Should You Publish Military Secrets if They Seem Questionable?

IN CLASS TODAY, WE TALKED about a New York Times story that revealed a military strategy to place "bait" in certain areas where potential insurgents would find them.

After placing the bait, American snipers observed the area around it, a military official told the newspaper.

“If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item,” he said, “we would engage the individual, as I saw this as a sign that they would use the item against U.S. forces.” (Engage is a military euphemism for firing on or killing an enemy).

Should the New York Times have revealed this strategy?

Does the reporter seem objective?

(The photo above is by Jim MacMillan, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his war coverage in 2005. Jim is a Temple adjunct who will probably speak to our class at the end of the semester).

Satire and the Race for the Oval Office.

WHILE JOURNALISTS hold on to the old ideal of objectivity, entertainment television runs with the political satire (like the SNL clip above).

Is it fair for folks like Tina Fey to mock Sarah Palin? Should David Letterman be punished for spending more than half of a recent show making fun of John McCain?

By the way, the real Katie Couric interview with Sarah Palin is below:

Is It Good Journalism Or Ugly Racism?

FOX29 INVESTIGATED a tip that an aide to city councilman Wilson Goode was abusing her position. The tipster said that the aide regularly arrived hours late to work, and frequently left early.

When the FOX29 reporter asked the aide - who earns $90,000 per year - about the allegations, the aide said that the reporter was a racist. The aide actually held up signs during council session accusing the Fox reporter of being in the KKK.

Watch the video by clicking here. Then answer the question: is this good investigative journalism or is this a nonsense story with racial undertones?

Does This Offend You?

THIS COVER was recently honored as one of the best mag covers of the year by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

Since the majority of you weren't offended by the "Douchebag" headline, I doubt you guys would be bothered by a line pointing to the former New York governor's crotch with BRAIN in bold caps.

Anyone? Is this good journalism?

(Click here to see this year's top cover finalists).

Are You Offended by "Douchebag?"

THE BALTIMORE SUN'S free daily paper featured a cover story about "Douchebags," with 56 ways to tell if you are one.

Apparently, some people were upset to see the word displayed so large and prominent on the page, which was fronted in newspaper boxes all around Baltimore.

Is there anything wrong with running the word on the cover in 48 point, bold type like this?

Can Photographs Have Influence?

FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER Jill Greenberg was hired to shoot images of John McCain for the Atlantic Monthly magazine.

Greenberg, a hard-core Democrat, decided to create images of McCain that portrayed him as old and sinister. She lit him with a harsh light, and shot the image from low, creating deep shadows and intensity.

Is that wrong? Should she have made him look good, maybe retouched his red eyes? Or is it her job of the photojournalist to present the subject as the photographer believes is most fitting?

That's Crazy ... But Is It News?

A 22-YEAR OLD WOMAN was driving the wrong way down interstate 476 in Delaware County and she crashed into oncoming traffic. A 63-year old woman was killed.

The Philadelphia Inquirer's story included these details:

O'Neill (the 22-year old driver) is the sister of Sean Owen O'Neill Jr., who was released from juvenile detention in June after being held in the August 2006 shooting death of his friend. O'Neill Jr. hosted a party without adult supervision at his family's home and accidentally shot Scott Sheridan, 17, of West Chester.

Her father, Sean O'Neill Sr., was arrested in June by federal agents who said he had lied about his membership in what authorities called an Irish terrorist organization to obtain a green card. He also faces weapons charges.

Is the legal information about the family necessary? Does it reveal a feeling of suspicion from the journalist?

Or is this good background information for the piece?

A look at the Delaware County Times' story offers insight on how the reporters gathered their information: the police issued a press release.

That raises another question: just because the police provide that information, should you report it?

In Lieu of Newspapers, Use Craigslist?

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE censored a paid obit that ran in the paper.

The family of Ken Swanborn submitted an obit with the final line, "In lieu of flowers, please vote Democratic."

The paper refused to run that line. A woman on the paper's paid-death-notice desk told the Chicago Reader, "If it's considered discriminatory or offensive, they take the line out."

Do they have the right to do that?

Media and The Law: What's Right?

DURING THE RECENT political conventions, several reporters were arrested. Watch the video above. Was there justification for the arrest in this case?

An Associated Press photographer from Philadelphia was arrested while covering an anti-war protest in Minnesota. Several others were picked up there as well (see the video below) and then released later in the day without charges being filed.

Before you react, process the information. A good journalist will recognize multiple sides of the story. Did the police feel threatened? Were they abusing their powers? Were they protecting the city? Were they protecting the interests of the powerful politicians?

Can you report this fairly? Can you be objective here?

Can Journalism Harness Social Media For Good?

NEARLY ALL OF THE students who have taken the survey I requested you take said that they use facebook.

It is an amazing tool, really, far more than just a way to pass the time. Why? Because you actually learn about your friends, their passions, their interests and what they're doing online.

And now with Twitter, people have the ability to update their friends of their activities every second of the day.

The New York Times Sunday Magazine explores the social networking phenomena:

For many people — particularly anyone over the age of 30 — the idea of describing your blow-by-blow activities in such detail is absurd. Why would you subject your friends to your daily minutiae? And conversely, how much of their trivia can you absorb? The growth of ambient intimacy can seem like modern narcissism taken to a new, supermetabolic extreme — the ultimate expression of a generation of celebrity-addled youths who believe their every utterance is fascinating and ought to be shared with the world.

Do you take issue with his description of your generation?

The real question I have for you is, is there a way to harness online social networking to transmit relevant news? Can newspapers, magazines, television stations and other Internet sites use tools like Twitter to inform the public, make people's lives better?

GOP vs. The Media Elite

ONE OF THE REPUBLICAN talking points that is being repeated over and over again at the Republican National Convention is that the media are a bunch of elitists.

I love it. Don't they read the papers? Media job layoffs are announced almost daily. Elitists? The average starting salary for a 2008 grad who actually finds work is $32,000. If you can find a job, that is.

Is the media showing their elitism by pointing out that there are only 36 African American delegates attending the convention? Is the media showing their bias for Obama by reporting that only two percent of the 1087 delegates are black? Is the media creating a story out of nothing rather than simply reporting what is happening in the speeches?

(the photo above is from Getty images via the Dallas Morning News)

Gossip Mongering or Good Journalism?

RUMORS HAVE FLOATED for months that GOP VP nominee Sarah Palin is not the mother of the 4-month old she claims as her own. Some have speculated that Palin's 17-year old daughter (above, right) is the real mother.

What do you do with that rumor? Do you investigate it as a journalist?

The folks up in Alaska didn't touch it:

“I heard that rumor a long time ago,” said Pat Forgey, political reporter for the Juneau Empire, a few hours after Palin’s statement that her daughter was five months pregnant. “I probably would not have wasted any time on it.”

Is that irresponsible? Palin may become the number two person in American government. Shouldn't the media investigate if she is covering something up?

Or are families off limits, as Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said?

What would you do?

Blatant Self-Promotion: Your Teacher is a Journalist.

PEOPLE SAY JOURNALISM is dying. Newspapers are going away, TV news is a joke and magazines are watching advertising dollars disappear.

And yet here you all are. Studying journalism. Your parents must be so excited.

Well, I, for one, don't believe the industry is dying. It's simply changing.

And that makes this the most exciting time in history to be an aspiring journalist. For real.

If you want to read more, click here to read my story about "Why I teach journalism" that is this week's cover story on the Philadelphia Weekly.

The Oldest Journalism School Could Lose Their School Newspaper

THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI will celebrate the 100th anniversary of their journalism school this year, the country's oldest journalism program.

But their school newspaper, the Columbia Missourian, is suffering from the same problems that newspapers across the country are facing: declining revenue and loss of readership. The staff is considering merging with another newspaper or going to an online only version.

Would it be a big deal to lose the print version of the paper? Isn't the Internet the way of the future?

Or is there value in being a physical newspaper?

Would you read The Temple News if it was only online?