Dean Baquet, Marty Baron, and protecting the institution

Last Tuesday, Wesley Lowery wrote an op-ed for the New York Times in which he wrapped the urgent media-industry conversations about diversity and coverage of race around our flawed prevailing definition of “objectivity”—a concept shaped, in large part, by white editors and reporters with the eye of the white reader in mind. (My colleague Mathew Ingram discussed Lowery’s piece and the reaction to it here.) Later the same day, Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the Times, sat for a long-scheduled interview with Max Linsky, of the Longform podcast. It aired on Friday. Linsky had planned, initially, to talk to Baquet about the coronavirus pandemic, but asked instead about objectivity and the Lowery op-ed, which Linsky read as a rebuke of the Times’s institutional values. Baquet described the op-ed as “terrific,” and said he didn’t think that he and Lowery were far apart on the objectivity question. Baquet—who has repeatedly stressed the importance of objectivity in the past—said that he doesn’t love the term, and that he would rather frame his view of journalism around “fairness” and “independence.” The independent and fair reporter, he said, “gets on an airplane to pursue a story with an empty notebook, believing that he or she doesn’t fully know what the story is, and is going to be open to what they hear.” Linsky and Baquet spoke for around an hour and a half, and covered a lot of ground, from the Times’s business model to the challenges of managing the paper’s “star”... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-06-29 12:20:58 UTC ]

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Why some experts say it's time for Twitter and Facebook to ban anti-vaccination posts

As measles cases continue to rise in Canada and the U.S., experts are calling on social media platforms to ban anti-vaccination posts, saying the risks to public health created by misinformation outweigh the right to free speech. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2019-05-22 08:00:00 UTC ]
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Is Big Tech Merging With Big Brother? Kinda Looks Like It

The all-seeing Amazon, Google, and Facebook have every incentive to help the national security state undermine privacy, free speech, and democracy. We’ve read this book before. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2019-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Campaign to Promote Physical Bookstores Launched

A number of industry members have gotten together to form Love Your Bookstore, a campaign aimed to help draw attention to all physical bookstores as the holiday shopping season begins. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NCAC, Authors Guild Slam Trump's S&S Litigation Threats

Following one more threat of litigation from President Donald Trump against a major book publisher, free speech and book industry organizations have condemned the president's attempts to cease publication of books unfavorable to his administration. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher defends diversity drive after Lionel Shriver's attack

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[ The Guardian | 2018-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookExpo 2018: At PEN Panel, Free Speech and Race Go Hand in Hand

This year’s PEN America–hosted BookExpo panel saw journalists and a civil rights activist debate the meaning of free speech in an era of “fake news” and deep racial tensions. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The case for abolishing online anonymity | Letters

The Guardian requires a name, address and phone number for all of its letter-writers, points out Dr Monica Threlfall. Nigel Gann, Michael Rundell and Martin Davidson air their thoughts on Cambridge Analytica. And Patrick Cosgrove says just don’t use FacebookWhen democrats fought for free speech,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Johnson: 'universities facing free speech challenge'

The universities minister Jo Johnson has used a Boxing Day speech to highlight the issue of free speech and debate in universities. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Katharine Viner: in turbulent times, we need good journalism more than ever

Solving challenges around trust, diversity and press freedom are key to safeguarding democracy, says Guardian and Observer editor-in-chief• Read the full speech: A mission for journalism in a time of crisis Facebook has become the most powerful publisher in history by replacing editors with... Continue reading at The Guardian

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Facebook Adds Signup Buttons to Win Over Skeptical Instant Articles Partners

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber CEO speaks out after winning indie trade publisher of the year

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[ The Guardian | 2017-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Milo Yiannopoulos peddles hate. It’s not censorship to refuse to publish it | Sam Sedgman

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[ The Guardian | 2017-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Should Simon & Schuster Be Publishing Alt-Right Hatemonger Milo Yiannopoulos’ Book?

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In Hong Kong's book industry, 'everybody is scared'

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The Big Deal at the Frankfurt Book Fair: Free Speech

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