MuckRack.com

"Thousands of journalists are using Twitter to research stories, break news, find sources, and keep tabs on their beat...Don't be left out of the conversation."

This is the tagline for the website muckrack.com, a site founded by Gregory Galant in 2009.

By developing this website, Galant hoped to answer the question, "What if you could get tomorrow's newspaper today?"

This website tracks thousand of professional journalists on Twitter and other social media sites and shows what news topics are trending.

This is a very useful tool for media professionals, particularly those in public relations.

The website filters and analyzes how journalists are covering the news in real-time and emails users when journalists tweet about relevant terms.

So for example on Dec. 3, the top topics most tweeted about by journalists were the death of news sportswriter Allen Wilson, the New York Times' interview with Sandusky, and Herman Cain.

For each topic, it gives a little paragraph description and than the tweets by journalists about the topic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-5HDZUrh54

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Twitter Engagement

Journalists and news organizations primarily use Twitter to broadcast links, and they rarely ask for audience input or retweet others.

A study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism focused on tweets by top newspapers, broadcasters, websites, and individual journalists.

The key finding is that news organizations use Twitter in limited ways. The main use being linking to their own material.

Ninety-three percent of tweets by news organizations link to their own articles while just two percent asked for audience input, and just one percent where retweets.

Individual journalists had about the same percentage of links and retweets.

Fox News had the most audience interaction on Twitter with 21 percent of tweets seeking feedback and 44 percent retweets.

Fox also increased its followers the most rapidly, maybe because of their Twitter interaction approach.

The New York Times had the least amount of audience interaction on Twitter.

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Covering an Outbreak

It is difficult to cover widespread diseases when people are panicking and false information is flooding the Web.

Journalists who cover this beat work hard to keep people informed and calm when covering disease such as AIDS, swine flu, malaria, and avian flu.

When there is an actual pandemic, the biggest problem is the confusion.

The first thing people want to know is how the disease will affect their family and what they can do to prevent getting the disease. The journalist's job is to tell the truth about the number of deaths, the dangers of the disease, and what can be done about it.

One problem that arises when covering a pandemic are the methods taken to avoid the journalists from contracting the disease.

Journalists should always take masks and gloves. They should also receive any shots available to prevent getting the disease.

The most reliable sources for diseases are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

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NPR firing over Occupy Wall Street

Caitlin Curran, a freelancer for "The Takeaway" which is co-produced by NPR-member station WNYC and Public Radio International, was fired from her radio show after her boss discovered pictures of her participating in the Occupy protests.

The station claims that since they are covering the Occupy Wall Street protests, having employers participating in the protests violates their editorial standards and every ethic of journalism.

Curran's boss saw a picture of her holding a sign that paraphrased text from "The Atlantic's" Conor Friedersdorf.

This story is similar to the firing of Lisa Simeone from NPR after it was revealed that she was working as a spokesperson for Occupy D.C.

Curran's and Simeone's stories shows how far the people of NPR will go to prove they are not a liberally biased program.

It goes against individual rights to fire people just because of their participation, on their personal time, in a non-partisan movement.

Americans have the constitutional right to protest freely without fear of punishment.

Journalists' jobs are to report the news in an unbiased manner, but what they do in their free time is their decision.

Journalists should not have to alter their lifestyles for their jobs.

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No Joke, The Daily Show is News

Twenty-one percent of adults age 18-28 cite that the "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" is a place where they regularly learn presidential campaign news, but is "The Daily Show" reliable?

A study by Indiana University found that "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" is as accurate and newsworthy as traditional broadcast network newscasts, which includes ABC, CBS, and NBC.

Political jokes, including bashing Michele Bachmann for saying she is proud to be from the same city as a serial killer and joking over the meaning of Rick Santorum's name, present the news in an interesting way that keeps audiences engaged.

Although the first goal of "The Daily Show" is humor, there is still substance to the show. Stewart interviews substantial news makers such as the president of Pakistan and presidential candidates.

In 2002, news was made on the show by John Edwards announcing that he was going to run for president in 2004.

A second-by-second study of "The Daily Show" found that there is considerably more humor than substance in the show, but Stewart insists that he is a comedian, not a journalist.

It was noted that broadcast network news stories about the presidential elections are significantly shorter than are the stories featured on "The Daily Show" so the amount of substance per story is not different.

There is nothing wrong with being entertained while learning about current events. Without "The Daily Show" many people would not consume any news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbXpD7bj5rg

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Minorities in Media

Stories featuring minorities in print and broadcast media have always been limited, causing some minorities groups to discontinue their consumption of news that they cannot relate to.

The Internet was suppose to fix this problem because it is has unlimited space and publishers.

Online culture is not held back by the institutionalized habits of legacy newsrooms, and this is a post-racial society.

Coverage is expected to cover all different lifestyles, including class, race, geography, generation, and gender.

A yearlong study by the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education examined mainstream online media and identified the coverage of different minority groups.

The conclusion was that online media still has the same problems as traditional media when it comes to covering minorities.

The Huffington Post featured the greatest diversity of stories. Salon and Slate came in last with the fewest stories covering diversity.

African Americans are the minority most covered, although many of these stories are about celebrities and athletes. Stories about Hispanics tend to focus on the issue of immigration.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, minorities are 36 percent of our population, but this statistics doesn't correlate with the amount of coverage minorities receive.

Photo Credit: Joseph Girmay

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Google's Job in Improving Media

The journalism industry is shifting from old media to digital, which has been influenced by real-time social media tools like blogs and Twitter.

These websites allow anyone to be a publisher, leading to some news being unreliable. Legendary TV newsman Ted Koppel suggested at a recent Goggle event that it is Google's duty to fix this problem.

Koppel said that too much of what passes for news is trivial and sensationalistic. Media outlets spend too much time on what news people want instead of what news they need.

The idea is that Google will filter its news feed to focus on the most important news. Google has made steps to secure that their posts are from professional websites by using stories from longtime standing old media sources such as The New York Times.

Google News is the first source of news for many people every day. Since it is such a widely used website, they should feel some sense of responsibility to inform their audience of what is most important to their lives.

Stories about the Casey Anthony trial and Nancy Grace's nip slip are interesting but have no real impact on people's lives.

People need to be more informed of issues that will affect their present and future, such as the presidential race and foreign aid policies.

Photo Credit: Aaron Morrison

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"Show don't Tell"

Getting the perfect photo to complement any story is vital, but photographers need to know their constitutional rights.

When in a public place, photographers have the right to photograph anything in plain view. When on private property, the property owner sets the rules.

Police officers cannot confiscate or demand to view photographs without a warrant. They can also not delete photographs under any circumstance.

If a photographer is stopped by a police officer, always act polite and calm. The photographer needs to ask the officer for the reasons behind being detained.

Photos, just like written stories, give new knowledge to their audiences. They also provide a check on the government.

The First Amendment guarantees photographers the rights to shoot whatever they find useful, as long as they don't break any other laws, such as trespassing, while doing so.

Photographs can do something articles can't. Photos physically show the situation, and evoke strong emotions. The rights of these people need to be protected because they are doing their community a great service.

Photo Credit: Maddie Boswell

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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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