Fellow blogger Melissa Callahan and myself brought this up in ethics class the other day, but I thought I'd bring it up again in print since we didn't have much time to discuss the ethical dimensions of the issue....last spring NBC 5 reported on the "leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama" news story. It became an overnight sensation. T-shirts, rap songs and other comical memorabilia were sold, and clips of it popped up all over the internet. When one first watches it, it is quite funny. But when you take a moment to consider what is really happening in the video, it becomes apparent that the people of Mobile might actually be the butt of a nasty joke. The news casters chuckle and make snide comments throughout the story and ridiculous quotes and interviews were put into the final cut...it's almost as if the people who put the story together are making fun of an underprivileged, poverty stricken community. Maybe I'm overreacting a bit...I'm not quite sure. What do others think? Exploitation or just a light hearted St. Patrick's Day story? Does this story meet the ethical standards of fair and objective reporting?
Here's a link to the youtube clip of it...check it out if you haven't already done so:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nda_OSWeyn8
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
America is too fat for this type of reporting: A Grade the News Discussion
I was browsing through the "Grade the News" website over the weekend, and I came across and ethics issue that the site brought up over the summer. I know it's a bit dated, but it's certainly worth discussing.
Basically, 'Grade the News' reported that back in july of this year that the San Jose Mercury News ran an "above the fold page 1A story about the 'sport' of competitive eating." The huge article read "could you eat 59 1/2 of these?..He can!!" (Shows a picture of a San Jose Student beaming away, surrounded by a sea of hotdogs).
Now, aside from the fact that this was the BEST front-page story that the paper could come up with that day, 'Grade the News' brings up an interesting point -- was it ethical of the paper to run this story front and center, knowing how much of an issue obesity is at the moment. In the editorial section, they even wrote that the concept of an eating contest merely reflects our country's negative relationship with food, however, they also felt the need to reward the mighty eater with a news spread, because of all of his hard work.
In my opinion, this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. The paper is basically saying, yes we know that it was slightly bad of us to support this story, but because this student ate so much, we feel the need to honor his achievements anyway..regardless of the consequences it could have on the community.
Grade the news agrees that stories like this only glorify America's gluttiny. You don't see the Merc. putting health stories on the front page, so why on earth should this get such recognition. There are too many morbidly overweight people in this country to be running a story about a fat kid who can eat 60 hotdogs (esp. on the front page). It was unethical and personally, I think it was very distasteful of the editors to let it go to print.
No wonder 'grade the news' only gave the Merc. a C+ in terms of its choices of newsworthy stories. Step it up kids!
What does everyone else think???
Basically, 'Grade the News' reported that back in july of this year that the San Jose Mercury News ran an "above the fold page 1A story about the 'sport' of competitive eating." The huge article read "could you eat 59 1/2 of these?..He can!!" (Shows a picture of a San Jose Student beaming away, surrounded by a sea of hotdogs).
Now, aside from the fact that this was the BEST front-page story that the paper could come up with that day, 'Grade the News' brings up an interesting point -- was it ethical of the paper to run this story front and center, knowing how much of an issue obesity is at the moment. In the editorial section, they even wrote that the concept of an eating contest merely reflects our country's negative relationship with food, however, they also felt the need to reward the mighty eater with a news spread, because of all of his hard work.
In my opinion, this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. The paper is basically saying, yes we know that it was slightly bad of us to support this story, but because this student ate so much, we feel the need to honor his achievements anyway..regardless of the consequences it could have on the community.
Grade the news agrees that stories like this only glorify America's gluttiny. You don't see the Merc. putting health stories on the front page, so why on earth should this get such recognition. There are too many morbidly overweight people in this country to be running a story about a fat kid who can eat 60 hotdogs (esp. on the front page). It was unethical and personally, I think it was very distasteful of the editors to let it go to print.
No wonder 'grade the news' only gave the Merc. a C+ in terms of its choices of newsworthy stories. Step it up kids!
What does everyone else think???
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Reporting on School Shootings...Unethical
So i'm sure that all are aware of the recent school shooting that took place at Success Tech Academy in Cleveland last week (14 year old student took gun into school and attempted to kill several of his peers and teachers before taking his on life). Now this is really upsetting, and is unfortunately the second shooting this year. This stuff seems to make the front page of the news every time it happens. My ethical question is this: Why does the news deem it neccessary to report on these types of stories across the nation? It has been proven that post-columbine school shooters got some of their ideas from that tragic event. Can the media be blamed in any way for this? I think it can in a way. The media should not glorify these stories. My point being...ok, if it happens in your area, perhaps even your state, yes I think that residents should be informed about it. And if you're that big of a news enthusiast but you live in another state, you can search out the stories online yourself. But I do not think it is ethical for these types of stories to be flashed about as front page news, because in doing this, it is glorifying the act. Other troubled teens see pictures of shootings in the papers and on national news and what they take from it is that these students were heard through their malicious acts. After the Virgina Tech shooting, Cho's (gunman) pictures and manifesto were splashed all over the news for weeks. He got exactly what he wanted...he was heard. This is alarming, because unfortunately there are other students out there who feel the same way, and because of this, I do not agree with making these types of stories national news. It is unethical.
What business or good does it do me in California to head about a shooting in Virginia or Ohio. If I had a friend or a loved one at those schools, I would have heard from a friend or family member before hearing on the news anyway. It serves me no purpose to know unless I am directly affected.
Now some might argue with me and say, well if a kid is that messed up, he's probably going to do it anyway..or he/she can still get ideas from violent films. Yes, I see this point, but at the same time, there is something much more sinister and real to see the face of a student your same age kill 10 people than it is to watch Bruce Willis do it in Die Hard.
There are many areas where people can see violence, and all I am saying is that by reducing it in this one area, we might help others in the future from making the same tragic mistakes ( or at least if they do, they won't claim inspiration from past shootings. That's just pouring salt into an already painful wound)
What do others think about this.
What business or good does it do me in California to head about a shooting in Virginia or Ohio. If I had a friend or a loved one at those schools, I would have heard from a friend or family member before hearing on the news anyway. It serves me no purpose to know unless I am directly affected.
Now some might argue with me and say, well if a kid is that messed up, he's probably going to do it anyway..or he/she can still get ideas from violent films. Yes, I see this point, but at the same time, there is something much more sinister and real to see the face of a student your same age kill 10 people than it is to watch Bruce Willis do it in Die Hard.
There are many areas where people can see violence, and all I am saying is that by reducing it in this one area, we might help others in the future from making the same tragic mistakes ( or at least if they do, they won't claim inspiration from past shootings. That's just pouring salt into an already painful wound)
What do others think about this.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Blogging Ethics
What does everyone think about this....I was browsing around on the net this morning and went onto the cyber journalism website. They've posted ethical guidelines for model blogging....very similar to the SPJ's code. Does everyone agree that there should be a code of ethics? I see the point, but at the same time, i'm not speaking for or representing a company or a group...i'm speaking on behalf of myself and myself only.. which makes me ask....do we really need ethics in the blogging world if we're speaking our minds?
Check out the link...a discussion has started at the bottom. Kind of interesting to see what others are saying on the issue.
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000215.php
Check out the link...a discussion has started at the bottom. Kind of interesting to see what others are saying on the issue.
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000215.php
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Extra tid bits from my interviews with the hot shot pros
This is pretty interesting, but I wasn't able to fit it into the story .....When I was speaking to Gary Morgan (gossip writer), I asked him what he thought the most unethical wasyto get a story was (just for kicks and giggles...I was interested in what he could possibly say). He said that some tabloid magazines pay inside sources to set celebrities up...case in point...the enquirer paid an insider to call up child services on a certain celebrity (who was innocent)....knowing that by law child services would have to investigate the situation....this would enable the enquirer to write (and it wouldn't be wrong) that the celeb was involved in a child abuse scandal.....how horrible is that!! He said that things like this happen all the time.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Perez Hilton: Journalist or just a blogger?
Ok, this is a question that's been on my mind for a few weeks now. I'm sure most of you known who Perez Hilton is, but if you don't he's an online celebu-bogger, who dishes the dirt on Hollywood. Now, according to is website: www.perezhilton.com, he has a number of valid sources whom he gets his information from (he even claims to have government sources who confide in him...apparently he received info from these sources pertaining to Fidel Castro's death!) Anyway, my point being, is Mr. Hilton a real journalist? He delivers news that people want to read (his site gets over 7 million hits a day - and yes, I might be one of them), and he says he has legitimate sources to back up his information. What do people think about this? I mean, it's clearly tabloid-level reporting, but is it journalism?
Things I've discovered about journalists
Just thought I'd share one of my discoveries while working on the assignment....
As I've been working away on finding contacts in the professional journalism world to interview for my Interviewing essay, I quickly discovered that despite my previous perception of working journalists (which was that they were probably going to be too busy with their own stories to really care about helping me with mine), they are actually really friendly and reliable. Two of the people that I have arranged to interview work at big name media institutions - one is a journalist for the L.A. Times and one is a t.v. reporter for NBC's "Good Day in L.A" show. Although both have been very busy - (one even took the time to speak to me while away covering a fire break out in Big Bear), I found that they were both nice, genuine and actually excited about talking to me. I don't know why I somewhat doubted professional journalists before, but I can definitely say that working on this assignment has changed my perception of them. They're alright in my books!
More to come as the assignment progresses.
Chloe
As I've been working away on finding contacts in the professional journalism world to interview for my Interviewing essay, I quickly discovered that despite my previous perception of working journalists (which was that they were probably going to be too busy with their own stories to really care about helping me with mine), they are actually really friendly and reliable. Two of the people that I have arranged to interview work at big name media institutions - one is a journalist for the L.A. Times and one is a t.v. reporter for NBC's "Good Day in L.A" show. Although both have been very busy - (one even took the time to speak to me while away covering a fire break out in Big Bear), I found that they were both nice, genuine and actually excited about talking to me. I don't know why I somewhat doubted professional journalists before, but I can definitely say that working on this assignment has changed my perception of them. They're alright in my books!
More to come as the assignment progresses.
Chloe
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
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