A slow-acting wound? | You CAN Make This Stuff Up
COMMENTARY
A Wall Street Journal editorial page column last week said George Wallace was shot dead while campaigning for President. A correction was issued soon enough, but John Branston, a Memphis writer and longtime WSJ reader, is mystified by the error.

The news industry | Can the media and the bar get too close for ethical comfort?
COMMENTARY
Dan Rather’s suit against CBS is unusual in that his law firm is one of more than 200 that have agreed not to sue news media groups or individuals for libel. Such a policy, write Randall Bezanson and Gilbert Cranberg, is highly questionable. Rather’s lawyers got around it by not couching the suit in terms of libel. But what about the policy itself?

'Monetizing content' | These news stories brought to you by…
COMMENTARY
The Memphis Commercial Appeal ran items that were identified as being sponsored by a local firm. Then apparent resistance in the newsroom helped block an attempt to run sponsored stories on a larger scale.

Letter from Austin | Young men looking cool in Dallas, their pants around their knees
COMMENTARY
Sagging trousers, a style also known as “Jailin’” are called disrespectful, disgusting, dishonorable and a safety hazard, and there’s a proposal to fine people who wear them. Dave McNeely says belts and suspenders would be a beautification effort, and recalls trying to look cool himself, in an earlier day. (Dyed his hair black after getting Elvis’s autograph.)

Life-changing effects | Brain injuries: something soldiers and athletes have in common
COMMENTARY
Soldiers may not be able to avoid traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Athletes can but too often won’t because their response to a concussion is to get back on the field as soon as they are able. The press, especially the regional press, can help alert youngsters to the dangers and consequences of TBI.

Think tanks and telecoms | ‘Kushnick sees conspiracy where we see collaboration’
COMMENTARY
Matt Bennett, executive director of the New Millenium Research Council, requested equal space to respond to Bruce Kushnick’s commentary, “Corporate-funded research designed to influence public policy.” Here is Mr. Bennett’s response.

The think-tank smell test | Corporate-funded research designed to influence public policy
COMMENTARY
Reports by well-known think tanks and individuals funded by telecoms are helping quash competition, increase phone rates and set up a corporate-oriented Internet system. Is there any reason to trust these reports? Or to trust experts who testify before regulators without revealing the sources of their funding?

Mintz’s mass media proposition | Needed: better reporting on how problems are dealt with elsewhere
COMMENTARY
In coverage of many problem areas, not just health-care plans, reporters would do well to go beyond local, state or national boundaries to compare practices and find systems that work and could be replicated. Morton Mintz wrote about this in the 70s, and wonders why such reporting still seems taboo. (Last of three articles.)

Business as usual | Tracking the misconduct of federal contractors
COMMENTARY
Over a 12-year period, 43 of the top 50 federal contractors paid almost $13 billion for civil, criminal and administrative violations. In one case -- Boeing -- three units were suspended for 20 months but got contracts during that period anyway. The watchdog group POGO has a 'contractor misconduct database' listing such misconduct that's useful for reporters as well as for the government.

The old ‘socialized medicine’ bugaboo | The press needs to tell us more about Canada’s single-payer health-care system
COMMENTARY
International data have long been easily available; they show Americans spending more but slipping in rankings for life expectancy and other key health issues. But few news organizations pay attention -- not even to our nearest neighbor -- and commentators deluge the public with false, misleading punditry. (Second of three articles)

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