Tuesday can't come soon enough.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

By; Sarah Keller

Only in a matter a days we will know who our next president will be. Every where you look on the news it is discussing the elections, the candidates, and nothing but the next president. For instance everything on Google news today was over the election, there was only about five articles not over the presidential candidates on the web site.

To be honest I can not wait until Tuesday is over with. Don’t get me wrong the election is very important; I strongly believe that everyone should go out and vote, because every vote truly does matter, but I am getting really tired of hearing about nothing but the election. Everything you read in the news is about who said what about which candidate today. “Look at what Sarah Palin was wearing today.” “Listen to what Obama said today.” It is all getting a little old to me. Even while I am sitting here a commercial from one of the presidential candidates is playing on the television.

At this point I am really wondering if any big news story were to break out if any one would really know about it, because the only things you are seeing in the newspapers over the last couple of days have been about the election. So honestly after Tuesday gets finished with I will be a happy person, maybe I will be able to read about other things rather than “who is up in the polls today.”

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Cuts, cuts and more cuts

By: Katie Anthony

On my search to find a blog topic, the first site I checked was I Want Media. About halfway down the page, there are the titles of "Disney Execs Prepare for Possible Layoffs," "Electronic Arts to Cut Costs, Employees," "Metro Free Newspapers May Face Shutdown," and "CBS Eyes More Cuts as Ad Sales Drop."

As the economy plummets, obviously, so do job opportunities. However, this hit home with me.

We always speak about how the media industry is changing, and how it's becoming more and more online and less and less in print; which results in less required jobs.

While I realize that everyone will suffer from the current economy standings, society needs media. Without media, whether it's print or online, how are people going to hear about how the stocks are doing for the day, or who won the game?

Both presidential candidates have plans for improving the economy (two vastly different plans), but none of the necessarily mention how it's going to affect the jobs that are already solid right now. They say that there will be more job opportunities, but for people that have what type of degree?

How are people going to get quality news and information if the industry has to keep cutting jobs due to a lack of funds?

The answer is depressingly simple; people just won't get the news.

Without the news mediums, how would society function?

If the job cuts keep up, I have a feeling that sooner rather than later, we're all going to know how society would function in a world with no news mediums.

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Mother and daughter blues

By; Sarah Keller

On MSNBC there was an article about a mother and daughter who were more like best friends than mother and daughter, but the daughter decided to support Obama and the mother is supporting McCain, ever since this decision the two women have not been very close and have been fighting over this issue.

I am really glad that this article was written. It goes to show how intense the elections are, and how important it is that America selects the right president. I have heard that this election is one of the most controversial and most heated elections there have been. Either way that America votes we are either going to have our first black president or our first woman in office.

According to the article the election is splitting some families up, which I find too bad and sad. I can kind of relate to the mother and daughters relationship from the article. My Mom and I have always been very close, and have had a lot of the same beliefs on issues. I came from a very conservative family. My mom is going to be supporting McCain this election, where as I will be supporting Obama, just like the mother and daughter discussed in the article, but unlike the two women my mom and I still get along perfectly well. We listen to each others opinions as to why we are supporting who we are, without getting mad at one another. My mom and I won’t let our beliefs in the election split our relationship apart like the mother and daughter in the article.
It surprised me quite a bit when I read that a family that was so close was now in a big fight due to who they wanted to win the election, the article really opened my eyes to the controversies over the election.

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To reveal a source or not to reveal a source

By Austin Bates

Poynter Online recently brought up a story that the LA Times originally published concerning presidential candidate Barack Obama and his behavior at a party some six months ago. The knowledge of this party is largely obtained from a video given to the newspaper by an anonymous source. The story itself is of interest because of Obama's seemingly conflicted positions in his support of Israel AND Arab-Americans. Poynter Online brings attention to this story because a spokesman for presidential candidate John McCain is claiming now that the LA Times is intentionally suppressing information about the video's source, which for them could reveal more about Obama's relationship with members of the party, and, probably give them something to use against Obama in the continuing campaign for the White House.

Now, another reason this story is important, and that Poynter Online brings it us, is because of the issue of anonymous sources for stories, especially concerning politics. Poynter references the debacle with CBS and President Bush's supposed shirking of duties in the National Guard that lead to so much embarrassment for Dan Rather and CBS. In other words, anonymous sources can be excellent ways to make a story, but if what they have to offer is not verified, it can also lead to some seriously embarrassing admissions and apologies later.

One reason I found this article interesting is the questions offered on whether the anonymous source used for LA Times' story was appropriate. Kelley McBride, the author for the Poynter Online story, points out that, in this case, the video from the source was a good idea because it could not apparently be obtained any other way, and was crucial to the construction of the story (since the video was used for the description of the event Obama attended; the video itself as not been displayed to the public, possibly for fear of revealing who the source is). Further, McBride says, "If someone offered up a video that would document one of these events [the social event which Obama was recorded at], on the condition that he not be revealed as the source of the video, I'd advise a reporter to make that deal".

The questions come in at the end of the Poynter article, though, where McBride, rightly so, I believe, suggests that newspapers should be more transparent to their audience as to why the anonymous source they are using (or for that matter, any source) is trustworthy and accurate. McBride also suggests that newspapers be sure to provide reasons for why, if the source is anonymous, it is anonymous, and why the information they have is important to the story being presented.

In all, I found this article interesting, as I had been considering the issues of sources for stories in journalism, especially if they want to remain unknown. Now, of course this story is nothing of legal importance, such as the situations that have come up in my journalism classes, but the basic concept remains: how much are you willing to remain true to your word, and leave an anonymous source unknown? Under what conditions will this trust be granted? Under what conditions might this trust be broken? Revealing a source you promised to leave unnamed might not just damage their livelihood (maybe even life), but it could threaten your livelihood (or maybe even life) by having future sources be unwilling to give you information, knowing you broke promises in the past.

These are some interesting questions to consider for anyone moving into the realm of journalism.

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