Police: Step Away From the Cow.

AN OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY student journalist was detained and arrested by university police when he wouldn't stop photographing runaway cows.The student, who shoots pictures for the school newspaper, heard that a pair of cows from the agriculture school were loose and roaming campus. So he grabbed his gear and ran to the scene.Someone from the agriculture school told him he wasn't allowed to take pictures. The student journalist said that he was on...

Jackie Larma: "People Will Have a View of the World Because of Your Pictures."

JACKIE LARMA SPENT so long in Israel, working as a photojournalist, that the place feels like home to her. Raised in Texas, she was immersed in the struggles and daily life of Israel for 17 years. She visually documented activity in the Middle East, and also traveled to Europe and Africa to tell stories from there. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for her images documenting the struggles of Rwandan refugees. Now, she serves as the photo editor for...

Your Cereal Reflects You as a Person.

TEACHING ASSISTANT Kelly George, a doctoral student in the School of Communications and Theater, lectured today on advertising and its relationship with journalism. Here are a few things that stood out for me:- "Communications is a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed" (as stated by James Carey).- Advertising can create consumerism but consumerism also already exists in society.- Advertising began in...

Should Journalists Cooperate With the Police?

FOUR TIMES THE number of expected revelers showed up at an annual outdoor party near James Madison University last week. When police tried to disperse the crowd, a riot broke out. Around 40 people were injured, mostly from flying beer bottles and other thrown objects. Around 30 arrests were made.Local police asked the JMU newspaper to provide their images of the event, ostensibly so that the police could identify suspects. The newspaper editor declined."I...

Journalists and the Law: Where is the Line Between Reporting and Doing Police Work?

PROTECTING SOURCES is a longstanding tradition in journalism. Had Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward (above) revealed their primary source during the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon may have remained in office and the corruption of that era may have continued.More recently, former New York Times reporter Judith Miller spent three months in jail rather than reveal the source of her information (which she never even published). Investigative...

"You Got to Have Passion to be a Columnist."

EUGENE KANE WANTS TO save the world. And it all started because Kane, a Dobbins and Temple grad, thought the media portrayed his North Philly neighborhood in an unrealistic manner. He became a journalist to alter people's opinions about the world.Here are a few things that stood out for me from his visit to class:- He says that columnists can't straddle the fence. They need to take one side and support their opinion.- Many of his columns stem from...

Should Websites Ban Anonymous Commenters?

EUGENE KANE OF THE Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently wrote about anonymous commenters posting extreme opinions on news websites:"The blogosphere's popularity over the last decade or so seems to have avoided the requirement for credibility for commenters. As a result, people feel free to comment on whatever they want, however they want, and in many cases, as offensively as they want. Some of them talk big smack, mainly because nobody knows their...

Should the Killer Whale Video Be Released?

A KILLER WHALE killed a trainer at SeaWorld during a performance in February. Security video captured the entire episode. Should it be made available to the public and shown on broadcast news (and the Internet)?The video was taken into custody by sheriffs, and therefore became a part of the public record. A judge put a temporary ban on the film's release, appeasing the family of the victim and SeaWorld staffers. Over the past week, the two sides were trying to negotiate a deal for the media to see the footage but not publish or air it.Is there...

Can you Go A Day Without News?

HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED that the news fits perfectly in the space of a 30-minute newscast, every day?Or, as Jerry Seinfeld said, "It's amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper."Do you ever get the idea that sometimes you are getting stuff just to fill the space/ time - info about Tiger's "Transgressions" and the like?In the age of the Internet, do you feel overloaded with info? Is the...

What's the Big Sports Story? (Or, Lesson Number One for How to be an Evil PR Person).

THE EAGLES TRADED away their former first-round draft pick who led the team for 11 seasons. They sent him to a division rival. Late Sunday evening. Easter Sunday. The day before the Phillies season opener, where superstar pitcher Roy Halladay was set to make his National League debut. With Barack Obama throwing the ceremonial first pitch.Oh, and that guy Tiger Woods is returning to the links this week after a five-month hiatus ... because he was...

April Fools Joke? Glenn Beck Fans Towed.

THIS ISN'T A JOURNALISM ethics issue at all. But it is amusing. Enj...