The Longbow Papers

Cable TV, talk radio forced papers to cover swift boat flap?
Editor & Publisher
"I'm not sure that in an era of no-cable television we would even have looked into it," says New York Times deputy national editor Alison Mitchell. Chicago Tribune managing editor James O'Shea tells Joe Strupp the swift boat controversy may be an instance of a growing problem for newspapers in the expanding media world -- being forced to follow a questionable story because non-print outlets have made it an issue. "There are too many places for people to get information," says O'Shea. "I don't think newspapers can be the gatekeepers anymore -- to say this is wrong and we will ignore it. Now we have to say this is wrong, and here is why."
> Stanley: Kerry flap shows how confusing TV news coverage can be (NYT)
> Jacoby: Press pursues GWB's Guard records, passes on Kerry's history (BG)
> Tomasky: Why did WP devote 2,700 words to swift boat saga? (AmerPros)