The article entitled “The Squeeze” by Russ Baker from the
Columbia Journalism Review presents
an in-depth perspective on how the advertising agencies of certain major
companies such as Chrysler demand to be warned about upcoming editorial content
that could possibly contain sexual or political content, social issues, and/or
materials and editorials that may otherwise be deemed offensive to the average
reader. The reason being is to ensure that ads such as those belonging to a
company like Chrysler or Coca Cola are not placed beside articles about mature
or graphic content such as a terrorist attack or sexually-related themes in
order to appear “reader-friendly”. The author, Russ Baker, considers the
actions these actions of advertisers to emanate an overbearing influence on
magazines and newspapers by challenging their right to free speech, but what
compels him to follow this logic?
Russ Baker is an investigative journalist with a notable
track record of having produced over a thousand stories throughout his career.
He has covered subjects throughout the world ranging from the Hutu-Tutsi
massacres in Rwanda, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, to the coup against
Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. In addition to these hard-news stories, he
spent a year and a half as a correspondent in former Yugoslavia. Also, he has
written some lighter content such as essays, critiques and profiles on famous individuals
such as Iron Chef Morimoto. Baker has received a number of achievements
including the Society of Professional Journalists and Mencken and Common Cause
awards. He acted as a panelist for the national conference of Investigative
Reporters and Editors and is now a supplementary faculty member at Columbia
University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He is also an active participant in
electronic media in terms of discussing current events, a co-founder of a
journalism company called MediaBistro, and the head of his news website, www.whowhatwhy.com.
Baker heavily devoted himself to research on the Bush administration and the
events that led up to the War on Terror in his book Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, America’s Invisible Government,
and the Hidden History of the Last Fifty Years.
It’s important to take note of the fact that Baker wrote “The
Squeeze” on his own website, www.russbaker.com,
therefore it can be assumed that he wants his readers to examine the story from
his own very specific perspective. However, he wants his information to be
widely available to the general public or for those who seek a greater truth beyond
what the mainstream media conveys to them. He’s heavily devoted to uncovering
the hidden truth about strategic advertising and how newspaper and magazine
editors are constantly bending to the will of their advertisers. This is
largely due to the fact that advertisers generate a large percent of revenue
for the magazines and newspapers they are featured in. According to his personal
website, Baker seeks to present the truth to the public in a “compelling,
entertaining, and thoughtful manner”. Interestingly enough, he has comments
disabled on this particular article on his personal website, but he allows
comments on www.whowhatwhy.com,
therefore one must be wary of the type of information that’s presented in each
of his articles. On a final note, the following paragraph is posted at the end
of each article right before the comments section: “Keep it civil. Keep it relevant. Keep it
clear. Keep it short. Keep it intelligent. Identify your assertions as fact or
speculation. No typing in ALL-CAPS. And please read the article in its entirety
before commenting. Note: We reserve the right to remove any post at any time.” However, there appears to be great debate over the veracity of Baker's claims upon examining the long list of aggressive comments on whowhatwhy.com. Clearly, he holds a high disdain for uninformed opinions or remarks that are
simply unintelligent drivel. Russ Baker evidently does not settle for less than
the absolute truth.
Baker, R. (n.d.). About Russ Baker. RussBaker. Retrieved September 23, 2013,
from
Baker, R. (n.d.) The
Project. WhoWhatWhy. Retrieved
September 23, 2013, from
Baker, R. (1997). The squeeze. Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved September 23, 2013,
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