Should Journalists Report What Bloggers Write?

AN OBSCURE BLOG recently ran a story about one of the Flyers sleeping with the wife of a teammate, thus explaining the tensions in the locker room and the poor start to the season the team suffered.

The rumor was picked up by other websites and message boards despite none of the websites ever speaking to the players or the team.

After ten days of floating in cyberspace, the Philadelphia Inquirer followed up on the story. The Inquirer spoke to the players and team representatives, all of whom denied the rumor. The reporter also tracked down the blogger, a Temple University student.

Should the Inquirer have even bothered with the rumor? By publishing a follow-up to the blog post, aren't they only perpetuating a tale that everyone involved has denied? Isn't the Inquirer only legitimizing the blog and it's rumor?

Life Outside the Box Is Still Grand.

SURE, THE JOURNALISM JOB MARKET isn't looking all that hot these days. Newspapers are cutting staffs, television stations are combining services, magazines are folding and basically, the world is coming to an end.

Or is is it? Personally, I don't think so. And neither does David Carr, media critic at the New York Times and the author of the memoir pictured on the left.

Carr points out that local and niche websites are popping up around the country, breaking news that mainstream media miss. People are spending more time on their smartphones, using them to surf for information (as well as create content and communicate differently). And David Eggers' one-off newspaper sold out a few weeks ago, despite the $16 sales tag.

Basically, he's saying that legacy media may be in trouble but the desire for information is probably growing. And that is good news for students of journalism.

Then he wrote about judging entrepreneurial journalism projects at a university in New York:

"There were some clunkers, as there always are, but there were also some scary good, real-world proposals from students who don’t have to think out of the box because they were never in one to begin with."

Journalism is changing. You can forge your own path.

Welcome to Philly (Where We Don't Take No For An Answer).

CY YOUNG WINNER ROY HALLADAY was in town and before his deal with the Phillies was made official, 6ABC tracked down Halladay in Center City.

Watch the video. Was the reporter simply doing his job or was he being rude?

1,293 Ways To Get Rock Hard Abs And Woo Women (And 1 Way to Sell a Lot of Magazines).

IT TURNS OUT THAT the cover on the latest issue of Men's Health (left) mimics a cover from 2007 (right).

"It was not inadvertent, and it was part of overall branding strategies," the magazine's editor told the New York Post.

Is there anything wrong with that? Clearly, the magazine has found a formula that works for them and they continue to apply it.

Are they simply giving their readers what they want or are they ripping off their audience?

Is Journalism The Path To Politics?

FORMER FOX29 ANCHOR Dawn Stensland is reportedly considering a run for Congress in Delaware County. Former Inquirer reporter and editorial board member Douglas Pike is running for Congress in Montgomery County.

Diane Allen, a former KYW reporter/ anchor, is currently on the New Jersey Senate. Former Action News reporter Karen Friedman campaigned to become a Pennsylvania State Representative but lost.

And of course, there is Sarah Palin, the former sports anchor turned governor of Alaska and vice presidential candidate.

Is journalism just a stepping stone to political fame?

Would You Read A Daily Sports-Only Newspaper?

THIS IS LONG BUT watch the beginning, at least. Do you think there is a market for a daily newspaper that covers only sports?

Print is Alive! It Just Costs $16! Ouch.

DAVID EGGERS, THE AUTHOR and editor of McSweeney's literary magazine, is pushing print. He helped launch a massive newspaper in San Francisco last weekend. It features in-depth reporting, mag-style writing, double-truck graphic spreads, cartoons by famous artists, a separate magazine, and a 96 page book review pullout.

It's a one-time deal. For now. And it costs $16.

Would you pay more for a supposed higher quality product? If it only came out once per week, or once per month, would you pay $16?

Is It OK to Dance at a Concert You're Reviewing?

ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE is getting into the restaurant business with an eatery set to open in Hollywood next summer. They say they won't have memorabilia like the Hard Rock Cafe, and they won't be a music venue.

If they were to have a music venue, would it be a conflict of interest? Could they write critically about the performers they promote at their club?

And how about this: can music journalists dance at concerts they are reviewing or does that reveal their bias?

Temple Town: How Are You Living?

IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS YET, watch it. You want to know about life on campus? You think that the Temple News is too conventional? Click here and see their three part series about students living in North Philly, experiencing college life.

Does this appeal to you? Do quick shots, hip hop music and tales of sex draw you in? Is there news value here? Can a news product be slick and informative at once?

Peter Tobia: "It's About Being A Part of History."

WHAT DID YOU THINK of today's guest, photojournalist Peter Tobia?

Here are a few things that stood out for me:

- He wanted to be a writer. He took a photo course in college and everything clicked (ha!).
- Traveling around the world for stories allowed him to grow personally as well as professionally. By traveling, he learned about the world.
- He says that to be successful, you need to know your craft, be aware of the news of the world, and be tenacious.
- "If you want to be good at something," he says, "you have to put the time in."
- He covered events where upwards of 40,000 people were screaming, "Death to Americans."
- When he saw a woman suffering, he shuttled her to a hospital. Some of his journalism colleagues thought that was not ethical, that journalists should not get involved in stories.
- As a newspaper photojournalist, he has traveled to Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Suriname, among other places.
- He photographed the Taliban.
- He says that understanding the local culture is important for journalists.
- Now that he has a four-year old son, he's not sure he would travel to such dangerous places for work again.
- He tries to capture the humanity in war - like the family living on the former military base, where unexploded bombs rest along roadsides.
- He felt an obligation as a journalist to cover the conflicts abroad. It's history, he says, and he wants people to understand.
- What he has seen and experienced has impacted him mentally at times.
- "Those who suffer most are the least involved," he says of citizens living in war-torn areas.