The State of the Media
Really more information than you will ever need, but who is to say?
http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2005/index.asp
The State of the News Media 2005 is the second in our annual effort to provide a comprehensive look each year at the state of American journalism.
Our goal is to put in one place as much original and aggregated data as possible about each of the major journalism sectors.
For each area, we have produced original research and aggregated existing data into a comprehensive look at many of the pressing issues facing the news media. In addition, we have collected the statistical data in an interactive area called Charts & Tables where users can customize their own charts. This year we have added new elements to the original content study and in most chapters have added an essay from a prominent industry professional or analyst.
But of Many Jokes
If you think your teacher is a tough editor, try working with one that will not let you use the word 'but'.
Read the whole story here.The Rhetorical "But" of the News
A capricious editor-in-chief I once worked for, who fancied himself an English usage expert along the lines of Eric Partridge, once banished the word "but" from all news leads at his global wire service.
Reading the word gave him "whiplash," he complained, and so decreed the word gone from all wire copy. It was pathetic and funny, like declaring oneself utterly finished with the letter "q." Yet the editor was right on two points. First, the word "but" is used ubiquitously in news leads. And second, it does induce whiplash.
What he missed was, the whiplash is just the point. Readers like a little whiplash in their leads. It wakes them up, like a splash of cold water. It's a cheap thrill, a physical jolt that's felt as one belief is replaced by another.
More to the point, the "but" construction is the most common story set-up in journalism, so it can't be replaced without changing journalism itself.
Bloggers, Journalists and Legal Rights
Lawmakers: Hands off Web logs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Internet bloggers should enjoy traditional press freedoms and not face regulation as political groups, lawmakers and online journalists said Friday.
In separate letters, Democratic lawmakers and Internet commentators urged the Federal Election Commission to make sure that political Web sites that serve as focal points for political discussion, like Wonkette.com and Freerepublic.com, don't have to comply with campaign-finance rules.
"Curtailing blogs and other online publications will dampen the impact of new voices in the political process and will do a disservice to the millions of voters who rely on the Web for original, insightful political commentary," said the Online Coalition, a group of bloggers and online activists.
Fourteen members of the House of Representatives said blogs foster a welcome diversity of viewpoints.
"This 'democratization' of the media is a welcome development in this era of media consolidation and a corresponding lack of diversity of views in traditional media outlets," said the group, which consists of thirteen Democrats and one Republican.
