Read all 'LA' posts in Media Sphere
January 23, 2008 5:34 PM PST
In a memo from the Tribune's owner Sam Zell, which was recently posted by Jim Romenesko at Poynter, Zell announced that employees at the company's newspapers would no longer be hindered by the internet filters that so many companies have implemented to prevent their workers from engaging in personal websurfing. Zell writes,
"I do not see how a member of the Fourth Estate, dedicated to protecting the First Amendment, can censor what its own employees and partners can see. I have instructed that all content filters be removed. You are now exposed to the dangers of You Tube and Facebook. Please use your best judgment."It's not often that I applaud the actions of the bean counters in the mainstream media, but Zell's actions in this matter deserve recognition and respect. It's rather abominable that journalists in any publication would find themselves in a world wide web with fences restricting their access; it's frustrating that any employer would engage in such tactics, but it's encouraging to know that reporters at the LA Times and other Tribune publications will no longer have to leave the office to research a story deemed off-limits by the content filters implemented by their IT department. Well done Zell ...
July 31, 2007 2:19 PM PDT
If you search the New York Times or the LA Times for "Mychal Bell" you won't find a single article, but the 17 year-old African American is currently facing up to 22 years after being convicted by an all-white jury for aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. Bell and five others were originally charged with attempted murder for their role in a fight with a white high school student. Known as the "Jena Six," their story has all the characteristics of what you would expect to find in a high school history text profiling the racial tension in the South during the 1950s, but as a current event it has been completely ignored by the mainstream press though it has been covered by many independent media outlets. Why is this? Does the mainstream media not want to acknowledge the grim reality that racism continues to plague our country? Or has our news media collectively decided that celebrities are the ones worth covering?... Read more
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