Risky Responsibility

"I am hiding. Death has come."

These are the last words spoken by BBC journalist Ahmad Omed Khpulwak in a text message to his brother before he was killed by a United States' soldier in Afghanistan this past July. Khpulwak was one of 19 people to die in a fight that erupted between American forces and the Taliban after an attack on an Afghan television station.

Determined journalists travel abroad every year, risking their lives in countries plagued by war and destruction, but are getting these stories worth risking it all?

Khpulwak was only one tragic example, but journalists put themselves in the way of danger all the time. Seventy journalists were killed around the world in 2009, the highest death toll recorded in the last 30 years. War, hurricanes, gang violence, prisons, and drugs are just some of the frequent risks journalists take.

Many may doubt the sanity of journalists willing to cover dangerous situations, but these reporters simply believe that getting the story is worth it. A story means gaining a new knowledge that can be shared with the world that without the dedication of journalists would remain unknown. This knowledge gives journalists the power to influence decisions made around the world and provides a strong check on government. Journalists with the passion for truth and the longing to teach others are willing to undergo danger to share their story, their knowledge, and their influence. To all journalists who have died in pursuit of truth, may they be honored with our full respect and gratitude.

Photo Credit: Senior Airman Steve Czyz

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Journalist Arriving on Facebook

On April 5th, Facebook announced a new Facebook page called "Journalist on Facebook" that is designed and dedicated to helping journalist use Facebook as a reporting tool.

Last fall Facebook announced a similar page called Facebook and Media. So, you think "Well, it's the same thing right?" Not exactly. Just as the title says the page Facebook for Media is geared towards just media.

On the other hand, Journalist on Facebook is all for and about the individual journalist. It's main existence is to help journalist use the power of Facebook for journalism.

It does this with Facebook-provided best practices and peer collaboration from a big community of journalism professionals.

It seems that Facebook took the time to make this page a worthwhile experience. They have polling and discussion options that will grow in activity, video interviews with top journalist, and even a registration tab to be notified of journalist meetups in local areas. They even give you a nice "Get Started" guide to help new journalist.

Now, it may be easy to assume journalist know how to use social media and if they're using Twitter they probably do, but this new way of using Facebook goes beyond Twitter and offers more opportunities for journalist in general.

This is just a great chance to learn from other journalist giving more innovation and great content to use. Journalist can promote their content, become even more independent, and accumulate their fan base.

In my opinion, this is just a win-win situation for everyone and especially for journalist. Some people believe that this is just Facebook finding a way to compete more with Twitter, but is that really a bad thing if they are?

What do you think? Is Facebook just doing this for competition? Can Facebook be a good resource for Journalist?

Photo Credit: iloubnan.info via Creative Commons

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Writing Ethically

In New Mexico, a tribe banned a newspaper from its reservation because the newspaper ran a graphic article entailing the details of a tribal member's death.

This is relevant to our news-writing class because should the writer of the article disclosed the details of such a horrific manner?

I think the writer made a mistake by doing so. I don't know if any of you have had to go to a funeral home to plan the arrangements of a lost family member, but I have.

While there, you plan out what you'd like the obituary to say, which includes whether or not to include how the person died.

I know that some journalists view how a person died as hard news, but some events are probably hard to relive by reading about them later on.

Precautions should be taken to protect such outrage from occurring like the anger the tribe in New Mexico is feeling.

I feel the tribe has every right to ban the newspaper from their reservation because more than likely it's private property.

The writer shouldn't be fired though, but they should think about what they did to cause such disruption.

Feel free to agree or disagree. I'm open to comments.

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Former Israeli Soldier and Journalist Arrested

Former Israeli soldier turned journalist Anat Kam has been held under secret house arrest by Israeli authorities based on allegations that during her service she leaked classified military documents suggesting that the Israeli army violated laws related to targeted killings, reports Jewish and Israel News.

Kam was working at the Israeli website Walla at the time of her arrest, partially owned by Israeli news source Haaretz. Kam is alleged to have photocopied sensitive documents, which are believed to have served as a source for a 2008 Haaretz story suggesting army violations. Kam has denied all charges.

The arrest has been under a gag order in Israel, which prevents many details of the case from being publicly released, including the prosecution's reasoning for seeking a 14-year sentence, considered harsh in Israel.

Although Israel has a long-standing history of supporting freedoms of speech and the press, there is a taboo against relaying information attained while in military service. The fact that Kam was an active officer at the time she allegedly photocopied these documents may work against her.

The 2008 article revealed the existence of documents that defy the 2006 Supreme Court ruling against the assassination of wanted militants who might otherwise be arrested safely. Another document reveals that an Israeli general permitted open-fire procedures upon identification of any of three leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, even if it were not apparent that they posed a dangerous threat. Another document reveals that troops were only to withhold fire if they were unable to identify "more than one" passenger in a targeted vehicle. Both these orders violate the law, according to Haaretz's expert sources.

Dov Alfron, editor of Haaretz, denies any linkage between Kam's arrest and the 2008 article.

"Haaretz asked the court to lift the gag order, not just in the public interest but also to allow us to defend ourselves from this absurd allegation," says Alfron. "More than a year passed between the publication and her arrest, a year in which Uri Blau published several other front-page articles criticizing the army's conduct."

Both Kam's lawyers and the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment.

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False Thoughts of Demand Media

Journalists everywhere have begun debating whether Demand Media is truly bad for journalism. It turns out that Demand Media is actually better for journalism. An odd thought considering that it is hurting social media more than actual journalism. The question most might have right now though is what Demand Media is. Demand Media is founded by former My Space CEO's Richard Rosenblatt and Shawn Colo. The company started out buying abandon domains and websites. They then acquired Puck, which founded Blog Burst.

The reason people fear this as a threat to journalism was the fact that it was somewhat of a "fast food content." This was saw as a threat since people who actually took time and effort on their articles, would be pushed out of their bussiness. This has touch nerves in Jeff Jarvis and others who do not consider the fact that their blogging is dealing with marketing content, unlike that of which tends to disrupt journalism. So Demand Media seems to become the next step in the ever-changing field of journalism.

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Tough Job Market for New Journalists

While the future of journalism is evolving into such a broad branch, there is the actual difficulty of actually getting a job in the field of journalism. Most people are becoming freelance writers in this industry, and so a recent article was published informing those who have become freelance writers, what are some keys that they would be advised to do to successfully get their work published.

Flexibility is the key, when going into this field. You are not able to get the positions that are hoped for and that is why flexibility is important. Recently a 2009 graduate of University of British Columbia decide to actually go abroad to find work in the journalism field. She worked for the company Journalists for Human Rights, a Canadian non-profit company, for about a year. After that year she returned home and received a year contract as a reporter with CanWest News Services, which is a wire service for many Canadian newspapers.

It also means that you might not go to your field you want another student from UBC, began as a TV reporter but now is reporting on the radio. She hope to eventually return to television, but as of right now she feels that it will not be any time soon. The job market for journalist seems to be making it more difficult to get the job in the field you want. It is more of becoming a entrepreneurial business. People have to get themselves out there than depending on companies to do it for them.

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