Would You Put Tiger on the Cover?

TIGER WOODS WAS featured on the April cover of Golf Digest. Is there anything wrong with that?In 2009, Woods was found to have had affairs with around a dozen women while married to his wife. The father of two young children took five months away from golf to seek treatment for his sexual addictions. Many of Woods' sponsors pulled their endorsement deals with him because of what he seemed to represent.Should magazines avoid him on the cover because...

Principle of Journalism: Keep Mickey Mouse Happy?

THERE'S A NEW SHOW launching on ABC this week and it sort of takes place in Philadelphia. While Body of Proof is filmed in Rhode Island, it is a Philadelphia tale. They show Philly skyline shots and scene-setters but the location filming is actually done in Providence.6ABC did a full news story on the new program, even sending a reporter to Providence to interview the show's stars.Is it a news story that Philadelphia is sort of the setting for a...

The Royals: "The Longest Running Soap Opera in Britain."

ROS COWARD BECAME fascinated with Princess Diana not just because Diana was royalty, but because of what she represented.Diana Spencer married Prince Charles and entered the media spotlight during an era fueled by a new brand of celebrity-obsessed journalism encouraged by Rupert Murdoch's The Sun."Murdoch changed British journalism," said Coward, a journalist, educator and author. "He created a less deferential attitude."The down-market rag had paparazzi...

Thursday: British Journalist and Educator Ros Coward.

BRITISH JOURNALIST AND EDUCATOR Ros Coward will visit the class on Thursday and discuss media coverage of the British Royal Family, a very timely subject given the pending wedding of Kate Middleton to Prince William, the future king of England.Coward has worked in television, reported for newspapers, written for magazines and she has authored several non-fiction books, including Diana, The Authorized Portrait. Her specialties include coverage of...

Are the Royals Newsworthy?

ARE YOU EXCITED for the royal wedding between the UK's Prince William and Kate Middleton?BBC America is planning 184 hours of related programming prior to the actual wedding. TLC has 89 hours of content ready to air. All of the US network news operations are planning to send their crews to to London and run special programming, in addition to the non-stop, live coverage of the nuptials.An estimated two billion people are expected to watch some or...

Should Journalists Root for the Home Team? Part II: The Sports Edition.

ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL analyst Kirk Herbstreit, a native Ohioan who was a star quarterback at Ohio State University, moved out of the state recently because he felt loads of negativity from fans.Apparently, they chastised him whenever he said anything verging on critical of Ohio State University football."Nobody loves Ohio State more than me," Herbstreit told the Columbus Dispatch. "But I've got a job to do, and I'm going to continue to be fair and...

Should Journalists Root for the Home Team?

A FEW WEEKS AGO, Inquirer editorial page editor (and TU adjunct) Paul Davies wrote a column about the opening of the massive expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center."Would you invest $786 million in a business that lost millions every year, charged more than most of its competitors, and left many customers angry and unwilling to return?" Davies asked. "Well, you just did."He wrote that the center is full of cronyism, inside politics and union...