The Globe and Mail's Lawrence Martin offers some thoughts on how the media should handle terrorism and security stories.

From the AP story on CTV.ca:

A cigarette lighter and paper shredder helped make Mika Brzezinski the symbol of television journalism's guilt trip about Paris Hilton.

Brzezinski used both to destroy a script calling for her to read about Hilton's release from jail on MSNBC's "Morning Joe'' program recently. Part serious, part an act, it has become an Internet sensation. More than two million people have watched a clip of the incident, about 10 times the number who watched it live on TV.

Apparently, she is not the only one sick of the socialite.

"Among journalists it touched a nerve because I think we're tired of pretending this is important,'' she said.

"We also know that, deep down inside, our viewers know that we don't believe this is news. They can't.''

"They can't think we're that dumb.''

Note this, given the post below:

CBS's Katie Couric told a Boston audience in May, to applause: "We have a precious amount of time on the 'CBS Evening News' and I don't think we need to ever utter the name Paris Hilton.''

A month later, Couric's broadcast reported on Hilton's jailing and the controversy over her short-lived release.

From the AP story on CTV.ca:

Katie Couric says the move to CBS would have been less appealing if she had known she'd be doing the more traditional CBS Evening News broadcast that she anchors now.

“People are very unforgiving and very resistant to change,” Couric said in an interview with New York magazine. “The biggest mistake we made is we tried new things.”

Couric's move to CBS has been a bust so far. The evening newscast's ratings are deep in third place, and CBS has rolled back some of the changes it made last fall to shake up the format. Couric conducts fewer interviews, an outside opinion segment was scrapped and the anchor admits she's even dressing down a little to give her critics less ammunition.

From the Guardian:

Allies of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have accused the media of trying to depose him in a "creeping coup", raising fears of a fresh clampdown on opposition newspapers and websites.

The accusation, from the president's allies, coincides with disclosures that Mr Ahmadinejad has authorised aides to establish a special team to counter "black propaganda against the government".

There has been criticism from the reformist and liberal press that Mr Ahmadinejad has failed to deliver his electoral promises of prosperity and has instead presided over an ailing economy and soaring inflation.

Mr Ahmadinejad's advisers complain he has been insulted by "rumour-mongers" who represent "economic and political gangs" opposed to his social justice agenda. In interviews, several supporters signalled that the government was preparing to retaliate.

From the NYT:

With his picture splashed across the front pages of British newspapers, Mohammed Asha, a doctor in the National Health Service, over the last few days became the human face of a suspected plot to bomb a London nightclub and an attack at Glasgow Airport.

According to the British police, the photos should never have appeared.

Britain has some of the tightest restrictions on reporting in the Western world, limiting news organizations’ ability to publish pictures or articles about the subjects of criminal investigations. The rules are intended to ensure fair trials by keeping potentially prejudicial information from would-be jurors.

But critics say the restrictions seem increasingly out of step in an era when Britons can turn to the Internet or other sources for unfiltered information on prominent subjects like terrorism. And, based on their coverage of the recent events, news organizations seem unclear about how to apply the rules.

The Toronto Star's David Olive unravels the mystery. Actually, it's not so mysterious.