Should Journalists Speculate About Tiger?

GOLF SUPERSTAR TIGER WOODS crashed his Escalade into a fire hydrant and then a tree near his Florida home early Friday morning. Woods has said little to the police and nothing to the media about the incident.

Now, the media are digging for the story and some are speculating about events - there are reports that Woods and his wife were fighting, and he left his home in a rage.

Should the media speculate about the incident? Is it news? Is Woods allowed to have a private life?

Do You Need Your Reality Augmented?

THE NEW ISSUE OF ESQUIRE magazine features Robert Downey Jr. on the cover, sitting on a QR code. Putting the QR code in front of your computer camera sends the computer whirring with stuff.

What does this bring to the table as far as journalism goes? Does this enhance the experience and make people appreciate the information more?

Or is this a gimmick?

Are there practical applications for this technology for journalism?

What Are The Limits of Censorship?

AN ISSUE OF AN ILLINOIS high school newspaper was spiked this week when administrators learned that the issue contained stories about drinking and smoking by honor students, teen pregnancy, and shoplifting.

Because the students are working on a school-sponsored (and school-funded) project, the school has the right to review and approve content before publication.

The director of the Student Press Law Center reviewed the articles and deemed them balanced. They did not advocate misbehavior. They simply presented reality.

In February, all the copies of one edition from the same high school newspaper mysteriously disappeared (administrators allegedly claimed the copies were snapped up so quickly, students couldn't find them). That issue contained stories about the hook-up culture at the school.

What would you do as the student journalists? Do you accept the administrations' authority and quietly back away? Or do you scream censorship and hope to bring change? Do the students have an argument here?

Who decides what subjects are taboo and should be censored?

Issue Facing Journalism: News or Distraction?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA BOWED when greeting the emperor of Japan recently, and that set off a media firestorm. Some in the media are saying that the president of the United States should not defer to anyone, anywhere.

Is this situation a distraction from what really happened on Obama's Asian tour? Have we lost site of the news that came out of the visits to Japan, China, Singapore and Korea?

Or is the fact that an American president genuflected before a foreign monarch actually news?

(Photo via the Associated Press)

Is It Wrong to Recycle Images?

FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL candidate Sarah Palin is upset with Newsweek magazine for using an image of her in shorts on the cover of their magazine. It seems the image was originally taken for Runner's World magazine.

The editor of Newsweek responded to criticism by saying, "We chose the most interesting image available to us to illustrate the theme of the cover, which is what we always try to do. We apply the same test to photographs of any public figure, male or female: does the image convey what we are saying? That is a gender-neutral standard."

Did Newsweek disrespect the former governor of Alaska? Or is Palin overreacting?

Are Reporters Newsworthy?

FORMER FOX29 ANCHOR Dawn Stensland was profiled in today's Daily News.

Over the past two years, her husband lost his bigtime anchor job after allegedly breaking into a co-worker's email account, he announced it was because he was having an affair with his-co-anchor, Stensland suffered a miscarriage, she was fired, her dog died and her mother has been confined to wheelchair, suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.

Do we need to know all of this about our television reporters (or former reporters)? Are their personal lives newsworthy? Do you care about them?

Or should we treat them simply like vehicles for providing news?

(Photo from Philly.com)

Bad Journalism, Straight From a Bad Journalist?

JAYSON BLAIR, THE DISGRACED former journalist, was recently invited to speak at Washington & Lee University about journalism ethics.

Blair is probably the most infamous plagiarizer and fabricator of journalism in recent memory (if not ever). He happens to live near the university, and currently serves as a life coach.

Is there any benefit in bringing Blair to a journalism forum to talk about ethics?

Robinson: "If You Know You Can Do It, Do It."

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF TODAY'S GUEST, Dorothy Robinson, Deputy Features Editor at the Metro US newspapers?

Here's what stood out for me:

- She is the fourth generation newspaper person in her family.
- She wanted to be a writer, so after college, she took a job as an editorial assistant at a book publishing house.
- She said that being an editorial assistant is a great way to launch a career.
- She now writes about celebrities a lot.
- The Metro US distributes 1 million copies in Philly, Boston and NYC.
- She said that celebrities are trained by public relations people and they rarely stray off-topic (i.e. they won't tell you about cheating on their spouses or anything).
- Publicists control everything you read about celebrities.
- She doesn't get nervous when talking to celebs, unless they're really good-looking.
- She considers herself a cheerleader of sorts. She tries to write about young people doing cool stuff.
- She said that dating was like a job interview for sex. Then she wrote a book about it.
- She hates the pink cover. Too girlie.
- She takes junkets ("I'm writing 300 words for the Metro," she said. "It doesn't influence anything I write.").
- She said you'd be surprised who else accepts the junkets.
- She thinks celebrity sex tapes are PR stunts.
- She said it wasn't easy becoming an editor. She worked a ton, lived in a dangerous neighborhood, had no money and then got lucky.
- She survived because she was confident she could do reach her goals.

What stood out for you?

Should Sources Be Allowed To Tidy-Up Stories?

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTHONY Kennedy spoke to an elite Manhattan high school last week. When the school newspaper wanted to do a story about the visit, Kennedy (or his staff) demanded that the justice have the right to see the story before it goes to press.

Quotations were “tidied up” to better reflect the meaning the justice had intended to convey, a spokesperson for the justice told the New York Times.

Would you allow a source to see your story before you went to press (or went on air)?

The executive director of the Student Press Law Center told the Times, “Obviously, in the professional world, it would be a nonstarter if a source demanded prior approval of coverage of a speech.”

Are the rules different when the source is a Supreme Court Justice, or when the publication is a high school newspaper?

Is the demand a violation of the freedom of the press as stated in the First Amendment?

Can You Trust Anonymous Sources?

THE WASHINGTON POST has done amazing investigative work over the years, often citing anonymous sources. Their work breaking the Watergate Scandal inspired a generation of muckraking journalists, and spawned a Hollywood hit, All the President's Men.

But do they rely upon anonymous sources too much?

A reader wrote an email to the paper's ombudsman recently, saying, "While it is sometimes needed, I believe it is not appropriate to hide the names of sources to the extent that The Post does."

The Post justifies their action by saying that, to gain trust from sources, they must keep them anonymous. It's the only way to get some information, to continue being watchdogs of power.

But do you, as a consumer of information, trust information that is labeled as being from unnamed sources? Are you skeptical that the information is fake?

Before He Was The DA, He Was Here.

SETH WILLIAMS, WHO VISITED class a few weeks ago, won the election to become Philadelphia's next district attorney.

How Far Do You Go To Get A Story?

THE FBI ACCUSED a Detroit broadcast journalist of lying to a source in order to gain entry into a building, according to a story in the Detroit Free Press.

Authorities say that the reporter acted as though she was given permission to enter a veterinary clinic where an FBI dog was being treated for a gunshot wound. The clinic staff escorted the reporter back to the emergency room before realizing she didn't belong there.

The reporter said, “I've never knowingly lied to anyone in my life. The vet management knew I was a reporter and saw the giant NBC flag on my handheld mike before I ever went in.”

Her station alleges that the newspaper story was inaccurate.

Regardless, the situation raises an interesting question: how far would you go to get a story? Should you lie to gain entry into places? Should you schmooze people in order to get information from them?