September 23, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Does Google have a responsibility to filter out search results that may present links to information that is misleading or false? That's the question explored in a Christian Science Monitor story on Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who is concerned that some who Google his name may wind up with a distorted view of at least one of his positions.
Mark Tatge, Eugene S. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism at DePauw University, tells the Monitor, "Google has gotten too big," adding, "the playing field needs to be leveled in some way."
But he also notes that those who are in the public eye also need to have reasonable expectations. "I have no sympathy for politicians
crying over what people say about them ... There has to be some happy medium."
Access the story at the publication's website.
Tatge is a veteran investigative editor and reporter whose long career in journalism includes stints as Midwest bureau chief for Forbes magazine, as an investigative reporter at the Cleveland Plain Dealer's statehouse bureau, and positions with the Wall Street Journal, Dallas Morning News and Denver Post. He also serves as professor of communication and theatre at DePauw and was also quoted in this recent article.