RSJ student writing via J101 blog?

J Faculty: Our writing group at the retreat talked about getting J students writing right off the bat--in Jl0l. So, a question is:

What about having Jl0l students be assigned to create their own blogs, then write papers in the class (all? some?) in their blogs? This would result not only in their writing immediately upon entering a journalism course (l0l) but in their publishing for fellow students and, of course, the profesor who would grade the papers in a private response to the students.

Too intimidating for brand new freshman students? A realistic introduction to them showng the RSJ is serious about writing from the very beginning of their experience with us?

I am not personally advocating this but thought about the idea as a follow through from our good retreat.

Any thoughts?

Warren

Objectivity and activism on the environmental beat

Here's a pertinent read:

Grist Magazine interviewed leading environmental reporters about how they deal with issues of global warming, biodiversity loss, peak oil and other "looming" environmental problems.

"Do they report the facts dispassionately or shift to advocacy? ... To find out, we asked a few."

Those interviewed include Felicity Barringer, The New York Times; Michael Grunwald, The Washington Post; Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker; Andrew Revkin, The New York Times and Ross Gelbspan, author and retired journalist.

Sparks political reporter's blog raises ethical questions

Sparks Tribune political reporter Tom Darby writes a personal political blog that involves many of the subjects he covers for the daily paper.

This was brought to my attention by the person who writes the Nevada blog, Dullard Mush. While the Dullard Mush writer feels that Darby's two forums reflect a conflict of interest and are downright unethical, I maintained that reporters are entitled to their opinions along with the freedom to express them. Because Darby is being open about his opinions, he's allowing readers the kind of insight that will better allow them to sift his newspaper reports and decide for themselves what perspectives or biases might have impacted the reporting process.

Transparency is a good thing, right?

RGJ reporters Anjeanette Damon and Ray Hagar also write a blog, "Inside Nevada Politics," though it runs on the newspaper's Web site and is clearly under the RG-J's editorial control.

YouTube and the Blog-ocracy

Interesting bit "The YouTube Election" on citizen journalism or rabid Internet campaigning disguised as such. The article's in the New York Times, Sunday.

Writes Ryan Lizza: "YouTube may be changing the political process in more profound ways, for good and perhaps not for the better, according to strategists in both parties. If campaigns resemble reality television, where any moment of a candidate’s life can be captured on film and posted on the Web, will the last shreds of authenticity be stripped from our public officials? Will candidates be pushed further into a scripted bubble? In short, will YouTube democratize politics, or destroy it?"

On a side note: One of our "Daily News & The Daily Show" students posted the end montage of his group's mockumentary "Obey Gibbons" on YouTube. It's getting some attention from the Nevada bloggers, including Las Vegas Gleaner and UpNorth.

Journalists on war

Hendrik Hertzberg's piece about the sea change of media opinion regarding the war might start a useful if heated discussion with students about media roles. Hertzberg references Walter Cronkite's famous 1968 broadcast upon the anchorman's return from Vietnam.
One notable current shift--Thomas Friedman's column "Time for Plan B" from the Aug. 4 edition of The New York Times.

Writes Hertzberg: "Among foreign-policy élites and the broader public alike, it has become the preponderant conviction that George W. Bush’s war of choice in Iraq is a catastrophe.
'It is now obvious that we are not midwifing democracy in Iraq,' Thomas L. Friedman wrote..... 'We are baby-sitting a civil war.' Friedman may not be another Walter Lippmann (just as any number of Stewarts, Olbermanns, O’Reillys, and Coopers don’t quite add up to a Cronkite), but he is the most influential foreign-affairs columnist in the country, and from the beginning he has been a critical supporter of the war."

A highlight from the Friedman column:

"When our top commander in Iraq, Gen. John Abizaid, tells a Senate Committee, as he did yesterday, that 'the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I've seen it,' it means that three years of efforts to democratize Iraq are not working. That means 'staying the course' is pointless, and it's time to start thinking about Plan B -- how we might disengage with the least damage possible."

On the other hand, nothing seems to daunt the pro-Iraq War Economist. A piece "The Case for Staying On" in this week's issue uses some familiar words that work in its subhead: "Despite Iraq's relentless gloom, the United States should resist the temptation to cut and run."

First Amendment missionaries

"Josh Wolf is 24 years old. He doesn’t work for the NBC News or the New York Times or any other deep-pocketed, highly recognizable corporate entity that society would automatically accept as a legitimate news-gathering organization. Katie Couric he’s not. Rather, he’s one of the critical foot soldiers in a vital army of news reporters out there in our midst trying to chronicle what’s going on in the world and scratch out a meager living with his work. In other words, Josh Wolf is a freelance journalist."
--Peter Laufer, Guerrilla News Network

The story of the recent college graduate who's now in federal prison--and might be there until next summer--demands our attention as we prepare for a new group of students in the fall semester. What will we tell them about "citizen journalism" and "freedom of the press" when our government is arresting individuals like Wolf for not turning over unedited video footage? How can we prevent them from docilely surrendering notes, source contact info or images to federal authorities? How can we work to preserve press freedom?

I've been thinking about Molly Ivins' urgent message, given at this year's AEJMC conference.
"We are all in deep doo-doo, as the man's daddy used to say," Ivins said. "What pisses me off is being part of an industry that's committing suicide."

Ivins urged journalism educators to become missionaries of the First Amendment.
"You are in a position to reach right into the nexus of that," she said. "We will have nothing left of freedom if the First goes."

The San Francisco Chronicle editorial regarding Wolf said it well: "But the really ominous element of the government's argument is the notion that a journalist can be compelled to turn over raw material -- be it notes or video outtakes -- at the government's whim. If that standard can apply to Josh Wolf, it can be used against CNN, NBC, Fox News or any independent journalist who is conducting an investigation or trying to record a chaotic event. Journalists are not agents of the government."

These days, our students are more likely than ever to encounter law enforcement agencies' requests for notes, photographs and video. When police demand notes from newspaper or TV reporters, young, less-than-confident reporters and their occasionally First Amendment illiterate employers may comply. In the face of job security, reporters avert their consciences and surrender their rights, even after spending a semester with Jake Highton or Warren Lerude. The dangerous precedent is set.

How can we instill courage?