Is a Hurricane in The Gulf Region News in Philadelphia? Or Around The World?

News outlets around the world have been reporting on the potential impact of Hurricane Isaac in the Gulf region.

Some of the interest is because there was potential for the hurricane to disrupt the Republican Convention in Tampa (which it didn't). Now, the focus seems to be on whether the hurricane will damage the region devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Should the reporters be speculating on the potential damage? Does that protect people who could potentially be injured in some way? Or does this simply spread fear?

Check out the image on the right. An LA weather reporter superimposed Hurricane Isaac over California in order to show the magnitude of the hurricane.

Is that a responsible thing to do or does that give people the impression that California will be struck by the hurricane?

Finally, should the hurricane in the Gulf region be news in Philadelphia? Or California? Or anywhere away from the Gulf region?

Great Photo. Would You Run It?

During the Phillies game in St. Louis tonight, a bare-naked dude ran across the field. AP photographer Jeff Roberson captured this fabulous image.

Can you run this online, in print or over the airwaves (on TV)? Should you?

By the way, during broadcasts when streakers hit the field, the TV stations do not show the streaker on air. They don't want to give publicity to clowns interrupting the game.

(AP image via Deadspin)

Are Politicians' Dog Tales Newsworthy?

For some reason, the story about Mitt Romney taking a family vacation and strapping his dog in a pet carrier on the roof of the car has not gone away. And the vacation in question was in 1983.

Now, it was a 12-hour drive to Canada the Romneys embarked upon. But it was a long time ago.

The story has seen new life in the wake of the news that Barack Obama ate dog meat as a child growing up in Indonesia. He did that a few times ... in, like, 1970.

Are either of these stories relevant today, in 2012? Are they newsworthy?

(Photo by the White House, via the Washington Post)

Are Journalists Perpetuating the Bigotry?

JAPANESE BASEBALL SENSATION Yu Darvish is now playing with the Texas Rangers. He was roughed up a bit during the first inning of his MLB debut last week but he came back to earn the win against the Mariners.

The game was somewhat marred by a collection of racist events.

First, the Rangers commissioned a new hot dog in Darvish's honor - the Yu Dog. It comes with a fortune cookie.

Then, a TV analyst called a hit by Ichiro a "chinker."

Finally, there were these, er, fans in the above image.

What should the journalists do with these instances? Should they run a story and photos of the events? Or, by highlighting the ignorance of a few small-minded folks, are the journalists in fact perpetuating/ spurring on the racism?

Keep in mind that we are in a post-Jeremy Lin era, when an ESPN writer was fired after crafting a headline that read "Chink in the Armor" after Lin and the Knicks lost a game.

Check out this SNL spoof of the Jeremy Lin excitement, and the racism that followed in the mainstream media.

Photo by US PRESSWIRE via Larry Brown Sports.

This Post Was Brought to You By The Good People of JUMP, The Mag For Cool People.

THESE DAYS, PEOPLE in journalism are getting creative about generating revenue. Advertising is simply not raising the cash it used to.

Philly.com, the website connected to the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, is experimenting with sponsored tweets. A company can pay to say that a headline posted by philly.com was "brought to you by ..."

Is there anything wrong with that? Does this deceive the reader? Or is this the same as an advertisement running between segments of a newscast?

April Fools? Can Journalists Make Jokes?

A BLOGGER FOR FORBES.COM posted a story yesterday about Mitt Romney dropping out of the presidential race.

The story continued:

The move shocked observers, including Senator Santorum, as Governor Romney seemed poised for a decisive victory in Wisconsin.

The governor, however, said he concluded that he has “no chance” to win the general election in December and that a Santorum candidacy in 2012 would be in the “best interest of the party.”

He explained, “It will save time. As many observers have pointed out, my defeat in 2012 will be interpreted by the party faithful as evidence that our problem is that we’ve become too pragmatic and moderate. In 2016, we’ll ˜correct™ that and nominate some right-wing nut and get demolished in the general election.

It’ll be like Goldwater in 1964. I don’t want to wait until 2020 to get my party back. I’m all about efficiency. Let’s get our butts kicked now and move on.”

Of course, the whole thing was an April Fool's day joke. After the story was circulated via news aggregators, it was pulled from the Forbes site.

Should journalists play pranks like this? Is it lighthearted fun or irresponsible?

See the full, original post here. Photo by AP via ABC news.

Get Your Camera Away From Me, Dog.

A REPORTER AND PHOTOJOURNALIST were covering a murder story when a friend of someone involved in the story approached the news team. He wanted the crew to leave, and he didn't want to be videotaped.

"Get your camera away from me, dog," he said as he slapped the camera away.

Then he walked back to his car and brandished a pistol.

The news crew turned this into a story. The lead story for the 5:00 PM newscast.

Is this news?

Watch the video above. Is it good TV or good journalism, or both?