Much like the Leveson Inquiry in Britain, Australia recently held a review of its own country's news media, calling for the establishment of a new national press council to replace the existing press council. But one member of Parliament wants more: Steve Gibbons is calling for fines and or suspension of news organizations that publish "blatant untruths."

Is MediaNews head Dean Singleton spiking stories in Denver that might hurt conservatives? Sirota argues that it's been happening, calling Singleton, "the new Citzen Kane... one of the most overtly political local newspapermen in contemporary American history." He writes that Singleton, "has long bragged of his close relationships with conservative, business-friendly politicians from both parties... Always something of a powerbroker, Singleton has become even more willing to employ his media empire to defend his political allies and attack his political enemies since the Post's primary competitor, the Rocky Mountain News,shut down in 2009."

Scott Calvert, a Baltimore Sun reporter and Guild member, describes being barred from City Hall when he tried to follow up on his exhaustive efforts to get reports on city spending -- from an office established for that very purpose.

Twenty years ago this week, as the Miami Herald describes, "a Category 5 chainsaw called Hurricane Andrew cut a swath of ruin like no storm before it." Reports and photos recall the storm and its devastation: 28,000 homes destroyed, more than 100,000 damaged, 15 people killed in Miami-Dade alone; many more died in the months of clean-up. "The numbers don’t fully explain the impact," Curtis Morgan writes. "South Miami-Dade resembled a post-war zone for one grueling summer — tent cities, food lines, soldiers on patrol, residents packing weapons."