HOME / press box: Media criticism.

Steal This IdeaEvery news beat needs something like the KSJ Tracker.

By Jack ShaferPosted Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006, at 5:54 PM ET

(Continued from page 1)

RSS

Related in Slate

Jack Shafer was inspired by KSJ Tracker to write about a nicotine study. Inspired by Walter Annenberg, he wrote about the publishing mogul's posthumous efforts at image-building.

Finally, what better way to spend down the Annenberg Foundation billions than order it to start a Web site that collects all the stories about wicked publishing tycoons who attempt, by philanthropic means from the grave, to rehabilitate their rotten images?

Addendum, Dec. 14: Yesterday I called for the establishment of Web sites to examine other press beats the way KSJ Tracker does the science beat, and lo, it turns out that some already exist.

Watching the business journalists we find Chris Rouch, professor of journalism at University of North Carolina. Allow me to recommend his Talking Biz News.

Mark Obbie, director of Syracuse University's Carnegie Legal Reporting Program at Newhouse, cites KSJ Tracker as the inspiration for LawBeat, which he launched six weeks ago. It's excellent.

The John Jay College of Criminal Justice supports Crime & Justice News, a five days a week blog produced by Criminal Justice Journalists.

Reader Jim Charles suggests that the University of Southern California Graduate School of Film could analyze journalism about the film industry, the Robert Tisch Graduate School of Theatre and Drama at New York University could walk the beat in the theater journalism, and any one of the hundreds of med schools in the country could to monitor the medical press.

Keep those recommendations coming. My e-mail is .