Do You Show The Shootout on TV?

A FLORIDA MAN entered a school board meeting, complained about taxes and then began shooting. Police shot the man before he could seriously harm anyone. As he lay on the ground, the shooter took his own life.The whole episode was captured on video.Should the video be shown? Is it newsworthy? Is it too graphic? Does it only traumatize the audien...

How Did the Photojournalist Get the Image?

WHEN THE BRITISH government decided to triple the cost of college tuition, students in London went on the rampage. They burnt cars, smashed windows and then kicked Prince Charles limousine (and allegedly shot it with paintballs).There was not a plan for the protests - they began in front of Parliament and then roamed throughout the city. The photojournalist who created the above image, which ran on the covers of newspapers around the world, was fairly...

Annoying? Yes. Newsworthy? Not Sure.

WARNING: WHAT YOU will see in the above video is shocking (if you are a 13-year old girl from Nebraska) and unbelievably annoying.But the clip has been run on major news programs across the country and, sadly, around the world. The video shows teen idol Miley Cyrus taking a hit of salvia from a bong. Salvia is not considered a drug in California, where this video was shot, but salvia is controversial - it is said to cause hallucinations. Some people have called for it to be considered a drug and banned.Is this video newswort...

Do People Have the Right to See Government Documents? Or is Wikileaks Really High-Tech Terrorism?

THE MAN BEHIND Wikileaks, a website that reveals previously undisclosed information, has been labeled as a whistleblower, high tech terrorist and a hero of information.Wikileaks is slowly been releasing a 15-year cache of cables from US embassies around the world. In response, the White House released this statement: “We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information."There...

Can "Hyperlocal" Revive Interest in Journalism?

THE JOURNAL REGISTER Company is set to launch a hyperlocal news portal for the greater Philadelphia region. “This site will be powered by the audience and will benefit – through traffic and revenue – those who publish their content here,” said JRC VP for content, Jonathan Cooper, who will speak at a PhIJI event on Tuesday (12/7) at 6:30 in Tuttleman 303AB. “We realize the benefit of plural voices in the community. There are hundreds of sources for...

MacMillan: "We Can't Seem to Agree if We Need More War Coverage or Less."

JIM MACMILLAN WENT to Iraq because he wanted to be a part of that story, to show the world what was happening there. He was influenced by the Vietnam-era images that changed the tide of public sentiment and he wanted to do something similar in Iraq.He had spent two decades honing his craft as a photojournalist prior to going to the Middle East. He attended hostile environment training in preparation, learning about weapons and crisis situations."I...

Should Journalists Pay for Information?

BRETT FAVRE ALLEGEDLY used his cell phone to send images of his man parts to a former New York Jets sideline reporter. The website Deadspin paid $12,000 for the images and voicemails that Favre allegedly left the reporter.Is there anything wrong with journalists paying for information?"When you pay for a story, you're making a contract with the person who supplies it and that means you're no longer acting independently," Hagit Limor, the president...

Can Animation Be Journalism?

AN AIRLINE PASSENGER recently opted not to go through the full-body scanner at San Diego International Airport. Instead, he requested the full-body pat-down. But when the security officer explained what would happen, the passenger said, “If you touch my junk I will have you arrested.”The passenger captured the entire event on his cell phone video camera, and the raw video has gone viral.A Hong Kong-based news operation creates animated videos of news stories, like the airport incident. Watch the video above. Is the animation an appropriate way...

Should Journos Give People What They Want?

IT WAS REVEALED that USA Today has 27 reporters covering the entertainment industry. They only have five covering Congress.Is there anything wrong with that? Are they simply recognizing the fact that people want entertainment information? Or should they be devoting more staff to "serious" news?By the way, does Bristol Palin count as a celebri...

Can Coaches Ban Social Networking?

SEVERAL MEMBERS OF the Temple University basketball team, apparently, are on Twitter. At Villanova University, however, the players are banned from Twitter and facebook during the season. Villanova coach Jay Wright says that bloggers read the tweets and build unwanted and distracting controversy.Can college athletes be banned from using social med...

Jesse Pearson: "We Strive to be as Inclusive as Possible."

A GOOD MAGAZINE represents the editor, Vice magazine editor Jesse Pearson said in class yesterday. "The mag needs to be about my curiosity," said the Levittown native who has lead the magazine since 2003.This year, Vice did a photo spread involving bears (burly gay dudes) dressed as vikings. Pearson assigned a gay pornographer to do a Q&A with Karl Lagerfeld. That same issue features a fashion spread with models in caskets, looking like they're...

Vice Magazine: More Than a Hipster Bible?

ON TUESDAY, VICE magazine editor Jesse Pearson will visit class.Vice magazine started in Montreal in 1994 as a government-funded project. It's now a for-profit, advertising-driven magazine circulated to more than one million people around the world and they have offices in 30 different countries.The mag has stories from around the globe, about random subjects like fashion, immigration, music, skateboarding, hatred, Iraq and just about anything else....

Making Friends, With Marc Zumoff.

EVERY DAY MARC ZUMOFF wakes up, the sun is shining and life is good. "I'm happy to be me," he said in class today, despite the dreary rain outside.Zumoff, a Temple grad, is the voice if the Sixers. He's one of only 30 pro basketball play-by-play announcers in the country. He flies in chartered planes, stays in fancy hotels, eats quality meals and then gets to watch some of the world's top athletes from the front row at mid-court. That's his job....

Do You Want News With an Attitude?

DURING TUESDAY'S ELECTION, Fox News drew larger audiences than any other cable news operation.Fox News averaged 6.96 million viewers in prime time on Tuesday, according to ratings results from the Nielsen Company, the New York Times reported. CNN averaged 2.42 million viewers. MSNBC averaged 1.94 million viewers.Does that mean that people with conservative leanings were more engaged in this election? Or is this a sign that viewers want information...

Is The Alleged One-Night Stand a Story?

LAST WEEK, GAWKER.com ran an anonymous, first-person story from a Philadelphia man who had a one-night stand with Christine O'Donnell, the Republican candidate for Senate in Delaware. "We'd probably knocked back five Heinekens when Christine leaned over and whispered in my ear that she wanted to go back to my place," the author writes.There are lurid details in the story. They, for the record, did not have sex, according to the story.The O'Donnell...

Can Journalists Attend Political Rallies?

SEVERAL NEWS ORGANIZATIONS have banned their journalists from "participating" in political events, including the upcoming event in Washington DC with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert."NPR journalists may not participate in marches and rallies involving causes or issues that NPR covers," reads a memo sent to NPR staffers. "This restriction applies to the upcoming Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert rallies."The news organizations argue that journalists...

Do You Fire the Analyst For Speaking His Mind?

NPR NEWS ANALYST Juan Williams was fired last week after making an appearance on the O'Reilly Factor and saying, "When I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they're identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."Is that cause for termination? Wasn't he hired as an analyst, a person who is paid to offer his opinions?Or, was his termination justified as it revealed him to be something of a bigot?NPR released a statement that included this justification:...

Don't Agree With Your Guest? Can You Leave?

FOX NEWS HOST Bill O'Reilly appeared on the morning talk show The View last week and a shouting match ensued.O'Reilly said that 70 percent of Americans don't want a mosque near Ground Zero because Muslims attacked America on 9/11. Joy Behar, one of show's hosts, walked off the set, followed by co-host Whoopi Goldberg. "That is such bullshit!" Goldberg said. "Extremists did that!"After the two walked off, Barbara Walters, another co-host, said, "You have just seen what should not happen. We should be able to have discussions without washing our...

What's Love Got to Do With it?

A CHICAGO BROADCAST sports reporter was recently fired and the reasons remain something of a mystery. However, there were recent published reports saying that the reporter was dating Nick Boynton, a defenseman for the Chicago Blackhawks.Is a romantic relationship grounds for dismissal? Is it wrong for reporters to date/ marry people they may have to cover professionally?(Photo via Bleacher Repo...

Are Free Newspapers Devaluing News?

NOW THAT WE are all used to free information readily available online, there is a great debate happening about establishing paywalls on news websites. The rational is that news is expensive to produce and the audience should pay for the information.The problem that began online is also seen in print, where free newspapers have become popular around the world. The Metro, which has a Philadelphia edition, boasts the 5th largest newspaper circulation...

Annette John-Hall: "This is Just My Truth. I Welcome Conversation About it."

JOURNALISM IS ON the job training, Inquirer metro columnist Annette John-Hall said in class today. While on the job, Annette was verbally assaulted by a baseball player and hit on by a basketball player. She sampled a marijuana brownie. She's received thousands of emails and comments on her stories, not all of which have been pleasant. She's met celebrities (Denzel!) and befriended famous athletes. And she's traveled the world reporting and telling...

Thinking of Studying in London? Do It.

JOURNALISM IS AN excuse to do some really cool stuff. Sure, the industry is changing and some people are super negative about the future of the industry. But if you have to work for a living, journalism is about as rewarding and as fun a career as you will find. For real.The Temple London students this past summer spent six weeks documenting the music scene. We hung out with musicians, producers, magazine publishers, broadcast producers, venue operators and lots of other cool folks. Then we made the magazine above. If you are considering journalism...

Dude, Where's my Column? Or, Should the Journalist Sample the Chronic?

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER METRO columnist Annette John-Hall, who will visit J1111 on Tuesday, wrote an article today about the legalization of marijuana. While visiting her native California recently, she witnessed the debate about proposition 19 (the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010) which is on the ballot for November. It would essentially regulate the use of recreational marijuana.John-Hall attended the International Cannabis and Hemp...

Do You Show the Alleged Bad Guy Just Because Police Think He/ She is a Criminal?

A VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY student was killed on Wednesday when his car was struck by a stolen vehicle doing more than 100 mph. The stolen vehicle fled the scene but was later found by police.On Thursday, police arrested a 21-year old West Philadelphia man whose fingerprint was found on the stolen vehicle. Police paraded the handcuffed man in front of the media, and the alleged perpetrator's image was run all over television, online and in newspapers....

Would You Turn the Potential Advertisers Away?

THE WASHINGTON POST will no longer accept advertisements from massage parlors, arguing that many of the parlors are actually thinly-veiled houses of prostitution.Many newspapers and magazines continue to run such advertising, arguing that the massage parlors have valid business licenses and are therefore, legitimate businesses in the eyes of the law. Craigslist recently shuttered its "adult services" section, and many other newspapers - The New York...

Should the Anchor Have Revealed That He was Also a Victim of a Pedophile?

OVER THE WEEKEND, while performing an interview on live television, a CNN anchor announced that he had been the victim of a pedophile (it's in the above video around the 5:25 mark).The anchor was discussing the case of an Atlanta bishop who allegedly sexually abused boys at his church. After listening to a sound bite and then talking to supporters of the Bishop, the anchor said, "I have never admitted this on television. I am a victim of a pedophile when I was a kid. Someone who was much older than me."The anchor didn't go into detail about his...

Should the Media Set Standards for the Public?

PBS PULLED THIS skit with Katy Perry and Elmo from Sesame Street after a viewers complained about Perry's attire and the lyrics to her other songs. The video was posted online as a teaser to the start of the 41st season of the famed show. Some viewers complained, like this person:"Good gracious, I've never been so outraged!! Sesame Street and Elmo meet Katy Perry?! Have you seen what this woman promotes in her music and videos? I am appalled that you would let her anywhere near beloved Elmo, especially dressed like that!"Should PBS have pulled...

Do You Make the Jackass Famous? Part II.

WHEN JACKASSES RUN onto the field at Phillies games, the Phillies broadcasters refuse to show the ensuing drama as it might glorify the actions of the idiot. And running onto the field is illegal (and stupid ... we're in a playoff run, jackass). Apparently, the Atlanta station has no issues showing the interloper. That's their video above. That means the footage exists and media outlets, including Philadelphia broadcast news shows, can access the footage. Should they run it?Should newspapers run images and/ or the name of the running fool? Is this...

Do College Students Prefer Print?

THE POYNTER INSTITUTE reports that students actually prefer the print edition of their school newspaper over the online version.They cite a spring 2010 study by Student Monitor that found that 56 percent of students "don't even know if their campus newspaper is available online." Around 63 percent of students classify themselves as "frequent or light readers of the print edition of the campus newspaper."One advisor says that their college newspaper...

What's a Female Sports Journalist To Do?

WHEN INES SAINZ, a reporter from Mexico's TV Azteca, walked into the Jets locker room on Sunday, she was greeted with catcalls and hoots from the players.Locker rooms are awkward places for interviews in general - journalists need information as quickly as possible after games and practices, so the athletes often have cameras thrust in their faces immediately after they get out of the shower. Sometimes, the players are draped in towels. Sometimes...

To Have Or Not Have an Opinion?

Fox29 has a new format for their 10:00 pm newscast and it has invited criticism from the Philadelphia Inquirer.The Inquirer interviewed journalism educators and journalists about Fox29's new opinion and commentary initiatives that have become the focus of the show. Even the journalists who are reporting breaking news are asked for their opinions."We're saying if you're going to report a story, you had better know that story inside and out, and push...

Is it Wrong to Take Care of Your Own?

ON THE FRONT PAGE TODAY, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an excerpt from a new book, Tasting Freedom. The book chronicles the life of Octavius Catto, a 19th century Philadelphia civil rights activist. It was written by Dan Biddle and Murray Dubin, two longtime Inquirer staffers (though Dubin recently retired). Is there anything wrong with the Inquirer hyping and publicizing a book written by two of their own (Biddle is the Pennsylvania Editor for the...

Should Journalists Ignore the Bigot?

A FLORIDA MINISTER plans to burn copies of the Koran on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The US government has pleaded with the minister not to do this, fearing it will incite violence from Muslims, putting Americans in peril."It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," said General David Petraeus, the commanding officer in Afghanistan. "Were the actual burning to take place, the safety of...

Dude, My Private Parts Are Pictured Online!

HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE gathered in Fairmount Park on Sunday for the Philly Naked Bike Ride, then stripped down to their birthday suits and rode bicycles through the city. Just about everywhere they went, people took their pictures and shot video of them. A lot of those pictures and videos wound up online. Some even landed on news websites.Are people allowed to shoot images and video and publish them online? Do the riders have any say in whether their...

Is the Candidate's Kid Public Fodder (And Are Journalists Allowed to Publish facebook Images)?

THE SON OF a state representative/ gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota was busted for underage drinking - while on the payroll of his father's campaign.An alternative weekly newspaper broke the story and used old facebook pictures (above) of the 20-year old. This is a two-part ethical dilemma:1). Is the kid newsworthy? Just because his father is involved in politics and is a candidate to become governor, should the son also be considered fodder...

What's the Name of That Cee Lo Song?

CEE LO GREEN HAS an Internet sensation with the song in the above video. But it will never get airtime because of the song's title, chorus and punch line. Such language is prohibited over public airwaves (radio and broadcast TV) by the Federal Communications Commission. Print outlets are not prohibited by the government from using such language. Still, the New York Times wrote a 1,078-word story about the song on Monday and never revealed the lyrics, let alone the title. Instead, the author described it as "a certain crude phrase."Should newspapers...

Who Covers the Team? The Coach Will Decide.

DEREK DOOLEY, THE University of Tennessee football coach, told journalists last week that only certain reporters would be given access to a mock game the team played. The journalists selected were allowed in, he said, as "a simple reward for exemplary performance."Should a coach be allowed to decide who gets to cover his te...

Should Journalists Rate the Teachers?

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES recently examined every third through fifth grade teacher in LA schools and measured them for effectiveness using a controversial method. Then they created a searchable database and published it online.The teachers freaked out."It is the height of journalistic irresponsibility to make public these deeply flawed judgments about a teacher's effectiveness," the LA teachers' union wrote in a statement. "The database will cause chaos...

How Far Would You Go to Get a Story?

BARRY LEVINE, A TEMPLE grad, executive editor of the National Enquirer and friend of J1111, recently recounted to New York magazine his fondest memories of life in tabloid journalism:When his helicopter was blasted with shotgun pellets over Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith’s wedding; when Mike Tyson dragged him into a hotel stairwell and threatened to kill him after Levine asked if he was gay; when his news team was “attacked” by a swarm of tarantulas...

By Explaining the Details of the Proposed Mosque, Are Journalists Showing Their Bias?

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS issued a memo to staffers last week regarding how the proposed Lower Manhattan mosque should be referenced in their coverage. Among the directives was a change in what the mosque would be called - rather than simply the "ground zero mosque," the AP told staffers to refer to it as the mosque "near" ground zero."The nearness of the mosque to the WTC site is, of course, at the root of the whole controversy," wrote AP standards editor...

How Did You Spend Your Summer Vacation?

FOR SIX WEEKS, 18 Temple University students documented London as part of the School of Communications & Theater's study abroad program.Our focus was on London's massive and diverse music scene but we also learned about the food, fashion, lifestyles and various cultures of the city.We interviewed countless people, including producers and a correspondent from the London office of NBC News, the publishers of STATION magazine and the operators of...

Did Time Mag Cheat Rolling Stone (Or Just Scoop Them on Their Own Story)?

ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE did a huge story about Stanley McChrystal, the commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, and his criticism's of the Obama administration. As a result of the story, McChrystal tendered his resignation to the president - his remarks in the article, which he admits are accurate, could be considered as insubordinate.But there is another controversy surrounding the story: Time magazine published the Rolling Stone story online in...

The Journalists Admit Falsifying the Image. So, We're All Good, Right?

OUTSIDE MAGAZINE PUBLISHED a cover story about cyclist Lance Armstrong. He posed in a plain blue T-shirt for the cover shoot. But when the mag hit the streets, Armstrong discovered that his shirt now read, "38. BFD."Apparently, the article alludes to the idea that Armstrong being 38-years old is no "big f***ing deal."He was pretty fired up when he saw the altered cover. He tweeted:Just saw the cover of the new Outside mag w/ yours truly on it. Nice...

Should Journalists Show Suicides on TV?

A MAN ACCUSED OF MURDER in California was cornered by police at the edge of steep cliff. Turns out he was also a porn star. The standoff lasted a long time - allowing news crews to arrive on the scene.With dusk approaching, the man decided to leap off the cliff, committing suicide. The news crews captured the entire suicide. Then they showed it on air. Multiple times.Is it wrong to show the video of a person dyi...

Do You Believe The Journalist or the Athlete?

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS' WIDE receiver Dwayne Bowe is quoted in ESPN the magazine as saying:"You hear stories about groupies hanging out in hotel lobbies, but some of my teammates had it set up so there was a girl in every room. The older guys get on MySpace and Facebook a week before we go to a city; when a pretty one writes back, they arrange to fly her in three or four days in advance. They call it importing." The quote caused a stir - so much that...