Nilagia McCoy

Pragmatic News Objectivity: Objectivity with a Human Face

Journalistic Practice, News Business & Practice, Papers, Publications / By

A paper by Stephen Ward, spring 1998 fellow, considers the journalistic value of objectivity from a philosophical perspective. The concept of objectivity has come under assault, not only through violations by practitioners, but also through a concerted attack by modern and post-modern media critics, who believe that “objectivity” is (depending on the critic) deceitful, erroneous, […]

Pragmatic News Objectivity: Objectivity with a Human Face Read More »

Should American Journalism Make Us Americans?

Media Business, News Business & Practice, Papers, Policy & Issues, Publications, Race & Gender / By

A paper by Jim Sleeper, fall 1998 fellow, asks if by offering a bilingual product, newspapers are undermining a united sense of citizenship. The Miami Herald began producing a Spanish-language version of its paper to attract the growing population of former Cubans and Latin Americans in the city. Sleeper argues that this move contributes to

Should American Journalism Make Us Americans? Read More »

Tensions of a Free Press: South Africa After Apartheid

International Affairs, News Business & Practice, Papers, Policy & Issues, Press Freedom, Publications, Race & Gender / By

A paper by Sean Jacobs, fall 1998 fellow, examines changes in South Africa’s news media in the 1990s. Television and radio, long dominated by the state, had a history of bias in favor of South Africa’s apartheid government. The first democratic elections in 1994 revealed how far removed from the electorate the media was, argues

Tensions of a Free Press: South Africa After Apartheid Read More »

Whither the Civic Journalism Bandwagon?

Journalistic Practice, News Business & Practice, Papers, Publications / By

A paper by Charlotte Grimes, spring 1998 fellow, asks whether citizen journalism is living up to its promises. Grimes provides a history of the rise of civic journalism that raises many questions about both its aims and its successes, and whether there is benefit in supplanting traditional tools and processes with newer ones. She notes

Whither the Civic Journalism Bandwagon? Read More »

Portraying American Public Opinion toward the Bosnia Crisis (abstract)

International Affairs, Papers, Policy & Issues, Publications, War, Defense & Security / By

Richard Sobel, fall 1996 fellow, compares the disparity between public support for intervention in Bosnia as expressed in polls, and the limited reporting of those opinions in U.S. media and political discussions. Sobel hypothesizes that the press did not fully portray evidence of support because of the post-Vietnam syndrome, the intensity of the opposition, the

Portraying American Public Opinion toward the Bosnia Crisis (abstract) Read More »

Ijambo: Speaking Truth amidst Genocide

International Affairs, News Business & Practice, Papers, Policy & Issues, Press Freedom, Publications, War, Defense & Security / By

Alexis Sinduhije, fall 1997 fellow, writes about the harrowing experience of practicing journalism in central Africa during the Rwandan Genocide. From 1993 to 1997, Sinduhije covered the violence around him, searching for ways that journalism could help stem the bloodshed, while striving to report the news objectively – even after the murder of his own

Ijambo: Speaking Truth amidst Genocide Read More »

The Spokesperson — In the Crossfire: A Decade of Israeli Defense Crises from an Official Spokesperson’s Perspective

International Affairs, Papers, Policy & Issues, Publications, War, Defense & Security / By

A paper by Nachman Shai, fall 1996 fellow, builds a case for the proposition that “truth” rather than “spin” is the basis of effective public information efforts, even when a nation is at war. Shai focuses on the turbulent decade in Israeli life that begins with the Lebanon War (1982) and ends with the Gulf

The Spokesperson — In the Crossfire: A Decade of Israeli Defense Crises from an Official Spokesperson’s Perspective Read More »

The Enemy Within: The Effect of “Private Censorship” on Press Freedom and How to Confront It: An Israeli Perspective

International Affairs, News Business & Practice, Papers, Policy & Issues, Press Freedom, Publications / By

A paper by Moshe Negbi, fall 1997 fellow, explores the rise of “commercially-motivated censorship” in Israel’s media. Negbi argues that powerful private interests in Israel’s media companies have suppressed and distorted stories and opinions that were not to their liking, or that they perceived as detrimental to their interests and profits. The paper provides an

The Enemy Within: The Effect of “Private Censorship” on Press Freedom and How to Confront It: An Israeli Perspective Read More »

Communication Patterns in Presidential Primaries 1912–2000: Knowing the Rules of the Game

Campaigns, Elections & Parties, Papers, Politics & Government, Publications / By

A paper by Kathleen E. Kendall, fall 1997 fellow, examines communication by candidates and the media in presidential primary elections. The presidential primaries are a twentieth century phenomenon which grew out of the late nineteenth century tradition of party primaries on the local level. They are distinctly different from general elections because they are multiple,

Communication Patterns in Presidential Primaries 1912–2000: Knowing the Rules of the Game Read More »

The Rise and Fall of the Televised Political Convention

Campaigns, Elections & Parties, Papers, Politics & Government, Publications / By

A paper by Zachary Karabell, fall 1997 fellow, traces the history of the broadcast presidential conventions and builds a case for the proposition that the parties and the networks together have brought the conventions to a low ebb that does a disservice to voters. Karabell describes three phases of the broadcast conventions: 1952–1968, when they

The Rise and Fall of the Televised Political Convention Read More »

The Rise of the New News: A Case Study of Two Root Causes of the Modern Scandal Coverage

Journalistic Practice, News Business & Practice, Papers, Politics & Government, Publications / By

A paper by Marvin Kalb, former Shorenstein Center director and veteran reporter, analyzes the press coverage in the first few weeks of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Kalb attempts to answer the question: what is wrong with American journalism? Why has it lost the trust and confidence of so many of its readers and viewers? He

The Rise of the New News: A Case Study of Two Root Causes of the Modern Scandal Coverage Read More »

Pressing Concerns: Hong Kong’s Media in an Era of Transition

International Affairs, News Business & Practice, Papers, Policy & Issues, Press Freedom, Publications / By

A paper by Stephen J. Hutcheon, fall 1997 fellow, traces the history of press freedom in Hong Kong under British rule up to the aftermath of China’s takeover in 1997. Hutcheon analyzes the forces that could erode the freedom of the Hong Kong media and the counter forces that might help to protect press freedom.

Pressing Concerns: Hong Kong’s Media in an Era of Transition Read More »

The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is a Harvard Kennedy School research center dedicated to exploring and illuminating the intersection of press, politics and public policy in theory and practice. The Center strives to bridge the gap between journalists and scholars, and between them and the public.

Follow us

Facebook Twitter Rss Podcast Youtube
subscribe
donate

ABOUT  |  CONTACT US  |  PRIVACY  | ACCESSIBILITY | WEB ACCESSIBILITY

Unless otherwise noted this site and its contents are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.