7th April 2015
By Stefanie Chernow

Ethical Journalism Newsletter: April 7, 2015

Ethical Journalism News And Debates

Rolling Stone isn’t firing anyone. That’s terrible for journalism.

Society needs a Fourth Estate that it may not always agree with but that it believes is committed to getting it right and, when it doesn’t, taking appropriate action. Rolling Stone did neither of those things with the alleged gang rape story. And that’s a shame for the rest of us. (via The Washington Post)

More is not always better

One of the truisms about recent reductions in newsroom staffs is that fewer journalists equals less quality and lower standards. And undeniably, the cutbacks over the past decade have diminished coverage of state legislatures and county courthouses. But as we learn from Columbia Journalism School’s thorough examination of the Rolling Stone debacle, simply assigning more journalists – particularly more editors – to a story provides no guarantee of quality. It may make things worse. (via Columbia Journalism Review)

On the Guardian’s decision to run an Opinion piece by Kelvin MacKenzie

Many of the complaints contain heart-rending accounts of family and friends of the victims, and express exceptionally strong views about MacKenzie, whose newspaper published an article four days after the disaster headlined “The Truth” making a series of allegations about fans’ conduct on the day, which have been utterly discredited. (via The Guardian)

Eight tips from Paxman on how to conduct a TV interview with politicians

1. Never forget: “You are there on behalf of the citizen”
2. Continuing seeking an answer until it’s been answered or it is “abundantly clear to any sensible viewer that no answer has been given”
3.“Do your homework”
4. Go into the interviewing knowing what you want to find out
5. “Cut to the chase”
6. “Simple questions are best”
7. Television interviews are bad for establishing facts, but “brilliant at conveying impressions”
8. Listen to the answers you receive and do not stick to a list of questions.(via Press Gazette)

Paris supermarket siege survivors sue media over ‘dangerous’ coverage

Six people who hid in a supermarket refrigerator during an Islamist attack in Paris in January have sued French media for broadcasting their location live during the siege. (via The Guardian)