Tag Archives: television

November 15, 2013 · 12:38 pm

Preserving video news (before it’s too late)

By Christopher B. Daly

Three cheers for WGBH-Tv in Boston and the Library of Congress, which are teaming up to preserve a significant trove of television news footage from public TV. According to the Boston Globe, the project will also result in digitizing the material and putting it online, where everyone will have access.

In researching my book, Covering America, on the history of journalism in America, I found the most difficult kind of historical material to get hold of was radio and television. In general, broadcasters have done a terrible job of preserving their original news programs (and you can just about forget about transcripts), and they are terribly ephemeral. If something is not done, a big chunk of US history will just be lost.

Thanks to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for under-writing all this.

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July 11, 2013 · 11:34 am

Let cameras into court

By Christopher B. Daly 

As I recently argued, we the people deserve to have cameras in all our courtrooms (except maybe juvenile court) and our legislative bodies.

The latest case in point: the appearance in U.S. District Court in Boston yesterday by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing case. Radiating out from downtown Boston, millions of people have a keen interest in this case, and they all have a right to see this defendant. We have a right to hear him say “Not guilty.” We have a right to observe the performance of the government parties — the prosecutors, the judge, the guards, etc. We have the right to watch our government.

Instead, what we get is a chalk sketch like this one:

Suspected terrorist Margaret Small/AP

Suspected terrorist
Margaret Small/AP

We can do better, and we the people deserve better. 

If anybody knows of a good argument for continuing to ban cameras from federal courts, please leave a comment.

 

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Filed under Boston, broadcasting, journalism history, media, Photojournalism, Supreme Court

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March 6, 2013 · 11:54 am

Shameless self-promotion (Journalism history division)

By Christopher B. Daly

Finally, it’s here: the electronic version of my book about the history of U.S. journalism, Covering America.

Just in time for the anniversary of the rollout of the hardback, this prize-winning book is now available in all major formats:

Nook,

Kindle,

Apple iBook, (This is the format I am checking it out on, and it looks great.)

Google Play,

you name it.

I am very pleased because I know that some folks have been waiting for the e-book. These formats make the book quite a bit cheaper and dramatically lighter! For people who don’t feel drawn to the ~$50 hardcover, here’s your chance to read Covering America. The book won the 2012 Prose Award for Media and Cultural Studies, and it has been selling well and drawing rave reviews (except for one stinker on Amazon — sheesh).

Enjoy it, and write to me about your reactions. You can comment here, or email me: chrisdaly44@gmail.com

CA cover final

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed under broadcasting, CNN, Covering America, David Halberstam, FCC, First Amendment, Fox News, history, Huffington Post, Journalism, journalism history, leaks, Murdoch scandal, New York Times, NPR, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics, publishing, Supreme Court, The New Yorker

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