MASS MEDIA STUFF

Look at the Journalism-Photography Program

2009-09-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

Watch the Journalism-Photography Program Video

The department welcomes all students interested in writing, editing, photographing and designing. Drop by the department and join the creative bunch. You may discover a talent for writing in this course. If so, check us out. You will develop people skills from interviewing people you don't know, and you will develop critical thinking skills that will aid you in any career you choose. Have a good semester.

Photojournalism and photo dynamics

2009-04-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Photojournalism is reporting with words and pictures.

These photos would not be readable without the cutlines, even with the artistic composition and the plethora of dynamics.

When editing photographs, the picture editor looks for DYNAMICS. As a photographer, you should understand that and strive to get these into your images.

Dynamics include:

Motion - a blurring effect
Emotion - any of the emotions pictured: anger, sadness, happiness, love, etc.,
Mood - generally done with lighting, texture, smoke, fog, etc.
Action - just as the name suggests, many times combined with motion
Reaction - one person's "reaction" to something or someone else
Interaction - involves several people, usually, and may include touching, etc.

REACTION
Walter Astrada
Agence France-Presse
"Monday screams"

Monday Lawiland, 7 years old, screams as he sees Kenyan policeman with a baton approach the door of his home in the Kibera slum of Nairobi 17 January 2008. Hundreds of police who had earlier clashed with supporters of Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga at the entrance of the slum moved into the shantytown and did a house to house search for protestors.
MOTION
Daniel Ochoa De Olza
Associated Press
"Highboard Dive"

China's Jia Hu performs a dive in the men's 10 meter highboard competition during the XIV FINA Diving grand Prix 'Comunidad de Madrid' in Madrid, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008.

MOTION/ACTION
Aniko Kovacs
Sport Plusz
"Eye, ball"

Fruzsin Bravik eyes the ball in a water polo game between Hungary and Germany 26 July.

FEATURE
Nick King
Columbia Daily Tribune
"Trophy"

Jill Zulovich, 6, studies her baseball trophy after her coach handed them out to the team after the Royals' tee ball game against the Yankees at the Daniel Boone Little League complex. Jill, a cancer survivor, will represent Missouri on July 16 in a tee ball game on the White House’s south lawn.

MOOD
Louis DeLuca
Dallas Morning News
"Praying for Safety"

Bullrider Kaden King, 13, prays before his ride on "Terminator" at the Honey Grove Rodeo in Fannin county. Many prefer black and white images because of the mood they portray. This is a good example of the grit of the rodeo and the feelings of the riders.

EMOTION
Amanda Lucier
The Herald (Jasper, Ind.)
"lost"

In her new dress in the back of the car on her way home from the Sturgeon Carnival, Lurlena cries, having lost the competition for Carnival Princess. The title was given to the girl whose parents bought the most votes, in an effort to raise money for the elementary school. The Furlongs, with a single income and five children, spent eight dollars towards tickets for Lurlena, but the loss is still tough for her to accept.

MOOD
Michael Holahan
The Agusta Chronicle
"a soldiers prayer"

Pfc. Nathanael Harris bows his head in prayer during a candlelight vigil for fallen soldiers Saturday evening June 28, 2008 at Hillcrest Memorial Park. Photographers taking photographs such as this one are not intrusive during an emotional moment.

Then, we have the horror of war in this photo.

INTERACTION/EMOTION/ACTION
Carlos Barria Reuters
An Iraqi man holds the body of a boy after a car bomb explosion at a market in the neighborhood known as New Baghdad, southeast of Baghdad February 18, 2007. Two car bombs tore through a busy shopping area of a mainly Shi'ite district of Baghdad on Sunday, killing 55 people and wounding scores as militants defied a military offensive by U.S. and Iraqi troops.

And the horrors on the home front.

INTERACTION/MOOD/EMOTION
Stephen M. Katz The Virginian-Pilot
Members of the press photograph three Virginia Tech graduate students at the drill field on campus in Blacksburg on Wednesday - 4/17/07 - afternoon during a prayer service remembering the victims of Monday's (4/16) shooting spree at the University.

And the horror of a never-ending conflict.

INTERACTION/REACTION/EMOTIONYonathan Weitzman Freelance
Israeli soldiers move into position inside a Palestinian house during clashes with Palestinian protesters near Qalandiya check-point on the edge of the West Bank city of Ramallah March 16, 2007.

Back to Mass Media Stuff

Television’s history and power

2009-03-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

A class video about the Civil Rights Movement, presented a memory trip for me.

As I was entering college in the ‘50s, times were tough for African Americans in the South — but I was terribly unaware in my teens. My home town was segregated, but the beginning of the movement for justice and equality had not pierced the psyche of citizens of Pleasanton, Texas.

When television began showing the attempted peaceful demonstrations and the resulting violent confrontations in the South, I became more aware of the inequities and the injustice. Then, the Vietnam War exploded on my screen on the nightly news and the anti-war movement gained coverage as the war became more unpopular. The images I showed in class are my gift to your understanding of the troubling and incendiary climate of the time.

The whole world was watching. As the saying goes, “You’d have to be there.”

The class history video pulled together the beginning and the growth and broke down some of the most popular programming: comedy, oaters, variety shows, family sit-coms, drama, quiz shows. And all these programs were on only three or four channels.

Not much has changed. We have plenty of lame attempts at comedy, have replaced oaters with police shows, moved the families out of sit-coms and replaced them with attractive, sex-starved men and women and promise millions in winnings for lucky contestants.

The difference? If you have cable, you can bypass all the drivel and choose whatever tickles your fancy.

Next, we will look at how a very basic news package is put together, and we’ll talk about how networks still place programs into their lineup.

Probably the highest stakes "game" in the world is television programming.

According to how well the players do in this game, hundreds of millions of dollars are won and lost each year. The players are primarily the New York network executives who decide what programs should and should not be on U.S. networks, on what day they should be scheduled, and in what time slots.

Stay tuned.

A little help for project visuals

2009-03-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

As you map out your plan for your interview project, here are some links to ideas for visual presentations. You may want to look for free program downloads to do a variety of approaches. I'll be looking for the best ones, but you should be looking, too. If you find something easy and free, let me know.

Top 10 Tips for Great Pictures

Picture Stories

Digital photography tips

Quick soundbites to begin the video

Start with your best shot

Define the story

Capture attention but keep them wondering

Changing shots quickly to create sense of action

Basic principles of online journalism

Poynter Online

Tips for video

Here are three free programs for slide shows:
Photozig

Photostage

Smilebox

This blog uses Dreamweaver to build the pages and a program called Slideshow Pro to build the slides. Paul Zoeller Photography Paul is a former student. A really good one.

SlideShowPro ThumbGrid is $24 for a single-user license.

SlideShowPro Director is $39 per domain. Major credit card or PayPal accepted. All 1.0 updates are free.

A tutorial for SlideShowPro for Flash

Storytelling the interview explains step-by-step what you will need to do.

Here are some peripheral sites if you have time:
Teaching Online Journalism by Mindy McAdams

How do I protect my photo’s copyright?

Back to beginning

Analyzing magazine parts

2009-03-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

This will help you better understand our class activity Thursday. Hope to see you.

Preparing for the final exam: Describe four categories of magazines. What is the formula of a magazine? How do editors use the formula to select monthly articles? Where can you look to determine the magazine's formula? Why did general interest magazines lose audiences? What are regional and/or demographic editions of magazines? What is the connection between magazines and advertising? Why do ethnic publications exist?

Thursday, we will talk about the magazine formula and target audiences, The Writer's Market and the query letter. And you will serve as editors.

See you Thursday.

Is that you or a touchup?

2009-03-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

A problem for young girls' self-image?

In preparation for our study of magazines, advertising and photojournalism, here is an interesting video from The New York Times.

Sex, lies and Photoshop

What do you think?

Who's who at the newspaper

2009-02-23T12:14:00.000-08:00

Newspapers may vary in organization; this is typical of traditional papers

We will fill in the descriptions of these positions in class. Be prepared to take notes.

Photography, design and graphics service all departments, and they provide photos, illustrations, graphics and other peripheral information.

The Editorial Editor and Editorial Writers make up the editorial board of the newspaper. They decide what the official position of the newspaper is on issues, including endorsing political candidates.

This graphic does not include the Business Side of the newspaper, which includes advertising (classified and display), circulation, human resources and the printing plant. Not all newspapers have the presses in-house. The newspaper you will see on Thursday, for example, uses several printing presses across Canada.

Newspapers are still important

2009-02-21T06:32:00.000-08:00

From this nation's beginning, newspapers have played an important role in society as watchdogs and as purveyors of important information required for good citizenship.

But the road to that high calling is paved with government interference, sensationalism, turf wars and drama.

Early newspapers were simple, with letters, shipping news and short items of community news. They did not begin keeping government honest until after John Peter Zenger made his stand against seditious libel.

Early political cartoons played a part in fanning fires of patriotism — and jingoism, often. This vital part of the newspaper has faded in recent years, but thank goodness for John Branch of the Express-News. Although often criticized by conservatives, he "draws it like he sees it." See more cartoons here.

The sensational periods, Jazz Journalism and Yellow Press Journalism, attracted thousands of readers with their sensational, often shocking, stories and images.

Hard economic times, the high cost of paper and ink plus a downturn in advertising have caused many newspapers to downsize and lay off hundreds. But the basic purpose of the newspaper of muckraking enunciated by Finley Peter Dunne (left) will continue in whatever form it takes: To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

Also, the mechanism or process used by newspapers to gather information and organize it so the average person can understand it is still important.

So, keep in mind what has gone on before as you study today's newspapers.

Our class discussion on Thursday pleased me. More people communicated their thoughts and feelings, which is what real communication is all about.

I trust in your earlier study of interpersonal communication you studied (and we hope, learned) the levels of communication. Many of you are communicating at a high level. The discussion of disparity of media coverage between Anglo and minority missing children was pretty Gut Level, I thought.

These are the kinds of observations I hope you make. We all deserve fair and unbiased protection of the law and equal coverage by our media, and if we don't get that, it's up to you, the citizenry, to demand it.

See Black and missing, but not forgotten for one viewpoint.

Some of the examples we talked about were obvious; others were a bit less apparent. The point of the exercise was to show how media personnel may have to crawl through legal and ethical mine fields on the job. Remember, the job of a photographer is to TAKE PHOTOS.
Back to beginning

What's all this about ethics?

2009-02-17T11:55:00.000-08:00

Making ethical decisions isn't always easy.

Dilemma: an argument presenting two or more equally conclusive alternatives.

So you’ve got an ethical dilemma on your hands. How do you figure out what to do? Generally speaking, there are two major approaches that philosophers use in handling ethical dilemmas. One approach focuses on the practical consequences of what we do; the other concentrates on the actions themselves. The first school of thought basically argues "no harm, no foul"; the second claims that some actions are simply wrong.
* Who will be helped by what you do?
* Who will be hurt?
* What kind of benefits and harms are we talking about?
* How does all of this look over the long run as well as the short run.

After looking at all of your options, which one produces the best mix of benefits over harms?

What you're looking for is the option whose actions are least problematic.

MAKE A DECISION — And now, based on your analysis, make a decision.

An exercise to help understand class discussion from Feb. 17 would be to click on the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics and go through each of the ethical problems listed in the class handout. Find the SPJ answers to the dilemmas.
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THANKS to all who participate in class discussion. Remember, you are learning to express your opinions, and in any type of work environment, that's important. I may be wrong, but I don't know of any boss-type who wants employees to just sit around, gazing at the clock or conversing with their neighbor while ignoring the task at hand. Think about it.
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I think the following things were discussed in class. If you want to add something, go to the "Comment" link at the end of this post.

Generally, newspapers and television news do not name rape victims, and they don't identify juveniles accused of crime. The California newspaper I mentioned found itself in a quandary because they initially identified the young women who were abducted. It was only later when the word came out that they were raped. They didn't print the names in subsequent stories because they were abiding by their Code of Ethics.

Journalists should avoid accepting anything of value for doing their job. This includes junkets to New York for a fashion show, tickets to critique performances, meals for food critics or anything else that would appear to be a conflict of interest. Read any newspaper's Code of Ethics and you will see how strict or lax that newspaper is.

Not naming sources of information tends to reduce credibility of the medium. If a source requests anonymity, weigh carefully before granting that anonymity. If the source stands to lose his/her job or be harmed by releasing the name, generally, the reporter may choose to NOT reveal the source's name. But, know that a judge may hold the reporter in contempt and send him/her to jail. See N.Y. Times reporter is sent to jail for withholding source The point was made in class that maybe the reporter should not tell even the editor. That's one train of thought, but often an editor can act as a sounding board and help make the right decision.

Plagiarism is always unacceptable in journalism or any form of literature or academia. Remember Jayson Blair of The New York Times.

Avoid secondary employment if that employment would result in a conflict of interest. Example we discussed in class was the newspaper editor who also held a job as public relations counsel for a school district. A clear conflict of interest. See Moonlighting Reporter

A reporter should ALWAYS identify himself/herself as a reporter when conducting interviews for a story.

Journalists should not show political alliance or affiliation on the job or in public venues when the journalist would be recognized as such. See MSNBC reassigns liberal-biased 'reporters'

Avoid doing the job of law enforcement. This includes entrapment (setting someone up to break the law) to get or "manufacture" a story.

Generally, responsible newspapers and television news organizations do not PAY for stories or photos. One problem may arise if the media owner of newspapers, television networks and other media buys a story, such as the Pfc. Jessica Lynch story. Some magazines and tabloid publications do pay, and that presents the basis for much discussion both pro and con.

Probably the greatest amount of discussion and disagreement in class came with our discussion of manipulated photos and the photo of the boy impaled on a fence. I heard several good arguments about the use of the "boy" photo. Some pointed out that using the photo served no public good and would embarrass the boy and his family. But, to say that the photographer should not have TAKEN the photo may have gone too far. So long as he/she does not interfere with rescue efforts, the photographer's JOB is to TAKE photos. Whether it is used in the publication is a separate question. Some would say the photo "pandered to morbid curiosity" while others said "it warns parents to tell their children to not take chances that could result in harm." Since the number of newspapers using the photo was split evenly, I'd say both responses have merit.

Setting up a scene by a photographer is considered unethical unless it is labeled "photo illustration" or somehow explained as a reenactment. As for Janet Cooke of The Washington Post, who was forced to give back a Pulitzer Prize, she could have prevented that embarrassment and loss of the Pulitzer and her job by simply writing something at the beginning of her story to tell the reader that Jimmy represented the problem of heroin addiction in D.C. and was not a real 8-year-old kid.

I hope the point came across that there are few hard and fast rules about ethical behavior and quite often several options may be available. It is hoped that whatever decision is made will be balanced and fair. The Balancing Theory dictates that the harm to an individual must be balanced by the benefit to society.

I look forward to future class discussions in which everyone participates.
Back to beginning

Rescuing the daily newspaper

2009-02-14T08:01:00.000-08:00

Interactivity and local appeal important

Here are some interesting ideas about newspapers of the future — or today. These may not save print newspapers, but they could provide more graphic information and attract younger viewers (readers). The trick is how to make online newspapers profitable enough to sustain the print edition.

Stunning Video by Emmy-Winning California Newspaper Editor Gets Big Play on Msnbc.com on Beet.TV

Here is a video story from The New York Times: Braddock Rises From the Ashes

The future of newspapers is interaction and local information. Look at Local Sets Us Apart.

Do newspaper endorsements help a presidential candidate? Here is a discussion on PBS. You be the judge. Newspaper Editorial Pages Endorse Candidates

Like to take photos? Here are some ways to create slideshows. Try one or all.
Move over Soundslides: 4 Free online slideshow creators

9 telltale signs of amateur video

Newspapers on YouTube. That’s right, YouTube. Including the San Antonio Express-News and The Ranger.

Finally, look at these examples of infographics from newspapers around the world from Designing the News.

And finally, look at this discussion about news video online. It's a bit long, but if you're interested you'll get some good information.
Back to beginning

Practice gatekeeping with these stories

2009-01-28T14:37:00.000-08:00

Here are the potential news items discussed in a class on Feb. 12, 2009.

— Police are investigating a drive-by shooting in the 300 block of Hot Wells Boulevard (on the city’s Southeast Side) which killed an 89-year-old grandmother sitting in her living room watching the 6 p.m. local news.
This item received some support from the groups, but not as the top story. We talked about how a good reporter could take the news nugget and turn it into several possible stories: A human interest story about the woman with interviews with her family, the neighbors and others who knew her to discover what a wonderful person she was (we hope.) A series about crime in the neighborhood with a map and startling statistics (if they are available) and with interviews with SAPD and others.
Unfortunately, the news nugget by itself would not be that newsworthy since driveby shootings have become common; unfortunate but real. News values: timeliness, proximity, high Hispanic, a bit of oddity, conflict and high retiree interest.

— An explosion near the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel has left ship traffic tied up and video footage is available. An oil tanker developed a leak which has spread in the channel, threatening the environment.
The groups liked this news nugget, but we decided it would be best for TV if video was available. News values: proximity in Texas, disaster, environmental interest, consequence and economic interest (how would this affect shipping of items from South and Central America? Will the price of my bananas go up?)

— An American pilot held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan says he was told by his captors that a fellow crewman was “chopped up” after their helicopter was shot down. He was interviewed in the British newspaper, The Guardian.
Some interest in this story because of high military and military retiree and outrage about the “chopped up” statement. Also, video of the pilot may be available. News values: the two above plus timeliness, conflict and consequence (Is this the beginning of deeper problems in Afghanistan?)

— Parents are upset over a strip search of 20 students at Royal High School in Brookshire, TX. A school administrator ordered the search after another student said she was missing some money.
This item garnered support from all the groups for a variety of reasons. Students said they would be disgusted and offended by this. One mother in the group was especially bothered. I suggested that the item by itself would not be that newsworthy, but it can be localized by taking the news nugget and localizing it by calling school districts in S.A. and Bexar County and asking if this type thing could happen there. News values: timeliness, proximity in Texas, oddity, conflict and consequence.

— Hundreds of Iraqis opposed to the U.S. intervention in their nation marched in the streets of Baghdad yesterday shouting, “Death to the Yankees.”
Even though this may have interest in the military and retired military community it may not have much local appeal, especially in a market which is experiencing a smaller news hole. It could have good visuals for TV, but it would not be that newsworthy for the newspaper. News values: timeliness, conflict.

— Fabricio Oberto, a Spur, was arrested Sunday for possession of a concealed weapon. Oberto, who was stopped for a minor traffic violation, said he does not know how the weapon got into his gold 2008 BMW convertible.
A definite story for the sports section, sad but true. News values: high Hispanic, timeliness, proximity, prominence, oddity, conflict and consequence.

We also talked about working for human interest, sidebars, budget meetings, the news hole, slow news day and the Two-step Flow of information. I didn't remember to talk about Opinion Leaders, but we can do that later.

GOOD JOB! All the groups.

These television stories were taken from MSNBC; thus their news values are national in scope. Traditional criteria of news value are those journalists use to decide which sets of facts make up news stories and which stories are more newsworthy than others. As you analyze each of the stories for their news values, please don't say HUMAN INTEREST on every story, although that is a possibility with extra work on the part of the reporter. For example, the airplane crash in the Hudson River spawned many human interest stories. Look for that in each of these stories. Look for a possible HUMAN INTEREST STORY based on each of the main stories.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

If the event above happened in San Antonio, how would it be covered in the San Antonio Express-News? What sidebars would be possible? A sidebar is a story linked to the main story. For example, talking with neighbors, looking into background of the killer, and so forth. These are usually displayed on the jump page of the main story.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Local angle. Where would it be covered in the Express-News? Is this hard news or soft? Is it a feature story?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Lots of news values here. Would it make the front page of the Express-News? What would determine placement?

What is a "slow news day"?

What are sidebars for this story if localized? A sidebar is a tool used by newspapers and magazines to increase the interest in a main article or story. The sidebar should be its own separate companion piece to the article that will encourage readers to read the more detailed article.

Finally, this story will draw many letters to the editor of the newspaper, comments on Web sites and calls to the television station.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Check back from time to time for more analysis and information.

Here is a story about a Fox News producer's trouble with the law. Check it for newsworthiness, and think about media law questions such as potential libel, invasion of privacy or anything else.

And while we're at it, start thinking about your favorite commercials or your nominations for the worst. I know it's painful, but try it. Check out this post, Commercials smell up the airwaves on my blog to see some funny ones.