Journalism

Two witnesses in an investigation by Northwestern University journalism students said they were paid in the hopes that they would help free a convicted murderer, prosecutors alleged in court filings. Tony Drakes and Michael Lane told state's attorney investigators that they were given money in an attempt to help free Anthony McKinney, convicted of slaying a guard in 1982, prosecutors said. Professor David Protess of the university's Medill School of Journalism called the latest filing by the state "so filled with factual errors that if my students had done this kind of reporting or investigating, I would have given them an F."

You knew the likes of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow would respond with fury when Rep. Joe Wilson shouted "You lie!" during President Obama's health address to Congress. But it seemed a bit more unusual when the cable station's news anchors eagerly joined the attacks on the Republican from South Carolina. "You look at the image of the Republican Party, all white males with short haircuts," newsman David Shuster huffed. "They look sort of angry. No women, no minorities, and it looks like they've sort of become unhinged."

Doug Ring, a prominent Los Angeles developer and attorney, was found dead Thursday at his home in Brentwood, authorities said. Ring, 65, was a familiar face in local government, serving on various L.A. city committees over the last two decades. He also was a noted philanthropist, serving as executive director of USC's Selden Ring Award, a prestigious investigative journalism award. It was named after his father, a well-known L.A. developer. Ring was married to former L.A. City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski.

Fox News Channel's conservative commentator Sean Hannity has acknowledged to his viewers that he aired video of a Sept. 12 rally that drew tens of thousands of conservative activists during a report on a Capitol protest last week that drew a much more modest crowd. "We screwed up," Hannity said on his program Wednesday -- after Comedy Central's Jon Stewart on his show called out Fox for mixing images from the two rallies. Hannity's report concerned a rally held outside the Capitol last week before a major House vote on healthcare.

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued "at least 935 false statements" about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years after the 2001 terrorist attacks. The study concluded the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses." The study was posted at www.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/ by the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism.

A state senator wants to protect high school and college journalism teachers from administrators angered by stories written by students. Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) cites at least eight incidents in which journalism advisors in California have been fired or reassigned because of something written by student reporters. He announced the bill Friday during the National College Newspaper Convention in San Francisco. Under the legislation, administrators could not retaliate against journalism teachers who try to protect their students' right to free speech.

Upping the ante in the fight between the press and the courts over confidential sources, a judge here has imposed daily fines on a former reporter for USA Today that could quickly bankrupt her unless she reveals all of her sources at the Justice Department and the FBI. Toni Locy, who now teaches journalism at West Virginia University, faces a $500 daily fine beginning at midnight. Next week, the fines will go up to $1,000 per day, then to $5,000 a day the week after.

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said Monday that he supported federal legislation to protect journalists' confidential sources -- a position that puts him at odds with the Bush administration, which contends that the legislation threatens national security.

Aaron Brown, the former CNN anchor who found cable TV an awkward fit, is joining PBS' "Wide Angle" series and ending his on-air absence of more than two years. The new season begins July 1. Anchoring "Wide Angle," a weekly public affairs series with a global focus, offers the chance "to work in an environment where people just think about making good TV and good journalism," Brown said. Brown, 59, who left CNN in November 2005 during a shake-up that gave his time slot to rising star Anderson Cooper, said he was contractually barred from working in TV until last June.

If Vanity Fair's current takedown of former President Clinton is any measure, a new standard of campaign journalism has taken root: We will now learn not just about politicians who have affairs. We will learn about politicians whose associates are afraid they might be having affairs. That's the foundation of a good part of a lengthy Bill Clinton profile featured in the July issue of the glossy celebrity-centric magazine, which is due to hit newsstands today.