A writer's search for journalism in the age of branding

Moe Tkacik's bittersweet reflection on journalism in the age of meltdown makes compelling reading. Here's a flavor of what happened when she joined the Wall St Journal's LA bureau:

And so when the time came to resume the regimen of inquisitions into whether Barbie dolls could reclaim supremacy from the insurgent Bratz, or rappers could be convinced to switch sneaker brand allegiances from Nike to Reebok, and was the preeminent patron saint of pre-adolescent sartorial taste Britney Spears or Avril Lavigne . . . well, that was something of a relief, too. The biggest relief, though, would come when I was fired.

SUBMITTED BY SUSAN MOELLER ON TUE, 04/06/2010 - 14:53

Reposted from the World Bank's People Spaces deliberation Blog

How Will The End Of Print Journalism Affect Old Loons Who Hoard Newspapers?

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Trevor Ncube and Charlayne Hunter-Gault

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For too long, news about and for Africans has come predominately from outsiders. International media portrayals of Africans have often been unrecognizable to Africans.

The continent's journalists have tried - with increasing success - to present a more accurate and nuanced picture of their home and its myriad peoples and cultures. They have striven at the same time to hold their governments accountable by exposing corruption and airing the views of the opposition, civil society, the poor and the marginalized

Hugh Pope on Dining with Al-Qaeda
Uploaded by thomascrampton. - Up-to-the minute news videos.

While in Istanbul, social media guru Thomas Crampton had an impromptu video discussion with Hugh Pope about his new book Dining with al-Qaeda. A touch raw and unedited, it is nonetheless compelling for the home truths Hugh tells about the editing process of the US mainstream media.

In addition to covering the region as a foreign correspondent, for among others The Independent and the Wall St Journal, Pope has written some excellent books about Turkey and the Turkic peoples. Sons of the Conquerors is a must-read.

Pope describes the book as a reflection on his meeting with the Middle Eastern society; how he learned that it is not all about caravans, poetry and desert oases. Instead, it is a region of concrete buildings, violence and shattered societies.

Fewer in future: American foreign correspondents  becoming a rarity as their numbers dwindle. Here US  journalists in Mombasa, Kenya interview a crew member of the Maersk Alabama, a ship that was seized and then released by Somali pirates in April 2009. (Antony Njuguna/Reuters)

By Tom Fenton
Recently, I sadly said goodbye to former colleagues who were fired in another round of cost cutting by CBS News. The CBS London bureau now stands half empty, and the dwindling band of survivors wonder who will go next.
Now ABC News has announced much deeper cuts. Hundreds of employees will be let go in a wave of corporate bloodletting that will decimate its worldwide staff. The opening announcement of ABC World News still boasts that it comes "from the global resources of ABC News," but does not mention how thin they now are. NBC News has already cut its overseas operations to the bone.
Even the mighty BBC is said to be planning widespread spending reductions which include closing several radio stations and slashing output on its websites. But these cuts seem minor compared to what is being done to the American news media.
Coverage of foreign news for American audiences has been one of the major casualties and is in danger of disappearing. Each of the mainstream American news broadcasters (with the exception of CNN) now maintains only a handful of full-time foreign correspondents, and does very little original news gathering abroad. Few American newspapers have any foreign correspondents at all....

By Jean-Francois Julliard

Who knows exactly what happened in Iran during the demonstrations Thursday marking the anniversary of the Islamic revolution? Thousands of images and stories have leaked out of the country since the disputed presidential election last June. But it is extremely difficult to verify information. Those foreign reporters who get visas are forbidden to cover opposition demonstrations. As for the local reporters who have not been jailed or fled the country, their main concerns are how to be efficient, now that a dozen newspapers have been closed since June. As of this month, Iran is imprisoning more journalists than any other country.

A World Bank blogger argues, somewhat controversially,  against wholesale enthusiasm for greater transparency and information. Its not just the risks of propaganda through mass media that shes worries about about, but the reality that competitive media are as likely to be  "lapdogs" rather as "watchdogs"