My personal code as a journalist

The world of journalism is changing every second. We have the internet taking over like we’ve never seen before and social networking becoming a new section of journalism. Newspapers are on the decline while readership has never been so high for news online. As a broadcast student I just look for the one important quality in all of the news I read, look at, or watch. And that is the truth. Yes it may be a cliché answer but I don’t care. That is what journalism is all about and that is the code I will strive to live by as I begin my journey as a journalist.

Entertainment news is popping up all over the place and are sometimes filled with lies and tabloid stories. While I do not believe it is REAL journalism, if it what my viewers want to watch and ask me to deliver it, I will. But I will check and re-check my sources to make sure they are credible. Just look at the recent miscommunication and un-credible source scandal about the rather rude and indecent comments that former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said about USC coach Pete Carroll. Weis has later come out to say that he was misquoted and not referencing to Carroll when he spoke of a college coach living with a grad student. Now if the website had taken the time to make sure that Weis had indeed made these comments, there would not be so much controversy surrounding the two coaches. Instead real journalism would have taken place. We cannot accept un-credible sources as reliable to deliver to the American viewers. We must know the truth and report that and that only.

In this competitive world of journalism, it would be so easier to make up our own fantastic stories and pass them off as news. That is in fact what disgraced New York Times reporter Jayson Blair was doing. When caught, he was fired immediately and the public was quick to not trust any of his latter stories. I know that stories about scandals in a town involving a mayor or public figure would help out my ratings as an anchor for a struggling news station, but unless it is the truth I will not report it. Journalists can cause so much damage in the lives of others if we fabricate stories. Journalists already have a bad reputation for being dishonest, why not change that?

I believe in having ethics and morals as a journalist. I believe in staying strong to who you are as an individual and in caring for the greater good. Truth is not an option in my world. It is necessary. I want to bring back that trust to the American public. The late and great Walter Cronkite was once the most trusted man in American because he gave them their news. I’m going to seriously doubt that the same can be said for Katie Couric right now. I want to change that. And if we all make sure truth is always present in our journalism, I think we can.

See ya Lou Dobbs

You know there is an issue with your performance on television when your station will pay you almost 18 million dollars to leave.  But if you're Lou Dobbs, you just leave instead of facing the embarassment.  I for one can't actually believe that CNN let him stay on the air for as long as they did.  With his ridiculous anti-illegal immigrant rants and outspoken liberal comments, Dobbs continued to help CNN stay in 3rd place between FOXnews and MSNBC.  Although he was the last of the original anchors at CNN, he continued to give himself and CNN a bad name.  The time has come for him to say goodbye.  I hope when I make it into the big time that nobody wants to get rid of me so badly that they will pay me 18 million.

News online!

Say what you want about Obama..this blog isn't about him.  It's about the fact that Obama will be speaking to China's youth in China tommorow and we can see the whole thing live from China's Xinhuanet, the online news service of Xinhua News Agency.  Obama will be answering questions that thousands in China have asked on the internet.  How amazing is it that we can stream live news coverage of our president from China??  What a world we would live in if we didn't have the internet.  And thank goodness we are learning to accept it in the Broadcast world!

Interview with a journalist

Channel 5 in Ohio is the station that I often visited in the summer to learn as much as I could about the world of Broadcast journalism.  My friend Brandon Hamilton works at the station as a reporter and anchor.  As a favor to me he let me pick his brain and answer some question about the world of journalism.  When asked how to def

ine "good journalism" he said, "good journalism is when you follow Thourougness, Accuracy, Fairness, and Transparency.  

You have to be very open minded in journalism and try to not take a side unless you are on a certain network that allows it.  Journalism is story telling, so you have to able to tell a the story in a way that is understandable and interesting."  I was then curious about what he would say when asked if he thinks the news should be biased.  He answer was perfect I thought. He said, "I think having biased news on certain networks is a good thing.  Everyone has their own opinions and they want to hear information that helps support thei

r opinions, or information that goes against their opinion, just to see what the competition is.  Biased news takes you deeper into the situation rather than working on the surface." The economy is always something on everyones minds these days and luckily Brandon's job hasn't been on the line but he says that, "When it comes to citizen journalism, I feel it is a good way for people to express their opinions, but the audience will never have complete trust or confidence in those individuals there for I think viewers will still turn to a credible source for their news.  As far as ratings go, yes they are dropping, but I think it is good for all journalist because it makes you work so much harder in hopes to pull those v

iewers back in."  Thankfully, I was just accepted into the Broadcast program so I asked him for some advice, and what I should expect going into the world of broadcast, "experience, experience, and experience.  It is so crucial to have working experience in order to go far in this business.  Having a degree is great, but employers are looking for your experience!  Work at a college station, or get a job at a local television station in your area doing anything possible.  Just being in the environment will help.  Also, go into it expecting hard work. This is not an easy job, and it will be very stressful at times!"

Thank you thank you Brandon for all your help!

 

acceptance.. FINALLY!!

Well this week I found out that I was accepted into the Broadcast program!!!! After having to wait way longer than we were supposed to, the letter was ready Tuesday morning! After shaking and practically running people down to get to the Brimhall building, I opened my letter and saw that is said Congrats! I screamed, jumped around and called all my family ASAP. After the excitement calmed down, I started to think about how excited and ready I was to start the program. This is what I've been waiting for for the past year and I am so glad that I can finally begin the start of my future!

here is the link

I don't know why the last link didn't work... It should now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_UxLEqd074

Paranormal Activity

Ever heard of the Blair Witch Project?? Yea we hadn't either until a little thing called the internet made it an instant hit.  And the internet strikes again.  It's amazing how this media outlet can totally change the outcome of a small budget movie.  This time it is a movie called Paranormal Activity and its ALL over the internet.  Now I'm not endorsing the movie because it is rated R for language... but I am amazed at how the media has made this movie sweep like wild fire.  The website for the movie asked for visitors to click on a page to petition to have the movie shown across the country since it was only being shown in about 200 theaters.  Thanks to over 100,000 demands the movie is now being shown nation wide!! If the internet hadnt' been around... who knows where this extremely small budget film would be right now...

Here is the trailer.. you dont have to see the movie but I love the reactions of the crowd!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_UxLEqd074

The iphone... am I the only one without one?

Oh the iphone.. how I want you.  While I must say that part of the reason I want one so bad is so that I can play games in class is when I'm bored, another reason is because I want to a news anchor.  And as a news anchor, I have to be up to date on current issues.  And now that USA Today has its own very app on the iphone,

 what way could be easier to be kept up on the news than whenever I want?  We're facing the facts that the newspaper industry is hurting, but putting them on the iphone is genius.

Now only if AT&T would lower the cost every month...

Cincinnati won't be the same with out him

For as long as I can remember, which is really only about 12 years, George Grande has been the voice of my hometown baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds.  Now we will have to get used to another voice.  After 17 years of being the play by play television announcer for the Reds, Grande is opting out of his last year of his contract to "spend more time closer to home."  Grande helped pioneer the superstar hit that is ESPN.  He anchored the first ever ESPN sportscenter broadcast and stayed there for 10 years before moving onto the Yankees, Cardinals and then finally the Reds.  It is amazing to me that a man who has been reporting major league baseball since 1965 is just now leaving his job with the Reds and baseball in general.  If only I could guarantee that my career would be that long!  Grande is a great example of a man who kept up with the times in the broadcasting world.  Who knows how things worked in 1965 but all I know is that in 2009, everyone still loved Grande so he must have been doing something right.  It's a sad day in baseball history and in Cincinnati, but a hopeful day for all of those wanting to pursue a career in broadcasting sports... you could be around forever.  

Thank you George!

come on..

http://www.indiewire.com/article/2009/09/22/michael_moore_my_movies_are_acts_of_patriotism/

If journalism is completely biased and only shows one extreme point of view.. then my friends Michael Moore is a journalist.  He believes that because he can edit, and manipulate video footage to get his extreme liberal point across then he is doing America a favor and "reporting" on the evils of capitalism in the USA.  COME ON!  Moore goes on to state in this article that the reason behind newspapers decline in recent years is because many newspapers supported Republican candidates in the past.  I understand that people believe that the CBS Evening News is way too liberal and FOX news is way too conservative but at least the speak the truth and report true journalism.  This guy is a joke.

To tweet or not to tweet at the wheel?

Twitter is all the rage these days.  Heck we even have to tweet to make sure we get a good grade in this very class!  Now a days anyone who is anyone seems to be on twitter... the president, Barbara Walters and a million other pop stars and wannabe's.  But it seems to be causing some issues when it comes to safety on the road.  In an article by KSPR news in Kansas, reporter Joanna Small states that twitter is sending "mixed messages".  There are at least 22 states that are sending traffic, and road condition updates from twitter.  While this seems fine and dandy, those states also ban texting while driving.  We seem to have an issue here. How can one check traffic updates on the road if one cannot text while driving?  According to the article, transportation officials say that people should check their tweets before they hit the road.  Hmmm... while I think letting someone know about traffic before they hit the road is a good idea, I think they should leave the traffic updates to the news website instead of tempting teenage drivers to check their twitter while driving.  Let's just not even give them the temptation.  

"In seeking truth you have to get both sides of the story"

To write a blog about journalism and not even mention the late great Walter Cronkite just seems wrong.  Once known as "the most trusted man in America", he paved the way for journalists throughout the century.  While it was sad to see him ago, there is no doubt that his legacy will live on forever.  Just look at who went to his memorial service!  To have the president of the United States of America speak at your service... well you must have been great.  Leslie Moonves, the chief executive of CBS corporation said, "I would venture to say there isn't a person in this room, in the profession, who wasn't in some way inspired by Walter Cronkite to go into the media."  These past couple of weeks I have had the chance to read Cronkite's memoir, "A Reporter's Life" and just been amazed at his life and accomplishments.  If I was even able to achieve 1/10 of what he did in his lifetime, then I would be a very lucky girl.  It was so funny for me to read about his thoughts on television news.   He was the anchorman for the CBS Evening News for years but still said that America needed to read the newspaper more.  There are not too many in television that are going to say that!  I'm sad that a legend is gone but grateful for all the paths he paved in the media world!