1981)

Janet Cooke was a reporter for the Washington Post during the early 1980s. In 1980 her story, "Jimmy's World", about an 8-year old heroin addict, [13] sparked a frenzied, but unsuccessful, two-week scouring of Washington, D.C. at the behest of then-Mayor Marion Barry, in search of child addicts. The day after Cooke's article won a 1981 Pulitzer Prize for journalism, her editors confronted her about discrepancies in her resume brought to their attention by The Toledo Blade, where she once worked. Cooke falsely claimed that that she attended Vassar College. She confessed that "Jimmy" was a fabrication, resigned and the Post returned the prize. [14]

[edit] Walter Annenberg, Philadelphia Inquirer (1966)

In 1966, Pennsylvania governor and philanthropist Milton Shapp was opposed by newspaperman Walter Annenberg because of Shapp's opposition to a profitable railroad merger that was sought by Annenberg based on his vested interest in the deal. Annenberg purportedly directed one of his reporters at the paper to ambush Shapp with a press conference question posed to Shapp; "isn't it true that you have been in a mental hospital"? Shapp's denial of the false implications contained in this loaded question then became the "news." The next day, Annenberg's paper ran front page headlines "Shapp Denies Ever having been in a Mental Home." Shapp attributed his loss of the 1966 election to Annenberg's attacks on him. [58] Annenberg only ended his attacks when Shapp tried to get his broadcast licenses revoked. To this day, Annenberg is remembered as a notorious scandalmonger despite his numerous philanthropies.[59]

[edit] KGB editor, New Republic (1948 to 1956)

New Republic editor Michael Whitney Straight (1948 to 1956) was later discovered to be a spy for the KGB, recruited into the same network as Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, and Anthony Blunt.[60] Straight's espionage activities began at Cambridge during the 1930s; he later claimed that they ceased during World War II. Later, shortly before serving in the administration of President John F. Kennedy, he revealed his past ties and turned in fellow spy Anthony Blunt. In return for his cooperation, his own involvement was kept secret and he continued to serve in various capacities for the U.S. government until he retired. Straight admitted to his involvement in his memoirs; however, subsequent documents obtained from the former KGB after the fall of the Soviet Union indicated that he drastically understated the extent of his espionage activities.[61][62]

[edit] William L. Laurence, The New York Times (1940s)

In 2004, journalists Amy Goodman and David Goodman called for the Pulitzer Board to strip William L. Laurence and his paper, The New York Times, of his 1946 Pulitzer Prize.[63] The journalists wrote that at the time Laurence “was also on the payroll of the War Department[64]" and that, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he “had a front-page story in the Times[65] disputing the notion that radiation sickness was killing people.[66]” They concluded that "his faithful parroting of the government line[67] was crucial in launching a half-century of silence about the deadly lingering effects of the bomb.” [68][69]

[edit] Downplaying Nazism, New York Times (1930s and 1940s)

The New York Times has been accused of downplaying accusations that Nazi Germany had targeted Jews for expulsion and genocide, in part because the publisher, who was Jewish, feared the taint of taking on any "Jewish cause".[70]

[edit] Walter Duranty, The New York Times (1930s)

Walter Duranty, who covered the Soviet Union for The New York Times, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for a series of articles he wrote about Joseph Stalin's effort to industrialize the nation. His stories not only uncritically backed Stalinist propaganda, but also denied that the Ukrainian famine, which killed millions as a direct or indirect result of Stalinist planning, took place. Duranty also defended Stalin's infamous show trials.

Despite efforts by Ukrainian groups to get the prize revoked, the Pulitzer board declined to do so and both the Pulitzer board and The New York Times still list Duranty among its prize winners, albeit with a footnote that his work is disputed. The New York Times hired Mark von Hagen, a professor of Russian history, to review Duranty's work. The review concluded Duranty's reports to be unbalanced and uncritical, and that they often gave voice to Stalin's propaganda. [15]

[edit] Henry Ford, The Dearborn Independent (1920s)

In the early 1920s, Henry Ford, an American industrialist, automobile developer and manufacturer, published a series of anti-Jewish articles in a Detroit area newspaper he owned, The Dearborn Independent, under the title: "The International Jew: The World's Problem."[71]

[edit] The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, The Philadelphia Public Ledger (1919)

On October 27 and 28, 1919, the Philadelphia Public Ledger published excerpts of an English language translation of the famous anti-Jewish tract (itself a forgery) The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as the "Red Bible," deleting all references to the purported Jewish authorship and re-casting the document as a Bolshevist manifesto.The author of the articles was the paper's correspondent at the time, Carl W. Ackerman, who later became the head of the journalism department at Columbia University.[72]

[edit] See also

Journalism portal

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The Politico: "Washington Post Cancels Lobbyist Event Amid Uproar"
  2. ^ The New York Times: "Pay-for-Chat Plan Falls Flat at Washington Post"
  3. ^ "For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk - New York Times". 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  4. ^ Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes (2008-02-21). "Bob Bennett Reacts to New York Times Story on John McCain". Fox News Channell. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331651,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-25. 
  5. ^ Ralph Z. Hallow and Jennifer Harper (2008-02-22). "McCain disputes report of lobbyist relationship". The Washington Times. http://washingtontimes.com/article/20080222/NATION/813344605/1002. Retrieved on 2008-02-25. 
  6. ^ "Sign Up". 2008. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-media22feb22,1,2442135.story?page=2&cset=true&ctrack=8. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  7. ^ "The Associated Press: White House Accuses NYT of Anti-GOP Bias". 2008. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iG-8I87S5w4QP8CPIrx2wh8irqmgD8UVVVBO0. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  8. ^ "Follow the innuendo". 2008. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/23/EDGOV6TOM.DTL. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  9. ^ Bill O'Reilly (2008-02-22). "Did The New York Times Smear John McCain?". Fox News Channel. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331867,00.html. 
  10. ^ "Top of the Ticket : Los Angeles Times : Boston Globe declines to publish parent paper's McCain story". 2008. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/02/maybe.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  11. ^ "Howard Kurtz - N.Y. Times' Editor Bill Keller Responds to McCain Flap - washingtonpost.com". 2008. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/02/22/BL2008022201858.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  12. ^ "What That McCain Article Didn’t Say - New York Times". 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/opinion/24pubed.html?hp. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  13. ^ www.ibtimes.com, CNN Faces $1.3 Bln Lawsuit - $1 per person in China
  14. ^ reuters.com, CNN now sued for $1.3 billion - $1 per person in China
  15. ^ CNN debunks false report about Obama
  16. ^ The original article, Salon.com: "Identifying a torture icon", The New York Times runs a correction (subscription required)
  17. ^ "US 'paid journalists'". BBC News. 2006-09-09. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5329394.stm. Retrieved on 2006-09-09. 
  18. ^ "Fla. Journalists Paid to Hasten Castro's Ouster", by Doualy Xaykaothao (NPR). All Things Considered, 8 September, 2006. [1]
  19. ^ "Pro-Life Nation", New York Times Magazine, 9 April 2006
  20. ^ "Truth, Justice, Abortion and the Times Magazine", New York Times
  21. ^ CNN.com - Anderson Cooper 360° Blog
  22. ^ "Video Shows Snipers' Chilling Work in Iraq". http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/10/19/iraq.sniper.video/index.html. Retrieved on October 20 2006. 
  23. ^ "House Defense Chair Asks Pentagon to Remove Embedded CNN Reporters". http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=5569487. Retrieved on October 21 2006. 
  24. ^ SEC vs. Thom Calandra, Litigation Release No. 19028
  25. ^ CNN's Jordan resigns over Iraq remarks, by Howard Kurtz
  26. ^ Washington Post, CNN's Jordan resigns over Iraq remarks, by media writer Howard Kurtz
  27. ^ Gallagher, Maggie. "A question of disclosure." January 26, 2005. [2], Kurtz, Howard. "Writer backing Bush plan had gotten federal contract." The Washington Post. January 26, 2005. [3], Toppo, Greg. "Education Dept. paid commentator to promote law." USA Today. January 7, 2005. [4], Williams, Armstrong. "My apology." January 10, 2005. [5]
  28. ^ The problems of Jack Kelley and USA TODAY (USA Today - 4/22/2004)
  29. ^ American Journalism Review: "The Story Behind the Story"
  30. ^ Link
  31. ^ "Trail Tales," the fake news article on FoxNews.com, News' retraction of the story, Matters article on the fake story
  32. ^ Thornburgh-Boccardi Report
  33. ^ Truth and Duty
  34. ^ "Rather sues CBS for $70 million, saying he was made a scapegoat". http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/09/20/rather_sues_cbs_for_70_million_saying_he_was_made_a_scapegoat/. Retrieved on 2007-10-12. 
  35. ^ The Los Angeles Times correction and explanation, "L.A. Times Photographer Fired Over Altered Image", The Poynter Institute
  36. ^ CNN: CNN executive: Iraq targeted network's journalists, April 11, 2003, Jordan's article in the April 11, 2003 edition of The New York Times, reprinted at The Freedom of Information Center at the University of Missouri, CNN Iraqi Cover Up
  37. ^ New York Times, "Correcting the Record: Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail of Deception," the Times story investigating Blair's actions, May 11, 2003 (subscription required)
  38. ^ "Rick Bragg Quits At New York Times: Departure Follows Comments That Roiled Scandal-Shaken Newsroom" by Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post, Thursday, May 29, 2003; Page C01.
  39. ^ [6]
  40. ^ Jill Stewart, "LA Times Covers Up Davis Violence on Female Staff," jillstewart.net
  41. ^ "How the Los Angeles Times Really Decided to Publish its Accounts of Women Who Said They Were Groped," jillstewart.net
  42. ^ A copy of the Oct. 2, 2003 article, "Women Say Schwarzenegger Groped, Humiliated Them" (Original article not found on the Times Web site).
  43. ^ Smith, Christopher (May 13, 2003). "S.L. Woman's Quest Strains Public Records System". http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/barbara_schwarz.html. Retrieved on 2007-12-24. .
  44. ^ a b Hanby, Christopher Utah appeals court backs reporting privilege First Amendment Center, 06.14.05.
  45. ^ 'Neutral reportage' privilege recognized 2005 The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
  46. ^ Slate.com: Fib Newton, Oct. 29, 2002.
  47. ^ The New York Times At Fox News, the Colonel Who Wasn't
  48. ^ The Photo that Started it All by Honest Reporting
  49. ^ Those Aren't Stones, They're Rocks by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
  50. ^ "Abruptly, a U.S. Student In Mideast Turmoil's Grip". New York Times. October 7, 2000. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E5DB153CF934A35753C1A9669C8B63&scp=1&sq=Tuvia&st=nyt. 
  51. ^ CNN - Boston Globe columnist resigns, accused of fabrications - June 19, 1998
  52. ^ CNN: Boston Globe columnist resigns, accused of fabrications, American Journalism Review: Secrets and Lies, Salon.com: Confabulation crisis
  53. ^ CNN: CNN retracts Tailwind coverage
  54. ^ [7]
  55. ^ Salon.com: Hacker heaven, editors' hell
  56. ^ American Journalism Review: Bitter Fruit: How the Cincinnati Enquirer's hard-hitting investigation of Chiquita Brands International unraveled, Chiquita Secrets Revealed
  57. ^ American Journalism Review: "A Newspaper Confesses: We Missed the Story"
  58. ^ Walton, Douglas (November 1999). "The Fallacy of Many Questions: On the Notions of Complexity, Loadedness and Unfair Entrapment in Interrogative Theory". The Journal Argumentation 13 (4): 379–383. doi:10.1023/A:1007727929716. http://www.springerlink.com/content/p2664751t4130844/. Retrieved on 2008-02-11. 
  59. ^ Citizen Annenberg. - By Jack Shafer - Slate Magazine
  60. ^ Nigel West and Oleg Tsarev, The Crown Jewels: The British Secrets at the Heart of the KGB Archives (London: HarperCollins, 1998; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), pg., 130.
  61. ^ Michael Straight, After Long Silence, New York: Norton, (1983)
  62. ^ "Michael Straight" (Obituary). Telegraph, Jan 1, 2004
  63. ^ Amy Goodman and David Goodman. "The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media that Love Them". Hyperion, 2004, pp. 296-298.
  64. ^ Leslie R. Groves. "Now It Can Be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project". Da Capo Press, 1983, p. 326. “it seemed desirable for security reasons, as well as easier for the employer, to have Laurence continue on the payroll of the New York Times, but with his expenses covered by the MED”
  65. ^ William L. Laurence. "U.S. Atom Bomb Site belies Tokyo tales: Tests on New Mexico Range confirm that blast, and not radiation, took toll". The New York Times, September 12, 1945
  66. ^ Harold Evans. "War Stories: Reporting in the Time of Conflict from the Crimea to Iraq". Bunker Hill Publishing, Inc., 2003, pp. 75-76. " During the development of the atomic bomb, project director Gen. Leslie Groves secretly hired William L. Laurence, a highly respected science reporter with The New York Times, to act as the project's official historian. Laurence eagerly accepted the job — his scientific curiosity and patriotic zeal perhaps blinding him to the notion that he was at the same time compromising his journalistic independence. After the bombing, the brilliant but bullying Groves continually suppressed or distorted the effects of radiation. He dismissed reports of Japanese deaths as "hoax or propaganda." The Times' Laurence weighed in, too, after Burchett's reports, and parroted the government line. "
  67. ^ William L. Laurence. “Dawn Over Zero : The story of the atomic bomb”. Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1946, p. 224. "mine has been the honor, unique in the history of journalism, of preparing the War Department's official press release for worldwide distribution,"
  68. ^ Amy Goodman and David Goodman, "The Hiroshima Cover-Up". Baltimore Sun, August 5, 2005
  69. ^ Robert Jay Lifton, Greg Mitchell. “Hiroshima in America: A Half Century of Denial”. Avon Books, 1996, p. 12
  70. ^ Leff, Laurel (2006) (hardback, paperback). Buried by the Times: The Holocaust and America's Most Important Newspaper. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81287-9. OCLC 123225279. 
  71. ^ Ford R. Bryan: Henry's Lieutenants. Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-8143-2428-2, Albert Lee: Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: Stein and Day, 1980. ISBN 0-8128-2701-5, Max Wallace: The American Axis - Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, and the Rise of the Third Reich. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003. ISBN 0-312-29022-5
  72. ^ Jenkins, Philip (1997). Hoods and Shirts: The Extreme Right in Pennsylvania, 1925-1950. UNC Press. pp. 114. ISBN 0807823163. 
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