Media Critique

No one had said WHAS11 news should be perfect, however, there is improvement needed in some of their articles. Numerous stories aren't following the core standards journalism is built on.

The article Carmel, Ind. named one of America's best cities -- again, by Brian Eason, violates a few of the standards of journalism. This article was found on whas11.com.

First and foremost, the article makes the interesting important and it lacks newsworthiness. According to the nine principles of journalism, one of the standards of journalism is to make the important interesting, not vice versa.

Once the article has become "important", it lacks newsworthiness. It does not have a lasting effect on people and is not "core" or "peripheral". This story may not have a lasting effect on a number of people. It may not even last more than a week because it mainly affects the people of Carmel, not much of anyone else. Being named one of the best cities is not a peripheral topic when comparing to all the other problems happening in our society and world today.

Secondly, its obvious that Eason takes a part in passive reporting rather than active reporting. Passive reporting meaning he was just reacting rather than investigating. The article also lacks context, meaning the story is not developed. The only source Eason uses is the Census Bureau's report on Carmel, Ind. The reporter could have used quotes from the people of Carmel to make the story even more relevant to Carmel residents.

http://www.whas11.com/news/indiana/Carmel-Ind-named-one-of-Americas-best-cities--again-275590081.html

Response to classmates blog: Rachel Porter

Rachel,

        I thought you had an nice and thoughtful response to binary models and conglomeration. I totally agree with you when you said one binary model that would be affected are elitists and populists. Elitists are more concerned about the message they are trying to convey, while populists are more concerned about their audience. Conglomeration is when a large company buys smaller companies. As you said if a populist company buys a elitist company, their content will be modified and it does depend on how the company handles the situation. I really like how you gave an example at the end of your response, this gives readers outside of our journalism 1 class a little more of understanding of binary models and conglomeration.

Here is the link to Rachel's response:

http://rtrachel.blogspot.com/2014/09/binary-models-and-conglomeration.html

Class Response to the Truth Principle

The first thing we had ever learned in Mr. Miller's Journalism 1 class was the nine principles of journalism; truth, loyalty, verification, independence, watchdog, forum, make the important interesting, inclusiveness, and room for dissent. Some may say that the watchdog principle is most important because journalists have to keep an eye on people with power so they don't do anything horrible behind our backs. However, I believe the truth principle is the most important because if you don't have the truth, what do you have? You have a fictional story. The democracy depends on the truth so I would say the watchdog principle is supportive of the truth principle.

Class Response to Communication

Several weeks ago, Mr. Miller's Journalism 1 class learned about Communication. We learned about the different types of communication; individual communication, mass communication and group communication. Mass communication has no immediate feedback. It has no immediate feedback because when you're speaking to a mass audience, you can't hear what they all have to say all at once. It's also has the potential to reach a mass audience and travels through a space and/or time through a medium.  Things like tv shows have to go through a whole process before we get to internalize the idea. The idea is created in the brain(stimulus). After that goes the idea is originated, (you) would have to write the script, get all the cast and crew and tape it (encoding). Then the episode/show is sent to transmit over the cable network. Once you have watched the show/episode, it becomes decoded in your brain which then turns into internalization.

During the decoding process there are impediments that disrupt you from viewing the form of media. There's semantic noise (typos), channel noise (technical problems) and environmental noise which is distraction/interference.

During the internalization process, there are filters that prevent you from viewing the form of media. Physical filters ( I can't ) are things such as being blind or deaf. Psychological filters (I won't) are preset filters set in your mind like phobias. Informational filters (I don't know how) are things such as a foreign language, "I don't know how to speak German, how can I listen to German radio?"Overall, I really didn't think there was so much to the idea of communication. However, it is  interesting to see how long it takes to make things like tv shows.

Response to Classmates Blog: Fons Cervera

Fons, 
     You had a well thought out response to the watchdog responsibility. I totally agree with you that it is the one most important principles. We wouldn't know what the government officials are doing behind our back. But I also believe that the truth principle of journalism is the most important. Without the truth, what do you have. You have a fiction story. The democracy depends on the truth. With the truth, comes the watchdog principle. Overall, I think you did a great job on explaining why you think that the watchdog is the most important principle of journalism.

Here is the link to Fons' response:

http://shenanigansandporkbuns.blogspot.com/2014/09/class-response-to-journalists-watchdog.html

Class Response to Magazines

A few days ago, Mr. Miller's Journalism 1 class learned about Magazines. There's a few differences between Magazines and Newspapers. Magazines come out monthly while newspapers come out weekly. The paper magazines are printed on are more durable than newspapers. Turns out, magazines were actually the first national medium not newspapers. In 1879, the Postal Act of 1879 was passed. The act said that you could ship magazines across the country for a penny per pound. This resulted in a subsidy. This means that you will help pay something that benefits the other person. Magazines were an innovation. It allowed the best photo journalism and investigative journalism to be displayed. So in conclusion we come to this question,

Why did Magazines get to where they are today?

They were demassified. As you can see magazines today aren't for everyone. They are for certain groups.

Class Response to Newspapers

A few days ago, Mr. Miller's Journalism 1 class learned about the history of Newspapers. Turns out Newspapers have been around for centuries. The term, newspaper came from the latin words acta diurna in 59 B.C. Overtime, newspapers have stayed the same, they give what the people want to know and what the people need to know. I found it very interesting that newspapers have been around so long even with the emerging of new ways to get the news. They have been around because its a tradition, its non-dependent on electricity, its non-linear (ability to pick a random point and read) and its a physical object that is portable, save able and many other things. Because of newspapers we have found the answers to the most horrible secrets of the world.