Last week I noted how Obama said he is going "to get down and dirty" with Clinton. And he is. But the issue now is that he is attempting to do so while still maintaining his original intention of relaying hope for a better America. Essentially he is trying ot balance the negative and positive aspects of his campaign at the same time. It is hard to show your positive side when you are continually trying to point out the faults of your opponent. All the point that he makes against Clinton are all definitely legitimate. He shows courage by confronting in front of national televiiso like he did on the debates in philly..and on SNL where he spoke to a disguised CLinton. My mian fear that soon he will become the one who spent all his time discrediting his opponent and forgot to focus on his policy. I'm afraid that the public will become too interested in what he is saying against Clinton rather than what he is for himself. He said in the article that Clinton was conducting a textbook campaign and that her campaing provides suggesstions on how to win the election rather than focusing on how to brig th country tgether. I understand that bringing the country together is his primary goal..but will this goal be overshadowed by his decision to fight CLinton upfront...like the article said.."only time will tell"
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=3818282&page=1
Sunday, November 4, 2007
real journalism....?
When I thought of journalism, I always thought of the profession that uncovers the truth. I always thought of someone who goes beyond comfortable standpoints to show what is really going. Whether it is being present in the heart of a war zone, a disaster zone, a government coup, protests etc. For me investigative reporting is the true essence of journalism. On Oct. 24,2007. Alisher Siapov, an Uzbek reporter, was shot three times in the head and chest presumably by the Uzbek government's secret service. BBC described Siapov as the most outspoken Uzbek because "for Alisher, journalism was not just a job, it was a tool, an instrument to push for what he saw as desperately needed change." That is exactly the way I see journalism
Ch 18 focused on investigative reporting- the process, the results, etc. I actually was glad to find a description of the process to conduct investigative reporting. I particularly liked how they named the second part of the process as the "sniff". But the important thing is, like the book said, ACCURACY! Any inaccurate informatio can easily negate all the hardwork put in reporting the story. Generally, I prefer the hard lead, but when the topic of investigative style reporting arises, I like the anecdotal lead..because it humanizes the story on a personble level. The listing of "human" and "paper" sources also helped, athough I feel that human sources would be more emotionally revealing, paper sources could be more factually revealing...The most intriguing part of the chapter was part where the authors spelled out the various obstacles a reporter could face...I was most surprised that money was determined as the first obstacle...For me the first obstacle would definitely be red tape!
The IRE website was also fairly interesting but it mostly reminded me why I am disappointed in todas version of journalism...why is the fact that many Chinese workers ae dying while manufaturig American products not more important than Britney Spears' marriage problems...why is it not mainstream news? The links led to many interesting stories and those stories would have remained unread if not for the if not for the website. I especially liked how we could find he various links n the"find a beat " page. Although I feel many of the important websites were left out or maybe I just did not look well enough..where was the international monetary fund website..how about WHO, etc.
But on the whole today's reading was good.
Ch 18 focused on investigative reporting- the process, the results, etc. I actually was glad to find a description of the process to conduct investigative reporting. I particularly liked how they named the second part of the process as the "sniff". But the important thing is, like the book said, ACCURACY! Any inaccurate informatio can easily negate all the hardwork put in reporting the story. Generally, I prefer the hard lead, but when the topic of investigative style reporting arises, I like the anecdotal lead..because it humanizes the story on a personble level. The listing of "human" and "paper" sources also helped, athough I feel that human sources would be more emotionally revealing, paper sources could be more factually revealing...The most intriguing part of the chapter was part where the authors spelled out the various obstacles a reporter could face...I was most surprised that money was determined as the first obstacle...For me the first obstacle would definitely be red tape!
The IRE website was also fairly interesting but it mostly reminded me why I am disappointed in todas version of journalism...why is the fact that many Chinese workers ae dying while manufaturig American products not more important than Britney Spears' marriage problems...why is it not mainstream news? The links led to many interesting stories and those stories would have remained unread if not for the if not for the website. I especially liked how we could find he various links n the"find a beat " page. Although I feel many of the important websites were left out or maybe I just did not look well enough..where was the international monetary fund website..how about WHO, etc.
But on the whole today's reading was good.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Obama & Clinton....KUMBAYA? Heck NO!
"The notion that somehow changing the tone means simply that we let them say whatever they want to say or that there are no disagreements and that we’re all holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya’ is obviously not what I had in mind and not how I function. And anybody who thinks I have, hasn’t been paying attention.”-Obama in interview to NYT
There it is ladies and gentleme. Out in the open. Obama is ready to get down and dirty and show CLinton what he's got. But will the polls reflect his intentions? SO far Clinton seems to be leaidng the pack although Obama seems to be hoarding the news headlines with his statements. Obama has been very clear about his policies, Clinton has been a bit blurry and frankly a little bit discomforting. I do not know if Obama's "assertive approach " will get him anywhere because for some reason everyone likes Hillary Clinton...Obama kept saying thorughout the article that he is ready to directly attack Hillary..what good does that do Obama?
But what else would he do anyway? I mean the guy is trying his hardest for the people to accept him but he needs to convince the middle aga group and he older age group to vote for him.
I guess we will just have to wait and watch.
There it is ladies and gentleme. Out in the open. Obama is ready to get down and dirty and show CLinton what he's got. But will the polls reflect his intentions? SO far Clinton seems to be leaidng the pack although Obama seems to be hoarding the news headlines with his statements. Obama has been very clear about his policies, Clinton has been a bit blurry and frankly a little bit discomforting. I do not know if Obama's "assertive approach " will get him anywhere because for some reason everyone likes Hillary Clinton...Obama kept saying thorughout the article that he is ready to directly attack Hillary..what good does that do Obama?
But what else would he do anyway? I mean the guy is trying his hardest for the people to accept him but he needs to convince the middle aga group and he older age group to vote for him.
I guess we will just have to wait and watch.
Beat.
Journalism as a job for some reasom, is continuing to scare me. I mean really. The fact that we have to pay attention to ALL the nitty gritty stuff is quite unnerving. So Ch 14 was all aboout beat reporting, which might seem easy because it is the same topic, but therein lies the trick. It may getter easiER down the road but the beginning could be quite tough. we need to start off being prepared (of course) and the preparation could actually be a lot of work...I thought the authors made agood pont by asking us to talk to the "predecessor" for more information. Because they probably will pave the way for you once they get started. I also like how they emphasized being insistent because that is a key skill needed by every journalist. But the one statement that really did stick out was when they said that reporters give up too easily. I do not know if that is true... ithought reporters are supposed to be these people with an undying urge to satisfy their neverending curiosity. I liked how they gave us the 411 on the police beat, court beat, school beat and the environmental beat. The last beat seems especially important in today's world.
The last part was nice segway into the website reading which continues to be more and more mind boggling. I felt like I was in the first week of Law 101 while reading all the chapter. It was all about the legal side of things which is great resource to have if you are assignined the court beat or the police beat. It is almost like law 101 for dummies...no offense.
I liked how they explained the whole process of the trial..from the arrest part to the verdict..and I liked how they explained the jury selection process and I did not know that you can actually be present for a jury selection..i thought it was this discreet method! Moreover I did not know a motion culd be made to challenge the jury selection. And I liked the explanation of all the motions too...I kind of enjoyed learning about all of this fancy stuff..sometimes the legal world is like politics..too confusing and complicated to even try to understand...I also did not know that after a death sentence, there is an automatic appeal state....
The whole civil court section was also quite interesting because I do not really hear about civil court cases unless the case has a potential to become national news..but I gues it is our job to find out if it does? I liked the little info piece on Pretrial activties...the more I read about all of this the more intimidating it seems....
I also did not know that a judge could reject an out of court settlement...i mean if both parties are okay then why does the judge have a problem?
Andlastly...i thought all settlement clauses were hands-off...PERIOD. I guess upon special request t is not.
Wow..there is so much I need to learn..and I thought biology was a pain.
psshhh.
The last part was nice segway into the website reading which continues to be more and more mind boggling. I felt like I was in the first week of Law 101 while reading all the chapter. It was all about the legal side of things which is great resource to have if you are assignined the court beat or the police beat. It is almost like law 101 for dummies...no offense.
I liked how they explained the whole process of the trial..from the arrest part to the verdict..and I liked how they explained the jury selection process and I did not know that you can actually be present for a jury selection..i thought it was this discreet method! Moreover I did not know a motion culd be made to challenge the jury selection. And I liked the explanation of all the motions too...I kind of enjoyed learning about all of this fancy stuff..sometimes the legal world is like politics..too confusing and complicated to even try to understand...I also did not know that after a death sentence, there is an automatic appeal state....
The whole civil court section was also quite interesting because I do not really hear about civil court cases unless the case has a potential to become national news..but I gues it is our job to find out if it does? I liked the little info piece on Pretrial activties...the more I read about all of this the more intimidating it seems....
I also did not know that a judge could reject an out of court settlement...i mean if both parties are okay then why does the judge have a problem?
Andlastly...i thought all settlement clauses were hands-off...PERIOD. I guess upon special request t is not.
Wow..there is so much I need to learn..and I thought biology was a pain.
psshhh.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The REAL DEAL: crime reporting
The timing of this assignment could not be more appropriate. Just last month, I spend around four weeks outting together a story for The Ithacan regarding Ithaca's rising crime rate. I know that my story was just a report on a statistic and not a real crime, but I did end up speaking to the IPD and some burglary victims. We'll get more into that as the post continues...
Ch 1:
I loved how this chapter essentially told us that as "rookie" journalists, we possibly have the most chance of covering the crime beat. Apparently that is the best thing...after reading the chapter, I actually agreed with the author. Being assigned the crime reporter could possibly be the best way to gain experience on the job. It challenges every skill that every journalist has possibly learned: the ability to pursue a story. I really liked how they speeled out the different criminal proceeding for us. For instance the description of the arrest process was extremely helpful and I probably read one of the best versions of the Miranda Warning and their use. But one of favorite section was the description of the police-media relations. I spent 3 weeks trying to get in touch with the IPD. I called everyday. If I was them they should have been annoyed and just given me a second of their time. I went down there twice. I do not know what they had againsat me, but ever since then, I have definitely developed a skepticism towards police response to journalists. I also liked how they fcused on the rights of victims and what we owe them as journalists and as humans. I never really htought that I would get arrested on the job of a journalist, but I now know what to do...just follow through with the procedure. I just hope I don't get tasered!
Ch 5
This chapter was probably the most enlightening of all because it focused on the individual who would be most affected by a crime story: the victim. It is always importat to understand the fragility of the victim's mental state while asking them questions. Unlike the text book where this point was hardly emphasized, this websites dedicates a lot of space to drive this point home. I found the fact that they spent a few paragraphs describing who a victim was very intriguing, mainly becaue you would think that you knew who was the victim bit maybe not?! The one thing that I am constantly worried abut is how I would handle myself if I was on the scene of the crime. Would it not be hard to report amidst major chaos? I liked how they said that expressing sympathy for the event is a good way to begin. I completely agree. If sympathy was not expressed then the journalist could possibly be seen as a cold person just doing her job which could then affect the answers frm the interviewee. I especially found the part about the intensity of the graphic description of the story to bever useful We need to find a line between understanding what the public needs to know ad what you wantto tell the public and what the victim and the family and the criminal will experience. While on the topic of senstivity, I think that names of rape victms should not be divulged but the names of the offender should definitely be divulged. There is no issue of fairness here. The story here is about the crime and the one who committed the crime is the main focus, the focus on the victim is a byproduct of the whole report.
Ch 7
This chapter was sort of hard to grasp and I giggled when the author said that a journalist who cover court proceedings needs to have the time and patience to read documents that are generally long. I do not know how I would handle that. I am quite impatient by nature and I hate when readings do not get to the point immediately. So if I was to be a court reporter, my patience would definitel be tested to the max. I liked the tips that were given on how to cover the court proceedings..especialy the one about knowing when the lunch time was of each judge, etc. And the sources part was great too...I like these tips! And lastly they focused on the free speech amendment and the freedom o information...these two claused in the judicial system are opf major importance to journalsits..we're better off not messing with the law and knowing our limits.
I really liked this website because it essentialy gave me a ready made guide to crime reporting which I probabl will be doing in the future. I do anticipate returning to this website!
Ch 1:
I loved how this chapter essentially told us that as "rookie" journalists, we possibly have the most chance of covering the crime beat. Apparently that is the best thing...after reading the chapter, I actually agreed with the author. Being assigned the crime reporter could possibly be the best way to gain experience on the job. It challenges every skill that every journalist has possibly learned: the ability to pursue a story. I really liked how they speeled out the different criminal proceeding for us. For instance the description of the arrest process was extremely helpful and I probably read one of the best versions of the Miranda Warning and their use. But one of favorite section was the description of the police-media relations. I spent 3 weeks trying to get in touch with the IPD. I called everyday. If I was them they should have been annoyed and just given me a second of their time. I went down there twice. I do not know what they had againsat me, but ever since then, I have definitely developed a skepticism towards police response to journalists. I also liked how they fcused on the rights of victims and what we owe them as journalists and as humans. I never really htought that I would get arrested on the job of a journalist, but I now know what to do...just follow through with the procedure. I just hope I don't get tasered!
Ch 5
This chapter was probably the most enlightening of all because it focused on the individual who would be most affected by a crime story: the victim. It is always importat to understand the fragility of the victim's mental state while asking them questions. Unlike the text book where this point was hardly emphasized, this websites dedicates a lot of space to drive this point home. I found the fact that they spent a few paragraphs describing who a victim was very intriguing, mainly becaue you would think that you knew who was the victim bit maybe not?! The one thing that I am constantly worried abut is how I would handle myself if I was on the scene of the crime. Would it not be hard to report amidst major chaos? I liked how they said that expressing sympathy for the event is a good way to begin. I completely agree. If sympathy was not expressed then the journalist could possibly be seen as a cold person just doing her job which could then affect the answers frm the interviewee. I especially found the part about the intensity of the graphic description of the story to bever useful We need to find a line between understanding what the public needs to know ad what you wantto tell the public and what the victim and the family and the criminal will experience. While on the topic of senstivity, I think that names of rape victms should not be divulged but the names of the offender should definitely be divulged. There is no issue of fairness here. The story here is about the crime and the one who committed the crime is the main focus, the focus on the victim is a byproduct of the whole report.
Ch 7
This chapter was sort of hard to grasp and I giggled when the author said that a journalist who cover court proceedings needs to have the time and patience to read documents that are generally long. I do not know how I would handle that. I am quite impatient by nature and I hate when readings do not get to the point immediately. So if I was to be a court reporter, my patience would definitel be tested to the max. I liked the tips that were given on how to cover the court proceedings..especialy the one about knowing when the lunch time was of each judge, etc. And the sources part was great too...I like these tips! And lastly they focused on the free speech amendment and the freedom o information...these two claused in the judicial system are opf major importance to journalsits..we're better off not messing with the law and knowing our limits.
I really liked this website because it essentialy gave me a ready made guide to crime reporting which I probabl will be doing in the future. I do anticipate returning to this website!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Blog Comments
http://lizzyswickedsweetblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/race-to-informality.html
All about Obama’s dirty socks and Hillary Clinton’s thoughts on Bill Clinton’s diet.
http://newsreportingicjessg.blogspot.com/2007/10/barackstars-and-hillyeas.html
Can the younger generation make a change or are we as useless as the older generation makes it seem?
http://the23yearoldsophomore.blogspot.com/2007/10/saving-one-polar-bear-at-time.html
Al Gore. Nobel Peace Prize. Enough said.
http://fallingfornews2007.blogspot.com/2007/09/im-glad-you-realized-who-you-are.html
Guiliani’s admission of him not being Hillary.
http://amusante123.blogspot.com/2007/10/colbert-kucinichs-deep-pockets.html
Money and Election’08.
http://reporterandrea.blogspot.com/2007/10/08_14.html
Thompson’s “hot babe”.
http://hollysmithnewsi.blogspot.com/2007/10/fred-thompson.html
Thompson should razzle dazzle?
http://thestorysofar-jt.blogspot.com/2007/10/fighting-like-little-girls.html
Dirty business in Election’08
All about Obama’s dirty socks and Hillary Clinton’s thoughts on Bill Clinton’s diet.
http://newsreportingicjessg.blogspot.com/2007/10/barackstars-and-hillyeas.html
Can the younger generation make a change or are we as useless as the older generation makes it seem?
http://the23yearoldsophomore.blogspot.com/2007/10/saving-one-polar-bear-at-time.html
Al Gore. Nobel Peace Prize. Enough said.
http://fallingfornews2007.blogspot.com/2007/09/im-glad-you-realized-who-you-are.html
Guiliani’s admission of him not being Hillary.
http://amusante123.blogspot.com/2007/10/colbert-kucinichs-deep-pockets.html
Money and Election’08.
http://reporterandrea.blogspot.com/2007/10/08_14.html
Thompson’s “hot babe”.
http://hollysmithnewsi.blogspot.com/2007/10/fred-thompson.html
Thompson should razzle dazzle?
http://thestorysofar-jt.blogspot.com/2007/10/fighting-like-little-girls.html
Dirty business in Election’08
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Showdown Hillary and Michelle..just verbally
I never quite thought of the London option. I mean yeah London has a lot of money and is an extremey expensive place and such, but could it really have a relationship with the American Presidential campaign of '08? Obama found a way in which London will definitely play a role in the presidential campaign. His wife will host a campaign dinner in London to raise money for her husband's campaign. Times Online's headline read :Obama’s wife takes fight to Hillary Clinton . And I was intrigued so I clicked on the link. And while the page was downloading all I thought was a descrption of a major showdown between Hillary and Michelle Obama. I was disappointed. There was no such fight. It was Michelle responding to the claimed inevitable victory of Clinton in the election. She said there was no inevitability mainl because her husband was a "uniter" unlike Hillary who could potentially create a polarizing audience. She said she understood the Clintons were well known around the US but she claims that the more people meet her husband the more they like him.
The article also highlighted the fact that Obama was continuing to vocally discredit Clitnon and said she gave the administration a blank check for the Iraq war. And that she was too close to lobbyists to care about her people.
I like obama because he has a vision that he seems adamant on materializing. I like Obama because he is new. He will bring a fresh perspective to the history of the White House.
I do not know what will happen in the elections'08. But i only hope that the American voters do not make the same mistakes that they did in 2004.
But right now I hope the London campagn is sucessful for the Obamas.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article2652770.ece
The article also highlighted the fact that Obama was continuing to vocally discredit Clitnon and said she gave the administration a blank check for the Iraq war. And that she was too close to lobbyists to care about her people.
I like obama because he has a vision that he seems adamant on materializing. I like Obama because he is new. He will bring a fresh perspective to the history of the White House.
I do not know what will happen in the elections'08. But i only hope that the American voters do not make the same mistakes that they did in 2004.
But right now I hope the London campagn is sucessful for the Obamas.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article2652770.ece
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