Is it time to end media blackouts?

Joel Simon, head of the Committee to Protect Journalists, asks whether the practice of “media blackouts,” where news organizations suppress information about the abduction of journalists, is effective. “Initially, I supported the use of media blackouts in selective cases,” writes Simon. “[But] going forward I believe the best course of action would be for media organizations routinely to report the news of a journalist’s kidnapping in a straightforward unemotional way.”

+ Propaganda concerns, duty to tell whole story drive decisions about terror videos (CNN); The ISIS social media attack (WBUR’s On Point); When asked whether Dean Baquet had watched the videos, Baquet said that he did not: “Maybe I should have watched them, to be honest … But I’m a human being, too. Those are painful things to watch.” (Capital New York)

+ A couple quick takes: “The attention-grabbing Offensive Takes only obscure the fact that all the inoffensive takes – the ephemeral, aggregated, feather-light blog posts … are the most depressing pieces of writing on the web, for the reader and the writer.” (The Dish) and There are so many takes now because no one is guaranteed an audience (Gigaom)