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....