Article on Russia in The New Yorker

[Peter Scotto]

I just want to say that almost every time I have been personally 
involved in an event, subsequent journalistic accounts were, almost 
invariably, factually inaccurate.

Peter Scotto
Mount Holyoke College

Quoting "Novak, Susan S" <novaks at KU.EDU>:

> Regarding yesterday's comments about The New Yorker article: As a 
> journalism instructor, I am truly concerned that the facts in that 
> article are wrong; when one reporter fails, it misleads and 
> misinforms the public. It also immediately reflects badly on all 
> journalists. But as for what we are teaching in the classroom? We ARE 
> teaching as much research and analysis as we can. We’re teaching the 
> students how to distinguish between good and bad sources and how to 
> critique the materials they find and how to report them as 
> objectively as they possibly can. We’re also trying to catch them up 
> on the grammar and punctuation that our state’s K-12 standards have 
> eliminated in an effort to keep afloat in the ongoing “No Child Left 
> Behind” fiasco. We’re teaching them ethics and law, and as we teach 
> First Amendment we’re learning that more and more students have 
> formed the opinion that the government should play a greater role in 
> controlling and censoring what we publish—a mighty mountain indeed 
> for teachers of the Fourth Estate to conquer.
>
> But still we’re doing our best to make good reporters and writers of 
> them. Do our lessons stick? Probably no more than a lot of the 
> lessons Slavicists teach their students. Should media editors be 
> sharper and more critical of what comes across their desks? 
> Obviously--everyone can do better. You’ll never hear journalism 
> instructors defending sloppy journalism. And yes, by all means, if 
> you as consumers see gross errors, write to the editors of The New 
> Yorker, or the New York Times, or even the weekly Podunk Prattler. 
> Let them know so they can be on the lookout for these poor writers 
> and for similar factual mistakes in the future. The good publications 
> take these errors seriously, but they can’t address the problems if 
> no one points them out.
>
> But I also think that equally poor research and analysis on the part 
> of the public leads folks to conclude that all journalism schools, 
> all journalists, all media have failed. I’m trying to teach my 
> students the right way, and as I personally conduct research about 
> Russian journalists and journalism, I am trying to be as careful and 
> critical as possible so that my work will provide a useful and 
> accurate contribution to both fields.
>
> I think the idea about a cross-disciplinary “training” class is an 
> excellent one, and I have forwarded that e-mail to those in my arena 
> who make the administrative and financial decisions. Instead of 
> finger-pointing in regard to each other’s deficiencies, I think we 
> will accomplish much more for the students and for our respective 
> fields if we work together to solve these types of problems.
>
>
> Susan S. Novak
> Coordinator, Bremner Editing Center
> William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications
> University of Kansas
> 110 Stauffer-Flint Hall
> 1435 Jayhawk Blvd.
> Lawrence, KS 66045-7575
> (785) 864-7623
> novaks at ku.edu
>
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