What media outlets influence the Northern Plains?

We in flyover country tend to be viewed as a homogeneous blob. But anyone who’s looked at the differences between Minnesota, say, and South Dakota — hell, between East River and West River South Dakota — knows that isn’t the case.

Still, the diversity in a media map created by Forbes magazine which shows, by [...]

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Local newspaper censorship of Doonesbury is hypocritical

Open today’s Argus Leader and you’ll see a couple editorials on the “public’s right to know” in the local section. Go to the next section, though, and something is missing — today’s scheduled Doonesbury comic strip. Instead, the Argus ran an old strip. Where I come from — which is the same place as much [...]

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U.S. falling behind — in press freedom

There’s plenty of problems plaguing the press, particularly the mainstream media. The digital and social media world seem to have preempted or seriously damaged the traditional press. But I found this a real shock: the United States fell from 20th to 47th in the annual Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders.

Twentieth was bad [...]

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After 35 years, still one of the best

Bob Mercer put it well: “A newswoman like no other.” That was the headline of his blog post today in which I learned Tena Haraldson is leaving her position as the Associated Press bureau chief for the Dakotas and Nebraska. Tena probably is a 35-year veteran of AP. I’m proud to say I’ve known her [...]

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FTC to help “the reinvention of journalism”?

No one disputes the impact the digital age has had on journalism, particularly newspapers, so there’s a variety of ideas floating around to keep newspapers alive. The Federal Trade Commission’s staff just released a draft discussion report as a result of the FTC saying last year that it wanted to consider the challenges faced by [...]

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Newspapers aren’t reaching the front porch

The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism today released its seventh annual report on The State of the News Media. While it covers all variety of media, it certainly bears out the concerns about my old stomping ground — newspapers. (I’m old enough to remember the transition from typewriters to word processors in [...]

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Censorship irony almost painful

Index on Censorship bills itself as “Britain’s leading organisation promoting freedom of expression.” So it isn’t surprising it would be interested in the decision earlier this year by the Yale University Press to publish The Cartoons That Shook the World, an account of the uproar and riots that occurred in September 2005 when a Danish [...]

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Bloggers in federal shield law headed to Senate floor

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent to the Senate floor a version of the Free Flow of Information Act that appears to include bloggers.

Briefly stated, a shield law protects journalists from having to disclose sources to prosecutors unless certain requirements are met. One of the battles to date is who would be protected [...]

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Who you gonna believe? Survey says: Not the news media

We hear a lot lately about the struggles of traditional news media in the Internet age. But it seems a lot of people believe the damage may be self-inflicted.

A new study by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press indicates the fewest number of people in more than two decades believe [...]

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Newspapers: “No profit” to “nonprofit”?

As a former newspaper reporter, I’m one who is still addicted to and tends to bemoan the disappearance and struggles of daily newspapers. That’s despite the fact that a lot of newspapers aren’t what they once were (and who am I to really judge whether that’s good or bad.)

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D.-Md.) has [...]

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