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In Haiti this past week, American networks featured their medical correspondents acting as both reporter and doctor, often simultaneously. On CNN, CBS, NBC and ABC, newsmen and women became part of the story, raising ethical questions both medical and journalistic. A former television news producer, a former medical reporter and media ethicists weigh in.
Some OTM listeners following the coverage of the earthquake in Haiti have written us to point out the sheer numbers of reporters who had made their way to the stricken island. In a commentary for The New Republic, senior editor Noam Scheiber suggests that the press should cover disasters like Haiti the same way it covers the day-to-day activities of the President: through a pool.
While American and other foreign journalists struggle to report on the earthquake in Haiti, members of the Haitian media are having a much more difficult time keeping their own citizens informed. To address that problem, Internews, a non-profit organization that cultivates journalism in the developing world, is trying to help. Mark Frohardt, the group’s vice president for Health and Humanitarian Media, explains how.
This week Conan O'Brien announced that he would likely leave NBC rather than begin his show at 12:05 AM. This is not the first stormy period in late night's history. In 1993, during Letterman’s defection to CBS, Bob Garfield auditioned for his own talk show on All Things Considered.
The owners of cable giants like Time Warner and Cable Vision began a very public feud this month, with each side accusing the other of corporate greed and disregard for their consumers. Columnist Dan Gross, of Slate and Newsweek, explains what's going on, and what it’ll mean for consumers (hint: nothing good).
In recent years, "The O'Reilly Factor" has adopted an old tradition from "60 Minutes"-era TV journalism: the ambush interview. In this piece we originally aired in June, we spoke with Gawker's investigations editor John Cook who says Bill O'Reilly uses the ambush to settle personal scores. Plus, OTM producer PJ Vogt describes shadowing Cook as he tried to ambush an ambusher.
Legendary producer Lowell Bergman worked for "60 Minutes" for nearly 15 years. He describes the ambush interview's surprising origins and thorny legal history. In this interview, originally broadcast in June, he also explains why reporter Mike Wallace eventually stopped using the technique.
James F. Brown, the former director of Radio Free Europe, died last month. Arch Puddington, author of Broadcasting Freedom: The Cold War Triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty says Brown led RFE to focus more on journalism and less on propaganda.
