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Column preview: ‘Grim milestone’ graphic wasn’t insensitive

By Ernie Gates
Published: September 7, 2012

 As the number of servicemembers lost in the Afghanistan war nears 2,000, Stars and Stripes' front page on Aug. 30 featured a graphic explaining how different organizations arrive at different counts. The Pentagon’s most senior public affairs official called the page “a slap in the face to all those who have put their lives on the line for this country.”

In my column, I say why I think he’s off the mark. Adding up the total doesn’t diminish or trivialize any individual loss.

Column preview: Summer scorecard on campaign coverage

By Ernie Gates
Published: August 17, 2012

As the political conventions approach, it’s time to update my scorecard of how Stars and Stripes has so far met its obligation to provide readers with thorough and fair political coverage, including a broad spectrum of opinions. 

The short answer: It’s been a good summer, but the big challenge remains as the campaign season really heats up.

Column preview: Troops downrange rely on Stripes’ independence

By Ernie Gates
Published: August 3, 2012

I recently returned from a listening tour with troops deployed to American bases in the Persian Gulf region. My column online today (and in Friday’s print editions) is a report to readers about my conversations about Stars and Stripes with troops from every service, across the ranks, in Kuwait, Bahrain and another undisclosed location.

Short version: They rely on it for impartial and relevant news – plus the fun stuff, just like the American newspaper it’s designed to be. And they want another page of that little touch of home, the daily American Roundup.

Election Scorecard: Is Stripes’ Obama-Romney coverage balanced?

By Ernie Gates
Published: June 15, 2012

 Mitt Romney’s not officially the nominee yet, but he effectively clinched it by May. So how was Stripes’ Obama-Romney coverage that month?

Short answer: Well balanced, allowing for the fact that President Obama is going to make more news outside the actual campaign.  And that gives him both upside -- more presence -- and downside – more criticism.

Column preview: When war reporting becomes crime reporting

By Ernie Gates
Published: May 17, 2012

 "Where are the everyday mentions of heinous acts perpetrated by other entities on the battlefield?" asks Army Capt. Dana Fitzpatrick of the 1204th Aviation Support Battalion.

This week's column poses that question to Stripes editors and takes a look at the balance of misdeeds in coverage. 

VE Day back story: Did the Stripes reporter keep his promise to delay reporting the Nazi surrender?

By Ernie Gates
Published: May 7, 2012

Here’s another take on AP reporter Ed Kennedy’s 1945 scoop on the Nazi surrender 67 years ago today – the story of Stars and Stripes reporter Charles Kiley, who covered the surrender negotiations and (unlike Kennedy) kept his promise to Allied military authorities to delay reporting the actual surrender for 36 hours.  David Kiley recounts in the Huffington Post how his father viewed Kennedy’s “cowboy” decision to break the embargo on his own. Good reading in full, though I’ll just quote one point here:

 “[L]et's not think for a minute that Kennedy was motivated by ‘the people's right to know.’ Recalling my father's account, I know he said the following to me, though it is not on tape: ‘Kennedy wanted the scoop, plain and simple.’"

WWII quiz: What prize went to the reporter who got Nazi surrender scoop?

By Ernie Gates
Published: May 4, 2012

 The Associated Press apologized today for firing World War II correspondent Ed Kennedy after he broke a pledge of secrecy to break the news of the German surrender on May 7, 1945.  

Did the people’s right to know the war was over in Europe trump the Allied chiefs’ plan to let Stalin stage his own Nazi surrender? What would you have done?

Column preview: Impartiality doesn't require living in a bubble

By Ernie Gates
Published: April 26, 2012

 This week's Ombudsman column picks up a reader's questions to explore the journalism value of independence. It's essential to any credible newsroom, and a special challenge for Stars and Stripes in covering the military, because the staff are all DOD employees.

The column is online now and in the print editions Friday. 

House subcommittee would block moving Stars and Stripes to Fort Meade

By Ernie Gates
Published: April 25, 2012

In addition to high-profile stipulations about troop strength, a pay raise for the troops and new regulations to prevent and punish sexual assault, the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee will consider language in the 2013 Defense Authorization Bill that would prohibit moving the central office and newsroom of Stars and Stripes to the same location as the command-centered media operations of Defense Media Activity at Fort Meade, Md.

The direction that would block the proposed move is deep in the 190-page draft that will be considered Thursday by the subcommittee. The subcommittee released the draft today, which includes this language on page 113:

The Inbox: Why run old stories as 'Related' links?

By Ernie Gates
Published: April 24, 2012

 One of the beauties of a newspaper website is that it’s easy to provide readers with more background and context by linking from a current story back to previous stories, photos, maps or other supplemental material.  It’s a great advantage over newsprint and ink, where papers run out of space for that kind of helpful content.

Sometimes, though, an old headline or story is mistaken as new. That happened last week with a reader who lives at Camp Zama, Japan.  From a timely Stripes story looking at how Japan’s continuing post-tsunami nuclear-power shutdown might affect electricity use on U.S. bases this summer, she followed a link to a story about brownouts and power restrictions from last summer. Trouble was, she took it not as background but as the official word on what to expect this summer.

 
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2012 (29)

Ernie Gates

Stars and Stripes ombudsman

As a journalist for more than three decades, Ernie Gates has been a reporter, editor and news executive, including 10 years leading the enterprising print and digital newsroom of Tribune Co.’s Daily Press in Hampton Roads, Va.

News for and about service members, families and veterans has always been a key focus in Hampton Roads, where every branch of the armed services has a significant presence.

As vice president and editor, Ernie was responsible for all news, business, features and sports coverage and oversaw the editorial page. He also wrote the daily Feedback column, responding to readers’ questions and comments about coverage, news judgment, journalism ethics, taste and other issues. Representing the paper as a public speaker, he focused on News Values and Credibility.

He is a past president of the Virginia Press Association and a past chairman of Virginia Associated Press Newspapers. At the Daily Press, he also served as Vice President for Strategy and Development and as Interim Publisher.

Since leaving the Daily Press in 2010, Ernie has stayed active in public affairs. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Lewis B. Puller Jr. Veterans Benefits Clinic at the William & Mary Law School. In 2011, he served as an advisor to the non-partisan Virginia Redistricting Coalition and the Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting established by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Born in Virginia, Ernie later lived in Baltimore and Philadelphia. He returned to Virginia to attend the College of William and Mary, and except for a brief time as a copy editor in Washington, D.C., he has lived in Williamsburg ever since. He and his wife, Betsy, have three adult children.

Ernie Gates can be reached at ombudsman@stripes.osd.mil or (202) 761-0587.

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The ombudsman

Congress created the post in the early 1990’s to ensure that Stars and Stripes journalists operate with editorial independence and that Stars and Stripes readers receive a free flow of news and information without taint of censorship or propaganda.

The ombudsman serves as an autonomous watchdog of Stars and Stripes’ First Amendment rights. Anyone who fears those rights are imperiled should alert the ombudsman.

The ombudsman is also the readers’ representative to the newsroom. Readers who think a journalistic issue or event was misrepresented or ignored or who feel complaints were not properly addressed by Stripes reporters or editors should contact the ombudsman.

 

Ombudsman blog archive