Media = People = Democracy

IN AN ATTEMPT TO QUELL protesters, the reigning junta in the Honduras clamped down on the media. Television and radio stations were shut down by the military.They were trying to eliminate the voice of the opposition, the New York Times reported.Once word spread to the international community, the leaders in the Honduras backed down. The stations will resume at the end of the week, they said.There is no question here. Just recognize that freedom of...

WashPo: No "Jackass" Moments, Please.

THE WASHINGTON POST, among the most respected newspapers in the world, recently issued guidelines to their staffers saying they had to be careful about posting opinions on their facebook and twitter feeds.Here is a snippet:"Post journalists must refrain from writing, tweeting or posting anything – including photographs or video – that could be perceived as reflecting political racial, sexist, religious or other bias or favoritism that could be used...

Are First Daughters Fair Game?

THE SPANISH MEDIA are legally barred from running images of their prime minister's teenage daughters. The rationale is that the daughters are not public figures and, therefore, they have a right to privacy.Well, the Spanish delegation came to the United Nations, kids in tow, and they met President Obama. Then they had their picture taken with Obama by a State Department photographer. The images were put on the State Department's flickr site. The...

Is No Comment Worse Than One Repeated Comment?

THE HOMETOWN OF Glenn Beck, the Fox News host, is honoring Beck on Saturday. The native of Mt. Vernon, Washington will receive a key to the city and the day will officially be proclaimed as "Glenn Beck Day."The celebration has caused a controversy as Beck called President Obama a racist over the summer.So, when the officials in Mt. Vernon announced that the press were not welcome to cover "Glenn Beck Day," the press went into a huff.My question is...

Cogito Ergo Sum: I Think, Therefore I Sam.

Doctoral candidate and J1111 teaching assistant Sam Srauy spoke to the class today about epistemology, entological judgment, economic theory and other big ideas, ultimately leading up to the HUGE question: Does media ownership matter?What do you think?Are you surprised to learn that the six largest media producers are all either Western European or North American? Is that a problem?And what about Sam's other questions:- How do you know what is the...

If the President Speaks, Is It News?

PRESIDENT OBAMA SPOKE to five national networks on Friday, apparently talking about the same thing each time - his health care initiative. He did not talk about the ACORN scandal, and he did not allow Fox News, whose employees were recently busted inciting a partisan crowd, to participate in the series of one-on-one interviews.Do you give the president air time to speak when he is so overtly controlling the message (and the media)? As always, this...

Jim McKairnes: "Content Is King."

WHAT DID YOU THINK of today's guest, Jim McKairnes of CBS Studios?Here are a few things that stood out for me:- You need talent and ability, but you also need to be in the right place at the right time.- He recognized his passions while he was still a student at Temple, and then found a way to incorporate his passions into his work.- Even when he had a job, he was thinking about his next step.- He used his journalism writing gigs as excuses to meet...

Inquirer: Old White Guys Are Dying!

ACCORDING TO TODAY'S Philadelphia Inquirer, the major recent local deaths have all been old white dudes. Of the five obituaries they ran, all are white men, and none was younger than 78.Is there anything wrong with that?The Daily News today has three obits - a white woman (77), a white man (59) and an African-American man (72).Should the obituaries reflect the readership? Should diversity be enforced? A little perspective: the New York Times began...

Yo Kanye! What Were You Thinking?

KANYE WEST JUMPED ON stage during the MTV Video Awards and interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for best female artist video. West believed the award should have gone to Beyonce.Barack Obama commented on the event. But is it news?UPDATE: More info about Obama's calling Kanye a jackass - it was tweeted by an ABC News reporter who was in front of the president while the president was being miked for an interview.(The image comes from Reuters...

Are You a Mirror or a Puppet?

FIRST OFF, LET me say that this post is not about politics. As journalists, we neither support nor attack politicians and/ or their policies. We simply report what we learn.My question to you is this: is it responsible to publish the image on the right? It was taken by the Associated Press and run in various outlets, including the Philadelphia Inquirer.The image was created at an Obama health care plan protest in Washington, DC on Saturday. The event...

The Eternal Question: Is Oprah a Journalist?

OPRAH WINFREY CELEBRATED THE start of the 24th season of her show by shutting down Michigan Avenue and throwing a party for the city of Chicago. An estimated 20,000 people showed up. The question I have for you is this: Is Oprah, a celebrated host of a program where she interviews people, an actual, real-live journalist? (Go ahead and factor in her magazine). Or is Oprah, who frequently interviews movie stars around the time they have new films out,...

Dude, That's My Ass in The Newspaper!

AS A JOURNALIST, HOW DO you handle an event like the Philly Naked Bike Ride?Can you shoot video of them and run it on air? Can you run their pictures in the newspaper? Should the media show full-frontal if that is actually what was happening? Do the naked people have the right to be upset if their goodies are shown on television or published in print (or run on the Internet for the whole world to see)?(The photo above is by David Maialetti, a TU...

Death in The Afternoon (But Not in Print).

AN AMERICAN SOLDIER killed in Afghanistan was photographed by an Associated Press photographer in the moments after grenades bombarded American troops.The Associated Press distributed the image around the world, accompanied by a story about the incident.Few media outlets chose to publish the image, however. The argument: some outlets said that it was disrespectful to the military, and to that particular soldier's family specifically.Would you have...

I'll Take the Phillies to Win for $1,000.

A PENN STATE UNIVERSITY study found that forty percent of the 285 sports reporters they interviewed gambled on sports. Five percent gambled on sports they covered.Is there anything wrong with sports reporters gambling on sports? Does that sacrifice their credibility? Does that make you question the information they put in their stories?More than $380 billion gets wagered on illegal sports betting every year, so it's not like these sports reporters...

Blatant Self-Promotion: Your Teacher Is A Journalist.

LIKE I SAID, you should investigate all of your professors. Learn about them so you can mine them for information. That's why you're here.In the journalism department, many of the faculty have had long careers in the business. And some of us continue to produce journalistic work on a regular basis. For instance, your Journalism & Society professor wrote the cover story of the new Philadelphia Weekly. Check it o...

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