If you're like me, you've come to read the press (all the press, including web logs) with one eye on the data being presented and the other eye dedicated to sifting said data out of the presenter's bag of biases and agendas.

This issue of press responsibility was brought up into the stark light of day when a reporter from Paris Match filed a story in which he accompanied a group of Iraqi Fedayeen and even took photos as they fired a missile at an aircraft outside Baghdad Airport. Steven den Beste took the reporters to task. Recently, a reporter from the same magazine found the entry, and occasioned an email exchange between den Beste and said reporter, here. Worth reading.

All of this leads me to recommend this entry at Bastard Sword with one of the most complete essays addressing the issue I've seen. (Link via Merde in France which is also an entry worth a look)

One of my own short riffs on this general issue (though not the issue of the French reporters specifically) is here: 60 Minutes and Press Responsibility