Yahoo - Editorial Integrity Questioned
Friday, September 16, 2005
Yahoo Moves Into the Hot Zone
[Print story] [E-mail story] [Rants + Raves] [Reprint story]
Page 1 of 1
By Kim Zetter | Also by this reporter
02:00 AM Sep. 16, 2005 PT
Yahoo's latest online news project is called "The Hot Zone" and is billed as a much-needed look at war-torn regions that have drawn scant mainstream media coverage. But the title could just as easily describe the trouble the media giant could encounter as it ventures for the first time into original news reporting.
* See also
* Yahoo Gives Up Reporter's E-Mail
* Yahoo Overhauling Free E-Mail
* Flickr Fans to Yahoo: Flick Off!
* Discover more Net Culture
* Today's Top 5 Stories
* Hands On With the Revolution
* Yahoo Moves Into the Hot Zone
* China Mulls 'Gang of 15 Million'
* Tech Sniffs Out Bad Meat
* This TV Is Strictly for the Nerds
* Wired News RSS Feeds
* Breaking News
* Bush gives Iran-EU atomic talks new life -- Iran
* China draft raises hopes at North Korea talks
* Car bomb kills 9 near Shi'ite mosque north of Baghdad
* Gunmen kill Iraqi workers, government official
* Tropical Storm Ophelia crawls toward New England
* More Breaking News
* Wire Service Photo Gallery
Special Partner Promotion
Find local technology jobs.
Web portals have traditionally played the role of news aggregators, publishing the work of others but doing little or no original reporting on their own. Now Yahoo is crossing over with a new project to be created by news veteran Kevin Sites, who will visit dozens of war zones around the globe and file video and other reports online. Sites gained notoriety last year when NBC aired controversial footage he filmed in Iraq showing a Marine killing an apparently wounded and unarmed Iraqi prisoner in a mosque.
Yahoo has yet to publish a single report from Sites, but already some media watchdogs are wondering about Yahoo's journalistic integrity, citing recent revelations that it helped Chinese authorities jail a journalist last year.
This revelation, and the fact that Yahoo previously censored its Chinese-language search engine to appease Chinese authorities, raises questions about the portal's ability to deliver transparent and objective news if it fails to protect the first amendment ideals journalists uphold, these people say.
"As Yahoo appears to be evolving in that direction (toward news gathering), it's something we'll likely have to address," said Abi Wright, Asia program director for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Last week Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based organization that monitors human rights and press freedom, revealed that Yahoo's Hong Kong division helped Chinese authorities track journalist Shi Tao, who sent an e-mail through his Yahoo account allegedly containing state secrets.
The e-mail contained a warning the Chinese government gave officials and the media that pro-democracy dissidents might return to China to agitate trouble on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square uprising.
Shi, believing it wasn't secret, mailed the information to a pro-democracy group in New York, which published it on its news site. Yahoo's Hong Kong division helped authorities track the e-mail to Shi's work computer, and in April he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets abroad.
Reporters Without Borders accused Yahoo of currying favor with the Chinese government. Yahoo and other companies have sought a foothold in China's lucrative internet market and have made concessions to get it. Yahoo signed China's voluntary pledge of "self-discipline" that, among other things, asks internet companies to refrain from producing or posting "pernicious information" that could jeopardize state security and disrupt social stability. The company also put blocks on its Chinese-language search engine to prevent users from accessing pro-democracy sites. Last month the company achieved its foothold when it purchased a 40 percent share in one of China's largest internet companies.
But Yahoo said it wasn't currying favor when it helped track the journalist, it was complying with Chinese law.
"Just like any other global company, Yahoo must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based," the company said in a statement.
While critics like Wright acknowledge that Yahoo, as an ISP, would also have to cooperate with authorities in the United States under a court order, the issue gets cloudy as the portal ventures into journalism.
If authorities in the United States or elsewhere sought access to a Yahoo reporter's e-mail, the company would have to decide if it was going to act like an ISP or a news agency. And things would get trickier if the ISP side of Yahoo were to give authorities access to e-mail belonging to another news organization's reporter while the journalism side protected its own reporter's correspondence.
Tom Regan, executive director of the Online News Association, said the conflict between the business and news sides of media isn't novel. But the addition of an ISP, which controls e-mail, to the mix is a new wrinkle the industry hasn't pondered.
Of course, even traditional media companies don't always make decisions that side with journalists. Aly Colón, who teaches journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute in Florida, points to Time magazine's controversial decision to hand its reporter's notes to Justice Department officials investigating the Valerie Plame leak.
"These decisions are not black and white, and they're not easy to make," Colón said.
Sites' Yahoo page vows that his reporting will adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists' ethics code. Journalists upholding the code seek to report the truth, give voice to the voiceless and be "free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know."
Robert Padavick, a veteran TV producer working with Sites, said Yahoo fully supports their effort to produce transparent journalism. He couldn't say, however, how the company might handle journalism issues outside of Sites' coverage.
End of story
[Print story] [E-mail story] [Rants + Raves] [Reprint story]
Page 1 of 1
By Kim Zetter | Also by this reporter
02:00 AM Sep. 16, 2005 PT
Yahoo's latest online news project is called "The Hot Zone" and is billed as a much-needed look at war-torn regions that have drawn scant mainstream media coverage. But the title could just as easily describe the trouble the media giant could encounter as it ventures for the first time into original news reporting.
* See also
* Yahoo Gives Up Reporter's E-Mail
* Yahoo Overhauling Free E-Mail
* Flickr Fans to Yahoo: Flick Off!
* Discover more Net Culture
* Today's Top 5 Stories
* Hands On With the Revolution
* Yahoo Moves Into the Hot Zone
* China Mulls 'Gang of 15 Million'
* Tech Sniffs Out Bad Meat
* This TV Is Strictly for the Nerds
* Wired News RSS Feeds
* Breaking News
* Bush gives Iran-EU atomic talks new life -- Iran
* China draft raises hopes at North Korea talks
* Car bomb kills 9 near Shi'ite mosque north of Baghdad
* Gunmen kill Iraqi workers, government official
* Tropical Storm Ophelia crawls toward New England
* More Breaking News
* Wire Service Photo Gallery
Special Partner Promotion
Find local technology jobs.
Web portals have traditionally played the role of news aggregators, publishing the work of others but doing little or no original reporting on their own. Now Yahoo is crossing over with a new project to be created by news veteran Kevin Sites, who will visit dozens of war zones around the globe and file video and other reports online. Sites gained notoriety last year when NBC aired controversial footage he filmed in Iraq showing a Marine killing an apparently wounded and unarmed Iraqi prisoner in a mosque.
Yahoo has yet to publish a single report from Sites, but already some media watchdogs are wondering about Yahoo's journalistic integrity, citing recent revelations that it helped Chinese authorities jail a journalist last year.
This revelation, and the fact that Yahoo previously censored its Chinese-language search engine to appease Chinese authorities, raises questions about the portal's ability to deliver transparent and objective news if it fails to protect the first amendment ideals journalists uphold, these people say.
"As Yahoo appears to be evolving in that direction (toward news gathering), it's something we'll likely have to address," said Abi Wright, Asia program director for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Last week Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based organization that monitors human rights and press freedom, revealed that Yahoo's Hong Kong division helped Chinese authorities track journalist Shi Tao, who sent an e-mail through his Yahoo account allegedly containing state secrets.
The e-mail contained a warning the Chinese government gave officials and the media that pro-democracy dissidents might return to China to agitate trouble on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square uprising.
Shi, believing it wasn't secret, mailed the information to a pro-democracy group in New York, which published it on its news site. Yahoo's Hong Kong division helped authorities track the e-mail to Shi's work computer, and in April he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets abroad.
Reporters Without Borders accused Yahoo of currying favor with the Chinese government. Yahoo and other companies have sought a foothold in China's lucrative internet market and have made concessions to get it. Yahoo signed China's voluntary pledge of "self-discipline" that, among other things, asks internet companies to refrain from producing or posting "pernicious information" that could jeopardize state security and disrupt social stability. The company also put blocks on its Chinese-language search engine to prevent users from accessing pro-democracy sites. Last month the company achieved its foothold when it purchased a 40 percent share in one of China's largest internet companies.
But Yahoo said it wasn't currying favor when it helped track the journalist, it was complying with Chinese law.
"Just like any other global company, Yahoo must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based," the company said in a statement.
While critics like Wright acknowledge that Yahoo, as an ISP, would also have to cooperate with authorities in the United States under a court order, the issue gets cloudy as the portal ventures into journalism.
If authorities in the United States or elsewhere sought access to a Yahoo reporter's e-mail, the company would have to decide if it was going to act like an ISP or a news agency. And things would get trickier if the ISP side of Yahoo were to give authorities access to e-mail belonging to another news organization's reporter while the journalism side protected its own reporter's correspondence.
Tom Regan, executive director of the Online News Association, said the conflict between the business and news sides of media isn't novel. But the addition of an ISP, which controls e-mail, to the mix is a new wrinkle the industry hasn't pondered.
Of course, even traditional media companies don't always make decisions that side with journalists. Aly Colón, who teaches journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute in Florida, points to Time magazine's controversial decision to hand its reporter's notes to Justice Department officials investigating the Valerie Plame leak.
"These decisions are not black and white, and they're not easy to make," Colón said.
Sites' Yahoo page vows that his reporting will adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists' ethics code. Journalists upholding the code seek to report the truth, give voice to the voiceless and be "free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know."
Robert Padavick, a veteran TV producer working with Sites, said Yahoo fully supports their effort to produce transparent journalism. He couldn't say, however, how the company might handle journalism issues outside of Sites' coverage.
End of story
Missouri Senate - Protection Law Repealed
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Missouri Senate repeals Interent posting law as session ends
Thursday, September 15, 2005
KELLY WIESE
Associated Press Writer
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Senate on Thursday approved a measure repealing a new state law barring posting of personal information about public officials on the Internet, sending the item to the governor for his signature.
The measure repealing the law had passed the House earlier. The Senate voted 32-0 in favor of it. Lawmakers later concluded the special session called by Gov. Matt Blunt to pass additional abortion restrictions and fix several new laws.
The new Internet law had said no court or government agency could post online the home address, Social Security number or phone number of any elected or appointed official without their consent.
But county officials worried how they would enforce the restriction. They say government Web sites contain much information, such as property records, and it would be hard to remove it for certain people named under the law.
"It was a piece of legislation that had good intentions," said Sen. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter. "Probably we should have given it more in-depth study and analysis."
Boone, Cass, Jackson and Platte counties sued the state, claiming among other things that the law would impose a cost on counties without providing funding, in violation of the state constitution.
A Cole County judge has so far agreed with the counties, blocking the state from enforcing the law. A hearing on a permanent injunction is set for October, but an attorney for the counties said if the provision were repealed, they likely would drop the litigation.
Blunt said he signed the measure into law because the bill also contained many other worthy provisions, but he urged government agencies to ignore this part of the law and asked lawmakers to undo it during their special session.
The new bill deletes the language about public officials. Instead it would make it a misdemeanor to post the name, home address, telephone number or Social Security number of anyone on the Internet with the intent "to cause great bodily harm or death." The revision makes no distinction as to whether the target is an elected official or who did the posting.
The Senate also passed a bill that earlier cleared the House to correct conflicts within various bills that passed during the regular session creating new laws on drunken driving, child abuse and distribution of prescription drugs at schools.
Both measures also contain an emergency clause, meaning they will take effect as soon as Blunt signs them.
The House passed a resolution stating the Legislature's opposition to plans to create a spring rise in the Missouri River by releasing more water from upstream dams, citing concerns about flooding of Missouri farms and communities.
Crime cleanup bill is HB2; Internet bill is HB3.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
KELLY WIESE
Associated Press Writer
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Senate on Thursday approved a measure repealing a new state law barring posting of personal information about public officials on the Internet, sending the item to the governor for his signature.
The measure repealing the law had passed the House earlier. The Senate voted 32-0 in favor of it. Lawmakers later concluded the special session called by Gov. Matt Blunt to pass additional abortion restrictions and fix several new laws.
The new Internet law had said no court or government agency could post online the home address, Social Security number or phone number of any elected or appointed official without their consent.
But county officials worried how they would enforce the restriction. They say government Web sites contain much information, such as property records, and it would be hard to remove it for certain people named under the law.
"It was a piece of legislation that had good intentions," said Sen. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter. "Probably we should have given it more in-depth study and analysis."
Boone, Cass, Jackson and Platte counties sued the state, claiming among other things that the law would impose a cost on counties without providing funding, in violation of the state constitution.
A Cole County judge has so far agreed with the counties, blocking the state from enforcing the law. A hearing on a permanent injunction is set for October, but an attorney for the counties said if the provision were repealed, they likely would drop the litigation.
Blunt said he signed the measure into law because the bill also contained many other worthy provisions, but he urged government agencies to ignore this part of the law and asked lawmakers to undo it during their special session.
The new bill deletes the language about public officials. Instead it would make it a misdemeanor to post the name, home address, telephone number or Social Security number of anyone on the Internet with the intent "to cause great bodily harm or death." The revision makes no distinction as to whether the target is an elected official or who did the posting.
The Senate also passed a bill that earlier cleared the House to correct conflicts within various bills that passed during the regular session creating new laws on drunken driving, child abuse and distribution of prescription drugs at schools.
Both measures also contain an emergency clause, meaning they will take effect as soon as Blunt signs them.
The House passed a resolution stating the Legislature's opposition to plans to create a spring rise in the Missouri River by releasing more water from upstream dams, citing concerns about flooding of Missouri farms and communities.
Crime cleanup bill is HB2; Internet bill is HB3.
A Wicked Deal For Tickets
Monday, September 05, 2005
A wicked deal for tickets
Black markets taking root around famed theme parks
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press
ORLANDO, FLA. - Roberto Alvarez was jealous of the amount of time his girlfriend spent with the head of a crime family that dealt in millions of dollars of contraband, so he became a confidential informant for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
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Not long after talking with the agents, the 38-year-old Alvarez was shot to death; his body was found near the bus he drove in his job shuttling tourists to the theme parks.
If it had been guns or drugs that Alvarez was snitching about, his unsolved murder would have had a familiar ring. But, in an only-in-Orlando scenario, Alvarez was helping investigators track down theme park tickets illegally purchased with fake or stolen credit cards.
A black market for park tickets has grown up in this theme park mecca. Detective Kelly Boaz of the Orange County Sheriff's Office said it's a multimillion-dollar business.
This underground market is an unintended consequence of annual ticket-price increases and the popularity of multi-day passes that have made the tickets very valuable. A single-day ticket to a park costs almost $60, while a four-day park hopper, granting entry into all four Disney parks in Orlando, can cost $220 a person.
The black market also has been fueled by the proliferation of booths selling discounted tickets.
The area's major theme parks � Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando � often sell tickets discounted 10 percent off the gate price to time-share companies, AAA and other tourism-related businesses. International tour companies get an even better deal � as much as 20 percent off the gate price.
But those 20 percent-off contracts are limited and coveted. So companies, in violation of their agreements with the parks, often sell their tickets to middlemen brokers or to booths that can't get the discount.
Some of the shady ticket dealers sell multiday park tickets to tour groups at discounted prices, provided the groups bring back the passes at the end of a single day. The passes are then resold at discount the next day. Others, known by the police as "walkers," target tourists, selling multiday park passes that have days already used up, Boaz said.
Law enforcement agencies have tried to stop black market ticket brokers much like they would drug dealers.
Alvarez started talking with authorities in 2000 about schemes run by Victor Aquino, who used fake or stolen credit cards to purchase park tickets.
The operation was made up of Aquino's family members and associates. It included Aquino's teenage son, Amin, who along with a former pizza cook, Mario Locasio, would buy tickets with stolen or fake credit cards provided by Victor Aquino. Aquino would sell the tickets to Roberto Alvarez's girlfriend, Marilu Clement, who then supplied brokers like Franklin Fox or travel agencies, according to depositions. Fox was once described by law enforcement as the ringleader of illegal ticket brokers.
Alvarez was gunned down in July 2001. The group's schemes fell apart as its members, one by one, were arrested in 2002.
Clement, who is serving probation for fraud, claimed she never knew the tickets were purchased with bad credit cards. Amin Aquino was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for fraud, while his father, Victor, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years for trying to run over a sheriff's deputy with a Mercedes.
Alvarez's murder may be an extreme case, and authorities won't comment on it since the case is still open and unsolved.
Fox pleaded no contest to two counts of petty theft last year and was sentenced to a year of probation, which was terminated in June. He denied dealing in stolen tickets and said he made a plea to avoid a trial.
Black markets taking root around famed theme parks
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press
ORLANDO, FLA. - Roberto Alvarez was jealous of the amount of time his girlfriend spent with the head of a crime family that dealt in millions of dollars of contraband, so he became a confidential informant for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
ADVERTISEMENT
Not long after talking with the agents, the 38-year-old Alvarez was shot to death; his body was found near the bus he drove in his job shuttling tourists to the theme parks.
If it had been guns or drugs that Alvarez was snitching about, his unsolved murder would have had a familiar ring. But, in an only-in-Orlando scenario, Alvarez was helping investigators track down theme park tickets illegally purchased with fake or stolen credit cards.
A black market for park tickets has grown up in this theme park mecca. Detective Kelly Boaz of the Orange County Sheriff's Office said it's a multimillion-dollar business.
This underground market is an unintended consequence of annual ticket-price increases and the popularity of multi-day passes that have made the tickets very valuable. A single-day ticket to a park costs almost $60, while a four-day park hopper, granting entry into all four Disney parks in Orlando, can cost $220 a person.
The black market also has been fueled by the proliferation of booths selling discounted tickets.
The area's major theme parks � Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando � often sell tickets discounted 10 percent off the gate price to time-share companies, AAA and other tourism-related businesses. International tour companies get an even better deal � as much as 20 percent off the gate price.
But those 20 percent-off contracts are limited and coveted. So companies, in violation of their agreements with the parks, often sell their tickets to middlemen brokers or to booths that can't get the discount.
Some of the shady ticket dealers sell multiday park tickets to tour groups at discounted prices, provided the groups bring back the passes at the end of a single day. The passes are then resold at discount the next day. Others, known by the police as "walkers," target tourists, selling multiday park passes that have days already used up, Boaz said.
Law enforcement agencies have tried to stop black market ticket brokers much like they would drug dealers.
Alvarez started talking with authorities in 2000 about schemes run by Victor Aquino, who used fake or stolen credit cards to purchase park tickets.
The operation was made up of Aquino's family members and associates. It included Aquino's teenage son, Amin, who along with a former pizza cook, Mario Locasio, would buy tickets with stolen or fake credit cards provided by Victor Aquino. Aquino would sell the tickets to Roberto Alvarez's girlfriend, Marilu Clement, who then supplied brokers like Franklin Fox or travel agencies, according to depositions. Fox was once described by law enforcement as the ringleader of illegal ticket brokers.
Alvarez was gunned down in July 2001. The group's schemes fell apart as its members, one by one, were arrested in 2002.
Clement, who is serving probation for fraud, claimed she never knew the tickets were purchased with bad credit cards. Amin Aquino was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for fraud, while his father, Victor, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years for trying to run over a sheriff's deputy with a Mercedes.
Alvarez's murder may be an extreme case, and authorities won't comment on it since the case is still open and unsolved.
Fox pleaded no contest to two counts of petty theft last year and was sentenced to a year of probation, which was terminated in June. He denied dealing in stolen tickets and said he made a plea to avoid a trial.
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