Non-profit Journalism

Here's a nice wrap-up on my earlier post on non-profit journalism from the Poynter Institute.

Here's how this shakes out. The age-old business model of newspapers is scaring the pants off everyone right now. Print circulation and ad revenue are down markedly. Newspapers all over the country are tightening budgets and laying off workers, trying to keep a Wall Street-friendly profit margin in the face of these revenue problems.
People like me suspect that two kinds of coverage are most threatened by this trend: international reporting and investigative reporting. They're both essential to the very meaning of journalism but also colossally expensive to do.
Enter "non-profit journalism." The idea now goes that philanthropists will fund investigative journalism to keep the press as watchdogs of government, business, other institutions.

Do you think this will work? Can entities like this effectively serve as watchdogs? Were newspapers even doing that in the first place? What are the conflicts of interest?

Kid Creates Apple Ad

Lots of buzz in the marketing world these days regarding consumer-generated content. The theory is something like open-source in the computer world: the more people you let in on the creative process, the more likely you are to get new ideas and great advertising.
The problem is that you also get lots of dreck. Katy and the Culver kids tried creating an ad for Dove and while my 4-year-old looks darned cute, it isn't exactly something that would move a lot of soap.
So this week, Apple went live with a revamped version of an idea generated by an English student. I'm a fan. What about you? Think this is the future of advertising, consumers creating messages?
Note that this is also an "old media" story. The kid stuck his original on YouTube in mid-September and by mid-October, he had 2,000 hits. The New York Times put it in Stuart Elliott's column (on an inside page, mind you) and in less than 12 hours, the spot went to 20,000 hits. It's now at about 340,000.
Pieces like this often need the support of the (gasp) the "mainstream media." Now, if entities like the NYT can just figure out a way to make money off that hit-generating...

A Skeptical Editor

I was sorry to read of the death of Vivian Aplin-Brownlee, who stands out as one of the few to challenge the authenticity of a story that marked one of the lowest points in American journalism.
In 1981, Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke won a Pulitzer Prize for a story called "Jimmy's World," reporting on an 8-year-old heroin addict in DC. The problem: he didn't exist. The piece was a complete fabrication.
I've often stumbled on the case because when I read the piece, I found it strained the bounds of reason. But then I suspected it was just the clarity of hindsight leading me to that conclusion. You can read it and judge for yourself.
Aplin-Brownlee doubted the story from the beginning and came to be well-regarded for being a lone voice of dissent.
What is a newspaper's responsibility to check the veracity of its reporters' work? How could a false story slip through? What did this do to the Post's credibility? What forces prompt reporters and editors to behave unethically? What effect may race have had in this saga?

Facebook and Ads

Hi Katy-

This is one of two articles discussing the new advertising angle that Facebook is taking with its trademarked "SocialAds." Apparently, they have a new way of looking at market research and targeting. I thought this might promote an interesting discussion on the class blog. That's my two cents.

Facebook Set to Introduce Major Ad Play
Social Network Could Unveil 'SocialAds' at NYC Event Next Month
October 23, 2007
http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=121440

Kids and Marketing

Lots of people are spending lots of time talking about the ethics of marketing to kids. Lots of flap over sugary sodas, fast food, cigarettes.
Here's an interesting new take on the issue, courtesy CNET, asking whether kids are ready for the grown-up ad world when it comes to online activities like gaming.
You've recently left the teen set, what do you think of this? Should ad messages be aimed at kids? Does online matter in a different way than TV? Should government control ads targeting kids? Should parents? Is that even feasible? How much marketing pressure did you feel as a kid?

Gossip Gone Too Far?

Page Six in the NY Post is under fire from some readers and competitors for what appears to be a note about raping a woman who criticized the gossip roundup.
Not known for its subtlety or responsibility, the page seems to have gone a step further than it has before.
What do you think of the reference? Would you have read it as a rape threat? Does the page have a different responsibility (to its subjects and its audience) than straight news pages would? Do scandals like this actually help it by beefing up notoriety (i.e., "there's no such thing as bad publicity")?

Politico 4 U

The politics-junkie site politico.com launched a campus minisection today.
Will you use it? Does it cover the interests of your generation? Do you care about politics?

Non-profit Journalism

This week presented yet another fascinating development in the journalism business model. Many people believe that as news organizations have to trim their staffs and budgets to meet Wall Street expectations, the first things to go will be international bureaus and investigative journalism.
This week brought the announcement of a new investigative organization with a big fat annual budget that means it won't have to sell advertising or have circulation. It's bank-rolled by billionaires who think contribution to the public interest is the only return-on-investment that matters.
It's called propublica and it's led by a widely respected journalist, Paul Steiger, who used to edit the Wall Street Journal.
I have two questions for you. Will it work? Will it matter in the public conversation?

In the News

What are you reading about? It's all up to you this time. I'm not giving you any seed stories. Have at it in the comments section.

Nobel Racist?

I've had one intense week (given your midterms and 202 intensity, I'm sure you can relate). So thanks to the 202ers who send in posts. Here's a new one:

Hi, I still dont know how to post a story we found on the blog, but i think this is quite interesting. A nobel prize winner, now living in england claimed found the
link in dna that made black people less intelligent than white http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3067222.ece

I found a follow up story http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/19/uk.race/index.html

I cant believe someone with this amount of intelligence, i think his nobel prize was for his work in breaking down dna code, could make such ignorant statements.

Colbert a la Dowd

From a 202er:

Katy,

I urge you in the strongest possible terms to put this article on the course blog -
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14dowd.html?_r=1&n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Op-Ed/Columnists/Maureen%20Dowd&oref=slogin

If you haven't read it, it's Colbert's guest column (for Maureen Dowd) from Sunday's NYTimes. It's brilliant - especially if you read the op-ed columns enough to understand his Frank Rich joke, for example.

Paying the Ultimate Price

It's been a bloody week for journalism in Iraq. The Washington Post lost a reporter who worked in its Baghdad bureau. (Check out this moving tribute from his colleagues.) And an Iraqi newspaper lost three employees in an ambush.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports 119 deaths among journalists in Iraq and 41 among support workers. In 2007 alone, 47 have perished.
What does it mean to pay this price to report? When journalists are a target, what else is sacrificed? Press freedom? Security? Information itself? Would you risk your life to tell a story? Are you glad that other people do or do you think it's unnecessary risk-taking? What stories are worth the risk and what stories are not?

Student Journalists Drawing Fire

What happens when a journalist at a student newspaper says something people don't like:
1. David McSwane in Colorado almost lost his job for running an editorial that said, "F*** Bush"
2. a student newspaper in Arizona is apologizing for a cartoon many called anti-semitic
3. you read earlier about shenanigans in Connecticut and Florida
What responsibility do student journalists have? What is offensive? What should a public university do to rein in student news organizations? Should things be different at a private university? How well are you served by the Badger Herald and Daily Cardinal? Do they ever offend you? What avenues do you have to respond?

Is Anything Private

The Poynter Institute's e-media tidbits highlighted a problem I've been considering a lot lately: in the digital age, is any communication private anymore?
Poynter points to a recent case involving an e-mail exchange between a reporter and reader, which the latter then posted to her blog without informing the reporter or providing context.
Last spring, I spoke with an editor who was mortified when what appeared to be a private conversation about an ethical lapse ended up racing around some blogs like a forest fire (a reader rep had said in private that an incident was a "f***ing trainwreck" ... you can imagine how dismayed she was when her colleagues saw that characterization in print).
You can circulate what I say in lecture, copy and paste parts of my e-mails, visit me in office hours and blog about my comments, all largely without context. The Web has the power to convert private exchanges into public stories.
When everyone can be a publisher, is anything private? What does this mean for us as a society? Is it helpful, e.g. does it strip away layers of secrecy that cloak problems? Does it hurt us, e.g. make us less open to conversation and deliberation?

More Gundy

The football coach who blew up at a reporter in Oklahoma continues to get ink and air.
Here's an intriguing column from the ESPN ombudsman (sort of a "reader representative") about news cycles vs. opinion cycles. I thought it was one of the more thoughtful pieces on the issue.
And then a 202er sent in this hilarious YouTube video. Be sure you watch the original rant to see why this is so funny.
Do you agree that opinion is spiraling out of control in sports coverage, at the expense of news?

In the News

What are you reading about this week? I've been closely following the Crandon shootings, Nobel prizes, a big beer collaboration, civilian deaths in Iraq, political conflict with Turkey ... and much more.

Chandrasekaran Visit

As I mentioned in class, attending the speech by Rajiv Chandrasekaran at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, counts toward your Professional Practices credit. I think this could end up being one of the best events on campus this year. He's an engaging speaker, and his book blew me away. Some clickables:
1. Rajiv's appearance on The Daily Show (wherein Jon Stewart butchers his last name)
2. His appearance with Keith Olbermann (who got the name right)
3. His Web site on the book and his background
4. His book for sale on Amazon
"Imperial Life in the Emerald City" is easily one of the five best books I've read in the last five years. I recommend it as one point on a triangle of reading. It does an excellent job covering policy and the botched effort to rebuild Iraq. To get a view of the war's effect on everyday Iraqis, read Anthony Shadid's outstanding "Night Draws Near." And finally, I'm newly into Tom Ricks' "Fiasco," which provides excellent coverage from the military perspective. Read together, the three give you a well-rounded view of what is aptly called the key story of this generation.

Quotable

We'll be talking about interviews next week in lecture. To prepare, check out this piece on the wildly successful Q&A feature in the New York Times magazine and liberties taken with questions and answers. And listen to this audio file of a story from NPR's "On the Media" show (available through the J202 podcast on Learn@UW).
Should we edit people's words? Are "ums, likes and you knows" different from more substantive words? Is it different in audio than in text?

User-News and the "MSM"

This piece from the San Francisco Chronicle covers a recent study showing lead stories in mainstream news outlets differed significantly from top topics in user-governed news sources (e.g., Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us).
What sources do you use for news? Should an editor at the Wisconsin State Journal be more trusted when it comes to what's worth running or should you pay attention to rankings based on what's tops among millions of readers/viewers? (The State Journal took some chiding when it set up a system to let readers vote online to pick one story for each day's front page.) What is a legitimate news source? Should news consumers have more of a voice in news decisions?

Open Records Fight

Check out this piece from the Boston Globe about a battle to release information about two firefighters who had drugs or alcohol in their blood when they died fighting a fire this summer.
The Boston Herald registered its clear dissent.
Based on what we discussed in lecture about public records, would these autopsy findings be public in Wisconsin? Should they be? What's the public interest in this information? What kinds of harm come from the release?

Recording Industry Hits the Jackpot

Music file sharing took a massive hit yesterday when a federal jury awarded $222,000 to six record companies that sued a Minnesota woman for illegally sharing 24 songs. Yep, that's right ... 24 songs.
What's your reaction to this decision? Does peer-to-peer sharing violate copyright any more than burning a mix CD for your roommate? If you shared music in the past, do you worry that you'll be sued? Would you fight it or take the settlement? Do consumers have any recourse when the six biggest labels join forces to sue?

In the News

What are you reading about this week? More on Myanmar? Larry Craig? Voting in Pakistan? Freakfest tickets?

War on Words

Read an interesting piece in the New York Times this morning about yet another congressional ballyhoo over media comments on the war. This time, it's politicians on the left attacking Rush Limbaugh for comments about soldiers. Last month, it was the right lashing out against moveon.org for the "General Betray Us" ad.
A thought-provoking line:
The back and forth on the Petraeus advertisement and, now, over Mr. Limbaugh’s remarks, illustrates how both parties are turning miscues into fodder in the run up to the 2008 elections, particularly in the absence of serious legislative accomplishment when it comes to the war.
Does this kind of debate serve the electorate well? Should a free society attack commentators like Limbaugh when they're doing what they're paid to do, comment? Do we strip comments of their context when controversies like this catch fire? Do organizations like moveon.org add to debate or make it more shallow?

New Dove Campaign

You'll be getting some of this in the Discussion Arena next week, but Dove has just launched a new viral video for their "self-esteem fund." Ad Age has a good piece on the launch and the results.
What do you think of Dove's campaign? Do you think girls are deluged with messages that negatively affect their body image? We talked earlier about the controversy involving an anorexic woman used in a fashion ad. What about this? Is Dove trying to solve a problem or conveniently use that problem to sell soap? Can our social ideas about beauty really be changed?

Insurgent Recruiting

Here's a great blog addition from a 202er:

Hey Katy,

I didn't know exactly where to send a news clip I just watched, which I believe would be a good blog topic, so I thought e-mail would do. In the following link to a video clip, an interviewee discusses how insurgent groups use video to market themselves, gaining supporters and money. I thought the topic was fascinating although the movie itself was a little on the dull side. I found it on the online Washington Post web site.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2007/09/28/VI2007092800608.html?hpid=topnews

My questions: How powerful is video in attracting people to the insurgent cause? Why kind of tactics can be used to counter this kind of mass communication? Should everyone have the freedom to produce these kinds of materials or should governments try to choke them off? Should these "statement videos" or "hostage videos" be hosted on YouTube or should organizations like that ban them?

Ratings Debate

The PBS Ombudsman, Michael Getler, takes on the language PBS used in promoting its ratings for the new Ken Burns documentary, "The War." (The film, by the way, is well worth a watch.)
The piece provides insight into the ratings game and how it's played. I'm fascinated because PBS isn't in the same fall ratings race as the other networks, which rely on ratings to set advertising rates. One normally wouldn't expect public television to hype viewership. Why would they in this case? What's fair in promoting ratings? Does it ultimately matter to the audience?