October 2009 Archives
Problem- Newspapers do not attribute their sources.
One newspaper reader remarked:
when asked what he thought about reporters using anonymous sources in articles (18).
I agree. Though some people would argue that this is an accepted practice in journalism, I find that it is an easy way for reporters to make up facts, quotes, and to stretch the truth. Reporters cannot be held as accountable for what they write if the editor has no way to check up on their "facts." Likewise, the reader cannot trust what the reporter is saying if there is no name attached to the source. For all we know, those statistics on childhood obesity that Reporter Smiley wrote in his article came from Joe Sixpak of 113 Hootin' Holler Lane.
Solutions
There needs to be a system in which reporters attribute facts to certain people.
1.) This could be done simply through citing the source in the sentence like magazines do. For instance, Cosmopolitan might write something like:
If a magazine can do it and readers buy up magazines, newspapers can do it to.
2.) Another way newspapers could ensure they are citing sources is to leave a page at the end of the paper (like magazines do so you can find out where to buy those beauty products you saw on page 36) where they list the sources with a page number and small description linking it to the article in the paper.
3.) Readers could be refered to a webpage where a list of sources is named.
These are my solutions...what are yours?
When journalists use anonymous sources, are they incompetent or just following the rules? Robert J. Haiman's Best Practices for Newspaper Journalists has the answer (pages 17-28).
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The Oops! Section: My take on more of Haiman's Best Practices for Newspaper Journalists
"Newspapers are unwilling to correct mistakes fully, candidly, prominently and promptly, and with grace" (Robert Giles in Best Practices for Newspaper Journalists page 1).
"There is a broad feeling in the public that newspapers not only make too many mistakes, but that they also are unwilling to correct them fully and promptly" (page 13).
Print News
Many newspapers frequently hide their Oops! We Made a Mistake section. Some people view this as dishonest, saying newspapers don't want to admit faults. But honestly, how many people do you know who run around the streets proclaiming their faults? What newspaper is going to put it's Oops! Section on the front page? And really, what reader wanted to see corrections on a previous article plastered, first, on the front page? Even thought Haiman states, "Not one member of the public in our roundtables said he or she thought seeing many more corrections would diminish the credibility of the newspaper," I highly doubt it (13). Especially if there are 4.5 to 2.5 mistakes per page like the Tribune used to have (11). "Most said it would make them less skeptical and the paper more believable" (13). Yea, right. I seriously doubt that, especially if I tell you they can still be biased by choosing which corrections to advertise, and which to not.
Television News
Now I will defend this statement for the television news stations. Last night (October 19, 2009), KDKA ran an apology for showing the wrong video clip. The anchor was talking about the Ponzi Scheme in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. It involved 58-year-old Eugene Miley.
Instead of showing a clip of Eugene Miley, they showed a clip of another man. So, last night, Stacy Smith made a heart felt apology to the man.
SO....... it is true that television media would have a very difficult time hiding the apology for the mistake. There Oops! Section can't be hidden in the text. It has to be voiced just like any other piece of news information. So, in a way, television news stations are forced into admitting their faults.
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When writing an editorial, a journalist chooses a stand-point on a particular issue and argues for their point with respect and consideration for the opposing viewpoint.
In the case of Christina Korbe, I have found very little news coverage or editorial writing that favored her. Almost every pieve of news I have read about Korbe puts her in the negative spotlight. It is the duty, as journalists, to write from every angle, every side, of the story. In Korbe's case, I have only read one angle--repetatively. And it's bad.
In order to redeem all the newswriters out there, I present the other side of the story. Christina Korbe's side of the story. You may agree. You may disagree. But, as a citizen of the United States, Korbe deserves at least one editorial in her favor. It's her right. It's a journalist's duty.
Here is a case where I would have written an editorial coming to the defense of Christina Korbe. I will present clips from newspaper articles as well as my own commentary/summary:
Following the fatal shooting of FBI Special Agent Sam Hicks (Nov. 19, 2008), many were ready to throw Christina Korbe into prison for life, or better yet, end her life with a lethal injection. She was the woman who pulled the trigger, ending Hicks's life.
In the year since Hicks's death, Korbe was tried for his murder. She did not receive the death penalty. Her case is still pending.
The incident occured when Sam Hicks entered the Korbe residence in the early morning (while it was still dark) to serve a warrant to Robert Korbe on drug charges.
Hicks "led a team of agents in breaking down the front door and charging into the home" when he "was shot by the drug suspect's wife, who told police she thought he was an intruder, authorities said" (Woman charged, jailed).
The following is from "Woman charged in agent's death jailed" found in the Tribune Review the day after the incident (Nov. 20, 2008):
According to the criminal complaint:
Korbe and his wife were in bed when officers surrounded the house on Woods Run Road, knocked on the door at 6:03 a.m. and announced themselves as police officers with a warrant for Robert Korbe's arrest.
The bearded Hicks watched through a door window as Robert Korbe ran through the house. Hicks ordered other officers to break down the door.
The officers, repeatedly announcing themselves as police, rammed the door a number of times before it broke. Hicks was the first one inside.
Other officers saw him make a quick left turn as he entered and then heard a single gunshot. Hicks shouted, "I'm hit!" and fell to the ground.
He was dragged outside by other officers, who performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrived.
Christina Korbe called 911 at 6:05 a.m. and told emergency dispatchers that she believed her home was being burglarized and that she shot an intruder with a .38-caliber handgun. She was still on the phone when officers ran upstairs and took her into custody.
She told police that after her husband ran downstairs, she grabbed a gun from the bedroom closet, stood at the top of the staircase, reached around the corner and fired a single shot down the stairs. She said she did not know that those who broke down the door were police officers.
Robert Korbe said when the front door window was broken, he knew it was the police, so he ran into the basement to retrieve cocaine from a file cabinet and flush it down the washtub. He ran out the back door, where he was arrested."
In all the reports surrounding this case, no one took the side of Christina Korbe. For the sake of seeing this issue from every angle I will try to argue that she was unjustly punished. If I were writing an editorial piece on this case from her stand-point, I would write something like this:
Imagine it's a cold November night, perfect for sleeping. You're curled up in your bed, safe and sound with your children sleeping softly in the next room. At 6:30 in the morning, before the sun has even peaked it's rays above the horizon, your front door is smashed in and you are wrenched from your sleep. You look for your husband in the bed next to you so he can go find out what's happening. He isn't there. Your heart is pounding. Someone is breaking into your home and you can't find your husband.
You know there is a shot gun kept in your room. It was put there in case something like this would happen, but you never truly thought it would. You grab the gun and creep to the head of the stairs.
As you peer down, you see a figure in the darkness climbing the stairs. The door to your children's bedroom is at the head of the stairs and you panic. My babies! You have to stop this intruder. You have no other choice. Your chidlren are in danger. You fire the gun.
Now you may say, "Big deal. Jeanine is exagerating here to make a point. What a bad editorial writer she is, slanting views and all." But isn't that what most editorial pieces do? Don't they usually slant the view to either favor or degrade the subject?
I will also reply with this:
From "'Take care of my babies,' suspect pleads":
But she said her sister "Chrissie," the youngest of six children, was concerned about safety in her home because someone broke in several months ago while the family vacationed in Florida. Township police could not be reached to verify that a break-in occurred.
"They stole a motorcycle. And (the Korbes) thought people had been stealing firewood from the backyard for a while," Wakmunski said.
You don't think I have some case here in defense of Christina Korbe? She was concerned about her family from the start because there home had been burglarized before. She kept a gun in her home (for which she received child endangerment charges)* to protect her family in case the intruders came again. When Hicks knocked down the door early in the morning, what was she supposed to think?
What would YOU have done?
Christina Korbe was protecting her children from what she thought was an intruder. She did not kill Hicks in cold blood. She does not deserve life in prison.
* I have received alot of hate mail telling me that the break-ins at the Korbe home was staged by Robert Korbe so he could falsely claim the theft on his insurance (insurance fruad). I never heard anything about that in this case. If you have a link to a news article where I can read it for myself, I will entertain the notion and comment here.
Here is an article I found supporting Korbe. It's by Jerome L. Sherman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Fatal Shot: Was Christina Korbe Protecting Her Two Children?
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For more reader comments on this blog,
follow these links to blogs that have quoted me:
Mike302000- In Defense of Christina Korbe
The Accurate Reloading Political Crater
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This blog was originally written for Dr. Jerz's News Writing class at Seton Hill Univeristy.
Copyright 2009. Jeanine M O'Neal
Blogging for our news writing class allows for discussion outside the classroom. We can write our ideas about current topics, and share them with our peers and the world. Through blogging, we further our understanding of the material and help our peers understand it better as well.
In the portfolios listed below, I will share for you some of my best blogging based on the categories listed in bold (on each of the pages). If you take a look at these entries, you will garner insight into what news writing is, and will walk away with new knowledge on how to be a better journalist. Additonally, these blog entries demonstrate how beneficial blogging can be for a class that meet for a limited time.
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News Writing vs. Blogging: Round 1
News Writing vs. Blogging: Round 2
News Writing vs Blogging: Round 3
News Writing vs. Blogging: Final Round
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 (A.M.)
When Dan Onorato kicked off his campaign in Philadelphia, no one thought there would be much newsworthiness to the story, and even the Tribune-Review's article was a yawner. Afterall, people have been running for political ofices for decades.
The article is written before Onorato's speech, so the writer does not know what platform he will take or if any newsworthy incidents will happen during the speech.
Onorato did not live up to Youngblood's statement (if we can even trust a source with the name Youngblood).
When the campaign reached Pittsburgh, voices were squashed just as they were during the G-20 Summit.
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 (P.M.)
Channel 11 News (WPXI) based in Pittsburgh ran a 5 and 11 p.m. newscast showing protestors taking the stage during Onorato's campaign speech. Several of them were arrested for disrupting the peace. These protesters were speaking out against the opression during the G20 Summit that was held in Pittsburgh at the end of September.
Though Onorato had nothing to do with the police opression, the rioters took the stage.
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009 (9:23 a.m.)
The Tribune Review posts this article:
The beginning of the article recounts what the previous day's article was anticipating. Since the October 6th article was written before Onorato made the speeches, this article had to be written to cover what happend after the speeches. Therefore, along with a summary of the previous article, it contains some of the platforms Onorato will stand on (his positions).
At the end of the article, a smaller article appears: Six protesters arrested at kickoff
"Pittsburgh police handcuffed and removed six protesters from the IBEW Hall Tuesday evening after they disrupted Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato's campaign event.
Naomi Archer, 43, of Asheville, N.C., managed to get on stage with Onorato and briefly grab the microphone, before he shouldered her aside and an aide pulled her off stage. Hers was the first of four separate disruptions" (from "Six protestors arrested").
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When I first heard the news story about a four year old boy who went missing in Beaver County, they were still looking for an alive bumbling toddler. However, as the days unfolded searchers found him dead.
The manner of death was suspicious because he was found in a neighbor's septic tank. According to invesitgators, the lid was too heavy for the boy to lift. There were varying stories on whether or not the lid was in its place when they found the boy or left ajar.
As of 6 Oct. 2009, the coroner has ruled the death of the boy to be a drowning. Evidence is still pending over the circumstances surrounding the boy's death.
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What really jumped out at me when I saw the newspaper covers at newseum.org was:
What are they advertising? The Name, or the Headline.
Before I even clicked on a link, I noticed the name of the paper for The Salinas Californian and the headline "City, 49ers in a traffic jam" on another paper.
It seems to me that The Salinas Californian sold on its own merit. They didn't need a crazy headline to capture the audience. They assumed that people would pick up their paper just because of what paper it is. It has a good reputation.
On the other hand, The Examiner San Francisco, also from California, needed a HUGE headline to capture the attention of readers. Not only that, but instead of putting any articles on the page, they just filled it up with pctures and content directories.
Who are they advertising to?
On further inspection, I noticed that The Salinas Californian advertised to younger adults on its front cover: text alerts, Wal-Mart news, "Ransom found in art thefts," and coupons for Mexican food. While The Examiner San Francisco also advertised to the younger crowd with its bright colores and lack of words, it advertised to older adults with some of it's more boring blurbs: advertising for teaching jobs, talking about presidents and City Hall, advertisement for aquarium discounts.
What are their main concerns?
For The Salinas Californian, it was getting the news out. The Examiner San Fransisco was more concerned with selling papers. Instead of offering news stories that really mattered, they offered bling. Case in point: can you really find a decent news story on it's front page?
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More on Newspaper Front Covers:
The Front Page is a Map to the Middle
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