My media column in the new issue of CommonWealth Magazine takes a look at the New England News Forum, a nascent organization based at UMass Amherst that’s modeled after — and, in important ways, not modeled after — the news councils of Minnesota and Washington State.
“We are not a watchdog group if the watchdog’s role is to go bite the mailman,” says Bill Densmore, the director and editor. “It’s to assess the mailman and educate the dogs about the mailman’s role.”
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Dan, these groups can be good if they stay miles away from political ideology and partisan politics. Outside that realm, there are plenty of issues in which we can find common ground (quality of TV news, newspaper coverage, etc).Unless a wide variety of people are involved (not just university types and “progressive” activists) that’s easier said than done. Washington state’s group initially received a lot of publicity but has rarely made much of an impact.