This year has given us simply too many worthy contenders for FAIR’s annual P.U.-litzers–recognizing the stinkiest journalism of the year. A big part of the problem was that so many outlets were striving to distinguish themselves with especially awful coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement. So to note those lowlights, we bring you a special installment of P.U.-litzers: The OWS edition.

Read full story here.

By Peter Hart, March 2, 2010

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange believes people are out to smear him and his organization. That much seems clear. Today (March 2) the New York Times’ Ravi Somaiya writes a piece that would seem to confirm those suspicions.

Read full blog here.

This is a snapshot of a whiplashed country that (understandably) doesn’t know whose butt to kick first. — Frank Rich, NY Times, November 6, 2010.

LONDON — Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blower Web site WikiLeaks who has been embroiled in a fight with the Pentagon over the recent release of classified documents, briefly became the focus of new attention on Saturday when Swedish prosecutors sought him for questioning on rape allegations — then quickly said the accusations were unfounded. — Full story here.

Wikileaks said in a blog post earlier than the Times’ breaking story:

On Saturday 21st of August, we have been made aware of rape allegations made against Julian Assange, founder of this project and one of our spokespeople.

We are deeply concerned about the seriousness of these allegations. We the people behind WikiLeaks think highly of Julian and and he has our full support.

While Julian is focusing on his defenses and clearing his name, WikiLeaks will be continuing its regular operations.

The WORD to Wikileaks: Release the Kracken, all 15,000 tenacles.

Jim Naureckas critiques a New York Times columnist criticizing critics “impugning the motives” of the new Arizona immigration law, which has been denounced as a “Nazi” or “near-fascist” law, a “police state” intervention, an imitation of “apartheid,” a “Juan Crow” regime that only a bigot could possibly support.

Uh Oh!

Read more here.

When Tiger Woods tees up his Nike golf ball at the first hole of the Masters next week, will you be wishing him well? Or will you hope he yanks his drive into the pines and spends four days trudging toward the searing defeat that, in your view, he richly deserves? Be honest. This is a moral litmus test. In fact, it’s a test for all of America — a test of where our moral consciousness is these days.

The Tiger is a corporate entity, the litmus test about corporate Amerika’s morality/ethos, not “our moral consciousnesss.” You can read the full Times blog here – yuck.

This is an introduction of sorts to a six-part series. A few years ago, I invited the New York Time’s first Ombudsman to my journalism ethics/responsibility class. That position, now occupied by Clark Hoyt, is primarily known now as the New York Times Public Editor. I’m speculating that the presence of a Public Editor is more preferable to Ombudsman which sounds akin to a lawman enforcing the law in a lawless community (at least, that’s how I imagine the NYT natives perceive the position when it was announced in the wake of the Jason Blair scandal and other journalistic ignominies which didn’t get as much attention but contributed to marring the public image of the Times).

Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised that Okrent accepted the offer, though it needs to be pointed out that there are a lot of high profile personalities and professionals who relish guest lecturing at Hunter, if asked, because of the College’s reputation for being a stellar higher ed institution. The invitation was extended even before the adulation in recent years about Hunter, the most ethnically diverse four-year college in the CUNY system, being a gem of an affordable public higher ed institution.

I did a two-day prep of the ethics/responsibility class: I wanted to make sure the students looked good and, of course, that the instructor looked good and the class was told, in so many words, that this impending moment should be regarded with pride for them (and I ignored the spectre of the D:F/M Hogoblin). I eventually announced Okrent’s scheduled Guest Lecture on the Hunter-L listserv (it was a boast as well as an attempt to prove a point) and wrote something like, QMfE, “It’s first come, first serve for visitors.”

One or two Hunter-L subscribers showed up. They would like the affair. I wouldn’t.

Okrent walked from his New York Times office (then on 43rd Street 7th Avenue then) and strolled into Hunter North 504 one afternoon. He looked professorial and was casually dressed. I introduced him. The class began. He was stellar before, during and after the class and clearly indicated that he was impressed with the students and pleased that he was invited. For me, the PUSHBACK was obvious but passively aggressive, the class insipidly lame, the students poorly prepared (and clearly exhibiting those signs of academic fatigue by not asking questions in general, looking bored with the one or two who did try to engage in a class discussion and other stuff that made me feel embarrassed for them as well as me. But Okrent would have nothing to do with that.).

And after the lameness swept over me, I had this thought: This will never happen again. This instructor will not allow lameness to be infused in his class.

End of Introduction

File Photo: On assignment for a story.

For her journalistic work with New York Times Reporter Kirk Semple for “Suicides Soar Among New York Koreans,” Jang, who speaks and writes fluent Korean, and interns for New America Media, earned a Contributing Tag at the end of the story.

NYT news lead for the double suicide of Yongho and Soonhee Kim, February 25, 2008:

They had navigated the move from South Korea and opened a nail salon on Long Island, but by last winter, Yongho and Soonhee Kim were in debt and deeply unhappy. They were fighting a lawsuit over nonpayment of rent on the Long Beach salon and were months behind on rent payments for their apartment in Oakland Gardens, Queens. The bank had repossessed their car.

Courtesy The Korean Times

Soonhee, left, and Yongho Kim.

At dawn on Feb. 25, the couple left a note for their 20-year-old daughter outside their apartment door, doused themselves with gasoline and set themselves on fire, the police said. The blaze killed them and destroyed their home.

“They 100 percent lost hope,” said Mr. Kim’s brother-in-law, Chi Kun Park.

An earlier story was published/broadcast by NAM in July. NAM’s Odette Keely interviewed Jang about a piece that the Korean Times in NYC wrote about Korean suicides in America.

ACTION: Call on General Electric to renounce any corporate agreement to limit the expression of Countdown host Keith Olbermann and other MSNBC/NBC journalists.

CONTACT:
General Electric
Jeffrey Immelt
CEO
jeffrey.immelt@ge.com

But before you do anything read the whole FAIR piece here.