Dean Wright's Blog

The long-awaited report by Lord Leveson into the unethical and illegal behavior by some of the British press does a good job of diagnosing the problem, but the prescription is dangerous. The report rightly concludes that “there has been a recklessness in prioritising sensational stories,” with little or no regard for the damage such journalism [...]

Another birthday. Another year. Another opportunity to reflect on a career in journalism. At the risk of self-indulgence (OK, this is self-indulgent), some high points and a low point. Let’s get the low point out of the way. Being a working journalist has essentially been one big high for me and regrets are mainly trivial. [...]

At a time when daily newspapers in North America are struggling, the  importance and vitality of community journalism was stunningly clear after the recent arrest at a U.S.-Canada border crossing of a man sought in a triple murder. Travis Baumgartner, accused of killing three Edmonton, Alberta, armored-car co-workers and fleeing with $330,000, was apprehended by [...]

There may still be some mainstream media journalists out there who don’t see the value of social media,  but Steve Buttry of Digital First Media is not one of them. Buttry consistently writes in a level-headed, well-informed way about the ways journalism can transform itself and flourish in the digital age. The copy desk is a [...]

I have a confession: Since the early 1990s I have attended — and enjoyed–several White House Correspondents Association dinners. But I’ve come to believe they’ve done more harm than good. This annual media spectacle has certainly done me some good over the years. I’ve recruited some fine journalists at various before- and after-parties–and I’ve been [...]

The death  of Levon Helm has stilled the last of the great singers of The Band. Yes, Robbie Robertson did vocals–thankfully, he still does–and The Band (Helm, Robertson, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel) was very much a team effort, at least for the first two albums, “Music From Big Pink” and “The Band.” Of [...]

Could the basic unit of journalism be changing? Is the “story,” that basic device that every J-school student is taught to write in Journalism 101,  being supplanted by something less defined–and something less in control of reporters? You could make a strong case that it is after reading a fascinating interview with Mohamed Nanabhay, the [...]

Defending social media is a bit like defending the sunrise. It’s going to happen no matter what and the only way to avoid it is to keep sleeping. Nevertheless, Dorian Benkoil at MediaShift does a fine job of taking on the anti-social media whiners. As he puts it,  ”to rail that social media destroy our social [...]

National Public Radio’s new ethics handbook sets a great example for news organizations trying to find their way in our increasingly polarized culture. It’s written with remarkable, jargon-free clarity  and it’s organized in a logical, straightforward, user-friendly way. But most importantly, it takes on the question of what constitutes “fairness” and comes down squarely on the side of [...]

A study commissioned by Craig Newmark  recently found that only six percent of respondents believed that being first to report a story was the most important factor in choosing a source for election news. The national survey of likely voters by Lincoln Park Strategies found that an overwhelming plurality–49 percent–said that being “trustworthy” was most [...]