Week 14 – 30 and More

We’ve reached the final week of the semester, so I’ll ask you to take a few moments to reflect on where we’ve been and where we are.

The headline above reflects what was typed at the bottom of each page of copy in the many, many decades preceding the digital age. “30″ marked the end of the story. “More” at the bottom of a page meant that more copy followed on other sheets of paper.

Many of you will soon be figuratively typing “30″ and bidding the journalism department good-bye. But for many, there is much “More” to come in the semesters ahead and I look forward to working with you again.

As you reflect on this semester, tell me how you think you’ve grown, whether you developed new skills, whether you learned something about journalism. What did you find the most valuable exercise this semester? What could we have done more of? Done better?

Thanks to all who posted comments this semester. In a large class that can be very impersonal, it was a way for you to learn some new things from each other, for me to get to know you better and to get us all thinking.

Good luck on finals and have a great and productive summer.

Week 13 – Journalistic Twitter

That American journalism is currently in a state of flux is an understatement. Despite a lively discourse on the future of journalism, no one really knows where it will end up in five years.

Rapidly changing technology, the rise of social media and the role these play in the future of journalism will likely continue to be debated for the foreseeable future. Many news organizations are now using Twitter. But can journalism be practiced in 140 characters? Can we tell the whole story in this manner? Even part of the story?

Here is a column on a blog published by the venerable news organization Reuters. The writer is a proponent of Twitter’s use by journalists.

What role do you think such technology will play in journalism in the future?

Week 13 – Quote of the week

News is as crucial to America’s democracy as oil is to its economy. Without a robust flow of news, bad things happen. Public discourse withers. Crooks and charlatans get a free ride. Citizens know less and less and become less qualified to govern their nation.

John S. Carroll, former reporter, editor and foreign correspondent

Week 12 – Ethics – manipulating photos

During the 2008 presidential campaign, The Atlantic magazine sank into an ethical quagmire after it hired freelance photographer Jill Greenberg to do a photo shoot of Republican candidate John McCain. Greenberg is politically active and decidedly anti-Bush administration. She took the opportunity to take shots of McCain that she was aware were patently unflattering to him. Some she manipulated with lighting and technology and posted on her own website. The incident was, at the least, a public embarrassment for the magazine.

Do you think there are circumstances under which it would be OK for a news publication to publish manipulated photographs?

Week 12 – Quote of the Week

A journalist, in any effort to render truth, has three responsibilities: to his reader, to his conscience and to his human subjects.

John Hersey – New Yorker writer

Week 11 – Libel in the digital age

Technology is moving and changing at a faster pace than the law. In libel law, for example, some of the principles that apply to publication in print do not apply to the internet. This is one reason that webpage readers and bloggers can post some fairly wild criticisms without much legal recourse for those who may be injured by the comments.

Louisiana State University’s student newspaper, called The Reveille, recently won a libel suit taken against it by a student who contended reader’s comments aimed at him were libelous. Here is an account of the court decision from the Student Press Law Center.

What do you think about the disparity of legal standards on the web vs. in print? Is it right that a comment that would be considered defamatory in your morning newspaper might not be considered defamatory on that paper’s web page?

Week 11 – Quote of the Week

The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen.

Tommy Smothers, comedian and political activist

Week 10 – Disaster reporting, the human toll

There are a number of elements that help bring coverage of natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods to life. Among these are details and the human toll wrought by these disasters. National Public Radio has been among the many news outlets covering the struggle against the Red River’s floodwaters by residents of North Dakota. This story focuses on the cameraderie this tragedy has spurred.

Hurricane Katrina produced a myriad of poignant stories. Here is a trailer for an award-winning documentary focusing on the pets Katrina left stranded and in danger.

Do you think telling the story of a natural disaster from a slightly different point of view such as these can be as powerful as a story heavy on death and property damage statistics? How so?

Week 10 – Quote of the Week

This week’s quote is a bit different than those of previous weeks. John Hope Franklin was a black history scholar who died recently. In light of the obituary/profiles you all wrote on Mr. Swimmer, listen to this National Public Radio Story Corps recording by Mr. Franklin. It conveys a powerful story of ingrained racism. Think of the important role journalists play in conveying stories such as these to a public that may largely be unaware of such history.

Week 9 – Police Reporting: Alive with Details

MSNBC won an award in 2007 from the group Investigative Reporters and Editors for a documentary film put together by David Ridgen and Thomas Moore. The work led to the conviction of James Ford Seale, a former Ku Klux Klan member, in a 40-year-old murder case in Mississippi. Moore’s brother was one of two 19-year-old black youths killed at the time. Watch some of the clips from the documentary called “Mississippi Cold Case” and think about the details included. This is a visual medium, but if this was a written piece, such details would also be important to paint word pictures for readers.

Good police reporting requires careful attention to details. Not every story will crack a cold case, but each story has the potential for conveying human drama.