The News About The News: Sep 7, 2008

Breaking news in Dallas County

Sunday, September 7, 2008

By: Sara Crouse

High school students have a tendency to resist all things law enforcement related. Whether it’s because they are breaking the law or just feel the cops are particularly too noisy, teenagers seem to avoid law enforcement. Just how do the cops get young adults to speak about the things corrupting today’s youth?

Law enforcement officials are required to seek out breaking news and investigate, much like reporters. However, it is difficult for law enforcement to know all the goes on in a city, especially the hidden activities of youth. Yet, officials may have found a new reporting tactic, a technique known very well to high school students, called text messaging.

High school students in Dallas County, Iowa now have the option to send a text message to an anonymous hot line about issues like underage age drinking and partying. The technique has proven helpful in many other counties and states across the country. Dallas County still has yet to receive its first text message about illegal activities, but they hope the new technique will be less evasive than phone calls to report.

It seems that anonymous text messages to the police about the illegal doings of your neighbors may tend to be a bit far fetched, but this is the 21st Century. Privacy is little and hard to find in American. Next we may be convicting crimes based on text message responses, but that is a whole different issue in itself.

Sarah Palin, not a top notch journalist

By: Erin Floro

John McCain chose Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in the election. She graduated from North Idaho College with a Journalism degree. Funny though, no one has ever heard of her. When reporters went back to the 5 colleges she had attended no one remembered her and no one thought she was a stand out student. Furthermore, she hasn't presented herself as either a good journalist or a promising vice presidential candidate. Her choice not to take journalist questions or voluntary media contact at all allows the public to make their own answer and reaffirms what they already thought about her. It is the same as answering a question with "No comment" and she as a journalist should know that.

Guilty!

By: Shauna Agan

One of the major headlines in the media is about missing 3 year old Caylee Anthony. Although she has been missing since July, issues surrounding this case still make front pages and national news.

With all the media interest and allegations that the mother, Casey Anthony, was the person who killed her daughter, it brings a flashback to another high-profile case a decade ago. In many ways this case can be compared to JonBenet Ramsey’s murder in 1996.

In this particular case, the media went in search of evidence when the police wouldn’t give them what they wanted. From the beginning it was assumed that the parents, John and Patsy Ramsey were guilty of killing their daughter. Suggestive allegations like the parents would rather talk to the media rather than the police, there was indeed to footprints leading to the house and no forced entry, and that the Ramseys sexually assaulted their daughter drew in readers and boosted ratings for the media networks.

After a long, grueling investigation, both John and Patsy Ramsey were proven innocent. So, the question raised was did the media embellish facts and take things too far? I mean after all, there were many inaccuracies in the media reports and also because of headlines, the parents were wrongfully accused. To this day, I couldn’t remember if they were proven guilty or innocent until I conducted a Google search on the case. The media left a lasting impression on me that they were guilty when in fact they were innocent.

The media is now showing suggestive headlines about how Caylee Anthony’s mother, Casey is the murderer in this murder mystery. Sound familiar?

The media has a duty to report the facts and portray important stories to the public in a true fashion. Suggesting evidence and pointing fingers at suspects is not part of their job descriptions. It misleads the audience. Although the suspect might actually turn out to be guilty, in our democracy, people are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but the media sometimes jumps the gun straight to a guilty verdict creating a bandwagon for the public to join.

I believe it should be said who suspects are, but suggestive wording and misleading stories should not be used. The way things are now, suspects might as well wear a giant ‘M’ on their shirts for ‘murderer’ just as Hester wore an ‘A’ for ‘adulterer’ in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter”.

US Magazine's Politics

By: Sarah Harl

It may have come as quite a surprise to writers at the popular gossip magazine US Magazine that their cover featuring Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin generated so much controversy. The cover features Palin and newborn son, while the bright yellow headline proclaims "Babies, Lies & Scandal". Not only did the cover provoke a record number of comments on the magazine's website, but it also incited outrage when compared to the magazine's cover featuring Democratic nominee Barak Obama and his wife Michelle. While the cover featuring the Obama's talks about how Michelle shops at Target, watches Sex and the City, and why her husband loves her so much, the Palin cover, however, showcases her young daughter's pregnancy, and new and embarrassing surprises about the governor's family.

Now, to say that US Magazine is known for it's political reporting, would be naive, at best. It's encouraging to see that a magazine that normally covers Britney or Brad and Angelina would feature both parties major political parties candidates. However, if this magazine is going to continue to report on political issues and candidates, it is imperative that they focus on reporting that is more factual, truthful, and tactful than what they have shown with the differences in these two articles. In no way should the Palin article have talked about new and embarrassing stories about Ms. Palin's family. They are not the Osbourne's with a television show making their lives available to public scrutiny. I understand they assume some of this now with their mother running for vice president, but they should be subject to the same treatment as the Obama children, and this clearly is untrue in the case of the US covers.

I understand that US is new to the world of politics, but hopefully through this completely classless display of biased political opinion, the magazine will realize that readers want and deserve the facts presented in a tactful and respectful way, and attacking a teenager who made a mistake and a baby with down syndrome is a shameless way to sell magazines.

News Immediacy: Helping or Hurting

By: Christina Woldt

This Sunday evening, I finally had a moment to sit down and watch some educational television. I turned to MTV to watch the Video Music Awards (VMA’s.) The pre-show of the VMA’s promptly started at 7:00 p.m. central time. I watched all of the celebrities and musicians walk down the red carpet in their flashy suits and dresses. After about 30 minutes of the program I proceeded to check my e-mail and log on-to MSN to check up on the latest news. On the front page contained the headline,"Looks from the Red Carpet." I was literally watching these stars come down the red carpet at the VMA’S as I was browsing through pictures of them on the red carpet” at the VMA’s at the same time! Now that’s what I call IMMEDIATE! Now, of course these are just uploaded photos and bylines, it’s not necessarily a lengthy researched article that makes the New York Times front-page news. But, the saying “News travels fast” could never be more true in today’s journalism. I understand how photos and bylines are easy to post on the web in seconds but, what about when it is news that really effects us, like the number of death’s a tornado caused or facts of a local school shooting. These stories need to be accurate as well as immediate. The problem with this is that journalists are so focused on getting their story out that they neglect to check the facts in their story. I’d rather wait another hour for important news that is accurate than get my news right away that may have false information. I understand some journalists make mistakes in their articles but I also strongly feel that it should be more important to write accurate articles than to turn in an article before all the other journalists that may contain the wrong information.

He Kexin

By: Quinn Albrecht

Let’s take a trip back to August 2008. I know, who cares about the news from so long ago? This was so stunning and amazing that I had to write about it. Think back to the gymnastics performances. How can some of those athletes be 16?

To participate in the Olympics you must meet a minimum age requirement of 16. All through the Olympics there have been discrepancies of some of the Chinese girl’s ages. The whole time it was just speculation but they proved their age with passports to the IOC.

One person, Stryde Hax, seemed to think that the Chinese were not telling the whole truth with their ID’s. So he did a little research, and found that He Kexin’s name had been removed from the search source Google. He then searched an engine from China. This yielded a list of names that competed in the Olympics, and they had He Kexin listed at some 14 years of age, need I remind you, is well below the proper age of an Olympian.

This man has blogged, on the Blogger website mind you, about this issue for quite a long time. Once he found some evidence the media picked up on the issue as well. The New York Daily News picked up on the story. This then caused the IOC to do some research on the ages of five young women.

This brings me to my point. Don’t sit back and watch the news happen. Go out and make the news happen. This very site was the cause of the International Olympic Committee to do research on the proper ages of the women. With a bit of work and determination you can make a difference in the world of news.

New Website Demotix is Launched

By: Allison McNeal

Calling all journalists! A new outlet has opened for journalists, who are either just starting their career or those who are professionals, on the Internet.

This new Website, called Demotix, allows citizens to submit news videos and images, and in turn, these individuals get paid for their news stories from other organizations that want that particular story.

In all cases, individuals get paid 70 percent for each photograph or video image. Demotix.com also states that non-exclusive rights for a photograph could be sold at $80 to $1,600 and a video $500-$600 per minute. Exclusive rights for a image or video could be sold for $100,000.

This Website almost sounds too good to be true, which is exactly what the two founders, Turi Munthe and Jonathan Tepper, want to convey. According to journalism.co.uk, these men want "to give freelance journalists the opportunity to showcase their work and forge links with mainstream media." They also want this Website to become the place for citizens to turn to get their news.

Vivian Norris de Montaigu, who has a PhD in Cinema Studes and has studied Globalization and Media, voiced her opinion about the lack of news that was being reported in the United States and felt that citizen journalism needed a boost away from companies that reported stories just for profits. She met with Turi Munthe in London and believes this Website could break barriers for citizen journalists.

Demotix.com could be the answer that many individuals are looking for. Journalists all around the globe could profit from this inventive site as well, including our Beginning Newswriting and Reporting class. It is very important to know what is going on the in the world and how to be well-informed journalists. It seems like this Website could help give students a starting point and improve their journalism skills.

I believe that this Website could become a huge sucess for citizen journalists. Demotix allows individuals to showcase their pictures and video clips of a news story, which gives them experience and recognition for their work. The site goes to show that citizens are a very important part of news and that executives are not the only ones that have a say in society.

In the meantime, citizens will hopefully watch and see how this Website continues to grow and prosper in the coming months and years to come.

Private Life Vs. News Story

By: Jessica Hamell

Should Sarah Palin’s personal life be kept out of the news? She is the republican candidate for Vice Presidents is anything really meant to be kept under wraps if your name is in such high standings? Although this story sparks great debate topics on Sarah Palin’s political views such as teaching kids abstinence instead of “sex ed.” the present day journalists are treading a fine line on what is ethically the right choice.

If Palin really didn’t want everyone to know her daughter was pregnant she would have left her at home instead of taking her to the republican convention. It was 100% Sarah Palin’s choice to make this into such the big deal that it has become. This should be a private matter just for the family and close friends to know about but the choice was made and Palin accepted opening up her private life to the public eye. I do feel sorry for the young girl but once the election is over and everything calms down her life will go back to being close to normal and this story will be forgotten about.

All around this wasn’t a choice that Sarah Palin made it was a choice that Bristol Palin made and although I know it will happen, Sarah Palin will be criticized and examined for this choice and it could either help or hurt John Mccain’s campaign. So I guess in the end we will find out if John Mccain and Sarah Palin made the right choice by making this such a big news story.

What to expect

By Kellie Green

Journalists choose the randomness names to title the people they are talking about. In an article published by CNN , in their entertainment topics, it talks about Russell Brand and how he is going to host the MTV awards. However, the reason most people will be drawn to the article is its headline "Wacky Brit ready to grab America through VMAS." Reading the name "Wacky Brit" draws someone in that might be expecting something completely different then what the article is about. It is a little misleading. In this case someone may be hoping the article is about a crazed Brit they are going to be ab;e to see at the Video Music Awards. However, it is about Russell Brand hosting the awards. The writer of this article sees him as "Wacky" because of his style and personality.
In another article, published by CNN, the writer talks about the actor Shelley Malil and his charge with residential burglary and assault with a deadly weapon. The title of the article is "New charges for '40 year old Virgin' Actor", which sounds like they are referring Steve Carell. More people would be interested in hearing a story about Steve Carell then Shelley Malil. So again the article is misleading because it is just drawing the readers attention through the headline. The reader is thinking they are going to read about someone they might be interested in or would find interesting, however they come to find out it is not what they expected at all.

Sports journalism: Getting the facts straight

By: Hannah Pickett

In today's NFL game, Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots, the outcome on the scoreboard seemed to be irrelevant after NFL MVP Tom Brady was escorted off the field by a pair of trainers with an injury that sat him out the remainder of the game. The media claims that Brady is the face of the Patriots. Minutes following Brady's game-ending injury via Bernard Pollard tackle in the first quarter, ESPN reported to its online readers that Brady tore his ACL.

The outcome of the game-the Patriots defeating the Chiefs by a score of 17-10, was irrelevant due to ESPN's premature release of injury. Of course it was exciting for New England fans to see the Patriots defeat the Chiefs with Matt Cassell stepping in for Brady, but the desired interview and release of information was from either Brady or his trainer.

The released information from the Patriots' coach, Bill Belichick, was unsubstantial, saying that he had nothing to add to the fact that Brady had a knee injury.

MSN reports that Belichick said, "They're looking at him, doing some tests on him, so I don't have any information there," the coach said, cracking a smile as he added, "doubt anybody's interested."

The fact that ESPN had reported Brady suffered a torn ACL that would bench him for the rest of the season stirred up a lot of commotion for NFL fans; online, especially. ESPN automatically removed the report from their website that stated Brady tore his ACL and replaced it with a story titled, "Brady's injury unclear: suffers knee injury and Pats don't sound optimistic."

Fox Sports' report on Brady's injury and the game outcome-just stating the facts, no speculations- had 810 posted comments regarding the injury controversy at the time of this post.

The uproar that ESPN's speculated injury report caused shows the importance of only stating the facts when it comes to journalism. It is important in all journalism, but is rarely thought about in sports-there is a game winner, there is a loser. In this case, the winner and loser wasn't as important as getting the facts straight with a star quarterback's injury.

Social Networking Could be the New Reporting Tool

I didn't think it was possible, or even reliable for that matter, but apparently one reporter has decided to start using social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, among others, as resource tools when it comes to his work. On the surface, such a tactic has "unreliable" and "lazy" and "questionable" written all over it; after all, since the various controversies with MySpace, and the generally frivolous nature of such sites, one wonders what useful thing could be derived for a reporter from social networking websites? However, Khristopher Brooks points out that such websites help him track down stories, sources, and more often, contacts. Now, granted, Brooks is an education reporter, mostly using an originally college student only website, and his contacts are typically students, but this could be the beginning of a new form of journalism.

After having considered what seemed originally a shady and questionable tactic in reporting, I now realize that Brook's method of finding interviewees and contacts on sites such as Facebook makes perfect sense. As pointed out in the article about this new method, Facebook actually catalogues a multitude of listed qualities of a person's profile. Assuming they fill out most fields, and allow their profile to be found in searches, a reporter like Brooks could easily find anyone he needs for a particular story. For example, if he might be doing a report in a change of curriculum for business administration students, and needs contacts and student interviews, he could search on Facebook for anyone with business administration listed as their major. He could even narrow it by sex and age if he desired. Brooks says this allows him to cut researching times from hours down to minutes when it comes to finding contacts, and so with this in mind, and where everything else is going, I have to say this could be a new form of journalism, or will become an important tool of it at the least.

While Brooks admits many older editors are still very wary of using social networking sites as methods of research, he points out that he does not use information from the site for his stories, but only uses it to contact people for possible interviews, which are still conducted face to face. As long as this remains a standard in journalism, using social networking sites could prove invaluable in the future for reporting. Social networking sites are very practically a giant online phonebook, only instead of just a name and number and address, this phonebook might also include information on your age, sex, major, institution of study, what your hobbies are, your political views, and even your relationship status and religious views. Why wouldn't a journalist use something like this for finding leads and contacts for stories?

Dirty Little Secrets

By: Jessica Hartgers

The Republican party is on the rise, and it looks like for the McCain campaign negative attention has resulted into positive attention. After hearing detailed secrets about vice president nominee Sarah Palin and her family, the storm has began to calm and the talk has turned to an upbeat tone. New poles that previously showed a marginal lead out of the democrats now show that the lead has decreased to one percentile, putting the republicans in better position than before the drama.

The tone of reporters and journalists around the nation has been on a roller coaster ride the last few weeks with the republican party.

A month ago, before the conventions, the race was calm and steady. When the Democrats announced their choice for the vice president position there was minor uproar, and the decision was a safe one. On the other hand, the Republican party went out on a limb and chose someone with baggage. This baggage caused the roller coaster to flip upside down, twist, and turn in all sorts of different directions for the republicans. After the Republicans had their convention the roller coaster ride of journalists and reporters seems to be near the top of a steep hill just one step and one percentile away from the top of the hill.

I think that our nation needs to understand that Sarah Palin is human. She is a human who has a large family and cannot completely control the actions of her daughter, but what does any of that say about her abilities to help run this nation?

Journalists and reporters have powers that are extremely high, and their words have effects that are unmeasurable. They are the people behind the words that have the responsibility and the duty to make the stories, but they are also the ones who get to mold the words.

Chance For Fame

By: Kelsey Knutson

Over the past month we've heard the sad story of the missing toddler, Caylee, in Florida who' s mom has no answers, and worse yet, doesn't seem to really care. The missing girl was apparently missing long before the mother ever said anything about it which leads to many suspicions. However, my point is, does all this media hype and attention going to all of these negative stories glorify wrong behavior?

This specific story is only one instance where the media buzz over the tragic deaths and stories of others. We all know that crime and death sells. However is there a difference between a story and glorification? Should we give these criminals the air time they crave?

We need to stop glorifying tragic events that happen all over our country. For example Columbine, the Oklahoma City bombing, and Virginia Tech. The Virginia Tech murderers made film prior to their spree in hopes of the world seeing it, and then we showed it. Those people don't deserve the lime light from the media; don't reward them.

Tell a story, spread the news, and inform. We shouldn't glorify the malicious acts of criminals.

Sports in the Media

By: Katie Schaefer

A lot of kids in the class are into politics, so we get a lot of blogs about politics. I decided to switch it up a little bit and blog about sports. Everyone has their preference about what they like and enjoy reading about, and for me it just happens to be sports.

I have an internship with KCCI this semester in the sports broadcasting field. Going into it, I was thinking that it wasn't going to be very hard, just tape the game and edit highlights later to put on the news. Boy was I wrong though. Sports is huge in the media world. A lot of people want to know exactly what happened in the game if they didn't get to see it. It's my job to show the public the best plays of the game and to explain what happened. If you get a score wrong on the news, everyone is going to know and they are going to be mad when they find out later.

If I'm doing a story on a specific player, I have to get all the facts straight or the public is going to come after me, and our ratings at the station could go down. Another thing is to figure out what games are going to make it on the air. I only have about 6 or 7 minutes on the air to show all of the games in the state, so most likely not all of them are going to go on. That's another thing that upsets the public.

Even if you aren't into football or sports for that matter, there is one game out of the year that everyone pays attention too. The Iowa/ Iowa State game. There is going to be so much competition in the news room to see who has the best coverage of the game and who is going to get the best highlights. Every station sees the same game and gets the same great highlights, so it's up to the news reporter to come up with the best way to give the information out to the public.

Sports may not seem like it's as important in the news as say politics, but to each it's own. I would much rather read the sports page, and someone else would much rather read the Iowa Life. I think sports should maybe get more time on the news, but I can't change that I guess.

Online Television is on the Rise

By: Alex Jones

Watching your favorite television show online, rather than the Web is becoming more popular. As more people are turning to their computers for their viewing pleasures television companies are focusing their attention on the Web.

ABC, CBS, and NBC are concentrating more attention on their Web sites in promotion of their new upcoming series for the fall. The television company's Web sites and YouTube are the two largest sites used when viewing television online.

Finding what you need on the World Wide Web, rather than in more traditional methods such as newspapers or television, is a growing trend. One I intend to follow, accessing information, television shows, etc. is so much more convenient.

One perk of online viewing is the advantage of watching your favorite television show at a time that works for you. A must have in a day and age where people are constantly on the go and do not have the time to schedule their lives around their televisions.

Journalism through cell phones

By: Taylor Browning

A major sign of advancement and growth within our world is seen in the development and improvement of technology. Now the problem is, this technology may be dumbing down the general public one click at a time. Cell phones have come a long way from their original function of simply making phone calls. Today more and more mobile companies are now working with news organizations to bring the news right to the consumers, through their cell phone.

The iPhone is a great example for news being brought straight to the cell phone. People are capable of visiting many different websites within minutes and can therefore find the sports scores, traffic alerts and restaurant listings they are looking for. However, this 'to the point news access' over cell phones is what is ultimately hurting journalism because that is all people are looking for, sports scores and word puzzles.

Journalist are adapting to this news medium making shorter, to-the-point articles. It worries me however to think that I am missing out on important news simply because it was too long to fit on a cell phone screen. Every news article is linked to main pages making the fight to provide the news based on catchy headlines, video clips and sound quality. Yes, the linking of stories makes it easier to find what you are looking for, but much of the things you learn from the news is by accidentally hearing it or skimming over a story. If someone wants to know the football score, that is all they will get. There is no opportunity to pass by other information and learn from it.

Although people are getting less information, there are a few good things about receiving news through cell phones. The plus side to the24/7 news medium is that the impact of the news is wider. People in Middle Eastern countries are now able to get the news they wish even though they do not have access to a computer. Also, surfing through links to get stories makes it faster and easier to get ashort text content provided. This sample text is then leading towards more paper subscriptions to magazines and newspapers for those who may not have wanted one before passing through it on their cell phone.

Journalism is now in a world where the consumers have control of the news. Until technology grows to accommodate full length articles on cell phones, the public needs to stick to a more through way of receiving their news. Those buying the newspaper only for the word puzzles and comics can now skip the hassle and go straight to the source, but those looking to receive actual news stories with impact, its a better bet to stick to the newspaper.

Choice words in the locker room

By: Gabe Gilson

With college football just starting to come under way, this got me excited about what is to come in the next few months. No, not only am I looking forward to the hard hitting action on the field, but also the shenanigans that may take place in the post-game media room.

Being a sports writer these days is a tough career. Just ask Jenni Carlson. Almost a year ago today, the writer for The Oklahoman published an article about struggling quarterback Bobby Reid for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The event that occurred the day after the article was published is still a popular search on youtube even today. Head Coach of the Cowboys Mike Gundy did not really appreciate what Carlson had to say. His following 3 minute and 29 second rant to the media included the following statements:

“That’s why I don’t read the newspaper, because it’s garbage!”

“Come after me! I’m a man, I’m 40!”

“Don’t write about a kid that does everything right, that’s heart’s broken and then say that he’s scared. That ain’t true!”

“Get your facts straight!”

In the article, Carlson wrote that Reid was the most talented quarterback on the team, but his attitude was the reason he was not starting for the Cowboys. The article she wrote was true almost to the bone. However, Gundy disliked the style that Carlson belittled Reid in. While it is not really fair for Carlson to say such things about an amateur athlete, the freak-out by Gundy may have been a bit far.

Football is not the only sport where writers have to beware though. This past June, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Brett Myers had a confrontation with a reporter interviewing him after a loss. Myers gave up a homerun which decided the game for the Phillies. Afterwards, he should have most likely declined an interview.

Myers asked the reporter where he thought the pitch was. The reporter told Myers he thought the pitch was on the outside corner. Myers told the reporter, “Yeah, cuz you’re a retard. You don’t know s*** about f****** baseball.” The reporter decided to strike back with, “how do you spell retard?”

Of all the things the reporter could have done, asking an angry athlete who just insulted your intelligence how to spell the word that insulted you may have possibly been a bad idea. It turned a verbal altercation into a physical grudge match in the locker room in which grown men had to hold back other grown men. The reporter should have just left the interview but at the same time, one does feel the need to defend himself.

This is why in sports writing, reporters really have to be careful. While sports writing is an interesting career, and something that I would want to do, I really need to watch what I say. The last thing I want is an ego larger than mine calling me a retard and telling me to get my facts straight.

Editing Politics

By: Adrian Aitken

Personal contact with politicians is a rare scenario, even more so when the person you hope to talk to is running for president. Due to this issue the vast majority of Americans must rely upon national media coverage for information regarding our candidates. What if these sources are not entirely accurate and, more importantly, inaccurate for a cause?!

Recently on Sept. 4 Obama appeared on the Bill O'Riley Show for an interview on presidential issues. One topic to surface dealt with the war in Iraq and the troop surge in which Bill tried to get Obama to admit he was right about not going to war but wrong voting against the surge. Barack responded defending what he had said efficiently.

Gov. Palin commented after the interview that she had been right about Obama's stand early on. David Wright, a reporter for ABC's World News, presented a segment which had edited the O'Riley interview just right to project the image that Barack had claimed to be wrong.

The media needs to watch their cropping a little more carefully because how am I supposed to trust a unbiased news source with a hidden agenda?

The life of a politician

By; Sarah Keller
As the 2008 presidential election nears closer and closer there is even more gossip in the news, magazines, and newspapers going around about the candidates and their families. If you ask me I do not believe that it is good gossip, or even worth while gossip to listen to. There are more important issues at hand than what Cindy McCain wore at the Republican convention as reported by ABC news. When I went to ABC news.com on Friday to check the top headlines for the day, the article about McCain was the second headline on the home page, there was not even a top news story about hurricane Hanna at that time. The picture that ABC news was painting just seemed wrong to me, surely there were more vital issues in the world going on than the out fit that the potential first lady was wearing.
Instead of reporting about how Sarah Palins 17 year old daughter is pregnant, which every newspaper I have come across has reported about, such as abc news , maybe newspapers can try to start discussing more pressing and important issues such as what does Sarah Palin stand for, or believe in? I know that she does not believe in abortion, the article that slate.com wrote about discussing Bristal’s pregnancy makes that very clear, but yet again it was an article about the pregnancy, and making a slam on Sarah and her family. Surely the news can find better issues to discuss rather than the fact that Sarah Palin attended 4 different colleges which The Des Moines Register wrote about on Friday, September 5, 2008.
Even comics are having a fun time making cracks about Palin and her daughter, the article that I discussed about earlier from ABC news, talks about that very thing; they are comparing Bristal to Jamie Lynn Spears. The news and even comics and magazines are having a fun time comparing presidential candidates and families with Hollywood stars and their gossip, but I believe that the news needs to find more important issues to discuss, and try to start straying away from Bristal’s personal life. There are far more imperative issues that the world needs to hear about instead of silly gossip and personal embarrassment.

Unfair Journalism

By Lexie Hagerty

News is supposed to be reported fairly and truthfully. Yet, there are many cases in which journalism is biased in its choosing of information to provide. Lots of penalities can be distributed for a media source if it does not provide efficient and truthful information. However, there is no penalty for a media source to simply not provide certain information.
Andy Fixmer reported on Bloomberg that during this year's conventions, channels geared towards black audiences like Tv One and Black Entertainment Television aired Barack Obama's acceptance speech but did not air John McCains. These channels failed to provide full and complete coverage of the acceptance speeches, making them seem in favor of Obama due to his race.
This obvious intentional resistance of providing information has been caught, but I am certain this is not the only incident. It makes me mad to think how many times I could have been lied to by the media. I wonder if things would be different today if the facts were always given.

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