The News About The News

Let's stop it before it gets worse

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Google executives are now facing trial in Italy for a video that was posted on an Italian website, according to Reuters. The video displayed four youth tormenting another youth with Down sydrome.

The executives are arguing that they shouldn't be punished for a third party's video.

I am not sure which side I agree with more, but I also feel that I shouldn't have an opinion considering I am not an expert on the subject.

However, I do think that Internet users are taking advantage of their independence online. Things are being published that I don't think should be. It is not all that bad right now, but it will get worse. Just look at the things that are now being shown on T.V. and movies.

Something needs to be done to monitor the Internet. Otherwise, violent and inappropriate messages are going to be spread from home to home with the click of a mouse, which may lead to actual violence in our communities.

With the way things are going in our world today, I don't think we should take that risk.

Everything will be alright.

In the aftermath of this years election, John Carlson of the Des Monies Register wrote a compelling opinion piece on moving forward as a country.

An assurance that every citizen of this country, whether they voted for President-elect Obama or Senator McCain, will be able to move forward from this election, and hopefully under Obama toward a better and stronger country.

Perhaps the most important thing that Carlson pointed out is that our country is bigger than any one person. And, importantly, Obama recognizes that this country is bigger than he is. He has called on every American to work a little harder to put this ailing country back together.

Another point that Carlson makes is that the media was "in the tank" for Obama. But more importantly, it didn't matter. That perhaps the media has been given too much credit for their "control" over the American people.

Instead, Carlson gives credit to the citizens of this country. Crediting them with being able to look at what was happening in the world around them and make the decision that was best for them, without consideration of what media moguls were saying.

So it doesn't matter if you celebrated on Tuesday or were disappointed. What matters is that we recognize that this country is bigger than any one person. Be they Democrat or Republican. And this country is also ailing, and we need to take the words of our next president seriously, and we all need to work at putting this country back together.

His Charisma score is at least 20!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

by Peter Merchlewitz

In case you've been hiding under a rock for the past 24 hours, a rather historical event occurred last night, and many people are saying that Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night was one of the best that the American people have heard in a long time. Not to mention that he's one damn fine speaker in his own right.

Perhaps Obama's strongest point within the speech was his referral to a 106-year-old, Ann Nixon Cooper. Using the woman from Atlanta life as a metaphor to show how much America has gone through in at least 100 years brings a glimmer of hope, knowing that we've gone through two World Wars, woman's rights, the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, placed a man on the moon, and of course, segregation.

During Obama's acceptance speech last night, I couldn't help but notice that my entire fraternity house was dead silent, save the many TVs tuned into CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. And while I was sitting there, watching Obama use his gift of the gab, I realized that since all the TVs each had their own delay of sound, it gave the emulation of hearing the speech live at Grand Park in Chicago, giving it a feel of Martin Luther's "I Have A Dream" speech, or JFK's "City on a Hill" speeche.

Truly, there was history made last night.

CNN wins

By: Callie McBroom

CNN had the most viewers watching election coverage on cable Tuesday night. In fact, only ABC beat CNN's numbers during prime time last night. ABC had 13,135,000 total prime time viewers compared to 12,292,000 for CNN.

"This was CNN's highest-ever viewership in prime time," according to TVNEWSER. And, the cable channel beat out network channels NBC, CBS and FOX.

Prior to the election, Brian Stelter for The New York Times pointed out CNN's countdown to poll closing time that started days ahead of the election. This was all in an effort to stay ahead of their competition. Mainly refering to FOX and MSNBC.

Stelter is also calling the 2008 election "a cable news election" because the big network broadcasters are slowing dying, and cable tv is changing the way elections are covered.

"TV ratings for Presidential election nights have shown an upward trend over the last 44 years," according to TV by the Numbers. This and the high ratings already during the debates and the national conventions coverage, lay the foundation for record tv ratings for this year's election.

Michelle Obama claimed best-dressed

By: Kayla Miller

Journalists nowadays are focusing more and more on fashion. At first, it was Sarah Palin's rimless, designer glasses. Now, it is focused on what Michelle Obama is wearing.

Obama is claimed to be one of the the best-dressed woman there is. For the second year in a row, she has made the Vanity Fair's International Best-Dressed List. It is claimed that her best dress was the purple one she wore last month, according to Fine Collins in the article found at MSNBC.com.

The question is though, do people really care what kind of dress Obama is wearing? If I was to answer the question, it would be no. The gossip on what celebrities are wearing does not matter to me.

To me, writing about this and showing viewers what celebrities wear is just something journalists are using to fill in gaps. To get more stories they just write about the obvious. Yes, I know Palin wears glasses, and yes Obama may have a nice dress, but it isn't worth publishing.

And Obama wins the race

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

By: Jessica Hartgers

The voters have cast their ballots and Barack Obama has been named the next president of the United States.

Flipping through the channels of Mediacom tonight I notice that something regarding the election is on almost every channel, as it should be. However, the way each station covered and broadcast their production was different from other stations.

Early on in the night, the stories focused mainly on which candidate was winning each state, and the stations were very similar at this point. Then the range of topics started to differ. Some stations talked about each age group and the candidate that they picked for president. Others focused on a world scale and showed people of Kenya surrounding televisions to see who America voted for to be our next president. A couple other stations talked with elderly voters and all the changes they have seen in their life time. Simpson's own, Professor Epperson appeared on a local station as the political analysis to answer questions regarding the election.

My point here is that all of the stations were essentially covering the same story, just taking their own special angle to the topic, hoping to win viewers time.

The election does not involve sports.

By: Jessica Hamell

I was watching a football game last night on ESPN and for the half time show they played interview from Obama and McCain. I know by doing this the sports news channel was affecting many people who hadn’t yet decided what they wanted. Their web-site also has a link to ABC so you can go straight to election stuff. Is it necessary for a sports channel to play stuff about the election?

Later last night on E!, a channel that follows news about celebrities was tell people to vote and what they thought about Obama. MTV does the same thing with their “Choose or Lose” campaign. A channel that normally focuses on music and news about music.

Watching news about sports is an escape for people. I know this election is very important but news channels need to stick to what they do best. If you are good at covering sports or celebrities that you should stick with that. We have gotten enough news about the election everyday for pretty much the past year. We don’t need even more when we are trying to relax.

Playoffs in D-I

By: Gabe Gilson

The election has come and gone. As far as I’m concerned college football is still here.

Every year about this time, teams are getting close to the end of their seasons and some of these teams may be undefeated. Because of the current BCS situation, not all teams will get a chance to play for the national title. Right now, five teams out of the 119 in D-I college football are undefeated. This coming with three to four games left for most teams.

Every year about this time, sports writers all over the nation are begging for a playoff. Pat Forde in his weekly column, Forde Yard Dash, has proposed a playoff for this year that would send eight teams into a three-round playoff to determine the national champion. Every other level of college football determines a winner by the playoff system, why not D-I?

Every year about this time, fans and sports writers both have to come to the realization that this is not going to happen this year. In 2003, when the University of Auburn was snubbed out of the national championship game because of three undefeated teams at the end of the year, Tiger fans, coaches and players all were in a state of disbelief and anyone that knows anything about college football knows that it was unfair. Unfair yes, but with the current situation at place, it could end up happening to a team this year.

I can see how a playoff would be totally beyond exciting. Forde proposed games and matchups that made my mouth water. However, I do not see this ever happening and I can tell right now that it will just be a repeat of previous years for years to come. The BCS is not always a fair system but with the amount of money that bowl games make, there is no way that they will be leaving us anytime soon. As far as I’m concerned, every sports writer in America needs to focus on something else then the proposition of a playoff because it is a long way from happening.

Higher turnout of voters in Iowa

By: Erin Floro

Iowans set a record high Tuesday to vote in the Presidential Election 2008. An increase of 16 percent of Iowans voted from the last record in 2004. Over 534,000 Iowans returned absentee ballots this year.

Iowa shows to be more Democratic than Republican in this election favoring Senator Barack Obama. There was an increase of 27 percent in absentee ballots returned by Democrats than in 2004. For the Republican party there was only a 9 percent increase.

The media really attracted people to vote this election. Over 2 million voters were registered in Iowa compared to 1.5 million in 2004. There were substantially more newspapers across the country that endorsed Obama over John McCain and I wonder if that played a part in people's decisions.

The Democratic party campaigned well in Iowa and got many first-time voters. American citizens were well informed about this historic election.

What people want to read

By Kellie Green

In class the other day we had a discussion about what more people would rather read in newspapers. The idea started when we got on the discussion about some articles that were put in The Simpsonian a few years ago.

I began to think more on it and as I was going through newspapers like The New York Times and The Des Moines Register I began to see that each one has more of an audience that they are directing their stories to.

The New York Times in my opinion tends to lead to more of a liberal audience. I am just basing this on what I have seen. For example, the paper tends to be more focused on Barack Obama and the support he is getting then the support that John McCain is getting.

Journalist can not be biased but at times they are at times by what their newspapers want printed. If a paper is wanting stories about Obama, for example, then the journalist might have to lead more to being biased for him.

Papers write for their audiences. The Simpsonian writes for college students and what they are wanting to read. The articles might be a little outrageous but that is because more students want to read outrageous stories.

A newspaper may strive to not be biased but they some what are. They write for their audience members and anything their audience wants to read about.

Scary future

By: Lexie Hagerty

On NPR's website, I read a small paragraph about the future of the T.V. once this election is over.

I have never really thought about it before, but the election is a great revenue for T.V. stations and once the election is over, that revenue won't be there. Of course, the economic downturn has a lot to do with future downturn.

This is a very scary subject to me. As a college student, I want there to be more jobs available once I graduate. I don't want the economy to downturn and leave me in the dirt.

However, everyone keeps telling me that it will bounce back and everything will be all right by the time I graduate in three years. The way I see it, though, is if a popular, entertaining business like a television show can't survive in this economy, then there is definately no hope for me in the business world.

Media in elections

Monday, November 3, 2008

By: Shauna Agan

With the Election Day tomorrow, the media is about to have their biggest day of the year. No matter who wins the election, it is big news.

This is nothing new, though. Elections are always like this. However, the media is finding new ways to get the message out to the public.

Online, voters can watch the election state by state and literally see the results the second they come in. One place to view the elections is on msnbc.com.

Another way for voters to see election results is to get them send directly to their cell phone. Many media outlets are offering this opportunity, but one example in Iowa is a newspaper out of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, The Gazette, sending out text alerts.

If all else fails, results will be scrolling at the bottom of the screen of every major news station out there, and even some stations that aren’t news stations.

With technology and more media coverage, it is really easy for individuals to become informed about election results. A century ago, individuals would not find out results until they heard it from word of mouth or from the newspapers the next day.

Today, people can track every minor change throughout the night. This is not just limited to the presidential election, but it extends to congressional and senate races as well.

Who would have thought that technology in the media would come this far? Who knows what the future of media will be when it comes to elections!

The media is doing a great job of finding new ways to get information out to the constituents.

Liberal media the night before an election

By: Quinn Albrecht

The night before the biggest election in the history of our generation there is news surfacing about one of the candidates.

Apparently this info has been around since the beginning of the year, sitting on a website. No one really cared that it was there, until the last few days.

It just seems like really ironic timing that a newspaper would have something so controversial going out about a candidate hours before the election.

Can and should things like this be planned? Do campaigns do this, or do newspapers? It seems a bit unethical that there is such slander coming out at such a big time in the race for the white house.

To release or not release

By: Adrian Aitken

Earlier today in class we discussed ethics and decency in the news and what is appropriate to print. Eventually the choice comes down to what the publisher wants which is acceptable because it is their paper. What if a publisher refuses to release something with no good reasons?

This is the case with the L.A. Times. A video was submitted to the Times with Barack Obama and the alleged terrorist Rashid Khalidi which captured the two at a party. Supposedly the video contains Obama praising Khalidi for racial remarks he made along with other statements which contradict Obama's "views".

I don't understand why the publisher continues to release the video. At this point I see two outcomes of showing the video to the public. One is that Barack is guilty and he loses many voters. Two, the video contains none of the above allegations and pressure is relieved off of the Times, Obama, and Khalidi.

I believe it is the responsibility of the publisher to release such crucial information especially so close to elections. Every second the tape is withheld I become more wary of Obama. Plus the Times are only making it seem that there in fact is something to hide from the masses.

It's not just a vote

By: Taylor Browning

With the election being tomorrow, voting is on everyone's mind. There is always a lot of doubt on whether the youth will turn out to vote, and I think the answer is yes.

The push in newspapers and media has always been what demographic groups are going to vote for which candidate. I feel with the mass media urging the youth to vote, the more we feel we matter in the election. We're not just simply voting, but choosing our future.

If media would emphasize how our actions through the polls effect our future rather than just counting it as a number, then the more the younger generations will feel the need to vote. Instead of just counting as another vote, we are the voice of future generations. That is the message which needs to be spread.

Just put it on the map

By: Sara Crouse

All journalists know the importance of proximity, but a British news company is going beyond the journalism standard in proximity.

Independent Television News, a British news company, is currently developing a way to pinpoint a reader’s proximity to breaking news. ITN is combining forces with Google Maps to develop a way for users to view news by pinpointing their location on a map, and then selecting stories that are flagged in the surrounding area. The flag will give a headline for a news story, and the reader has the option to view the full story.

Furthermore, the official name for the tool is Geolocation API. The tool has been used for many things in recent years, for example Geolocation API can pinpoint changes in a user’s location over time. Pinpointing such changes can lead to better service for the user.

Imagine, a tool so advanced that it recognizes a change in address automatically, through the location of one’s Wi-Fi connection. The tool will then prompt the user to view relevant news stories in the user’s new area of residence.

Though in its early stages, Google Gears Geolocation API, has the potential to expand into providing more videos and potentially music. Ave Wrigley, head of new media at ITN, says,

“The Geolocation API is a real breakthrough, allowing content providers like ITN for the first time to easily develop location aware services without complex and potentially costly arrangements with third-party service providers or mobile operators.”

For now, users can filter news stories on the website much like a hometown newspaper. In upcoming months users may even be able to listen to their favorite local garage band, or view an advertisement for the boutique just down the street.

The anticipation doesn’t end there either. One can anticipate many helpful flags popping up in the next few months.

Tuesday can't come soon enough.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

By; Sarah Keller

Only in a matter a days we will know who our next president will be. Every where you look on the news it is discussing the elections, the candidates, and nothing but the next president. For instance everything on Google news today was over the election, there was only about five articles not over the presidential candidates on the web site.

To be honest I can not wait until Tuesday is over with. Don’t get me wrong the election is very important; I strongly believe that everyone should go out and vote, because every vote truly does matter, but I am getting really tired of hearing about nothing but the election. Everything you read in the news is about who said what about which candidate today. “Look at what Sarah Palin was wearing today.” “Listen to what Obama said today.” It is all getting a little old to me. Even while I am sitting here a commercial from one of the presidential candidates is playing on the television.

At this point I am really wondering if any big news story were to break out if any one would really know about it, because the only things you are seeing in the newspapers over the last couple of days have been about the election. So honestly after Tuesday gets finished with I will be a happy person, maybe I will be able to read about other things rather than “who is up in the polls today.”

Cuts, cuts and more cuts

By: Katie Anthony

On my search to find a blog topic, the first site I checked was I Want Media. About halfway down the page, there are the titles of "Disney Execs Prepare for Possible Layoffs," "Electronic Arts to Cut Costs, Employees," "Metro Free Newspapers May Face Shutdown," and "CBS Eyes More Cuts as Ad Sales Drop."

As the economy plummets, obviously, so do job opportunities. However, this hit home with me.

We always speak about how the media industry is changing, and how it's becoming more and more online and less and less in print; which results in less required jobs.

While I realize that everyone will suffer from the current economy standings, society needs media. Without media, whether it's print or online, how are people going to hear about how the stocks are doing for the day, or who won the game?

Both presidential candidates have plans for improving the economy (two vastly different plans), but none of the necessarily mention how it's going to affect the jobs that are already solid right now. They say that there will be more job opportunities, but for people that have what type of degree?

How are people going to get quality news and information if the industry has to keep cutting jobs due to a lack of funds?

The answer is depressingly simple; people just won't get the news.

Without the news mediums, how would society function?

If the job cuts keep up, I have a feeling that sooner rather than later, we're all going to know how society would function in a world with no news mediums.

Mother and daughter blues

By; Sarah Keller

On MSNBC there was an article about a mother and daughter who were more like best friends than mother and daughter, but the daughter decided to support Obama and the mother is supporting McCain, ever since this decision the two women have not been very close and have been fighting over this issue.

I am really glad that this article was written. It goes to show how intense the elections are, and how important it is that America selects the right president. I have heard that this election is one of the most controversial and most heated elections there have been. Either way that America votes we are either going to have our first black president or our first woman in office.

According to the article the election is splitting some families up, which I find too bad and sad. I can kind of relate to the mother and daughters relationship from the article. My Mom and I have always been very close, and have had a lot of the same beliefs on issues. I came from a very conservative family. My mom is going to be supporting McCain this election, where as I will be supporting Obama, just like the mother and daughter discussed in the article, but unlike the two women my mom and I still get along perfectly well. We listen to each others opinions as to why we are supporting who we are, without getting mad at one another. My mom and I won’t let our beliefs in the election split our relationship apart like the mother and daughter in the article.
It surprised me quite a bit when I read that a family that was so close was now in a big fight due to who they wanted to win the election, the article really opened my eyes to the controversies over the election.

To reveal a source or not to reveal a source

By Austin Bates

Poynter Online recently brought up a story that the LA Times originally published concerning presidential candidate Barack Obama and his behavior at a party some six months ago. The knowledge of this party is largely obtained from a video given to the newspaper by an anonymous source. The story itself is of interest because of Obama's seemingly conflicted positions in his support of Israel AND Arab-Americans. Poynter Online brings attention to this story because a spokesman for presidential candidate John McCain is claiming now that the LA Times is intentionally suppressing information about the video's source, which for them could reveal more about Obama's relationship with members of the party, and, probably give them something to use against Obama in the continuing campaign for the White House.

Now, another reason this story is important, and that Poynter Online brings it us, is because of the issue of anonymous sources for stories, especially concerning politics. Poynter references the debacle with CBS and President Bush's supposed shirking of duties in the National Guard that lead to so much embarrassment for Dan Rather and CBS. In other words, anonymous sources can be excellent ways to make a story, but if what they have to offer is not verified, it can also lead to some seriously embarrassing admissions and apologies later.

One reason I found this article interesting is the questions offered on whether the anonymous source used for LA Times' story was appropriate. Kelley McBride, the author for the Poynter Online story, points out that, in this case, the video from the source was a good idea because it could not apparently be obtained any other way, and was crucial to the construction of the story (since the video was used for the description of the event Obama attended; the video itself as not been displayed to the public, possibly for fear of revealing who the source is). Further, McBride says, "If someone offered up a video that would document one of these events [the social event which Obama was recorded at], on the condition that he not be revealed as the source of the video, I'd advise a reporter to make that deal".

The questions come in at the end of the Poynter article, though, where McBride, rightly so, I believe, suggests that newspapers should be more transparent to their audience as to why the anonymous source they are using (or for that matter, any source) is trustworthy and accurate. McBride also suggests that newspapers be sure to provide reasons for why, if the source is anonymous, it is anonymous, and why the information they have is important to the story being presented.

In all, I found this article interesting, as I had been considering the issues of sources for stories in journalism, especially if they want to remain unknown. Now, of course this story is nothing of legal importance, such as the situations that have come up in my journalism classes, but the basic concept remains: how much are you willing to remain true to your word, and leave an anonymous source unknown? Under what conditions will this trust be granted? Under what conditions might this trust be broken? Revealing a source you promised to leave unnamed might not just damage their livelihood (maybe even life), but it could threaten your livelihood (or maybe even life) by having future sources be unwilling to give you information, knowing you broke promises in the past.

These are some interesting questions to consider for anyone moving into the realm of journalism.

There are some things you should never say

Saturday, November 1, 2008

By Liz Tjaden

It’s easy to let them slip. Too much eggnog or Christmas carols can make us do crazy things. There is nothing wrong with feeling extra cheerful during these times of holiday celebrations but according to John E. McIntyre’s blog, “You Don’t Say”, advises journalists to stay away from holiday clichés.

These clichés are overused and don’t really bring any originality to stories. They are hard to get away from though because we hear them all the time. Not necessarily just in the media but at church, grocery stores, TV shows and advertisements.

So this season, stir up a little creativity and see what you can come up with on your own!

Responsible Media

By Pat Tierney

With the highly anticipated 2008 elections just days away, the media is covering it inside and out.

No matter what side of the isle you sit on, and no matter whether or not you believe the media is right or left biased, I think its great to see one thing - they care.

News about the election has almost continuously been some of the top running stories for the past few months, however this has generated almost record interest in this years election.

The primary elections saw record voter turn out, and the general elections are expected to see much of the same.

Being a young American I believe that it is encouraging to see that the media is encouraging people to get out and vote. Pushing that no matter what you believe, that its important to let your voice be heard.

On a CNN website, there was a complete guide to voting in the 2008 election, as well as a problem solving site, trying to help out voters.

To the news organizations that are encouraging voting, I say "Good Job." It's great every now and then, to see news outlets caring not just about their jobs, but about our country.

Plagiarism in the workplace

Friday, October 31, 2008

By: Hannah Pickett

One would think that plagiarism is simply applicable in a college or education setting. Surely no one would be dumb enough to think they could get away with plagiarizing as a professional, right? Nope.

At my job, I rely a lot on e-mail to attain statistics. Area coaches e-mail me their stats and one of my writers, an adult, e-mails her stories in to me as well. Monday, the area football coaches sent me their side of the stats. In one coach's message to me, one of my writers, and the Earlham newspaper editor, he wrote: "Here you go. Not much detail, too many touchdowns to get too wordy. As always, change anything that you see fit."

I then realized that he had attached a document named "newspaper article." This raised a red flag to me as an editor since he had attached an article. I opened it, saved it, and set it aside since I was still waiting on the writer's stories. The other red flag that came to mind was the coach's choice of words-as always. To me, this meant that he had been doing it all season.

The next day I received the writer's articles. I opened her football article, and realized that it was identical to what the coach had sent. The writer had spelled out the numbers, but other than that there were no differences between the two.

I was frankly outraged and shocked that a grown woman would think she could get by with this and still get paid for it. I called my publisher and he was very unhappy too. I sent her an e-mail saying that plagiarism is not tolerated in an education setting and is most certainly not tolerated in a journalism setting. Her pay was cut since she did not write the article and she is on probation.

I think plagiarism is sometimes overlooked in a small town newspaper setting. Typically newspaper plagiarism is taken from more reputable, classier sources. In this case, I would have never caught it had it not been for the e-mail the coach sent. Where is the line of plagiarism drawn between providing useful information on a game and actually writing the article? Or is it even considered plagiarism?

Publish 2 provides a link to journalism

Thursday, October 30, 2008

By: Allison McNeal

Journalists may be able to use a new tool to bookmark Webpages and organize links through an Internet browser window.

The new tool called Publish 2 was developed to promote link journalism in newsrooms.

This site allows links to be tagged, edited, and selected for republication on a news Web site, or on a microblogging site, like Twitter and Delicious.

Publish 2 was designed exclusively for journalists and can be implemented in newsrooms, which can allow reporters can create a list of links around a news item and can create more editorial content for news Web sites.

Along with online journalists, newswriters could also benefit from this new tool.

Print reporters could use the Internet to post blogs easier and to get their information out to the public faster.

"An individual newspaper could get their whole newsroom to this and tap into what everybody's already reading and finding, and essentially create their own different wire service or just to publish these links on their Web site," co-founder and chief executive Scott Karp said.

One key factor to this technology is to obtain editorial control over what links are published.

Many customers do not want to see individuals use links or information that is unreliable, which could pose a huge debate on what information is correct.

"The same fact checking process that is used by newsrooms for stories needs to be developed for links," Karp said. "Editors can have access and the final say over the links included in their title's news group on Publish 2 before they are republished on a Web site."

A way that journalist can validate information is by allowing a newswire feature, which will compare other journalists sources and information to validate that the story is correct.

According to Karp, other sources of information may be from other competitor's sites, but this mutual linking could have a positive impact on news organizations.

Publish 2 could also help newspapers break away from The Associated Press model, in which newspapers could still provide regional and national news to individuals.

"The AP story is a commodity, because it's published on 1,000 other Web sites too," Karp said. "If there's a particular story that breaks, a page of links to other interesting reporting [of that story] is probably of more value to the reader than the commodity story that they've already read in all those different places."

With this new tool of technology, will journalists and consumers embrace Publish 2?

Could this company change the business model of the newswire for publishers?

These questions will have to remain largely unanswered until individuals start to use and understand this new journalism tool.

Who gets the credit

By: Kayla Miller

Studies are now showing that the color red is driving men wild. Though who is getting the credit for the study?

Reuter's reporter Will Dunham reports that a psychology professor, Andrew Elliot of the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, had founded that red is the color of romance. According to Dunham, Elliot is the only one getting the credit for it.

From looking at NBC's version of the article, they had given credit not only to Elliot but to a woman researcher by the name of Daniel Niesta. Now who is this?

I don't know what Dunham is thinking, but it is necessary to get the facts right. Not giving credit to someone that deserves it probably isn't a smart thing to do.

Just the facts, Ma'am

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

by Peter Merchlewitz

I can't tell if it's John E. McIntyre wonderfully droll speaking voice or just his knack for blogging about odd-ball journalism topics, but every Wednesday, I always like take a peek at his blog, whether it works for the BNR class or not. But this week, I just have to comment on this weeks submission.

Apparently, in his blog, McIntyre talks about his police reporter colleague, Peter Hermann, and how cops use their own language when talking to news reporters. Here are a few examples taken from McIntyre's blog:

Exited the premises: “Left the house.” Houses and apartments are always premises. And people, as if they were following stage directions, always exit.

Altercation: “Quarrel” or “fight.” Once someone gets shot or stabbed, the "altercation" has "escalated." Afterward, the “perpetrator” exits the premises.

Ejected from the vehicle: Think “thrown from the car.” It’s always a “vehicle,” not a “car,” even if the officer knows full well that it is a Ford Crown Victoria the size of your parents’ first house.

Discharged his weapon: “Fired his gun.”

The unit block of X Street: Never just “the first block.”

Failed to negotiate a curve: “Ran off the road.”

But the part I love the most about this most recent blog is McIntyre's reference to the old cop drama "Dragnet". Suffice to say, I feel like one of the fortunate one who've actually listened to, not watched!, to this old show. For you see, my grandmother was cleaning out her attic while she was getting ready to move into a smaller house when I stumbled across a collection of old time radio shows containing shows from "Gunsmoke" to "Amos and Andy", "Inner Sanctum Mysteries" and of course "Dragnet", old 1950s cigarette commercials and all.

For you see, listening to these tapes inspired me to pursue a career in voice acting, and thus changing my major from Vocal Performance to Corporate Communications. It's also a little dream of mine before to graduate to start a radio show here at Simpson where my friends and I would act out these old radio shows using old radio transcripts found on the Internet, like "Guy Noir: Private Eye" from Garrison Keillor's NPR show "Prairie Home Companion".

Newspaper self-flagellation

By: Callie McBroom

Romensko is reporting a new response to "judging a newspaper by the number of copies in the market." That response is that it "makes no more sense than counting the number of television sets to evaluate a TV station," which obviously doesn't happen.

Matt Baldwin, vice president of research for MediaNews Group recently made a very good point. He said, "I'm continually baffled by the newspaper industry's insistence on self-flagellation when it comes to reporting circulation declines and the maddening failure to properly position the reality of media transformation."

He also points out that broadcast television and radio companies never seem to bring attention to the numbers of audience members that are turning away from their services everyday. And he's right. Pointing out the declines only makes things worse.

Additionally, just because circulation is down doesn't mean that other avenues to access newspapers aren't available. In fact, visitors to websites may even be increasing more than readership is decreasing.

Baldwin believes that "telling the whole story is our ultimate responsibility - to readers, consumers and advertisers alike." Because reporting the whole story is the purpose of journalism, it should be a priority for newspapers.

Buying the Oval Office

By: Kelsey Knutson

It is not news to anyone who has had their eyes open these past few months; the spending that has been going on in this campaign is tremendous.

From Sept. 8 to Oct. 4 alone the candidates together spent over $28 million. This amount of spending is a 64 percent increase from the spending of the 2004 presidential race. Money clearly equals power.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama is venturing into a new form of media campaigning by spending just under $2 million for 30 minutes of air time on Oct 29. This has never been done before. This broadcast can be seen on CBS, ABC, and NBC.

In the past, presidential candidates have spent money on long ads on cable networks but never on the national networks. The last time a presidential candidate bought a 30 minute ad was Ross Perot in 1992.

Each candidate has spend an enormous amount of money. Obama has spent more than McCain; however, that is only because he has raised more. (A lot more) But does the advertising spending really mean anything now? No. The advertising meant a lot more the campaigns six to seven months ago. Even way back to the primaries. People now have made up their minds.

However, the point is that the media has become the main force in these presidential campaigns. It is the most efficient way to get a message across to the country. But don't be fooled - political scientists say that just because one candidate outspends the other doesn't mean he/she will necessarily win.

Money equals power, but when it comes to elections the people still hold the ultimate power.

Colorado newspapers plan to play dumb as the election inches closer

By: Kathryn Lisk

With the election less than a week away, the public is more interested than ever in where each presidential candidate stands on important issues. Generally, society counts on news sources to provide crucial information regarding either candidate and newspapers are dedicated to doing so.

However, 13 weekly papers across the front range of Colorado owned and operated by Colorado Community Newspapers has decided to leave any information regarding the election or either presidential candidate out of their weekly papers to give readers time to establish their own views.

This attempt to prevent media interference on readers is ironic because without including any important information about the election, readers will not be capable of fully establishing their own stance.

I understand that a reader could be offended when a newspaper endorses a candidate that differs from their candidate of choice.

However, keeping all information from the reader regarding either candidate seems a bit extreme. Newspapers are supposed to provide readers with news.

In a heated election like this, political news should not be avoided.

Fading fast

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

By: Alex Jones

It is not new news that print forms of media are going out of style but which newspaper will be the first to discontinue it's daily print edition?

Christian Science Monitor will be the first nationally read newspaper to discontinue the printing of the paper daily and move to only printing weekly. The more important move for Christian Science Monitor is the shift to the internet.

Great emphasis is being placed on the paper's Web site which will be updated continuously through out the day. The newest technology is also being researched to place on the Web site which is expected to attract more viewers.

The Christian Science Monitor has been declining in readership for the past 40 years but has high hopes when looking to the future. Implementing this newer form of the paper in April 2009.

It's only a matter of time when all newspapers move completely to the internet.

Unbiased?

By: Sarah Harl

Kelly McBride, columnist for Poynter Online, a source for "everything ethics," speaks her mind on "gotcha" interviewing in a recent column.

McBride is referring to recent interviews conducted with John McCain and Sarah Palin by Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric. It was argued by some that these were more interrogations than interviews designed to embarrass the duo, specifically Palin.

McCain described his displeasure with the reporting, saying he felt the journalists were not providing all of the necessary information to make the questions clear and straightforward.

McBride proceeded to give the readers a textbook explanation of deceptive journalism, and how what Couric and Gibson did was not considered deceiving journalism, and was therefore not biased.

Now, it is true that none of these questions were out of order: McBride is correct about that. What she fails to understand is that people find it biased when you drill Senator McCain and Governor Palin about hypothetical situations of country A invading country B, and then you ask Senator Obama what he likes to do with his family.

If Obama had been as aggressively interviewed as the Republican ticket, there probably would have been inconsistencies in his story too. And that is what is unfair about this situation: not that Palin and McCain were asked tough questions, but that Obama has consistently not been asked the same questions.

So McBride could have saved the lecture in fair journalism, because it can simply be achieved by asking both candidates the same questions in the same way.

Unbiased.

A worry for journalist

By Kellie Green

As a journalist class many of us may be interested in becoming journalist at some point in our lives. Will it become harder to become a journalist than what it was like in before?

The reason I decided to write this blog was because I saw a blog on poynter.org saying that USA Today was laying off a lot of their journalist and workers.

In the article in USA Today it says that Gannett, "which is the largest newspaper publisher" is cutting 10 percent of jobs. There was a fear that some people at USA Today might loose jobs but it was clarified that this wouldn't happen.

What I began to worry about is the future after this cut. We know that newspapers are not making as much as they had in the past, is it going to get worse in the future.

If it does get worse then there might be cuts in the need for journalist. The article doesn't say what exactly is getting cut but it does say that no jobs at USA Today are going to be cut.

It does send a scare to journalist now and future journalists because they are cutting either their jobs or jobs near them. Hopefully a career in journalism will always be around and never be threatened of disappearing.

It's easy being famous

By: Gabe Gilson

If you were to watch any college football on a Saturday, possibly on ESPN, you would get the analysis of many people that know football. Of course, all the analysis is coming from former players and coaches that played and coached football.

It seems to me like no matter how good of a speaker, journalist, or analyst one may be, if you were once involved with a big time college football program your chance of getting face time Saturdays in the fall on ESPN is easy. Take Lou Holtz for example. Holtz is 71, deafer than a bat and about as easy to understand as Sloth from The Goonies. Whenever he does give an opinion, it is usually something insanely and annoyingly biased about team he used to coach, Notre Dame.

Holtz is not the only example of people hired on ESPN because they “know” football. Mark May, who used to play offensive line for the University of Pittsburgh, Lee Corso, who coached most notably at the University of Indiana and Desmond Howard who won the Heisman Trophy playing at the University of Michigan. All of these “experts” are not very good at providing the most essential information to the college football fan.

Not everybody on ESPN who comes from a football background is horrible at their job though. Kirk Herbstreit, who played quarterback at Ohio State University, does a great job providing excellent insight into the college football world. Maybe it was the excellent education he got but he always seems to have the right thing to say at the right moment.

If I wanted to be a college football analyst on ESPN, I think it would be very hard without doing a lot of coaching or making myself well known in the world of college football. It is really too bad that the only people who are hired these days are they big time football boys.

Everyone knows who Diddy is voting for...

By: Jessica Hartgers

If any of you have been paying attention to American pop culture you have noticed that Sean "Diddy" Combs is taking every advantage of any publicity he has gotten to promote Barack Obama in the race for presidency.

Diddy, who is one of the most recognized male celebrity, is openly honest with his political beliefs. For example, he sports shirts that say "I heart Michelle Obama." But the question is have any of Diddy's millions of fans asked him why he supports Obama? My guess is no.

While Diddy is clearly not the only celebrity to voice his opinions in the media, he is a very influential person and I wonder how many of his fans see his great support for Obama and decide that they themselves are going to vote for Obama also, without making an educated decision.

The responsible thing for Diddy to do would be to use the journalists and free publicity to educate viewers instead of influence them.

Swinging the axe

By: Lexie Hagerty

It isn't a surprise these days that newspaper and magazine advertisements are going down. Every other media news story is about a newspaper or magazine that has now cut more employees due to the decrease in ad sales.

However, Mediaweek's article about one specific magazine still came as a huge shock to me.

Rolling Stone had to let go of seven employees in the last couple of days, a cut of less than 2 percent of the magazines 400 full-time employees. It is a slow start, but cuts are inevitable.

The media world should have seen this coming with such an old magazine, but yet it is still so hard to believe. This is Rolling Stone we are talking about. The magazine that any celebrity would kill to be in or even mentioned in.

If Rolling Stone can't overcome the new change in media, there is definately no hope for any of the smaller printed media.

The Drudge Report’s accuracy

Monday, October 27, 2008

By: Sara Crouse

The Drudge Report has been known to produce high profile stories over the years. The Clinton Scandal first emerged on the Drudge Report. The Drudge Report has also been known to exploit its fair share of baloney.

Rarely, does a local or national paper generate a story idea from The Drudge Report for fear of its contents being too outlandish. Papers and news sources educate the public on current events, and any source that may not give true information is often disregarded.

Earlier today the report published “2001 Obama: Tragedy that ‘Redistribution of Wealth’ not Pursued by Supreme Court.” Fox News was quick to jump on the news, rather than casting it aside as hushed gossip during a drink with a coworker.

Fox News’ hasty decision to pick up the story will come back to haunt them. The attack on Obama’s statement appeared to many as a harsh blow from extreme Republicans picking a fight.

Whoever first reported the statement forgot to recognize it’s origin from a long interview, in which Obama addressed issues concerning civil rights cases focusing on minorities rights. In context to the interview, the term ‘wealth’ meant qualitative wealth, rather than quantitative economic wealth.

Interpretation of the initial quote can be described as Obama’s support for the redistribution of civil rights, but not through economic means only.

It’s important to base reporting interpretations from the entire interview, rather than picking and choosing. While The Drudge Report said Clinton had options, a journalist/reporter has only one option. That option is presenting the truth.

Deadlines come and go

By: Taylor Browning

One thing I've come to realize it that a deadline is not the end of the world, just the end to your project at hand.

I thought about our stories we are writing in class and thought about the reporters for major newspaper and multimedia outlets. Being assigned a strong project with a short amount of time, on the national news basis, would be really difficult to accomplish.

With the election coming up and newspapers trying to find new angles on the subject, it would be even more difficult to create, research, and write more and more articles on the same thing, but with a twist.

I am thankful we get to relate our stories to Simpson Campus, or else I would probably still be researching and writing my first story!

NRA gets shot down by Virginia newspapers

By: Erin Floro

The National Rifle Association has proposed to several newspapers in Virginia and other states about wrapping their products in plastic anti-Barack Obama advertisements on Election Day. The plastic wrap would read: "Vote for Freedom... Defeat Obama."

Although the Richmond Times-Dispatch originally told employees they would accept the NRA's deal, they now report that the newspaper's wrapping will not feature the gun lobby's political advertisement. The Virginian-Pilot also rejected the proposal.

This tactic may be unusual, however the current scheme is not the first time the NRA has employed ads in newspapers. Two years ago in Montana, the gun lobby used a similar technique to support a candidate for re-election in the U.S. Senate.

The newspapers' say they rejected the proposal to prevent appearing as though they only endorse one point of view. The Pilot's policy, for example, is to sell space on its print pages to candidates or interest groups of varying persuasions.

Breaking news in Northeast Iowa

By: Quinn Albrecht

There has been some late news coming from Northern Iowa today. A woman and her two children went missing sometime Sunday evening and where reported missing Monday morning.

The three were found about 8:00 am Monday in rural Littleton.

This would not be such a strange situation, had this been the first time these three have been in the news. In December of 2007 the woman, Michelle Kehoe, and her two sons, Sean and Seth, plunged into the Iowa river in Iowa City. Several people passing by helped recover the three out of the icy waters.

I remember this story very clearly and thought it was fairly odd. No further investigation followed the accident however. The accident got extensive news coverage at the time. This recent accident is receiving a lot of coverage as well, but the Buchanan County Deputies are keeping a lot of information to themselves at this time.

They say that there is not public threat at this time and no warrants have been issued. I am concerned with the large media coverage that is hitting this very small town, but there is no news to report on at this time. When do news stations decided to let something like this go, and move to the next big story.

There are two main new stations in the area, and the one that is the furthest away, seems to have better coverage of the story. It seems that to one station the story is dying before it even gets started.

MTV: get out the vote campaign

By: Shauna Agan

While watching MTV tonight I saw a commercial where a bunch of young adults, including the members of Fallout Boy, were sitting around having conversations about the election. In this particular commercial, a young man was speaking about how many opportunities Barack Obama is providing for minorities and that this has never happened in a campaign before.

As I continued watching my show and more commercials came on, I saw four more MTV made political commercials. Two were repeats, but two were new commercials.

One of these commercials featured musical artist Pink. Pink was briefly explaining the need to voice your opinion and vote.

In the end of Pink’s commercial, she expressed that she had the right to her opinion just as Sarah Palin has the right to her opinion. To me, this insinuates that their opinions are different, and Pink is an Obama supporter.

The final commercial I saw was another group of young adults in a conversation about the election. While I cannot remember exactly what was said in this commercial, I do remember that the commercial supported Obama also.

These commercials do not specifically tell individuals to vote for Obama, but rather they promote the power of voting. However, every one of these commercials does mention support for Obama somewhere in them.

MTV has a lot of power and influence, especially within the community of young adults. Teenagers and young adults are the target audience for MTV.

By running these ads, MTV is campaigning for Obama and promoting his name to young voters. I do not have any problems with MTV running advertisements for Obama because MTV has a right to voicing the opinion of their company just as any other company has the right to voice their company’s opinions.

The problem I do have with these advertisements is that MTV has always been about getting out your vote no matter which candidate you vote for or which party you are in favor of. These commercials do promote individuals voting, but they also add towards the end of all of them that they are supporting Obama.

If MTV wants to openly endorse Obama, they should do that rather than running commercials that just insinuate they want Obama to win.

Furthermore, I believe that commercials promoting to get out and vote and voice your opinion should be separate from commercials supporting Obama. It is okay to have both, but MTV should keep them separate so it does not look like they are saying get out and vote for Obama.

New Gen. New Times

By: Adrian Aitken

As technology advances today so must the media to keep up with the times. Newspaper publishers especially need to keep this in mind because the medium has been around for quite some time with little change.

Recently publishers have begun uploading videos onto their respective websites including Simpson's own. Even now this technique alone has become outdated and the New York Times are combating it.

Videos are being uploaded to the Times' website in high definition bringing the company into the latest generation of technology. To usher in the new format the site itself is getting an overhaul.

The entire library is being transferred to the high definition format and given a wide screen format. Also the videos are given their own window to enhance downloads and the quality of the video. Another piece now added to the site includes a "most viewed" videos section for quick picks.

By staying caught up with the times and technology newspaper publishers have a chance of increasing their lifespan a little longer. Also upgrading the site may attract younger people who could become customers in the future which is also need to stay alive.

The bashing is getting out of control.

By: Katie Anthony

I will begin this by just stating that I am a supporter of Barack Obama and that this blog is going to be extremely biased and it could possibly make a lot of people angry. Somehow, I'll live with that.

Today in class we discussed the scandal that happened over the weekend with the woman that faked the "B" in her face claiming (stereotypically at that) that an Obama support had sexually molested her. Considering the "victim" ended up confessing to doing this to herself (after, of course, realizing that the "B" was backwards) it got me thinking.

This "victim" talked to both Palin and McCain after the alleged incident. Not to mention the amount of "free publicity" she got for McCain and Palin. Now, I'm not saying or implying by any means, that McCain or Palin supported her doing, but are McCain supporters getting desperate?

This evening in Dayton, Ohio, McCain gave a speech at his rally. However, it was reported by Slate that his message could be summarized into one word; "Boo." This headline got my attention because it read "Political Halloween," and those two words normally don't go together.

McCain seems to have fallen back into the Obama bashing, again, grasping at anything he can get his hands on in order to get his number back up. However, and correct me if I'm mistaken, but I believe the results were that the more McCain bashed Obama, the lower his numbers got.

Call me crazy, but I think that McCain really is grasping at all straws. I'm not sure what's going on in his head, but I don't understand why they [politicians] find it necessary to bash each other. I realize it may be "part of the race," but I think that the media can find another angle to report on.

For me, the bashing has become old news, and doesn't need to be reported on over and over and over again.

The bad stuff means the most

By: Jessica Hamell

Why is it that the bad stuff said about the candidates gets the most attention? It isn't what they say they want to do that gets the top spot. It's what relations they have with certain religious figures or what their supporters fabricate.

The news went wild Thursday and Friday about a McCain supporter who thought up a fabricated story about how an Obama supporter had attacked her. Even after they knew it was a fake story people were still going crazy about it.

People have been saying that Obama has been connected with terrorists when he was just on a committee with them. Some people even believe that he isn't even American. If that was the case, I don't think he would be running for president, obviously.

Isn't it more important what the candidates are say or what they want to get done? The people in today's society pay way to much attention to rumors that they hear about the candidates and not about their ideas.

Their ideals are what are going to make a difference in our lives and this country, Not who they were connected with in their past or news about their supporters.

Sale decisions

By; Sarah Keller

Have you ever had trouble making money decisions dealing with sales people, such as getting insurance on a rental car, or more likely for college students; insurance coverage on cell phones? I am sure at some point you have come across a salesperson who has tried to get you to take some kind of warranty, whether it be over an iPod, camera, or something completely different. If you are like me you probably have had trouble deciding whether it was a good deal or not, whether you would be saving more money or spending more.

Luckily people like Ken and Daria Dolan from Wallet Pop had people like me on their mind and decided to make a blog about “When salesmen put you on the spot: Answering eight common questions”. In the article that they wrote they answered questions on what are good deals and what are bad deals to take up. They make valid points, points that will help me to be able to say yes or no to a salesperson the next time I am asked if I would like coverage on a certain type of plan.

I might not be asked if I would like fuel coverage anytime soon on a new car because I do not plan on buying a car anytime in the near future (as discussed in the article), so I do not have to worry about turning them down, but I was asked recently if I would like a three month free trial of magazines, it sounded tempting, but luckily I turned the offer down. I am glad I did, because according to the article, I would eventually have had to pay the subscriptions off, and it would have been charged to my credit card. I really enjoyed reading this article, it gave me a lot of insight on things I was not previously aware of, and I would recommend people reading it because it really does give you valid information.

Newspapers endorsing candidates

Sunday, October 26, 2008

By Austin Bates

By now you've probably heard of various newspapers endorsing one of the presidential candidates. Recently, the Chicago Tribune made news by endorsing a democratic nominee for the first time in its 161 year existence. The Los Angeles Times also made news by endorsing Barack Obama after 36 years of endorsing no one. These are just a few of the many papers across the nation that are endorsing political candidates. So the question becomes whether their actions have an effect on who the next president will actually be or not.

According to NPR reporters, it does. Specifically, Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher says that editorial endorsements of candidates can determine who the next president might be. He related that in 2004, when John Kerry ran against George Bush, in the remaining 15 toss up states, he looked at the number and size of newspaper endorsements. Based on that, he says he correctly predicted what candidate would win what state 14 out of 15 times.

Now this is of course an unofficial method, and anecdotal at best, but the question still remains: can a newspaper endorsement influence who the next president will be? I would say "yes" as well. A newspaper, despite recent declines in readership, is still a very trusted, very much respected source of information. To many, a newspaper might be the most trusted source of news available. So when these papers then endorse a political candidate, why wouldn't their readers, especially the dedicated ones, instantly jump on board with their judgment?

Another question I have is whether these papers should endorse a candidate. After all, as I mentioned, newspapers are one of the most trusted sources of news by many, so should they be tainting that trust, that reputation of mostly unbiased reporting with a political endorsement? Politics is one of the fastest ways to alienate people in a discussion, so why would a newspaper, especially at this time of their existence, risk alienating many potential readers by endorsing a candidate?

My thoughts are that they should never endorse a political candidate. After all, when reporting news, one is supposed to remain objective, unbiased, and outside of the current events (with most topics). While you might argue that endorsing a candidate is something else entirely, I think that it ultimately isn't, and makes a paper, in general, look opinionated. If a newspaper can have an opinion on a political candidate, who's to say it might not have an opinion on other topics that it's reporting on?

Bottom line, a newspaper probably shouldn't endorse any political candidate, ever. Reporting avenues get accused too often as it is with having an agenda.

Presidential Debates

Saturday, October 25, 2008

By: Katie Schaefer

What is it about the presidential candidates always saying bad things about the other?

Now I understand how by making one presidential candidate look bad, it'll make the other look good, but it always makes them look bad too.

Nobody likes a person that talks bad about everyone around them, but isn't that what the presidential candidates are doing?

I realize that Barack Obama isn't going to go around praising John McCain, but he could say how McCain does have some good points in his plan.

The public would have a lot more respect for a candidate that has his own ideas, but can also admit when his opponent may have a good idea.

Someone has to win, though, and no matter what things aren't going to change. Presidential candidates are still going to put down each others plan.

With all of the debates going on and Nov. 4 closely approaching, Obama and McCain are neck and neck in the polls.

Time to focus on the real issues

By Liz Tjaden

The fault could be placed on the media. Or it could be placed on the craziness that comes when a huge election is approaching. Whichever it is, not even the best journalist could have made this story up.

On Oct. 22, a woman in Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, claimed she was attacked because she was a McCain supporter. Standing at the ATM, she recalled that her attacker, a black male, knocked her down and carved a ‘B’ on her face after he noticed she had a McCain sticker on her car.

Friday it was discovered that the incident had been fabricated. The woman had been attacked by mental health issues in the past but not by an angry Obama supporter. Maybe this story needed some fact checking but the reporters were only telling us what they had heard from the police. The media cannot be blamed here for the story being false but maybe for giving it so much coverage in the first place.

It’s time to get back to the real issues and celebrate the upcoming holiday by carving pumpkins, not faces.

Journalistic hierarchy in sports

Friday, October 24, 2008

By: Hannah Pickett

In the journalism world, there is a definite hierarchy of news-topics taking precedence over others and stories having hierarchies over others.

In the small-town sports newspaper world, winning teams take precedence over losing teams. In the case of Winterset, however, certain sports take precedence over others as requested by the publisher.

For instance, in the fall, football is the key focus, regardless of how the team is doing or how well the other sports-cross country and volleyball-are performing. In the winter, wrestling takes precedence over basketball, again regardless of the grapplers’ success. In the spring, track has a hierarchy over soccer and golf, and in the summer softball reigns higher than baseball.

This season Winterset and I-35’s football teams are arguably the worst and most embarrassing in the schools’ recent history. Earlham football is doing alright, though. This week Winterset and I-35 will lose another football game, and Earlham may or may not pull out a win. Thursday night, two cross country teams and seven individuals qualified for state.

According to my publisher’s requests, all three football teams will be on the front page, the only color page of the section, and the cross country teams will be on the second and third pages.

I am the sports editor and will write all of these stories as well, and I take issue with the losing football teams getting press on the front page and state qualifying runners getting the shaft. I plan on disputing this, as it is not objective whatsoever.

Where is the line drawn in a small town newspaper between being objective and running what the publisher, aka the cash cow, is more interested in? My guess is that this would never be an issue in a larger town. Where do small town, private newspapers get off running what the cash cow has a personal interest in?

New tool for journalists is unveiled

Thursday, October 23, 2008

By: Allison McNeal

Journalists use a variety of tasks and functions to get the inside scoop on a story.

Since many companies use different tactics, organizations like the World Wide Web Consortum (W3C) have started to develop semantic tools and language to integrate these functions.

Web 3.0 recently was introduced to showcase semantic tools, which are applications that are used to show different formats and can be understood by new applications that are used in reporting.

"The semantic web is an engineering solution that will allow [new applications] to be meshed and available for use by machines globally," journalism.co.uk said.

With this new tool, projects like OpenID, Friend of a Friend, and Semantically-Interlinked Online Communities have started to open up.

OpenID eliminates the need for multiple usernames across different Web sites, and allows users to have control of their login.

Businesses also benefit by allowing a lower cost of password and account management, while drawing in new web traffic.

Friend of a Friend gives makes it easier to share and use information about people and their activities like photos, calendars, and weblogs.

It also can be used to transfer information between Web sites and to automatically extend, merge, and reuse it online.

Semantically-Interlinked Online Communities can be used to enable community sites to merge their data and enables new kinds of usage scenarios for online community site data.

This organization also allows innovative semantic applications to be built on top of the existing social World Wide Web.

According to journalism.co.uk, an individual could do a search on Facebook and get results back from within that site, but also blog results from Technorati, comments from Flickr albums, and YouTube videos.

"In the semantic web, it is not just people who are connected together in some meaningful way, but documents, events, places, hobbies, pictures, you name it!" said John Breslin, the founder of the Semantically-Interlinked Online Communities project. "And it is the commercial applications that exploit these connections that are now becoming interesting."

Even though these corporations believe that the Internet will allow individuals and different systems to interact with each other, will consumers want to embrace this new tool?

If a consumer searches Facebook or MySpace, will they want to be have results pop up from other Web sites?

While there may be no clear answer, only journalists and consumers will have to put this new tool to the test in the months and years to come.

Journalists lie to tell the truth

By: Kathryn Lisk

Last week, my blog was centered around the idea that journalists must ensure that they get their story right before running it.

Most people would assume that telling the truth to everyone involved in the story would be included in this. But is it?

On The Media examined several cases where journalists went undercover and lied about their identity to their sources in order to cover a story.

Nellie Bly used her theatrics to fool workers of an insane asylum. She spent 10 days as a patient and once she was released, she wrote a two-part story about the unethical conditions. Her efforts led to more funding within the facility.

On the other hand, Ken Silverstein took undercover reporting to the next level. He called himself a consultant in the market for a Washington lobbying firm and was equipped with a new suit, fake glasses and even false business cards.

I understand that certain stories cannot be written without undercover journalists. In Bly's case, her reporting led to a positive change. However, as an editor, I would never encourage one of my reporters to go undercover.

If the public expects its news source to be reliable and truthful, reporters must remain truthful to all members of the community. Even to those who may not be honest with reporters.

Internet videos: Not just for college students anymore

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

by Peter Merchlewitz

It seems that being a news reporter just isn't enough anymore. According to Beet TV, the Wall Street Journal is now training their new employees to not only edit, but also produce videos for their online version of the paper. As of June 2008, the Wall Street Journal has trained 185 print journalists to produce such videos.

These acts of journalism in the Internet Age just further emphasizes the importance of multi-platform journalists being able to produce news through different mediums.

I can't help but give kudos to the Communications Department at Simpson for having the hindsight to update their curriculum in the direction of new journalism abilities, thus helping students gain more experience to make them become more desirable when looking for a career in news writing in the real world.

Media Madness

By: Kelsey Knutson

A recent Fox News article reported that most of the McCain coverage in this election has been negative.

The report showed that 57% of the media coverage of McCain is negative while only 29% of the media coverage for Obama is negative. Is this right? Or does it actually matter?

Statistics like these lead people to believe that certain media groups are biased one way or another to a candidate. Especially with 24-hour news coverage of the candidates and their campaigns we begin to see opinion and "not so objective" viewpoints coming into news reports. However, you get different bias' with different media outlets and stations.

For example, Fox News is considered "more conservative" where as CNN is considered "more liberal." Does this actually matter?

I say no. I say the media plays a large role in how people view candidates; however, I also feel as those people who actually care enough to watch certain news channels to listen to what is going on in the campaign are also people who know what bias' they are hearing.

People already think what they think and know what they know. Which channel or station they choose to watch (that has which ever bias it has) just reinforces already existing views.

Halloween scare

By: Kayla Miller

I was clicking on practically every link on the Des Moines Register Web site (once again) when I came across a link that I had to blog about.

Well let me ask this. What or who would you want to be for Halloween this year? A cowgirl? A pumpkin? Heck no, you want to dress up as a superhero, right? I can tell you are dying to be either a Hillary Clinton or Sara Palin superhero! Yeah, I could say that's not really what I was thinking either.

I went to search out the new and funny Halloween costumes, and I can most definitely say I ran across a "funny". I would have never thought of dressing up as a politician.

How is this news? Well, people love to see different, new, and funny things. People like me do anyway. Crazy costumes of lady politicians will make the news considering it is election year.

All I got to say to the ladies (or men-- if you choose) is if you choose to be Palin, be sure to wink and most definitely wear those glasses.

Tweeting Journalists

By: Callie McBroom

Journalists now have a new tool to use in their reporting. Twitter. This is a rapidly growing social media service that provides a way to stay connected and communicate with others quickly and frequently.

One website describes the twitter experience as "an ongoing Headline News version of what’s happening in the minds and worlds of people you know or find interesting." This can be good for helping journalists engage personally with people and spreading news quickly.

Amy Gahran suggests using twitter on beats. She says, "Beat reporters can use Twitter on an ongoing basis to give their communities a window into, and opportunity to assist with, reporting projects -- as well as spread the word about their work in order to drive online traffic and spur public discussion."

Twitter can also be very useful when combined with blogging. Which as we know as become very important to the news industry. Maybe Twitter can add to this and help out the industry even more.

Kids vote for Obama

By: Alex Jones

Nickelodeon, a popular television station for children held an election recently that only kids can get involved with.

Accessing Nickelodeon's Web site kids are able to vote for their pick in president. This year over 2.2 million viewers voted. Naming Barack Obama as the kids' choice for president.

Nickelodeon has held this mach-election for kids every election year since 1988. Viewers have picked the next president of the United States correctly 4:5 times.

Kids were able to vote online from October 12-20th. The network sees the mach-election as a chance to get kids involved and excited about the voting process. More viewers turned up this year to vote than ever before.

This process is incredibly important for kids. They are able to get involved, get informed and therefore are more aware of the voting process when they are old enough to vote.

This method also keeps the younger generations who aren't yet old enough to vote, interested. Obviously it's working, check out the voting numbers!

Where do these rumors come from?

By: Gabe Gilson

Earlier this week, my favorite football team, the San Francisco 49ers, fired their head coach Mike Nolan. The firing was not something that anybody did not see coming as the 49ers slipped to 2-5 and have been having a lot of problems offensively.

Since the firing, Mike Singletary has been named the interim coach, changing his role from the team’s assistant coach. Singletary is a good short-term fix but everybody in the media knows that he will be just that and will most likely not be the head coach at the end of the season.

Because of this, the rumor mill all over the NFL and college football is lighting up. Many people try and speculate who will be the next coach based on what makes sense. One man that makes sense to fill this void is another Mike, Mike Holmgren (side note: the NFL is filled with coaches who are named Mike. It is really odd how many there are named Mike) Of course, Holmgren says he will stay away from football next year and does not want to coach for awhile.

Another man that would be a good fit according to those in the media is current USC head coach and former NFL head coach Pete Carroll. Bad thing for the 49ers, Carroll will decline to comment on the coaching situation. This basically means he knows he is the head of a college football dynasty and will not leave there anytime soon.

Here is how easy I think it is to start a rumor like this. Bill Cowher, who is a former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, might be the next 49ers head coach. He has been out of the league for a couple years, wants to coach again, and could possibly be a good fit.

The rumor mill in the NFL is worse than any other professional sport just because of situations like this. In all likelihood, Singletary might be the coach of the 49ers next year. Is he the best fit? 49ers fans may not think so. The media might not think so but, maybe instead of formulating opinions on who the next coach might be, they could just talk about how poor my team is.

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