Articles by Joyce Gemperlein

Thursday, October 02, 2003

Journalists attending API’s first Publishers’ Forum on Ethics and Responsibility reacted to a hypothetical situation in which a newspaper reporter in a conservative, religious town writes a story about oral sex among middle and high school students.

Thursday, October 02, 2003

Ethicist, provocateur and list-maker Michael Josephson has never been more in vogue. He’s been cajoling and scaring people straight about ethics since 1985. One of his favorite audiences has been the newspaper industry.

Thursday, October 02, 2003

Hiring for character, not for skills was one of many concepts that intrigued publishers and newspaper executives at an American Press Institute forum Sept. 29-30.

Tuesday, September 30, 2003

What qualities would you consider important in a person who wanted to date your son or daughter? That question was posed by ethicist Michael Josephson at the American Press Institute’s first Publishers’ Forum on Ethics and Responsibilities.

Thursday, June 26, 2003

Participants at the API/ASNE editors forum agreed that solutions to newspaper ethical lapses lie in better leadership and management.Here are the highlights of their suggestions:

Thursday, June 26, 2003

Michael Josephson, founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics closed the API/ASNE Newsroom Reporting and Editing Standards seminar with his thought as the only non-journalist in attendance.

Thursday, June 26, 2003

With remarkable candor, James Shelledy told attendees at the API/ASNE Newsroom Reporting and Editing Standards seminar how he became the former editor of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

The agenda for 31 newspaper editors and executives attending an API/ASNE forum seemed forthright and even mundane: “Newsroom Reporting and Editing Standards.” But lately that’s been a riveting subject, loaded with controversy and emotion – both for journalists and for the public.

Monday, April 14, 2003

The media history of the 2003 war in Iraq will certainly focus on its “reality-TV” aspects, as well as the effectiveness, accuracy and objectivity of the more than 600 journalists who are participating in the Pentagon’s “embedding” program.

Friday, April 04, 2003

The Guardian has been publishing many stories that you won't see in U.S. media. They focus on the plight and emotions of the Iraqi people. One by Haifa Zangana, for example, is written by an Iraqi living in England who notes that his niece delivered her child by caesarian in Baghdad a month before it was due to avoid needing a hospital during the coalition's siege of her city. Her father tells Zangana that many women have done the same.

Wednesday, April 02, 2003

In a timely consumer story that could be duplicated on a local level, the British newspaper The Guardian has published "The Smart Donor's Guide to Aid for Iraq," which discusses the politics and logistics of deciding which aid agency to support. The advice could be applied to choosing aid agencies for any country in need.

Tuesday, April 01, 2003

Emerging Interest, a research company for marketers and technology vendors, has produced a fascinating -- and perhaps depressing -- special report to download that's entitled: "War In Iraq: Perceptions of Media Coverage."

Tuesday, April 01, 2003

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) has updated its report on the status of press freedom and published it as "Homefront Confidential: How the War on Terrorism Affects Access to Information and the Public's Right to Know."

Monday, March 31, 2003

As the televised Iraqi war proceeds with bombs lighting up the sky over Baghdad, the cost in human lives and future international relationships appears staggering. Archaeologists watch the war in Iraq with humanity in mind, but they have another reason to be vigilant and fearful: The smart bombs perhaps aren't smart enough to spare six or seven-thousand-year-old treasures from Mesopotamia, the cradle of the world's civilization.

Monday, March 31, 2003

Duct tape and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) got their start during war and have gone on to commercial success. Hummers the flat-topped multipurpose vehicles beloved by suburbanites who can afford them, also began in the military as Humvees.<

Monday, March 31, 2003

There's nothing like a commentary on National Public Radio to make you sit in the car in your driveway -- and then sit there when it is over, thinking about what you've just heard. Scott Simon, National Public Radio's Peabody Award-winning correspondent and host of "Weekend Edition Saturday" has delivered a half-dozen essays about the war in Iraq that range from women in the war, human shields, freedom for the Kurds, the death of innocents and more.

Other commentaries that will keep you listening include ones by composer Paul Schwartz on the Dixie Chicks, Frank DeFord on athletes who have served in wars, David Sedaris on being an American in Paris at this time and Susan Stamberg with her thoughts on the conflict.

Saturday, March 29, 2003

Ludicrous as it sounds, there are rules of etiquette for war. These, the Geneva Conventions of 1949, are the centerpiece of a body of law that attempts to regulate conflict. These have been invoked repeatedly lately by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld regarding coalition soldiers taken prisoner in the U.S.-led war against Iraq.

Wednesday, March 26, 2003

Depending upon how you look at it, the U.S. military's use of trained dolphins to de-mine Iraqi waters is news that either is interesting or dismaying. That's not to say using animals in war is a new idea.

Monday, March 24, 2003

An interesting story and a good jumping-off point for upcoming Saturday religion sections is ABCnews.com's story, "How do military chaplains square war with their religious beliefs?"

Saturday, March 22, 2003

The BBC reports that the peace movement is now hacking into websites and defacing them as a form of anti-war protest.

Thursday, March 20, 2003

Virus writers are taking advantage of the onset of war to release an e-mail supposedly offering a variety of war-themed attachments, ranging from secret U.S. spy pictures of Iraq to screensavers mocking President George W. Bush.

Wednesday, March 19, 2003

George Capaccio, a Massachusetts freelance writer, story-teller and artist, has made nine trips to Iraq since 1997. He writes a moving portrait of his experiences and relationships with the people there.

Tuesday, March 18, 2003

The Seattle Times' Tom Brown is posting briefs daily in his newspaper's "Conflict Iraq" section. His blogs, which have links inside them, report on the doings of various reporters covering the war; a link to the DEBKAfile, a well-connected Israeli site, which tells a sale tale of an Iraqi defector who would have been beneficial to the United States; articles in the National Review and on Slate.com, and many more.

Monday, March 17, 2003

Detroit has the highest concentration of Arab-Americans, so the Detroit Free Press decided to answer some of the most asked questions about this population.

Monday, March 17, 2003

There's a passel of fascinating reading -- and listening and cartoon perusing -- on the state of the world at Working for Change, which bills itself as being "for people with progressive values."

Monday, March 17, 2003

Geoffrey Nunberg, a Stanford University linguist who offers commentary on National Public Radio, explores the history and evolution of the word "protest" and its relatives, "protest march" and "protest music. in "The Syntax of Resistance."

Thursday, March 13, 2003

You've no doubt heard about Representative Bob Ney and the fried potatoes shaped like little sticks and bread soaked in egg. If not, here's a recap: Calling his action symbolic to protest French opposition to President Bush's policies on Iraq, Ney has ordered that the word "French" be stricken from House menus. Now, instead of French fries or French toast, the cafeterias there are serving "Freedom Fries" and "Freedom Toast."

Monday, March 10, 2003

The public affairs departments of most universities are deluged with requests for experts on all things related to international conflict. Many have lists of experts on their Web sites. One example is Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Its public affairs staff has prepared an extensive list under the heading "Confrontation Iraq."

Wednesday, March 05, 2003

Despite the threat of war, students – at least in Michigan – are flocking to study-abroad programs. Leaders of programs that assign students to various countries say interest has increased, not decreased. They report anxiety among parents, however. The program for studying in Israel ended two years ago.

Wednesday, March 05, 2003

A cheery, bright yellow web page pops when visiting, the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s site of advice written directly to kids about sheltering in place and biological warfare The prose is as straightforward and calm as a document about making chocolate-chip cookies.

Wednesday, March 05, 2003

Two interesting articles in the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Ca.) explore the Internet and blogging, and men and women in relationship to the possible war.

Wednesday, March 05, 2003

There's nary a roll of duct tape or sheet of plastic to be found on store shelves here in Washington or its suburbs because of the nation's heightened alert status. But most of us wonder: Will those common hardware store materials - or anything else -- work to filter chemical and/or biological agents from our hiding places? Some say yes; some no. Still others say sort of, but you might suffocate. In a Knight-Ridder report scientists pooh-pooh the Office of Homeland Security's further advice that air purifiers with HEPA filters will do the job.

Wednesday, March 05, 2003

You read and hear it everywhere: "The impending war." But, as an article in the Chicago Tribune points out, this phrase isn't objective. Michael Josephson, president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics says that when politicians use the word, it may be part of political negotiations, but when journalists employ it they are signaling that war is inevitable. The Tribune article contains many quotes from copy editors at major newspapers. Some, such as the Washington Post, don't see a problem with the word choice. Others, such as the New York Times, think it should only be used within a quote. (Seeking neutrality in the media's war of words)

Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Wednesday, October 02, 2002

Friday, September 27, 2002