Tag Archives: Mainstream Media

Write at your own risk

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Posted by Joe on November 29, 2009 – 7:56 pm
Filed under Journalism, Opinion, Tips

Word

Photo by: websuccessdiva

Each one of us has the opportunity to reach millions of people with what we post online. With so many online outlets such as chat rooms, message boards, blogs, social networking sites we have to be careful with what we post.

We all get heated about certain things we are passionate about in life. It’s easy when we’re in the moment to go online and post our frustrations. This may not be a good idea because if you damage someone’s reputation they could sue you.

UNDERSTANDING THE RULES

We hold many news agencies and journalists to high standards. We expect the truth and we expect our news to be accurate. New agencies and journalists have to be careful about what they say and do on the air because it could have an impact on how we perceive or view someone. With that being said we can not damage somebodies reputation reputation online, on TV or in a magazine or newspaper.

“To avoid defamation, journalists need to recognize it. Libel is written; slander is spoken. Although local laws define defamation differently, as a general rule, libel is an unprivileged, false statement of fact that is published and that injured a person’s reputation. Reporters and publishers get into trouble when the statement is published as a result of negligence or malice”1

As citizens, we need to be held to the same standard. We have the right to disagree but we can’t make false accusations and damage someone’s reputation.

PREVENTION

By following the basics of journalism, you can limit the risk of having a lawsuit on your hand by posting inappropriate content about individuals.

Tell the truth. One of journalism’s foundations is by telling the truth. Lying not only damages your reputation but it also could land you in a lot of trouble. If you tell the truth then you have nothing to worry about. This includes slanting the truth to make the story more interesting.

Private vs. Public. This is important to know. We hold public figures differently than we do private individuals. Public individuals must prove that you acted maliciously or purposely lied causing them to be brought under false light. A private individual only has to prove that you acted negligently.2

Balance. Every story has two sides. Another foundation of journalism is balance. This causes the story to become unbiased. I wrote a post last week on the risks of journalists posting on blogs and social media. In that post, I discussed one of the keys is to remain balanced in posting online. We all have opinions, but balancing them with other people’s opinions will not only attract more people to your story but it will also be good journalism.

Wait. Stop. Think. So you are really annoyed with someone. They did something unforgivable to you and you’re ready to go off the deep end. Don’t immediately go to your computer and start going on the defensive. Cool down and think about things objectively before posting. Take a couple hours or a day to let the situation calm down. You may also realize that it really wasn’t as big of a deal that it seemed at first.

Proof it. As a journalist, proofing your work is important to catch typographical errors but also to make sure you have things right. In certain instances this may not be plausible like in breaking news.  Furthermore, some journalists are under incredible time restraints which limit them the appropriate time to check their work. However, if you have the time proofread – do it. It doesn’t hurt to also have an extra set of eyes read it as well.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

  1. http://www.j-learning.org/promote_it/page/online_libel_issues/ [↩]
  2. http://www.j-learning.org/promote_it/page/online_libel_issues/ [↩]

Loss of Credibility?

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Posted by Joe on November 23, 2009 – 1:43 pm
Filed under Journalism, Rant

News

Photo by: Now I’m Always Smiling

I posted an article on how good social media is and how it has potential to revolutionize the journalist industry a couple weeks ago. Social media is here and is going to stay and will possibly evolve into something much bigger. Is there a downside to social media?

Online Impressions

I read an article on Poynter Online called Everyday Ethics. I encourage everyone to read it whether or not you’re a journalist or not. There is good points for everyone to read, especially those that are looking for a job. We have to remember that everything we do and post online can be read by anyone – including your employer. Our views and opinions on topics can be liked, commented and retweeted. Sometimes what we post becomes “viral” or spread quickly through the internet. What you post online can damage your reputation online and offline.

I think it’s important for people to realize that your impression online is important and can translate to how people view you in real life. I have seen profiles loaded with thousands of pictures, status updates and more. The problem is when majority of your profile is consumed with pictures and statuses of how drunk you will get or got the night before. What an employer think if they saw this?

Impact on Journalism

This could be devastating for journalists. Bias does not belong in our field. The article points out how just by favoriting, grouping, liking could show bias. Is social media the real problem for news bias? Everyone has an opinion about something – the question is should these views be made public? Is this really a concern for journalism?

I was taught that as a journalist you have to be independent from your sources. You should not accept bribes or payments from a source to cover a story. Does friending someone on Facebook, Myspace or any other social network demonstrate the same thing? Does friending someone equate to not being independent from a source? The answer to these questions are not clear and will vary from person to person.

The bigger issue…Balance!

I was also taught that the news piece needed to demonstrate balance. Unbalanced reporting can also show bias. So where is the balanced reporting? Social media can expose journalists as being a Democrat or Republican. It can show that we like ham sandwiches and that we just broke up with our boyfriend or girlfriend. This shows that we are human. Humans have opinions, we all have tastes. The key to journalism is to be unbiased in a sense that we tap into everyone’s tastes and not just our own. Balance is key. Input your taste into the story but counter it with the other tastes. The more tastes you put in the story, the better.

So what are your thoughts? Do you think that journalists should use discretion when posting online?

Mainstream Media Misleading on Purpose?

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Posted by Joe on November 20, 2009 – 12:28 pm
Filed under Joe's Life, Journalism, Opinion, Rant

The media has turned from a once credible source of information to a biased projection of thoughts. Cable news has become outlets for opinion and entertainment then actual journalism. The higher ups wonder why people are turning away from the media. I do not.

It’s fair to say that we do have balance – but it’s not balance in the right way. You have Fox News who tends to lean to the right with conservatives while CNN and MSNBC are more liberal and lean toward the left. So where is the real balance?

What’s going on?

We sometimes hear stories like what happened earlier this week at Fox. Fox News mistakenly aired the wrong tape for the Palin book  signing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This comes after an earlier incident this week, where Sean Hannity showed footage from a conservative rally held over the summer [that] was played on “Hannity” during a segment on a more recent rally.1 So the question is now, is Fox News intentionally misleading the public?

Fox has stated that there has been a “production error.” They also released this statement:

“Yesterday we told you about Sarah Palin kicking off her book tour and then we spoke to Sean Hannity about an interview that he did with former Governor Palin. When introducing the segment we showed you footage of people lining up in Michigan for a book signing that evening. In the tease before the segment, the tease to commercial, we told you how those people were already lining up to meet Palin. The problem is we didn’t show you the video we were actually referencing. Instead we mistakenly aired what’s called “file tape” of Sarah Palin. We didn’t mean to mislead anybody in that tease. It was a mistake, and for that we apologize.”2

Fox News hasn’t been the only cable news company to be caught altering “news.” According to Yahoo news, Fox News rival MSNBC caught heat last week for using altered images of Sarah Palin on the air, for which they later apologized.3

How should we react?

As the public how should we respond to this? Can we believe that these are accidents and acts of “production errors?” As a journalist student how should I react to hearing about this? What are your thoughts on this?

  1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts988 [↩]
  2. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts988 [↩]
  3. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts988 [↩]

Balloon Boy Lessons/Thoughts

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Posted by Joe on October 26, 2009 – 10:50 am
Filed under Journalism, Rant, Tips

I found this on graphic on Tumblr. The creator of the image can be found here:  http://bestrooftalkever.tumblr.com

"Balloon Boy"

I know this is old news now, but it is a reflection of mainstream media. The discussion of “balloon boy” came up in one of my communication classes a couple of days ago and I feel it is worthy of blogging about. It’s interesting to see what Mainstream Media (MSM) considers newsworthy. Last semester I took a class specifically on broadcast journalism, where we covered topics like this. What do you consider newsworthy? My professor brought up a key point on how you should decide on what is newsworthy.  You need to decide what is the most revelent and what will be most impacting to the viewers in your veiwing area. Someone from the Burlington area is not going to care about a robbery that took place in a small town in Alamaba. However, new laws regarding hunting season in Vermont will definitely be a story to cover. “Balloon Boy” was a local story, just like the small Alabama town robbery was. Some news stories are meant to be local breaking news stories, as was the case for this. This in my opinion, did not warrant countrywide media attention that some of the MSM networks gave it. One of the important lessons from this, is to “fact check” that source. By doing this, you avoid looking silly as the media did in this case. If a little more research and fact checking went into the story before airing, then may be the MSM would not have covered – seeing it was indeed a hoax. Fact Check, Fact Check and Fact Check!