Shorts..

On the quest for the (mythical) heroic leader (via The Independent):

Human beings are invariably flawed. Every person who is capable of moments of greatness is also capable of cruelty or stupidity. The only way to check this is for us to be constantly watching each other – even the best amongst us – and to never be blinded by admirable acts. We will never reach a point where we find the good leader and can sigh, sit back, and relax. If you care about the state of the world, you have to keep watching and pressuring and fighting, forever.

On social responsibility (via Alertnet):

[Is it] time for Media Social Responsibility? (something analogous to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in which organisations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, employees, communities and the environment).

[Sally Begbie in a recent conference] quoted Boutros Boutros Ghali - "CNN is the 16th member of the Security Council" - and while making clear that agencies must remember that the media always has ratings and readership to consider, she asked whether it was time for journalists to take on the idea that they too have a responsibility to give the voiceless a voice.

Here is details of the conference.