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.
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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?