Irresponsible reporting

[wendybeth]

I majored in Journalism in college, at least until I discovered it didn't interest me as much as I thought it should, and we used to take random newspapers from across the country for critical analysis. Our local paper, the Spokesman Review, was held up as a barely disguised gossip rag/political cattle prod for the ruling clan of Spokane, the Cowles. (They own the paper). That was twenty years ago, and it's still the same today- they are now being taken to task for their series on our mayor, and their role in creating the story as opposed to simply reporting the news. Anyway, the Christian Science Monitor and the Cleveland Plain Dealer were the two papers that achieved the highest scores for quality of reporting and adherence to ethical journalistic priciples. (I know, a bit of an oxymoron these days). I believe they are still two of the most respected papers out there.