May 2013
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Freedom of the Press and Criminal Solicitation →
Striking the right balance between the government’s legitimate need for confidentiality, the press’s legitimate need to obtain information about government action, and the public’s “right to know” what its representatives are up to, is a difficult and delicate task.
I’ve not seen a more incisive explanation of the legal issues arising out of the Department of...
March 2013
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February 2013
1 post
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January 2013
1 post
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December 2012
1 post
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Reporters Interviewing Children In Connecticut... →
I saw lots of “dear media: stop interviewing the children!” pleas on various social media yesterday following the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. I did not see a lot of clear explanations forwhy not(it’s social media, after all). Don’t we need every available piece of information in the immediate aftermath of such an incident? Can there benovalue in carefully asking the...
November 2012
2 posts
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“People use the phrase ‘the fog of war,’ but this is a case that...”
– Eugene Fidell military law researcher/lecturer, Yale University
Manning Plea Offer Another Odd Piece of an Odd Case | NPR
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I don’t know if this dissertation is any good, but if I could choose to make any impact at all, I’d like to see more legal scholars use the term “foggy doctrine” once it’s published. Foggy doctrine.
October 2012
4 posts
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A conversation with my mom about newspapers'...
This is so one-sided it can hardly be considered a “conversation,” but I thought it was worth posting since it might provoke some discussion.
On Saturday, Oct. 27, The Des Moines Register announced it was endorsing Mitt Romney for president. This surprised a lot of folks, and outraged some, in part because the Register hadn’t endorsed a Republican in 40 years or so.
I grew up...
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Granite City school suspends multiple students... →
This is a really good case study on a growing problem in schools across the country.
Sooner or later, the U.S. Supreme Court is going to have to elaborate on its declaration that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”
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August 2012
4 posts
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Minneapolis Newspaper Index at University of MN... →
hclib:
Digitized Index Cards to Minneapolis Newspapers
Van Houlson, Journalism Librarian, University of Minnesota Libraries
For many years, the index cards to the Minneapolis Star and the Minneapolis Tribune at the Wilson Library on the University of Minnesota campus gave researchers a unique tool for locating articles on local people and events. This index was recently scanned by the Digital...
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Gerald Gold, Editor on the Pentagon Papers, Dies... →
“The Pentagon Papers episode was hailed as a huge victory for press freedom and prompted new skepticism about government. But before any of that, somebody had to do hours of laborious, exacting work preparing articles about, and excerpts from, the papers for publication. Mr. Gold, an assistant foreign editor, shouldered much of the burden.”
Literally, a dying breed.
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“An earlier version misstated the term Mr. Vidal called William F. Buckley Jr. in...”
– The corrections on the New York Times’ Gore Vidal obituary are amazing. (via theatlantic)
July 2012
3 posts
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Sara: I'd like your permission to use you as a professional reference. Would that be alright with you?
Me: Sure. Feel free to use this email address and my cell number for contact info. My address will be changing, but that probably won't matter anyway, since nobody really sends mail anymore ...
Sara: Thanks! I hope mail goes the way of the Coelacanth.
Me (after a little Googling): Sweet dinofish reference, Bro.
Sara: Thanks dude! I think my metaphor is accurate, because I hope that mail still exists in some remote parts of the globe, but that I never see it.
Me: LOL.
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June 2012
3 posts
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Under Minn. Supreme Court standard, university can...
In a decision released this morning, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the University of Minnesota did not violate a student’s free speech rights when it punished her for Facebook posts related to her coursework in the mortuary science program.
It is an important ruling for student freedom of speech, especially as the line between what counts as “on campus” and “off...
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“It is particularly fortuitous that the very object of this particular first...”
– Professor Jonathan Turley, regarding the state of Idaho’s decision to reverse its ban on the sale of Five Wives Vodka. I haven’t tried the spirit myself, but you can place your order (and buy a “Free the Five” T-shirt!) through the distiller Ogden’s Own here.
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Texas court finds environmental website publisher... →
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press:
Judge Trey E. Loftin of the 43rd Judicial District Court in Weatherford, Texas, found that Wilson is not protected under the state’s shield law because “she did not create her blog for the purpose of making money.” The judge also noted that Wilson had no formal education in journalism and made no claims of total objectivity.
When we pass shield...
May 2012
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April 2012
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March 2012
1 post
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Pa. College Journalist Arrested while... →
Philadelphia Police Department policy urges police to expect and accept that they will be photographed while on duty.
“As such,” the policy reads, “police personnel shall not interfere with any member of the general public or individuals temporarily detained from photographing, videotaping or audibly recording police personnel while conducting official business or while engaging in an...
February 2012
13 posts
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Freedom of Information Day Award Ceremony with Amy... →
Join the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information in celebrating Freedom of Information day. This year’s ceremony will include a presentation by Amy Goodman, award-winning investigative journalist and syndicated columnist, author and the host of Democracy Now!.
Friday, March 23rd, 2012, 4:00 pm
Hennepin County Library - Minneapolis Central, Pohlad Hall, 300 Nicollet Mall,...
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“The White House keeps praising these journalists who are, who’ve been...”
– - Jake Tapper, pressing White House press secretary Jay Carney on what one might consider to be inconsistency on the administration’s views of doing journalism in the interests of democracy.
Yahoo’s Cutline blog has video, and a full transcript.
[Update: 2/23/12 2:20 p.m.: forgot...
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Anonymous asked: do you go to andover high school?
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Tatro v. University of Minnesota: a big one for...
The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Tatro v. University of Minnesota tomorrow morning, a case which addresses the question of how much power universities should have to punish students for speech posted online, and off campus. (I wrote about it in the Silha Bulletin last summer.)
The case arose in 2010 following a series of Facebook posts by Amanda Tatro, a student in the...
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"Ride hard. Don't be a dick." →
Video, Stupor Bowl XIV, 2011.
Looks like a bit less snow this year.
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Hubbard Broadcasting gives $100,000 to Karl Rove's... →
Obligatory occasional link to work David Brauer is doing that you should know about.
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“There was no reason to detain Ferral, other than police didn’t know what...”
– - John Drescher, editor, Raleigh News & Observer.
via Romenesko, “Town Apologizes for Arresting News & Observer Reporter”
January 2012
6 posts
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“Mr. Bryan confirmed that he had posted on his Tweeter website account that he...”
– A Department of Homeland Security memo on a British couple that was detained overnight upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport. Bryan explained that “destroy” is British slang for partying, and digging up Marilyn Monroe is a reference to the TV show Family Guy. (via officialssay)
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““Good lord, if people had asked tough questions … let me be blunt,...”
– - David Brauer’s interview with Gary Eichten (whose last Midday show was broadcast on MPR today) is a nice balance of the man’s views on journalism and personal professional history.
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8th Circuit: Police acted reasonably during GOP... →
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“It’s hard to think of many other journalists who have slogged through such a...”
– The Beat from Hell: Carol Rosenberg’s Decade Covering Gitmo (via nickbaumann)
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December 2011
5 posts
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Christmas Fun Fact →
The tune for “Hark, The Herald Angels Sing” comes from a song Felix Mendelssohn wrote in 1840 to honor Johann Gutenberg and the bicentennial of the invention of the printing press.
Thanks to my big sister Erin for tossing this little knowledge nugget my way after church this morning.
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“In the pre-Web days, someone like Ms. Cox might have been one more obsessive in...”
– David Carr offers an alternative (and not entirely unreasonable) take on the Crystal Cox Affair.
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Crystal Cox, Oregon Blogger, Isn't a Journalist,... →
BUT! It’s a bit more complicated than most of the media are reporting (as usual). If you look for the words “even if” in the opinion (scroll down), you’ll see why Cox would be on the hook for the $2.5. million regardless of whether she was considered a journalist.
The Oregon shield law at issue doesn’t apply to civil defamation cases, so not even The Oregonian would...
November 2011
10 posts
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Manning Lawyer: White House, DIA found little... →
A decidedly one-sided report at this point, but the Wiki-leaker’s lawyer is citing the Obama administration’s own reports for the claim.
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Video: When Journalists Get Evicted Along With... →
Some interesting comments on the media “blackout” during the eviction of Occupy Wall Street this week. 2:33. Hat tip to Meagan.
(I wonder, though, whether it was Stelter or Carr who was like, “I know! Let’s wear scaaaarves.”)
