Today, I'm Embracing Our Freedoms

I read an article today on the International Freedom of Expression eXchange web site that made me pause and think about the freedoms we have in the United States that some other countries don't.

The article brings to our attention the harassment journalists from Hong Kong are experiencing. In multiple reports, journalists covering pre-Olympic ticket purchase incidents were harrassed, detained and had their film confiscated.

A second article tells of a reporter who was intercepted by police and forced to turn over all photos taken during a protest by investors in Beijing over alleged embezzlement by the President of the China Commodity Spot Exchange.

These articles reminded me of the stories coming out of Tibet and Burma where the government did everything possible to suppress the people's protests and information getting out to the rest of the world.

I can't imagine being a journalist working in those environments. More importantly, I don't want to find out. For me, this was another small glimpse into another government that I'm happy we don't have.

Our freedoms are precious. The negative feelings I have when journalists error in publishing information is miniscule compared to what I'd feel if we didn't have the freedom to report, read and watch what we feel is important and newsworthy.

I have a button that reads, "Ignore your rights and they'll go away." After reading these articles I not ignoring, I'm embracing.

Inaccurate Articles Hurt

On July 8, Charles McGrath published an article in the New York Times about a popular video on YouTube starring Matt Harding dancing in 69 different locations around the world. You may have seen it yourself as it has had more than 7 million hits since it was added on June 20.

The article was nice. It was informational, timely and had a human interest point to it. But, it had errors. According to Harding in his blog posted July 8, McGrath misspelled the composer's name, provided an incorrect date on the second video Harding created and incorrectly described a scene in the video as a geyser when it was really a waterfall. McGrath described Harding as "doughy", which after watching the video I'd say is not an accurate description of his physique. From Harding's blog, it looks like the desciption hurt some feelings, too.

Even these small errors can harm a newspaper's reputation if it happens too often. Worse yet, before the internet, readers may not have caught these errors. But with the popularity of blogs and internet journalism, these errors are brought to the public's attention quickly.

This is a good example of the importance of fact checking and choosing words carefully for an article. McGrath's story isn't on a subject that one would consider of grave importance to the world, but it does show that journalists (or their editors) still need to do diligence with ensuring they are publishing an accurate high quality story.

An F on Ethics for CBS

I read today on mediamatters.org about the editing of an interview Katie Couric had with John McCain on July 22, which spliced answers from a different question to a question related to the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq, leaving out an error McCain made in the response. The discrepancy was outed on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.



According to Media Matters, no mention was made during the broadcast that the interview was edited or that McCain's recollection of events were inaccurate. However, CBS later did post the full interview and transcript on their web site.



This really bothers me. It may not seem like a huge deal, McCain messed up on some facts about the surge in Iraq and the Anbar Awakening. What's all the fuss? Everyone makes mistakes.



My concern is not so much that McCain mispoke. Well, that does bother me a bit. But, my bigger concern is that one of the major television stations, CBS, purposely edits the interview to remove the error and doesn't disclose their actions to the viewing audience. It is this type of behavior that gives journalists and mass media a bad reputation.



The Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics states journalists should, "Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible." CBS failed miserably on this one.

Democracy - a Slow Process for Journalists

Last summer I learned about Josh Wolf, a freelance journalist who was charged with contempt of court for refusing to turn over video of a protest in San Francisco. It was considered a federal case because federal funds had been used to purchase the police car damaged during the protest. Wolf was released from federal prison after serving 226 days. At the time, his case helped build momentum for a shield law at the federal level, which had been discussed since at least 2004.

Reading this Associated Press article, I have mixed emotions. It's great that Hawaii has become the 34th state to put a shield law on the books. Progress is being made state-by-state.

But, it's very disappointing to learn that the federal shield law is STILL pending over a year later. At this rate we'll all be dead and buried before journalists get the protection needed to preserve our democracy. Hmmm, maybe that's the point.