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Oscar and Benigni in
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Softball wins three of four
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(Bottom) Los Angeles Times media critic Howard Rosenberg commented on sensationalism in
local television news reports at the Ethics in Media seminar. Warren Olney ofKCRWs ‘Which
Way L.A.” gave his thoughts on broadcast news as well (top).
Media
Industry's
Ethics
Examined
■ Reporting : Seminar fea¬
tures panel of LA Press Club
members and Independent
Counsel Donald Smaltz.
by Sean Chavel
Asst. News Editor
The second annual Ethics in Media
seminar, co-sponsored by LMU and the
Greater Los Angeles Press Club, was held
Saturday, March 20 in Murphy Recital
Hall. It was coordinated by veteran NBC
news executive Pete Noyes and hosted by
‘Which Way L.A.” The ambivalence of
journalistic ethics and the responsibilities
of local news to serve quality news were
among the topics of discussion.
“The point of this forum is to allow stu¬
dents, as well as professionals, to talk
about their day-to-day ethical problems
they deal with in their profession. What
we hope this will do for students is give
them a realistic outlook about the work in
[today’s] world,” said Dean of the College
of Communication and Fine Arts, Tom
Kelly.
The first panel included Jerry
Nachman, former editor in chief of the
New York Post and co-host of KCET’s
“Life and Times;” Charles Rappleye,
senior news editor of L.A. Weekly; Donald
Smaltz, Independent Counsel by the
Special Division of U.S. Court of Appeals
(a profession he shares with Ken Starr);
and Noyes. The panel began with discus-
sions of Starr’s report of the
Clinton/Lewinsky entanglement.
“As an independent counsel, investiga¬
tive pursuits are made in a veil of secrecy,”
said Smaltz. Surprisingly, the Ken Starr
report was leaked to the public, “blowing
up a secret investigation into a media fias¬
co,” he said.
In the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, the
attorneys, or
the office of Kenneth Starr could each
have been the source of leaked informa¬
tion that led to a national scandal. “The
denial of all three [sources] could have
meant that somebody was lying. How fre¬
quently do newspapers or networks run a
story that is a denial they know to be a
lie?” said Nachman.
The implication made by Smaltz is
that someone wanted to leak the story in
order to slant certain information to his or
her advantage. “Certainly, impartiality is
a significant [trespass] in many of today’s
news stories,” said Smaltz.
Once the Clinton story did blow up to
national attention, Noyes noticed that, at
times, it received short contemplation, as
do many important news stories.
“Television panders to the lowest common
denominator. A local station, on the day
Clinton agreed to testify before a federal
grand jury, released a car chase that went
on for eighty minutes,” he said. Noyes
insinuated that headline stories are con¬
sistently superceded by hollow, superficial
high-speed chases.
According to Noyes, the blame can be
directed at managing editors and news
directors of newspapers and television
stations, because they have control over
what the public will digest.
When news, isn’t misdirected, it seems
to be rigged and controlled, Noyes com¬
mented. NBC’s “Dateline” was under crit¬
icism on the panel because of the infa¬
mous GM truck scandal. A GM truck was
rigged to burst into flames on
я
Nov. 2,
1997, airing of “Dateline” in order to prove
that they are unsafe vehicles. “Dateline”
is now on a prime-time one-hour slot, five
Media: page 4
Warren Olney of KCRW-^phfehe mdio^ -White Hpuste^Lewinsky’s
March 24, 1999
Volume 77, No. 23
For Old Blue Eyes
JAIME SOLANO
/
LOYOIAN
Nancy Sinatra accepted tfie Sedes Sapiente Medallion from University President Rev. Thomas P. O'Malley,
SJ., at the dedication of the LMU Opera Workshop in memory of her father, Frank Sinatra, on March 14.
CSJ. Community
Dedicates Room
by Sharon King
Staff Writer
The contributions to the cul¬
ture of LMU by the Sisters of St.
Joseph of Orange were recog¬
nized last Friday at a dedication
of the C.S.J. Conference Room.
The conference room serves to
recognize the influence of the sis¬
ters during their 30 year associa¬
tion with LMU.
Rev, John B. Weling, S.J.,
opened the dedication with
prayers and news from universi¬
ty president Rev. Thomas P.
O’Malley, S.J., and Sr. Nancy
O’Connor, C.S.J., the General
Superior of the Sisters of St.
Joseph of Orange. The confer¬
ence room is decorated with
beautiful artwork from the
Sisters of St. Joseph, with a new
picture added to the collection on
every dedication day.
The dedication was followed
by a luncheon and late afternoon
Sf* Joseph: page 4
