Dispatch Editor Explains Skybus Silence

The Columbus Dispatch put a reporter on one of Skybus’ last flights, knowing the airline planned to shut down stranding passengers when it arrived in Florida. The reporter got the story, but passengers had to scramble to find a way back to Ohio since Skybus was no longer flying. In two separate posts, Dispatch Editor Ben Marrison defends why the newspaper made this decision. He says it was to protect a confidential source. But the matter has caused an outcry from both readers and former Skybus passengers who complained they were deceived. What do you think ? Was this story handled correctly?

Ben Marrison’s view:
http://blog.dispatch.com/blog-36/

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/insight/stories/2008/04/13/Ben13.ART_ART_04-13-08_G1_IA9T45L.html?sid=101

Original story:
http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/04/05/travelers.ART_ART_04-05-08_A1_S89RB9M.html?sid=101

Posts by readers:

http://oshaughnessy.typepad.com/256/2008/04/calling-bullshi.html

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/04/04/skyreax.html

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/04/04/skybust.html

China Eats Crow Over Faked Photo

HONG KONG — It turns out that train tracks in Tibet aren’t where the antelope play.

Earlier this week, Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, issued an unusual public apology for publishing a doctored photograph of Tibetan wildlife frolicking near a high-speed train.

The deception — uncovered by Chinese Internet users who sniffed out a Photoshop scam in the award-winning picture — has brought on a big debate about media ethics, China’s troubled relationship with Tibet, and how pregnant antelope react to noise.

The antelope imbroglio began in the summer of 2006. The Chinese government was celebrating its latest engineering feat, and an enthusiastic wildlife photographer from the Daqing Evening News was camped out on the Tibetan plateau eating energy bars and waiting for antelope to pass.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120363429707884255.html