Saturday, March 23, 2024

Fermeture de la librairie Iqra à Nice: le préfet ne conteste pas la suspension de cette décision de justice, estime l’avocat de la librairie - Nice-Matin

Saturday, August 16, 2008

On hold....

I don't plan to add anything more here for the foreseeable future....

Monday, April 10, 2006

"As Katrina Recedes, Newspapers Still Float" - The New York Times

Saturday, December 10, 2005

"Stan Tiner on Calling for Help in a Headline, Editing the Daily Disappointment, and Forming a "Newsroom Trust"" - Columbia Jornalism Review

Part of CJR's larger interview with Stan Tiner, executive editor of Biloxi's Sun Herald:

I think the "Newsroom Trust" idea is one that still has value, perhaps more than ever. I don't think of it so much as a fantasy -- instead, I think it is a serious idea that deserves a broader discussion. . . . It begins with the premise that while a newspaper is a business, it is not just a business. The news and information a newspaper provides has a civic value that is separate and apart from any business or financial plan. In the modern era, where most newspapers exist in a publicly-held arena and are subject to market pressures that impact journalistic quality, it would be important to create a mechanism that protects the journalistic enterprise from those pressures. The Newsroom Trust would be that mechanism, providing for a universally agreed upon minimum funding base which would be regarded as sacrosanct and untouchable. The Trust would be based on a principle such as percentage of the local paper's profit margin, or share of the overall paper's annual budget. If all newspapers were subject to this requirement there would be no advantage gained from cutbacks in news-gathering activities. Those companies who wanted to spend more obviously could, but all would be expected to spend the minimal or foundational base amount to produce the news and information necessary to meet the civic needs of the communities served. There is a lot more to the idea, and I would welcome a discussion that might add other layers of thinking to how the trust might serve to protect the valuable journalistic franchise which I believe actually has a core financial worth in addition to its civic value.

More from Stiner and Geneva Overholser on this idea.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

"Getting the story and helping the folks of Mississippi"

[The linked story is no longer accessible.]

Vicki Smith, an AP reporter, based in Morgantown, W. Va., recalls her weeks covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi — and how she was changed by what she witnessed:

Then, in the middle of his eulogy, he startled us. "And God, please bless Darron and Vicki of The Associated Press, for being here with this family and for telling the world what the people of Mississippi are going through." We stared at each other, eyes wide, sweat dripping. Our mouths were open, but there were no words. Then we both had to look away. We had done so little in the face of so much devastation. And yet, they were gracious and grateful, something I found again and again in my time in Mississippi.

"Newspapers in Katrina disaster forge new bonds with readers" - The Associated Press

The journalists who survived Hurricane Katrina and managed to keep publishing from the disaster zone have a new appreciation for their readers as well as the media's crucial role in debunking rumors, several editors said Wednesday. Many reporters lost their homes in the huge storm and have been separated from their families, but are sustained by how appreciative readers are to see their hometown papers published each day, said Peter Kovacs, managing editor of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "Katrina had kicked our collective butts but somehow the paper had been printed," said Stan Tiner, executive editor and vice president of the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun-Herald, who shared a panel Wednesday on Katrina coverage at the Associated Press Managing Editors annual meeting. At first, both papers relied on the Internet to get the news out. Later, they printed thousands of copies from remote locations and gave them away free to evacuees and rescue workers, who were extremely grateful to see the hometown papers, they said.

Friday, October 21, 2005

"Rumor often reported as fact in aftermath of Katrina" - Biloxi Sun Herald

Biloxi Sun Herald: Rumor often reported as fact in aftermath of Katrina
"The bigger and more diffuse the disaster, the more the gatekeeping function of the media fails in the rush to get the story out," said Henry W. Fischer III, director of the Center for Disaster Research and Education at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. The French paper Liberation ran a detailed report on 1,200 people drowning inside a school on Read Boulevard. Not true. Evacuees railed on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" about dead bodies and gang rapes. The accounts were false. . . . So where did the stories come from? "If you think about the conditions the victims of Katrina endured ... the stress and fear must have been unimaginable," David Emery, an expert on urban legends and folklore for the Web site About.com, said in an e-mail interview. "When real news isn't available, rumors percolate to fill the gap. ... People start conjecturing." Officials repeated the rumors.

"Papers seek access to FEMA files" - Clarion-Ledger

As this summer's hurricane season winds down, the federal agency responsible for helping victims of the storms is under fire on at least three fronts. From Washington, an angry Congress has demanded a full accounting of why the Federal Emergency Management Agency mishandled the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Mississippi's 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson last week asked the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the contracts FEMA has awarded in the aftermath of Katrina. FEMA awarded more than 80 percent of its contracts without competitive bids, and Mississippi companies want to know why their offers weren't considered.

Monday, October 17, 2005

"Panelists to discuss coverage of Hurricane Katrina"

"Panelists to discuss coverage of Hurricane Katrina"