Displaying the Death of Gaddafi in the Media

In the past week the death of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has made the headlines in the news and front pages of every news paper. Along with the stories some news outlets chose to show graphic images of Gaddafi after he had been killed. Now one of the major issues is whether or not the media should of displayed these pictures like they did.

In an article by Poynter, it shows how differently certain countries news papers decided to show images to go with these stories. Very few American newspapers actually showed Gaddafi's body after being killed.

In the newspapers in other countries some papers showed photos of Gaddafi before he we killed or photos of the rebels celebrating. However most of the newspapers decided to show the pictures of Gaddafi after being killed.

Is it appropriate to be showing these brutal photos of the death of Gaddafi?

Many people say that the tolerance of these images is starting to rise. In an interview for MSNBC Kelly McBride said that this is occurring because more people search for gruesome images then expected, then when they see them in the media it doesn't bother them.

The Week ran an article that saying that many news companies are defending their decision to show these images. They state that by showing theses photos they allow the public to know that Gaddafi is in fact dead.

Many people feel showing images like these in the media is now becoming unavoidable. The thing that the media needs to do now is decide how exactly to show these images.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzfX_0jtyJs

Heckled Geraldo

Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition and profanity. Most parts of speech are protected; however, cursing is not protected by the First Amendment.

An article found in The Huffington Post reported that Occupy Wall Street protesters swore at Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera. Rivera was covering the event for the third time. Fox News cameras caught a heckler shout the f word at the reporter.

Freedom of speech protects the right to say what one desires but profanity is not. This is because it infringes on another's rights. Swearing is like shouting "Fire!" in a crowded movie theater.

Journalists often report from the front lines to get the headlines. Reporters, like Rivera, try do their jobs, but citizens at the event did not agree with Rivera and Fox News's presence at Occupy Wall Street.

Regardless of intent, that protester did not have the right the yell profanities at Rivera. As reporters, we need to know our rights as well as the rights of others.

Photo by creativecommons.org

The Anyday Paper

According to Sara Dickenson Quinn from Poynter.org, Sunday papers just aren't quite what they used to be.

"'Papers seem to be taking fewer chances,' says Suzette Moyer, creative director of the St. Petersburg Times' Bay Magazine."

Instead of being the biggest and best, many Sunday editions are looking more and more like any other day, with little distinguishing them from a Monday or Wednesday edition.

Quinn outlines four possible reasons as to why newspapers are producing less impressive Sunday papers.

1. Job cuts in the newsroom. Jeff Goertzen, graphics director of the Denver Post, says that news design and graphics staffs are about half the size that they were ten years ago.

2. Designers and graphic artists have many more responsibilities. With more roles to fill, designers cannot commit as much time to front page spreads.

3. The average news hole is smaller than in previous years. Big, expansive investigative stories may not be occurring as often due to it being easier to break news.

4. Design centers are simplified in order to save time. Design isn't really an assembly-line situation, which is what most newspapers are headed towards. Design takes more time and thought, which is not afforded due to business decisions.

The front page is often what grabs a reader's attention. With newspapers spending less time and resources on the front page design, especially on frequently-read Sunday editions, the downward spiral of newspapers is likely to continue.

Photo courtesy of www.creativecommons.com

Advocate for Journalism Died

Laura Pollán, 63, died Friday from respiratory complications in Cuba at a hospital in Havana.

Pollán is well known for her efforts of seeking justice in human rights. 

Originally a Spanish teacher in Cuba, she was boycotted by the Cuban government for her work against it. She advocated for all the journalists imprisoned for work against Black Spring. Her own husband was one of the 75 journalists arrested during this movement.

The group started by Pollán is called the "Ladies in White," and these are women have had family members taken because of their voice. The goal these ladies had in mind was to oppose the Cuban government while wearing white. Showing that they are peaceful was the intention of the color white. 

Having a strong passion for what they were fighting for, they never allowed harassment from authorities to stop them. 

Often times, the authorities would try to prevent the members from being able to attend these weekly meeting and detain the women if they fought back. 

Having a big heart for others,  Pollan worked with CPJ to inform them of the travesties the families and detainees were enduring.

She started funds and raised money for those who needed it most and always worked towards freeing those in prison. 

Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons

"Sometimes they tell us, the Ladies in White, that we are brave women," she wrote. "We disagree: We've simply experienced so much pain and love that,without realizing it, we crossed that line between fear and bravery."

The Importance of Media Literacy

Social media is a prominent force today. One of every eight minutes is spent on Facebook and thousand of tweets are posted each hour.

With this in mind it is important as a journalist to be on top of it all. It is not enough to just know how to work a computer, but you must be 'media literate.'

Recently a tweet was released by Mashable that stated the wrong number, accidentally changing it from billion to million. This tweet was then passed on by a very prominent journalist, further spreading the false information.

Was this journalist being media illiterate by further spreading false information?

Although the spread of false information was not catastrophic in this case, it was a cause for concern.

Journalists today are expected to keep up with the constant flow of news information, and breaking the news is only half of it.

Todays media world calls for a journalist that is media literate.

Ten years ago being literate meant you could properly read and comprehend what was being read. Today it is different.

In order to be literate today, you need to be able to objectively look at tweets and blog posts and decide what is in fact, reliable. Apply those helpful critical thinking skills that have been developing throughout your life.

If a journalist cannot properly discern what is true and false, reliable or not, then they should be hesitant to inform others of the information.

Not only do journalists need to practice this, but every person should be discerning when getting their news. People need to take caution and understand that any average joe can spread the information.

As the saying goes, don't believe everything you read.

Sunday looks like Monday

Like in the movies or old black and white sitcoms, Sunday morning rituals consisted of a cup of coffee at the kitchen table with the Sunday paper in hand; however, due to newspapers taking fewer chances, the Sunday paper is starting to look a lot like any other day of the week's newspaper.

There are four main points why this is happening, which are:
1. There are major cuts in every area of the newsroom.

2.The designers and graphic artist are doing more jobs in the newsroom.

3. The average news 'hole' has gone down since 5 years ago.

4. The design centers are simplified due to business decisions to save time.

I found this article very interesting and agree that the front page design of the paper means everything. Its the first kick-start to get an audience into the world of the news. I believe we should head this warning and start working harder to regain those people back into that world.

Picture: creativecommons.org
Aritcle: Sara Dickenson Quinn from Poynter.org

Wikileaks Needs Donations

Governments today are trying to stop the media from sending out top seceret information to the pubilc.

Don't the people have the right to know though?

Wikileaks is a website that provides information about government activites and presents it to the public eye.

Recently though Wikileaks had to shut down there website due to the lose of money over the last year.

In this article, linked here, reads a statement for the reasons Wikileaks needs to raise money.

Wikileaks says they are being forced to shut down because of the US fincance companys are trying to control what they do.

Wikileaks is asking for help by accepting donations from active users and anyone to raise the money to get the website back up and providing information to journalist or anyone that wants to know what the government is doing.

Why is the government trying to hide these things from the people? I believe that the government thinks that if the people have this information the people might be able to go against the government or sell the information to others that might want to use it against the government.

Wikileaks is providing information to the people, information that most people would never see in there life time. By helping donate money to Wikileaks, the people can get the information they want about the government.

Turkey Takes the First Steps

Devastating and tragic events happen all over the world at any time. Most countries take pride and start cleaning up right away after a disaster.

However when New Orleans was hit by a hurricane and when Parkersburg was hit by a tornado they waited for the government to take action instead of taking pride themselves.

Turkey recently had a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the eastern part of Turkey. Most of the eastern side of Turkey was wiped out leaving 264 deaths and 1,300 people injured reported CNN.

Surrounding community members were devasted but never gave up hope for missing family members. Turkey citizens took the first steps of cleaning up by piecing through debri.

Citizens worked day and night cleaning up this mess never once waiting for help from their government or other countries. Due to many health service builings collapsing and houses destroyed people gathered at a camp fire to stay warm and to receive support.

CNN has many video clips showing the teamwork that Turkey demonstrated. CNN also captured the Prime Minister and the Health Minister chipping in their efforts as well. CNN also admired their efforts and hope Turkey demonstrated.

Never once did Turkey ask for help or cry out to government officials instead they got to work and started right away without hesitation.

This article is inspirational, positive, and should be motivation to all societies and countries. All countries, states, and cities should be able to provide for themselves. Leave the government out of issues that can be taken care of by the people, the government has enough issues already.