Christopher Harper

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Vox news website needs to take serious look at how it ‘reinvents’ journalism

Vox.com, the much-ballyhooed website aiming to make journalism better and to explain the news, has a major problem. It makes a lot of mistakes.

January 7, 2015

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Twenty years on, a penetrating look at media missteps

One of the country's best media watchers has turned his attention to some major reporting debacles, missteps and missed opportunities which have had continuing repercussions over the past 20 years.

December 31, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Ebola, Ferguson coverage tops media naughty and nice list

Here is my naughty and nice list, including some memories from 2014.

December 24, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Media found their target in ‘torture’ report

It should come as little surprise that many media outlets seized upon the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's partisan analysis of the CIA because many journalists don't like the intelligence community.

December 17, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Sensationalism over eithics in sex assault stories

Sensational stories about alleged sexual assaults at the University of Virginia and Oberlin College have raised serious questions about how two prominent writers apparently chose to ignore long-standing ethical standards and reporting practices.

December 10, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Ferguson coverage brings out the worst in reporters, pundits

The coverage of the turmoil in Ferguson, Missouri has provided some of the worst excesses of journalistic practice, starting from the death of Michael Brown in August to the aftermath of the grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson.

December 3, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: The New Yorker trashes true meaning of Thanksgiving

The revision of the meaning of Thanksgiving has devolved into what I consider the most offensive cover in the history of The New Yorker.

November 26, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Despite social media, old Bill Cosby charges don’t justify new stories

The takedown of Bill Cosby, from an attack of a comedian to allegations of sexual assault by a string of women, vividly illustrates the toxic mix of social media and irresponsible journalism.

November 19, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Obamacare rants, voter voices clash

Ignoring an overwhelming mandate in the midterm elections opposing the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, liberal pundits launched the opening — albeit errant — salvos in the battle over possible changes to the law.

November 12, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Preferring ‘The Voice,’ networks MIA on election night

Political coverage on the major television networks continued the slide toward its inevitable demise this week as ABC, CBS and NBC decided that programs like "Selfie," "The Voice" and "NCIS: New Orleans" were more important than the midterm elections.

November 5, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Hard numbers can’t alter media narrative on vote fraud

A significant study detailing an incredible amount of voter fraud in the past two national elections was released recently, but few news organizations gave the results any notice.

October 29, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: Media move on, but Superstorm Sandy problems linger

The flotsam and jetsam that lay strewn across much of New Jersey and New York may be gone for the most part, but the ramifications of Superstorm Sandy persist despite much of the media's lack of attention to the storm's aftermath two years later.

October 22, 2014

CHRISTOPHER HARPER: The extent of the media’s Ebola idiocy

The media frenzy over the Ebola virus has created so much fear and loathing among the public that it won't be easy to dial back from the panic mode any time soon.

October 15, 2014

HARPER: Man pets dog: Mixed results when journalists focus on the positive

As the nation and the world jump from crisis to crisis, a little good news might be in order.

October 8, 2014

HARPER: Tired of the hostility, why I did an about-face on Facebook

Here is the problem with Facebook and many other social networking sites: You cannot have a discussion about much of anything.

October 1, 2014

HARPER: Obama spins war by getting journalists off the record

Even though President Obama may have lost his electoral magic with voters as recent polls show, he still understands how to play many members of the media, particularly when he is going to war.

September 24, 2014

HARPER: Vice breaks media rules and makes billions in Internet age

If you want to see the future of news, take a look at Vice.com, a media conglomerate aimed at millennials. It is brash, in your face and unabashedly liberal on topics such as the environment.

September 17, 2014

HARPER: Tabloid TV outhustles the networks on NFL’s misdeeds

Even though he played football just up the road from the media epicenter of the world, former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice's off-the-field crimes went virtually uncovered until the self-described gossip and entertainment website, TMZ.com, came up with a videotape showing Mr. Rice knocking out his then-fiancee earlier this year.

September 10, 2014

HARPER: Media ethics in the gruesome age of the Islamic State

The Islamic State is winning the propaganda war, propelled by traditional and social media outlets that either entice new recruits or frighten the rest of the world.

September 3, 2014

HARPER: Media earn failing grade for poor Common Core coverage

If concerned citizens want to inform themselves on one of the most important issues in their lives — the education of their children — they would be hard-pressed to get any significant help from the national media.

August 27, 2014