My Reporting Experience

     This was my first ever reporting experience other than the short in class report. I did not really know what to expect at first but then I quickly became aware that this was not easy or fast. I felt very lost at first trying to figure out what my store was even going to be but once I got past that I moved quickly to what angle I would approach.
     Then came the part that made me most uncomfortable. I did not really enjoy having to approach people although I did find my prepared questions helped me very much. I also found a great lack of satisfaction once I did begin interviewing as most people's quotes were not very interesting.
     Overall this experience was very good because it showed me what Journalism really is. I discovered it is very much about story finding and getting good quotes. I believe I read in STEPP that the key to better writing is better reporting, this is most definitely true.

Potential Interview Problems

The potential problems that may be faced during an interview at Biola stem from the reputation and overall good image of the school. When pursuing a story that may even contain a hint of negativity it may be the inclination of a faculty members or administrator to withhold certain information.

It should be said that the school has every right to maintain its good reputation but it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they may make mistakes. When those mistakes are made it makes for a good story. However in uncovering and reporting those mistakes one will have to confront those responsible and pursue interviews.

This is where the problem may lie in that not wishing to compromise the school or their position a possible interview may turn out nothing of value for a story and instead only cause frustration. 

today we did not blog

today we did not blog

Gawker.com

Former Republican New York Congressman Chris Lee is now one more among the millions of unemployed Americans. Congressman Chris Lee sent pictures of his unclad upper body in response to a January 14th add on Craigslist that was listed as "woman seeking man." The fault lies squarely on the shoulders of Congressman Chris Lee; a married man and a representative of one of the highest public offices. 

He abdicated his duty to professionalism and ethics.  Lee's privately sent photos were made public after the women who created the post did some investigation. After discovering his true identity she sent the photos and the story to Gawker.com.

Gawker.com posted the story quickly with little or no verification. The reputation of Gawker.com as an internet gossip site lends itself well to quick story publication. What Gawker.com did was certainly not good journalism but in this instance it was the truth. 

Gawker.com beat the rest of the media to the story simply because it was handed to them. If they had investigated the story and verified the sources they may have lost their edge. The very nature of the site is to produce tantalizing content in the fastest method possible. That is what they did and so from a purely business perspective they did no wrong.

What Gawker.com did was in their best interest. They capitalized on their advantage and beat out the competition. It is troubling that such a site such as Gawker.com is the place where the woman from Craigslist decided to share her story. It is unfortunate that Gawker.com posted such a potentially volatile story with such little vetting. But most of all it is regrettable that a Congressman Chris Lee acted as he did.

In the end this is a sad testament to the current state of media and the nature of man. A Congressman failed his constituents and his family. A woman aided the gossip site Gawker.com and in so helped perpetuate it and other such sites. This is a story of human failures on many levels and resulted in many consequences, one being the denigration of good journalism.