Slideshow Sample

A 202er sent this slideshow as an example of what you might do when you do this portion of your Individual Story assignment:

http://www.madison.com/wsj/media/acapella/index.html

Amazon's Kindle

Blog post from a 202er:

Katy,
Interesting new technology. Amazon.com has this new gadget called the "kindle" you buy books and newspapers and blogs, and they are automatically updated on to this device. You can have thousands of books all on this little device. What does this mean for print? Is this just another step on the way to making tangible, paper documents obsolete? I just think it is interesting, especially with so many things moving to the Web (like Cap Times for example), and that article you posted on the blog last week about the "dumbing" of our generation. We talked about this last year in my j201 class, what could this mean for history? The thought of our entire history being on hard drives from here on out is a little frightening. And, the worst part is, I know all of this, and still can't help but think that is sort of cool /:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI73MA/ref=amb_link_6369712_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1DPT074MSY63Z6E0HDDC&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=365797001&pf_rd_i=507846

Thanks!

Outing Prince Harry

Britain's Prince Harry has has been serving with the military in Afghanistan, fighting in forward areas. His presence was kept secret under an agreement between the military and the media.
Blogger Matt Drudge broke the silence Thursday, and the British are now calling him home, fearing that his presence would be a magnet for attacks and endanger his unit as a whole and him as an individual.
Assess the Drudge Report's responsibility here. Did he make the right call? Were other media outlets right to agree to the blackout?
Here's the take from an ethics expert at the Poynter Institute.

Packer Oops

This is an object lesson what can happen when you prepare your strat comm (or even journalism) in advance and test it on the Web.
The Green Bay Packers posted for a time on Thursday a story announcing Brett Favre's retirement. They say it was an error, but that may not satisfy fans or the blogosphere. Local news provided a bit more on the story.

Interview Links

You're about to begin doing interviews for your individual stories, and we'll discuss interviewing in lecture Monday. One great way to get comfortable interviewing is to watch other people do it. If you happen onto interviews online, post a link as a comment.
One of my favorites is the "Questions For" feature in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. But please note the line at the bottom regarding editing. We'll discuss the ethics of interviewing Monday.

KC News Meeting

The floor is yours, what news mattered this week? Post your comments and get a discussion going.

Photo editing and ethics

I'm going cross-blog here for an interesting note on ethics in photo editing. Check out this post from my advanced class. What do you think of the choices made here? Which photo is the one you would run if you were in charge?

Source Me

Here's a thread for you to post requests for help in finding sources for your Individual Story assignment. You can ask for help by posting a comment and then check back to see if any fellow 202ers have added a comment with a suggestion. Please remember that this blog is public, so if you put up an e-mail or IM address or phone number, the world can see it.

Online Power and Giving

Woah, check out this blog. It's a 9-year-old who is climbing summits to raise money for his school. I remember collecting coins for charity in a rinsed-clean milk carton when I was a kid. What does the Web do for kids who support causes?

Heckling at Home

Excellent blog addition from a 202er:

1. read this CapTimes story about an alleged crime in the dorms
2. read this response to it on the Critical Badger blog
3. digest the debate in the blog comments
4. weigh in through our comments

The poster sent this as an accompaniment to the Discussion Arena reading on digital heckling. What do you think of the response here?

Should news organizations endorse candidates?

TIME magazine's managing editor offers an intriguing question: why do newspapers endorse political candidates?
I'm curious what you think. You are the generation at issue here. What does it mean to you if the Wisconsin State Journal says it thinks you should pick, say, McCain over Huckabee. Take it closer to home. Does it matter who the Herald or Cardinal endorse as the best in the race? Does that kind of endorsement affect how you judge their objectivity or credibility?

Student Newspaper in Hot Water

The student paper at the University of Colorado is under the microscope for publishing an opinion piece that offended many.
Extend this to your own campus. Could this happen at the Cardinal or Herald? Has it? If it does, what means should be used to address the issue? Should the editor be fired?

McCain and the New York Times

It looks like the McCain campaign may be spoinlin' for a fight with the New York Times over an article posted online last night, covering his record on ethics choices.
What are the media ethics ramifications of this? To get you started, read this perspective from the Poynter Institute.

Ethics and Medill, an update

In case you missed it, I started an earlier thread about controversy brewing at Northwestern's journalism school and its dean using unattributed comments in his letter in the alumni magazine.
Yesterday, some Medill faculty fired a shot across the bow.
I have a lot of thoughts here but want yours. Specifically, I'd like to know what you think about the idea that PR writing is held to a lower sourcing standard than journalism.
And what about anonymous sources, are they OK to use? When?
And let's get right to the heart here. Is the problem that people think the dean should have named his sources or is it that they suspect he didn't really have those sources? If it's the latter, do they have a responsibility to come out and say it?
Finally, does it matter? I was having a little IM spat with a journalist friend yesterday, warning him that it's all too easy to blow these insider controversies out of proportion when they may not matter much to the wider public. I used you guys as Exhibit A: you posted only two comments to the thread on Medill but put up 30 about NIU. You have a clear sense of what is important to you. Do news media share those priorities?

The Race Card

I found this column intriguing. It's an argument about reactions to race in the presidential campaigns and how small comments can be inflated. I liked the way he tied it to past campaigns to illuminate the differences, especially the Willie Horton case, which was a key issue in the presidential race when I was your age (does that make me sound as old as I think it does?).
So what do you think? How does race matter here, if at all? Is it being used strategically by either side in the Democratic race? What will happen in the general election?

Are We Dumb?

I'm quite curious what you think of this piece, as a member of a generation she targets in her argument.

Is it copying or is it not?

Hey Katy,
An interesting blog topic regarding plagarism in speeches...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/us/politics/19campaign.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1203437157-zYC6qCDhBwxaXX/8/VFJSw

http://badgerherald.com/news/2008/02/19/obama_catches_flak_f.php

KC News Meeting

Sorry, I got locked out of Blogger for a bit because Google thought I was a spyware robot. Never thought I was that nefarious.
Here's what I've been reading, in massively abbreviated version. Please add yours:
- Wisconsin primary
- street racing tragedy
- Castro stepping down
- Kosovo recognition
- elections in Pakistan
- Microsoft fights for Yahoo

Sourcing lecture linx

ESPN hoaxCity of Madison
AP on gun seller
NIU
HP
Election graphic
Street racing
Race and crime

AP and Its Members in Conflict

The Associated Press, built on the bedrock of newspapers, is finding itself less tied to them as a revenue stream. At the same time, newspapers are finding themselves looking for a way, any way, to cut expenses. This puts the two in conflict and highlights the economics of this industry.