Tag Archives: News

Where Do YOU get your News?

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Posted by Joe on February 12, 2010 – 12:28 pm
Filed under Communication, Journalism, Research

Where do you get your news? This is an important question in the journalism industry. This question will help us determine where we need to go to reach our viewers and readers. Since the early days of journalism, we go where the readers go.  When journalists go out to find answers to their stories they as who, what, where, when, why and how. These same questions are being asked by scholars and researchers in the communication field to figure where people are getting their news.

Source: Pew Research Center

Over the course of media’s history there has been many changes. Changes to how media was accessed, who could access and where they could access it. Before television we had the radio to deliver our news and information. Technology continues to advance and grow. Advancements in technology change the way we communicate and access information. We saw this with television, radio, newspapers and now the internet. Technological advancements also bring about change. Change the way we do things, the way we communicate and the way we gather information. Perception of these technological advancements are important for the journalism field. We need to understand how the public, our viewers, feel about the new technology and what that means for the old technology. A survey by the PEW Research Center did just that. Questions were geared to find whether this new technology has been a positive change for the better. One thing stuck out to me as I was looking at the data from the chart on the right. The fact that internet blogs are not a change for the better is interesting. In an unrelated PEW Research study, “12% of internet users (representing 9% of all adults) say they ever create or work on their own online journal or blog.”1 Each day we are seeing more and more people who are blogging online. However, the public is questioning the motives and validity of these blogs. This is good because we should be skeptical of what we read — how do we know the blogger knows what they are talking about?

Source: Pew Research Center

With new technology offering so many sources to get information, where is the majority getting there news from? A study by the Pew Research Center, most people are still getting their news from telvision. The data does suggest that there is a shift from generation to generation. While the younger generation (18-29) are watching television, they are also going online. The opposite can be said about the older generation (65+), more are turning to TV than going online.

An interesting thing to note is the newspaper column. The newspaper industry is feeling a huge blow with the increase in internet readership. Many people still turn to local newspapers for local news. In general 41% turn to newspapers for local news with majority of the readership from the 65+ age group. Despite the fact that many people go to local newspapers for local news, many wouldn’t mind if the local newspapers vanished.2 Hmm…

So where do you like to get your news from? Do you agree with the statistics from the PEW Research Center? Let me know your thoughts.

  1. http://www.authoring.pewinternet.org/Commentary/2008/July/New-numbers-for-blogging-and-blog-readership.aspx [↩]
  2. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1147/newspapers-struggle-public-not-concerned [↩]

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/ [↩]