Arab journalists walk out on Powell over US shootings
Arab journalists walked out of a news conference held by American Secretary of State Colin Powell Mar. 19 in protest against the shooting deaths of two Iraqi reporters by US troops. One Arab journalist stood up as soon as Powell walked into the room and read a statement saying that after one year of “US occupation,” Americans cannot provide security in Iraq. “We demand an open investigation in front of the mass media,” the Arab journalist said. “We also demand that security be guaranteed to journalists” working in Iraq, he said. Seconds later, more than 20 journalists walked out of the room.

A reporter for Arab satellite television station Al-Arabiya died from wounds Mar. 19 after US soldiers shot him hours earlier along with a cameraman, who died at the scene, the station said. The death brought to five the number of journalists killed in Iraq in less than 24 hours on Mar. 19. (Associated Press)

Homeland Security liaison to keep Hollywood in line

The Homeland Security Department has posted a job for a “liaison to the entertainment industry.’’ The salary could be as high as $136,000, plus benefits. The department is creating the job to make sure that dramatic portrayals of it are as accurate as possible, spokesman Dennis Murphy said Mar. 19.

In September, ABC debuted “Threat Matrix,’’ a one-hour TV show about a highly trained, specialized task force that works out of the Homeland Security Department and “fights the many faces of terror,’’ according to its promotional material. Homeland Security officials declined to comment on the show. In the last year, the department has been inundated with requests for help on motion pictures and documentaries, spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said.

Movies and TV shows could be recruiting tools for people considering a career in Homeland Security, she said. The CIA recently began airing recruitment ads starring Jennifer Garner, who plays a CIA agent in the ABC series “Alias.’’ (Associated Press)

Report sees bleak trend in US news media
Most US news media are experiencing a steady decline in their audiences and are significantly cutting their investment in staff and resources, according to a report issued on Mar. 15. The study on the state of the US news media by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which is affiliated with Columbia University’s graduate journalism school, found only ethnic, alternative and online media were flourishing.

Circulation of English-language daily newspapers has dropped 11 percent since 1990; network news ratings are down 34 percent since 1994; late night local TV news viewership fell 16 percent lower since 1997 and cable news viewership has been flat since late 2001.

The report cataloged a striking decline in the number of journalists employed in American newsrooms. There were one-third fewer network correspondents than in 1985; 2,200 fewer people at newspapers than in 1990; and the number of full-time radio newsroom employees fell by 44 percent from 1994 to 2001.

Only five percent of stories on cable news contained new information, the report found. Most were simply rehashes of the same facts. There was also less fact checking than in the past and less policing of journalistic standards. (Reuters)

No surprise that media briefing on Iraq costs was canceled
While President George W. Bush, his war cabinet, and their consultants are making the rounds this week in their current Iraq war anniversary blitz, pushing their message on the benefits of the conflict, a long-awaited media briefing by the army on the cost was canceled.

The elusive report is the product of a mental health advisory team dispatched to Iraq last summer at the request of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) commander general Ricardo Sanchez following a spike in US soldier suicides in July. The report covers only the period until the end of October and as a result is unlikely to contain any numeric bombshells that haven’t already been reported. It was to be released earlier this week but the so-called “media roundtable” was postponed once again.

Still, the number of suicides keep climbing, as the army dutifully updates journalists and other interested parties who call. To date, the Army reports 23 OIF soldiers killed themselves in Iraq and Kuwait in 2003, well above normal Army rates. That number rose very recently because two of five “non-combat” deaths that were under investigation have now been classified as suicides. Seven soldiers have also committed suicide back in the States. (Editor & Publisher Online)

Press repression in West condemned
Fear of terrorism, economic woes, and gag laws are threatening press freedoms across the Americas, the Inter American Press Association said Mar. 15. “The right of citizens to seek and disseminate information, to express their opinions and freely debate their agreements and disagreements is being restricted,” the IAPA, a continent-wide organization of newspapers, concluded in a report issued at the end of its midyear meeting.

According to the report, seven journalists have been killed in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru, “most of them for motives clearly connected to their profession,” since the organization’s last meeting, held in Chicago in October. “Investigative reporters and outspoken radio and television commentators continue to be the main targets,” the report also said.

The report noted that economic problems in the hemisphere further hamper the ability of the press to operate effectively. “Currency differences tend to make newsprint and other materials more expensive and some governments, including Argentina, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, have exacerbated the situation by levying taxes on the media or applying regulations that are costly to comply with,” the IAPA said. (Associated Press)