JOURNALISM ETHICS & ISSUES

CLASS #24 | JRNL 4650 | FALL 2016

• Instructor: Bill Mitchell

• bmitch (at) gmail (dot) com

• 727-641-9407

• 1 Dec., 2016 2016 | Northeastern Univ.

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WHAT WE’LL DO TODAY • Deconstructing @dabeard: Developing your social media strategy and some

ethical issues you may encounter along the way

• A look at questions facing journalists with new urgency post-election:

• Fact-based journalism in an increasingly fact-free era

• Getting inside the head of Trump, his supporters, others

• Getting beneath the surface of policy & personnel announcements

• Aggregation, curation and distribution of relevant facts

• Alternative ways of getting at the story

• New approaches to documentary photography

• Optimism as a journalistic category

• Journalism by advocacy groups

• Story-telling by brands

• Reminder re Tuesday presentations/Dec. 12 final papers

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COVERING FACT-FREE CLAIMS:

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GETTING INSIDE THE HEAD OF

TRUMP & HIS SUPPORTERS

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GETTING BENEATH THE SURFACE

OF POLICY, PERSONNEL

ANNOUNCEMENTS

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GETTING BENEATH THE SURFACE

OF POLICY, PERSONNEL

ANNOUNCEMENTS, CONT.

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GETTING BENEATH THE SURFACE

OF POLICY, PERSONNEL

ANNOUNCEMENTS, CONT.

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COVERING UNDERCOVERED STORIES,

SOMETIMES WITH GROWING

GOVERNMENT RESISTANCE

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NOT ONLY ARE GROUPS LIKE THE

ACLU HELPING JOURNALISTS BUT…

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EMERGING TREND: NON-PROFIT &

ADVOCACY GROUPS DOING

JOURNALISM

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AGGREGATION, CURATION,

DISTRIBUTION OF FACTS…

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FINDING ALTERNATIVE WAYS

TO REPORT THE STORY

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NEW APPROACHES TO

DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY

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OPTIMISM AS A

JOURNALISTIC CATEGORY

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TIME ON THE FUTURE OF MEDIA:

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TIME Magazine reports:

“Researchers are discovering that people want to

create positive images of themselves online by

sharing upbeat stories.

And with more people turning to Facebook and

Twitter to find out what’s happening in the world,

news stories may need to cheer up in order to court

an audience.

If social is the future of media, then optimistic stories

may be media’s future.”

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SPONSORED HOLIDAY VIDEO

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AND ANOTHER…

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ONE MORE SPONSORED VIDEO:

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UCPOMING ASSIGNMENTS

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• By end of day Sunday Dec. 4: Send me an email with a

working title for your final paper and the gist of what

you’ll do in your presentation

• Dec. 6 Class: Prepare a 3 minute summary of your final

paper (due end of day Dec. 12). This presentation will

count toward your class participation points.

• Dec. 12 end of day: Final paper due (see syllabus for

details)

UCPOMING ASSIGNMENTS, CONT.

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• Dec. 6 Class: Your 3 minute summary should include:

• At least one ethics-related question that you’ll

explore in your paper

• Your strategy for seeking answers to that

question(s); who will you interview?

• A description of the stakeholders in the case or

circumstance you’re addressing in your paper

• Any questions, feel free to ask me in advance

HUMOR

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INSPIRATION:

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INSPIRATION, CONTINUED.:

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SOME WAYS TO ADVANCE A STORY

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• Correct something (include documentation of the

original error, your efforts to get it corrected – by email,

Twitter, etc. – and what, if anything resulted)

• Suggest a new angle or follow-up in a comment

attached to the article, phone conversation with the

reporter, etc. (include documentation or, in the case of

phone conversation, description of your interaction)

SOME WAYS TO ADVANCE A STORY,

CONTINUED

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• Use the original story as a peg or jumping off point

to write your own story or blog post

• Alert a policy-maker to a story you believe helps

make the case for or against a public policy you’d like

enacted or avoided

• Initiate a conversation on social media or elsewhere

about a story you regard as worthy of further

consideration