23
Jul 10

Weekend miscellany: Wales, bogus trends, death knocks and Google skewering the FTC

What follows belows is a collection of links worth reading which I’ve rounded up as the weekend approaches.

  • The well-worn rhetoric of the “crisis” in journalism tends to focus on national newspapers, distorting perspective a little. The most serious financial position of all is in the regional papers; television news outside London isn’t in good shape either. That’s the significance of the argument that has been pinging back and forth this week about Wales. Thankfully, I can put it all in one link to Martin Moore’s blog because he’s very kindly summarised it in a single post.
  • More Jack Shafer skewering bogus trends.
  • Journalist Chris Wheal has blogged this week and appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on the ethics and practice of interviewing the bereaved. He suddenly found himself on the other side of the fence, handling reporters on behalf of close relatives. His fierce distinction between the behaviour of the local and national media echoes the Cumbrian MPs who made the same distinction after the recent Lake District shootings. Some reflection and more links on this conversation from Dominic Ponsford.
  • There’s been an American debate running about possible government subsidy for printed news media mostly around a discussion document favouring this produced by the Federal Trade Commission. Google has now replied, reading – to judge by the Buzzmachine post – the FTC a lesson in both economics and history.
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