Ethical Shmethical

Readings for this week were on ethics and how to tell stories differently (using video).

Guidelines quickie on page 502 is kind of a short intro to not being sued.
Responsibility- consider the public when telling the story
Freedom of the press- don't abuse it or you'll be the next Geraldo
Independence- it's important not to be loyal to anything but the public's interest
Sincerity, truthfulness, accuracy- be true or your readers won't trust you
Impartiality- don't editorialize when it's not necessary
Fair play- listen to both sides of the story; don't accuse someone without cause but don't trust both sides either
Decency- do not tell your readers to do something bad (i.e. 'it's cool to blow up houses')

Ethical Dilemmas + Problems
I must begin here that principled reasoning should guide you to make good journalistic decisions, but it tends to make me decide against what most publications would do. But anywho... Principled reasoning is how you decide what action is morally right to do. Get all the facts before making decisions or jumping to conclusions, this means consulting all sides of the story and getting the full background information. The rest of the list here isn't necessary, so carrying on...
Problems journalists run into is deceit, conflicts of interest, invasion of privacy (wow not me), withholding information, and plagiarism. Deceit is simple. Do not lie. Conflicts of interest include sketchy things like bribery and trusting a source a little too much, or taking freebies or paying for info. Things like participating in the story and getting too involved are big issues, since reporters should be objective observers. Advertising pressure is the most annoying to me because the sponsor should have nothing to do with the content, no matter how much money your station/publication needs. Invasion of privacy is something I'll ever worry about seeing as how I refuse to camp out on someone's lawn for the story about how their sister's dog was raped. I'm sorry, but those 400 words are not worth it. I also would have trouble with the withholding information part, because I may not want to publish everything I see or hear, considering some of it is worthless and some of it is private.

Websites:
Streaming: catchy headline, guys. Basically it's about how newspaper websites have looked to videos as a way to tell news on their own. Because the publications themselves are suffering, many are looking to innovative ways to rely on reporters and amateurs to tell the stories. Since it's a new idea, the quality is questionable sometimes but no matter, because it's just about the story. Mostly it's a new way to use an existing medium to get news to the public.
Video storytelling: So far I've gotten that I should copy good reporters. Be prepared: know your stuff and know how to use the latest technology so that you can improve. Be curious about what's going on around you, and notice the details in everything you see and hear. Basically make an active effort to be better.
Journalism can't do things?- WHAT???? Psychic numbing... people are numb to suffering. Kay...? So basically one person sufferings is not news. People, according to a study, respond to individual threats but not large groups in trouble. But journalism wants to get a "mass emotion" from the readership, so this brings about a problem. So this is a call to bring big picture stories to a personal aspect... WHICH IS THE THING THAT IS RUINING JOURNALISM. Good thinking, guys. Let's dramatize it more and make less sense out of it.
Stories via online- How to be a cyber journalist- "Online journalists must think on multiple levels at once: words, ideas, story structure, design, interactives, audio, video, photos, news judgment." It's a lot of aspects to cover, but it also gives a lot of opportunities. Clickable stories are good for readers to be able to find out more, and narrated slideshows give the basic info along with necessary graphics. This also includes blogs and games or polls.