The News About The News: 12/01/2011 - 01/01/2012

MLB's Media Dress Code

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

No closed-toe shoes, no pants, no reporting.

According to ESPN W, Major League Baseball released a what not to wear list for reporters. Banned clothing includes visible undergarments, flip flops, muscle shirts, short skirts, tank tops or anything with a team logo.

It is a shame that the MLB had to take actions into its own hands. This dress code shouldn't be necessary.

If any of the banned items were worn in the office, the employee wearing said clothing would be considered unprofessional and in need of changing room. Just because journalists are on the sidelines or at a training camp doesn't mean that they can let professionalism stop at the cubicle.

Real world reporting may have a more relaxed look to it, but journalists are still on the clock. Their attire should reflect their professionalism.

Photo by Paleontour

Tabloid Journalism is Contagious

New Campaign Coverage

Presidential campaign coverage may look a little different here in 2011 and into 2012 than it has in previous elections. An article on Mashable reports that more Republican candidates are reaching out through media outlets, specifically social media, instead of appearing in public town halls and other campaigns.

The Des Moines Register shows that the appearances in Iowa by GOP candidates is low and that is affecting how local journalists can stay on top of coverage. Iowa, being the first state to caucus, is usually heavily targeted by candidates because of the implications that Iowa's vote has on the rest of the caucuses and primaries.

Kathie Obradovich, the Register's political columnist, says "It's hard to find candidates interacting with voters in a real natural way." She has been covering presidential campaigns for 15 years, and says that campaign tactics have recently changed from town hall gatherings to Twitter.

Journalists have to react to this change and take advantage of the immediacy that Twitter and other social media sites provide. Additionally, Twitter forums allow for participation and questions from readers. Obradovich, for example, has begun live tweeting campaign events.

With the changing platforms for news outlets, journalists need to make sure that they react quickly and use these platforms to their upmost potential.

article via: http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/in_iowa_covering_a_new_breed_o.php

photo courtesy of Creative Commons

Reporter Breaks Embargo with Sony

A film critic for the New Yorker, David Denby, recently broke an embargo with Sony Pictures after previewing their new movie The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Denby had agreed not to run his review until December 13 but, went back on his word and published it his magazine's December 5 issue.

While an embargo is often worth the paper it is written on, which it isn't, it comes down to honoring your word as a journalist.

I highly disagree with Denby's and the New Yorker's decision to run the review as it is a clear use of deception to gain access to journalistic information before their peers.

They site that there will be a lack of space available in the magazine due to the amount of "important" movies coming out through the end of the year.

What important movies? I'm sure they're talking about Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked or We Bought a Zoo, right?

Denby needs to face fact; he lied in order to prescreen a movie and violated an embargo in order to be first to publish.

In my eyes he has lost credibility in the journalistic world an it will be a while before he gains that trust back.

Words are not just Words

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The FBI is moving to redefine the word rape. Currently is it defined as a female forced to engage in sexual activity.

Female activists feel this is way over due because it has not been updated since 1929.

Due to this, there are many unreported cases of rape.

The FBI has moved to make the new definition "penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim."

The new definition now accepts that not only women can be raped, not always forcible, rape by relatives and now non-vaginal/ penile rape.

Also this now allows more arrests of offenders than before.

Why a Newspaper should Promote Itself

The newspaper is a business, and this must not be forgotten. Their priority, first and foremost, is to sell papers and turn a profit. If a news organization cannot do this much, then it is just a matter of time before that company done.

With this in mind it is a bit of a surprise to me that the newspaper spends so little on advertising, it is a product after all. Just like any product, people will not buy it unless they feel a need to, so why are newspaper companies holding back.

An article on Mashable points out that on average, newspapers spend less than 1 percent on advertising, which is interesting in comparison to the 14 percent Coca-cola spends. Coco-cola is on peoples minds, and in their hand because they take the time and money to promote.

Keeping this in mind, it is no wonder the print newspaper is dying. People are simply forgetting about it. If a newspaper is not willing to spend some money to promote itself then how can they expect people to be drawn to reading it.

Newspapers need to spend a little more money on their advertising in order to remind people why they are still important.

Photo Courtesy of Photo Bucket

The Dreaded Words: "Talk About"

Many of the questions reporters ask to professional athletes after a game are asked to get an answer that will make a headline.

Today's post-game interviews consist of a room full of reporters and camera men all asking different questions, one right after another, to an athlete or coach.

No conversations are held during interviews anymore because after one question is asked, the next topic is brought up by another reporter.

The lack of knowledge reporters gain from these types of interviews is small, so what happens is a quote can be taken out of context and sound negative when it was actually not.

"It's a headline-driven world, and what I said provided a headline," said Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. "That's why I'm guarded, cautious. I don't want to accidentally give bulletin-board material. If someone asks me about a player, I say, 'He's a great player.' If they ask me about a coach, I say, 'He's a great coach.'"

Other athletes have been saying the same things when it comes to interviews. They are going to be more boring and guarded with what they say in fear it will be turned around and used against them for a headline.

An article by Tim Keown of ESPN The Magazine discusses the new type of interviewing.

"For better or worse, the post-interview age has created a generation of athletes who are overcovered but underreported," Keown said. "In the end, perhaps this much is true: If nobody asks any questions beyond the obvious, maybe nobody needs to ask anything at all. We see more and know less."

People are gaining more information from these types of interviews, but it sometimes can be inaccurate when taken out of context.

Photo- http://arkencounter.com/blog/2010/12/08/announcement-draws-international-attention/

Plagarism Occurs More Than We Think

Angelina Jolie and the producers of her directorial debut, “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” plagiarized the work of Croatian journalist and author Josip J. Knezevic to create the film’s screenplay, Knezevic claims in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

As the Chicago Times brings up a good point about plagarism, I think plagarism happens more than we think or want to beleive. Students, teachers, employees copy and paste everyday without citing. People, including me, don't think copying a simple sentence, picture, or short article is a big issue.

However, a simple act as we like to think, can cause huge lawsuits which can damage peoples reputation. Jolie did this same mistake. According to Chicago Times this movie will show only little clips of the movie and with rack in few cash as well.

The sad thing about this lawsuit towards Jolie is that plagarism happens very often and very frequent with famous and non-famous people. With Jolie being famous it caused more attention and more feedback on this lawsuit than anyother person.

I don't see this lawsuit ruining Jolie's future or acting career but I could see it putting a negative view on her as a person until this is all out of the media. Chicago Times article on Jolie did a fairly good job on showing Jolie as a positive role model still and not blowing the whole lawsuit out of portion.

Plagarism is something that more people should take seriously. The charges, fines, and lawsuits can become out of portion. Jolie unfortunately is in the media more than she would want because of acting in a moving which involves plagarism.

Overall, I see this article becoming less and less important to the media. Jolie will still be a successful actress and viewed in a positive manner to most people.

Videoblog #2

Over Ran With Advertisements

CNN, Mashable, National Geographic, Forbes, and many others have been dubbed distracting websites that are flooded with advertisements that hide the actual content of the sites.

This causes the website to become very busy and discourages the reader to 'find' the actual content of the site to read. Plus these advertisements could cause problems such as constant pop ups on the readers computer.

I feel a little disheartened with this situation and believe that major news sites are only focused on one thing, money. If they really cared about the reader's thirst for news, they wouldn't have so many advertisements trying to seek revenue with every click of the reader.

works cited: www.poynter.org ; www.creativecommons.org

Televisions in the Courts

The U.S. Courts are modeling themselves after Great Britain and Canadian courts: They may being broadcasting Supreme Court hearings.

Sen. Richard Grassley (R. - Iowa) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D. - Ill.) introduced of the Cameras in the Courtroom Act of 2011 have fired up a debate about the potential effects of television Supreme Court hearings.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D. – Minn.) opened the discussion by stating citizens have “the right to see how the court functions, and to see its rulings” because “democracy must be open.”

On the other side of the argument, Chief Judge Anthony Scirica of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, was reluctant to allow cameras into the federal courts. “Co-equal branches of federal government have long-respected each other’s authority to govern itself.” The Supreme Court already is “transparent,” he argued.

If cameras are allowed to capture the Supreme Court hearings, the public would have complete access to the rulings and be able to gain a better understanding of how the courts come to their final rulings. This may allow citizens to gain a greater trust in the courts.

Five Ways To Read The Paper And Keep Your Sanity Intact

Today's newspapers are filled with negative articles. Huffington Post lays out five ways to read the paper and crack a smile while reading some depressing articles.

First method is to read the headline and add naked at the end of it. This allows readers just to smile.

Second method the foreign press, which is reading the newspaper backwards. In doing this readers stay away from the more depressing articles up front in the newspapers.

The escapist method is basically taking the newspaper and turning it into modern art.

The Jon Stewart Method is pretending to write for the Daily Show. This method is to joke around with the news to lighten the mood of the article.

The last method is the hamster, which is using the newspapers as a way to catch the droppings in its cage.

These methods show that the newspaper is dieing and becoming boring. The newspaper is boring and these methods are trying to lighten the mood of the depressing news.

Warren Buffet Plans To Buy Omaha Paper

Monday, December 5, 2011

Warren Buffet Plans to Buy Omaha Paper

Sunday, December 4, 2011

For years The Omaha-World Herald has been a employee owned paper. However Omaha native and billionaire Warren Buffet and his company Berkshire Hathaway are purchasing the paper.

Buffet told his shareholders two years ago not to buy newspapers because they face a possibility of unending losses. However Buffet believes that the World-Herald is doing it's job reporting to the community. In a meeting with with the company shareholders Buffet said, "I wouldn't do this if I thought it was doomed to some sort of extinction."

Buffet is offering the World-Herald $200 million for the paper. The final decision will be made by a vote by 275 employees and retirees who own World-Herald Stock.

The World Herald is excited about this. They believe that by being locally owned they will be able to continue great journalism.

One point that may come as a concern and has some employees skeptical is that Buffet may try to influence the news coverage, especially that about Berkshire Hathaway. With this as a concern the World-Herald is confident that he will not try to influence what is in the paper.

The New Town Hall

Michele Bachmann speaking to voters in Indianola, Iowa this past summer.

Social media has set a very different tone in the world, impacting numerous things- one of them being presidential campaigns. The Columbia Journalism Review reports that journalists, especially Iowan journalists in the caucus state, are being challenged by less and less personal access to candidates and are dealing with campaigns releasing the same amount of information to everyone. In past years, candidates held town forums, where local journalists and townspeople could go and listen to their arguments and policies concerning the presidency. Now, with the popularity of Twitter, news and announcements are so instantaneous that candidates have apparently felt little need to build grassroots campaigns from the ground up in Iowa.

One tricky side effect sneaking up on journalists is the retweet. Such widespread campaigning with little variety from state to state leads to retweets of candidates, or even competitors. Other uses of Twitter include livetweeting candidate's speeches during the event.

Twitter has definitely made an impact in the political bubble. Journalists need to be much more aware if what they are covering is real news or not. Losing personal addresses from candidates to voters should not fade away because of what technology has brought, but should instead be enhanced by the new technology.

Photo credit/Kate Hayden

MuckRack.com

Saturday, December 3, 2011

"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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