The big P

Plagiarism. The term in itself has too many definitions. I mean there is room for possibly every form of "copied work". i personally think that The Missourian's against Merrill were too harsh. Personally I would have gone with one of the options presented in, I think, the first link. I wouild have had Merril personallyl apologize to the editor of The Maneater, and apologize to the journalist involved, and apologize to the column. I think that The Missourian made a scapegoat out of Merrill. I mean I completely see where they're coming from...being hypocritical IS one of my biggest fears. The eidtor of the Missourian definitely made his point very clear. Just don't do it. Even if you are 83 years old a professor emiritus...don't do it. I do not agree with Clark when he said that he does not htink that what Merrill did was plagiarism. It clearly was a form of plagiarism. I also understand Merrill's defense and his use of the Categorical imperative...it was all in good intentions. But in today's world, who has time to look deep enough to judge the nature of the intention? My basic rule is that any unoriginal work used in my work should be attributed. What he did was wrong. The Missourian should have made a better choice.

That politics website was INCREDIBLE! I mean seriously wow. I actualy bookmarked that page. No joke. But it was also kind of scary. Mainly because it was so easy to find information...the really private information..like if the candidate has a permit, his tax records...etc. Is this same stuff about me out there as well? I mean WHAT? It also reminded of the power I have as a journalist. Regardless of this website, I have the power to access so much information and it is my job to make sure that I do justice to that access and to that information.

And the female vote goes to....

"We have spent a long time and traveled a long road to get to this point. That doesn’t bring us to the place where gender becomes the only thing or even the most important factor determining our decision.” -- Kate Michelman, senior adviser to the Edwards campaign.

So true.

This NYT article talked about the possibility of Obama winning over the feminist side of society. The article featured many quotes from many feminists , who were struggling to choose between loyalty and reality. Loyality to the cause of feminism- equality for women. The reality that Obama is a lot more progressive than Clinton. Obama said in s peech that he knows and understands the strength of a woman. He spoke of his mother, a single mother who embodied woman empowerment. And he spoke of his wife who is strongminded and forthright of her opinion. But what really struck the feminists in the story was that Obama had the potential of moving beyond the pettiness of politics..beyond the partisanship and towards the betterment of the United States.
Author ALice Walker described Obama as "someone who honors the feminine values of caring for all."

And from what I have been reading Clinton seems to be surviving mostly on female votes while Obama has virtually equal support from both sexes. Obama has the potential of bringing our country forward because he understands that true democracy does not lie between the red tape of our politics. Unlike Clinton, who constantly moves closer nd closer to centre, Obama sticks to what he believes and that is in his HOPE. And Oprah will be joining him shortly on the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire caucus. Oprah NOW you have somehting to prove. I agree with your choice. Completely.

Audio Slideshows...the next big thing? or is it already?

Joe Weiss created the Soundslides program because of a "frustrated picture story." Sometimes the print story does not do justice to the story? Why because soemtimes words fall short of capturing the beauty of a moment. I quite like this idea of audio slideshows...seems simple and engaging. Well, I guess I will really f ind out how simple it is once I start working on my final project but for now from what the article pointed out, Weiss tried to make it as simple as possible. I especially liked his answer when the journalist asked him why he chose journalism. It was the "human to human" connections he could make. That concept was part of the reason why I chose journalism as well. Another thing, which I noticed was that hard news stories do not reall make it to the multimedia element. I thik this is probably because hard news is exactly what it sounds like: hard news. Not much of an engaging situation there. That is the reason why hard news ledes are generally boring and just factual. I also liked his idea of having a photojournalist work together with a reporter to create a story. but personally, I am for the independent media deal...I hope that at the end of my education at IC I will be armed with the appropriate tools to become my own independent media. Off to think about the final project.