Revised Syllabus—available on the website

Midterm now due Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. to Professor Warner’s email. Midterm presentations will begin Monday Oct. 26

Proposals for final projects due Oct. 12. Next week’s lectures will focus heavily on

analyzing news websites and beginning to learn how to write a piece of journalism from your blog posts.

Please check the course website for articles to read and as aids for your midterm and writing news stories.

NEWS OF THE BLOGOSPHERE

How the Times covered the closure of Gourmet As a blog As a news story

How to Use Twitter to drive website traffic… People Magazine’s approach

FTC Revises Rules on Endorsements to include Bloggers Blogger or Flogger?

What makes a great news website? An Ongoing Introduction

Exploring how multimedia websites adhere to the philosophy espoused by “Elements of Journalism.”

Oct. 7, 2009PROFESSOR FARA WARNER

SO WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE TRADITIONAL JOURNALISM?

Journalism—and what we mean by it—will continue to evolved, morph and change.

But we (by this I mean me as a traditional journalist and professor) must teach the amateurs, the pro-ams, the citizens some of the basics of journalism.

This will make “citizen journalism,” blogging, etc. better (imho) because it will not leave accuracy, truth, etc. to the wisdom of the crowds

Do it right the first time. Then you don’t have to correct again and again.

ELEMENTS OF JOURNALISM

If you learn nothing else in this class, learn these 10 rules. You will apply them as you analyze a news

website (assigned by the professor next Monday) to determine how well the sites adhere to these rules of journalism.

More information in the next two classes on analyzing a news website.

RULE ONE Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth?

how do we find truth?

do bloggers seek truth? Should they?

WHY TRUTH?

Journalists provide information for citizens so they can be free and self-governing.

If the information we provide is false, then what does that do to democracy?

Truth and accuracy is even more important in a multimedia world.

We are disassociated from our “real” community—how much do you know about Ann Arbor?

So we don’t have the ability to “check” the facts because we aren’t as connected—even though we think we are more connected.

WHY TRUTH? WHY LIE?

Your journalism will be aggregated—so we need it to be dependable

People will link to you and you will link to them…you have a responsibility to focus on the truth…even if it is elusive.

What do journalists or bloggers gain by lying?

On the web, what is the power of a lie over truth?

WINSTON CHURCHILL“A lie gets halfway ‘round the world before the truth can get its pants on.”

HOW TO GET TO THE TRUTH?

See truth as a process.

Report what you see first.

Report what others tell you—but verify

Write what you know…not what you think you know.

Don’t be a slave to your sources…ask lots of questions

Be skeptical…but not cynical.

Analyze…you have gathered all this information…now what can you tell us that’s new…this is the essence of journalism (imho) in the 21st century.

HOW DO WE FIND TRUTH ONLINE…when this is happening

Fake photos The rush for news—

even when it’s wrong

“Exclusive interviews”

Mug shot galleries?

RULE NO. 2Its first loyalty is to citizens.

how do we achieve this in class?

who are bloggers loyal to?

WHO DO WE WORK FOR?

The dichotomy of journalism is that it is both a public trust and a business.

This ideal of loyalty to citizens tempered by who pays the paycheck.

Professionalism has spawned detachment.

This detachment also may be a reason for why people have turned to bloggers—they are attached and passionate.

YOU WORK…FOR ME. So my commitment

is to be committed to citizens—I will advise you but not demand what you write about in class.

Would that we had advertising…we can always do Google Ad Sense.

I will communicate clear standards…you need to ask if I don’t.

You have the final say over what you report.

But that also means you have the final responsibility.

We all need to communicate our standards to the public…thus the need for a code of ethics.

CAN YOU FIND “LOYALTY TO CITIZENS” IN YOUR WEBSITES?When analyzing your websites—look for this loyalty? How is it expressed?

RULE NO. 3Its essence is a discipline of verification.

If you can’t find truth, then verify at least the facts

that you know. Think before you write.

OBJECTIVITY, FAIRNESS, BALANCE

There is no objectivity save for the objectivity of method—What do we mean by that?

Fairness—by whose standard?

We’ll talk about what we mean when we say balance.

Verification instead of assertion.

The importance of checking the accuracy of your links.

How one quote or one unverified fact can have the half life of plutonium. Obama’s citizenship “Death panels”

HOW TO VERIFY

Never add anything that wasn’t there. Don’t make stuff up.

Never deceive. Be transparent Rely on your own

reporting. And most important

—exercise humility.

See checklist on pg. 105.

We will come back to these rules as we begin writing our news stories and shooting video for the final project.

WHERE ARE THE CORRECTIONS?Does your website have an obvious place for corrections? Can you find the organization’s code of ethics?

RULE NO. 4Its practicioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.

Do bloggers abide by this rule?

Do citizen journalists?

INDEPENDENCE Keep an open mind. Don’t go into a story

trying to prove what you already believe.

Put yourself in situations that test your independence from class or economic status.

Bloggers often write about who and what they know

Journalists often write about what they don’t know.

Step outside your own world.

New blogger rules from the FTC

Will they work? How can a citizen

taking photos of a demonstration they are taking part in remain “independent?”

JUST BECAUSE IT’S ONLINE DOESN’T MEAN YOU DON’T FACT-CHECK IT

Iranian woman shot To post or not to

post

Vanderbilt “swine flu” bonfires

Poynter article on “bogus” stories

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR WEBSITE IS INDEPENDENT?Who owns the site? How does it receive revenue? Who are its biggest shareholders?

RULE NO. 5It must serve as an independent monitor of power.

Bloggers do this, but not all of them. So how do

we tell the good guys from the bad guys?

RULE NO. 6It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.

In this case the blogosphere may trump traditional

journalism—and may be a big reason for why the

public has gravitated to bloggers.

RULE NO. 7It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.

Journalism isn’t a popularity contest. It’s not about

the number of hits you get—or is it?

RULE NO. 8It must keep the news comprehensive and in proportion.

Does the blogosphere do this better than traditional journalism?John Seeley Brown: “we need sense

making”How do we work toward “conclusions in

uncertainenvironments?” as Paul Saffo states.

RULE NO. 9Its practioners have an obligation to exercise their personal conscience.

RULE NO. 10Citizens, too, have rights and responsibilities when it comes to news.

We must become more media literate as a society

as we are bombarded with more and more content.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU? THE FINAL PROJECT You will put these rules into practice as you become

bloggers and journalists. You will test the difference between the two forms of writing and how these rules apply in each case.

Determine what your site will be about: traditional newsroom style—news, arts, sports, international news? Or will you cover a specific topic—politics, campus life, war, the environment? You choose.

Determine what platform you want to use to host your site (Facebook, blogger, Ning, sitemaker, Dreamweaver, another website application of your choice)

Must include: a news story from each one of you—you can choose the form—written, audio, video; one group news video, your student blogroll; a code of ethics, and photo documentary (7 photos minimum) to describe an issue with accompanying captions or voice-overs.

By Monday Oct. 12, determine what your project will be. We will discuss in class.

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

http://data.nicar.org/campus/

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY

Part time PR intern for in Detroit Mullen—just won the Zappos account. Three days/week.  

Junior or senior communications/journalism student ideally with some social media experience.  Pay or credit. Working on GM advance tech business.

Direct resumes and cover letters to: melissa.moonburchart@mullen.com

 

OTHER PLACES TO LOOK

Kobre Guide Student projects from the past semesters.

See first class lecture. Mediastorm Any other suggestions?