As the mainstream media cut back on investigative reporting, some journalists have turned to the public to “crowdfund” individual investigations. Now, a New York entrepreneur hopes to build a more permanent crowdfunding model. A website called Uncoverage will seek patrons willing to make long-term financial commitments to in-depth journalism.
In this era of “accountability journalism,” it’s common for journalists to fact check politicians and campaign ads. But some media fact-checkers have turned to a new target: competing journalists’ stories. As I wrote in this Poynter.org column, the results can be both enlightening and controversial.
For the first time in three decades, the Poynter Institute has revised its ethical principles for journalists. I was a contributing writer to The New Ethics of Journalism which discusses how ethics have changed in this era of new media, digital media, and social media.
In its haste to broadcast what it thought was exclusive information about an airliner crash, San Francisco television station KTVU embarrassed itself and offended many of its viewings. Just a few minutes of fact-checking would have prevented the gaffe.
CNN’s unusually explicit on-air description of an accused murderer’s Facebook post renewed a debate about how journalists report on hateful speech. The network opened itself up to criticism with its seemingly offhand use of an offensive slur and its subsequent vague apologies.
