Doctored Photo or Creative Re-Creation?

THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS doctored a photo of Jocelyn Kirsch, an alleged scam artist who appeared in court this week. The newspaper ran a photo of Kirsch in a bikini and digitally added a court-monitored ankle bracelet to her leg.Is that a big deal? Did the Daily News do anything wro...

Sport Information Overload = Not Enough Information?

THERE WAS A TIME when journalists got to know athletes.There was a time when journalists went beyond public relations specialists and sports agents and learned about the lives of our sporting heroes. George Plimpton, among the greats who practiced New Journalism, even practiced with the Detroit Lions. As a quarterback. He even got into a professional game, and his book about the experience was made into a movie. These days, all of the media - bloggers,...

Blatant Self-Promotion: Rendellarama!

YOUR TEACHER is a journalist, and this week he profiled the governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, a man who may be pivotal to the Democrats if they are to win the White House this year. Enj...

Greatest Anti-Blog Rant Ever. Seriously.

THIS VIDEO has been floating around for the past two weeks and it just won't go away.Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights and A Prayer for the City, appeared on Bob Costas' HBO special and cursed his ass off. Apparently, he despises bloggers, specifically Deadspin.com.Watch it. Love it. And post your thoughts in the comments section bel...

Time-Shifting Prime Time Means Viewers Have Control.

THE AUDIENCE for prime time television shows is shrinking, according to an article in today's New York Times. More than 6 million viewers have disappeared since last year.The culprit? The Internet, TiVo, DVR and other video on demand services. The industry folks call it "time-shifting." And they are freaking out about it.While they enable viewers to watch more hours of television, they hurt the rate of commercial recognition, as about half of all...

Why Make a TV Show About a Dying Industry?

JOURNALISM MAY BE in its most dire time in the history of the craft, but MTV thinks people will watch a program about the profession. They have a new show, The Paper, about a Florida high school newspaper.A columnist from the Contra Costa Times writes: The show marks a real departure for the youth-centric cable network. It's not "The Real World," or "Laguna Beach," or "The Hills." Rich, hot-looking kids aren't making out in Jacuzzis. They're not...

$2.5 Million Per Baby? Seriously?

PAYING PEOPLE for interviews is a controversial practice. Some people fear that paying subjects will create a perception that the subjects are saying whatever they have to say to get paid.But does that same fear hold when you are talking about a celebrity gossip rag buying celebrity baby photos?People mag reportedly paid $5 million for exclusive rights to the images of Jennifer Lopez and her twins.Is there anything wrong with th...

Journalists Can Make An Impact On People.

ON THURSDAY, author, journalist and community leader Mister Mann Frisby spoke to the class.Mister is a former reporter at the Philadelphia Daily News who quit to write books. His newest book - featuring interviews with Bernard Hopkins, Jill Scott, Common, Kirk Franklin, John Legend and India Arie - is due out soon. The image above is the new book's cover (click here to read the blurb on the back).Raised in South Philly and educated at Overbrook High...