22 May 2007
"Is There a Shared Watchdog Role for the Public, the Blogs & Ombudsmen?"
That is the catchy title of an Organization of News Obmbudsmen (ONO) topic panel scheduled for the afternoon of 22 May at Harvard with Geneva Overholser of the Missouri School of Journalism; Jose Carlos Abrantes, of Diario de Noticias; and Jeff Jarvis, blogger, of Buzzflash.
Jarvis posted his notes for the panel a couple of days ago. No summary yet at the ONO site.
Hopefully a report from Jarvis and at the ONO site are forthcoming.
UPDATE: From ONO:
“Is There a Shared Watchdog Role for the Public, the Blogs & Ombudsmen?”Please do read the whole thing.
The consensus short answer, in the 8th session of the Organization of News Ombudsmen's 2007 Conference, was “a flat-out yes,” in the words of session moderatore Geneva Overholser of the Missouri School of Journalism and former ombudsmen of The Washington Post....
Jarvis spoke of “the ethic of the link,” saying: “If you quote me, why not link to everything else I've said? Not everybody is going to read it. But if I say I was quoted out of context, well the context is there.” ...
“There's a glorious future if we can all be partners,” Overholser concluded. “It seems to me now more than ever that the ombudsman's role is a most important role. Somebody who knows the craft, is open, and has the quality of being able to say things that are important, substantial things. That's the role the ombudsman can perform, always informed by readers.”
UPDATE:
Simon Bucks (via Jarvis):
I once argued that you wouldn’t trust a citizen journalist any more than a citizen heart surgeon. It was a paternalistic and sermonising approach that most of us shared, but it won’t do any more.... and ...
Siobhain Butterworth (also via Jarvis):
Journalists pursuing truth incrementally rather than delivering it pre-packaged was something of a leitmotif. Jeff Jarvis told us "the architecture of news is changing and it would be better to see stories as a process and not a product. It's not finished, we can add to it."
Occupational Myths and Hazards
This could just be Howard Kurtz letting the writer get the better of the reporter for dramatic reasons. But I suspect the truth is he knows little about the history of journalism and much about its popular and erroneous mythology.Occupational mythology is always a blind spot when looking inward. I have been surprised, however, at the "fish in the water" expanse of journalism. What Jay Rosen has referred to as Journalism's Religion.
I think one of the reasons I was surprised is ("big 'J' professional") journalism's claim to a secular and objective process: "If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out!"
Of course, this is really a criticism of failing to be a custodian of fact practicing a discipline of verification - which leads directly to trust, credibility and legitmacy (I wish I could find the layered taxonomy Cline and I did starting with the "objective process" and leading to the "ethic of trust"?).
20 May 2007
Macbeth's tragic story continues ...
via MilBlogs
A complaint unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle charged 23-year-old Jesse Adam Macbeth with one count of using or possessing a forged or altered military discharge certificate, and one count of making false statements in seeking benefits from the Veterans Administration.Well, sort of ... he first garnered attention in 2003 from the Eastern Arizona Courier.
Macbeth garnered much attention on blogs and in some alternative media after he began claiming in 2005 to have been awarded a Purple Heart for his service, which he said included slaughtering innocent civilians in a Fallujah mosque.
Soldier struggles with memories of Iraqi warAnother way to put it is bloggers exposed the truth about Jesse in a matter of days after he made the "news" two years before.
By Pam Crandall, staff writer
Eastern Arizona Courier
11-03-2003
http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2003/11/03/news/news02.txt
The war in Iraq was officially called to an end a few months ago, but according to Private First Class Jesse MacBeth, 19, of Pima, the turmoil has just begun.
MacBeth, a ranger in the U.S. Army, returned to the states two-and-a-half months ago after sustaining an injury in his back. He spent 14 months serving in the Middle East -- first in Afghanistan and then in Baghdad. Formerly from Tucson, MacBeth now resides in Pima, where he has family, friends and a fiancé. He said that small-town life is the perfect remedy for the various traumas that he suffered during his service in the Middle East.
"Loud noises startle me," he said. "Its nice and quiet here. I live in a trailer out in the middle of nowhere." According to MacBeth, his reaction to loud noise stems from the horrible experiences that he had while in Iraq. After returning to Ft. Benning in Georgia, he was officially diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and received both medication and counseling to help him adjust to a non-combative environment. ...
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