Too Much Bieber Fever

As teen sensation Justin Bieber has become girls favorite pop star, the media should think twice about who they put on TV and who they put on their cover page of magazines.

Justin Bieber was accused of being the dad of a girls 3 month old baby. Bieber claimed to have no idea who this girl was but eventually triggered his memory. According to Entertainment News this pop star is everyone’s idol and dreamed about future husband.

The media, including Entertainment News, projects Bieber as a positive role model and possibly being a dad at 17 years old isn't positive. Teens have enough struggles going through life and don't need anymore bad influence than Justin Bieber.

Bieber could have easily had a one night stance and considered it "never have meeting this woman". The media is trying to cover up for the pop star because they don't want his reputation to be ruined.

Entertainment News media needs to cover more postitive celebrities such as Sandra Bullock, Carrie Underwood, Steve Carrel, and Shawn Johnson. The world needs people to look up to and be a positive influence.

Teen pregnancy, drug usage, alcohol abuse, and date rape can all be blamed on the media and celebrities because of how they project themselves. The whole society, especially teens, look up to famous people and when we watch them be daddy's of random women we then think it's ok to repeat that or walk in their footsteps.

The media should think twice about what they write about and what information will be read by young adults. We need to have a positive society and prevent simple people like Justin Bieber from being in the media as much as possible.

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Administrative Censorship

Journalism censorship is being brought to a whole new level. The Seattle School Board is considering to grant a proposal that would allow principles in the district to read high school news papers before they are printed and would be able to censor what they find disruptive to the schools learning environment.

An article in the Seattle Times says that this is the first time the district has tried to put restrictions on what school newspapers can publish. The Board is using an idea that has been suggested by the Washington State School Directors' Association. This group has been recommending this policy since 2001, but many districts have decided not to use it.

The main point of this proposal is to ensure that schools will not get in trouble for derogatory remarks or libel.

The biggest concern is that principles will take too much control over censorship and students will loose the ability to cover certain stories.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1988 through Hazlewood vs. Kuhlmeier that the constitution does not allow freedom of press to high school students.

Even though the Supreme Court has made this decision should school districts like Seattle be able to allow administrators to censor school newspapers?

Photo from: Creative Commons

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Beating Five Minutes

With the news focusing on the Occupy protesters all around the United States, but in one location, photographers should be careful on their time spent covering the news photography.

In Washington D.C., due to a "decades old law", it is an arrestable offense to be taking a photograph in a public place for more than five minutes.


With this new law, it is giving police more power to arrest photographers, during these Occupy events. But fear not photojournalist, the National Press Photographers Association are asking the State attorney to repeal or revise this law and other ordinances that limit photography.

Works sited: Poynter.org
Picture sited: creativecommons.org

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Journalist Honored After Badly Beaten

A Russian journalist, Mikhail Beketov, was nearly beaten to death in 2008 after investigating corruption in Khimki--a Moscow suburb; and is now, years later, being presented honors.

Beketov, currently recovering in an Israeli clinic, suffered severe brain damage--leaving him with an inability to speak in full sentences--the amputation of one of his legs, and the inability to use his hands after having his fingers bashed in. Even still, after receiving all of these injuries and coming out of a coma, Beketov was still required to appear in court to defend himself against slander charges.

Nevertheless, three years later, he is one of the recipients of an annual award for excellence in print journalism, bestowed by the Prime Minister of Russia--Vladimir Putin. And, while there is prize money granted with the award, it only totals to about 32,000 American dollars; which is no where near enough money to pay for Beketov's treatment, or the lasting physical/brain damage caused by his brutal beating.

Furthermore, according to the New York Times, the people who crippled Beketov--many of which are Russian government officials--are still roaming free.

Several of Beketov's friends and colleagues have spoken up about their beliefs that Beketov being awarded this prize is cynical. However, Dmitri Muratov, editor of the weekly newspaper Novaya Gazeta, who nominated Beketov, stressed that this prize is a state prize and that the money does not come from Putin personally.

Even still, there are still numerous doubts about the reasoning and the integrity behind Beketov's reception of the prize this year. The top human rights specialist from the United States State Department visited Beketov's colleagues near Khimki two weeks ago, promising to press the Russian government further on human rights.

When reading about situations such as these, I am that much happier that I am entering the field of journalism in America, where freedom of the press is truly a practice. However, it is also in reading stories such as this, that should serve as reminders to journalists, as well as the public, that as quickly as a freedom is granted, it can be taken away.

Beketov was simply investigating corruption, and now he has lost the function of a third of his brain. Current and aspiring journalists, as well as the American people, need to readily practice the First Amendment right of freedom of the press and question authority whenever necessary before it's too late.


Photo (Khimki Forest Construction): Courtesy of creativecommons.com

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