Plagiarism, fabrication, bias, fallacies. As we have seen, whether it's intentional misconduct or unintentional violations of sound journalistic practices, numerous ethical problems have the potential to exist when writing for print or broadcast news. Yet it's not just words that we have to be careful with, but photographs as well. Thanks to amazing software programs like Photoshop, it's incredibly easy to alter a photograph to make someone or something appear better (or worse). While that's fine for something like a senior picture, it's completely unethical to alter a photograph or video accompanying a news story. You wouldn't change someone's quote. Yet some people don't see anything wrong with changing a photograph. Remember, photojournalism must abide by the same ethical principles of truth and accuracy.
Recently political satirist and TV host Jon Stewart criticized Fox TV's Sean Hannity for playing with the facts, the visual facts that is. Click here to watch the clip from the show. Pay close attention to the video and what Stewart is calling Hannity out for. (By the way, Hannity later apologized for what he called an "inadvertent mistake".)
I hope you've enjoyed our journalism class and this journalism blog this semester. What are some of the most important things you have learned? Waldsmith's Dispatch will be on hiatus until September 2011 when a new crop of aspiring writers joins me for another semester of journalism bootcamp!
Creative Commons photo, "Sunset Road", by Kopfjäger
Well, a couple of days ago I was definitely one of those people who would have said that altering journalism photographs is okay! Over the semester my opinions and views of journalism have changed substantially. I enjoyed the challenge of learning a new style of writing. Although I disliked them at the time, the interviews I was required to do have helped me a lot. Even if I don't go on to Newsprint, learning how to interview someone is just one lesson from this class that I know will help me in other areas.
ReplyDeleteJournalism class has definitely made me a better writer. I have learned to write shorter, clearer sentences. Being able to write concisely has helped me immensely with my english papers, and will definitely be very useful in the future. Although the class was challenging, I have learned a lot and I am glad that I took journalism.
ReplyDeleteJournalism class has made me understand what journalism really is. When I signed up for this class I was worried that it would just be writing assignment after writing assignment but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case. I learned many interesting things about journalism and how to be a good journalist. The class has motivated me to pursue my interest in journalism and I am very glad that I took the class!
ReplyDeleteThat video was really hilarious. I was shocked that such a large news company thought they could get away with something like that. This class has really opened my eyes to be more critical of the world around me. I also think it has helped my writing to be more precise. I'm glad that I took on the challenge of an extra English class because I think I really benefited from it.
ReplyDeleteJon Stewart was very clever because he made his point very well at the same time he made his audience laugh. He approached a really controversial topic and did a great job projecting his opinion.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important things I learned this semester is that it is very important to have all of your facts correct in writing and photos. If I write something that is a lie, I am actually altering reality. It sounds like a very powerful thing to do: to alter reality, and sounds like a big mistake to make. No one would ever want to be lead on by a false story or picture because it is not morally or ethically right.
Also I learned that a photo is just as important as a picture because a very dramatic or emotional picture can be the one thing that can lead someone into reading the actual story that the picture is about.
I have enjoyed this class. I learned that I have some ability in writing that I never realized before high school. Journalism class has helped me to further develop my writing. One of the things I learned is that in journalism and journalistic writing accuracy and integrity are of utmost importance. I never thought about how unique and specific journalistic writing is before this class! I feel like I have become a better writer and have become more interested in writing and journalism. Now, I look at the way things are reported differently. I definitely have more appreciation and respect for journalists and their work. I am glad I took this class!
ReplyDeleteI learned in class that photographers digitally altering pictures for even the smallest things, like legs behind a sign, is ethically wrong. Writers are expected to report the whole truth, and I'm glad photographers, being journalists as well, are held to the same standards.
ReplyDeleteI watched the video with my mom, and she was astonished that a professional news organization merged film from two different days together as one. We both agree that this is proof that things like this happen more than we're aware of.
I truly enjoyed this course. This class strengthened my interest in journalism. I believe I've grown as a writer, and I am able to take things I learned and use them towards everyday writing and in my future career as a journalist. I've learned more grammatic rules and simple things like the inverted pyramid, for news reporting, and the rule of thirds,for photography. I liked the editorial assignment the most because I was able to share a topic I feel strongly about persuasively. I also enjoyed the news feature and review assignments. They allowed me to use a bit more creativity. Thank you for teaching me and helping me grow as a writer.
This journalism class turned out to be completely different from what I expected. We didn’t just learn how to write, but we learned what it takes to be a journalist and what the job entails. Although, I was happy to hone my wiring skills and learn different styles of writing, the class really gave a fresh perspective to the task of being a journalist. I now have become more aware of the news whether I am reading a magazines or a newspaper, or watching news on TV. It is shocking to see how news organizations will alter information just to inflate their stories. After taking this class I have a totally different view of the journalistic world. This class not only improved my writing but taught me things such as how to conduct an interview or how to draw a dummy. We didn’t just focus on newspapers, but studied news on the web and photojournalism. I am so glad I took this class because it gave a complete overview of the who, what, why, where, and how of journalism.
ReplyDeleteJournalism turned out to be a much more thorough class than I had expected. I thought we would just write a few stories maybe some leads and that would be it. But we really were treated like journalists! We learned to dos and don'ts and even the jargon used at news papers. It was more of a current events class which was informative and a lot of fun. Because we each had a voice and were encouraged to share our side of the story. I really enjoyed this class and feel a better writer and like I understand what it really means to be a journalist. Truth above all else, and deadlines will always be your best friend.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed journalism class this semester. While it was quite a bit different than I expected, I still enjoyed it. It turned out to be much more of a challenge than I realized it would be, but it was a real learning experience. Two major things that I learned was about how to write more concisely and how important deadlines are.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed journalism this semester. It made me look forward to second every morning. At first I didn't really know what to expect, but taking this class was a pleasant surprise. I was surprised at how thorough and challenging this class was but i am definitely glad i took it. I learned what a big responsibility it is to be a journalist. Your voice means something and what you choose to put out there will affect people. I also learned a completely new style of writing than what i was comfortable with. It definitely made me a better writer.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I thought the video was hilarious. Jon Stewart is great at what he does and it definitely shows.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my experience in this journalism class goes, I have learned so much. I could not even possibly list the amount of information that has been ingrained into my brain from taking this class. I have learned about leads, feature stories, hard news, soft news, fallacies, journalistic ethics, interviewing, and so much more.
My favorite part of the class would probably be the last two weeks when we were working on our news feature story. I just felt like all of our skills were being put to the test and we were in fact writing a real life story and getting to the heart of it. I learned that quotes and interviews are what gives a story color, but you can never ever fabricate a story, a quote, or alter a photograph. From the beginning of the semester when we were just learning the basics of the class, I was challenged as a writer and I think I have definitely grown and improved my writing enormously.
I think this class was basically a crash course in journalism and gave us an idea of what being a journalist was all about.
Journalism was by far my favorite class this semester, even though it was difficult and challenged me. I learned everything from the history of journalism to the basics of writing any type of news story. My writing has improved tremendously through the course of this class.
ReplyDeletePerhaps my favorite subjects that we learned about were the Watergate scandal, editorials, and photography. I enjoyed learning about the Watergate scandal because it emphasized not only the importance of journalism in the world, but also all of the hard work it required. It made me realize that although journalism wouldn't be a cakewalk, all of my hard work would be worth it in the end. I enjoyed editorials because they showed that journalism can make an impact in the world. It is an outlet to show the world issues that you care strongly about. Finally, I loved the photography portion because I found it to be very fun. I think that photography is an interesting way to show the world what is happening, and help people remember things. It can help stories to have a greater impact on the reader.
Overall this was a challenging but fun class, and I think that I came out on the other end a better journalist.
It appears that if someone in journalism does something wrong, the public always finds out. Kind of like that eerie sixth sense that mother's have where they know everything. That makes it not even worth it for journalists to plagiarize, etc. and yet they still do.
ReplyDeleteThis class has definitely helped my writing skills in many ways. Not only am I a strong writer as far as my word choice goes, but I am more analytical of what I say and how I say it and I am better able to get my point across. This skill will certainly help me in the future, not only with school, but in life. Overall, journalism has taught me a lot.
Before this class, I never fully grasped what being a journalist was all about. But after everything we've learned I feel I now understand the Journalists duties much better. A few things I learned from this class is the importance of accuracy and how to write concisely. This skills will not only help me if I choose to pursue Journalism, they will also help throughout the rest of my high school experience. And although this class was different then I expected, I enjoyed it immensely and I'm glad I took the opportunity to join the class.
ReplyDeleteWhenever we watch videos that include Jon Stewart, I's always shocked and entertained at the same time. Although I think it's ridiculous that Fox thought they could get away with something like that, I could see how it may be tempting to make the story look a little more interesting or dramatic.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I struggled with it at the beginning of the semester, Journalism has really helped me develop more of concise writing style. I know it will positively effect me in my years to come. But now when I pick up a newspaper, I'm not just a sponge, soaking the information in, I notice that I'm unconsciously nit-picking at the writer's word choice and style. I definetly understand the workings behind a newspaper much better now--such as beats and the editing process--and it has also helped me keep up with current events. Lets just say my parents were surprised when I knew who Juliet Assange was.