Megan's J305 Blog

Ethics Article (Friday 6/12) -Late assignment

2009-06-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

1. I think that what Smith meant by his quote is that there is a huge difference between releasing information about someones personal life and exposing information about that person that is morally wrong. In the case of Mayor West a reporter has to be very careful because that person is in the public eye and it would be wrong to "out" that person because it has nothing to do with the position in government that that person has, but exposing his relationship with underage boys has a lot to do with the public and should be shown to the world so that authorities can handle the situation.

2. Morlin didn't assume an identity in the sting operation against Mayor West because it went against what The Spokesman-Review put together as an ethical code. Morlin justified the operation by saying that what he was showing to the public was things that they needed to know, things that affect them and that's why he shed light on it.

3. I think that they reported on this story so much because it was such a huge news story for a place like Spokane. When a reporter gets a chance like that with a story that big they feel the need to almost beat it into the ground. As much as most journalist talk about reporting stories for the reader they also do it for other reasons such as money, readership, and awards and I think that that is why so many stories were written about it.

4. I don't believe the outcome was worth it. in this situation. The Spokesman-Review benefited the most from this story because they broke it and therefore a lot of people read the articles and probably watched the news coming through. But Mayor West definitely was negatively impacted by this, not only was he outed but there was not enough evidence to convict him of anything and therefore the article virtually did no good.

5. I think there is some questionable ethics that we are talking about because in the story it is almost as if they are implying that by his absents he could possibly have AIDS. This leaves the reader to make their own conclusions about him from what the reporters are writing.
.

Ethics and Storytelling

2009-06-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

1. I think one of the biggest ethical dilemmas that are faced by documentary filmmakers is the question of whether or not they are exploiting the people that they are documenting and if these people know how the light will be shed on their situation or life. Especially if the person is not of right mind, like in "Titicut Follies" and, possibly "Grey Gardens", they may not be aware of the portrayal that is being made about them. Also the subject may think that the documentary is taking a particular angle to their story when the filmmaker may have a completely different view on where the story lies.

2. I think that the person making the documentary should make the decision as to what they are showing within the film based on the story that they are trying to tell and within respect to the subject of the film. I think in "Titicut Follies" the filmmaker shows a lot of footage that is disturbing but he is trying to shed light on the state's treatment of patients so that some hardships may be exposed. I think that while hard to view it is appropriate to show this footage because that is helps define the film and what the filmmaker is trying to show the audience. I think that a filmmaker shouldn't show certain footage if it only portrays the subject badly or questionably but has no benefit to the audience other than a possible "shock and awe" factor.

3. As a person making a documentary I would chose to do documentaries only on subjects that I had strong emotions about but that I also had the ability to distinguish between what I wanted to show to an audience and what I think they would benefit from. I think that as a filmaker you have to be able to show what you want the audience to see about your subject while also respecting the subject and I would take that approach because I think that is the only way to be ethically correct in this situation.

WSU brings together students with new Second Life campus

2009-06-14T20:55:00.001-07:00

Pullman, WA- Washington State University is now helping students who are located all around the globe have access to the school with the launch of its new 3D campus in the virtual world Second Life.
Second Life is a virtual world that that was created by Linden Labs in 2003 and is featured online. Users can create avatars of themselves, interact with one another and even purchase items.
The WSU campus was designed by the Center for Distance and Professional Education (CDPE) for students that are not at the Pullman campus. It is a way for students that attend the university through a distance degree program to visit the Pullman campus without having to physically make the trip.
“It’s a way to combine on-campus and distance students to work together virtual even thought they might live thousands of miles apart. It might also be a learning environment that on-campus students are part of due to the more globalization and a way to communicate to others,” said CDPE media production manager Brian K. Maki.
Students will not only have access to the campus via Second Life but some course will use the program as a way to communicate. One class is ED AD 520. Over the course of the next year more classes will use the program through the CDPE and students at the Pullman campus will have the ability to collaborate with students elsewhere on projects and other class assignments.
Maki hopes the WSU Second Life campus will bring more students together and feels that it has the ability to bring people together.
“You have like-minded people. You can live anywhere and still be part of Second Life. You can have a physical disability and still be able to do the same things as others,” said Maki.
The launch of the WSU Second Life will be promoted throughout the Pullman campus, as well as other campuses, by different departments, student organizations and classes that plan to use it.
“I think that as more and more people began to hear about the WSU Second Life they will register with the program and have the ability to interact with other students. It will be nice because you can meet a lot of new people that you might have a lot of stuff in common with because you both attend the same university,” said WSU student Dana Smithreams.
The WSU Second Life campus is currently available for access online to students as well as all other Second Life users.

Frontline: News War

2009-06-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

I though that A New Definition for What's News was very interesting because it highlighted the problems that have to do with media right now. It first caught my attention when they discussed that The Daily Show has the highest rating for a "news" program when it technically makes fun of the other news stations. I think that people feel like this program is more newsworthy because they are appealing to their audience. They are showing the news while discussing the issues in a way that makes the viewer feel on the same level, not like the media is above them or that they are hiding things/changing stories.

In Info Snacking they discuss how the 60 Minutes teamed up with Yahoo! to chop videos that would likely appeal only to an older audience and making it appeal to different segmentation. When they chop it, they call it "info snacking". I think that one of the problem that this displays is that the viewer is only getting slight and different pieces of a news article. The media seems to be trying to make the money that they want through the Internet and the way they feel like they can do that is through the Internet. I feel like the media is not going to be able to effectively use the Internet for an outlet because the audience is changing and they are always wanting something new and personal and I think that is bloggers, real people, that an audience can relate to. I think that the media is overlooking the audience real wants and what appeals to them.

The Story of the Los Angeles Times discusses how Dean Bakay came to the newspaper and changed the outlook of the LA Times which had had bad lighting on it for awhile. They went back to the way of real investigations, big news stories and it was a success. The problem was the stockholders didn't like that their opinions were not shown in their paper. When they sold the paper they had to cut people. This example I think shows how the control that shareholders have too much control over a newspaper. They are looking towards a gain in the financial aspect of the paper when they should be looking at how to make the reader happy. The reason that newspapers struggle is because the control that forces them to cut cost for financial gain giving less news to the reader, which should be the main focus of the paper because they make or break the business.

Al Jazeera English

2009-06-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

1. I don't believe that the Internet will be as effective in reaching the U.S. audience as they would hope. The reason being that their is a large population of people that they are not able to reach at all within the states and that would be people without Internet. I also think that people will feel like they need a reason to tap into this news station and if it were on the television people would be more prone to watch it without some incentive, but on the Internet I feel that people will not feel the need to put in all that effort to watch the program. But I do think that if people did hear about the controversy surrounding the stations (that they are being shut out by America) people would want to watch it more and it might gain more of a following.

2. I think that Al Jazeera should be allowed in America because they are a worldwide population. I do not think that, from at least my observations, that the broadcasters would bring negativity on Americans. If anything I believe that Americans would get a different point-of-view on situations that they think they know about. The station discussed news that was going on in the region and they can open that up to Americans. Also, we are offered BBC in American and I feel like we should be more open to international affairs because as a nation we are often involved in other countries situations and people should be aware of all the angles.

3. From at least what I saw I though that their approach was more discussion-based. It seemed a lot more formal also, the people were discussing their opinions but they didn't seem as heightened in what they were saying. On other stations I've observed I feel like people get really into their opinions and it often gets somewhat argumentative and I felt a little like the people weren't as real as people on other news stations.

4. I felt like they did in a way but I also felt, like I said above, that they weren't as real about the news that they were discussing as I have seen on other stations, which would go against the second code which says they will bring honesty to the audience. When they discuss the standard that says that they: recognise diversity in human societies with all their races, cultures and beliefs and their values and intrinsic individualities. I felt like they did a good job at upholding that because when they discussed current events and discussed Obama and other American influences on the situation they upheld truth and were unbiased.

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites renovates aspects of the hotel

2009-06-07T23:39:00.000-07:00

Pullman, WASH. -Guest at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites will be surprised when they see the new renovations that the hotel is making to improve customer’s stays.
The hotel is located on Bishop Blvd. in Pullman. It has 130 rooms and offers certain amenities to guest as a deluxe breakfast bar, an indoor pool, and a jacuzzi. For the health-conscious they also have a fitness center with a treadmill and elliptical machines.
The hotel was opened 15 years ago and has had steady business because of its location near Washington State University.
“We are usually between 80 to 90 percent occupancies because of different people that are involved with the university, mainly parents of students, but also different professors that only teach a couple days a week and come from home. Business is always positive,” said Tonia Medina, a three-year employee of the hotel.
During football season the hotel is booked 100 percent, with guest making reservations 50 weeks in advance and only on certain call-in dates. Due to the high occupancy the hotel keeps its renovations up-to-date and is currently making changes to different aspects of the hotel.
The hotel is currently updating 50 different rooms in the new addition wing of the hotel. They have added granite to the bathrooms, as well, as having completely redone the bathtubs. Within the lobby area they have ripped out the carpet and put in all new tiles.
The main reason the hotel decided to renovate was because as a franchise the hotel has standards that they have to follow but Medina also hopes that the renovations will keep customers satisfied with the hotel and help them keep the hotel number one in Pullman.
“We like to keep up with the times and make sure that the customers feel like they are at staying at the nicest place in Pullman,” said Medina.
Customers have noticed the changes and that is what has continued to bring them back to the hotel.
“I have already had several customers tell me that they are impressed with the changes the hotel is constantly making to keep up for the customers wants and needs,” said Ashley Kelly, a new employee of the hotel.
The hotel is open year round and is always taking reservations.

Sasquatch! Music Festival wraps up eighth year at The Gorge Ampitheater

2009-05-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

George, WASH.- Sun beaming down on bare skin. Melodies blaring from giant speaker. Smiling faces. Technicolor on a big screen. Crowd sways to the rhythm of the music.
The 2009 Sasquatch! Music festival arrived at The Gorge Amphitheater this past memorial weekend of May 23rd through the 25th to large crowds and temperatures of 85 degrees and above.
The music festival is known to many as one of the “greatest untouched music festivals that exist right now,” said concertgoer Gabrielle Merz.
“I think that at a time right now when there is a lot of people pushing the same type of music, that isn’t unique, its nice to get to come to a cool venue and see some different types of musicians,” said Merz.
The line-up for the 2009 festival included artist such as: 80’s band Jane’s Addiction, the rock-trip Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the dance-themed Santigold, who is on tour for the first time with a full band.
Sasquatch! Music Festival was formed in 2002 by concert promoter Adam Zacks, who previously worked for The Roseland Theater in Portland. The festival began as one day and has evolved over the past seven years into a three-day musical experience that brings large crowds from all over the country.
In addition to people coming from different areas for the music, many people come to experience the diverse crowds and The Gorge itself, which also offers camping for the three-day music festival.
Due to the high demand for camping and the sold-out days of Saturday and Sunday The Gorge Amphitheater was forced to open up other sections on the area to accommodate the campers.
“I’ve come to The Gorge for a lot of different concerts and I’ve never seen it so jammed packed with campers,” said Washington State University student and Sasquatch! attendant Ksenyia Braginskaya. “It’s really cool because I feel like the line-up was so good this year with band like the Kings of Leon, as well as Chromeo and that brought a lot of people who just want to have fun, camp and listen to good music.”
Sasquatch! kicked off Saturday with The Gaslight Anthem on the main stage and ended the night with the Nashville-based Kings of Leon. Some highlights from Saturday include The Decemberist playing at Sasquatch! for the second time in the festivals’ history as well as The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ singer Karen O performing Maps and Skeletons wearing neon green legging and a glove, consisting of glow sticks.
Sunday brought the lead singer, Boots Riley, of the Oakland-based group The Coup and Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine together to perform with there new band Street Sweeper Social Club. The band performed MIA’s Paper Planes to a cheering crowd and offered free mp3’s of their music to the audience.
Monday wound down the festival with a long performance by the indie-rock group Grizzly Bear, which is known for their soft melodies. Other performances included an R&B set from Erykah Badu and Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 ending the weekend.

Feeding the Beast

2009-05-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

+I think that we as a society are the beast. Were are on a constant high of now and immediate. Our society has come to expect things right then and now and I think that that is how we look at news. Anymore print news is not fast enough so we turn to sources that we will get immediate gratification from.
+The reason it needs to be fed is so that we keep coming back for more. News stations are constantly trying to get the most important, most dramatic news to keep the viewer watching and that means new issues at every moment need to be addressed.
+I think compromises that will occur are a lack of correct accreditation for a news story. With all the people working on a story only few gets the credit for it. I also think that details of a story get blurred and sometimes are incorrect because they are reported too soon. If stories were reported when full details were known that wouldn't be as much of an issue.

Special Leads

2009-05-26T22:27:00.000-07:00

Example of feature writing
Who is Sonia Sotomayor?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/26/sotomayor.bio/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Example of narrative lead
U.N. seeks full access to Sri Lankan refugee camps
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/24/sri.lanka.united.nations/index.html?iref=newssearch

Bruised Books can aid students in finacially tough times

2009-05-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

PULLMAN, WASH. – Pullman students will be able to gain extra cash in this economic crisis with the help of Brused Books, a used bookstore located in downtown Pullman, where students can trade in thier used books for money.
Brused Books was founded in 1980 by owner Bruce Calkins during his time as a graduate student at Washington State University. The business started out as two shelves located in The Combine, a past coffee shop that once resided in downtown Pullman. Over the years it has moved locations twice, eventually finding a permanent home on Main St. in 1999.
The bookstore houses over 50 different sections of and is always looking for different array of books to place on their shelves.
“We try to hit everyone, we have Christian fiction to books on far-left issues such as gay rights, but we also try to have specific books to the geographic area, with sections in the store on veterinary and firefighting,” said Sally Burkhart, a long-time Brused Books employee.
In a time when businesses are failing and many individuals are in financial turmoil, Brused Books has stayed at a steady and growing pace. With subjects of books ever-changing and getting more broad over time the bookstore is constantly taking in books from residents of Pullman, as well as acquiring different titles from locations such as Spokane, in order to keep up with the needs of customers.
The bookstore takes in books following three main criteria: books that they think will sell, that they need, and that are in good condition. They price their books at half or less of the cover price. The customer that brings in those books will receive a credit of 45 percent of the price Brused Books decides to sell the book for. If the customer takes the option of cash they will receive 25 percent of the sale price.
“It’s a great way for students to earn cash and get rid of some clutter they might have during the summer when a lot of people are moving locations. People would be surprised at how much you will receive for the books they will take,” said frequent customer Cori Youngblood.
The bookstore takes in all types of books and is always looking for rare and interesting texts as well as books that will sell a lot during a specific season. Spring time is a popular time for people to trade in books. During this time they see a lot of textbooks come in.
“We will take textbooks if they are in good conditions, from the last couple of years and will bring in money for the store. People find a particular interested in basic math or algebra books so we often take more of those,” Said Burkhart.
During summer the bookstore takes in and sells a lot of paperback fiction novels as well as the growing books genre known as “chic lit”, which appeals to the females from the ages of 18 to 30 years old.
“During Summer many people are looking for easy reads for lazy days at the beach as well as books that have been turned into movies that are coming to theaters this summer. We have recently been selling a lot of Dan Brown novels since Angels & Demons has hit the theater so that’s something we’re currently looking for but ,we welcome any and everything,” said Burkhart.

Summary News Lead

2009-05-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

Obama unveils mpg rule, gets broad support
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30810514/

-Includes the 5 W's
-Shows relevancy
-Relates to to national spectrum ("Americans")

Story Pitches

2009-05-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Editor,

Summer is upon us and with this season comes the time to relax more than any other time of the year. With the free time many students are looking for things to preoccupy their time with. One of the things that one could do with that time would be to read books for leisure. I have recently become interested in Bruised Books, the used book store located in Downtown Pullman. They offer a large array of books in different categories as well as allow customers to trade in books for credit or cash, which I think would beneficial for students that are strapped for cash.

This story would be intended for print as possibly a feature. I would interview the owner of the bookstore, Bruce as well as a customer that was shopping at the bookstore.

Dear Editor,

Doing volunteer work is a great way for a student to gain experience in the workplace as well as good for their resume. Their has been a decline in volunteers at such organizations as the Women's Transit and The Pullman Humane Society. I think it would be beneficial to students to shed light on the organizations where they can volunteer at over the summer and also the things that they can gain from it.

I think that I would interview the people that run the places that are being featured in the article as places to interview. This would be meant for a newspaper.

Dear Editor,

Many people have a hard time speaking in front of an audience. WSU has a chapter of Toastmaster International called Cougar Communicators Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a non-profit educational organization that is devoted to helping people become better public speakers. I think that students would find this helpful for the future within the working world. They meet once and week and I believe it would be important to shed light on this organization.

I would interview Sue Semler, who is the main contact for CCT as well as a member of the organization for a newspaper article.

Compare and Contrast News Outlets

2009-05-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

The three news sites I chose to look at are: CNN.com, USAToday.com, and Guardian.co.uk.

CNN.com
The stories that get the most prominent placement on the page seemed to be the latest news within the USA. The main story was about the family of a plane crash victim who were seeking answers as to why this happened. The story was new but it seemed more like a piece that would touch peoples' emotions as oppose to affect them directly. The other stories on the page where ones that seemed to be more life interested. They had stories such as a story about the boy on the milk carton from 30 years ago that was never found. It seemed like they had more fluff pieces then hard news on their front page.

I think that CNN. com adhered to the "Morrow Standard" of being fair and balanced because it had some hard news pieces but they were intermixed with softer pieces. I think that this conveys to the reader the options they have. I didn't feel like I was bombarded with information or opinions that I didn't want to see. I think that the main story was apparent but that their were other options easily available.

I think the primary audience for CNN.com would be middle class, middle age, Americans. It didn't really have very much international news offered right on the first page, so I think that it is focused more on people that care more for news that they can easily relate to. I also think that some of the stories focused more on a middle aged group, because they were more life pieces such as stories about book clubs, news on Oprah, or commentary on issues.

Guardian.co.uk
The story that seemed to get the most prominent placement I believe was the most important international news. The main story was a story about a charity group that is being accused of giving aid to Mumbai attacks. Other stories that seemed to be the most important were stories from all over the world, such as the story of Obama wanting to 'stifle' the abuse pictures and the amount of people who have died in a Sri Lanka hospital shelling.

I think that the Guardian.co.uk adheres to the Murrow standard for the most part. I think that it definitely gives fair space to the different stories. It seemed to really show the international news from each country and give fair space to different array of stories. It also seemed to really focus on hard news. There were not many soft pieces apparent on the first page.

I think that the target audience for this website is people from all over the world. It seems that this website is most focused on bringing news from all over to everyone. Its focused seemed to be people who would be most interested in hard news that was happening in places that they didn't have first hand access to it.

USAToday.com
The story that seemed to get the most prominent placement was a story about how Shuttle Atlantis grabbed Hubble. The other stories that got the best placement seemed to be hard news from around the country. Stories such as the Obama/abuse pictures and how retail sales are falling. It seemed that it was focusing mainly on the most important news of the moment in the US.

I think that it is fair pertaining to the Murrow standards. It seems that it is giving priority to news within the USA but they seem to be marketing themselves as a news media with more of an America focus. I think that for the people that are using their website they are giving them what they want as readers.

I think the target audience would be normal Americans. I think that this is displayed when the focus is more on stories within the USA. It also seemed that the news stores that were prominent were ones that a middle class American would be interested. There wasn't very many stories about international news on the first page but it was apparent that the option would be there if that was an interest to the reader.

Which news outlet would I use?

I think I would use USAToday.com. The reason I would use this website would be because it shows hard news that is going on right now that as an American I feel like I can relate to what they are talking about or at least understand the stories. I also feel like if I wanted to read other stories about other countries this website would make it readily available.

Chevron/Texaco V. Ecuador

2009-05-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

I think that each of these news reels are both bias in one way or another, but I think that what makes them separate ethically is how they each have different agendas. In the 60 Minutes news reel the point is to make the listener or consumer aware of this situation for their benefit. They are trying to inform the public of what may not directly affect them at the moment but something that has the ability to affect their purchasing choices as well as their opinions about a company. I feel like they are taking a more ethical approach because they seem like they are bringing actual news to the consumer/listener. They talk to both parties involved while also investigating the claims. I think the "news" reel that is supported by Chevron/Texaco is more for the company's benefit then anything. It seems like they are only bringing their side of the story when they only have people that work for their company discussing this conflict. The other news reel discusses the situation with both parties involved, whereas the Chevron/Texaco reel only pointed blame towards others and never even took the time to look towards the people of Ecuador. I think that that is the biggest evidence of journalism being unethical in this case. In the Chevron/Texaco reel they didn't even give the opposing side a chance to discuss their situation.