Congratulations to Laura Michaud for launching NO V.I.P. in Berlin, CT. She is doing a great job organizing opposition to a giant new Very Intimate Pleasures store attempting to set up in Berlin. The proposed store is less than 250 feet from homes, in clear violation of Berlin ordinance and common sense. V.I.P. general manager […]
Continue reading New Citizen Blog Fights Adult Enterprise in Berlin, CT
Mass media often confuse their interests with those of pornographers, says Catharine MacKinnon in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.3-24). This is unnecessary and unfortunate, and has the effect of impoverishing the debate about porn and discrediting those opposed to porn. Until the publication of [In Harm’s Way], the public discussion of […]
Continue reading Catharine MacKinnon: Mass Media Reflexively, Subtly Protect Pornographers
When violent incidents like the Columbine shootings occur, some in the media rush to deny a link between media and violence. On the other hand, producers make millions from product placement in movies, on the premise that the mere appearance of a product in a movie will affect viewer behavior. ProtectKids.com elaborates (PDF)… Film critic […]
Continue reading Link of Media to Violence Accepted, But Porn Has No Effect?
Melvin McLeod led this panel discussion on civility for Shambhala Sun (January 2005). The participants were: Patricia Schroeder: Member of the US House of Representatives from 1972 to 1996. She is now President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers. Mark Kingwell: Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and author of eight […]
Citizens for Community Values provides the following suggestion in The Power of One (PDF): …Clear Channel and Media One, which own 50% of all the billboards in America, have adopted a policy not to accept advertising from sexually oriented businesses. Many other billboard companies also take pride in such a policy. Citizens have been successful […]
David Pogue writes on technology for The New York Times, and we sure feel his pain in this post today… I’m OK with criticism, I’m fine with disagreement, I’m perfectly capable of handling angry mail… I’ve even accepted personal attacks as part of the job. I’m a columnist; the heat comes with the kitchen. But […]
Continue reading New York Times: “Whatever Happened to Online Etiquette?”
Twenty-two days after being asked the question, Andrew Shelffo has at last declared on his MassLive blog: “I’m not being paid by Capital Video.” We applaud Mr. Shelffo’s new found candor, if not his promptness in responding to a relevant citizen inquiry. The ethics of citizen journalism may be somewhat uncharted territory, but there are […]
Continue reading Andrew Shelffo Denies Being Paid by Capital Video
There is some disagreement in the Northampton blogosphere about the rules for citizen journalists. Bill Mitchell and Bob Steele suggest some guidelines in “Earn Your Own Trust, Roll Your Own Ethics: Transparency and Beyond” (2005). [Quoting blogger David Weinberger:] “We need professional journalists. But for most blogs, we want to know what the writer’s starting […]
Gary Hill is the Chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists. We asked him about what obligations citizen journalists like Andrew Shelffo have to disclose conflicts of interest. He wrote: I should state at the outset that I have no independent information about the situation you describe, so rather than respond […]
Continue reading Suggested Ethics Rules for Citizen Journalists
Andrew Shelffo is a resident of Northampton who has a blog on MassLive, The Prospect Perspective. Since July, Mr. Shelffo has been vigorously advancing many of Capital Video’s arguments and attacking our own. On November 8, NoPornNorthampton asked him if he was being compensated in any way by Capital Video or its affiliates. We were […]
Continue reading MassLive Blogger Andrew Shelffo Stonewalls on Conflict of Interest Question