Replaying Saturday, July 30, 2005

Bad News

Date: 31 July 2005

By Richard A. Posner

Richard Posner

THE conventional news media are embattled. Attacked by both left and right in book after book, rocked by scandals, challenged by upstart bloggers, they have become a focus of controversy and concern. Their audience is in decline, their credibility with the public in shreds. In a recent poll conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, 65 percent of the respondents thought that most news organizations, if they discover they've made a mistake, try to ignore it or cover it up, and 79 percent opined that a media company would hesitate to carry negative stories about a corporation from which it received substantial advertising revenues. The industry's critics agree that the function of the news is to inform people about social, political, cultural, ethical and economic issues so that they can vote and otherwise express themselves as responsible citizens. They agree on the related point that journalism is a profession rather than just a trade and therefore that journalists and their employers must not allow profit considerations to dominate, but must acknowledge an ethical duty to report the news accurately, soberly, without bias, reserving the expression of political preferences for the editorial page and its radio and television counterparts. The critics further agree, as they must, that 30 years ago news reporting was dominated by newspapers and by television network news and that the audiences for these media have declined with the rise of competing sources, notably cable television and the Web.

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Murdoch Son Leaves News Corp., Tossing Succession Into Question

Date: 30 July 2005

By Richard Siklos

Richard Siklos

Rupert Murdoch's oldest son, Lachlan -- considered by many to be his heir apparent -- resigned yesterday from his job at the News Corporation amid apparent family discord, adding a new twist to one of the business world's most closely watched succession chronicles. The decision by Lachlan, 33, to step down leaves just one of Rupert Murdoch's four adult children, James, in an executive position at the company, making him the clear front-runner to one day succeed his father. James, 32, runs British Sky Broadcasting, the satellite television service that is 34 percent owned by the News Corporation. Rupert Murdoch, 74, the chairman and chief executive of the News Corporation, has made clear that he would like one of his children to succeed him.

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NEWS SUMMARY

Date: 30 July 2005

INTERNATIONAL A2-9 Four Tied to Failed Attacks In London Are in Custody All four people suspected in the failed July 21 bombing attacks in London were in custody after police raids in London and Rome, a Scotland Yard official said. A1 Irish React to I.R.A.'s Pledge After the Irish Republican Army's pledge to end its bloody 36-year campaign of violence, residents of Belfast say the announcement did not really change anything. A3 At a celebratory lunch in New York, one eminent speaker after another rose to rejoice in the news that the Irish Republican Army had abandoned violence, and they suggested Northern Ireland could prove an example to the world. A3 Sexual Violence in Darfur Sexual violence by soldiers, militia members and the police is widespread throughout Sudan's Darfur region, and the authorities often end up accusing the victims rather than investigating the crimes, the United Nations said. A8 State Department Resignation Roger F. Noriega, an outspoken critic of both Cuba and Venezuela who has served as assistant secretary of state for Latin American affairs, announced his resignation. A8 Suicide Bomber Strikes in Iraq A suicide bomber blew himself up outside an army recruitment center in a village near the Syrian border, an official with the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. The official said the attack killed 26 people and wounded at least 30, although the figure was not confirmed. A9 Death for Chinese Rapist A teacher in Western China who raped 23 fourth- and fifth-grade girls has been sentenced to death, according to an account this week in a Chinese newspaper. A9 NATIONAL A10-13 Congress Begins Recess After Aiding Gun Industry The Senate agreed to shield gun manufacturers and dealers from liability lawsuits as Congress broke for a monthlong recess behind a rush of legislation led by energy and highway bills sent to President Bush after years of impasse. A1 The highway legislation is packed with more than $24 billion in special projects for individual states. A13 Food Union Leaves Federation The United Food and Commercial Workers, one of the nation's five largest labor unions, quit the A.F.L.-C.I.O. , becoming the third big union to leave the federation. A10 Conservatives Pounce on Frist Conservative Republicans, irate that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has broken with President Bush on the volatile issue of human embryonic stem cell research, warned that his support for the work could cost him the Republican nomination for the presidency, should he seek it. A11 SCIENCE/HEALTH Possible 10th Planet Revealed Add a tenth planet to the solar system -- or possibly subtract one. Astronomers announced that they had found a lump of rock and ice that was larger than Pluto and the farthest known object in the solar system. The discovery will probably rekindle debate whether Pluto still merits the ''planet'' designation. A1 NASA Deems Problems Fixable NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin said problems with falling debris from the space shuttle's fuel tank would be quickly solved, but conceded that NASA engineers and managers erred in deciding not to modify the area of the fuel tank. A10 Beliefs A13 NEW YORK/REGION B1-5 Few Ripples Result From Random Searches The New York Police Department has randomly searched the bags of several thousand commuters in more than 400 subway stations. The fallout from this unprecedented, systematic search: One arrest for possession of illegal fireworks, zero legal challenges and, according to the police and transit officials, minimal resistance. B1 Connecticut Crash Kills 4 Four people were killed and more than a dozen were injured when a dump truck collided with a car at a busy intersection in Avon, Conn., setting off a chain of fiery collisions. B3 Drowning Death Inquiry Yonkers Police were trying to determine whether two young boys had been intentionally scalded and drowned, or if the parents had been criminally negligent. The apartment was in disarray, and there was evidence of drug use, the Yonkers' police commissioner said. B3 SPORTSSATURDAY D1-7 Woods Shoots 61 at Buick Open Tiger Woods shot an 11-under-par 61 -- his best round in relation to par on the PGA Tour -- to trail the leader, Vijay Singh, by one stroke halfway through the Buick Open. D1 ARTS B7-18 OBITUARIES C16 Arthur Zankel A financier who oversaw the Carnegie Hall endowment fund and made a $10 million donation that led to the construction of a new concert space there named for him, he was 73. C16 BUSINESS DAY C1-13 Family Rift at News Corp. Rupert Murdoch's elder son Lachlan, considered to be his heir apparent, resigned from his job at News Corporation after an apparent family rift. A1 High Spending Spurs Growth Businesses and households went on a shopping spree this spring, causing warehouse stockpiles to shrink and setting the stage for faster economic growth during the rest of the year. C1 Congress Passes Saftey Bill A transportation bill passed by Congress orders the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to impose a number of more stringent vehicle safety measures. C1 G.E. May Buy DreamWorks The board of directors of General Electric gave executives the authority to move ahead with talks to buy DreamWorks SKG, people apprised of the talks said. C3 Business Digest C2 EDITORIAL A14-15 Editorials: The roots of prisoner abuse; Senator Frist's stem cell shift; behind the famine footage; a windfall of the M.T.A. Columns: John Tierney. Bridge B16 TV Listings B18 Crossword B16 Weather D8

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With Ease, 3 Nominees Win Seats on S.E.C.

Date: 30 July 2005

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

Representative Christopher Cox, Republican of California, won Senate confirmation as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission after avoiding a fight over his pro-business record by pledging to be a strong regulator. The Senate approved Mr. Cox, 52, by unanimous consent as the nation's top market regulator. Senators also confirmed the nominations of Roel C. Campos and Annette L. Nazareth to the two Democratic seats on the five-member board.

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Small Outlets Find Local News Irresistible

Date: 31 July 2005

By Sana Siwolop

Sana Siwolop

STARTING last year, the Gannett Company began suspending publication of the first of four of its six local news weekly supplements to The Journal News; the last one was finished off in the spring. That decision provided fresh evidence of just how perilous the business of publishing or posting local news remains in Westchester. Profit margins are slim, small businesses reluctant to advertise and resource-strapped publishers often overwhelmed by the breadth and detail of the news on their doorstep: everything from development disputes and property tax fights, to high school athletic games, local crime statistics, Fourth of July parades and rabid-raccoon sightings.

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NEWS SUMMARY

Date: 31 July 2005

INTERNATIONAL 3-16 Uzbek Orders U.S. Off Base Uzbekistan formally ordered the United States to leave an airbase that has been a hub for United States operations in Afghanistan in an abrupt protest over a secret United Nations operation to spirit Uzbek refugees out of the region, a State Department official said. 1 Skeptics of I.R.A.'s Pledge The Protestant paramilitary groups who were the I.R.A.'s foes for four decades say they will wait and see if the I.R.A. upholds its promise to disarm before they make any similar gestures toward peace. 3 Iran Leader Plans U.N. Visit Iran's incoming president is planning to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, despite investigations by the United States on whether he took part in the 1979 attack on the United States Embassy in Tehran. 4 6-Nation Nuclear Talks The United States and North Korea held another private session to try to narrow their differences, while all six of the nations participate in the North Korean nuclear talks considering a draft joint statement circulated by China. 8 Allies' Early Holocaust Clues A United States government analysis suggests that while the evidence of the Holocaust was incomplete, details from coded Nazi messages that Britain intercepted beginning in 1941 could have confirmed the German genocide well before mid-1944. 6 More on London Bomb Plots Britain continues to press for one of the four suspected bombers in the failed London attacks who was captured in Rome to be returned for interrogation. That suspect confessed to investigators to carrying a bomb through London's subway but claimed it was meant as a ''demonstration'' rather than to kill, said a person with knowledge of his interrogation. 16 NATIONAL 18-23 Roberts and Rehnquist Decades ago John G. Roberts went to work for William H. Rehnquist, and now he stands poised to become the first Supreme Court clerk in American history to sit on the bench alongside the justice he served. His 13 months in Justice Rehnquist's chambers spanned the period of the 1980 election and the dawn of the Reagan revolution in Washington. 1 State Confronts Racist Past Five decades after Prince Edward County, Va., and other locales shut their public schools in support of segregation, the State of Virginia is making a rare effort to confront its racist past, in effect apologizing and offering reparations in the form of college scholarships. 1 Army Recruits in the Pacific From Pago Pago in American Samoa to Yap in Micronesia, 4,000 miles to the west, Army recruiters are scouring the Pacific, looking for high school graduates to enlist at a time when the Iraq war is turning off many candidates in the States. The Army has found fertile ground in the poverty pockets of the Pacific. 18 Bush 'Fit for Duty' President Bush has purposely lost eight pounds since his last medical checkup and his doctors said after his annual physical examination that he was ''in excellent health.'' They also said Mr. Bush, who exercises six times a week, was ''fit for duty'' and expected to remain so for the rest of his term. 18 SCIENCE/HEALTH Shuttle Planning Is Questioned NASA's contention that it had produced the safest fuel tank in shuttle history was shattered two minutes into the flight of the Discovery. An examination of the efforts to resolve issues reveals missed opportunities and questionable judgments over the life of the shuttle program. 1 OBITUARIES 31-32 NEW YORK/REGION 25-30 Stem Cell Progress Delayed Fourteen months after a state law authorized what was to be the nation's first state-supported stem research facility, groundbreaking for the New Jersey Stem Cell Research Institute has been postponed. 25

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Interest Is Now Turning Toward Younger Murdoch

Date: 30 July 2005

By Heather Timmons

Heather Timmons

Now that Lachlan K. Murdoch has stepped down from the News Corporation, the spotlight is turning toward his younger brother James, chief executive of the pay-television company, British Sky Broadcasting. But James Murdoch, 32, is not going to take a top management spot at the media empire his father built any time soon. James is expected to tell BSkyB's shareholders at a meeting Wednesday that he is committed to running that company for the long-term.

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What We Talk About When We Talk About Editing

Date: 31 July 2005

By David Shipley

David Shipley

IN February 2004, I published an essay in this space describing life at the Op-Ed page. While the article touched on the main facets of our operation high up in the Times building, it focused largely on the submission and selection process. But deciding what runs in Op-Ed is only part of what we do. We also edit the articles that appear in this space.

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Longing for a Cuss-Free Zone

Date: 31 July 2005

By Michael Brick

Michael Brick

ACROSS the land, word-bombs are falling. In May a New York television reporter who apparently thought he was off the air lit into two men who had intruded on his shot, broadcasting a word-bomb to the five boroughs.

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A Murdoch son quits media empire

Date: 30 July 2005

By Richard Siklos

Richard Siklos

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