Around the time of the Clinton/Lewinsky affair the pressrooms of all
the important newspapers were abuzz. Rumors were available for the taking,
but most of the respected newspapers chose to maintain professional standards
and to check their sources rather than to rush into print with a juicy
story that might later backfire on their professional prestige. But the
same professional standards that these editors sought to maintain in the
printed version of their papers somehow didn't seem quite that important
in cyberspace. They wanted the best of both worlds: A number of newspapers
that played it safe, and according to the rules, in
their print version, gave free reign to those same rumors in their
internet editions. Newspapers that wouldn't dream of transforming themselves
into rumor mills hardly thought twice about posting the same information
on their web sites.
Perhaps it's a loss of innocence, perhaps web media have grown up. Whatever, it's doubtful that newspapers today wouldn't demand that their web sites uphold the same professional standards to which they hold their print editions. They've apparently learned their lesson and cleaned up their act. Happily, when it comes to journalism at least, we're beyond the stage when the opposite of serious isn't playful, but instead unprofessional.