I have posted another blog with the format for the final story and its supplements.
November 18, 2008
Chapter 14 Homework
1. The ruling does not appear to be fair, from the information provided in the chapter. It makes no mention that Mr. Matthews’ editors were contacted as witnesses. The fact that he did not have notes raises enough suspicion to lend credibility to the FBI’s prosecutors however. Still, there must have been substantial proof from his previous work and editors to make some case for the defense.
2. It does not seem that much of the material that journalists would be after would require payment to view. The provision, as the chapter says, contradicts the Copyright Act, which in and of itself should constitute striking said provision. This could very well be a slippery slope where companies and government entities copyright “sensitive” information and only keep readily accessible copies on the Internet in order to make them harder to get a hold of.
3. When dealing with laws about libel, copyright and obscenity over the Internet, it would be best to judge the laws in the areas where users object. What may be legal to view in a country like Holland might not be so in the U.S., so local state and federal laws should not be undermined by people using different IP addresses.
October 30, 2008
Study says Election Day could be voting challenge
Voters are already experiencing problems in early voting: Canceled registrations, long lines and new voting machines.
On the Nov. 4 Election Day however the problems could intensify.
A recent study by the Pew Center shows that while there has been progress in voting technology and organization since the 2000 election, there are still hurdles to overcome. Chief among them is the amount of new voters that will be voting on Nov. 4.
“Many polling places will hit capacity and poll workers will be tested,” said Doug Chapin, director of electiononline.org in a prepared satatement. “Results from some counties could take longer than usual.”
Voting machines have also been changed several times since many voters went to cast their ballots. According to the Pew report, many machines bought as recently as six years ago have been replaced, especially in key states including Florida and California. Security was one of the reasons elections administrators and legislators decided to change machines.
Some states have also joined the bandwagon of offering voter-verified paper audit trails. Six states –South Carolina, New Jersey, Georgia, Delaware, Louisiana, and Maryland — use the system.
October 21, 2008
Latina Lista
The blog, Latina Lista, is mostly written by Marisa Treviño and cover political news, and provides an outlet for Hispanics reporters to write for. The blog posts mostly deal with Hispanic issue and news, including immigration and the Hispanic vote. There is also a Mediacast section that deals with more entertainment news.
There is also a book review section, a section where people can contribute and a blog that informs readers about running for office.
Ms. Treviño is a journalist and radio personality.
October 7, 2008
Pegasus News analysis
Unlike many of the other news Web sites we have been looking at so far this semester, Pegasus news generates less of its own content, and in many ways, is more like a glorified blog. That blog however has more people posting on it than a normal one and it features a more specialized design and interface.
One of the most noticeable features about the Pegasus News service’s site is that it is designed to be customized towards the reader and allows more personalization than many news sites. While not a unique concept (search engines and social networking sites have been doing this as well), it is a less common feature on “news” Web sites. Not all of Pegasus’ content is original – much of it comes from press releases and reputable news sources – and in that respect it feels more like a vastly updated blogging service. Indeed, Pegasus does have blogs, but the focus is on the “Your Neighborhood” function.
According to the site, Pegasus began with the emphasis on very local content, as opposed to any state, national or international news. This has been changed to an extent, but the first option on the top menu bar remains on the neighborhood.
Clicking on the Denton option for neighborhoods brings up a map (courtesy of Google), a calendar of events, stories (some of them from the NT Daily) and original reviews and previews. The other curious feature is the Find and Add event listings which let people who sign in and create an account add events, lost pets, garage sales, even story submissions. The amount and type of user-generated content is no doubt monitored, but it shows that Pegasus is more of a hybrid between say, GuideLive and Neighbors.
Because of this informal style, it is easy for reporters to perhaps take less care in their stories in order to get the information with a quick turnaround time. In one breaking news story, for example, the writer, Mr. Orren, quotes Wikipedia. Surely there is a slippery slope here of using any source, regardless of its credibility. The line between journalism and blogging here is more of a faint horizon on the stormy sea of newsgathering. Upon reading stories several mistakes were easily spotted. Staffers also regularly post comments on other staffers’ stories, which makes the site feel more like a forum than an online news wire.
The layout however is serviceable. The colors are just warm enough and nothing is too difficult to find. Some different formatting for story headlines, bylines and source attribution would help the site to regain some credibility though.
October 2, 2008
Obama vs. McCain Web
In looking at the campaign Web sites of Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, the ratio of substance over style seems to be even. Like the campaign, the two Web sites don’t differ very much but are both orientated towards the Internet savvy but easy enough to use for those who are not Internet savvy.
Take MCain’s site, which has blog posts by a staffer, links to similar blogs and a McCainSpace social networking site that lets users customize their own profile page and talk to other McCain supporters.
Obama’s site has a similar function, my.BarackObama.com, in addition to many more downloads, including Obama-theme site widgets, logos, and downloadable .pdf files including fliers and sign-up sheets.
Obama’s site also features more video than McCain’s and a better layed-out blog. There is also more information, including a ‘Fight the Smears’ page with educational tools about the campaign.
September 30, 2008
Print vs. Broadcast
Bryan Shettig Online Journalism
Local news: print vs. broadcast
Monday, September 29, 2008
The two news outlets I compared for Monday were the Dallas Morning News and WFAA 8’s 10 p.m. broadcast. One of the first things made evident of course is how little news there was in Channel 8’s broadcast, which is about 30 minutes long. The main focus of the broadcast was the bailout plan with several smaller packages that localized the story.
The segment started off with an update on the story about nine hours after the market closed. The segment included a part about Main Street in Grand Prairie and how restaurants there have been affected by the market crisis. The bailout story shared the top spot on the front page of the DMN yesterday (along with the Cowboys-Redskin game) and featured mostly national level news from wire and staff reports. The broadcast also featured a segment on the credit crunch and used a local Fort Worth restaurant opening up and how it will survive with less money lending. The segment had several sources, including a TCU business school faculty member and a used car salesman who lived through the Great Depression.
That segment was followed by an update that the station would be watching global markets as they opened around that time last night, including Asian markets. There was also a piece on how oil and gas prices would be affected by the bailout, or rescue plan. It also had footage of which Texas senators voted for and against the plan. Similar info was found in the DMN on the page 10A jump with quotes from Pete Sessions, R-Dallas and Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth.
The TV broadcast switched gears at this point to catch viewers up on the Dallas ISD layoffs, something which is not in the front page news section or the Metro section of the DMN on Monday but had been in the paper extensively over the past few weeks, especially in the Metro section. The TV broadcast also focused on other school districts that are trying to recruit the 160 laid-off staffers, including schools in Las Vegas, Nevada. That was also not in the DMN yesterday.
WFAA also did a short piece on calls for a rental ban in Farmers Branch, which was not in the DMN. There were also two crime stories, one of a man caught on police patrol car video fighting with a police officer before they shot her and another story about three North Texas teens in jail in South Dakota for murder. Neither was in the DMN. Instead, the DMN’s metro section had stories about a link between a charity and Hamas, tailgating, a corn dog eating contest and a teen performer at the state fair and two veteran’s ceremonies. The broadcast rounded out with Cowboys and other NFL-related news and a kicker about a church choir jubilee.
Overall, the two news outlets put attention on the bailout plan but WFAA played the story up much more while the DMN gave it its due and including other national and international news.
September 30, 2008
Print vs. Broadcast: the rematch
Bryan Shettig
Online Journalism
Local news: print vs. broadcast
Monday, September 29, 2008
The two news outlets I compared for Monday were the Dallas Morning News and WFAA 8’s 10 p.m. broadcast. One of the first things made evident of course is how little news there was in Channel 8’s broadcast, which is about 30 minutes long. The main focus of the broadcast was the bailout plan with several smaller packages that localized the story. The segment started off with an update on the story about nine hours after the market closed. The segment included a part about Main Street in Grand Prairie and how restaurants there have been affected by the market crisis. The bailout story shared the top spot on the front page of the DMN yesterday (along with the Cowboys-Redskin game) and featured mostly national level news from wire and staff reports.
The broadcast also featured a segment on the credit crunch and used a local Fort Worth restaurant opening up and how it will survive with less money lending. The segment had several sources, including a TCU business school faculty member and a used car salesman who lived through the Great Depression.
That segment was followed by an update that the station would be watching global markets as they opened around that time last night, including Asian markets.
There was also a piece on how oil and gas prices would be affected by the bailout, or rescue plan. It also had footage of which Texas senators voted for and against the plan. Similar info was found in the DMN on the page 10A jump with quotes from Pete Sessions, R-Dallas and Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth.
The TV broadcast switched gears at this point to catch viewers up on the Dallas ISD layoffs, something which is not in the front page news section or the Metro section of the DMN on Monday but had been in the paper extensively over the past few weeks, especially in the Metro section. The TV broadcast also focused on other school districts that are trying to recruit the 160 laid-off staffers, including schools in Las Vegas, Nevada. That was also not in the DMN yesterday.
WFAA also did a short piece on calls for a rental ban in Farmers Branch, which was not in the DMN.
There were also two crime stories, one of a man caught on police patrol car video fighting with a police officer before they shot her and another story about three North Texas teens in jail in South Dakota for murder. Neither was in the DMN.
Instead, the DMN’s metro section had stories about a link between a charity and Hamas, tailgating, a corn dog eating contest and a teen performer at the state fair and two veteran’s ceremonies.
The broadcast rounded out with Cowboys and other NFL-related news and a kicker about a church choir jubilee.
Overall, the two news outlets put attention on the bailout plan but WFAA played the story up much more while the DMN gave it its due and including other national and international news.
September 25, 2008
Hurricane Ike hits Haiti
At least 58 dead in Haiti from Ike’s rain, flooding
Flood waters and pelting rains from Hurricane Ike have been blamed for the deaths of 58 people in Haiti, officials said.
Homes were rushed with rising water and a bridge collapsed, destroying the last road to northern city of Gonaives, causing victims to flee to rooftops.
