Selected Reviews & Commentaries
Selected Reviews & Commentaries
On the pretense of objectivity:
"The pretense of a disinterested and detached press, an 'objective' press, doesn't dissolve interests or distance journalists from them; it only makes journalists less aware of their personal and institutional interests and unprepared to acknowledge and examine them." READ>>
"The Ethics of Election Coverage," Stanford [alumni magazine], September/October 2016, pp. 44-45. WEB LINK PDF
Review of "America's Battle for Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate Libertarianism and the Future of Media Reform" by Victor Pickard, Journal of American History, 103, 1 (June 2016), p. 250. PDF
"Making It Difficult to Teach Journalism Ethics,” a review of “Ethics and the Media” by Stephen J. A. Ward, Journal of Mass Media Ethics, , 27:3 (2012): 214-215. PDF
Review of “Media, Minorities and Hybrid Identities: The Arab and Russian Communities in Israel” by Hanna Adoni, Dan Caspi and Akiba A. Cohen, Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, 8, 6 (December 2007): 736-738. PDF
“Should Journalists Be Required to Identify Confidential Sources?” The Costco Connection, September 2005, p. 15.
"Should Two Gay Journalists Who Marry Be Allowed to Cover the Same-Sex Marriage Story?" Grade the News, March 2004. WEB LINK
“Disclosing/Exposing the Credibility of News?” AEJMC News, September 2003, p. 2 (president’s column). PDF
“(Not) the Last Word on Jayson Blair,” AEJMC News, July 2003, pp. 2, 5 (president's column). PDF
Reprinted in Media Ethics, 15 (Fall 2003): 7, 30. WEB LINK PDF
“The Language of War,” AEJMC News, May 2003, p. 2 (president’s column). PDF
Reprinted in The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors,Volume 28, Number 3 (May 2003), p. 12.
“The Future of AEJMC Journals,” AEJMC News, March 2003, pp. 2, 13 (president’s column). PDF
“Rating and Ranking Our Ph.D. Programs,” AEJMC News, Jan. 2003, pp. 2,7 (president’s column). PDF
What Difference Does a Journalism Education Make?” AEJMC News, November 2002, pp. 2,7 (president’s column). PDF also available online at Zoned for Debate
Three Threats To a Free Press,” Dong-A Daily News (Seoul , Korea), March 30, 2001. PDF
“Hearst Execs Should Open Up to Reporters,” San Francisco Examiner, May 12, 2000, p. A-23. PDF
Review of "Sentinel Under Siege: The Triumphs and Troubles of America's Free Press" by Stanley E. Flink, The Journal of American History, 85 (December 1998): 1168-1169. PDF
Review of "James W. Carey: A Critical Reader" edited by Eve Stryker Munson and Catherine A. Warren, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 75 (Spring 1998): 212-214. PDF
Review of "It's Alive: How America's Oldest Newspaper Cheated Death and Why It Matters" by StevenCuozzo, The New York Times Book Review, November 17, 1996, p. 35. PDF
"What Newspapers Never Explain To You: Their Agendas," San Jose Mercury News, April 25, 1996, p. 8B.
"New Rankings Bad News for Education," The Daily Californian, March 7, 1996, p. 5; with . Goldstein. PDF
Reprinted as "Top Ten Reasons Not to Read U. S. News Surveys," Stanford Report, March 13, 1996, p. 4; with T. Goldstein. PDF
Reprinted as "Ratings Game Reaches New Low: List Offers Little to Brag About," Insights [The Journal of the Association for Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication], Spring 1996, pp. 18-19; with T. Goldstein.
"Press Should Tell Unabomber 'No'," San Francisco Chronicle, July 4, 1995, p. A19. PDF
Reprinted as "The Unabomber: Journalism and Terrorism," Stanford University Campus Report, July 6, 1995, p. 4.
Review of "Revolutionary Sparks" by Margaret A. Blanchard, Journalism Quarterly, 71 (Spring 1994): 218-219.
Review of "Images of a Free Press" by Lee C. Bollinger, Journal of Communication, 44, 1 (Winter 1994): 172-174. PDF
"The Role of the Press and the Value(s) of Journalism," Focus on Teaching and Learning, Fall 1988 (University of Minnesota Educational Development Program). PDF
"Protecting the Reporter at the Editor's Expense," Media Ethics Update, Fall 1988, pp. 4, 10. PDF
"Reporters Seen as Winners in Cohen Verdict," Minnesota Journal, October 4, 1988, pp. 1, 7.
"Newsroom Confidential?" Twin Cities, June 1988, pp. 46-48. PDF
"Press Release," Twin Cities, December 1987, pp. 113-116. PDF
"When Newspapers Compete, Quality Is Certain to Dwindle," Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 19, 1987, p. 33A. PDF
"Intramural Contests," Twin Cities, April 1987, pp. 119-120. PDF
"Typewriter Guerrillas," Twin Cities, February 1987, pp. 100-102. PDF
"What's In A Name?" Twin Cites, October 1986, pp. 120-122. PDF
Reprinted in The Newspaper Guild (AFL-CIO) Reporter, October 31, 1986, pp. 4-5.
"A Free Press," Twin Cities, August 1986, pp. 124-126. PDF
"Why the Star and Tribune Should Do Something Crazy," Twin Cities, April 1986, pp. 92-94. PDF
"Newspapers, Magazines Say Too Little In Their Corrections, Minneapolis Star and Tribune, January, 30, 1985, p. 15A. PDF
"Proposed Ordinance On Eavesdropping Makes No Sense," Minneapolis Star and Tribune, May 10, 1984. p. 31A.
"KTWN's Jazz Falls Prey to Profits", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, October 4, 1983, p. 11A.
"Muzzling Arbatov Petty and Pointless," USA Today, May 4, 1983, p. 8A.
"Exporting America's Mass Media," Hartford Courant, December 6, 1979, p. 33. PDF
"Objective Reporting Clouds Responsibility," Hartford Courant, October 13, 1978, p. 18.