Today I chat with Jon Friedman, who writes the Media Web column for CBS MarketWatch.com and shares with me roots in Evanston, IL and an affinity for the music of Elvis Costello.From what you've been observing, do you think the flaps over Frey, Leroy and Viswanathan are going to affect authors, either in dealings with publishers or a potential public backlash towards books in general, or were they just anomalies and cautionary tales?
These hideous events will definitely hurt authors - as they should - because, once again, the public will question what it reads (as it did a few years ago in the cases of Jayson Blair and those journos who bent the rules). In the long run, we could see a positive effect because publishers might not pursue stories that are too good to be true, like those of Frey & Co., and seek less explosive tales (yeah, right - who am I kidding?). You know, what they say is true: when something in life seems too good to be true, it usually is.

You're a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University--do you think that J-schools are still as important to aspiring journalists, or now that people can see that the media is a little more accessible than it used to be, it's not necessary?
This is an excellent question. I've been meaning to write a column addressing this point, as a matter of fact. Today, journalism grad schools will have to sweat bullets to offer programs that can match the kind of practical training a prospective journalist can obtain simply by starting a blog and gradually discovering a writer's voice. J-schools' best hope for success might actually lie in teaching ethics to students because this is something you can't easily learn on your own. You need some guidance.

Tell us about your occupational path to your current position at MarketWatch.
I wrote for my college paper (at Stony Brook) fairly obsessively. I started out as a summer intern at a paper called the Buffalo Courier-Express. I loved working there - nothing can take the place of covering the police/fire/hospitals beat. This gave me loads of practical experience - in a hurry. Then I came back home to the New York area and worked in Manhattan, writing for McGraw-Hill business newsletters for a few years. I moved on, in succession, to USA Today, Investors Business Daily and BusinessWeek. I then co-wrote an expose on American Express for Putnam and freelanced (including a piece I'm especially proud of, a profile on Emily's List, for the Sunday New York Times Magazine. It was published on May 2, 1993 - but who remembers those details, right? I joined Bloomberg News and stayed for six years, until 1999. Then I came to my senses (hee hee) and got a job writing for a Web publication. I've been a reporter/team leader/columnist at MarketWatch (formerly CBSMarketWatch). I've worked as a full-time columnist, covering the media, since January 05. Whew. I'm exhausted just thinking about all of the boxes I've had to pack so far in my brilliant career.

What's the most challenging part of having a column?
The biggest challenge is finding good ideas that can (hopefully) interest and inform the readers on a regular basis. I write three columns a week, so it requires a lot of thinking. I once interviewed a New York Times columnist, who told me, with a big smile, "Hey, we only have to write two a week." Hmmmm.

Media criticism seems to work both ways--in doing my research on you, there have been a few posts on other sites critiquing YOUR media critiques. Do you take these commentaries seriously and/or let them influence you, or do you largely ignore them?
All three. If someone wrote a 100% slam-job on me, for instance, I'd tend to ignore it because, quite obviously, the writer wanted to make a point by making me look bad. There was no real intent to give me a fair hearing. I once took a class at Medill called Arts and the Press and the professor (Peter Jacobi was his name) told us that a critic should try to give his or her subject the benefit of the doubt, unless the person has ripped off the audience by not being prepared or showing up drunk or something like that. I've always followed that suggestion as I write about media people. They are usually doing their best in a difficult situation, and deserve some measure of respect, you know, if only for trying. I'd rather zing someone with light sarcasm instead of writing what would amount to a hatchet job. I tend to take someone down who is acting especially pompous or self-important. Of course, I imagine, some people might accuse me of doing that right now.