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AZ Radio IMC
15:21 minute audio of PBS NewsHour-Clarence Page speaking of Who Is A Journalist plus Ombuds men of N.Y.Times & Washington Post speaks of State Of Journalism.
June 8, 2005
* OMBUDSMEN REFLECT ON THE STATE OF THE NEWS MEDIA
From the Jayson Blair fabrication incident that shook The New York Times in 2003 to the retraction by Newsweek magazine of an item about the desecration of the Quran last month, major news organizations have come under fire for their reporting in recent years.
Daniel Okrent and Michael Getler have observed and commented on these controversies as ombudsmen for two of the nation's leading newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, respectively.
Okrent, who served as the Times' first ever public editor for the last 18 months, stepped down in late May. Getler, who has been the Post's ombudsman for the last five years, plans to leave in the fall.
Tonight, NewsHour media correspondent Terence Smith speaks with Okrent and Getler about the public's view of the press today, the performance of the news media and some of the most controversial issues that their papers confronted during their tenure as ombudsmen.