Notes for the Next Epidemic, Part One: Lessons from News Coverage of AIDS

Environment, Health & Science, Papers, Policy & Issues, Publications / By Nilagia McCoy

A paper by Timothy Cook, fall 1988 fellow, evaluates press coverage of the AIDS epidemic, and argues that many standard journalistic practices contributed to poor coverage of the issue, and may have led to slow policy responses. Cook cites several factors that led to inadequate coverage in the early years of the epidemic: the reliance […]

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The Media in Europe After 1992: A Case Study of La Repubblica

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

A paper by Sylvia Poggioli, fall 1990 fellow, focuses on media consolidation in Italy in the early 1990s. For most of its history the Italian press was a “politically-subsidized” institution, writes Poggioli, with Italian newspapers often representing political parties or movements. More recently, this institution was turned on its head and converted into a business,

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The Russian and Soviet Press: A Long Journey from Suppression to Freedom via Suppression and Glasnost

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

A paper by Alexander Merkushev, fall 1990 fellow, traces the history of press freedom in Russia from the rule of the Czars in the 17th century to the end of the Cold War under Gorbachev. Merkushev details how the Russian press has always reflected the tug-of-war between authorities unwilling to yield powers and a public

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Different Strokes: Public Broadcasting in America and Australia

Media Business, News Business & Practice, Papers, Publications / By Nilagia McCoy

A paper by Glyn Davis, fall 1988 fellow, compares the United States’ decentralized public broadcasting system to its Australian counterpart, which was built on the British government monopoly model. Starting with a historical analysis of how the two different systems developed from their early radio days, Davis documents the various political assaults and supports for

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Through the Revolving Door: Blurring the Line between the Press and Government

Government Institutions, News Business & Practice, Papers, Politics & Government, Press Freedom, Publications / By Nilagia McCoy

A paper by Lewis W. Wolfson, spring 1990 fellow, explores the implications when government officials change careers to become journalists. What is the impact on press freedom and public policy? Wolfson conducted 62 interviews, including veterans of the Washington press and political communities who have “crossed the line,” as well as member of the press

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Changing Lanes on the Inside Track: The Career Shuttle Between Journalism, Politics and Government

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

A paper by James McEnteer, spring 1990 fellow, evaluates the phenomenon of the revolving door between journalism and politics or government. McEnteer challenges the idea that moving from government roles to journalism is always a conflict of interest. Journalists should be detached from the subjects they cover, yet “insider information” also has value. Based on

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Nine Sundays: A Proposal for Better Presidential Campaign Coverage

Campaigns, Elections & Parties, Journalistic Practice, News Business & Practice, Politics & Government, Publications / By Nilagia McCoy

This Shorenstein Center report by John Ellis provides recommendations for improving election coverage during the nine Sundays between Labor Day and Election Day, when public interest in the presidential campaign increases. This proposal recommends that major broadcast networks provide 90 minutes of evening or prime time coverage every Sunday to a serious and substantial discussion

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Expanding the Public’s Right to Know: Access to Settlement Records under the First Amendment

Government Institutions, News Business & Practice, Papers, Politics & Government, Press Freedom, Publications / By Nilagia McCoy

A paper by John J. Watkins, spring 1990 fellow, explores a question often confronted by the lower courts: whether the First Amendment right of access extends to settlement agreements and related documents in civil cases. These records are not inconsequential for journalists, argues Watkins. Modern civil litigation involves myriad issues of public importance: corporate and

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Lies in Ink, Truth in Blood: The Role and Impact of the Chinese Media During the Beijing Spring of ‘89

Citizen Action & Interest Groups, International Affairs, News Business & Practice, Papers, Policy & Issues, Politics & Government, Press Freedom, Publications / By Nilagia McCoy

A paper by Linda Jakobson, spring 1990 fellow, focuses on Chinese press coverage of the student-led Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. For this paper, Jakobson interviewed dozens of Chinese journalists, scholars and other observers, read and watched Chinese press coverage, and placed it within a Chinese social and political context. Her paper provides insight into

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Window to the West: How Television from the Federal Republic Influenced Events in East Germany

Citizen Action & Interest Groups, International Affairs, News Business & Practice, Papers, Policy & Issues, Politics & Government, Press Freedom, Publications / By Nilagia McCoy

A paper by Dieter Buhl, spring 1990 fellow, examines how television from West Germany influenced political developments in East Germany in the 1980s. Buhl’s study suggests that television functioned on at least two levels leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall: it educated people, feeding information from the West into millions of East

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Sound Bite Democracy: Network Evening News Presidential Campaign Coverage, 1968 and 1988

Campaigns, Elections & Parties, Journalistic Practice, News Business & Practice, Papers, Politics & Government, Publications / By Nilagia McCoy

A paper by Kiku Adatto, fall 1989 fellow, analyzes how televised news coverage of presidential campaigns has changed, and finds that sound bites have been steadily shrinking. The average sound bite, or block of uninterrupted speech, from a presidential candidate fell from 42.3 seconds in 1968 to only 9.8 seconds in 1988, writes Adatto. In

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Tritium and the Times: How the Nuclear Weapons-Production Scandal Became a National Story

Environment, Health & Science, Papers, Policy & Issues, Publications, War, Defense & Security / By Nilagia McCoy

A paper by William Lanouette, spring-fall 1988 fellow, provides a case study on the role of the press in nuclear weapons policy. For more than a decade, pieces of a nationwide scandal had surfaced from the vast and sprawling system that produces the U.S’s nuclear weapons as health, safety and environmental stories in local papers

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