I'll take Ethics for 1000

After last week's classes, and reading about Mayhill Fowler as well as Matt Drudge's behavior in the Bill Clinton/Danny Williams scandal, I found myself realizing that never journalist feels the need to be ethical. Mayhill Fowler will get stories by omitting the fact that she is a journalist. Because it is our responsibility to report the truth, I believe we should at least tell the truth while doing our job. Otherwise how can anyone trust us, or what we report? Which is why I find myself often doubting the things I read online. Yes, Fowler was able to get a great story of Clinton ranting on and on about a writer because of an article he wrote about him, but she pretended to be something she wasn't in order to get it. She was quoted in saying, "Of course he had no idea I was a journalist. He thought we were all average, ordinary Americans who had come out to see him. And, of course, in one sense, that is what I am." (see more here) Well if she was just an average, ordinary American she wouldn't write a story about her experience with Clinton. She tells her that she didn't have to say who she was because he didn't realize, but that is unethical in every sense of the word. Matt Drudge completely ignored journalism ethics when he continued to post stories about Bill Clinton's alleged child with Bobbi Ann Williams. He didn't check his facts and when he did realize that the story was not true, and that the paternity test was false, he didn't post it for everyone to see as he did with his original story. He didn't care that the paternity test was false, because he had already run away with the story that Danny Williams was Clinton's kid. His reporting was awful as well, which makes me see that a journalism degree IS useful (haha) and at least I am well aware of my journalism ethics. You won't find me omitting the fact that I am a journalist while interviewing a public figure anytime soon. I just don't understand how Mayhill Fowler and Matt Drudge don't see the fault in what they are doing.

Brave New Media

Another speaker we had in class today was Vadim Isakov, and he gave a presentation on new media. Not only was I shocked by some of the media that has been around that I didn't even know about, but I was thinking about how it's going to be in 10 or 20 years. Vadim told us about how Google has a free service 1-800-GOOG-411, and if you have any questions about pizza places near you or whatever information you need, Google offers it and you won't have to pay the expensive fees that 411 charges. BUT the reason why Google is doing this, is so they can have as many voices as they can recorded. They want to use the recorded voices to have web browsers use voice recognition, but isn't it a scary thought to know that Google knows our voices? I think so. Vadim was also showing us the "Augmented Reality" version of Esquire magazine, which was awesome to see this 3-D version of the magazine and the impressive content and design aspects of it. There is so much new media out there that I don't even know about, the music website midomi.com which allows for you to hum or sing a song that you like and they will find it for you, well depending on how well you hum or sing. At the end of the presentation, my professor Jeff Cohen, noted that it felt a little like Brave New World. It got me thinking that 10 years ago, cell phones were new, and now cell phones are so advanced with applications for everything and internet access at the touch of a button, what is the new technology going to be when I'm 30, 40, or 50? I bet it will be pretty scary, especially when I have to use the "When I was in college, they were just coming out with voice recognition web browsers," because who knows what it will be like at that time. Let's just hope that Google doesn't become like the Big Brother in Brave New World, but with the amount of information they have on each person, I don't think as far away from that as we'd like to think.

Kate Sheppard

We had a couple of speakers in class today, one of which was Kate Sheppard, IC Alum & currently a writer for Mother Jones magazine. Kate was giving us advice, knowing that entering the job market during these times is very scary. Though most of the class, including myself, has another year to go before we're dragged into the "real world," it made me think. Even though I could never imagine myself writing about the environment, or about cars, or business, I have to START imagining that because I have to willing to take whatever I can get at this point. Kate was a politics and journalism major at Ithaca and now writes about environmental policy. Her last piece of advice to us was to not be afraid of writing for a trade magazine and to have an open mind about it. I'll admit, I don't want to find myself in 5 years writing about oil or gas, but I guess we all have to start somewhere. A friend of my mom's has told me several times that her daughter was a journalist and pictured herself at the New York Times and is writing for a medical magazine. Not ideal. I don't think that I will really wrap my head around writing about one of those subjects (that doesn't really interest me at all) until I actually have to, but Kate's advice helped because at least I know now that it is a very real possibility. I just hope that like her, I will end up liking what I am writing about, because that would make it that much better.

Alternative Weeklies

Since Alternative Weeklies seem to be having trouble attracting new readers and advertisers, it makes sense that this is a time for them to increase their online readership and make their sites to be more attractive and with more content. Especially because alternative weeklies are known for their young readers and that is a big part of the appeal to advertisers, they should know that the younger the reader the less money they have and they are probably more likely just to visit the webpage than buy the actual magazine. If the alternative weeklies take advantage of this, they will be in great shape when magazines and newspapers become mostly online and they already have a big following and a great website. The only problem with that is it isn't looking much better for the job market in the magazine or newspaper industry, because as they become more dependent on their internet following, they only need a small staff to manage it. Read more about the difficult times that alternative weeklies have been facing here

1,000 True Fans

This article made me think a lot about who I am a "true fan" for and only one person came to mind, Sarah Dessen, an author that I have followed since early high school and have watched for when her next book comes out, and buy it that day. I have read everything she's written and watch for new things constantly. I can't say that for many other people, artists, bands, painters etc. Another that just came to mind is Andy Warhol, but since he is no longer around being a "true fan" of him doesn't do much anymore besides loving his work and purchasing posters often. I liked the author's theory though, have 1,000 true fans (or however many you need to make it, but much less than a million as he states) and you can make a decent living. It might not be awesome, but it is somewhat gratifying to know you have 1,000 TRUE fans, an that those people really love what you produce. It's unfortunate that for bloggers and authors it is usually more than 1,000 true fans. I was amazed that authors have published books by asking for $100 from each fan, it would be flattering to me that people would pay that just to read something I've written. But it's also a good idea for when I'm a poor, starving writer. I'll be keeping this theory in mind while I'm trying to make it, and trying to convert my lesser fans into true fans.

New Health Care Bill

I'm unsure what to think of the new health care bill. When I signed on to Facebook the other day, besides the usual status updates, I saw complaints of the health care bill and immediately looked up more information on it so I could form my own opinion. But I have yet to do that, and I think only time will tell. It seems the Republican party believes that it is costing too much and that it gives the government too much control over health care. They want to change and eliminate "the requirement that all Americans must purchase health care or will face financial penalties." Then on Mark Finkelstein's blog he reports that Nancy Pelosi made a comment that insurance companies hate the new health care bill, even though Joe Scarborough disagrees with that. But why would they like it, when they are forced to cover people and families they normally wouldn't? Then again, now families are being forced to get health insurance, which means more money coming their way. And in another post, Finkelstein reports that Obamacare could increase tax rates on capital gains from 5-15% to 50-60%, among other things - read here. During the signing, it seems it was a happy crowd with everyone cheering. So what to think? I guess we will have to see what happens with the new bill and how it will affect us. But it sure is a bad sign when not one Republican congressional voted for the bill, I think we should have some balance of the two democratic parties when voting in this huge health care reform.

more praise for Twitter

In "Twitter Shows Its Value As Iran Explodes" we see another example of how Twitter is a great place to get your news. Where CNN was lacking, Twitter allowed for Iranians to share what they were seeing as soon as they were seeing it. While MSNBC went about their usual routine, Twitter provided updates about the marches, beatings, and even gave us pictures and videos. Of course there is always a negative side, and with all of the retweets and seeing the same updates over and over again, you can't be sure who is actually reporting that news, but that is risk we have to be willing to take if we want our news as it is happening. I'm just glad that Twitter is being recognized just as much of a medium as cable, newspapers, and radio, because it sure is faster.