Blog 2: Philosophy Interview

It’s interesting how you can ask someone deep probing question after deep probing question and they are happy to answer, but when you ask any question involving God, walls go up and the talking shuts down. I interviewed a photojournalist from a well-known newspaper in San Diego who requested to be anonymous. For this reason we will call her Penny. This friendly, chipper woman answered the first several questions I had with no problem and in great detail. However when I got to my first question about God, I was on shaky ground.

When asked why she did the job that she did, Penny responded immediately with,

“That is a really good question to ask, especially these days.”

She then went on to explain her duties as photojournalist,

“Various requests come into the photo department for photos for whatever section, the requests are deemed worth shooting or not. They are assigned to whatever time they need to be happening.”

Penny works from 8am until 4:30pm and things that come in during that time she can be assigned to shoot.

“All photographers shoot everything. We all carry boots and water.”

I asked her why she believed what she did matters. She responded,

“Because people need to be informed.”

She explained that many working people are too busy to find out important information about the world around them that greatly affects them.

“If you are busy then they rely on people like us to let them know if their city officials are corrupt, or if a natural disaster hits.”

Penny answered the question “is what you do connected to the larger trends in the 21^st century journalism or public relations?” with insightful answers.

“Qualified news organization matters even more now than it ever did, because there are so many ways to get information form twitter, or facebook but obviously that will be coming from a particular point of view. And hopefully your news organization gives you both sides of the story.”

Up until this point Penny’s answers flowed freely and my questions seemed fairly easy for her to respond to. However my next question gave her trouble. I asked what she thought God’s role was in this world, if she thought there was a God. She paused for a second, and then talked about how she saw God in the her relationships with people.

Then after doing her best to answer the questions, she stopped suddenly and asked in a defensive way,

“How are these journalism questions?”

After I explained that I was in a philosophy of journalism class, she went on to say,

“I think religion doesn’t necessarily have a place in journalism. But the concept of religion needs to be better explained, now more so than ever.”

Even though she answered the question, bringing the idea of God into a situation put her on edge to say the least. God is a touchy subject, however as Christians it is our job to bring Him up, even if it is uncomfortable.

Blog 1: Conflict of Interest Interview

Name: Bernardo Alts
Photo Editor
St. Gabriella valley newspaper group

Working journalists in the field whether they are a photojournalist, a writer, or a reporter all face the same moral and ethical problems almost every day. There is a fine line between the freedom and need for truth and honestly in the media, and crossing over into displaying truth that can hurt or offend the public. Justice fits into this ethical dilemma also because, as Plaisance says, “What we refer to as justice now embraces a range of ideas and theories, including the claims that we have certain rights, that these legal rights are based on moral theory and obligations, and that justice also is linked somehow to ideas of fairness, of equality of impartiality and to a notion of social good.” (pg. 75) What is fair and just when it comes to topics covered? Is there such a thing as shedding too much light on a subject? Even if something is wrong does not mean it should necessarily be displayed for the world to see, even though sometimes that seems like the most just thing to do. Edward Wasserman of Media Ethics Magazine talks about many ethical dilemmas in his article “Threats to ethical Journalism in the New Media Age". He says that readers are “still entitled to honest, independent reportage.” But also that “plainly the rules governing conflict of interest need to be re-examined.”

Ethical problems and conflicts are important, not only because it has to do with morals, but also because it is something that journalists deal with often. Bernardo Alts of the Whittier Daily News is a journalist who comes into contact with this conflict every day. Alts is the photo editor for not only Whittier Daily News, but St. Gabriella Valley Newspaper Group. Born in Brazil, Alts has always loved photography.
“I have my BA at the university of Sao Paulo. I came to California in 1981 I had already done it (photography) in Brazil. I knew exactly that I wanted to do that.”
“I was a staff photographer before, I moved into the photo editor position because we didn’t have anyone. I love photography and I love story telling, it’s a natural thing I’ve don’t it since high school its what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Alts has a passion for photojournalism, but also understands the ethical dilemmas that face journalists.
“Almost every day we are faced with stories that have the potential of hurting someone, we have to weigh it carefully to see you come up against that all the time.” When asked about whether or not journalists should cover certain a
There should always be freedom to cover it, but I would definitely not publish it. (speaking about tough issues) There are certain things that even though they are true, you don’t need to put it out there.”
However Alts realizes that in the end it is not the journalists who decide what gets covered.
“Everyone complains about stars getting harassed, yet everyone buys the inquirer. In the end readers determine themselves what get covered.”

State of Play

A death, a lover, and politics. These elements are what starts off the movie "State of Play". Russell Crowe, Rachel Mcadams, and Ben Affleck star in this stunning drama about an investigation into a death of a woman who is supposed to be the mistress of a U.S. Congressman. However the initial scene in the movie begins with a seemingly random shooting that is drug related. Newspaper reporter Cal McAffrey was college roommates with the Stephen Collins, the Congressman, so he has a kind of a personal tie to him. Many people come to him asking for information of what he has heard because of this former relationship. The cinematography beautifully depicts the emotions that are running high with all the people involved. At the begining of the movie RACHEL MCADAMS comes into the scene as a new Journalist and at first butts heads with McAffrey. As the film goes on, they become teammates in investigating a possible consipiricy involved with the death. However there is a conflict of interest as McAfferey is continually on Stephen Collins side. Della Frye on the other hand is just interested in getting a story.
There are many interesting ideas of Journalism that are displayed throughout this movie. As the two journalismts try to get across the right message, their boss simply wants a story, no matter who gets hurt in the proccess. She says about the newspaper leaders, "They are interestd in sales not discretion"
There are a lot of points througout this movie where the Journailsts cross lines in order to get their stoiries. They say they are people they arn't, and do things only cops should do so that they can glean information on the story.

Bureau Blog

Through this reporting experience I found a lot of what I learned in the classroom become a reality. I loved seeing all the different aspects of journalism played out through this project. Because we were on a deadline I found it important to be well prepared before going into an interview. Know the questions before you begin asking them. This will enable you to be quick and efficient while you question people. It is crucial to make the person you are interviewing feel comfortable before you start. Also, it is beneficial to find people who look like they want to talk. If someone is at all hesitant you will probably not get very good answers from them. One girl we interviewed was hesitant, but consented to being interviewed. She gave one-word answers to each of our questions, which was not very helpful. On the other end of the spectrum, we had another interviewee that loved to talk. We got great answers from him; this student gave us some of our best quotes. Sometimes it is hit or miss, but if it’s possible to tell if someone is willing to talk or not than that can be useful in choosing who you interview.

In deadline writing it is very important to budget your time. Seemingly always you will find you have less time than you originally thought. At the beginning of our allotted time we were ahead of schedule and it seemed we would finish and be back early. Then we ran into Michael, a commuter that was relaxing in the Collegium. While his answers to our questions were great, they were very long and in depth. Looking back, I realize we probably should have nicely interrupted, thanked him for his answers, and then left so that we could be back in time to make our deadline. The team approach made the workload easier. With each team member doing something different, the interviews got done quickly and everything was more efficient. In our team we had one person text in the answers, one person ask the questions, and one or two write down notes. Because we had more than one person writing down what the interviewee was saying, we got more accurate quotes and information. However if your team is not in sync than it becomes even harder than if you were working on your own. I found it is important to divide up the jobs to each team member, because when different people tried doing the same things it got very confusing.

Hugh Hewitt talks about blogging side of journalism, and it’s exciting to see all the different aspects talked about in his book happen through this project. Blogging truly is a cutting edge form of journalism. Because you are finding the information for yourself it creates a kind of raw reality to the piece that is posted. I loved the reality of this assignment; it made me feel and experience what it would be like to be a journalist.

Tuesday, November 16th-Media Blog

Separate news corporations always will differ in how they portray the news. In addition, often the print and web versions of the same newspaper are quite different in how they get across the news to their readers.

In both the web and print editions of the New York Times the sources were mostly quoted and little background materials were used. In contrast, I found the Los Angeles times website to include background information more often, and in general it quoted its sources less than the New York Times.

Throughout the print version of the New York Times the headlines are what grab you. Something I liked about the print version was the fact that I could flip through the pages and see what caught my eye. However, I found this edition to have fairly bland ledes. Also, in the print edition you can look at the article as a whole in one glance more or less. While this is helpful in skimming over the entire front page, it can be overwhelming. Because of this, I found the lede didn’t stand out as much as it did on the web versions of the news. In the web edition of the New York Times there are many headlines, and directly underneath is a sentence to lead the reader in. I found this very straightforward and clear in comparison to the overwhelming amount of text in the print version.

Both web editions of the news have a diverse visual aspect. The New York and Los Angeles Times have several videos on their sites. Also, each web version has several crisp digital pictures on their main page. The NYT website has nine riveting and moving pictures of the Fort Hood service scrolling through on it’s front page. This gives more opportunity to see the visual side of as story than the New York Times print counterpart.

In the paper version of the NYT the editors seem to use pictures to add to their articles. However on both the websites media can often be used often to supplement writing. The LA Times website has one picture right above the main article, and also several other photos along the bottom and the side. However there are not as many pictures throughout the articles as you click on them individually. There is an article on the LA Times site called “Pop and Hiss”. This article covers the music video by Lady Gaga. While the author does cover a bit of the actual content of the video, it ends with the sentence stating “But the video! Watch it:” That is then followed by the music video, posted on the site in the article. The NYT website has a video section on their main page. This section doesn’t even have any writing, as the videos speak for themselves. In addition this news site has slideshows of pictures on different topics. These slideshows are done on stories such as “Mourning the Victims at Fort Hood” and “New Tastes in Valparaiso”.

Peter S. Goodman of the New York Times covers a story about unemployment rates. I don't know about you, but I feel like this is a topic covered practically every week, and the articles always say the same thing: The economy sucks right now, lots of people are out of jobs.

However Goodman's heading is different than others I've seen.

U.S. Unemployment Rate Hits 10.2%, Highest in 26 Years

26 years? That's ridiculous. Also, the picture used is pretty funny and unique.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/business/economy/07jobs.html?_r=1&hp

talking to God

I talk so much.
I talk to my friends, to my parents, to my dog, to myself. So whey is it so hard to talk to God? Is my life really so busy that I don't have time to talk with Him?
Prayer is not good to do, it is vital. It is ridiculously important for the survival of our faiths.
Jimmyj points out in his blog that we realize the importance of this verse, "Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed." - Mark 1:35
Jesus found time to pray, even though he lead an incredibly demanding life. If Jesus needed to talk to our heavenly father how much more do we need to?
So how do we realistically find time to talk to God? Factoidz gives these ideas:
Pray while waiting in the doctor’s office
Pray while waiting in line at the grocery store
Pray for the kids you see
And pray for yourself.

And always remember how we should pray.

" Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one."