Sunday, November 16, 2008

Ethical principles and legal responsibilities


(Image from Goggle)
In the world of journalism, reporters face ethical issues and legal responsibility to provide news for the people. There are several legal responsibilities and ethical issues, but which issues are the most important depend on the reporter’s viewpoint.

One legal responsibility relies on the reporter to prove the truth of a charge or statement. People are grateful to hear the truth and know the reporter has followed a code of ethics to report right from wrong.

Another important ethical rule for journalist to follow is not to gather information through deception. Gathering information through deception is when reporters get stories by lying to their source. In the world of ethical journalism, this is lying and viewed as scamming and dishonesty. Newsrooms are looking for reporters, who tell the truth to get the story in fair manner.

Journalist must understand the legal issue regarding privacy before covering a news story. A private citizen is different from public figure. A public figure, by the nature of their job, understands that information about them can be reported in the news. Private citizens want to keep their life private and not be broadcast in the news. Journalist must avoid is false light. False light is the invasion of privacy when false information is published about person.

All journalists have responsibilities to uphold ethics and legal principles when then cover any story.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Taking Better Pictures


(Image from Addicted to Life)
People say “Pictures can capture moment in time”. Those same people also claim “A pictures is worth thousand words”. But is picture taken with poor quality actually capture the moment or it’s worth thousand words? The answer is no.

There are various ways to take picture. The three basic shots each journalist should know how to take are: mug, still, and news. For these basic shots, here are some things to keep in mind while taking a picture:
•Hold the camera correctly
•Get into position early
•Take several shots
Fill the frame
Rule of thirds
•Different angels
•Watch for the unexpected

Now that we have better understanding on how to set up for that perfect shot, all you have to do is find it?

Below this blog are some photo's I have taken using these guidelines.
Extra information can be found on Class Tutorial Page

Getting to know my Camera


Based News Shot
(Taken by Caitlin M.)

Delta Sigma Phi fraternity members Dylan Rothman, a junior business major at Towson University (TU) and Kenny Walters, a sophomore business major at TU, take turns seesawing for 48 hours to raise money for Lance Armstrong Foundation.


Based Still Shot
(Taken by Caitlin M.)



Based Mug Shot of Dillon N.
(Taken by Caitlin M.)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Girls Fight Back Event


Multimedia storytelling is integrating audio, video, pictures, animation and other elements into a compelling text story. For multimedia story number one, I will be covering an event called “Girls Fight Back”. This event is taking place on October 28 at 7:30 pm on Towson University campus.

“Girls Fight Back” is an event for women to learn how to defend themselves if they are physically attacked or confronted by an attacker. The event is only for women. The person in charge of this event is Erin Weed. The event is sponsored by the Towson University’s Department of Athletics, The Women’s Center, Greek Life Student Activities and the Towson University Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Committee. (Image from Girls Fight Back website)

I have contacted the Towson University Counseling Center for additional information on the event and left a message for Dr. Julie McKenna, Coordinator and Sexual Assault Services. My sources would be Erin Weed, Dr. Julie McKenna and students from the event. Some questions I might ask are:

•Why do you think it’s important for women to defend themselves?
•What’s the most important tool for woman to defend herself?
•How will this help me in the future?
•What the scariest situation you have encountered?
•How do you feel after going to this event?

Now for some photo ideas, I was thinking of taking pictures of the different approaches that we learn from this event as well as women acting as if in danger so people can see the fear. Another idea would be to record audio of the types of sounds that could be used to distract the attacker. I really looking forward to this event because more crimes have been occurring around Towson University and I want to learn how to protect myself from danger.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Motorcycle Crash



Last Saturday night in Howard County, a motorcycle crash left one dead in a devastating scene on I-95. A group of motorcyclists were rapidly speeding down I-95, when one lost control and collided into another who ricocheted into the medium guardrail. Unfortunately, the motorcyclist biker who caused the accident left the scene leaving the victim in the middle of I-95.(Image from Wzj 13)

According to WJZ 13 news, at least two automobiles ran over the victim. When state troopers arrived on the scene, the victim was pronounced dead by a medical team. One witness at the scene told state troopers that “The motorcyclist who caused the accident fled on the back of one the other motorcyclists traveling with the group”.

Police are searching for the other motorcyclists that fled the scene of the accident. Investigators at the scene identified the damaged motorcycle as a 2006 Suzuki, which may help police discover who was riding the other motorcycles.

One wonders why the other motorcyclists fled the scene if it was just an accident. They may know information that could explain the cause of this accident. The only way to determine the truth is to find the other motorcyclists and question them. Police are investigating this case and ask anyone who has any information to call 410-799-2101.

If you have any questions for me, please post responds on my blog and I’ll get back to you. Thanks!
Posted by Caitlin Moore

Sunday, September 21, 2008

On Campus Event!


There are many events that occur each day in Towson especially on the Towson University campus. This coming week their will be a discussion about “School of Emerging Technologies”. When I read about this in the University Daily Digest, it raised my interested because, in the future, I plan on working with different types of technologies in my daily job. ( Picture From ABC News)

If you want to read up more information about “School of Emerging Technologies” you can find it in the Towson Daily Digest under All Campus, number 14. After clicking on the title, it will link you to the URL site. This site will inform you that there are three discusses open to students, faculty and staff going this week Monday, Thursday and Friday with different times for each event and room information.

If you click on the link it will tell you too more information about the current event. The article informs readers how they plan to integrate two reports into one for the Towson University School of Technology. The two reports are the Zweben Report and the SET Report. After reading the two reports, I had no know idea what they were about, so I needed to do more research.

For this report, my main sources will be Acting Dean and David Vanko. Some of the questions I might ask:
• What do you like most about SET and Zweben reports?
• What do dislike the most about SET and Zweben reports?
• Why are these reports so important to Towson Campus?
• What are the benefits going to be for students and faculty?


After conducting all the research, I am now prepared for a discussion about the reports and look forward to new ideas that might come up in tomorrow’s meeting.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Twitter Headlines!

(Picture from Twitter Homepage)
After learning how to use twitter, I posted some of my own headlines. I’m not going to lie, it was hard for me at first, but by the end I started to feel like I was getting the hang of it. Here a link to my twitter site, if you want to review my headlines, I would love to get some feedback.

Once I was done my headlines on twitter, I decide to check out what some of my classmates had done. The twitter profiles I visited were Marisa B., Abby C., and Chantel J.

Marisa B’s twitter headlines used active voice and summarized the main point of the recycling story. I could understand what the story would be about from her headlines. Abby C’s twitter headlines used active voice, were factual about the football game and answered most of the 5W’s. Lastly Chantel J’s twitter headlines used active voice, summarized how USM is coping with the poor economy and answered the 5W’s.

Overall, for our first assignment using twitter, I think everyone did an awesome job using the 50 characters lead and link, posting a second story with 130 characters and not repeating any information in the first lead on the story.

Monday, September 15, 2008

What are summary lead and a short report ?


(Picture From The Huffington Post)

News comes in many different forms; from newspapers, magazine, websites, blogs, and TV. But it’s up to the reporter to select how they want to present the information. Two ways to this is summary lead and short report.

Now I’m sure your probability thinking, what’s the difference? Well according to Thom Lieb, summary lead is the opening of a print or online news story. An example of a summary lead can be found on front of the NY Times homepage called “Thousand in Texas Flee Hurricane Ike”. Right under the title of the article it gives short opening point, which you can use to summarize what the article is going to be about.

A short report is less information that could be wrote into single sentence or even two and can displayed by bulletin, e-mails, and crawlers according to Thom Lieb’s definition. An example of a short report is shown in the Baltimore Sun homepage article about September 11th. This article gives a few short sentences and bulletin list that links you to other articles. (Picture of Twin Towers from Grasping Reality with Both Hands)

Now that you have better understanding of difference ways news can be presented, it should be easier to present news in a quick and short way.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Newsworthy Stories from The Baltimore Sun

In today’s society, news means important information or events that locally or globally interest society. After reviewing The Baltimore Sun homepage, I selected three news stories to evaluate how they are newsworthy. Under the printed edition, I selected:
• Private-School Families Feel a Financial Pinch
• Old Report Causes United Airlines Stock Panic
• Ike Targets Havana.

(From The Baltimore Sun, photo by Lloyd Fox)

The story “Private-School Families Feel a Financial Pinch” by Liz F. Kay, discusses how today’s economy with its rising prices are causing parents to search more for financial aid to help pay for their child’s tuition. This story is newsworthy because it affects some of local citizens in Baltimore.


Here are some signs of this story newsworthy:
•It does not show bias
•It informs the public
•There is wide-ranging data
•Quotes are included
•Picture are included


The story “Private-School Families Feel a Financial Pinch” also demonstrates the traditional values of timeliness and proximity. Timeliness is how recently the event happened. This story relates to when schools started, which was last week in August. Proximity refers to a physical location. Since this is a local story, local news stations are more likely to shift their focus and cover it.


The second news story called “Old Report Causes United Airlines Stock Panic” originated from the Chicago Tribune according to the Baltimore Sun Web-page. It’s about the Chicago airport and how United Airline service has fallen along with their stock price. The story is newsworthy because United Airlines stock falling affects stockholders and its service falling affects customers both locally and globally.
(Picture from Travelhouseuk’s Travel Blog)



Signs of newsworthy:
•Important data is provided
•Dates are provided
•There is a link to other newspapers


The United Airline story includes the traditional values of currency, timeliness, and impact. Currency means it ties to stories already in the news. This story has already been in the news once and ties to many stock market stories. Timeliness means how recently the event happens as evidenced by when United Airline stock began to fall last Friday. Impact means how something might happen as a result of an event. In this case, the impact would be the stock and services decreasing so much that it negatively affects stockholders and customers.

The last news story, “Ike Targets Havana” by Carol J. Williams is from the Los Angeles Times as found in the print edition in the Baltimore Sun. This article discusses how hurricane Ike ravaged Cuba and is heading towards Havana.
Ike is a newsworthy story because hurricanes are a global event that affects many people.

(Picture by Newsround.com, showing Hurricane Ike hit Cuba)


Signs of newsworthy:
• It has videos
• Pictures are also included
• The story is not bias
• Data is provided
• Quotes are included



Hurricane Ike shows traditional news value because it discusses what might happen to Havana and displays direct impact. Impact means things that might happen as a result of an event. Other traditional values shown are timeliness and proximity. Timeliness refers to how recently it happens which in the case of Ike is still happening. Proximity is the location or physical nearness which is the case of Ike will occur when it approaches the US coast.



I believe the Baltimore Sun has many newsworthy stories. The Baltimore Sun seems to go out of their way to give readers news stories from all over the world as demonstrated in “Old Report Causes United Airlines Stock Panic and “Ike Targets Havana” articles as well as local stories like “Private-School Families Feel a Financial Pinch”. These articles and authors appear to always use one or two traditional news values. In conclusion, readers should determine if traditional news values are present when they determine the source of their everyday news.

Monday, September 8, 2008

My Favorite outstanding portfolio

The portfolio I like the most is Nick Trost. On his home page, he has this tree with two red apples and when you click on the apples they play video's. He's portfolio is creative but yet easy to navigate. After awhile I started to wonder what he kind of equiment he keeps in his backpack. So I brainstorm some idea's. I think he carries notebook, pen, pencil, highlighter, carmera digital, USB drive, digital video camera, digital audio recorder, cell phone, and resume. I think he carries these things because of his portfolio displays pictures, video, and audio. I figure Nick keeps computer and USB drive in his backpack to update or download any information and transporting files. Also I thought Nick might keep cell phone and resume in his backpack because you never know who your going to meet or need to contact. These are just some guess's of what I think Nick keeps inside his backpack. Who knows what he really keeps inside his backpack? I guess only Nick knows the answer to that question.

What does Jared Silfies keep in his backpage?

Well inside Jared Silfie's backpack, he keeps notebook, planner, computer, digital carmera, digital audio recorder, 3 USB drives, book called "The Elements of Style", cell phone, I-pod and of course pens, pencils and highlighter. Well he must have heavy backpack. I think he carries all these items in his backpack because he doesn't know where news might strike or something interesting, which is important to reporters. One item that I didn't understand why it was in his backpack was "The Elements of Style". So after buying the new edition and spending sometime looking through it, I started to understand why. He carries this book to help guide in many areas of reporting. For example this book has rules, dictionary, encyclopedia, APA formatting and much more. I can't wait to gain some practice with this book. Now, what I keep in my backpack are my books, notebooks for the day, USB drive, chap-stick, cell phone,planner, pencils, pens, highlighter. I guess you could say my backpack is work in progress.