Bylines   

A Stinger Stung

ABC correspondent John Stossel is caught in his own trap while working on an investigative report about "junk science." The veteran consumer reporter's plan to prove that Baltimore physician Dr. Grace Ziem delivers false diagnoses of multiple chemical sensitivity disorder [MCS], an illness triggered by exposure to various chemical irritants, backfires after Ziem is tipped off. Stossel, operating on the premise that MCS is a psychosomatic or perhaps even doctor-induced disorder rather than a physiological one, sent two women to Ziem's office to pose as patients. He then scheduled an on-camera interview with Ziem to confront her with the results of the sting, but Ziem had her own sting in mind and sent her assistant, Albert Donnay , to meet with Stossel in her place. Donnay, who invited the local media to witness the scene, greeted Stossel with a statement from Ziem that denounced his "biased, deceptive and unethical tactics." But Stossel takes exception to Ziem's allegations, arguing that his reporting techniques are "sometimes the only way to test real life," adding that he "felt jerked around" after going through the trouble of bringing his camera crews to Baltimore. But Donnay says it was in fact Ziem who was jerked around. "If [Stossel] wanted to address the issue honestly, he should have told us his program was about junk science," Donnay says. "This is junk journalism."

Moving On

Kathy Bushkin , director of editorial administration at U.S. News & World Report for the past 12 years, joins the public relations world as senior managing director and head of U.S. media services for Hill and Knowlton. A former press secretary to Sen. Gary Hart , Bushkin says she looks "forward to blending the experiences of my past lives in journalism and politics in this new endeavor.".. Two USA Today staffers join the Freedom Forum. Gene Policinski , one of USA Today's founding editors and most recently managing editor of the paper's sports section, becomes special assistant to Freedom Forum President and CEO Charles L. Overby . Joe Urschel , a former USA Today senior writer, becomes deputy director of the Freedom Forum's Newseum, the world's first news museum scheduled to open in Arlington, Virginia, next spring.

Around Magazines

James R. Gaines , Time Inc.'s corporate editor and former managing editor of Time magazine, resigns from the company unexpectedly to "move on and do some other things professionally," including teaching and consulting, according to a staff memo from Time Inc. Editor in Chief Norman Pearlstine .... The New Republic settles a libel suit brought by Cuban American National Foundation Chairman Jorge Mas Canosa . The wonk weekly agrees to apologize in its pages for a 1994 profile touted on the cover as "Clinton's Miami Mobster" and pay Canosa's organization $100,000 to establish a scholarship for needy Cuban American students of government, economics or journalism.

New York News

Tabloid guru and former New York Newsday Editor Donald Forst joins the Big Apple's most famous weekly, the Village Voice , as editor. Forst says he looks forward to the opportunity to leave mainstream daily newspapering behind and says working for the Voice, which began free distribution in Manhattan last April, will be "refreshing." While Forst says there's no overhaul planned for the tab, he hints that he wants to make it more timely and adds that he is "totally comfortable" with the paper's history of advocacy. Forst replaces Karen Durbin , who left the weekly as a result of conflicts with Publisher David Schneiderman .... Lance R. Primis steps down as president and COO of the New York Times Co. amid speculation that his departure was prompted by the unwillingness of the company's chairman and chief executive, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger , to give Primis any indication that he might one day be his successor. Timesologists say his departure guarantees the eventual ascendance of Sulzberger's son, New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. Succeeding Primis is Russell T. Lewis , the Times' president and general manager.

Worst Nightmare

Minneapolis' Star-Tribune runs a photo of John Derus , a candidate for the Minnesota state Senate, with a story about charity fraud – on Election Day, no less. Derus did not figure in the story; a photo of someone who did was supposed to run instead. The paper blames a computer glitch. Derus, a prominent Minneapolis politician who frequently has been vilified in the Star-Tribune's editorial pages, claims that the error was most likely intentional and that it cost him the Democratic primary, which he lost by 104 votes. Derus' campaign sued the Star-Tribune, seeking to overturn the election results and hold a new election at the paper's expense – estimated at about $20,000 – but the Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed the case. "They're saying it's a computer error that accidentally called up my picture and put it in an article with the words 'charity fraud' right over my head on a day that only occurs once every four years," says Derus, who says the glitch was grossly negligent and possibly criminal. "The mathematical odds of that happening are at best remote." The Star-Tribune ran a correction explaining the mix-up as the result of a since-corrected flaw in its production process, but Derus says it was too little too late. Randy Lebedoff , general counsel for the Star-Tribune, says Derus' claims of sabotage within the paper's staff have been investigated and were proven to be "complete baloney." She says that Derus is merely trying to "thwart the will of the voters."

On the Infobahn

MSNBC adds two new names to its Internet division as James Kinsella , founding editor of Time Warner's online operation, Pathfinder , becomes general manager and Merrill Brown , a former journalist, television executive and media consultant, becomes editor in chief. Kinsella, a veteran media consultant, will oversee MSNBC's product, business and marketing development. Brown was most recently managing editor of MSNBC's Web site, a companion news service to the 24-hour cable network that features content developed simultaneously for cable and the Internet... Web Review , the highly regarded online magazine owned by San Francisco's Songline Studios that folded a year after its debut due to insufficient advertising revenue (see Bylines, July/August), comes back from the dead. The new Web Review (http://webreview.com) will be the product of an alliance between Songline and publishing house Miller Freeman, Inc., which publishes such magazines as Web Techniques . The latest incarnation of Web Review will focus on technical and developmental aspects of the Web.

TV Topics

Edie Magnus , who covered the media and information industries for CBS (see Bylines, January/February), joins MSNBC as anchor of the network's daytime programming. She will also begin contributing to "Dateline NBC " beginning next year... Meredith Bagby , a 22-year-old author who most recently completed a book detailing "What Every Citizen Should Know About Where Each Tax Dollar Goes and Why," joins
CNNfn as a "Generation X commentator on financial issues.".. CBS tries its hand at unfiltered news, launching "The Class of 2000" with Broadcast News Networks , a Manhattan-based developer and producer of network, cable and syndicated television programs. The new program, which will run in series form on the "CBS Evening News" as well as on "This Morning" and "48 Hours," will examine America's problems and promise through the eyes of a high school freshman class.