tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4033270.post110256673606056472..comments2023-10-30T08:41:14.356-04:00Comments on Tax & Business Law Commentary: All the News That's Fit to LinkStuart Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04917401637732122101noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4033270.post-1102971499892992422004-12-13T15:58:00.000-05:002004-12-13T15:58:00.000-05:00News organizations generally do not provide suffic...News organizations generally do not provide sufficient information in a story for a reader to draw a conclusion. The mainstream press are very adept at regurgitating press releases in order to provide balance, but they are ill-equipped to deal with substantive issues.<br /><br />Take groklaw.net for instance, which has consistently exposed overwrought and under-researched reporting on legal issues, primarily concerning litigation launched by SCO. The ready accessibility of source documents in that litigation has shown how even legal novices can readily comprehend complex legal issues, (though much of that credit belongs to the superb writing of the various defendants' counsel.<br /><br />Also, copyright and similar legal restrictions can prevent the free posting of source documents. As much as I'd like to read that fascinating new story in Nature, I'll have to buy the journal or go to a library due to restrictions on republication.<br /><br />Finally, PACER documents are not free, that's why there is usually a charge for them. Of course, electronic filings are readily amenable to massive P2P copying, but there are insufficient reputational mechanisms to avoid the propagation of bad documents.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com