N&O editors cover-up

Melanie Sill, executive editor for news at The Raleigh News & Observer, frequently praises herself and her news staff for what she tells readers is the N&O’s devotion to the very highest standards of full, accurate and ethical journalism.

Melanie recently posted at the Editors’ Blog “Journalism AND blogs.” She low-rated bloggers and puff-puffed herself and journalists like herself. Here’s some of what she said:

Journalism involves a discipline of accuracy, verification, fairness, public-mindedness and truth-telling.

As part of democracy it empowers citizens by informing them, holds people in power accountable to the rest of us and, conversely, takes responsibility for its own actions.

Good journalism is labor-intensive, which means it's often expensive to produce. This kind of journalism is practiced mostly at newspapers and magazines, and among some broadcast sources.

And how did Melanie’s blog readers respond to what she said?

Here’s the first comment on the thread:

And the stonewall continues. Dick Nixon could not have said it better with the American flag and a Republican cloth coat in the background.

Platitudes and truisms do not substitute for honesty and accountability. Break the stonewall, Ms. Sill.

The stonewall the reader refers to is the N&O’s refusal to publish a transcript of its interview with the False Accuser.

The interview was a major part of the N&O’s now discredited Mar. 25 front page story from which, among other shameless acts, the N&O withheld the critically important news that the FA, whom the N&O said was “the victim,” had identified the second dancer and provided some information which N&O Deputy Managing Editor Linda Williams now says it would have been libelous for the N&O to report.

Melanie claims the N&O withheld only “details” so there’s no need to release the transcript. She accuses people who ask why she won’t release the transcript of being “conspiracy theorists.”

So much for verification and the empowerment of citizens.

The next reader comment included:

… As a blog hooligan, I like to visit blogs to find the nuggets of truth that are mined through much effort and from a variety of news sources and provide a clear, concise and chronological picture of the issue at hand.

And the retrospective viewpoints found on blogs also tell a very clear tale on which media source sought to provide accurate information thoroughly investigated before printing. Rare, but they do exist and unfortunately I don't see the N&O in the top 10 of those.

Even more telling, is when a media source gets it wrong, how quickly do they issue statements to their readers that they made a mistake. No, no, no, not a "correction" but a true statement of their errors.

Still waiting to read anything of the sort in the N&O, better late than never would seem to be applicable here.

Sill has offered no corrections for the N&O’s Mar. 25 story.

The next comment included:

"Journalism involves a discipline of accuracy, verification, fairness, public-mindedness and truth-telling."

http://rdu.news14.com/content/headlines/?ArID=97694&SecID=2

Manipulated pictures raise ethical questions
Updated: 1/5/2007 9:17 PM
By: Heather Moore

CHAPEL HILL, NC – The News and Observer ran a photo illustration of embattled North Carolina Speaker of the House Jim Black wearing an apron from the International House of Pancakes in it's Thursday and Friday editions.

The N&O modified the picture of Black to add the apron and published it on two consecutive days in two different sections without labeling it as an altered illustration. The paper admitted it should have been labeled as a photo illustration in its corrections section Friday.

OUCH, if you believe what you read in the N&O.

Melanie jumped in at this point and made comments that were quickly responded to. For example:

Ms Sill: There has been an unexpected but welcome benefit to the shoddy, biased and agenda driven performance by you and your brethren.

We, true liberals and true conservatives, watched in amazement, as you self righteously ignored the violation of basic fundamental rights to which all citizens are entitled.

Then, it got worse as the Duke President and faculty joined forces with you.

Just think how, but for the blogosphere, you, the H-S, Group of 88, etc. would have really poisoned the minds of the people with your prejudiced reporting and commentary.

Instead you made the blogosphere grow up in a hurry, in a quantum leap. What you, the 7 dwarfs and your ilk have done is to make all of us who respect truth and justice come together in a hurry.

Daily, numerous blogs , headed by KC, JinC, Liestoppers, Johnsville, LaShawn, Gaynor , Right Angles, and more provide far more comprehensive information on this case than you. Their analysis is more objective, their insight and conclusions are so clear and concise, and they follow the evidence and lack of it, to a logical end.

I think the last reader makes some excellent points but is too kind, at least to me.

And I bet Melanie agrees the reader is too kind, way too kind in fact, to ol’ JinC.

Well, I won’t disagree with Melanie. In fact I’ll give her the next to last word:

Journalism involves a discipline of accuracy, verification, fairness, public-mindedness and truth-telling.

As part of democracy it empowers citizens by informing them, holds people in power accountable to the rest of us and, conversely, takes responsibility for its own actions.

Last word goes to JinC on behalf of millions who want to know what the N&O withheld from the story that began the public frame-up of 46 Duke students:

.RELEASE THE TRANSCRIPT, MELANIE.

STOP THE COVER-UP!