Disturbing News Cycle Has Its Lessons

The news cycle over the past week or so has been disturbing, to say the least.

The unraveling of Don Imus’ career showed the power of advocacy groups, the 24/7 media and the free markets. The dismissal of charges against three Duke University student-athletes proved how people can manipulate the media and how the media can rush judgment. Meanwhile, the senseless mass murder at Virginia Tech University has brought up questions about insensitive over-coverage and the role of citizen journalists. These events have many things in common – race, class and age being the most obvious. These events also have the worst common denominator — victims. (Read more…)

The Mouths That Roared

At least two people have been fired in recent weeks for speaking out in the media. One was fired for saying negative things about fellow co-workers. The other was fired for expressing religious beliefs. In both cases, their respective employers acted appropriately. (Read more…)