Issue Facing Journalism: How Would You Handle This Story?

A TEMPLE STUDENT WORKING on a story for MURL was allowed to interview and ride along with a young Philadelphia police officer.

In the story, which focused on the relationship between the police and the people they protect and serve in the 22nd District (just west of TU), the 24-year old officer said some off-color stuff.

“People in this neighborhood don’t care about each other,” the officer said, according to the article. “They’ll shoot each other for drugs, for money, for bulls---. All they care about is their reputation. They want to look tough.”

Later in the story, it actually got worse:

“These people are f------ disgusting. It’s like they’re animals,” the officer is quoted saying.

The officer is white, and the 22nd is a predominantly African American neighborhood.

After responding to a situation that has calmed by the time police arrive, the officer says, "TNS. Typical N----- S---.”

Would you have published this story? How would you have handled this? Is it fair to use the police officer's name? Would you have contacted other people, as the Daily News did in a follow up story? Would you have contacted the officer's superiors?

Read the original story here.

Is it good journalism? Does it benefit anyone?

(Here is a link to a Fox29 interview with the student journalist).

News You Can Use (To Your Advantage).

JUST A FEW QUICK NOTES:

Journalism students at Northeastern University in Boston have teamed up with the Boston Globe and crafted 11 front page, investigative pieces for the Globe over the last two years.

The Philadelphia Inquirer is trying to do something similar. They are inviting students to participate in a new collegiate website, studentunion34.com, that will launch in the coming weeks. The Inquirer's collegiate site is a place where you can write, blog, display art or images, broadcast sound or video, and get feedback from Inquirer editors and readers. If you are interested in participating, contact Inquirer Deputy Managing Editor, Vernon Loeb.

They are essentially looking for free labor. But you can take advantage of the opportunity as well.

There are many other ways for you to get involved in journalism now. Check here for a list of outlets, organizations and clubs, including the Ad Club, ED2010, TABJ and the Public Relations Student Society (they aren't all evil, you know).

Finally, journalists take care of their own. Check here to read about a Connecticut photojournalist who is battling kidney cancer. He is a friend of a former J1111 student, Chris Malo, owner and editor-in-chief of The Foundation, a mixtape magazine published in Philly.

Comparing Media And Procrastinating.

RIGHT ABOUT NOW, you are probably thinking, "Man, I have got to get started on that dang media comparison assignment."

And that means you don't have to time to find a Temple Times or Source magazine, and you have no idea when the BBC actually runs their news in America. So, you'll probably wind up writing about the Philly blog sites, Philebrity and Phawker.

Browse the sites. Then answer me this: does the ad above make perfectly good sense? Or do you think that it is just a blogger's attempt to seem more relevant than newspapers? Can newspapers and bloggers live harmoniously? Or are blogs the way of the future, and newspapers are going to fade away?

Will you continue reading Philebrity or Phawker? Why? Why not?

By the way, for your media comparison, you can also compare the Philadelphia City Paper and Philadelphia Weekly (print editions only). This week's PW features a story and video (below) from your prof:

What Would You Do?

WATCH THE video above and let us know whether you think this is good journalism or voyeuristic trash.

Sometimes, it is a fine line. Here is an excerpt from an Associated Press story about the program, called "What would you do?"

"What Would You Do?" is also a sign of changing times at broadcast news divisions. Quinones is a veteran journalist who reported about Central America for "World News Tonight" and won Emmy Awards for stories on the Congo's rain forest and the Yanomamo Indians. Now he spends most of his time on concocted social situations, a few steps up in class from NBC's "To Catch a Predator" series.

Quinones acknowledged to some trepidation about the idea at first, but he said it has been erased by how many times he's seen brave people do the right thing.

"How many other newsmagazines are tackling domestic violence, racism, attacks on the homeless, date rape, hazing, shopping while black?" Whipple said. Some of the experiments come directly from the news: the recent stabbing death of an immigrant from Ecuador on Long Island has inspired a segment where people's reactions will be tested when they see day laborers threatened with physical harm.

Would you watch the show? Would you host it? Is this even news?

Should They Be Allowed To Visit, Talk?

MILLERSVILLE UNIVERSITY recently invited William Ayers to speak at the Pennsylvania college, and not everyone was excited.

Ayers, a 1960's anti-Vietnam war protester who was a fugitive from the law after allegedly bombing several government buildings, is now a education professor at the University of Illinois. He most recently made headlines during the presidential campaign as he served on a board with Barack Obama from 1999 to 2002.

The government considered Ayers a domestic terrorist. Charges were ultimately dropped but some people see the man as the enemy.

Should the university have allowed Ayers to visit?

Similar situations have arisen in recent years, like when Columbia University allowed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (pictured above) to speak on campus. Some St. Joe's students and staff protested when former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was the commencement speaker there.

Is this a matter of free speech? Or should we not allow our enemies to infiltrate our worlds?

Byron Scott: "The Job is a Privilege."

WHAT DID YOU THINK of our guests from last class, NBC10 reporter Byron Scott (right) and videographer Sam Adkins (left)?

Here are the things I thought stood out:

- Journalists are recording history as it happens.
- There is a great deal of pressure to have more information than competing newscasts.
- You should always be improving your writing skills.
- When you start out in broadcast journalism, you may feel like you are always working.
- As a journalist, you may see awful stuff (dead bodies!) and bad things may happen around you (gunshots!).
- Most anchors started as reporters.
- Telling a news story isn't always exploiting. It can be. You need to recognize when to back off, Byron said.
- It is a privilege to enter people's lives, learn about them, and transmit their tales on air.

What did you think?

TU Students Are Doing It Right Now.

MATT GRAVES, A STUDENT in our class this semester, is in Texas right now covering the SXSW Music and Arts Festival for Phrequency.com.

He is just one of dozens of TU students gaining valuable experience (and having a hell of a good time) while getting an education.

For instance, Matt is in Texas with Tiffany Yoon, another TU student and former J1111'er. Phrequency was started by recent TU grad, Leah Kauffman, best now as the viral video maker, Obama Girl.

At just about every major media outlet in Philadelphia, you will find Temple students as interns. Many Temple students also commute to New York City two or three days per week to intern at the national magazines or network news.

The point is: don't wait until you graduate before you start gaining experience. Get the early rungs of your career out of the way now. Position yourself so that when you graduate, you'll have numerous media outlets on your resume and you can stand far above the competition for jobs.

How do you get started? Check out the internship database. Work for the Temple News (even if your interest is video or audio). Think about where you want to work in the future, and think about the steps it will take to get there. Start small and build up to your dreams.

Get involved.

Bristol and Levi Broke Off Their Engagement! Is That Really News?

AN ABC NEWS reporter performed an interview with Levi Johnston, father of Bristol Palin's child, while Johnston was sitting in a red pick-up truck.

The reason to interview the 19-year old? He and Bristol broke off their engagement just a few months after having a baby together.

Bristol Palin, of course, is the daughter of Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska and former vice presidential candidate.

Is their break-up newsworthy? And if so, is it fair for the reporter to just show up in Alaska and confront the young man while he is sitting in his truck?

While You Were On Vacation ...

CNBC HOST JIM CRAMER appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (above) after they attacked each other on their respective shows.

In other news: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer no longer has a print edition; former state Senator Vince Fumo was found guilty of 139 counts of corruption; former staffers from the now defunct Rocky Mountain News are trying to start an online Denver news site; longtime 6ABC reporter Don Polec got the boot; academics debate how students should be trained for a career in journalism.

Welcome back.

And Now, From the Makers of ...

JOEL STEIN WANTS to save journalism.

The LA Times and TIME magazine columnist proposed a system where product placement would pay for the production of stories. He even got Pom Wonderful, a pomegranate juice, to pay $25,000 for a mention in Stein's TIME magazine column.

Is there anything wrong with that?

The makers of Pom did not require reading the story before print. So, Stein could pretty much say whatever he wanted, right? He didn't have to blatantly sell the product. He just had to mention it, and add that it keeps you healthy.

Would you take the money?

(FYI: his editors at TIME made Stein donate the money to charity).

Santelli Bails Out. Stewart Tears Him Apart.

CNBC ANALYST RICK SANTELLI, who ranted live on CNBC about the Obama administration considering bailing out private individuals who were in danger of defaulting on their mortgages (see the video below), was supposed to be a guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

He canceled. So Stewart went off on CNBC, pointing out shallow and otherwise poor journalism from CNBC. It is a great, critical look at the media.

"If Pakistan is So Dangerous, Why Don't We Read Anything About It?"

INQUIRER COLUMNIST Trudy Rubin was asked the question in the headline while speaking in Illinois recently.

And it has her concerned about whether Americans are getting information that impacts their world.

After lamenting the fact that nearly every newspaper has shuttered their foreign bureaus, she notes, "The three major TV networks have practically eliminated foreign bureaus. Their international coverage dropped to a 21-year low in 2008, when they devoted only 13 percent of their air time to world news. And you won't find serious foreign coverage on CNN, which is best at covering immediate crises."

In a world where people can tailor the news to their own interests, how do we make people realize that the rest of the world has an impact on our lives?

Or, as Rubin asks, "Why can't we find out what's happening in countries whose turmoil affects our lives?"

Seriously. Why Are You Here?

A DePAUL UNIVERSITY journalism professor asked her students why they are studying journalism when the industry is in the throws of a massive revolution. Here are a few of the students' responses:

"I think we want to be journalists because it's who we are, as people," said Tina Shaerban, a budding broadcaster who moved here from Cleveland to enroll in J-school.

"We are willing to work for close to nothing because it is who we are," said Shaerban, 25. "It is an art form. Just like there are starving artists, we are starving journalists."

George Croitoru's dream is to cover the Cubs for a daily. Croitoru, 25, gets a rush from writing a news story, "putting together a puzzle, getting creative. That's a pretty good feeling. Turning a phrase that you didn't know you had in you."

La'Vena Richards has a public relations background, but journalism is her first love. She's a big gossip at heart. "I'm a news junkie. I'm nosy. I love information."

Why are you studying journalism?

BBC to Tierney: "Were You Nuts?"

BRIAN TIERNEY, the publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and part owner of Philadelphia Media Holdings (which owns the Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com) was on BBC America talking about the Inquirer's bankruptcy case.

"You and some of your colleagues bought the Philadelphia newspapers in 2006 when the newspaper industry was already in decline," the BBC reader said to Tierney (above, center). "Were you nuts?"

Check out the video. It's fun stuff. The news reader is actually rather cheeky and irreverent.

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