Participant or observer: Journalism and its impact on the subjects

This story in the Washington Post cuts to the heart of a central issue in journalism ethics: Do the people who document and retell the stories of people are the world have an impact on those lives? Should they? Are these journalists participants, observers or a combination thereof?
In the story, former photojournalist Warren Zinn tells [...]

Beyond People Persons

“I’m a people person!” That was the battle cry of most of the students I knew in college as they declared, with several exclamation points and a smiley face, that they had decided to major in public relations, marketing or communications.
And indeed, things have not changed a lot since my college years. [...]

“Kristen” Comes Into View

It took about 48 hours.
The New York Times has posted the first interview - complete with pictures, of course - of Kristen aka  Ashley Alexandra Dupré aka Ashley Youmans.
And, to make the momemt oh-so-current, she has a MySpace page. The comments she’s received in the last couple of hours remind me why I’m not all [...]

Apologizing Spitzer Style

Governor Spitzer’s just-concluded appearance in which he announced his resignation effective Monday was classic Spitzer…aggressive, to-the-point and blunt. He provided no details of his “failings” as he termed them - clearly has drawn a line that says “we’re not going there” - and also made it clear at several points that he’s removing [...]

Obama, change and personal safety

A short while back, the New York Times carried a piece about concerns over Sen. Obama’s safety as he gets deeper and deeper into his run for the presidency. This wasn’t the first story I had read about this, but it’s the one that got me thinking the most.
So as I read the article, I [...]