Would You Hire a Hooker For Your Job?

A NEW YORK POST reporter flew to Nevada to spend the night with Markus, a 25-year old ex-Marine whom the Post is billing as the first ever legal male prostitute. She even paid the $500 tab for his services.

Here is a bit of her story:

“So,” Markus says after leaning over and kissing my knee, “we’re going to get undressed and then take a shower. Then we can both inspect each other to make sure there are no discrepancies.”

Minutes later, as we’re standing naked in the shower, he’s examining me like a second-rate gynecologist and nodding.

“Yeah,” he murmurs, cooing that I’m “practically” an 8 or a 9. “Everything looks great down there.”

Oh. My. God.

Is there anything wrong with the journalist engaging (no pun intended) in the story like this? Isn't it just Gonzo journalism as made popular by the likes of Hunter S. Thompson?

Or is there something sketchy about a journalist getting involved in something like this? Would you report this story?

By the way, the reporter writes that she did not have sex with the dude.

Is it Acceptable to Learn About Covering Tragedy in the Middle of a Tragedy?

A PHOTOJOURNALIST NAMED Zoriah is offering a specialized photojournalism workshop next month - in Haiti, where an earthquake recently devastated the country.

"Subjects covered will be working in disaster zones and other difficult and dangerous situations, survival and logistics in difficult environments, photograph people, working with NGO's (Non Governmental Organizations) and aid organizations, editing and digital darkroom technique and marketing and making your stories available for the world to see," according to Zoriah's website.

Half of the $4,000 tuition will be donated to an organization in Haiti.

Is there anything wrong with running this program? Is it a good thing?

Magee: Fox News Is Right Down the Middle.

KEVIN MAGEE BEGAN his college career as an electrical engineering major at Drexel. After a few days at his first college internship, he recalls, "I thought I was going to die."

Then he found the campus radio station, WKDU, and fell in love with the medium. To become further trained in broadcast, he transferred to Temple.

After stints at KYW News Radio, KYW TV, NJN, ABC Radio, Good Morning America and CNBC, Kevin now serves as the vice president at Fox News, overseeing the Fox Business Network and Fox Radio, among other duties.

Here are a few things that stood out for me from his visit to class today:

- He says that Fox does not promote conservative causes.
- Their news coverage, he says, is straight down the middle.
- Their evening programming, which is mostly talk shows, offers opinions but they make the audience aware that what they are seeing and hearing is opinion, not news.
- The audience at Fox tends to be older, wealthier and conservative.
- Bill O'Reilly is a master broadcaster, according to Kevin.
- What he does may be entertaining but Glenn Beck is not an entertainer.
- If someone at Fox says something that proves to be incorrect, the network tries to air their mistakes publicly and apologetically, Kevin says.
- Finding talent for programming is unbelievably difficult.
- "Good talent" means being engaging on air, so that people want to return day in and day out.
- Talent is magic. Some people have it. Some don't. And it's not just about physical appearances.
- As a student aspiring to a career on air, you should try one of two routes: 1. start low in a big market and elevate within the system; 2. start in a small market as a reporter and move to larger and larger stations.
- As an intern, Kevin says, you should show up on time, smile, do all the awful intern work (with a smile) and keep your eyes open for opportunities. Make an impact during your internship.
- Broadcast executives can look at your demo reel for ten seconds and know whether you will be considered for the job.
- Networking is important. Very important.
- The difference between CNBC's business coverage and Fox's, Kevin says, is that CNBC reporters try to prove how smart they are; Fox reporters try to make their audience smarter.
- Everybody is biased, he says. Everyone has baggage. The best journalists are able to put that baggage behind them when they report.
- Fox doesn't cause controversies. They shine light on them.
- Conflict is good television.
- Rupert Murdoch does not have any influence on the editorial content at Fox News.

What stood out for you?

Andersen: Broadcasting Baseball Isn't Easy.

PHILLIES BROADCASTER AND former professional baseball player Larry Andersen says that when he's calling games, he tries to find that balance between being honest and keeping his employers (the team) happy. It isn't always easy. After all, he began his on-air career with the team in 1998, a pretty dark era in Phillies history.

Anyway, here are a few other things that stood out for me from his visit today:

- He arrives at the ballpark at least three hours before game time so he can study the media notes and talk to players.
- Everything he says on air will be scrutinized by the players, fans, management and whomever, so he needs to make sure he has his facts straight.
- He is a fan but he tries to not get too excited on air. He says that he mutes his microphone sometimes so he can jump around and scream without being distracting to the audience.
- When he began as a broadcaster, he tried to act like a broadcaster. He was stiff, like a deer in the headlights. Now he tries to relax and be himself.

- Because he works for the team, he can't divulge all the crazy stuff he knows about the players. Especially not on air.
- Larry says that having training as a journalist is important for folks interested in doing play-by-play work. As a color analyst, however, his strength is his experience as a player.

- He says that there is a general lack of trust of the media from the players.
- He believes that journalists are more critical of players whom they don't like personally. "If somebody is an ass," Larry asks, "aren't you going to be more harsh when he messes up?"
- He advises young players to cooperate with the media, or else the media will be even more critical.
- When he is critical of the team or the stadium during broadcasts, he can wind up in trouble with the club's administration.
- "From what I remember, it was a blast," he says of the 1993 National League championship season. "This is how you're supposed to play. We were always talking about baseball. We didn't have a ton of talent but we played the right way."
- When Harry Kalas passed out in the broadcast booth in Washington last year, Larry gave HK CPR until the paramedics arrived.
- He says that he knows he's doing his job right when fans tell him that listening to him on air is like sitting on the back porch, drinking a few beers, conversing about baseball with a friend.

What stood out for you?

Should Journalism Abandon Neutrality?

DO YOU TRUST WHAT you see on television news?

Apparently most people do not. Fox News scored the highest in a recent poll, with 49 percent of the people questioned answering that they trust the right leaning network. Republicans trust Fox News at 74 percent, while only trusting the the other four major networks at 23 percent. Democrats only trust Fox News at 30 percent. Independents hated all five network news outlets in the study.

“A generation ago you would have expected Americans to place their trust in the most neutral and unbiased conveyors of news,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling which performed the study. “But the media landscape has really changed and now they’re turning more toward the outlets that tell them what they want to hear.”

Studies like this could have an impact on how news is covered and presented. If audiences are drawn to news outlets that serve their particular belief systems, should news outlets tailor their product to those audiences?

This would be a great question for Kevin Magee (right), a Temple alum and Fox News executive, who will visit class this semester.

What do you think? Should journalism abandon objectivity and the notion of neutrality? Or is there a purpose to journalists trying to remain objective?

STAY AWAKE! Citizen Journos Are Everywhere!

A PUBLIC TRANSIT passenger in Toronto snapped a photo of a transit worker snoozing in a ticket booth, and then posted the image to TwitPic.

The image soon became news fodder - it symbolized rider frustration over fare increases and questionable service.

A transit worker union official was upset that the photographer didn't stop to see if the transit worker was fine - or even alive.

Is it responsible for journalists to use this image in newspapers or on television? Without knowing the situation that the image was taken - for instance, whether the transit worker was just in a moment of rest or in a full-fledged nap - what should journalists do with the image?

Would you have run the picture?

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