Ombudsman columns
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Fear and trembling over Pokemon and watch fobs
Ombudsman In ever-increasing numbers Americans are patrolling the aisles of toy stores, cruising grocery store checkout lanes, poring through schoolbooks and surfing the Net and TV in search of sex, violence and assorted other threats and insults to home and family.
10.20.99
Struggling to survive, First Amendment faces new century
Ombudsman The 'state of the First Amendment' is not good. Indeed, after more than two centuries of service to both humanity and democracy, it is locked in a struggle for survival.
10.11.99
Will we trade our freedom for civility?
Ombudsman The United States Senate Rules Committee has been debating whether to create a special committee, task force or commission on American culture. The sponsors of the proposal want to inquire into whether Hollywood entertainment is creating a violent and profane culture that threatens the morality of America's youth.
09.27.99
Are we saving the Net or censoring for dollars?
Ombudsman Earlier this month, an international media conglomerate and the Internet Content Ratings Association convened an Internet Content Summit in Munich, Germany, to present 12 recommendations for taming the rambunctious Internet. The key recommendation was for an international rating system that would enable the filtering of content.
09.20.99
Speech police — on the left and right — trample freedom of expression in the name of virtue
Ombudsman David Lowenthal, professor emeritus of political science at Boston College, offered an argument for censorship of the entertainment media in an article recently published in The Weekly Standard. Lowenthal is inspired by two convictions: That Hollywood is dishing out too much sex and violence and that we consumers like it too much for our own good.
09.08.99
A little less churn in the press pool, please
Ombudsman Sydney H. Schanberg is one of the nation's journalistic treasures. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the fall of Cambodia in 1975. He has distinguished himself in the reporting craft at The New York Times and Newsday. He has fought fiercely for press freedom. His work and his integrity stand as a caution to indiscriminate bashers of the press.
08.30.99
Crime on campus: What colleges won't tell you
Ombudsman In the next few weeks, 10.4 million students will be settling in on the nation's college and university campuses. They look forward to learning, maturing, perhaps partying a little. Some will be more prepared than others for this academic adventure, but very few will be prepared for the amount and nature of crime they will encounter on those campuses.
08.23.99
Fear of freedom puts First Amendment at risk
Ombudsman There are among us self-appointed and self-anointed guardians of culture and morality who believe that the rest of us have too much freedom. In their insistent opinion, our culture is too coarse, our speech too uncivil, our tastes too crude.
08.16.99
People think press too free; government only too happy to make it less so
Ombudsman To the amazement of people living elsewhere, the majority of Americans think that our press is too free. More ominously, a goodly number of police, judges and political leaders who should know better pander to that attitude by harassing journalists and restricting their efforts to keep the public apprised of what the officials are up to.
08.09.99
Hollywood: the power and the evil
Ombudsman All eyes turn to Hollywood these days in search of both blame and remedy for whatever ails us at the moment.
07.26.99
Page last updated: 10/2/2013 6:58:48 AM
