On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 12:00 PM, b_s-wilk <[email protected]> wrote: > I now subscribe to the Financial Times of London, US edition. One of the big > differences between the WSJ and FT is that WSJ will publish a press release > as news, something they rarely did before Murdoch. FT will receive a press > release, research the story, and print the details behind the press release. > Without research and investigative reporting, plus reporters on the scene to > observe and report, papers have little reason to exist.
Many, even perhaps most newspapers resorted to simply printing the contents of press releases as a cost saving measure and also to get the "news" out there early and with little fuss or bother on their part. We all now know that the practice of merely publishing the contents of press releases and other announcements issued by the White House was greatly responsible for why newspapers failed the public throughout the period during the run up to the invasion of Iraq. Hopefully, since it appears as though most larger newspapers have decided to take the low road in terms of actually reporting on and investigating news events, the internet may actually provide a way for entities other than newspapers to be able to inform fairly large audiences with good information based upon real reporting and journalistic integrity. It is likely that the huge newspaper conglomerates may have permanently sealed their own fate, but local and smaller entities may survive and eventually serve audiences beyond their normal areas of coverage by way of the internet. Perhaps papers like the Manchester Guardian, a not-for-profit organization, can become a voice well heard beyond its normal regional boundaries. Steve ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
