Nothing is off the record

When do journalists agree to allow a source to be "off the record?" The answer should be never. It seems that sometimes we are afraid to tell a source that everything they said is fair game to be printed. Sometimes our ethics are brought into question and giving a highly recognized source a bad reputation can really impact a journalists career.

Case in-point, Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone Magazine. Rather than receiving praise from his colleagues, Hastings is getting some backlash for not understanding the "unspoken agreement" that you will not embarrass the troops. Lara Logan, CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent, criticized Hastings, ultimately saying she doesn't believe the story, and to her, "something doesn't add up."

We are taught everything is on the record, unless the reporter agrees otherwise. Journalists shouldn't be afraid to take some risks, our job is to write great stories and share great news with the public. If some risks weren't taken to do so, then we wouldn't have a job. 

 I think Steve Buttry sums up the matter beautifully, saying, "Our nation's founders did not protect the press so the press could protect the government." 

Holy Twitter!

So last night I participated in my first Twitter chat. I guess it's called a Twitter chat, I'm not really sure, but that's what I am going to call it for now. While I have been on Twitter for some time now, I was still a little shaky on the lingo. What does putting # before a word mean? Why are people using the @ sign so much?


Well I can say I have mastered the # and @. Every Wednesday night, there is a chat on Twitter about web journalism (#wjchat). People of all different experience levels participate and answer questions that are posted every five minutes or so. One of the questions I answered was "how do you make your idea have multi-platform potential? Are you thinking outside of HTML? Mobile apps, geolocation, etc."


So, I thought, hmmm multimedia, my new found love of audio plays a role here. I tweeted that everyone brings the video camera with them, what about a high quality recorder? And, who would have thought, someone tweeted at me! Ha! I couldn't believe it. It was great, I felt powerful. Everyone talks about how powerful Twitter is, but at that instant, I truly understood its power. People who have never met, who don't know a single thing about each other, but all share this common interest were all online at the same time, answering great questions and having great conversation about online journalism.


I guess I know what I will be doing on my Wednesday nights this summer. Can't wait. 

"Can technology help make online content pay?"

Type "How to paint with water colors" into the Google search box and a whole slew of answers are at your disposal. A recent article from The Economist, discusses the use of content farms, websites that create content to drive up search traffic and therefore revenue. One of the largest of these "content farms" is Demand Media, which according to the Economist article "Emperors and Beggars," is a combination of science and art. Special software seeks what topics users are most interested in as well as how much revenue a certain topic will create.

About 7,000 freelancers write articles or make videos about each topic. They must have a "college degree, writing expertise, and a specialty." On average, they make about $20-$25 an hour.

Should this be considered journalism? The content posted on these websites is at best mediocre. The point gets across to the reader, and ultimately gives them the answer they were looking for. The writers get paid, and must have some sort of expertise to be posting articles. I have a hard time calling these writers journalists. Are they seeking out a story and finding answers? Or do they themselves already have the answers? The content of a story is what drives it, and if readers are getting what they want, and it brings in revenue, perhaps this is the future of our online articles.

Photo from: stylianosm on Flickr

The Home Stretch

Exactly 12 days from now, I will no longer be a freshman in college. Thank goodness for that.

This past year at school has not been easy, but nevertheless, I made it through. I feel like getting through your freshman year is a certain milestone. It's your first try at being independent. No more mom or dad to get you whatever you need. You have to take everything you've learned over the past 18 years, and start over, on your own.

This year I have learned more about myself than ever before. Especially in regards to the future I want to make for myself, I have come to love journalism and all it has to offer. When I interview someone, I get this high, because I'm in control, it's my story and no one and bring it down. I love hearing what people have to say about a certain topic. I love hearing someone's story. It's just great. And if there is anything that I have taken out of my academics this year, it is the reassurance that this is what I am meant to do.

Whether or not I will have a solid career doesn't really matter to me right now. I should probably be biting my tongue when I say that, but I have just finished my first year as an undergrad, and I have faith that there will be plenty of methods of news delivery when I graduate. Journalism isn't dying, it's changing.

To be posted tomorrow, the last episode of my podcast on journalism students, featuring Hallie Mathia, a sophomore from Emerson college.

Who actually takes a newspaper?

Right now I am sitting in a cafe in the Endicott academic center. Coincidentally, I am directly facing the stack of newspapers that are put out everyday for students and faculty to take. The newspapers are part of the Collegiate Readership Program and feature some big name metro papers like USA Today, The Boston Globe, and The New York Times.

It has been about 40 minutes. As I sit on this fancy laptop, people watching as flocks of students run in to grab a coffee before their next class, I can't help but notice that not one student has taken a newspaper. Interestingly enough, about four faculty members came and got one, some took one of each paper.

This right here is living proof that....wait.... a student just took one....

Anyways, its practically living proof that young adults don't have any interest in reading a newspaper. The last thing on their mind in the morning is sitting down to a nice cup of coffee and reading the top stories about the airports closing in Europe or the latest on the war in Iraq. To be honest, most of these students could care less. Maybe they will go online to the Globe and read the headlines, but it is highly doubted. Students want quick info, snippets, and if it sounds important, or of interest, then they will read further.

My guess is that most people in the younger generation get their news via twitter updates or from a link a friend posted on facebook. Maybe they will go to AOL or Yahoo for some human interest stories. The big question is, are students today savvy about what is going on in the world around them? If I were to randomly select one student in this cafe right now, would they be able to tell me about the debate on healthcare legislation? I'll admit, I'm a bit worried that if my generation doesn't care about the news now, will they ever?

Soon enough, I'm sure, a new outlet will be created to get the days top stories across to those who aren't your daily news readers. Soon, however, can not come soon enough.

A Muffin Choker

While I don't know much about investigative journalism, I find this idea of a "muffin choker" absolutely hilarious. Just imagine someone sitting down to their morning breakfast, folding open the newspaper (or maybe pulling up their favorite news website) to the front page story. Suddenly they are so shocked by what they have read that they literally choke on their breakfast. Now that must be one good article.

Many big time newspapers are now collaborating with journalism schools to produce some really amazing investigative journalism pieces. It's a win-win situation: students get a great story to use on a resume, and newspapers get some free reporting. Let's just hope no one suffers to greatly from reading a great investigative story.

TimesCast

I just have to say I love the new TimesCast that plays on the New York Times. Everyday between 1 and 2 p.m. the New York Times features a video of the days top stories on their homepage. Simply amazing. I love that it is a short 5 to 6 minute clip of the biggest stories you need to know about and it also demonstrates how these stories are reported on in the newsroom. Viewers get an inside look into the meetings that decide the top stories as well as the chance to hear quick interviews with editors and reporters. What better way to get a quick glimpse on what is happening around the world?

There is a whole world out there

The other day I read this article from SPJ about joining the Peace Corps after graduation. It has always crossed my mind to join an organization like the Peace Corps but I never looked at it from a journalistic perspective. There is a whole world filled with stories and it would be so fun to tell these stories through the eyes of a Peace Corps worker. It's just another great thing to add to a resume, and it can set you apart from the competition.

Here's the article: Find a future in journalism with overseas' work

Everyone's a journalist

Is that guys sitting next to you on the train a journalist? What about the person two tables over from you in the coffee shop?
It seems like anyone in their right mind can be a journalist today. Am I really competing with the person crossing the street? Some consider anyone who blogs or writes to be a reporter, but giving your own opinion on a matter in the form of a blog post should not be considered journalism. (oops, not that I'm being hypocritical or anything).
This industry has done a complete turn around with the technology boom. If reporting some sort of news that occurred is considered journalism, then heck almost every tweet on twitter is a report. I think the term journalism has gotten insanely broad over the past few years. New types of journalism have formed and most people studying this field have some sort of specialty. But I am a believer that having a degree is, and very well should, get you further then not having one.