The News About The News

Too Much Bieber Fever

Monday, November 7, 2011

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.

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

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

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

Andy Rooney Dead at Age 92

Sunday, November 6, 2011

The famous 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney died Friday night at the age of 92 in a hospital in New York City.

He died of complications from minor surgery which was undisclosed.

"It's a sad day at '60 Minutes' and for everybody here at CBS News," said Jeff Fager, executive producer of "60 Minutes"and the chairman of CBS News.

Rooney had announced on Oct. 2, 2011 on "60 Minutes" that he wouldn't be appearing regularly anymore on the show.

Ever since television has been around, Rooney had been involved in it. For 60 years he was with CBS. 30 of those years he was a writer and producer for the show.

Rooney said he was never comfortable with being the television personality that he became. and according to an article on CBS.com, "He preferred to be known as a writer and was the author of best-selling books and a national newspaper column, in addition to his '60 Minutes' essays."

Rooney was known for his essays in which he delivered at the end of every "60 Minutes" episode.
These essays would generate thousands of responses from viewers or the show.

The topics these essays were about were very controversial. One particular comment about homosexuality led to getting him suspended from his job on "60 Minutes". But his loyal fans demanded him to be back on air and ratings dropped 20% when he wasn't.

“I’ve done a lot of complaining here, but of all the things I’ve complained about, I can’t complain about my life.” Rooney once said. And he considered himself lucky to have lived such a life and if he were to live life over again, he said he would live it exactly the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkZ4yKHwrsc

The Dangers to Journalists

When Colombian native Jineth Bedoya Lima became a journalist, she'd never imagined it would lead to her biggest nightmare. At the age of 26, Bedoya was kidnapped, raped, and tortured while following through a story on Bogota's maximum-security prison La Modelo in May 2000. She was drugged and taken from the prison, and repeatedly raped by three different men. A taxi driver later found her hours away bound in a garbage dump near a road.
"We are sending a message to the press of Colombia," Bedoya recalled them saying.

Bedoya is not the only one to live with this. The U.S. and the rest of the world's eyes were snapped wide open when CBS correspondent Lara Logan was attacked last February at Cairo's Tahrir Square during celebrations after taking down the Egyptian dictatorship. And it's not just violence against women. Pakistani journalist Umar Cheema has publically disclosed that he was stripped naked by men wearing police uniforms and violated with a wooden pole in 2010.

Sexual violence against journalists is not just violence against one person- as if that isn't bad enough. When journalists are targeted, it is an attack on the freedom of the press and the ability of the journalists to do their job. Lauren Wolfe, blogging about it for The Atlantic, interviewed and quoted Logan after Bedoya's case was advanced to an international justice commission.
"An attack in retribution for your reporting speaks directly to the First Amendment. It's terrifying in a different way. In her case, justice is critical because if you're allowed to attack journalists with impunity, there will be no free press, especially if the government is involved," Logan said.

Sexual violence against members of the news media is about more than personal suffering. It is meant to silence members of the press to keep them from bringing to light suspicious and criminal activity. The journalism industry must be more aware of the effect this pain brings on its staff and better prepare it for confrontation, both for the journalist's safety, and the industry's freedom of speech.

Photo credit/Chuck Coker, creativecommons.org

Building Trust in Journalists

Lately I have been reading a lot of about the publics distrust in media organizations, studies showing that they are at record highs. With this in mind a new website has been created for journalists called NewsTransparency.org.

This site allows the public to get to know those who produce their news better. It is comprised of “journalist profile pages”, which are different from a typical profile page

Similar to the way Wikipedia operates, anyone can add or edit information found on a page. There is also the option to write a review on the journalist, and a collection of the journalist work is available.

I think this is really great idea in today’s journalistic age. You always believe information from those who you trust. Getting to know a journalist better, and seeing what others have to say about them can help build this trusting relationship.

At the same time though, this site could ruin a journalist. Too many bad reviews or negative comments could end a career.

Another hope of the website creator is that NewTransparency.com will improve the quality of journalism by holding people accountable.

I think this kind of program is a step in the right direction for strengthening people’s trust in today’s media.

Photo Courtesy of Photo Bucket

Scandalous Scoop

Secrets lead to scandals. As journalists, we feed off of this basic formula for our biggest scoops.

According to an article from The Huffington Post, the identities of the women who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment remain anonymous. This adds to Cain's politically scandalous story.

As a reporter covering the Cain development, a few legal issues are present.

First off, the choice to grant anonymity is a double-edged story. For some sources that is the only way to get them to talk, and without them there would be no story. On the other hand, because the source is unnamed, there is less accountability placed on the source to be accurate and a greater level of scrutiny on the journalist to have the facts instead of lies.

Thus far, only the attorney for one of the accusers has commented on the case. Joel P. Bennett, the attorney, said that his client will stay anonymous and decline interviews. Due to her silent approach, he said, "I could be on TV 12 hours a day easily," Bennett said. "I could be on CNN eight hours alone. Meet the Press. ABC. Next week, I'll be a nobody again."

Bennett brings up an interesting point. The public loves a good political scandal whether it be 'Weinergate' via Twitter, Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton, or Herman Cain. However, will the press care in a week?

Clinton was reelected after the Lewinsky scandal, but Weiner stepped down after his Twitter fiasco. Cain topped the polls when the sexual harassment allegations hit the headlines. Will he be able to recover?

Photo by Gage Skidmore

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.

News on the Go

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Despite advertising and circulation woes, newspapers found out some good news last week when Pew Research Center revealed a survey that indicated good news from those who read their news via their tablets.

Although most readers are still unwilling to pay for news, those who use news applications are much more likely to pay for content than those who get their news from a browser. 27 percent of "mainly app users" have paid for news, while only 5 percet of "browser users" have.

Those who use apps are "power users," showing that they are more likely to read more news more often and also pay for the news.

The survey, which included 1,159 tablet users, also found that tablet users are getting news from sources that they did not previously read. 40 percent of responders said that they are reading different newspapers than before they had a tablet. USA Today and CNN were the top new sources.

As newspapers continue to rely more on tablet readership, they need to target these readers, especially the "power users." By enhancing the effectiveness and quality of the news apps and by allowing some free content, more readers will likely make the jump to app reading.

Photo courtesy of www.creativecommons.com

Holiday Clichés Should Stay out of Headlines

The holidays are around the corner but the typical Christmas clichés in the headlines such as "'tis the season" should stay out of the headlines.

"Chestnuts roasting by an open fire are fine, but they should be kept out of copy and headlines," cautions master copy desk chief John McIntyre of the Baltimore Sun.

In his article titled The Holiday Cautions McIntyre lists off some of the typical holiday sayings that should not make it to the headlines.

"'’Twas the night before' anything: 'Twasing is no more defensible than ’tising," says McIntyre. "And if you must refer to the Rev. Mr. Moore's poem, if indeed he wrote it, the proper title is 'A Visit from St. Nicholas.'"

McIntyre also puts a halt to the Grinch stealing anything. When a house is robbed or any Christmas related items are stolen, "Grinch steals" needs to remain out of the headline.

Some of the other clichés he mentions in his article to not use are any "Yes, Virginia" allusions, and he states "Any 'Christmas came early' construction is right out."

The parodies of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" are a no go, and anything that has bah or humbug needs to be deleted.

These sayings offer what seem to be creative headlines for the holiday season, but instead they are overused or do not resonate with the reader.

NPR firing over Occupy Wall Street

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

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.

Timing Your Tweets For Success

Monday, October 31, 2011

It is a simple game plan when it comes to Twitter. The more people your tweets reach, the more established you can become as a credible source of news.

In this article on Mashable.com, Leonhard Widrich explains three apps that help you track the timing of your tweets.

The apps serve as a way to observe when tweeting would be most efficient for you.

The apps use a multitude of data in order to decide when your tweets would be most effective.

Everything from followers tweet times and density to number of retweets is tracked in order to determine optimal tweet times.

While there is no solid data that tweeting at certain times will help up your followers it certainly can't hurt anything.

The most important aspect of your tweets is their accuracy. But, if no one sees them are they really doing their job?

Sourcing for your tweets is another important part of tweeting. Variation is the key so people don't get bored with what you have to say.

In this case timing may not be everything but, it isn't something to be ignored.

Diversity Workshop Celebrating 30 Years

An article by the NYDailyNew.com, covered a journalism workshop, helped to shed light on the struggling problem of diversity in newsrooms.

New York University's annual Urban Journalism Workshop is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year. The workshop, offered to high school students around the country, is a week-long program that provides students with a crash course in newspaper reporting, writing and editing.

Program coordinator, Pamela Newkirk, spoke of diversity issues several times in the article, emphasizing the alarming decrease of minority journalists in recent years. The numbers in the aforementioned article placed the decrease at .82 percent; further showing that while African-Americans make up 15 percent of the population nationally, they only represent 4.68 percent of newsroom jobs in the United States.

While this article's main focused appeared to have been on the Anniversary of the workshop, I found the purpose of the workshop to be far more important. The numbers presented about the presence of diversity in journalism were alarming, and it would appear that if something is not done quickly, these numbers will continue to decrease.

Thus, it is great that the workshop is still running and able to celebrate a 30th year; however, the purpose of the workshop is far greater and it is important that their mission be carried out. If not, journalism, and all it stands for, is once again at risk of failing completely--as I have repeatedly stressed in my previous blogs.

Amy Winehouse: Dead or Alive?

When you look in the paper, on the internet, or check your emails the first couple headlines you see are most likely going to be about Amy Winehouse. Amy Winehouse is dead and died a while ago. Her coverage over why she died, her new release, and her childhood are getting old and not newsworthy anymore.

"The world will finally get to hear her music as she leaves the world unexpectedly" says MTV reporters. These types of headlines fill the media still today. The media is not covering her death on TV as much today but the internet is still filled with Winehouse's death.

In the eyes of an audience member watching the media forces me to believe that sometimes journalists don't know what to write about so go back on old deaths such as Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse. Yes they lived a great life and produced great music but when is enough, enough?

In todays time, journalists should be covering the world series, the war, the president elections, Halloween drama, and the list goes on. Personally I like to hear about current news and don't want to dwell back on deaths and old news.

Lastly Amy Winehouse was not a Michael Jackson, Elvis Presly, or Madona. Amy was a pop singer who was average. She didn't have sold out shows or number one hit CD's. Therefore the media not only needs to stop Amy's intense coverage, they also need to realize that she wasn't a huge artist.

Rebelling Against Establishment

Here is a prime example of a journalist going for what he deems 'newsworthy'; however, does it come at a cost?

Jason Mattera, who wrote an ambush interview on Vice President Biden, is the new subject around Washington.

"I don't really care what the Washington establishment says," says Mattera who is the editor of Human Events. "If they want to give me affirmation or condemnation, it doesn't matter to me. My audience is not D.C. It's to get it ricocheted around the country."

I find those very encouraging words, that you don't have to focus on the one area you are living at to have your audience, but to branch out and aim for people all around the world.

Picture: creativecommons.org
Article: poynter.org

Rachel Smith Videoblog #1

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Reassessing Opinion for Journalists

For years journalists have wrestled with the idea of not voicing their own opinion in their stories.

Technically, journalists are giving up their freedom of speech.

If journalists are involved in the stories that they are writing about why are they not allowed to voice their opinion in what they are talking about?

The example given was Occupy Wall Street and all the writers involved must not include their lives in the stories.

Also, if a journalist “likes” a politician on Facebook, must they like all other candidates?

Is it not time to admit that we live in an age where it’s appropriate for journalists to also have an opinion? We as people also need to recognize that these people are not drones who report the news on a daily basis.

Journalists have been fired for voicing opinions and one example is CNN Senior Editor and Middle East expertOctavia Nasr was fired for having posted a sympathetic remark about an alleged terrorist on her Twitter account. Regardless of the fact that this man was a terrorist, why was this grounds for firing Nasr?

If we are to keep assuming that journalists do not have an opinion, does this not prevent our culture from moving forward intellectually?

http://gigaom.com/2011/10/26/its-time-to-admit-that-journalists-are-human-beings/

Staleness in the News

The look of televised news programs are similar from station to station. The basic news program consists of a lead anchor, or anchors, and a team of reporters who present prepared video and sound bites to the viewing audience.

Recently, at the National Press Club luncheon, Harvey Levin, creator of the celebrity news website TMZ.com, exclaimed to his listeners that broadcast news delivery is "stale."

Levin discussed how broadcast journalism has used the same formula to present viewers with the information for the past 40 years and suggested "you don't need the middleman as much anymore." Aka limit the time the anchors and reporters are used.

Levin suggested new stations focus their cameras on the newsmakers themselves. Levin discussed how the newsmakers are much more compelling than the anchors or reporters, and by focusing more, if not solely on them, televised news programs can freshen their look and increase their appeal to viewers.

Levins speech raises an important point about broadcast journalism: What is the importance/role of anchors and reporters? Do viewers require an individual to present and summarize information the newsmakers, other sources used, and video footage can be edited to display.

Anchors and reporters bring character to the news. They help build the credibility of a station and maintain accuracy in stories. Without them, it could be difficult to air hard news stories such as crime, politics and other controversial topics in a way that removes biases and is accurate. Anchors and reporters are very much needed, but news stations should remain open to new, more interesting and compelling ways to report the news.

photo by roger4336 from creativecommons.com

ACLU Sues LA Sheriff's Department

Are security issues enough to prevent a picture from being taken? No, says the American Civil Liberties Union. In fact, they believe so strongly in the right to photography that they sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Thursday, saying the law department has been harrassing both amateur and professional photographers who take pictures in public places.

The First Amendment Center published an Associated Press wire report on its website detailing the harrassment. According to the report, sheriff's deputies have harrassed many different photographers within two years, by stopping them, frisking, and in some cases threatening arrest. The photographers in each case had been taking pictures of public buildings, parks, and facilities. The problem with that, according the deputies, was that taking pictures of public spaces is a sign of a possible terrorist threat. One photographer was even asked if he was "in cahoots with Al Qaida" before being frisked.

Has it really gotten to the point that all photography of public spaces is suspicious? Then, wow, we have a lot of trouble. Teachers taking pictures of class trips to the zoo. College students taking pictures of their first trip to Washington D.C. Middle school students taking pictures in the gym at their public school dance. The difference between these scenarios and the cases being described is simple: the photographers are alone. They stand out.

Photography of high-risk public property is not itself a threat, and should not be treated as one. The ACLU has a list of photographer's rights on their website and advice on what to do if you are stopped or detained while taking photographs. Freedom of speech is not limited to simply the freedom of speaking or writing. It provides the freedom to see.

Photo/Mike Baird, creativecommons.org

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