Quote of the Day

"This instrument can teach, it can illuminate and yes it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is nothing but wires and lights in a box." -RTNDA Convention

I picked this quote out from the previous readings and lectures we had earlier on in the semester. I liked this quote because not only does it talk about he power that stems from being a journalist but also the power the reader plays in society. Without the journalist, true journalism wouldn't exist. There would be non one who puts out thorough articles that have been reviewed by multiple people. You wouldn't have anyone who is verifying their facts and checking their sources to makes sure the information they are putting out there is accurate. People wouldn't have a legitimate source to go through after hearing news from a friend, on a blog or through a facebook status update. As the quote states, journalists ave the power to teach, illuminate and inspire. What a great opportunity, and responsibility us journalists have.

Just as the journalists have power to produce news, viewers have the power to receive it. Without people reading the newspaper, reading articles online, checking blogs weekly, or watching their morning news, journalists wouldn't have a job. It's the people that crave the news that keep the journalists working. If journalists produced an article but there was no one to read it, no people to talk and discuss it, it would be dead. A lot of society determines what is news and what is in the papers. Ultimately companies like the New York Times want to make money and hey will produce and put out stories they know will sell and they know will interest the general public. As long as the people want to read an follow stories like the balloon boy or Tiger Woods personal affairs, news outlets will continue to put those stories in the paper. We as society have the power to steer what direction will the news will turn. So as the quote says the news can inspire to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends.

So the power lies within us journalists and as readers in society. Lets just continue to produce and be influenced by good news.

ohhh adam lambert.

Adam Lambert, who is he? I didn't know up until today. I was driving home and my mom told me about the former runner-up on American Idol performed this racy number on the American Music Awards. He made a mark because news, twitter and blogs are all talking about this one man.

Lets start with twitter... Adam Lambert is currently a trending topic  along with New Moon and Allen Iverson. Surprise? No. Once one person does anything to shake up the social media, people are all over it. The news spreads and people talk. Here's what some are saying...

 Adam Lambert has a new fan. =)

 Waiting to watch Adam Lambert on Letterman. Then I try to sleep for the night. Will I be able to?

 Adam Lambert? Ain't he that fag who kissed some guy at the AMA's and basically put a guys  face into his  junk?

 Listening to Adam Lambert. You know even though his performance was disturbing his still very  talented  i'd say.

 #iamthankfulfor God, for created such a beautiful person like Adam Lambert x)

Those were just a couple tweets that people are currently posting as I type. I decided to write one about Adam Lambert and the fact that he was appearing on Letterman. Everyone else was doing it and I wanted to see how many people would tweet about the same thing seconds after me. There were 10 within the next couple minutes. Apparently, everyone else had that same idea to tweet about that. He is on the Letterman show so people were going crazy with their tweets about what they were waiting to witness on television. Oh the beauty of Twitter. If you want to know about any on topic in particular, go on Twitter and you can find out from hundreds of different sources the inside scoop. I heard about the scandal but did I know he was on Letterman? No. It wasn't until I saw the thousands of tweets. So, thousands might be an exaggeration but their was a lot. 

And then there's the performance and all the shows that reported on Adam's scandalous acts at the American Music Awards. The View, ABC, CBS and the Letterman Show (as previously stated) are just a few who spoke out about this issue. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone wants to be heard.  Lets look at all the comments made on some of the videos posted on the web. 

 He went straight to a genre that's going to kill his career. He'd be much better off in a metal band. His actions at the AMA only made me dislike him more. I get it, he's openly gay, but all that crap the AMA's was over the line. I don't want to turn on my tv and see him swapping spit with another guy or thrusting his hips into a dude's face. He needs to get control of himself.

Me and my friend are 14 years old and we are like seriously THE BIGGEST Adam Lambert fans. We have already memorized every song in his new album... we are still huge fans but you are right he shouldn't have done that at the AMA's. His excuse was "It's okay if girls do it but it's just cause I'm gay that's why it's wrong?" There are a lot of female preformers who do do stuff like that and it wasn't because Adam was gay that it was wrong.. it's just that wasn't appropriate for the time and place.

modern day boy george!!! what a twat for his outlandish behavior! for someone who just started out this was the waaaay wrong way to go son!

so before all the accusations of homophobia continues just think about this, its not about the fact that he's gay. Its the fact that his actions were visible to a family audience on broadcast television. That type of programming is geared towards a family audience that could include very young children. And while it was late in the east coast, it was still early in the west coast. The kissing that went on with Britney, and Madonna was on Cable television. Standards are different. Ask the Fcc.

This is a total Bull Sh%&! issue. Any of you that love music should value artistic expression whether you love the artist or not. You gotta realize that they treated Elvis, the Beatles, The Doors, Bowie and even Madonna with disdain when their career first began. Adan's performance was not that big a deal, it was just Adam being Adam. The nutty over reaction just means it is time to break down some barriers and let in new artistic expression - let Freedom Reign!

     videos posted on the web. 

Oh the beauty of public forums.  You see that a lot on the web. A video is posted, people comment and express their difference in opinions. Everyone has a statement about matters especially if they are willing to take the time to further investigate a certain topic. On one website there's already over 500 comments and how long has it been since that video was posted or since Adam Lambert performed? Not long. If you google search Adam Lambert tons of results pop up about this issue. There's over a million blog posts about this man. If he wanted to create a buzz cause a stir he definitely accomplished it. I hadn't heard of him, I stopped watching American Idol after the third season but I now know who this guy is. So, if that's what he's going for than I hate to admit it and give him that glory, but his mission was accomplished. The beauty of the Internet and mass communication. Nothing escapes the media. So if you plan on doing something provocative, unorthodox or scandalous you might want to think twice. What you might think is between you and a few people or you and the audience can translate to millions and millions of people. I wouldn't have known about this issue if it wasn't for the thousands of people later talking about it.

Powerhouse

We don't even need to watch the 4 minute and 16 second video clip of Tom jumping on chairs and making weird hand gestures can we just focus in on the Oprah Winfrey crowd gone crazy? While a lot of the screaming has to do with Tom being on the show, this sort of reaction isn't unusual for a taping on her show. She is the ultimate powerhouse and now she is leaving television come fall of next year. What are all these middle aged women who act like oprah is their best friend, who look to her for advice and opinions on about any all topics to do? Yes she has her daily television shows but she does more in the world. She helps out the poor and during President Obama's election she went political. She spoke in front of thousands of people talking about the serious matters in our country and expressing her support for our current President Barack Obama.

Oprah has done it all. I think you know where I stand on this woman. I am in favor of her. She is a strong woman and I have nothing but respect. She has become one of the most successful women in my opinion. She has one of the top rated program of her kind in all history and the richest African American of all time.  But I don't want to go on and on about this woman. I just know she is powerful woman and the fact that she isn't going to be on the air much longer isn't that upsetting. In the New York Times it said she is going to team with Discovery to create her on television channel where she will most likely have some kind of talk show in it.  There hasn't been that many details as to what the channel will entail but should Oprah really be all that sad?

She's only going to go onto something bigger, her on T.V. station. 

It just amazes me how one person can have that much influence on the public. She has her own magazine which hundreds of thousands subscribe to. She has her own book club. She makes little known authors become famous. People go ou and read books on her book list not because they have heard a ton of great reviews by other people but because Oprah said ti was good, it must be worth reading. People watch her on TV, other famous celebrtiies have nothing but respect for Oprah. If you were to say the name Oprah, everyone knows exactly jsut who you are talking about. People have a lot of power, more power than one realizes. As journalists we too have an immense amount of power. We can control what is news, what is printed in the papers, how things are written and stories are presented. We have so much power and freedom given to us, we must use it to our greatest capacity.

What is Journalism All About?

My group presented on Monday regarding this particular topic..."What is Journalism All About?" and i would just like to discuss a couple major points that I got out of the reading. 

The idea of the Interlocking Policy talks about how there are three kinds of people when it comes to the news. First, there are the interested. They read any and all articles about a particular subject, pro or con. They know both sides and takes on a topic and are highly educated. If one were to ask them about their particular interest they could give them thorough, opinionated answer. They tend to be highly judgmental. Then there's those who are some what interested. They might read the headline or the first couple lines of an article but they don't have a lot of time. They don't get too involved with anything seeing as they don't have enough time or aren't truly passionate about one thing in particular. They float through the newspaper. They get by through reading some things but they get to nothing into super detail. Then there's those who aren't interested at all. The don't read the article in the newspapers. They don;t listen to the news reports on Fox television. They have no clue what is going on in the news world and they don't care to know. So the question remains. Do you cater to the specific audience whom you know will read your article? Why bother reaching those you know will never pick up the paper? In the eyes of a good journalist, they will try to target all kinds of people. They will make those who don't pick up the newsprint, pick one up. They will catch their interest and create a change in their daily patterns. Not only will a good journalist make those not interested, interested he will make the involved even more involved and the semi interested more interested. Easier said than done right. I think there are ways that you can target a wider audience not be based strictly on the content matter. I think a lot of it deals with how you present the material. Video media is the way which is why I wanted to demonstrate that point in class. I had someone read this contemporary artist in the New York who was being arrested for his acts but stopped a class mate abruptly to show the video clip which was more engaging and interesting.

Another point I wanted to make was about our role as journalists. right now tons of people are blogging and tweeting. People in the mass media are using that as their source of information. Instead of turning on the news or reading the newspaper they are looking to these venues. If people are emphasizing this role of citizen journalism so strongly, if all we seem to be talking about in our journalism class is the trend of blogging, tweeting, and facebooking and if its a required assignment even for the class to be doing these things then why have journalism? Is there a need for it? After all people are out their, voices are being hear, and people believe these sources to be credible.  While all of these things are true, there still is an important role for journalism. While people can look to all these other outlets to find out information, journalism and what is printed in black ink is what is credible. not everything you see posted on people's facebook chats are necessarily true.  They could have heard it through the grapevine, heard it from an unreliable source and they haven't looked up the facts or done their homework. A journalist would have. They would have gone out into the field and pieced everything together in order to produce a story. I think these outlets are good because if people aren't going to pay attention to the news at least they will get it somehow and if someone is interested in it enough they will do something about it. They will follow up and look on that news website to verify the  truth. Journalists, tweeters and bloggers all have a place in the journalistic society. 

I learned a lot during this presentation those are just two points I wanted to emphasize. While the procedures and way of delivering messages are evolving through time the need for journalism still exists and will always exist in my opinion.

Thirsty Anyone?

So today it was pronounced that drum roll..... there is water on the moon! Here's a short version of their discovery- A satellite known as Lcross crashed into a crater near the moon's south pole about a month ago. This crash caused a hole 60-100 feet wide revealing over 26 gallons of water.  For decades scientists have wondered whether this was indeed true, helping prove that water has been in the solar system for billions of years. This article was posted in the New York Times (Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/science/14moon.html?ref=todayspaper) and goes more in depth with science and their discoveries. I'm not going to lie, I tuned out. Yes, I read and finished the article but do I remember anything towards the end? No, not really. What interested me was the fact that water is on the moon. 

Having worked on my presentation today, I want tobring up the fact that when it comes to stories you're not going to capture everyone at once. Some people are engaged, slightly interested or not interested at all. In this particular case i would be the right in the middle. I did read the article. The headline on the New York Times website did catch my interest and pull me in as a reader. But do I really care about all the logistics and findings of this story? Not really. There are some people that do. There are people who live for science or outer space and were exstatic to hear of this discovery. Unlike me, they have probably heard about this before the article was even released. Even after it was released on the web, they will read the story again today when it comes out on print.  Then there's people who would even read the first line of this article. They only care about what personally benefits them and knowing that there's water on the moon is not one of them. 

What I have concluded based off my personal opinion and the readings I read based on the roles of citizens is that as journalists we need to cater to all types of people. In the Role of Journalist's article it described how the front page of the paper shouldn't be biased. It shouldn't only cover sports, or politics. A successful paper focuses on putting out a good variety of stories that will appeal to different people. Journalists and newspaper companies want to be known for delivering the facts and stories that people want to hear. Showing many different viewpoints and topics while staying unbiased is key. 

Sometimes though this is easier said than done. Your boss tells you that you have to write on a certain topic and you have no other choice. The Deseret News is more family oriented while the Slat Lake Tribune takesa more liberal stance. Sometimes people want to read about things that aren't in your opinion news worthy. Because people are talking about it and making it news you have to report it. When Michael Jackson dies people were going on and on long after his death about his life and story as a performer. Things were going on in the world but what made it to the front countless times? Michael Jackson. Was this because journalists wanted to cover this or was it because they knew this is what their audience wanted to read? There will be articles that you might not want to read but that's where the freedom lies. You can do what you want. You can read what you want. You can go to whatever website you desire. The option lies in you and that's the beauty.

Twitter

Twitter is new to me. Up until this semester I had heard about this thing but never expressed any desire to subscribe. I already had facebook. Why would I want one more thing? And what's with this whole tweeting business anyhow.

Today, I wouldn't call myself no expert but I have a grasp of this online program thanks to a class where the number of times I tweet is represented through a grade. While I still haven't fully entered and emerged into this tweeting world, I am getting more used to how this program functions, why more people are using it and what benefits it has to the social world. 

In the NY Times today Twitter joined with it's ally LinkedIn to continue it's spread across the web. “Twitter is not only a massively open platform, but also it’s a place where there’s a tremendous amount of professional information already being shared, and we wanted to be sure that was coming to our LinkedIn user base,” said Allen Blue, LinkedIn’s co-founder and vice president of product strategy. Microsoft and Google claimed they would incorporate tweets into their search results. By joining these two companies it will become more of a powerhouse. In the article it talked about how it will have a broader reach especially in the professional world. They aren't sure how well this will start off or how much revenue they will be making right off but it is worth the try.

Isn't the power of the people amazing? People can express or share their ideas about whatever they desire and millions of other viewers can be connected to that. Even this thing called a blog, (which I am currently using) has made a huge impact in the advertising and social networking world over the past couple years. Someone who started a business, created a blog and found a million followers interested in their work are now millionaires. Now that's saying something. In my opinion, the power lies more in the average everyday person more than ever and what a great opportunity that is. The power lies in our hands.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/tweets-are-coming-to-linkedin/?ref=technology

Commander in Chief Steps in

Just 26 minutes ago youtube posted this video. In a time of crisis who comes to the rescue? Who attempts to put the people at ease? In this case it was President Obama. Just today their was a shooting in Fort Hood Texas killing at least 12 people, 30 were wounded. The information is still being revealed but that's where the stats stand currently. The shooter had been killed and 2 people are in questioning for having helped contribute to this horrific act of violence. We see and hear about soldiers dieing overseas as they fight in the war but never would I imagine it happening in American soil.  Mother's pray for their children in hopes that they will serve honorably, and come back untouched and unharmed. I am 100% sure they never thought that their own children would be at risk in training, right here in the United States. At least I never saw something like this coming. 

As i read the New York Times from day to day, I kind of wait for the breaking news to develop. I wait to see some interesting, outrageous story to hit the front headlines of the paper. While the swine flu vaccinations, war in Iraq, and health care seem to always make it up there I have been waiting for something big. I guess I got what I was waiting for. 

What I want to discuss is the speech played out by Obama. He talks about the men and woman that were killed and injured in this situation. How they are these brave Americans who put their lives at risk on our behalf and for our freedom. He talks about how they are working with the Pentagon, the F.B.I. and Home Land Security to ensure the safety of those around. 

He sympathized for the people by stating his heart goes out to the family of the wounded. He brings up the security and claims his support for the community. There is no greater honor or no grater responsibility to make sure that the people in the army are properly cared for. If anything could put these families and parents who are directly involved at ease, the president could help in that department. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/us/06forthood.html?_r=1&hp

Here's another clip of the President stepping in on September 11 with the terrorist attacks an on the world trade center. This is a day we will always remember. This was a day marked in history. While the shooting that happened today on the army base may not be as big of a tragedy, it's interesting to hear the speeches given by the presidents. They as the leader of our nation step into give the people a sense of peace and hope. In trying times like this or that on September 11, that is exactly what the people needed. A feeling that life can go on and will get better. My prayers go out to all those personally affected by this situation.

Post Interview Thoughts

Boal a news anchor from KSL took the time to answer some questions I had and here our my opinions in relation to his. The first thing that caught my attention was the fact that after Boal went to graduate school he went to a small market in Florence, Alabama. Do you know where Florence is? The only Florence I know if is in Italy. But this advice is the same that guest speaker Amanda Butterfield gave us aspiring journalists. Go to a small market, where you will learn immensely and get to take on every role and be apart of the whole news process. 

I would have to agree with almost everything he said throughout the interview. Good journalism is about reporting the events and news that people are interested in. You wont have success if you write these amazing articles yet no one picks up to read it. It wouldn't be news. No one would be talking about and it would go untouched, unnoticed. I liked how Boal summed it up at good journalism all gets people to ask themselves, "why should I care?" He then defines how KSL only gives good journalism. Now this may be true, but why would he say differently. He represents KSL, he works for them so of course he is only going to put them in good light. Knowing this, and having watched this particular news channel I can agree with Boal on this one.

I found it interesting that he will report the stories that are assigned to him yet he gets to put his own taste and feel to them. He can report them as he would like and he can even go as far as to dig up his own stories and have them get approved. I have worked in a newsroom but he said most don't work that way. They are assigned a story, they cover that story and that's that. What a great thing KSL offers to their coworkers to be able to get out in the field, talk to those in the community and write a a story that they are personally passionate about. 

When it came to talking about civic, citizen and public journalism I found his answers to be rather interesting. He had to make a plug that this news channel is all about serving the people and the community. "KSL TV has done community journalism since it first went on the air." Right here, he is stating that this has been a central focus to their company since they first started and has continued to be that way over the years. He brought up an important part about civic journalism. When is comes to dealing with community issues like gang violence as he brought up, what better source to get the real hard facts than from the people themselves. The people who are living amongst gangs or who know people inside them. I do think he brought up the point that as citizens we can partake in a huge role of reporting and getting the news out there. We have different mediums like twitter and thing called blogging )what I'm doing right now) that helps contribute to our voice being heard. I thought the last statement he made was rather interesting. He brought up the fact that bloggers wouldn't have anything to talk about if it wasn't for the journalist relaying the story. I would have to disagree with this comment. I think news can be created through the people first. I think news can be heard through blogging and tweeting before it could even make it on air on the channel 5 news. Boal in a way underestimates the power of the community and the power of the people through this comment. 

Boal's comment about making a difference was really inspiring. He brought up a story about how he was trying to raise money for someone who had leukemia so she could get a bone marrow transplant. While I think that a good majority of the news is pointless, and has little value to me, stories like this give me hope. Personally, I would rather hear about people doing good for the community, doing good for a fellow citizen that to hear that Britney Spears broke up with her boyfriend. Who cares? I definitely don't.  I too think that a lot of the news stories have bad endings or are tragedies. That's what catches people interests, that's what shocks the world and in a way, that's what  people like to hear. It's nice to know that a big news channel like KSL can still promote these stories that are for a good cause. 

When it came to the question about how has journalism changed over the years, I thought it was interesting how he said their newsroom doesn't tell biased stories. Wouldn't all newsrooms like to think that. I think he should have stated that as a newsroom, they try not to produce biased stories, they try to hear both sides. People have beliefs in one thing, who has been raised thinking a certain way and who has developed their own personal stance in certain issues. How can you not say that these feelings aren't going to push them in certain directions. As far as the decline in TV viewership and the decline in people reading the actual newspaper, he addressed the same issue that we talk about tin class. He talks about how it will be important to work and know about the media because that is the future. Boal said earlier that KSL's website is the most watched over and that right there is a big leap ahead the other news channels. I believe just as Boal said that the news channels with strong websites are the one's that will survive.

His advice was beneficial. he told me to read the New York Times. Hmmmm....sound a bit familiar? Isn't that what Dr. Cressman  has required of us in this Intro to Journalism Class. He told me to work hard and to be in this field I have to love it. This comment reflects what Amanda Butterfield had to say on Wednesday in class about how journalism is a life commitment. It isn't a 7-5 job Monday through Friday but you have to commit your life to it. If you don't love journalism, than do something else. He told me to spell check and what am I about to do as I close this blog post up, spell check. What a wise man he is. This interview really got me thinking. I am only taking this class because I have to, I haven't had any real desire to get into journalism but this class and an interview like this has made me appreciate this work and what journalist have to offer.

Up Close and Personal with Jed Boal from KSL-TV 5

1. Why did you go into journalism? 

Unlike many of my colleagues.  I did not pursue Journalism as an undergrad.  I majored in English and History at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  When I graduated, I thought I might go to law school, but it was writing that I truly enjoyed.  I wasn't quite ready to write the Great American Novel, so I decided to go for a Master's in Journalism, where they would certainly assign the projects for me.  Once in grad school, I discovered I liked TV more than print, because of the immediacy of the medium and the teamwork. 

2. How did your break in the field? 

Once I graduated, I sent out tapes to small markets across the country and started as a TV reporter and anchor in Florence, AL.  Tiny market, about the size of Idaho Falls.

3. How do you define “good” journalism? 

Big question.. that's what it's all about.  Good journalism first and foremost is good storytelling.  Tell the stories that matter to your audience: inform them about community crises and community affairs, uncover and expose negative undercurrents and activities, and entertain the viewers with surprising stories about the people of their community.  Good journalism always answers the question, "Why should I care?"

4. Do you feel like your news organization practices “good” journalism? 

KSL-TV's mission is good journalism.  Most days we measure up.  We have a bigger and more experienced staff than our competitors.  That gives us the ability to cover more stories every day, stories that go beyond the breaking news and the police blotter of the day.  We deliver "real news": important and interesting local news stories with direct relevance to the lives of our viewers, presented in a clear manner.  It's pretty simple when you don't have to worry about gimmicks.

5. How would you define the type of journalism you do? 

I'm a general assignment reporter.  I cover any story on the board.  With anchoring duties, however, I usually end up doing stories that do not require me to be live in the field.  The assignments vary in the course of a career.  I do a lot of military affairs, transportation, and business stories these days.

6. Does your organization allow you to do the type of journalism you want 

to do? 

If I pitch a good story to my boss, I get to do it.  On any given day, they may assign me something that needs to be done that day; but, eventually I get to do the stories I like.  I'm lucky.  That's not the case for most reporters today in most newsrooms.

7. How does the journalism you practice serve your community? 

We give our viewers a fair, comprehensive and professional brand of journalism, nearly all of the time, throughout every newscast.  Our website reaches more people than all other media websites in the state combined!  People come to KSL, BECAUSE we serve our community, by telling the stories that matter.

8. What is your opinion about recent movements such as community, 

citizen, civic, and public journalism? 

KSL TV has done community journalism since it first went on the air.  We will always cover the stories of all communities of Utah, even the smaller towns. Public journalism, as I see it, puts us in a greater role of advocacy, and we do some of that.  I think when a newsroom tries to tackle tough issues like gang violence, domestic violence, or other large-scale civic issues, it makes sense to take that role and partner with members of the community to further the reporting.  Citizen journalism is always evolving, and extremely variable.  On one end of the spectrum, it can amount to propaganda and campaigning.  On the other end, it can be a good way for members of the community to keep professional journalists on their toes.  Bloggers across the country now do much more coverage of city council meetings, and events right down the street that newsrooms don't have the time to cover.  Other bloggers, however, would have nothing to spout off about if a pro wasn't other there telling the story first.

9. Have you ever had an experience in which you felt your work as a 

journalist really made a difference? 

 I know my work makes a difference regularly.  In J-school, one of our profs mocked us all for "wanting to make a difference."  He believed we could change nothing in the world, and we were naive to think we could   He was wrong.  We tell stories at KSL that motivate people in our community to do great things every day.  Tonight, I will tell the story of a Mongolian girl dying from leukemia.  She needs $350,000 for a bone marrow transplant to save her life.  Her friends started a website to raise money.  Undoubtedly, people will see the story tonight  and want to help.. by the thousands.  Will it be enough? It just might be.  That's not the case every day, but, don't let any cynical academics tell you it doesn't happen.  I could write for hours about the stories KSL has done just this year that made a difference in the lives of many people.  If you think you're not making a difference as a reporter, you need to dig for better stories, or go do something else. (That topic always gets me going;)

10. How have your views about journalism changed over the years? 

We all become more cynical and jaded, no matter how we try to guard against it.  I get weary of more violence, more crime in our neighborhoods and more teachers who have sex with their middle school student.  At the end of every day, I love this job.  Despite claims from the right: many mainstream newsrooms are not biased, and actually tell balanced stories every day.  I think the business itself has changed more than my views of the business.  Newspapers continue to flounder, TV viewership is down, young journalists need to aspire to newsrooms with the most reach on the web.  TV will evolve, newspapers without major websites will continue to go out of business.

11. Have you been affected by dropping circulations, ratings, layoffs, and 

growth of citizen journalism? 

 I don't think citizen journalism has affected KSL TV.  I don't think a blogger in a bathrobe will bring down KSL.  Despite the intrigue of the movement, few bloggers will ever make a difference to anyone but friends, family and everyone else who already drank their kool-aid.  Having said that, the overall content of the web has cut into viewership.  Ratings are down, that affects revenue.  We've cut about 15-20% of our station staff, from management to reporters, most of it through attrition, but some people were let go.  At Channel 2, they've fired half their station in the last 15 months!. I think 30% at the papers in SLC.  I feel lucky to work here, and have a great job.  Everybody works harder when the economy is bad.  Unfortunately, thinner newsrooms mean thinner product.

12. What advice would you give students wanting to go into journalism? 

You'll probably get more advice than you'll ever want, so I'll keep it simple.  Read the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal (or another major national daily) on line when you can.  Follow the news in your community.  As a working journalist, always keep an open mind, and never underestimate where a story idea might come from.  Read a lot, write a lot, watch a lot of local and national news, pay attention and repeat.  It's a very competitive business.  To succeed you have to work harder than the person sitting next to you, and then keep doing it, year after year.  To do that, you have to LOVE it.  If you find that you don't love it, go do something else.  On the more practical side: you need to be able to offer a potential employer a lot of skills.  You need to know the fundamentals AND new media.  If you're going into TV, you need to be able to one-man-band, edit AND put stories on line.  Who, what, where, when, why and how?  Pay attention to detail: it's all about details.  Spell check.  Lastly: be eager, cheerful, and ready for any assignment.  My boss hires good people, but only people he likes:)

RIP

Just two weeks ago it was a Friday night and I went to this part my friends were throwing. it was there that I saw and met Robi for the first time. LIttle did I know that this was going to be our last encounter. Just this past weekend, Robi was longboarding down the Provo Canyon Trail with friends when he lost control, fell straight on his head and was knocked unconscious. He was then airflighted to the hospital but pronounced dead. I didn't know this man really well but I was in his ward last year. I knew his friends. One of my best friends was dating his roommate so there were some connections, there were some ties but now he is gone.

I have had some really good friends of mine get in serious longboarding accidents where they are rushed to the hospital, knocked unconscious or had gotten into an accident that cause so much internal damage they had to relearn how to read and write. This accidents happen more than one knows and a lot of these accidents are because people aren't wearing helmets. They are off with their friends, crusing down the Provo Canyon Trail and something happens which cause them to lose their balance. More times than not, when one falls there's serious repercussions. Some so serious that the life os someone is taken. I think people need to be smarter. People need to prtect their heads. Ya, this might not be the cool, trendy thing to do but when it comes to life or death situations is that really going to matter?

Obviously I am not the only one who finds this to be a serious problem in our local area. Longboarders have been banned and limited to certain restrictions when going down the trail. People are being overly cautious to protect the people from harm.

Different people from the community in this clip express their views and concerns with the current situation. Sometimes it takes something big like the death of an aquaintance to really open up the yees of those around. This incident happening in Thursday did just this for me. I can't even imagine being the parents. I can;t even imagine losing a close friend, a roommate. I can't even imagine thinking that would be the last time I would see that person. I can;t even imagine having my life flash before me as I was about to fall. I can;t even imagine paxking up my roommates things knowing he wont be there any longer. All of these things could have been prevented if he would have done one things. But why say you could have, should have would have. Because we have the gospel in our lives we know that this was his time. We might not understand it but the Lord must need him on the other side. 

As I hear more tragic stories about this, it makes me want to take more of stand and make a difference. I guess that's what you could a journalist.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8452265

Someone Needs More Attention

One of the most memorable stories covered this past week in the newspaper was the Balloon Story. It wasn't because I was fearful and worried about the missing kid, or because i sympathized for the parents of the missing child. This article was just straight up absurd. None of the facts measured up, and the parents were acting a bit suspicious. Now that the story has been released, we all know the outcome. The parents claimed their child had flown off into a hot air balloon and for a couple hours was "missing." News reporters from all over were covering this story, helicopters were following the balloon just waiting for its landing. All of the sudden the balloon was slightly descending and heading straight into a tree! The balloon hit hard and toppled to the ground. As the basket turned over, there laid the boy, dead! Believable?

Well that didn't happen. Half of the story was hyped up. I just wanted to add some drama to the story, spice it up a bit. Who cares if some of it's a lie, it's interesting, more people will want to read it and that's all the matters. OK, so maybe I'm being really facetious and sarcastic, I'm just trying to make a point. Just as I wanted to fabricate a story to draw interest, get more recognition for my crazy ending to the balloon story, this same act was sought out in the story. The parents through lying and calling the police to report their missing child achieved just this. The whole thing was a hoax, they did it for fame and recognition and because they were caught, it's going to have serious repercussions. As the little boy said when asked why he was hiding up in the barn he replied, " I thought you told me to do it all for the show." And a show they made. 

This story was nationwide and it was all a lie. Some people instantly believed and followed the news covering, believing every word and sight. Others had reservations about the truthfulness of the article. This just goes back to what we discussed in class, verification. Is it the reporter's role to convey a story that is nothing but the truth? Is it the editor's responsibilities to check what the story is about and make sure it's backed up with legitimate sources? Is it the reader's responsibility to not believe everything they see in print. While we would like to believe that reporters are only going to give us the truth, we have to realize this isn't always true. The same goes for those the story is about like this particular case, those relaying the story were making things up! I think we have a responsibility to do our own personal research if things don't seem in line and we have a hard time believing if something is true. This way, we would have done our homework and we will find out whether it's true or not. If it really is true, perfect. If it was all a lie, than we need not to wonder. We can't always depend on those writing the story or those giving the facts. We have to do our own part if want the truth. As much as we would like to trust all those who live in this world sadly, it just doesn't work that way.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/10/16/us/1016-BALLOON_ready_9.html

Orthodox Jews Not So Orthodox

On the front page of the New York Times today the article, "Orthodox Jews Rely More on Sex Prosecution" caught my interest.  As i read further it didn't go into detail about all the convicted criminals, or give full on details of the victims but it was what they failed to mention that intrigued me. The New York Times was spotlighting a religious sect in relation to sex prosecution which seems counterintuitive. Stories of molestation and rape have been covered in every newspaper and in every town, but choosing to focus on one specific group of people is rather interesting.  

We know that orthodox Jews aren't the only one committing these acts but that is solely what the article covers. Biased? I'll let you answer that. I don't ever see people writing stories on the African American race and their incidents with rape or older white males and their run ins with the law. So why segment these people. Yes, (according to the article) there's some 180,000 people under the Hasidic religion with only one or two arrests being made a couple years ago. The numbers have significantly increased, last year the number was 26. Now doesn't 26 seem like a large number?! I would tend to disagree. While 26 is greater than 1 or 2, in comparison to the whole United States population this number is minuscule! This increase in number seems to be the anchor of writing this story which i find preposterous. I think the reporter's just wanted to put two topics together that they knew would cause someone to think to themselves.....hmmm Orthodox Jews and Sex Offenders?An article like this makes a reader want to read more than just the headline. You could say it worked for me. 

So one must ask themselves, is that what a journalist is supposed to achieve? Are journalists supposed to stretch information to give the general population something of interest? Or should they relay the information they receive in an appropriate, informative yet interesting manner. This question goes back to our discussion we had today in class about what is truth and what's a journalist's responsibilities.  While I think some of these facts are proof in this article http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/nyregion/14abuse.html?_r=1&ref=todays paper it just doesn't do it for me. Let's talk about a specific incident that has never been covered before. Lets tell a story that has never be told. 

If i were a journalist I would steer away from the lets pick a somewhat innocent sect of people and tag them with sex prosecution. Some might call this harsh but that's not the point I'm trying to make. Yes, it can be offensive to reveal the Jews in this kind of light but I ask myself why? Is it necessary knowing that some 26 Orthodox Jews committed sexual crimes? No. Why not emphasize the one interesting sentence in the article about the fact that up until recently Jews haven't been able to voice their opinion. They always took matters into the hands of their rabbis and most of the time situations were too complicated for them to handle. Now, Jews are speaking up and standing up for themselves. Why not tune in to this part of the story and take it one step further through telling the story in the voice of a Hasidic Jew? This would give the deep, emotional wow factor that would give the readers exactly what they want to read.

LA TIMES VS. NY TIMES- a Graphic Design Perspective

Los Angeles Times verse the New York Times. Two separate magazines both catered for a specific city but sent out nationally. That doesn't remain the only difference. Lets just look at the websites. While I have become pretty accustomed to looking at the NY Times seeing as I read it daily and have the privilege of studying for those quizzes, I have become used to the format. Is it the mos successful and the easiest to navigate? I would say no. Just look at the website for the LA Times for instance. http://www.latimes.com/ The navigation bar is on the top of the screen in nice bold letters. The background is black with white text enabling the important information that one would want to look at completely legible. It is divided into all the sections that would appear in a newspaper which enables the viewer to find exactly what he or she is looking for. While the NY Times offers these same things, there information isn't as clear. It is posted on the left-hand side of the screen and is not fully visible until you further scroll down the page. The text isn't as bold and doesn't catch my attention as much as LA Time's website. Something that seems so minuscule and simple might not seem like it would create such a large impact but trust me, it does. I'm in a class right now that is specifically for web design and it makes a difference. If people can easily navigate through your website, the more likely they will return. The more they view your website, the more publicity you will and the more revenue you can receive towards the actual newspaper through subscriptions or even advertising.

Less people are reading the newspaper. While people in the older generations still look forward to receiving their morning paper, the younger generation is turning to the Internet. With these facts, it's proven that less and less print journalists are getting hired. It's not about just reporting a specific event but times are changing where conveying news through different medias is acceptable. With the rising downfall, newspapers are struggling to stay alive. Revenues and readers are declining. While some papers are falling completely out of business these two remain strong. One thing that the LA Times has going for them on their website that again the NY Times is lacking in is the clear visibility of the subscribe button. Isn't that one of the main objectives in getting people to view your website? To find the news so engaging that want to subscirbe so they have their own personal copies? I couldn't even find that button on the NY Times website while the LA Times has placed it at the very top. The subscribe is literally the first button on the top of the site that one can click on. How strategic and perfect is that? If that's their main objective than they are doing a good job at succeeding that in a design perspective.

I'm not saying in any way that I prefer reading the LA Times over the NY Times, after all they both have informative informative and stories to tell. But as a graphic designer, and after really looking at the individual websites of the two newspaper companies I can strongly say the LA Times has the better design. Their website is easy to navigate and that's what the population is looking for, interesting content that is easy to get to, inviting the readers to come back and visit again.

Youtube

Youtube appears to be "mastering the art of turning video piracy into revenue for itself and its partners." That's why it's one of the most viewed website making piles of money. This website serving as a place for people to upload, exchange and view video clips has taken over the internet world. For the past couple years, music video and television clips created tension between them and Google. Copyright issues were brought to the surface when people would upload videos without permission. Up until last year things had bead been a certain way but now things have changed. Companies are wanting their video clips on Youtube because they know it will create more publicity and a buzz. Youtube has online advertisements and the money made is split between them and the company. Youtube is even working with smaller based companies who convert audio and video media into digital files. This technology will enable them to identify certain clips almost instantly after something's live.

According to ComScore, 40 percent of all the online videos seen in the United States in August were through Youtube. These are astounding numbers. Youtube is taking over and enabling information, and ideas to be spread not only nationally but worldwide. Here's some examples.....


clips on ESPN about byu's epic win against Oklahoma or something totally pointless about a bearded, dancing man/woman with over 65,000 viewers

Whatever the source or topic, Youtube i taking new venues to make their website more user friendly for it's million users. To sum everything up, Youtube is taking over.

Letterman Scandal

Well, we can all say that Letterman's show rose in numbers after having President Barack Obama appear on his late night show on September 22. This lifted Letterman's "Late Show" to it's most viewers in the past four years to nearly 7.218 million people. This insn't the only thing thats keeping Letterman in the front page news.

Recently, Letterman confessed to being unfaithful to his wife. He apologized to his wife Regina on the air when the revelation of him sleeping with his coworkers broke out to the public. Not only did he apologize to his wife but his staff stating, "I’m terribly sorry that I put the staff in that position."
It amuses me how stories like this make headlines. Don't we see this n repeat in almost any an all famous celebrity relationships? They are in love, they get married and then what happens? With the lifestyles they are living, being unfaithful to your spouse is the ongoing trend. When i read stories like this am I surprised? Did this shock me? Did I tell myself, "wow...never saw that coming?" That would be a no, no and a no. Of course I would like to wish these couples who are in the spotlight the best in their marriage but in all reality these incidents take place.
I guess one could say it's a journalist's job to make account and publicize this to public domain. After all journalists report what they think the viewers want to hear and that's why it makes it all over television, all in the magazines, newspapers and all over the internet. I'm just wondering why? Why do we care, why do people want to know the scoop inside people's personal lives. News is out there, people need to be informed about more important matters, people's voices need to be heard, and topics need to be discussed. David Letterman shameful act is of no importance to me or the benefit of society. As people continue to act interested in matters such as this, the stories will exist. As for now, I'll just skip over those articles.

texting while driving? More like texting and taking something way too far.

First, just watch this video.

Can you just say intense. Way too intense for television? Yes, I along with society understands this is a pressing issue. "21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year." While this is a common and reoccuring problem amongst more and more people did you really have to show blood? Did you really have to drag the whole psa 4 minutes and 41 seconds? Did you really have to involve a baby? Another head on collison from another car as if the first crash wasn't enough? Did you really have to bring in a young innocent child witnessing the death of her parents? While this hit me hard and huge impact I think it was taken way too far. Wouldn't something like this be better?

Both videos have the same goal, make people aware of the dangers texting and driving causes. They brought in the emotional appeal by incorporating a younger girl as the spokesperson, they showed the crashed car as a result of driving and you felt for the friends as they sat by her grave. Call me a baby, I would rather be watching the later one then witnessing a bloody, horrific car accident in full second by second detail. Hearing about those stories is enough for me.

"Never Forget, Never Forgive"

Well i figured out how to add a picture and embed a video. Now i would say that thats progress, but with that came the deletion of everything i have written! So watch this video and you will get an idea of the terrible things going on in the Middle East. I was there a year ago this time and this story really hit home fore me.

Twitter, it serves a purpose

Some people just use this thing called Twitter for personal enjoyment but as stated during the month of August in the New York Times, tweeting served far more importance. It's use in Iran gave it a new found respect. During their presidential election in June 2009, tweeting helped organize protests and disseminate information. It didn't just serve as a current update in someone's life but relayed information that was attempted to be cut off from the rest of society.

I'm blogging for the first time...this should go down in history

Driving on the 405 freeway southbound, Maria Sanchez with three-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter get in a fatal car crash when Dan Marcus hit them head on. Dan came onto the freeway entering opposing traffic while driving under the influence around 9 pm last night. Dan driving at over 90 miles per hour hit Maria’s blue mini van head on. The car instantly flipped three times. Maria and her two children are in the intensive care unit at Los Robles Hospital while Dan Marcus died instantly on the scene.  

When citing a news report, story, persuasive argument, or someone’s opinion the viewer might do two things: engagingly read or not read the article. The journalist or the writer’s job is to pull people their audience in and read more than just the headline. Journalism is what people read in the tabloids, magazines, newspaper, what they hear on breaking television, the radio, or what they read through a computer screen.

            Not only are heir different venues in which journalist’s writing can be displayed, there are different topics they feel are worth mentioning. A journalist reveals information to the people through editing, writing or taking pictures. Sad, humorous, outrageous, informative, uplifting, inspiring, debatable, and emotional are perspectives the writer or the journalist might decide to approach. They will steer their stories to the outside world discussing particular topics that support their target audience. Journalists want people to be fully engaged in the stroy they’ve spent the time to create.  Without a reader, listener or viewer a journalist’s work would be obsolete. Just as much as the write plays an important part in society so do the people.