By Alison Sotomayor

More than half the journalists at national news outlets and about as many in local news media believe that journalism is going in the wrong direction.

Why? Because, the respondents say, increased bottom line pressure – for higher ratings and higher profits – seriously hurts the quality of news coverage.

By John J. Valadez

Not so long ago, when I was in film school one of my instructors asked our class what we thought the single most important piece of film equipment was. Some people insisted that the camera was essential, others were adamant that it was the editing system; one young woman was firm in her resolve that money was the most important piece of equipment because with enough of it everything else would fall into place. Well, we were all incredulous when our instructor told us that we were dead wrong. What! we were told, and what I myself have come to believe, is that the single most important piece of equipment for any filmmaker is nothing more complicated than a pencil and a piece of paper.