tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95326542011-11-11T01:26:46.868-08:00A blog for RSJ faculty to discuss issues related to journalism education.donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.comBlogger401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1158191899950080482006-09-13T16:48:00.000-07:002006-09-13T17:27:37.803-07:00

Poking around the World Wide Web, I came across this homepage (linked in the headline above) for a seminar series on networks at MIT.It is a simple example of how to use the Web to welcome people into our school and let them see – and learn from – what we’re up to in our classes.Imagine this display as a course syllabus. The first column is the meeting date. The second column refers to the guest

colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411823767482500177noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1157998634294778672006-09-11T11:09:00.000-07:002006-09-11T11:17:14.306-07:00

The New York Times engaged in a quality control experiment, purchasing English literature papers from three online sources. The results are disturbing, humorous and worth some consideration."For $9.95 a page [a student] can obtain an 'A-grade' paper that is fashioned to order and 'completely non-plagiarized.' This last detail is important. Thanks to search engines like Google, college instructors

Jake Hightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16329481710608085150noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1157520030455102452006-09-05T22:02:00.000-07:002006-09-05T22:24:02.686-07:00

I had hoped to watch Katie Couric's debut live -- meaning at 3:30 p.m. PDT -- on the CBS News Web site as it streamed her East Coast broadcast. But life happened, and I ended up watching it on the same site at 9:30 p.m. -- three hours after it aired on the West Coast and six hours after it aired originally back East.So the best thing about the new CBS News for me so far is the time shift allowed

colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411823767482500177noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1156798814249945872006-08-28T13:48:00.000-07:002006-08-28T14:00:14.260-07:00

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

wlerudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10340770711603233144noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1156515058870946622006-08-25T07:04:00.000-07:002006-08-25T07:10:58.883-07:00

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

Jake Hightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16329481710608085150noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1156090507070760342006-08-20T09:00:00.000-07:002006-08-20T09:17:04.373-07:00

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

Jake Hightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16329481710608085150noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1156089555176889322006-08-20T08:52:00.000-07:002006-08-20T08:59:15.190-07:00

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

Jake Hightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16329481710608085150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1155652086439716552006-08-15T07:12:00.000-07:002006-08-15T07:35:49.450-07:00

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

Jake Hightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16329481710608085150noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1155134234643456062006-08-09T07:13:00.000-07:002006-08-09T07:37:14.710-07:00

"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

Jake Hightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16329481710608085150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1141896073701821022006-03-09T01:09:00.000-08:002006-03-09T01:22:57.046-08:00

This week's story on the journalism school Web page suggests that the school consider creating an honor code as a way to create a community built on trust.The article linked above presents a compelling argument for why this could be an important step for reversing what seems to be a culture of cheating. Given the fact that the discipline of journalism is facing many of the same issues of

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com102tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1139424314096423322006-02-08T10:11:00.000-08:002006-02-08T23:35:36.020-08:00

While much of the controversy over the cartoons that depict Muhammed have focused on Europe, the journalistic debate hasn't stayed on their side of the Atlantic. The global community is forcing U.S. editors to consider the question of how to best cover the story.National Public Radio decided not to link to the cartoons from their Web site. Here's the explanation of Bill Marimow, acting vice

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1139092267124972322006-02-04T13:59:00.000-08:002006-02-05T00:04:21.270-08:00

Conflict continues today in response to 12 editorial cartoons depicting the seventh-century founder of Islam, Muhammad, originally published in a Danish newspaper in September, 2005.Many Westerners frame the issue as one of free speech, citing the importance of freedom from any type of censorship. Others, primarily Muslim but not all, depict the issue as one of responsibility and respect, calling

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1138916174255073442006-02-02T13:29:00.000-08:002006-02-02T13:37:20.150-08:00

This program on a student radio station at Swarthmore is a brilliant illustration of how students can produce news that uses Internet tools (Skype and podcasting) in a way that allows them to produce meaningful, insightful stories.By turning to people who have credibility about the subject because of direct experience that everyday folks can relate to, they are providing another perspective on

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1138472334404005122006-01-28T11:28:00.000-08:002006-01-28T11:27:21.723-08:00

Thanks for sharing Joli Jensen's book review of Herbert Gans book Democracy and the News. Jolie wrote a very insightful book chapter on John Dewey (“Art, the Public, and Deweyan Cultural Criticism,” in American Pragmatism and Communication Research, David K. Perry, editor, Longman’s, 2000). Perhaps she would consider working with us sometime in the future. Her insight that news is more an

colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411823767482500177noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1138476324175682252006-01-28T11:12:00.000-08:002006-01-28T11:25:24.190-08:00

Our conversation with Michael Briand Friday about the role of journalism in a democracy has got me thinking about ways to reconceptualize and reorient journalism. We all agreed that American democracy is experiencing serious stress and that journalism as it is generally practiced often contributes to governance problems, rather than improving our ability to effectively govern ourselves.I found a

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1137089784950736082006-01-12T10:13:00.000-08:002006-01-13T09:07:50.396-08:00

Here's an example of broadcast citizen journalism that shows:(1) citizen journalism is coming to TV (this is just one of several efforts I've seen in the last week)(2) journalism as social practice(3) journalism as defined by people outside newsroomsClick on Sean Penn to hear his description of journalism:Current JournalismI'm curious what the faculty think of this approach. Will efforts like

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1133748284715770212005-12-04T18:01:00.000-08:002005-12-07T22:24:01.786-08:00

This week the Reynolds School of Journalism Web site offers an interesting example of simple journalistic decisions that can be read by people outside the decision-making process as freighted with symbolism and hidden agendas.It’s a classic case of why journalistic enterprises need to be transparent – making internal decisions visible to others. Our Web site dates back nearly a decade. Mostly it

colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411823767482500177noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1131743907816822472005-11-11T13:11:00.000-08:002005-11-11T13:21:14.926-08:00

The American Prospect recently published a special report on "The Environment: Death and Rebirth." One of the articles on the "Afterlife of Environmentalism" reviews the Shellenberger and Nordhaus critique. I think it relates to the direction we are taking with our environmental program, as compared with the direction taken by environmental journalism programs that emphasize technical and

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1129680796799683902005-10-18T10:50:00.000-07:002005-10-18T17:14:40.180-07:00

Every dean dreams of helping put his or her school on the map. Our founding dean, Travis Linn, did more than that. Nearly 10 years ago, he put the Reynolds School of Journalism on the World Wide Web. That made us one of the first journalism schools to publish on the Web and offer a Web-based journalism course, JOUR 453, “Online Reporting and Editing,” which each spring semester

colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02411823767482500177noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1113692605294068562005-04-16T15:58:00.000-07:002005-04-16T16:04:09.620-07:00

Dennis DunleavyAssistant Professor, San Francisco State UniversityWrites about the importance of blogging to create an extended conversation rather than a lecture.... "Similar to how people no longer consume information through a single source or channel of news, the cultural practice of learning from traditional sources such as in the classroom or in a lecture hall is also changing. There are

Jean Trumbohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01024953175945791810noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1110781975486636872005-03-13T22:10:00.000-08:002005-03-13T22:32:55.486-08:00

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1109971046973083302005-03-04T13:10:00.000-08:002005-03-04T13:17:26.973-08:00

Since Howard Kurtz is about to visit our school (he's scheduled to give the annual Scripps address on March 21), I was interested to read Jay Rosen's recent argument with Kurtz about whether the Bush administration is systematically decertifying the press.Rosen argues that the evidence is pretty compelling that the Bush administration has a fundamentally different take on the press than previous

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1108403804717397462005-02-14T09:52:00.000-08:002005-02-14T09:56:44.720-08:00

For the sake of clarity, all facts presented are from online sources and have not been confirmed. No one has been convicted and should be presumed to be innocent until the courts deem otherwise:In October, a freshman SF State journalism major named Omar Vega was in the dorms where he lived. Mr. Vega had previously photographed a story for the university’s online-magazine about sexual activities

Ira Gostinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03609624789227459752noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1108053648380372992005-02-10T08:20:00.000-08:002005-02-10T08:40:48.380-08:00

As I read this Salon.com piece about "Jeff Gannon" and how he was able to gain access to the White House press corps despite a complete lack of journalistic credentials, I tried to see this how my students--and moreover, the public--might view it. Why shouldn't Gannon, self-proclaimed journalist that he is, be able to ask questions along with the media "elite"? The common sense answer I hear from

Jake Hightonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16329481710608085150noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1107649058808761232005-02-05T15:36:00.000-08:002005-02-05T16:17:38.806-08:00

I just read a very interesting article in the B.Y.U. Education and Law Journal (2003) on "The Ethics of Grading" by Gary Chartier (available on NEON). The author's thesis is that a grade should accurately reflect a student's "subject matter competency." This means that someone who receives a grade of A in a class should have mastered the subject matter and someone who receives a D should be

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1107631464440937552005-02-05T11:18:00.000-08:002005-02-05T22:54:26.586-08:00

A sportswriter covering the Super Bowl for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in Massachusetts was fired for plagiarism this week. As a poster on the SPJ Ethics listserv noted today, the penalties for plagiarism are getting increasingly severe. A headline in the SF Chronicle sports section reported: Patriots beat writer fired for plagiarism A warning for our students...

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1107543299713724762005-02-04T10:50:00.000-08:002005-02-04T12:47:18.093-08:00

"Apple has confirmed that MacOS 10.4 will support the GPS metadata tags in photos. This will open up a whole realm of opportunities for users and developers to take advantage of the position data on photos." The Ricoh Pro G3 is a camera that will embed GPS data into the photos; other cameras may be adding this option soon. The impact this will have on searching will be interesting... "Google me

Howardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804936150373880308noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1106616008650664882005-01-24T17:20:00.000-08:002005-02-04T13:05:24.050-08:00

In an exchange of emails today, I responded to a student's request for approval of a semester project. While normally I strongly encourage students to pursue "publishable" subject matter, in this case I developed cold feet. What would you have done? The email exchange follows, with the student's name removed: Dear _____ While I would agree that this could be an interesting and publishable

Howardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804936150373880308noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1106588651877947722005-01-24T09:38:00.000-08:002005-01-24T09:44:11.876-08:00

"Balance and objectivity have become code words to propagate the insidious and cynical moral disengagement that is destroying American journalism. This moral disengagement gives equal time, and sometimes more than equal time, to those who spread falsehoods and distort information. It tacitly sanctions the dissemination of lies. It absolves us from making moral choice. It obscures and often shuts

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1106443849350213622005-01-22T17:27:00.000-08:002005-01-22T17:31:03.900-08:00

For those of you interested in Media Technology, feel free to post or visit the blog devoted to conversation among the particants in this semester's graduate course Journalism 705, Media Technology. You can find us at MediaTechnologies http://www.mediatechnologies.blogspot.com Feel free to comment, argue with us, or participate.

Jean Trumbohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01024953175945791810noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1106174272776090042005-01-19T14:25:00.000-08:002005-01-19T14:37:52.776-08:00

In a book review on Morning Edition today (click the link to hear it) passages from Chistopher J. Moore's new book, In Other Words, are included. The book discusses how different languages describe experiences for which there are no equivalent words in the English language. It's not, as the author points out, that we don't share the perceptions or the experiences. It's just that we lack an

Howardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804936150373880308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1106017464169170482005-01-17T19:04:00.000-08:002005-01-17T19:04:24.170-08:00

Whether or not you agree with the foundation of this article from the Alternet web site, you may wonder as I did if this story, centered as it is here in downtown Reno, was given sufficient local coverage. Forgive my blush if I missed it when it was published, but I never read such a critique by local columnists of the Ninth Circuit's decision on the Harrah's barmaid's cosmetics case when it was

Howardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804936150373880308noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1105682870991386612005-01-13T22:06:00.000-08:002005-01-13T22:17:23.993-08:00

Wikipedia is an increasingly respected online encylopedia that is written and edited by thousands of volunteers. Now the Wiki Media Foundation has started a new project called Wikinews, described in the article linked above. A short excerpt: "The old broadcast model, in which an elite set of scribes sends out their thoughts to world--I don't think it will ever completely go away, but it's getting

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1105632844632645382005-01-13T07:59:00.000-08:002005-01-13T08:20:58.600-08:00

This site is an excellent example of how interactivity can add to the informational value of a news item. We've all seen these before-and-after satellite images, segments on a TV news broadcast, fade from one to another. But they would have more value, more information, and more emotional impact if the viewer could have the ability to move from "before" to "after" at his/her own pace. In this

Howardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804936150373880308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1105396036087690912005-01-10T14:08:00.000-08:002005-01-10T14:27:16.086-08:00

The American Press Institute just started a group blog called Morph, and one of the recent entries (linked from the headline above) is about citizen's journalism at the Santa Fe New Mexican. The online editor encourages comments from readers at the end of every article, and the editor has the option of automatically re-ordering the front page and section front stories based on the number of

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1105220271929565472005-01-08T13:26:00.000-08:002005-01-08T13:37:51.930-08:00

Rosemary has an excellent column in today's Reno Gazette-Journal (linked off the headline above) that advocates greater involvement by local radio and television stations in fostering civic dialogue, through the use of on-air station editorials. I noticed on the same page that the "Silver Pen" award went to a letter to the editor about the moralizing tone of a recent Gazette-Journal editorial,

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1105126722234381662005-01-07T11:27:00.000-08:002005-01-07T11:38:42.233-08:00

Donica's thoughtful entries about undergraduate and graduate education embraces many of the ideal qualities that most of us would like to enhance in students. There is not much that I would add except perhaps leadership skills and an entreprenuerial spirit. Our students will face a media environment that is not as stable nor is it necessarily controlled by the standard media publishers of 20

Jean Trumbohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01024953175945791810noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1105055514388972712005-01-06T15:33:00.000-08:002005-01-06T16:05:36.233-08:00

As I think about taking over from our outstanding outgoing graduate director, who has brought our graduate program forward many leaps and bounds, I am imagining what the next level of progress for our program could be. The article referenced above reviews some of the basic tensions inherent in journalism graduate education, brought to the fore in 2002 when Columbia temporarily called off its dean

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1105000620304848812005-01-06T01:20:00.000-08:002005-01-06T00:37:00.303-08:00

Evan Cornog writes a thoughtful essay in the most recent CJR on the disappearing public demand for serious journalism. He traces the historic roots and current consequences of creating a public based on individual ownership as opposed to common purpose. One of his conclousions: schools need to play a role in forming the “great customers” who will ensure the future of first-class journalism.

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9532654.post-1104998977044276612005-01-05T22:35:00.000-08:002005-01-06T00:13:42.736-08:00

As we grapple with the recurring question of the journalism curriculum, we could come at the problem from a number of directions. One strategy is to identify what our students need to know by the time they graduate to be successful professionals. What should they know by the end of their freshmen, sophomore, junior years to get to the senior level of proficiency? To identify those essential

donicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17207788971647832957noreply@blogger.com2