Helping the presidency

Submitted by a student:

Professor Culver,

Here is a link to a video of Chris Matthews being interviewed by Joe Scarborough. Matthews says, "I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work." Is Matthews job to make the presidency work? Or should he strive to provide critical coverage no matter who is in the White House? I just thought it was an interesting ethical question.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2008/11/06/odd-job-matthews-says-his-role-make-obama-presidency-success

What do you think of that? Is Chris Matthews (or Rachel Maddow or Bill O'Reilly, etc.) a "journalist"? If so, is opinion out of bounds? Can you think of another time a "helpful" approach from the media helped get us into trouble (hmm, perhaps the run-up to the Iraq war?)

KC's News Meeting

Sorry for the delay in all my posts this week. I couldn't get on until just now. What's in the news this week?
- senator convicted
- little band named Wilco plays the Union
- Canadians pranking Palin
- voter registration suit thrown out in Wisconsin
- seems to be some kind of election coming up perhaps?

What are you reading about?

Moms Rising

I know at your age Halloween is more about State Street than candy, but as a mom, I found this an excellent use of social media.

Media bias and the election

With some trepidation, I offer the following links on the subject of news media liberal bias.
Politico: Why McCain is getting hosed in the press
Slate: No surprises in Fox News discussion of liberal media bias
MarketWatch: Most Republicans see media bias
For some pointed left-right commentary:
Huffington Post
NewsBusters
This came to a head this week, when the McCain campaign lashed out at the LA Times for declining to release a video of Obama. I post with trepidation because I often cannot have healthy conversations on this issue with people who hold political views. Heated and divisive are two good ways to describe the exchanges. What say ye?

Journalists and voting

I received a question this week from a student, asking whether she should cast a ballot, given that she's a journalist. "Does it hinder my ability to be objective," she asked.
This is an interesting effort at transparency from Slate, the online magazine.
What do you think of this? Frankly, I remain a bit unsure myself. I voted when I was a reporter, mainly because the mere act of voting didn't seem to threaten my objectivity. In fact, I was usually better at being fair when I was honest with myself and others about my own opinions.

Journalism schools' ethics obligations

What would you do as a faculty member in this situation?
Annenberg USC-Dubai journalism program
What factors did you consider? What does not matter in your consideration?

Strat comm vlogging

What do you do when you want to get around the "filter of the mainstream media"? Check out this State Department staffer's attempt at getting average citizens to engage with him on YouTube.
Do you think people will pay attention? Do you think journalists need to do a better job covering things that aren't "edgy"?

Cartoonist bias

Some are questioning Doonesbury cartoonist Gary Trudeau's decision to send a strip for this Wednesday, declaring Obama the winner. Check out this brief note from a paper that runs the strip, but also read the comments posted below. What are the ethics of posting and deleting comments? Is anything fair game as long as a reader is posting it and not a person who works for the publication? Should they be moderated?

KC's News Meeting

What's in the news this week? 3 thoughts to get you started. I'll pull quiz questions from the items you add as comments.
- Bloomberg's hopes as mayor of NYC
- OPEC prices
- new UW chancellor speaks

Young at heart

A post from a 202er:

Katy,

Joe here, one of your 202 students. I came across this article on msnbc.com.

This article doesn't have much of a connection to media ethics. On the other hand, this man is a "semi-retired journalist," as the article states.

Perhaps nothing embodies the Teddy Roosevelt quote I have below in all my e-mails more than this story. This is what life is about. This guy's a testament to the human spirit.

Just thought it was interesting. Take a gander.

Joe :-)

http://beyondthearc.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/22/1582620.aspx

What do you think about your journalism education?

Check this out from New Hampshire:

http://media.www.tnhonline.com/media/storage/paper674/news/2008/10/21/Commentary/A.Wake.Up.Call.To.Journalism.Students-3496916.shtml

Student journalist jailed

Hi Katy,

I was looking at PerezHilton (guilty pleasure!) and an article was posted about a journalism student who was sentenced to prison for asking questions about 'women's rights under Islam.' Thought you may find it interesting!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27297183/

(Follow links back, as well, for coverage of a claim of torture.)

Hitler talk

What should be the penalty for inappropriate references? What's inappropriate? Who defines that?

http://thebiglead.com/?p=8527

Hate and the election

This story raises points worth reading:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/us/politics/21whites.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Tell me what you think about hate speech. Should we allow people to spout racist views? The Secret Service is investigating at least one threat against Obama yelled at a Palin campaign rally. Should their intervention go beyond threats? I, for one, am surprised that race has not been a more vitriolic issue in this campaign (aside, of course, from last week's food stamp debacle). Do you agree? Why?

Opinion online

I was intrigued by this new idea raised on a listserv I subscribe to. What do you think of this idea?

Hello,

We’ve embarked on a different path from many of our newspaper.com counterparts today on our opinion channel:

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/

Rather than headlining our own editorials and links to content from our newspaper, the editorial staff has decided to centerpiece on the page the best of the Web – changing out links throughout the day in real time based on an editor’s sense of what the key conversation is online. While I know this is SOP for places like the Drudge Report or Digg, this is not the norm for a traditional news organization. Most news organizations relegate outside links to secondary spots on a channel front.

The team that is leading this charge, under the direction of editorial page editor Keven Willey, includes columnist Rod Dreher and assistant editorial page editor Mike Hashimoto. Rod and Mike conceived of this idea, learned how to use our outdated production tools, and began applying them today in the service of opinion journalism.

Anthony

Anthony Moor
Deputy Managing Editor/Interactive
The Dallas Morning News
508 Young St.
Dallas, TX 75202
(214) 977-8981

www.dallasnews.com

SNL and elections

Anyone watch Sarah Palin on SNL last night, as played by both Tiny Fey and Palin herself?

Check out this post from a 202er:

So I was the last group to do our ethics media analysis. We did ours on humor and politics dealing with Daily Show and SNL. Then this morning at the serf, CNN played this story on one of their news cast.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/17/snl.politics/index.html

This could be interesting to share with the other class members.

Political advertising

J-School affiliated faculty member Ken Goldstein has interesting followup to the debate and assertions about the negativity of political ads:

http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/14838

I also found this perspective intriguing:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/163476

Communication beyond all reason

I'm going to let this one speak for itself.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_buck16.3d67d4a.html

Great video

OK, I'm posting this one just for fun:

http://www.theexplodingwhale.com/evidence/the-video/

Liberal Media Bias?

Got this submission from a 202er:

This story was sent from JSOnline.com: http://www.jsonline.com.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you think this photo from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel shows a liberal media bias? I would argue it does because Obama's red tie is shown (indicating importance) and his torso is turned toward the camera. In addition, the handshake gesture shows equality/neutrality, but the fact that Obama is grasping McCain with his other hand incicates authority. A professor of mine said that asymmetrical touch indicates authority so whenever one political candidate places their hand on the other, the other will usually try to do the same. Then there's the close proximity of the candidates which shows Obama is taller, another (abeit false) idicator of authority. In this instance, I think the photo makes Obama look much more authoritative than McCain. What are your thoughts? Can a photo show bias? Do photographers have the same standards as writers? Are they required to take unbias photos or portray both candidates in the same way?

http://www.jsonline.com/multimedia/graphic.asp?graphic=/graphics/news/img/oct08/debateJ1101608.jpg

What do you think? Post your comments and let's discuss when we talk about design Monday.

Fact-checking Joe the Plumber

Good post from a 202er:

As much as I wanted to believe in Joe it looks like the Times did some serious background checking. His name isn't even JOE! seems like a good example of our fact finding lecture last week with checking for his licenses and taxes, I bet he's wishing he just kept his mouth shut.

U.S. | October 16, 2008
The Caucus: Joe in the Spotlight
By Larry Rohter and Liz Robbins
When "Joe the Plumber" stopped Senator Barack Obama during a visit to his block this weekend to ask about his taxes, he set himself on a path to being the newest media celebrity — and, like other celebrities, found himself under scrutiny.

Privacy and ethics

I'm tardy in posting this great submission from a 202-er.

Hey Katy,

After talking yesterday about how digging through someone's garbage can constitute invasion of privacy, I remembered this story from the Village Voice about how the author happened to find some of Harvey Weinstein's mail in a public trash can. I thought it was interesting enough to pass on.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-07-02/news/trash-talking-with-harvey-weinstein/

What do you think of this?

Medicine and statistics

A new post from a 202er:

Hi Prof. Culver,

My dad emailed me this article a few weeks ago. It was in the New York Times so you might have already read it (you seem to have the all-seeing eye of mass media). I thought it would pique your interest as it covers both the ideas of interpreting numbers and statistics but also the medical world and studies. My dad was particularly thrilled because as a doctor he said he rarely finds medical articles that are both factually significant but also would make sense to a regular person. I wasn't sure if it was blog worthy because we've sort of moved on from interpreting data but I thought you might like to read it anyway.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/health/30stud.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

Ad controversy

When should student publications accept and reject advertising that prompts controversy? Conservative commentator David Horowitz has stirred the pot yet again, this time at UCSB.
What responsibilities do student publishers face? What's the role of free speech here? What's Horowitz's obligation in placing the ad?
This sort of communication reared its head here at the UW a few years back. Then some administrators chimed in. Then still more defended the students.

Debate formats

The upcoming (and final) debate moderator offers some comments about what he hopes to achieve. What have you thought of the formats to date? Fair? Productive? Informative?

Pulling aside the curtain

Check out this fascinating piece about the slate of rumors that Barack Obama is secretly Muslim, and the man behind the ideas. Think about credibility and sources, as we've been discussing.
What is Martin's personal obligation to be accurate and truthful? Did Fox News have an obligation to vet his credibility before inviting him as a guest? Did other media outlets have an obligation to look into his background?

Weekly Ethics Roundup

Let's wrap up the weekly ethics discussions by returning to some of the central ethical values in journalism and strat comm:
- what are our new means of debate fact-checking? (accuracy)
- what should your profs get to say during elections? (skepticism)
- what is the line between journalism and non-journalism? (idealism)
- should we air interviews when a candidate needs to restart? (fairness)
- should consumers help define what is and is not reliable information? (transparency)
- when should advertisers avoid offense and rescind creative work? (independence)
- what happens when subjects fight back (courage)
- what stories and images are bigger than us? (humility)

KC's News Meeting

In the news this week:
- international coordinated rate cut
- Detroit auto industry
- Palin investigation results
- power-sharing in Zimbabwe
- UW band
What are you reading about?

Magazine retouching

Great submission from a 202er (who blushes a bit in confessing to reading Perez Hilton).

Hi there,

I know I came upon this via Perez Hilton (guilty), but I thought it was really interesting. The Republican anchor is angry because Sarah Palin's photo in Newsweek wasn't touched up. Thought you may find this intriguing!

Best,

http://perezhilton.com/2008-10-09-republicans-are-in-a-tizzy

I want to know what you think. Many complain that magazine covers ARE retouched. What do we think when they AREN'T?

U.S. vs International publications

A 202er send this for your thoughts.

What's the difference between publication standards here vs. abroad?

Weekly Ethics Roundup

Let's get into opinion in this week's ethics discussions. Specifically, when is it OK to have them, how are they manipulated and when is it not OK to express them?
- Campbell Brown asserts herself
- how do marketing efforts affect doctors' opinions of prescription drugs?
- Gwen Ifill has a book coming up
- what's the difference between asking hard questions and being out to get an interviewee?
- how does the framing of words affect our opinions (scroll to chapter titled "Giving Us What We Want" and watch segment)
- when should people disclose their agendas (read segment on "embedded blogger" after Palin poll)
- how do our personal relationships affect our opinions and actions?

KC's News Meeting

In the news:
- OJ Simpson verdict
- UW Marching Band
- bailout vote
- veep debate
- Brewers win
- Cubs lose
- financial firm mergers
Add your ideas via comments.

Weekly Ethics Roundup

For ethics this week, let's play a little game of "should they?":
- should Andrea Mitchell report on the economy when she's married to one of the people most involved in the current crisis?
- should newspapers run op-ed pieces submitted by candidates even if they likely did not write them? (even though their competitors have done the same thing)
- should a journalist lose his job (in part) for racial epithets?
- should news organizations fight back when campaign strategic communicators characterize their journalism?
- should media report what is found in illegally hacked personal e-mails?
- should medication packaging and advertising be held to higher standards of disclosure?
- should releases and direct mail about voting be held to higher standards of accuracy?

KC's News Meeting

What are you thinking about in the news this week:
- $700 billion bailout ... what does it *actually* do?
- McCain debate proposal
- Couric and Palin
- U.S. actions in Pakistan
- Palin e-mail hacking
- Ehud Olmert steps down
- Letterman has fit of pique
- trial begins for Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens

Public servants and the media

Wow, this is a shot across the bow coming out of Detroit. This same council member was part of a kerfuffle I use in lectures on the compelling nature of video.
When you are a public servant, do you have an obligation to deal with the media? Why or why not? Journalists are often derided as being biased or outright liars. Are they? Does the state of news media today concern you?

Is the online model turning around?

Looks like what's bad for Wall Street was good for online news traffic.

Update

Here's an update to the funeral twittering.

Weekly Ethics Roundup

For this week's ethics discussion, let's look at a few matters of accuracy, taste and decency.
- Chicago Tribune refuses political comment in paid death notice
- Colorado paper uses Twitter at funeral
- campaign ad and issues of sex education
- lipstick and pigs
- should a single advertiser sponsor an entire magazine issue?
- where is the line between strat comm media relations and journalistic sourcing?
- is it OK to alter images in opinion pieces?

KC News Meeting

Hot topics in the news this week. Here's what I've been reading and hearing a lot about. Add your ideas via comments.
- AIG bailout
- Lehman lack-of-bailout
- money market guarantees
- deceptive ad accusations in prez campaign
- train crash in LA
- McCain/Palin visit Wisconsin
- Brewers' losses
- embassy bombing in Yemen
- will tainted Chinese milk lead to recall?
- Dane County smoking ban

Cool lead

A 202-er sends the following:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/14legiswe.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

as a sample of an inviting lead. Thanks for sending!

United Stock

Tribune thickens the plot of the plunging United Airlines stock by blaming Google. Check it out.

Daily Show

So in the volume-challenged and time-elapsing lecture hall Monday morning, I didn't get a chance to play that last video for you.

Go to Comedy Central and watch the video marked "Sarah Palin Gender Card."

So what is the Daily Show? Is it journalism? If so, how so? If not, why not? It matters a great deal because you and your peers watch it more than you consume mainstream news media.

Weekly Ethics Roundup

For your discussions on ethics in lab for the next six weeks, I'll post articles of interest under this header, Weekly Ethics Roundup. I'll include some interesting issues and controversies that have been percolating lately, and you'll discuss them in lab, led by your TA. Feel free to comment here on the blog, as well, or supply other links.

In the realm of responsibility:
- a story pulled from Chicago Tribune archives sends United Airlines stock plummeting
- Steve Jobs' death greatly exaggerated
- rumors about why Olbermann is out of the anchor chair? (first-day story here)
- oops, you're losing your job and I'm letting it slip
- hmmm, should I buy the New York Times?
- is there such a thing as bad fan publicity?

As you go through these, think about:
- the responsibility of the media workers involved
- to whom we're responsible as reporters and marketers (audience? society? bottom line? ourselves?)
- what happens to media credibility when rumors abound?
- when does it make sense to let audience take control of a message, if ever?
- what can be done to regain trust when mistakes happen? does it ever really come back?

KC's News Meeting

Each week in J202, we have a current events section on the quiz. To stimulate your reading and thinking about what is going on in your world, I'll post a few items of interest to this blog. I invite you to comment on these posts, known as "KC's News Meeting," and add items that you read in the news. While I can't promise every quiz question will come from these posts and comments, they're a great place to start getting yourself into the news. So read up and comment (and remember, if I see more than 105 comments to all my blog posts in a week, everyone's quiz score for that week goes up a point).

Here's some of what I've been interested in this week:
- financial crisis at giant Lehman Brothers firm
- candidates and earmarks
- big, fat collider smashing teeny, tiny particles
- a stroke in North Korea
- conflict between Russia and Georgia
- lipstick, pigs and a "Swift Boat" accusation

What are you reading about? Post a comment.

Math & Reporting

Great column by Joel Stein in TIME. Math may defy many journalists, but it can be darned funny. See all the wonderful things Excel training in 202 can get you?

Strat Comm, Journalism and the War in Iraq

Excellent investigative piece in Sunday's New York Times. It covers the Pentagon's efforts to sway public opinion by using military analysts as TV commentators.
This certainly says something about the administration's strategic communication efforts. Are they ethical? But it also says something about our journalism. Are those practices ethical?

Are You Informed?

This piece is worth a read:

http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=QYw8fVKV9Vv4V6kWySfwnJynqhrkzfSg

I am routinely troubled by our failure in getting and keeping ourselves informed. A student asked me a few weeks ago what specific steps she could take to improve her base of knowledge. Our exchange went roughly like this:

What is the home page that opens when your launch your primary Web browser?
Facebook.
Change it to Google News, New York Times or Washington Post. You can still visit Facebook, but you'll see key news every time you launch.

Do you subscribe to a print publication, either newspaper or magazine?
No.
Pick one. I get a local and national. But I'm about to subscribe to a magazine called "The Week" that serves as a digest of key issues worth knowing.

Do you ever talk about current issues with friends?
Not really.
Try once a day to have a conversation with someone about something you read.

Links from Student for Online

Hey Katy,

Here is a great post about newspapers and blogs with plenty of great links to check out and some good comments from the former director of photography of men's journal

http://aphotoeditor.com/2008/03/31/newspapers-and-bloggers/.

And another one called Why Print Will Never Die- (from a photography perspective)

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/magazines/why_print_mags_wont_die_80956.asp#more

Sources Beyond Google

Katy,
I thought you might share this with the students on the blog?
I went to the Midwest Journalism Conference in Minneapolis this weekend and Al Tompkins from the Poynter Institute gave a great seminar.
He posted his favorites sites(over 100) for Internet research from his "Beyond Google" seminar.
Everything from voting records to cell phone numbers.

http://atompkins711.googlepages.com/home

Social Networks and Tragedy

The issue we've been discussing has hit close to home. I rec'd this message from a former student:

Hey Katy-

I don't know if you still run the blog for 202 anymore, but if so I thought you might find this situation interesting. Channel 3000 posted a link to Brittany Zimmerman's MySpace page next to her picture and the story of her homicide. I, for one, find this to be completely rude and unethical. Thought it might spark some conversation for your class.

What do you think? Connect this to the earlier post on Facebook at UMass.

Is this Juicy?

I have to hear your opinions on this one:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/fashion/16juicy.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=fashion&adxnnlx=1206806357-vMRPG2FS2XSd3RHzhng60w
It's a story on the Juicy Campus Web site, of which we are, thankfully, not currently a part. I visited after reading this piece and was astounded.
Where does this fit in the sphere of information? Is it ethical to allow anonymous posts? What are the social implications? What recourse do people have when they are the focus of posts?

Facebook and Tragedy

Check out this blog post at the University of Massachusetts. Be sure to read the comments below it. We've covered this terrain in 202 before, and I wrote a column about it for the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
I'm curious what you think of the practice of reporters and editors going into MySpace and Facebook profiles of people after they've died or been injured. Is it ethical? Necessary?

LA Times Hoax

The LA Times had to apologize this week, acknowledging that its controversial story on the Tupac Shakur slaying relied in part on falsified documents. The Smoking Gun revealed the hoax.
It's a valuable case for you to look at through the lens of our discussions on judging source credibility. Check out this piece in Slate and this one from Poynter on how they might have avoided falling into this trap.

Cover controversy

If you didn't catch it, we've had some chattering this week over a Vogue cover with LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen. Here's one posting, but you can Google for hundreds more.
I thought this note was a great addition to the discussion. Check out the picture comparison.
Do you think it plays to racial or sexual stereotypes? Is it offensive?

Student paper censorship

From a 202er:

Hi Katy,

I realize this is a little outdated, but this Chicago Tribune article delves into a topic you touched on in last Monday's lecture. This Illinois high school teacher was forced out of her position as advisor to her school's paper because of her decision to allow a column with profanity (and a student's thoughts on smoking and dealing pot).
Parents and the administration were outraged, yet her staff, both current and alums, back her fully. According to the article and the students, she did amazing things for the paper, so did she deserve to be fired?

Pranking in Wrigleyville

The Chicago Tribune had a little fun at the Sun-Times' expense, and some people don't like it. They don't like it very much at all. The staffer responsible defends his choices, and most coverage has highlighted it as a prank.
Is it ethical?

Political bickering

A new post from a 202er:

Hey Katy,

Thought this would be great for the blog. This CNN clip is about broadcast news anchors getting mad with each other on air over how their stations have covered the elections. I guess it shows the strains on the talking heads when they talk about the same issues endlessly!

Enjoy

KC News Meeting

What's in the news this week? I'll goose a limited list, but you do the rest. Last quiz ... but that doesn't mean you can stop reading/listening/watching.
- China and Tibet
- mortgage crisis and bailouts
- sniper fire in Bosnia
- the 4,000 mark in Iraq
- two candidates, a pastor and speeches on race

High on sourcing

Check out this piece on marijuana availability from the student newspaper at Tulane. Let's open a discussion on credibility and anonymous sourcing. Is this piece believable? What might have improved it? Do your experiences on this campus jibe with the reporting here? What would you expect of your student newspapers in a similar situation?

Interviews by e-mail

Here's a blog post by a Tribune reporter, taking another newspaper to task for declining to engage in an e-mail interview. He raises some interesting points, but I still have to say, e-mail interviews are an absolute last resort. I also wish someone would raise the issue that the subject in question is a public employee and refusing to answer questions as such should raise red flags for the citizens paying her salary. Also, his assumption that an e-mail from the president reflects her own words, rather than those of her PR staff, is naive. He should toddle through J202.
What do you think?

Making News

TA Melissa Tully sent a great piece from "Here on Earth" about making news. Go to our course podcast in Learn@UW to listen.

Spitzer and the media

An interesting column about how the media overlooked some of Eliot Spitzer's behavior as he was built into the "white knight" of Wall Street. Here's another example of the same logic. A good perspective I had been overlooking.
Also, I spoke with some of you about the issue of a political spouse standing by a fallen figure (and some of you caught my comment in my Facebook status update). I found this piece quite persuasive.

Keeping track of consumers online

Look at this story on how online behavior is monitored.
_______
A new analysis of online consumer data shows that large Web companies are learning more about people than ever from what they search for and do on the Internet, gathering clues about the tastes and preferences of a typical user several hundred times a month.

These companies use that information to predict what content and advertisements people most likely want to see. They can charge steep prices for carefully tailored ads because of their high response rates.

The analysis, conducted for The New York Times by the research firm comScore, provides what advertising executives say is the first broad estimate of the amount of consumer data that is transmitted to Internet companies.
_______
What are the ethics of this kind of monitoring? Government needs special clearance to peep on citizens (though this is far more arguable after the Patriot Act). Does it matter that it's industry watching your activities, not government? And if so, how? Does it matter that you leave a trail when you use, say, gmail?

Photo manipulation

Here's a terrific resource to expand on yesterday's lecture discussion of manipulation of images. Check it out.
But a student raised a great discussion topic via IM. Manipulation is supposedly verboten in news. What about strat comm? Swimsuit models don't really look like they appear to in ads. They've been retouched to look better. Is this OK? Do you think the average consumer understands this? Should that matter? What are the social implications of making people look better than they actually do? What are the gender implications.

Anchor vs. Reporter

Check out this snarky exchange. Can't say as I recall ever seeing anything like it.
What does this say about professionalism? What, if anything, should happen to these two staffers?

KC's News Meeting

Some highlights from the week. What are yours?
- diplomatic crisis in Latin America
- primaries the made one party's decision but not another's
- a "monster" and a campaign resignation
- jobs losses and recession fears
- killings at Jerusalem seminary
- some quarterback retired

On and Off the Record

An Obama campaign supporter has stepped down after calling Hillary Clinton a "monster." Samantha Power also writes for TIME magazine.
She tried to take the comment off the record but the publication said it as clearly on. What do you think of the exchange? Should the comment have been used?
Should TIME respond? And if so, how?

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.

Race and crime

When I ask you what distinguishes online journalism, some of you answer a key is the space to do more than you could in another medium. This is an amazing and heart-rending illustration of that. I'd love to see them go beyond the blog now, to put some depth to the breadth, particularly by using audio or video to give voice to families that have so often been invisible. I think it's also interesting how on-scene reporting can deepen the kind of data you'd find in everyblock and how race played in different ways for the audience.

Ethics and Medill

A great discussion topic from a 202-er:
______
Hi Katy,
I'm sure you've heard the dean of the Medill school of journalism at Northwestern was caught possibly using fabricated sources in the alumni magazine. I thought this would be interesting to discuss on the blog. It is really shocking that the dean at the most prestigious journalism school would resort to this- what kind of example does his behavior give to journalists everywhere? Here is the link to the article in the Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-northwestern-dean_14feb14,0,4916533.story
__________
Let's explore this.

I wrote a piece in our alumni newsletter a few years ago and led with a reference to an old city editor of mine. Unlike Lavine's vague memory I recall clearly, actually, stewing a bit over quoting him, grappling with whether to go with "show them" or "show 'em." But I decided the latter was really the way he spoke to me. Honestly, it never occurred to me to name him. I never considered him an "unnamed source." His identity was in no way germane to the story, and I remembered vividly what he had said to me (I routinely saw him as god-like in my reporting infancy).

I also realize now that I did just the same thing with a column I wrote last summer on the ethics of using social networking profiles of crime victims in reporting. The wrap to that story came from a visit I made to a 202 lab to discuss the issue. I recall just as vividly who told me the story and the context in which it was raised. Yet, again, I did not name her and made no conscious decision not to do so.
___________
Journalism schools are interesting places to play out journalism ethics. So what of it, the dean's and my choices? What of the other sources -- students and faculty members -- refusing to go on the record to discuss the situation? Is it OK to use anonymous sources? If so, in what circumstances? Was the dean's letter "journalism"? Did I do my audiences in both cases a disservice?

NYT job cuts

Another post from a 202er ...

___________
Hi Katy,

I saw this article today on the NY Times about the newspaper cutting about 100 jobs in the newsroom.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/business/media/15times.html

It's another case in the last week of changes in the newspaper business.

Have a good weekend,

NIU Shootings

As raw as the events are, I'd like you to think about the Northern Illinois mass shootings and the media implications.
Check out news organizations:
- Chicago Tribune
- Washington Post
- New York Times
- CNN
just to name a few. How are they handling the coverage? What's the level of sensitivity? Of information? Are you getting insights? Or repeats of the same information? How are they handling the questions of mental health? Of victims' stories? What writing has resonated most with you? What images? What things shouldn't have appeared?

Then I want you to look at the strat comm angles. I know this seems odd, but this is a story that was handled by PR people, the university communications staff at NIU. Go to their Web site and look at the information. Did they provide enough info and do it quickly enough? Look at some of the info updates earlier on. I found them interesting because they didn't just update and replace info. Instead, they used strikethrough to show what info had been updated or replaced. Watch the press conferences and examine those interactions. What role did public relations play in this tragedy and was it done ethically and effectively?

Ads and Newspapers in One Post

Great intersection of news and strat comm. A cooperative has introduced quadrantONE, a way for national advertisers to push their messages out to smaller local and regional newspaper sites. If you're Miller Beer, you're not going to negotiate individually with the Journal Sentinel, State Journal, etc., to post ads on their sites. The theory is that quandrantONE will give media buyers a chance to specialize without too much effort in contacting individual outlets.
Newspapers are in trouble. Ad revenues are down, as is circulation. Advertisers need new avenues to consumers. No one has figured out a way to truly leverage the Web as a revenue model. Will this work? What do you think?

In College in Wisconsin? Help me out

Do me a favor if you're a college student in Wisconsin. Take the survey below and pass it along to other students, especially those on campuses other than Madison. Let's take this baby viral because representative results will help us tell a better story.
_______________
The Journal Sentinel is asking students to complete a short, anonymous survey about drinking behavior and to send the link via e-mail to at least 20 friends. Students also could post the link on their Facebook page.

The survey will be used confidentially by staff writers working on an upcoming series of stories about alcohol.

Here is the link to the survey, which takes about 5 minutes to complete:
http://tinyurl.com/2vzveb

The survey results will be sent directly to a database at the Journal Sentinel.

Journalism students who help spread the word about this survey will get their name in a contributor box that will accompany an upcoming series of stories.

Thanks.

Cool Digital Strat Comm

OK, this is really fun. Look at the innovation from marketers at Holiday Inn Express. They found a way to tie into the interest and energy about the primary campaigns with an interactive branding message. You can highlight a candidate and find out how much he or she would have saved by staying at their hotels instead.
This is edging into an area of interactive that tries to get users to play games to keep them on a site and attending to a message. It happens in news too. It also emphasizes viral, not paying to get a message out but making it interesting enough to get people to forward it for you (much as I'm doing here).
Is this effective? Would you share it?

KC's News Meeting

What's going on this week? Here's my start to the thread. Post your ideas via comments.
- Yahoo! rejects Microsoft's bid
- do you know what "superdelegates" are?
- BlackBerry service down (what are all those CrackBerry addicts doing tonight?)

Strib Layoffs

Another 202er supplies a post. (Have I mentioned how much I love you guys?)
________
Hey Katy,

Here's an article on WCCO (Minneapolis) from today. Looks like the Star Tribune is laying off people in their print department. Tie into the Cap Times?

http://wcco.com/business/star.tribune.job.2.651035.html
________

This was a part of the conversation I'm hearing at the multimedia conference I'm at this week. Job losses are nothing new in newspapers right now. The interesting, and disconcerting, element to this one is that these are involuntary layoffs, not voluntary buyouts. At papers like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that have been cutting staff, the cuts to date have been voluntary and accompanied by a severance package. These cuts are not anything pretty, but they're a grade above a layoff.
So here's what I want to know from you: does this scare you? If you want to go into journalism, how does this time feel for you? I gave a speech last week to the Wisconsin Newspaper Association titled, "Why It's a Good Time to Want to Be a Reporter Even Though Everyone Says It Isn't" (and incidentally, the subtitle was "Yes, They Pay Me to Teach People to Be Concise"). Why do you think I'm optimistic?

What's Your Candidate?

Great blog addition from a 202er this morning:
_________
Hi Katy,

I found this story through the NY Times and it reminded me a lot about today's lecture and the several Mac vs. PC examples we heard today. I thought you might find it interesting how these technologies are becoming representations for entire genres, demographics, styles, etc. and how one writer used them to contrast Obama and Clinton in this article.
_________
What do you think? Do the styles of the two platforms fit the styles of the two candidates? And then what would John McCain and Mike Huckabee be? We've talked about branding in marketing. How are the candidates brands faring in your opinion?

Reporting and Airline Security

Curious what you think of this case. A reporter in New Zealand followed up on a story on an in-flight stabbing aboard an airplane by boarding a flight with a knife and a fake gun in carry-on luggage.
What are the ethical implications here? How do you weigh the risk the move posed against the public benefit of pointing out holes in the security system? Should the reporter be prosecuted? Or was this exactly what journalism is supposed to do?

Fark

Just got this msg with a link to share.

Hey Katy,

I thought you'd enjoy this site. It's called Fark.com, and it pretty much takes some of the biggest absurdities from the media each day from a ton of outlets - in print, online, and broadcast. It is especially critical of poor writing and bad leads - quite timely for our class! They've even published a book with some of the site's best findings called, "Its Not News It's Fark: How Mass MEdia Tries to Pass Off Crap as News."

Enjoy!

http://www.fark.com/

Rachel's Thread

Hi Vallens Lab. I'm so sorry you got snowed out yesterday. We're going to have to shaft your Discussion Arena chats this week and next to plug in the media analysis presentation that got scrapped yesterday.
I'm starting this thread to give you a way to comment and post ideas about the Discussion Arena readings for this week and next. Have at it!

Holy cats

If you want to see the biggest breaking story in Madison media in a long time, check this out. You may not know much about The Capital Times, but this is huge.
I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the move.

Cool Innovation

A few years ago, I happened to stumble across a site called chicagocrime.org that brought together mapping and data on crimes in Chicago. I found it downright thrilling as a former crime reporter because it gave people access to information both broad-based and hyper-local. I had always felt constrained by paper, ink and time, never able to tell my community all of what was going on and where. This site struck me as a fascinating extension of journalism.
So I was beyond bummed when it went offline last week ...
... But thrilled that its creator, Adrian Holovaty, launched a new project that takes the original model many steps forward. Dubbed "EveryBlock," the project gives users access to data well beyond crime. Want to know if a restaurant in your neighborhood has been inspected? It's there. News stories covering your block? Got that too. Even Flickr photos.
Go in and surf around in it. They're EveryBlocking now in Chicago, New York and San Francisco.
Then tell me what you think. Is it a site you'd use in your own city? What's your opinion of the interface? What other kinds of information would you use?

KC's News Meeting

What news stories are you monitoring this week? Here's a start on mine. Post yours via comments.
- Super Tuesday
- horrific mall killing outside Chicago
- Britney in crisis
- economic stimulus
- Kenya
- salary for our new chancellor
- umm, what's that? snow in our forecast? get outta here!
And while you're at it, think about how these kinds of stories play to the communication values we discussed in lecture. Britney and prominence. Kenya and conflict. Which have the greatest quantitative impact? Qualitative?

Super Bowl Ads

So we didn't have much time to chat yesterday about the advertising bonanza that is the Super Bowl. Which ads did you like? Which did you hate? Which do you think have the greatest effect? And what about the Richard Simmons spot ... was it insensitive?
More on ads. It's Super Tuesday. What are you reading about candidates' ads? I'm getting a lot of that kind of traffic on Facebook, especially notes about this piece in support of Obama. Curious how this is playing with your generation.

Moderating Posts

An interesting column by the Chicago Tribune's public editor, Timothy McNulty. A public editor is sometimes called an "ombudsman" at a news organization. They're designed to be readers' representatives on a host of issues involving what goes in the paper and why. The New York Times has a particularly interesting public editor right now, Clark Hoyt. He's ruffled a few feathers, which has been fun to watch.
What do you think of McNulty's point? Should online reader posts be moderated? How can you relate this to your media use? Ever put a "shout out" in the Herald?

Acceptable Lingo or More Morbidity?

OK, you chimed in on Britney Spears. Now check this one out. Is it acceptable for journalists, especially talking heads on broadcast, to refer to tomorrow's primary battle as "Tsunami Tuesday"?
Sensitivity also matters in advertising and public relations (check out the pieces for this week's Discussion Arena).
I have my own view. What's yours?

Well-Prepared or Morbid?

What do you think about obituaries prepared in advance? Reporters recently revealed that AP has a prepared obit for Britney Spears, speaking to the darkness she's recently been through. But the vast majority of obits in the can are for people in their 70s or older.
What does it say when we prepare text in advance of the death of a woman in her 20s? Should an obit merely cover a career or should it speak to the larger context of a person's life? Should it speak to her troubles or is that trampling a person's grave?

Journalism and Entrepreneurship

Interesting piece on PBS today about young journalists needing to think like entrepreneurs and journalism schools failing them in that. (It talks exclusively about reporting, but I think it applies equally to strategic communication.)
I say a lot of things consistently in J202 ("accuracy isn't everything, it's the only thing" and "credibility is a fickle dance partner"), but one of the things I'll say to you often is that I'm not helping you learn to meet the bar of the professional world. I'm goosing you to raise it.
UW has an interesting entrepreneurship effort going on right now. You might want to check it out.

Coach v. Columnist

Check out this column in today's State Journal, commenting on Badger Football Coach Bret Bielema's statements on the media rumor mill. The comments posted to the bottom are also worth reading.
Who's right? Does Bielema have a point that reporters speculate too early? Or does Oates prevail with his idea that reporting is necessary and simply getting spoon-fed by the Athletic Department shouldn't be what he and his colleagues are about?

KC's News Meeting

Hi everyone. Each week I'll put in a blog entry for my "news meeting." A news meeting in a newsroom would be the session at which editors decide what's worth putting in the paper or online. TV and radio have them too. Some PR practitioners also send out "morning meeting" roundups to reporters when they try to pitch stories.
We'll use the news meeting as a way to clue each other into what's news. I'll lead off with some things I've been reading about this week and you can add comments to throw in your ideas. I'll scan the activity on Sunday nights before I write current events questions for the quiz, but I can't make any promises that all the questions will come from the blog activity. I can only say the more active you are, the more likely you'll cover everything I will.
So, without further delay, our first-ever KC News Meeting. Currently, I'm reading a lot about:
- John McCain's resurging candidacy
- a guy named Rudy who used to be a front-runner
- race and gender in the Democratic primary battle
- Suharto's death (for real reasons but also because it ties to one of the best journalism movies EVER, check out my Facebook favs for more info)
- economic stimulus package
- subprime mortgage crisis
- Super Bowl
- Yahoo layoffs
- Madison's new school superintendent
- city's first homicide of '08
What are you checking out?

A Requiem

An intriguing (and I'll admit depressing) commentary by David Simon in today's Washington Post. He charts the fall of great American newspapers, lining up with this season's arc of "The Wire" on HBO, a show he exec produces.
What does the article mean for those who want to become journalists today? (Hint: I'm far more optimistic than Simon)

Lynching is No Laughing Matter

A Golf Channel announcer made a comment about lynching when speaking of Tiger Woods and immediately apologized, which Woods and his camp accept but other activists are saying is not enough. They want her fired. But now, a Golfweek magazine editor has lost his job over how his publication covered the flap. Lots to learn in this about decisionmaking and "what not to do." A good first primer in media ethics.

Accuracy

Great tidbit in a blog post today. LZ Granderson, a writer for ESPN the Magazine, offers this response to a question:

Q: Moreso now than possibly ever, when news happens, columnists and bloggers and TV talking heads want to weigh in immediately, even if all the facts have yet to trickle out, or before the court case is finished. From the Mitchell Report to Duke Lacrosse to Sean Taylor, any ideas on how everyone can handle these situations in the future? Do we even need a solution?

When I was a cub reporter I did this news brief about this head-on car accident that left one person dead. I wasn’t careful in my reporting and falsely blamed the victim for the cause of the accident. The next day I found out I made the mistake and I just wanted to vomit. My boss, John Barnes, made my drive almost an hour south to apologize face-to-face to the victim’s family. They were hurt and tearful but still very kind to me. On the way back I pulled over and cried for about 10 minutes. From that day on, I knew the most important thing in this business it to be right. Not first. Not loudest. But right. That’s not to say I don’t make mistakes, but obviously that experience had a profound affect on my reporting and writing habits. So to answer your question, as an industry I believe we have to get back to putting the priority on accuracy above all else.

Apart from mixing up "effect" and "affect," he's spot-on.

Check out the whole interview, including Granderson's take on being an openly gay sportswriter and why "The Wire" isn't a hit.

MySpace Suicide Update

Washington Post has an excellent piece today on the MySpace suicide case we discussed at length earlier. At first glance, I must admit, I thought, "Geez, Post, you're pretty late to this story." But the piece benefits from the distance. It has a better grasp of the response than others I've read. Definitely worth a look.

Getting it Wrong in Politics

Lots of chatter right now about political reporting and the prediction debacle in New Hampshire. I tasted a different flavor in this Politico piece, so I recommend it.