Can the law keep up with technology? - CNN.com

Can the law keep up with technology? - CNN.com

Sent by two 202ers.

Video and advertising

From a 202er:

I saw this article and thought it had some relevance as we are building our own IS sites and lab Web sites.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/business/media/11adco.html?_r=1&ref=media

Iran and the hikers

From a 202er:

Katy,
I'm not sure if you are still posting news stories to the blog, but if you are this might be relevant. You may have heard about the three hikers detained in iraq for crossing the border illegally, and the Iran government has just said they believe they will be charged with espionage. One of the hikers, Josh Fattal, happens to be my cousin and my family and I are trying to get people to sign an online petition at freethehikers.org. Here is one of the stories about it http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5in71twmHOjypysOpxaK96Kn77pKgD9BSRDAG1
Thanks,

Tinkering with a brand

From a 202er:

I found this article on the NY Times website and thought it was pretty interesting. The character of Mickey is so much embedded in our culture, and the thought of changing him to be a mischievous character completely contrasts the character's stereotype. However, I think the idea for the new video game sounds really cool and would love to try it when it comes out late next year. I think is is interesting our Disney is viewing this character change almost as a re-branding for the Disney company.

Disney Will Give Mickey Mouse a Makeover - NYTimes.com

KC News Meeting

In the news this week?
- Barbara Lawton out
- Abdullah Abdullah out
- some guy named Brent coming to play a game in Green Bay
What would you add to the list?

Writing on sensitive subjects

WisOpinion, Wisconsin's Premier Political News Service

Check out this story. I was impressed when I was being interview because the report, Erik Gunn, was clearly working through the ethical calculus of how to report on what was being called an outrageous and false accusation without repeating and amplifying that lie. How well do you think he handled it?

Do my nieces and nephews feel this way?

Aunt not welcome as Facebook friend -- chicagotribune.com

A fun post from a 202er:

Hi Katy,

This isn't a MAJOR ethical problem, as its kind of comical, but so many people run into this problem using Facebook when family members contact them and friend them. People always wonder if they should block, defriend or privatize parts of their profiles are visible to family members.

It's interesting, while social media can be so beneficial, opening so many doors it can provide some obvious and awkward limitations. My mom sent me this article/ column from the Tribune, asking me if it reminded me much of my own Aunt---who fits this dilemma perfectly!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/columnists/advice/chi-1028-ask-amyoct28,0,5573119.column

Thought it might be interesting!

Sex and Brand

Hey Katy-

I found an interesting story about ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips being fired over a scandal with one of his co-workers. According to the article, ESPN let him go because "his ability to be an effective representative for ESPN has been significantly and irreparably damaged, and it became evident it was time to part ways."

I think this is relevant to what you and the J202 TAs have talked about in regards to the integrity of a journalist. This article shows that errors and bias in a journalist's articles/stories/columns/etc. may not be the only way to destroy his or her reputation.

Here is a link to one of many articles on his scandal

Thanks,

Steve Phillips FIRED By ESPN Over Sex Scandal, Entering Treatment Facility

More on celeb tweets

The Cost of Larry Johnson’s Gay Slur on Twitter: $213,000

Celebs and tweeting

From a 202er:

Hi Katy,

In response to the "Celebrity Twitter" post on the ethics blog, Miley Cyrus recently deleted her twitter because everything she said was completely taken out of context and published by the tabloids and other media outlets. Anyways, to let everyone know why she deleted it, she recorded a rap video and posted it to You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tSOTQPUQoU&feature=fvsr

I just thought it was interesting.

I hope you had a great weekend!

Twitter 101

University Makes Twitter a Required Class for Journalism Students

What do you think? Should 202 take a whole lab and dedicate it to Twitter?

And btw, if you want to follow your J-School on Twitter, it's @uw_sjmc

NPR's social media guidelines

Beats and Tweets: Journalistic Guidelines for the Facebook Era - Inside NPR.org Blog : NPR
An interesting take on journalism in the social media age and how to comport yourself ethically.

Reflection on a controversial video

Poynter Online - Al's Morning Meeting
Interesting Q&A on the airing of the Chicago beating video. Pay particular attention to the thought processes that went into the decision and their ethical dimensions.
What factors push toward running the video? What concerns speak to not going with it?

Tweeting celebs

From a 202-er:

Hi Katy-
I found an interesting article about social media (and Twitter in particular) making it difficult for PR teams to keep tabs on information their clients know, but shouldn't leak to the public. Apparently many contracts now have 'social media clauses' to protect that info now. I thought the article's take was very interesting.

http://mashable.com/2009/10/16/celebrity-tweeting/

Thanks!

KC news meeting

What happened in the news this week? You haven't been commenting much to this post, so rather than going from my own thoughts, I'm leaving it entirely up to you.

What was worth knowing this week?

A focus group in action

Check out this focus group on TV news in Kansas City. Be sure to double-click each image to watch the video of the viewers. Their responses astounded the reporters and editors who watched.

What are your reactions?

Pay to play or a panel of experts?

Check out this effort by a local TV station to sell participation in its Web site's list of "experts."

Is this "pay to play," forcing sources to cough up money in exchange for coverage? Or is it a legitimate way to sell advertising?

On hair

Check out this post:

http://mije.org/richardprince/good-hairquot-tv-set

How much of ourselves do we surrender when we try to look like we're "supposed to"? How hard is it to stand up?

McCain and media

From a 202er:

http://mashable.com/2009/10/15/meghan-mccain-twitter/

Even though she herself is not a politician, should Meghan McCain be held to a standard in communications/social media?

KC News Meeting

Here's what I've been reading about, in part:
- Obama's nobel
- verdict in Astor case
- vote to expand the definition of federal hate crimes to include gender and sexual orientation
- health care bill and national deficit
- Wisconsin couple sentenced in nationally watched case on religion and medical treatment for kids

How 'bout you?

HNTP (How Not to Photoshop)

Major kerfuffle lit up the blogosphere this week when a horrifically altered image of a model appeared in a Ralph Lauren ad. It gave rise to two key questions:
1. Had RL done the Photoshopping to make this woman look circus-freak thin or was it the work of a prankster? (RL ended the intrigue and offered a mea culpa today.)
2. Could RL, as copyright owner, demand that ISPs take down blog posts critical of the image under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. A few blinked but others didn't.
Let's tackle both in discussion.
What are the social implications of digitally altering subjects' appearances? How much is too much? What factors prompt these kinds of manipulations? What are the ethical lines?
Do you infringe another person's copyright when you post an image for purposes of criticizing it? Should Blogger have taken down the image? Should Boing Boing's ISP have done the same?
What, if any, are the lasting implications for the RL brand?

Spirit of cooperation

From a 202er:

As I was reading the news this morning this opinion article from the NYT caught my eye. In light of decisions being made on how to proceed in Afghanistan, I feel like the public gets caught up in thinking of ALL Muslims as extremists. I've certainly caught myself in that trap, but this article shows that there are Muslims who want to work with the West for peace and that the extremists are the rarities. Why is it that popular media do not publish more articles prescribing cooperation?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703298004574457452301729982.html?mod=djemITP

Facebook tracking and security

From a fellow 202er:

Sorry about last night's loss, well somewhat. You have to admit it was a pretty intense game the whole way through. Anyways, yesterday at the end of lecture I mentioned a few New York Times articles about Facebook, and Facebook security.

The first article I just noticed today is discussing how Facebook has somehow managed to track "Gross National Happiness" and is all dependent upon words used in user's statuses. What will they think of next?
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/10/05/05readwriteweb-facebook-now-tracking-gross-national-happin-27977.html

The other article is 5 easy steps to stay safe on Facebook. This reiterates what we discussed in our lab section about safe-proofing our Facebooks. I thought you might be interested!
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/09/16/16readwriteweb-5-easy-steps-to-stay-safe-and-private-on-fac-6393.html?em

FTC Sets Endorsement Rules for Blogs - washingtonpost.com

FTC Sets Endorsement Rules for Blogs - washingtonpost.com

Federal action on the issues we raised with payments to bloggers.

Here's another take on it.

Apple to Woolworths: Your New Logo Is Too Apple-y

Apple to Woolworths: Your New Logo Is Too Apple-y

How close is too close in design? What are the legal implications, such as trademark infringement? What are the ethical implications, such as using someone else for inspiration vs. direct copying? Most designers openly admit using other work to inspire color selection, form, lines, etc. How inspired can you get before you're ripping someone else off?

Google Wave & Journalism

From a 202er:

Hi Katy,

My friend at Purdue just posted this link on my facebook wall and I find it fascinating, especially since this week we begin the interview process. I thought it would be an interesting article to show the class/put on the blog.

Check it out

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/09/google-wave-collaborative-journalism.html

KC News Meeting

What's in the news this week:
- claims of bias in an Olympic decision
- a senator and potential ethics violations
- a celebrity admits workplace dalliances and a resulting extortion case
- unemployment rate nears 10 percent
- Iran agrees to send its enriched uranium to another superpower

What can you add to the list via comments?

Advice columnist’s tweet: Too much information?

Advice columnist’s tweet: Too much information?

How much is too much? Is Trunk a journalist because of her advice column? Or is she offering strategic communication to paid subscribers? Why? How does your decision affect ethical guidelines here? Is this a matter of media ethics or of decorum?

Social media and the workplace

Here's another blog post from a 202er:

I found this article (http://mashable.com/2009/09/29/effigy-video/) a few minutes ago and I though it brings up a good question: should we be judged in the offline world by content that is found online?

Thanks

PR junkie

PR junkie

A little humor for you on this gloomy weekend.

Paying for buzz

Brought to You by Twitter - TIME

The blogosphere studied its collective conscience a while back when companies and candidates started paying bloggers to put out positive posts. Now Twitter is getting into the game.
Do you have any ethical obligation in the social media sphere? Does anyone care? Again, think about the basis for ethics and then think about the forces in opposition. Would you take payment for tweets?

Social media and an infamous "poll"

A blog submission from a 202er:

Hi Katy,

I apologize for the lateness of this email, but today in another one of my classes we were talking about this story and I thought for sure it would be up on the blog today, but it wasn't. Someone started a facebook poll asking if President Obama should be assassinated!! The questions it poses are many. First of all, should this be considered a threat to the President of the United States by the person who started a poll?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33060855/ns/technology_and_science-security/

Just thought you might be interested in sharing this with our class,

Dan

Ethics and information

What was that she said in lecture about information having a "shelf life"?

Jeff Fisher questions Ch. 5's ethics on 'exclusive' report | tennessean.com | The Tennessean

When I discuss ethics, I often try to frame it in terms of the forces that move us to make bad decisions. I'm going to come right out and say it: using file footage from an unrelated interview question in this way was a bad decision. What kinds of forces would have made the reporter and producer do this?

Celebrities, privacy and ownership

McSteamy Vid Lawsuit? It’s a Copyright Beef - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com
When do celebrities have the right to control dissemination of their own materials? I would have guessed this case to be brought on privacy grounds, so I'm surprised by this novel approach.

Lose tweets sink fleets

Another set of newsroom guidelines on social media use by staff.

KC News Meeting

What's on your mind and in the news this week?
- Iran and a nuclear revelation
- G20 summit
- troop levels in Afghanistan
- arrests in suspected terror bombing plots
- John Edwards and the paternity game
What else should we be watching to stay informed?

Brands and trust

Business Week's global brands issue has an excellent piece on marketing and trust. It's well worth a read.
Also check out their ranking of the 100 best brands. Interesting insights.
What is the balance between a company's obligation to consumers and to shareholders? What social responsibilities do brands have?
For instance, this is "Go Big Read" time, where hundreds on campus are reading Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food" and its indictment of food marketing. Kellogg's is Business Week's 34th best brand. What is its obligation to feed children nutritionally valuable products? If they build the brand and make shareholders money by marketing sugary cereals, is that OK? Why or why not? How can consumers influence large brands?

False identities in cyberspace

Had a fascinating chat with a 202 lab this week on social networking identities and journalism ethics. We dove into the tough question of "how accurately does your Facebook profile portray you?" If something happened to you today, would your profile adequately cover your life for purposes of a news story or obituary? Mine wouldn't.
Are social networking profiles real? Or are they more of a "performance space," where you try to be things you're not? Do we only put part of ourselves online?
And what happens when they're purposely manipulated? A new libel case arose this month in Illinois, where four high school students are accused of creating a fake and defamatory Facebook profile for a student athlete. Read the complaint. Harmless kid prank or ruinous to reputation?
Social networking hoaxes are not new. Recall the MySpace hoax linked to a teen suicide.

What should your J-school give you?

Lots of talk these days about journalism programs and how they are (or aren't) adapting to new media environments. I won't bore you again with my take on how YOUR journalism school foresaw coming media changes in launched J202 as a multimedia-rich course waaaaay back in fall 2000.
But much of this talk boils down to technology. I thought this was an interesting take on what else you should demand from you communications education.

Internet Manifesto

Check this out and really read each of the items in the manifesto. What do you think of this? How have "old media" companies approached the Internet? How has that approach served them? What is the value of seeing something as an opportunity, rather than a threat?

"Hit man" journalism

Here's the full piece covered in your most recent "On the Media" podcast. It raises excellent ethical issues. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200910/media

KC News Meeting

So what happened this week that may appear on the quiz? I'll start you thinking, and you add other items via comments.

- anniversary of Wall Street meltdown
- changes in missile defense plans
- Badgers win
- arrest in the death of Yale graduate student
- Patrick Swayze dies
- premiere of "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" (the biggest news of the week in the Culver household)

Litigation in virtual space

Check out this new suit involving Second Life.
What does it mean to interact in cyberspace? How are marketing and advertising changed and affected when you move out of real life and into Second Life? Is Second Life "real"? What ethical responsibilities do we have in different spaces?

High school students and speech

What kinds of free speech and press rights should high school students have? Lots of censorship issues arise, as students try to learn and practice journalism and administrators try to rein in kids.
What do you think of the balance? How responsible can high school students be? How irresponsible? What subjects should be taboo?

Accuracy, speed and corrections

Social media lit up a bit this week when Howard Kurtz from the Washington Post included a line in a column, referring to Kenya as President Obama's "native country."
As you probably already know, some fringe folks known as the "birthers" question the legitimacy of the Obama presidency, claiming he was not born in the U.S. and thus is constitutionally barred from serving as president. When a reader pointed it out, Kurtz immediately said it was a slip and he meant, "ancestral homeland."
The Post has now appended a correction but many questioned how long it took them to do that (about three days, by my count).
What are organizations' responsibilities when it comes to accuracy? How fast should they correct errors? How does the social media sphere both exacerbate errors (such as the birthers linking to the story) and ferret them out (such as the reader who noted the problem)?

Piles of dough

I don't have anything to say to this story, other than "wow."
Oh, and I suppose I could add, "If you ever make this kind of money in media, could we talk about your funding a new J-School building?" : )

Is "jackass" presidential?

So Kanye pulled a little something at the VMAs that I know you've all heard about.
But it turned into a media ethics question when President Obama and a pool of reporters got involved.
Here's a roundup story of what happened.
Here's the actual audio.
Here's Moran's tweet.
So what's the upshot here? Was it ethical for Moran to tweet this? Can the president ever expect to be off the record? Is "jackass" a term not in keeping with the civility required of the office? We just pummeled a congressman for saying, "You lie." What about "jackass"? Or was this an accurate and precise description worthy of circulation? Does the venue matter?
(Incidentally, this is a pretty funny parody linking the two.)

Viral video consequences

"Viral" has a certain meaning for us amid our spate of H1N1 warnings, but in marketing, the concept refers to getting your message consumed and extended via sharing among users on social networks. Facebook and Twitter matter, but e-mail is still a primary way we set viral messages in motion interpersonally.
A Danish organization learned something about this recently when a fracas erupted over a video "hoax" uploaded to YouTube. Check out the video and some of the reaction.
Some people are asking, "What were they thinking?" Others are saying, "They were thinking there's no such thing as bad publicity. In viral terms, this thing was a monster hit."
What say ye?

KC News Meeting

Welcome to the blog, our newest batch of journalism majors. Each week, I post to the "KC News Meeting" tag on this blog a short list of things that have made the news during this week. This should prompt you to make sure you've prepared for the current events quizzes. But my lists aren't comprehensive or exhaustive. So I want you to post comments to add news items you think are important. I try to draw quiz questions from a combination of my posts and your comments (but any major themes, people or action could be fodder for a question, so don't limit your news diet to just these posts).

So far this week, I'm reading about:
- President Obama's health care speech to Congress
- key players in the political debate over health care
- "You lie!" (if you don't know what that refers to, you need to be digesting more daily)
- female evening news anchor at ABC
- H1N1 and vaccine developments
- former Taiwanese leader sentenced
- concerns about Afghan elections
- Ellen Degeneres joins "American Idol"
- Presidential message to schoolchildren

Use the comments function to to add your ideas on what's brewing currently.

Freedom of expression and truth

The health care debate has given rise to a number of spurious claims, as sides passionately cling to their views.
The most infamous certainly was Sarah Palin's "death panels" assertion. Jon Stewart did an artful job taking on another seller of that spin on the proposed legislation.
The White House got into an interesting kerfuffle over an effort to get people to root out "fishy" information that they could then try to debunk. The plan was a pretty commonplace blogosphere approach. The theory goes: the more eyes watching facts and working on verifying them, the more likely truth will have a chance to emerge.
But what if those eyes are being asked to watch by the government? What does that do to your constitutionally protected freedoms? Was the White House asking people to rat out their friends and family, a la McCarthyism? Or trying to get real answers out into the public sphere in response to flat-out lies? Dig around for updates to this story. What did the administration decide to do?

Passing of a Kennedy

A committed liberal in my life sent me a message last week, reading, "If all this Teddy Kennedy coverage makes ME want to vomit, what must it be doing to people who disagreed with him politically? If these talking heads can even remember the name Mary Jo Kopechne, I bet they couldn't spell it."
The Boston Globe began one of its obit pieces: "TED KENNEDY was not a great man."
So with a figure as divisive and storied as Kennedy, what is the right tone to strike in coverage and how much coverage should we have?
NPR's ombudsman tackles some of the issues.
How much is enough? How does the timing of the death play into coverage choices? Farrah Fawcett's death might have been a fairly major news story until Michael Jackson died unexpectedly shortly after. How do we cover flawed individuals with honesty while still respecting the truth? Did you know what Chappquiddick was or who Kopechne was? Does that matter?

Sensitivity and advertising

Ad agency DDB Brasil is facing outrage over an ad it created that used imagery evoking 9/11 to make a point about the tsunami and conservation for client World Wildlife Fund (this story is a touch confusing, so I recommend watching the ad posted at the end).
A print ad ran once in obscurity, and the agency initially claimed it hadn't created a video that was working its way around the Web. But when the blogosphere lit up, everything came out.
What is the role of sensitivity in advertising? Give me an example of a time a shocking ad might be used to positive effect. Do you think this ad should have been created and run? What cross-cultural issues are at play, given that the 9/11 attacks were against the U.S. but this agency is international?

Conflicts of Interest

My favorite technology writer is David Pogue of the New York Times. He brings a personality and depth of knowledge to his work that surpasses anything else I read. (Plus, my kids know every word to his "I got an iPhone" ditty.)
But he's becoming a brand all his own, which leads people to raise questions about conflicts of interest. Those questions hit the page of the public editor today.
What do you think? In an age when information is so fragmented and people have to innovate and expand to build revenue streams, how do we avoid conflicts of interest? Can we? Is the appearance of a conflict as bad as a conflict itself? What if Pogue weren't writing about tech and instead, say, politics? Would it be OK for him to put out books on different people?

KC News Meeting

I've been reading about some of the following things this week. But please remember this posting is not exhaustive. Some of you are relying too much on these notes to understand what's going on in your world. Remember, a daily diet of news is critical to participating as a citizen, a worker, a consumer. News isn't important because "KC's News Meeting" says it is.
Here's what I've been learning about. Use comments to add your own ideas.
- Madison tuition initiative
- NCAA tournament
- AIG bonuses
- Detroit bailouts
- plan for Afghanistan
- stock market rallies
- who is Tim Geithner and what does he want to do for us?
- violence in Mexico

Facebook firing

Blog post from a 202er:

Hey Katy,

As a resident of Philadelphia, I found this article to be particularly interesting. Not only does it relate to my beloved Eagles, but it relates to our class and the right to privacy vs. the workplace. I thought this would be a great blog article because it raises the ethical question of whether the employee should be fired for what he did outside of the workplace. Here is the article from ESPN.com:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3965039

And the blog from ESPN.com
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nfceast/0-8-229/The-Eagles-release-another--part-time--employee.html

Let me know what you think.

I know what I think. What do you think?

Cable ad targeting

Interesting cable industry development, enabling ad delivery according to customer demographics.
Online ads have been targeted (not just by demos, but by behavior) extensively. But that targeting is not without controversy.
It's well worth your time to understand why targeting is desirable and why it can be controversial.

Herald rape story

A 202er submits this post:

Katy,
The Badger Herald published a transcript from a rape victim who was supposedly raped at Sigma Chi. We talked a lot in discussion today over whether its fair that the victim was able to mention the fraternity, but didn't have to release the name of her sorority. Looking at it on the flip side, what if the accused went forward with his side of the story and said the girl's sorority but not his fraternity. Should the accuser have more rights than the accused? Also, would testimony like this unfavorably sway opinion in her favor because the investigation is ongoing? This reminds me a lot of the Duke Lacrosse trial where the team was negatively affected by the charges, even though they were found not guilty. Let me know what you think!

http://badgerherald.com/news/2009/03/04/transcript_of_herald.php

I'm curious what the rest of you think of this case. It's being discussed all over campus. But for our purposes, what are the specific media ethics implications? One thing I found particularly interesting was the content of anonymous comments posted to the Herald site. What are the ethical questions there?

Turf battle in covering high school sports

This is a case worth watching. The organization that sets up high school sports tournaments in Wisconsin would like to establish a right to control coverage of those tournaments, so it can profit from sale of those rights. News organizations want to be able to cover the action themselves, using whatever media they please. I imagine everyday folks will want in on the action too.

KC News Meeting

Here are some developments I followed during the week. Add yours via comments:
- football players in boating accident
- unemployment increases
- possible plea deal in Madoff case
- AIG needing more help
- market hits 12-year low
- efforts to help homeowners in mortgage trouble
- court arguments over California gay marriage ban
- Obama administration and stem cells

Is it plagiarism?

What do you think of this? Did the reporter plagiarize? Or was he just lazy in picking up facts from a previously published piece? Is there a difference?

What is journalism?

Some researchers say you and your peers get a great deal of your news and information from sources like The Daily Show. Some could argue that Jon Stewart embraces journalistic values, such as skepticism, as he does in this challenge to claims of readiness and gender bias involving Sarah Palin.
How much to you rely on these sources? What about other sources, newspapers, magazines, etc.? How does that inform you as a citizen? Does it matter?

KC News Meeting

What's on your radar this week? Since I haven't seen all that many comments in past weeks, I'm going to withhold my list of what seems to be percolating in the news and let you define it. Post comments with your ideas or the quiz questions could end up being a complete surprise.

Overbilling and ethics

Agency Leo Burnett settled an overbilling case with the Army, agreeing to $15.5 million in cash and credit for work performed.
What are an organization's ethical duties to its clients? How are those duties communicated and reinforced? What does this case do to Burnett's reputation, if anything?

Ethics crashes

This author thoughtfully details what he describes as "Ethics Crashes on the Digital Media Highway."
What forces does he cite as problems that can lead to weak ethical practice? Do you agree? What examples can you think of to illustrate any of his points? Contradict any of those points?

How engaged are you?

This trailer seeks to pique interest in an upcoming documentary about how engaged your generation is in your democracy.
What are the media implications of your engagement? How do social media tools get you more or less involved as a citizen? How do those media compare to traditional media? What, if any, are the dangers of losing things like local newspapers? What are the benefits of other media that are "borderless"?

Fired for funny

A TV reporter this week paid with his job for altering a video (he says to make it funny) and posting it to YouTube.
What do you think of this? What is the line in cyberspace between your job and you life? Could I get in the same trouble? Would this have been different if he had been a journalism professor instead of a journalist? What if he were a basketball player? What, if any, professional standards were violated? What do you think of the result?
In other vein, what was the Huffington Post's responsibility here? Revisit my exchange this week with Jay Rosen and others about accuracy in citizen journalism. How did accuracy matter here? Could this case be an argument for the participatory nature of online media? A spoof made it to a larger audience as a reality, but ultimately the audience verified that it was inaccurate. How did the pressures of speed and competition play into this case?

Update: Covering Coffins

The policy we discussed last week has changed.
What are the implications? What, if anything, will this do to public opinion?

College media innovation

TA Melissa Tully adds this to our conversation. What is the future of student journalism? Are you working for the Herald or Cardinal? How do you get over the hurdles?

Cover letters

Great note from a fellow 202er:

Hey Katy,

I found this article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/jobs/15career.html?em) while surfing the New York Times' Web site. As a J202 student struggling with my own cover letters I thought it would be useful for my fellow classmates to read. If you think its worthy, pass it on.

Editorial cartooning

Read about the flap over an NY Post cartoon depicting a chimp?
What do you think? Was it racially insensitive? Does the fact that it gained attention outside the NY market (where far fewer people know the chimp story from which it was supposedly drawn) makes any difference? How much latitude should cartoonists get? Are they freer to be controversial?
Remember the Muhammed cartoon controversy that even hit on our own campus?

Accuracy and citizen journalism

"Citizen journalism" is generally viewed as news that is gathered and disseminated by those outside traditional or mainstream news organizations. Some laud it as the future of journalism
[change to original: I shouldn't have linked to Rosen post on these words, as he doesn't call it "future of journalism."]
a way to ensure a watchdog function as mainstream news budgets slide and former business models dissolve.
But it's not without controversy. Check out this case when a citizen journalism report got it completely wrong and affected the stock of a major corporation. It's not just a question for journalism. The SEC even got involved on this one.
So what's your response? Is there a place for "non-professionals" to be doing reporting? What are the dangers? How do we ensure values like accuracy and fairness when people are operating outside of the realms where professional norms are learned and reinforced?

Obama names RIAA lawyer to DOJ

Some rumblings of discontent in the tech community with one of President Obama's picks for the Department of Justice.
Where do you stand on music filesharing? If you do it, the law is not on your side. But what about ethics? What responsibility do we have to properly credit and pay people who create original works? What's the effect of filesharing on the market? How does this matter?

KC News Meeting

So far this week, I've read about:
- Doyle's budget proposal, including Internet sales tax and UW provisions
- market reaction to stimulus
- unemployment rises
- Detroit puts a hand out again and negotiates with unions
- GM cuts brands
- truce between Pakistan and Taliban
- Burris investigations
- some TV stations go digital
What are you thinking about? Remember, if you don't add your 2 cents via comments, I'm more likely to draw questions from general knowledge, rather than blog postings.

Wearing an advertiser's colors

A 202er submits this blog post on the Memphis hoops team's decision not to switch its team uniforms to the FedEx colors for a game.
She highlights an interesting ethical dilemma. What's the limit of corporate sponsorship and support? How far should a team go? What lines should not be crossed? For instance, the UW has an initiative to try to curb binge drinking. Does this mean its athletic teams should not accept sponsorship from Miller Brewing or Absolut? Where would you draw the lines?

Bad release

A former 202er sends this example of a really bad press release. Enjoy.

IS story sources

OK, I'm starting a thread for you to request sources from each other. Here's how it works. If you are looking for a source, add a comment to this post stating specifically what you're looking for and including your e-mail address for other students to reply. (Note of warning: putting your e-mail address in a public blog means you open yourselves up to robot spam. Use your @wisc.edu addy and you'll have the power of their spam filters.)
You should all troll the comments regularly this week and make suggestions as you can.
Example: I am trying to find students to interview who have used Community Car. If you can connect me, e-mail at profme@wisc.edu.

Bye-bye Juicy

JuicyCampus shut down. For those of you unfamiliar with the blog, it allowed anonymous posts sorted by campus. These almost always were within the gossip vein, and some escalated to hostile and defamatory posts.
Many people (your prof here included) wanted to see the site die. And it did. But they said they faded not because they were controversial, but instead because the economic downturn is killing online ads.
What do you think? Glad or sad to see it go? What value did the site provide? At what cost? Do sites like this have ethical obligations? Will College ACB just rise up in its place?

Covering Coffins

Much talk about whether the Obama Administration will rescind the ban on photographing soldiers' coffins returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here's one take on how to approach this ethically.
What do you think? Should this be allowed? Why did the Bush Administration disallow it? How best can photojournalists cover news and respect privacy? What are the implications of showing the coffins? Of not showing them?

Rachael Ray and that Scarf

Food Network star Rachael Ray found herself under fire when she wore a scarf in a Dunkin' Donuts commercial that some interpreted to be a kaffiyeh, a scarf worn by Arab men and often associated with radicalism. It wasn't a kaffiyeh. Mere paisley. But Dunkin' Donuts pulled the spot anyway.
Should they have? What are the consequences to either decision? What's the responsibility of the Fox News commentator who set this off? Should she have learned first whether the scarf was indeed what she thought it was?

Vermont Bids Ben Stein Adieu

Ben Stein was supposed to be the commencement speaker at the University of Vermont, but he withdrew when the pick grew controversial.
Stein endorses theories of "intelligent design" and criticizes evolution theories. This rankles many scientists, some of Vermont's academics included.
Does Stein have a right to his opinion? Does he have a right to air it at public university's graduation? What if his remarks had nothing at all to do with intelligent design, should he still have been controversial? What is the role of of a public forum?

Hiring and Scandal

Did a politician hire a reporter into his administration to make a sex scandal story go away?
What do you think of the reporting in this story? Does it give the audience enough to go on and make a judgment? Is this news?

Octuplets and Big Dough

Did you see the interview with the octuplet mom on NBC's Today show? Did you ask yourself how NBC got the exclusive? I did.
But NBC isn't talking and the question doesn't seem to be getting much air or ink in the major media. It is, however, all the rage in the blogosphere. Check out this post, claiming the deal earned Nadya Suleman $300,000. Often, these kinds of arrangements are not direct payments but instead fees for using copyrighted family images, etc.
What do you think of that? Should a news organization pay for interviews? If so, why? If not, why not?

Newsers in Ads

What's the line between news and advertising? Some people got their knickers in a twist when Matt Lauer appeared in a Super Bowl commercial. The spot promoted "Land of the Lost," an upcoming film in which Lauer has a cameo. The spot featured a clip of that cameo. NBC aired the Super Bowl. Lauer is an NBC News anchor. The film is from Universal Pictures. Both are owned by media powerhouse NBC Universal.
Does any of that matter? Is it wrong for Lauer to be in a commercial? In a movie? Would he be in that movie if he didn't have the same corporate parent as the movie studio?

Claims of racial bias

A Chicago TV news anchor claims a media critic tinges his work with racial bias.
What do you make of this story? It's covered as an "event" because he said it in a speech. How does the info serve the audience? Do we get enough to come to our own decision on the accusation? What forums did the anchor and the critic have to respond?

KC News Meeting

Here's what I've been paying attention to this week. Add your ideas and issues via comments. Quiz questions come from mine or yours, but at times big news hits and I add it to the quiz even when it's not here.
- stimulus plan
- A-Rod and 'roids
- TARP
- second commerce secretary nominee withdraws
- plane crash in New York
- octuplet mom talks to Ann Curry (gak)
- peanut recall
- grilling CEOs on Capitol Hill
- wild fires in Australia
- Burris and Blago - the saga continues

Illness and a public face

Steve Jobs took a medical leave from Apple a few weeks ago. Wild speculation that his pancreatic cancer -- widely considered deadly -- is back. No confirmation whatsoever.
What is his obligation to Apple stockholders? Should he have to disclose private medical information? How did Apple handle the situation? Did the strike the right balance between his privacy and others needs? Should they have been more forthcoming? What are the financial implications and do they matter?

Don't trash your client's hometown

An ad exec gets himself in a little bit o' social media trouble.
What is his responsibility to his client? Does the social media space differ at all from real space in how we should comport ourselves? If so, how so? If not, why not? Should this agency have lost the business? What lapses should cost us our jobs?

Who should own newspapers?

Lots of talk percolating that news organizations have an *ethical* duty to keep newspapers alive. It's an urgent question as revenues decline and bankruptcy looms (Chicago Tribune and Minneapolis Star-Trib are already there).
Some people say foundation endowments are one way to go.
Others look to a new model of non-profit journalism.
Some disagree.
What do you think? Do newspapers matter? Should we be talking about the medium (paper) or the function (gathering and disseminating news)? If this medium dies, what are the implications for citizens? For advertisers? For consumers?

Kellogg Dumping Phelps

The bong hit that continues to haunt:
http://adage.com/article?article_id=134363
Michael Phelps loses an endorsement deal, what may the first in a line.
What is a celebrity's responsibility to the clients that hire him as a face for their brand? What is his responsibility to the public in general? How serious was this mistake? How seriously should he pay for it?

KC News Meeting

Here are some stories I've been following this week. Add yours to the comments, so we're all thinking about the quiz:
- Tom Daschle withdraws as nominee
- executive compensation concerns
- Supreme Court Justice undergoes surgery
- Michael Phelps and the bong hit heard 'round the world
- economy contracts but not as much as others feared
- digital TV conversion delayed
- Madoff hearings
- abortion clinic in Madison
- negotiating the stimulus package
- peanut recall

Super Bowl flops

Adweek has a good roundup of famous (infamous?) Super Bowl commercials that failed. Worth watching the links.

Ads and Accuracy

The two presidential campaigns got into multiple kerfuffles last fall over the accuracy of campaign advertising. It's a pretty common development.
Here's just one example.
But now that we have the benefit of time and distance, did it matter? In what ways does campaign advertising sway the electorate? Should we expect it to be "accurate"? How is that accuracy determined in the arena of politics? Isn't one man's misinterpretation another man's firm conviction? Are these ethics questions only or should we think about legal ramifications?

Promises, promises

So it turns out that Barack Obama handed out a lot of assurances during his campaign. Many, many more than his predecessors (about double Bush and Clinton).
These came out in speeches and his online content but also very prominently in his campaign advertising.
Now PolitiFact wants to check out how good he is at keeping them.
What is the role of campaign advertising in establishing policy? How closely should we scrutinize campaign ads? Are they really about issues or really about personality? How do they matter?

Obama tours the Post

Here's an illuminating inside look at what happens when a popular new president checks out the newsroom in his new hometown.
What is the difference between news and celebrity coverage and how might that affect this administration? What does it mean that people are "star struck" by Obama? How can reporters overcome this in themselves? Is that feasible? Why might people be concerned about personal relationships between reporters and the people they cover?

White House Site

With the transition of power in Washington came a digital transition, as well. Check out one evaluation of the new Obama Administration White House Web site.
Have you been to it? What do you think? Will you go back?

New administration meets the press

It seems like the claims that the news media adore Barack Obama may be on the wane. Lots of concern and complaints about access.
What obligation does a presidential administration have to give reporters access? How does Obama's affinity for alternative information channels affect the traditional news media (e.g., bypassing the press during the campaign and making announcements directly to voters via Web sites, blogs and texts)?

BBC edits Obama video

Ethicists are raising questions about a BBC decision to edit together separate parts of President Obama's inauguration address.
What does this choice do to the BBC's credibility? How would the audience know about this editing? Does it matter?

Super Bowl Ads and the Blogosphere

Looks like the recession may cutting into chatter about the upcoming Super Bowl ads. Discussions are down, according to Ad Age and others.
What does this mean for these spots? Does it make the massive investment less worth it? How much does this buzz help a brand?

Miller creativity

Here's more on the Miller 1-second ads we covered in lecture:

http://www.adweek.com/aw/creative/ad-of-the-day/article_display.jsp?creativeId=269983

and you can view the set of ads at http://1secondad.com/VerifyAge.aspx

be sure to verify your age correctly : )

KC News Meeting

Welcome to a brand new crop of 202ers. Each week, I post to the "KC News Meeting" tag on this blog a short list of things that have made the news during this week. This should prompt you to make sure you've prepared for the current events quizzes. But my lists aren't comprehensive or exhaustive. So I want you to post comments to add news items you think are important. I try to draw quiz questions from a combination of my posts and your comments.
So what's been happening:
- one word: Blagojevich
- economic stimulus package
- John Updike dies
- administration appointments, including Timothy Geithner for Treasury
- Pfizer pharmaceutical may be getting much bigger
- Gov. Jim Doyle covers the state budget woes
- Microsoft cuts jobs
- Obama makes a move on auto emissions
- massive Wall Street bonuses look bad, very very bad
- upcoming elections in Iraq