Exposing Victims

This semester I see that Communication Law and Media Ethics go hand and hand. Example, you don't use ethics then someone might have to bring the law in. As I listen to my professor tell us what journalist can and cannot publish one case stuck out to me. The Cohn Vs. Cox case.

A young lady by the name of Cynthia Cohn was raped and murdered in Sandy Springs, Georgia.  Thomas Wassell a WSB-TV reporter, broadcast the victims name while reporting during the hearing. Cynthia's dad sued WSB-TV and the reporter for violating the shield law.

It is actually legal to report a victims name in a rape/murder case. In the end the court favored Cox and and the Cohn's actually lost the case. Wassell obtained the victims name by going to the open court and getting the right name. This is protected by the 1st amendment.

Even though reporting a victims name is legal, is it still ethical? Most newspapers still don't publish names of victims even when it is legal. You have to think about the grief and loss of families have a occurred. As a Journalist I would never expose a victim, especially when it is a rape/ murder victim. 

Sometimes even when things are legal and ok to report on, you have to use care ethics and truly think of what damages could be caused. 

The "FAKE" Story

The on and on topic we discuss in class weekly has finally been brought to a stage at Florida A&M! A play title "THE STORY" is about a journalist who fabricates a story and doesn't reveal a source to add suspense to this amazing news story. The play is based off of a infamous incident of Janet Cooke.

What makes this play a great show to watch is that journalist get a inside look of how lying plays out in the newsroom. The main character Yvonne lies and doesn't report the truth in here article that has been published. To add more drama the publish article gets praise and accolades and now Yvonne is really under fire.

Just as janet Cooke received her Pulitzer prize for her article, she had to come forward and reveal her scandal. Cooke later went on a talk show and said she lied because she felt pressure from her news room and wanted to make a cutting edge story.  With this in mind fabricating stories doesn't make a story any better than a story about a cat getting rescued from a tree. Cooke should have used the SAD model to weigh her options while reporting.

it is only a matter of time before the newsroom will catch suspension of a fake story. Who are the sources? When did this happen? All these questions arise whet the story is published.

In the play the ending leaves you on cliff wondering hat Yvonne did to hide her lies. After seeing what happen to Cooke in real life you can pretty much imagine what might have happen.

REPORT AND SEEK THE TRUTH JOURNALIST!

As the paper turns

Print has become a popular way to distribute news to people for many of years. As time moves forward and technology advance moving to online for news is the new route in obtaining todays news.

Washington post recently have took action in improving their paper by replacing Marcus Brauchli with Martin Baron. Due to drops in revenue, new competition with Politico, and not enough funds from there Kaplan program, new changes are inevitable.

Not only are the obvious money problems but also personal problems have surfaced wit Brauchli. Newsroom editors thought Brauchli was distant, and with Ms.Weymouth (granddaughter of the post publisher) making him make newsroom cuts that Brauchli was uncomfortable with it was only time that changes would happen.

As a journalist in the newsroom how do you handle taking on decisions that you are not comfortable with? This is when ethics come into play in deciding how to handle people and news when reporting.
Making sure that your character is fair, and staying true to the code of ethics should always be a to priority.

Marcus Brauchli/ www.newyorktimes.com/

Brauchli who left The Wall Street Journal in 2008 to join the post will still be working with Baron.  Baron says he looks forward to working with a historic newspaper.

Rhianna clubs in Tally!

This week in class we talk about privacy in the media. We learned 4 points on privacy in media. Approbation was a topic that stuck out to me during this class period.  Approbation is the act of approving officially. I have seen this rule broken almost on a weekly with club flyers for local clubs in Tallahassee. They will promote there specially nights at there club and to intise the guys they will put a sexy picture of Rhianna or some other hot celebrity. Never really seeing the harm because its simply a picture of a celebrity.

The problem is that the designers of the flyer most likely didn't ask permission to put a certain celebrity on their flyer. By putting Rhianna on a flyer it sometimes give me the impression that she may appear at the club. This may lead people who come to this club that night angry and mislead with the club. This is clear false advertisement. As often as this happen though most of the time people don't assume that the celebrity will truly attend the event.

If these flyers fell in the right hands then these celebrities could take legal action on these clubs. This can be a serious action and the trouble is not worth it. People should stop and take approbation serious.

Muslims in the Middle East area are in great anger with America for allowing a anti Muhammed video to go viral.  Muslims think the video is more than just freedom of speech but just wrong morally. As I read the article, "Cultural clash fuels muslims raging at film" by David D Kirkpatrick from the New York Times it made me think of journalist ethics when writing about religion. Religion for most people is what I like to call a "walking on egg shells" topic.  Meaning you have to be sensitive when talking about religion.

How do muslim journalist feel about this story? How would a muslims in general feel? As I pondered on the story, I picked up a New York Times paper on September 18, and saw a picture that stuck out  to me. It was a picture of a muslim lady who was at the White House receiving her citizenship in America. With the american flag in the background this picture stuck out to me because it highlighted the drama going on with Muslims religion against Americans views. I thought the New York Times pointed the issue out to showcase what is relevant in the news. Showing a muslim women getting her citizenship showed that there are still some proud Muslim-Americans in the U.S. Muslims in the middle east feel Americans don't have a grasped on proper ethics with certain issues. I totally agree, sometimes Americans abuse the, "freedom of speech" law and disrespect peoples moral values.

However, if its the New York Times, or just a personal opinion of a Muslim this topic needs to be addressed with ethical, and moral attitude. Religion should not be played with, even if its not something you personally support.






http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/world/middleeast/muslims-rage-over-film-fueled-by-culture-divide.html?_r=1&hp

Obama Lift

Doug Mills/ New York Times

As I grabbed The New York Times today on the front cover was this photo. This is a photo of Scott Van Duzer picking up President Obama in his pizza shop. As a photojournalist this photo stuck out in my mind very strongly. Duzer is a registered voter in the state of Florida and is aprt of the repunlican party. This picture is worth more than a 1,000 words.This picture displays to the reader that Mr. Obama is loved by people, even of the opposite party. In news sometimes the picture is the story then the news comes from the actual picture. The importance of photos with news is crucial. The photographer who captures news always want to capture a picture that tells the story without even reading an story.

Photojournalist have to use ethics almost in a sense more than a writer. Making sure the person in the picture is not exploited or giving off the wrong impression is what photojournalist have to look out for. This picture is showing emotion more than reasoning. Showing an owner of a shop that is an Republican giving Mr. Obama a hugh lift hug shows so much raw emotion. Some might argue that its better to show reasoning and justice than emotion. However, being a feminist I think showing emotion especially during this time of election season, gets voters hearts more engaged. After a compelling speech by Michelle Obama last week at the DNC and this photo going viral today makes Obama to me the loving peoples choice candidate in this race.

Twitter Bio Make Over

      I came across a perfect article this week on, "How to write a twitter bio that makes you stand out as a journalist" on Poynter.com. This was a perfect article to blog about especially after attending the ethics portion of the multimedia boot camp this past Friday. The article discussed how important it is for your personal bio on twitter should be well written, to the point, and show case your skills as an novice journalist. Making sure your bio is written in AP style is a major factor. Showing jobs that AP style is always your first and only choice of writing stands out. Also mentioning where you work, write, shoot, or edit for is another way for your bio to shine. On my bio I would have, "photographer and writer for @FAMUAN @Journeymag", to show where I currently contribute too. Only show what you are associated with if it pertains to journalism. No one needs to know you are a member of "We heart Justin Beiber fan club". Lastly making sure that you keep your bio updated is very important also.  After getting info from the boot camp about social media this article is a great way to use social media the correct way. As a journalist I must remember that I am always a journalist at all times. What I write on social sites should always be treated as if it is going to be published. I admit my bio on twitter does not reflect a journalist as of now. However as I sit here and write this blog entry my twitter page is on the next tab waiting on me to update my new bio. Making sure I use proper ethics with social media has never been more important to me. I am close to graduating and the next step is seeking a job. I want all my social media by the end of this semester to be clean, professional, and reflect me as an up and coming photojournalist. The article even displayed actual journalist twitter bios. As I read different journalist bios I noticed there profile pictures were also professional. Most of there pictures were head shots of them or just a simple picture mainly showing there face. Profile pictures should be professional just as your tweets, and bio should be.



Here is the link where you can read the actual article.

http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/journalism-education/187145/how-to-write-a-twesume-aka-twitter-bio-thatll-make-you-stand-out-as-a-journalist/