Friday, January 6, 2006
Is life still private on the Internet?
By Elizabeth-Weill Greenberg
Houston Voice
Published: 1/06/06
Excerpt:
“There is a fair amount of complexity and nuance” when reporting on
private lives, said Kelly McBride, an ethicist at the Poynter
Institute, a media think-tank in St. Petersburg, Fla. “Newspapers
should be as precise about the indiscretions as possible.”
Jim West, the mayor of Spokane, Wash., was forced from office in a
recall vote last year after newspaper coverage about his private life
that was clearly appropriate, McBride said.
In the case of West, McBride said, “it was this abuse of power.”“The man lived outrightly as heterosexual, legislated against gay
friendly causes,” she said. “I don’t think there’s any question that
this was newsworthy. It’s in the public interest to know how he was
using his power...”
“If I had signs on the street saying, yeah I’m a prostitute and a
week later I’m a White House spokesperson … I think it was relevant,”
Michael Signorile, a gay journalist based in New York, said. “It was about his credibility, his background, his
security clearance.”
McBride agreed, saying that Gannon was “operating as a mouthpiece for a GOP website.”
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