The censoring of the news a collaboration mostly with alternative media, political groups

Newspapers

While alternative news sources complain about government spying and secrecy and traditional news sources, who might be the most active in a form of censoring the news?

Mainstream newspapers evaluate what kind of stories consumers like, but they also have the responsibility to report the local news, which often means direct contact with sources.  Editors bear the responsibility of making sure assignments are given in reasonable fashion, involving the separate expertise of any given reporter, for a beat assignment.  And it is that reporter who examines and writes the news on that beat.  The specific orientation, or slant, of the story is supposed to be particularly on the parameters of what happened, as opposed to an editorial commentary.  There are other writers on staff who may offer opinions or editorials about news stories, however that is not the ordinary role of the beat reporter.  And the gate-keeping, in general, is the same for online city newspaper sites or print editions.

If the assignment involves something particularly tragic, several members of a staff may decide how to reveal names, dates and what details can be offered.  Often the main aspects of the story that are omitted are declarative statements that a person is guilty of something, even as arrests have been made, or the removal of a child's name or identity from a story.  For the most part, however, mainstream newspapers have a circulation that involves its local "audience" and whereas that audience may be dwindling with the advent of Internet and 24/7 Cable news, the fact is many people still maintain some allegiance to the town newspaper.

Alternative publications have more liberty to present different sides of a story, much of which can be helpful, but they also have the open territory for license, for stories that offer an agenda as opposed to a serious news story.  And to some extent there is also that degree of license to censor the news, to take out parts of a story that may not enhance one's point of view.  Newsmax.com offers an almost daily article about President Barack Obama, enhancing the negative point of view about his Presidency, along with polls that also foster the worst.  Alternative online newspapers are often the tabloid news of the digital world.

Bias may be in some ways part of all reporting, for the most fair and polished writer may still choose words that focus the reader in a certain direction more than another.  That form of censorship means the full story may not be provided but instead that part of the story that serves the purpose of the news outlet.

And many of these publications collaborate with political and social groups as well as businesses, because of financial relationships.  They may also be an arm of a political or government group, such as the publication, The Hill.    Advertising dollars from special interest groups can mean a good deal to a publication that wants to grow and maintain its staff and pay these people well.

So as censorship and all its ramifications is studied by the media and the culture, and folks debate over how much censorship should be done with respect to topics involving the government, it's clear that bias is part of the blogo-sphere, perhaps more than anywhere and involve those who most denigrate traditional reporters whose ethics offer at least some level of restraint.

Is your online local newspaper really local?

[caption id="attachment_20223" align="alignleft" width="300"] McMinnville's Yamhill Valley News-Register, an authentic, local newspaper with real local news[/caption]

Carol Forsloff---While folks complain that American jobs are being taken by people from other countries, it might be interesting to note that it isn't just call centers and travel operations but local newspapers as well.

Most newspapers, like the Yamhill Valley News-Register, take pride in offering local folks the news they want to hear most, and that's about their friends and neighbors, local politics and important news they can use as well.  They look for who got married or engaged, who recently died, who was promoted and the scores of the latest football game.  Good local newspapers offer people information on what is going on around them that they might not know from their own observations or experiences, as they relate the local history that becomes part of the archives of the town.

The Yamhill Valley News-Register has been part of McMinnville since 1866, a family operation that is handed down from one generation to the next.  That born-and-bred consciousness means news that is made real by people who live in the town and care about it.  These are some of the headlines:  "Planners reject Amity winery application", "Grande Ronde Tribal Council welcomes two newcomers," and "More than 16,000 start public schools "

Online newspapers can be just as legitimate and just as local as any other, and many that have centralized operations really do rely on local writers in a town to produce news about local events.    And folks don't need to be professional journalists but simply good writers who care about their towns and can manage the time to do the kind of work a local newspaper would produce, specific to an event or activity that is observed and reported first hand.  One of those organizations is Patch that has writers from all over the United States who contribute local news from their areas.

But what about some of the online newspapers that purport to be local as well?

Mrufreesboro News Wire is one of those daily newspapers that reflects material that is largely advertising, information that is generic and shared across a number of newspapers in a cut-and-paste operation, with some folks legitimately writing that information and others cutting and pasting and deciding what stays and what goes.  And some of these individuals are from countries in regions many Americans might question because of international political concerns.

What are some of the stories?  They include information in articles about making a future and success with a fences land company (not in a Michigan town  the paper is supposed to cover by its representative headline),  or mountain biking challenging both the mental and the physical.  Any local news about the latest business in town, an interview with the head of the Chamber of Commerce about preparations for the upcoming holidays or the sheriff about an auto accident just outside of town?  Hardly a glimpse of the local scene.  What most of these newspapers have instead are the canned articles cut and pasted across a wide number of them, containing mostly advertorials and announcements of local events that can be gleaned from the website of most small towns and cities.  Similar online "local" news sources areircnewsonline.com, elkolocalnews.com, and beckleylocalnews.com

Most newspapers, online and in print, include advertorials, which are articles of information that are sponsored by related businesses or organizations who pay for this form of advertising that benefits both the newspaper and the advertiser, as it is often a less expensive way to keep a newspaper in business.  But what if the local people knew the cut-and-paste operation was the bulk of the content and the editor someone from Pakistan, India or Libya?

So next time you read the local online newspaper, especially if you pay a subscription fee, which most of these newspapers don't use, read through the articles carefully and sort the links, the names of the writers and observe whether most of the content is about your local town or city or some generic article simply sandwiched into something that looks like a newspaper but doesn't mirror the content of the local press.