Ethics and Journalism

Their are many ethical rules and legal guidelines journalists must face when attempting to cover any story. Following these rules is very important in your growth as a writer because if you cheat one just one time you'll start down a slippery slope only the likes of Steven Glass know about.

The number one thing for all journalists is to remain objective. You are there to cover the story form every and any angle not the one that will write the best or get you the most note from your bosses. As a journalists you owe it to the reader to keep it that way.

Another major point I picked up was to stay fair, To the readers the people you report about and most of all yourself. If you don't feel 100% comfortable with what the story, or Quote is saying don't pass it along. it sounds simple but often people claim they were misquoted and because of that they story took a very different turn.

The final important rule i picked up is most definitely not the least important. That is to be accurate, thsi relates to teh rule above but also in your fact checking, editing and even in quoting you need to double and triple check your notes. more work now will result in an honset, hardworking reputation.

Money woe's extend form college kids to federal Government

With world on the edge of its seats waiting to see how the American economic crisis will shake out David Leonhardt of the New York Times compared the United States with the British Empire in 1905, bloated, in denial with the first cries of dissent coming up the totem pole.

The Liberals would quickly take control of Britain and usher in an era of reform. (Sound familiar Mr. Obama?) With the Stock Market finishing up one of its worst weeks in history on Friday the problems have showed quick jabs won’t fight off the economic beast, it’s going to take a real concentrated patient effort by the Government and its citizens.

Yes as a country we are in uncharted territory as we spend money that hasn’t been made yet thanks to a national debt that not even Bill gates, the Super friends and Mike Ditka could take down. Today’s 24 hour news doesn’t help the situation either, “There is a profound mood shift occurring.” Said historian, Niall Ferguson.

Another problem is the Growing threat of China's economic dominance, which was put on display with thousands of drummers, light bulbs and children during the Olympic opening ceremonies. But China lacks the punching power that the United States had over the British Empire in the early 20th century. This is evident by the extreme gap in wealth and lack of faith in the Chinese government on a global scale, and the fact they used a little girl to lip sync and added digital fireworks to the broadcast of the opening ceremonies.

Though it’s not yet over we seem to be in a better position than a few weeks ago because of the National governments ability to act quickly for the right reasons.

Towson to take on Japan in exhibition

The Men’s Lacrosse Team is taking on Japan in an exhibition game on September 26th at 7:30pm. The game is being played Unitas stadium on the Towson University campus. I want to focus on the Japanese team for the article. I never knew Lacrosse was played in Japan, let alone on a level to travel the world and play. I’m also interested to see their style of play and as a former player I could provide some possible insight. I can also Get the Towson Player perspective see how they thought the team stacked up to the NCAA’’s best. I also want to know what kind of equipment they use. Is it American or do they have their own manufacturers. Lacrosse is a sport huge in Maryland but the same isn’t true for all of the United states, how big is it in Japan? How fast is it growing? These are some of the questions I will answer in my piece.

leads done right

There were a lot of great posts on twitter, It seems like a great site for journalism students to practice their skills as well as just keeping in touch with friends. The first twitter that caught my eye was Mike McGregor's page which I found to be concise and well written. Another page I found to be well done was Melissa Hales. She kept is short and sweet but still incorporated all of the pertinent information. The third twitter account I thought was great was Christina Gunther’s. I found her site to have the best facts tucked into the lead and short reports.

All in all I think twitter is a great tool for learning to write leads and short reports because of its character limit on each post. The posts I highlighted represent good news writing to me because they did the most with the space they had, there is no room for wasted words on lead writing.

Just the facts sir.......

The use of leads and Short reports is intended to wet the appetite of the consumer. The person is presented who, what, when, where in a quick orderly fashion. This is effective because if they are truly interested the reader will later look in to finding out the why or how of the story. Short reports are organized in different ways depending on the medium. Broadcast or web bulletins are 1-2 sentence, they are reserved for urgent situations like weather emergencies. E-mail alerts are another way news outlets keep users up to date. You can also tailor the alerts to subjects that interest you like stocks or fantasy sports. Yes now surfing the internet can an even lazier activity. Short reports differ from leads in that leads are written in the past tense. It is used to draw the reader into the article. There is not just a quick update on breaking news like short reports tend to be.

I found an example of a summary lead on the New York Times website. It read “The engineer of the commuter train that crashed into a freight train in California on Friday, killing 25, is said to have been exchanging text messages before the accident.” (New York Times) this is a summary lead because it is first off in past tense, it’s very specific mentioning all the details of the story before the newest addition about the conductor text messaging. It’s also avoided being wordy and speaks to the reader because of the loss of life being mentioned.

The Short report example I found was “In one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street history, Lehman Brothers said it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, while Merrill Lynch agreed to sell itself to Bank of America for about $50 billion.” This is out there displaying the need to know facts in an orderly and efficient manner. You got who, what, when and where. And if they hooked you, you jump on board double click and find out the why.

Sources:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/business/15lehman.html?hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/us/15crash.html?hp

What is News?

News is a device for the public to stay informed. News is a collection of data which is interpreted into information and presented to the public. What is being reported in the news depends on the medium greatly also. This is because some mediums are better suited to certain news stories. For example, sports work well with television because of the visuals while politics are more appreciated in the print media (except all those cable news network’s which give me seizures). Once you identify your audience and the medium you can make decisions on what news t cover, in this case on the baltimoresun.com I was able to find stories that are definitively news worthy.

This story is definitively news worthy to anyone living in Maryland……]

A short term fix for a long term problem is what the Maryland state government has in mind for its budget issue. Officials voted for the first time in 20 years to increase the limit on the state’s debt by 1 billion dollars. The story most definitively has a large impact on the people who live in Maryland. Governor O’Malley’s administration has said without the increase the state would have to stop 800 million dollars of projects planned for two next 2 years. This makes it a prominent issue with the governor and comptroller Peter Franchot calling his offices a “sobering window” of Maryland’s economy according to the article. This article is unusual because officials haven’t voted to change the debt limit in two decades. It also is a recurring issue, the budget and debt that is. There is a sense of conflict because it seems that because the state office tax collection hasn’t stood up to the plan this is a desperate move to cover their ass. Not a very honest move in the eyes of the voters. Also the Republicans in Maryland are adding this to the list of over spending by the O’Malley administration. The Stories is also brand new only published on the site today the 9^th. The audience also directly pertains to the Maryland area because this means increased taxes for them in the future.

Another Article I found that directly pertains to the Baltimore area is the finalized plans for the Michael Phelps homecoming. News-worthy for many reasons, most importantly because he is the greatest Olympic athlete to ever compete. Winning every event he competed in and along with his previous medals becoming the most decorated swimmer ever in Olympic history is more than news its history…….So guess what? They are having a parade!!!

That’s right a parade from Towson to Rogers forge with events following at fort McHenry. So this article is making the public aware that the most prominent figure in sports right now in the world will be rolling by our little college on October 4^th. This even lacks conflict and currency but its unusualness and prominence blow it away. I will be proud to go watch Phelps roll by and wave, if I was form Maryland or even better Towson it would be one of the proudest moments of my young life.

The third article I found another big time sporting news event. Tom Brady, Americas golden boy or most hated depending on your zip code has gone down and it’s not looking good. After a hit to the knees that the NFL has ruled legal he’s sustained major damage to his knee and will require surgery and several months of rehab. That’s right within the first hour of the first Sunday of football the entire landscape changed, a newsworthy feat at least. Tom Brady is of course the reigning MVP of the league so there is no player more prominent. Its impact affects all fans especially here in Baltimore because this increases the raven’s chances of getting a playoff spot. This article is very recent because Brady was only injured 2 days ago.

In the end what makes news is more the subjective act of the journalist to focus on certain things, They can’t cater to their entire audience (especially in print) but journalists do have the power to make issues known and stir up some dust to gain attention. Information is one of the most powerful things on the planet, just ask a victim of identity theft.

Photos provided by

wikitravel.org/en/Annapolis (anappolis state house)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/photo/2004-09/14206835.jpg (Phelps homecoming 04)

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/tom-brady-goes-down-1/ (Brady injury)

Links for journalism backpack

Pictures of Nick Trost with celebrities from various jobs

http://jaredsilfies.wordpress.com/2008/04/19/mobile-journalism-kit/

http://www.nicktrost.com/