Because the barrier to entry is so low, the Internet is a great medium for journalistic experimentation for students. The Internet eliminates the wait time necessary for the production of big, tradition-bound organizations. The Web has made publication and distribution of the fruits of students’ reporting easy and inexpensive. Anyone in the world who has an Internet connection can visit the Columbia School of Journalism’s Web site and find at least two dozen journalistic sites operated by students and faculty members. The efforts include local-news sites about Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and upper Manhattan; subject-matter sites on charter schools, religion, and the economic crisis; and media-related sites for magazine, radio, broadcast, and digital journalism. Much of the coverage is a first for fairly under covered areas of New York, such as Queens. As the industry revolutionizes, journalism and the public need serious, continuing coverage of matters of public importance most, much like the information provided on the local websites erected by the Columbia students. Journalism schools are not fully equipped to provide that now, but the logistical and financial difficulty of equipping them to do so would be far less than the difficulty of creating and sustaining new news organizations built from scratch. Like “teaching hospitals,” journalism schools can provide essential services to their communities while they are educating their students. In addition, journalism schools can also raise the level of sophistication in their practice of journalism by leveraging their location within research universities that serve as society’s leading collections of preeminent expertise across innumerable fields of knowledge.

The foremost difficulty however, is that the student journalism on the Internet doesn’t support the kind of journalism that covers production costs, because almost all Internet journalism is free to readers and bargain-priced, compared with print. Of specific concern is the unpaid or underpaid intern, the student who needs practice at writing news. Relying on student journalists for the bulk of an area’s news coverage opens the opportunity for mistakes and errors because student journalism is just that, a learning experience for students who are still practicing and honing their skills. In addition, if the journalism industry continues to count on student journalists to pick up the slack of the daily newspapers that are cutting their budgets drastically by the day, where do student journalists aim to work and apply their skills post-graduation? What is the point of tirelessly training student journalists in school for the benefit of their work only while at university? The business model of journalism will not support this system of using student journalists for cheap labor and whether we like it or not, journalists need journalism for financial support as much as they use journalism to fairly serve society for the greater good.

Only time will tell how the new digital media age of journalism will consider up-and-coming journalists on the Web in tandem with the traditional professional standards of long-standing newspapers. For now, both old media and new media still have much to learn from each other to create a fused approach to media that appeals to both medium styles. Student journalists should continue to seek opportunity to learn from the most realistic journalistic experiences possible in hopes that the array of skills they acquire over all realms of journalism will serve them well as they continue to serve the revolutionizing industry for years to come.

“These are cases that have to be won,” Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I’m not scared of what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would say at trial, and no one else needs to be afraid, either. I know we are at war. We need not cower in the face of the enemy. No more delay. It is past time to finally act.”

The article was amply sourced and very well-written, providing coverage on both sides of the issue at length amidst an array of strong quotes and hard statistics. Johnson does an exceptional job of leveraging the words of others to set up a very well organized back-and-forth debate of the pros and cons of the prosecution. Sources consulted included, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.,  Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the committee’s top ranking Republican, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., as well as many individuals who still mourn the loss of family members and friends lost on Sept. 11. The article features a video segment that effectively augments the article, as well, providing additional background and coverage on the scope of the story thus far. As a visual addition to the coverage of the story, the video adds depth and perspective to the article, as a whole. Also, the article features a helpful sidebar article by the AP that allows readers to view Obama’s take on the prosecution at this point.

Johnson’s use of multimedia and thorough reporting increased the truthfulness and integrity of this piece, making the article a very good one, on the whole. An array of reputable sources was consulted and quotes were used very well to create emotion and perspective. Overall, I felt that this article provided excellent coverage on the progression of this controversial topic, was high in quality and exemplified first-rate reporting skills.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009, The Boston Globe published the article, “Breast screening advice upended: US panel draws fire by recommending fewer mammograms” by Stephen Smith. Smith’s exhaustive piece began with a news lead that zeroed in on the “nut-graph” of the story right away. The lead was well written in its clear, succinct and concise nature and the information presented was appropriately attributed in the paragraph immediately following.

The article was very well organized and featured ample sources as it provided coverage on all angles of the newly released study, specifically the conflict of reactions that the study has caused. In the article, Smith does an exceptional job using the reactions of many reputable sources such as the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Eric Winer, top specialist in women’s cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Dr. Daniel B. Kopans, radiologist of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Diana Petitti, vice chairwoman of the Preventive Services Task Force and a professor of biomedical informatics at Arizona State University, as well as some patients themselves, to apply opinion and cover the controversial issue without employing personal bias. The article features a video segment by NECN that effectively augments the article, as well. As a visual addition to the coverage of the story, the video adds depth and perspective to the article, as a whole. Also, the article features a helpful sidebar of information that allows readers to view various specialists’ guidelines on mammography.

Smith’s use of multimedia and meticulous reporting increased the integrity of this piece and left no questions unanswered, making the article a very good one, on the whole. Quotes were used very well to create emotion and perspective, and ample sources were consulted to effectively produce the best version of the article possible. Overall, I felt that this article was high in quality and exemplified first-rate reporting skills.

“The uses of social-networking tools are clearly growing in frequency,” says Kay McClenney, director of the Texas-based Center for Community College Student Engagement, which released the report. But “colleges are not taking advantage of that particular set of tools for making connections with students to the extent that they could.”

The article was well-structured and featured array of hard statistics pulled from the report. Marklein smartly hones in on the most newsworthy aspects of the report, stating that the survey found, “higher levels of engagement among students who said they used social media multiple times a day for academic purposes, such as communicating with other students, instructors or college staff about coursework, than students who said they don’t use such tools at all.” Effectively providing a counter-argument to this segment, Marklein also includes the fact that the study also revealed a potential downside to social networks stating, “Students who frequently used social-networking tools but not for academic reasons tended to put less effort into their schoolwork.” The article also includes a specific reaction to the study’s findings from Steve Murray, the chancellor of Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas.

Overall, I felt that this article was mediocre in nature and although it made great use of hard facts, it could have benefitted from additional sourcing and a better wrap-up to the article as a whole. After reading the article, I wished that the reporter had provided a few more reactions to the report from other community college administrators, as well as actual students themselves. With some additional reporting, I think that this article could increase its merit significantly.

While the article was fairly brief in nature, it was very well structured, as it followed the inverted pyramid format, and seemed to leave no questions unanswered. Though the article featured only a few reputable sources including, statements by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Pope Benedict XVI, the article was efficient in addressing the events and decisions of the summit including the fact that although the FAO, which hosted the three-day summit at its Rome headquarters, hoped countries would adopt 2025 as a deadline to eradicate hunger, the declaration instead focused on a pledge set nine years ago to halve the number of hungry people by 2015.

“Our job is not just to feed the hungry, but to empower the hungry to feed themselves,” said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The article was a great source of multimedia coverage on the summit, as well, as it included an area of photographs and a video segment of Italian farmers protesting agricultural policies at Rome’s World Food Summit, as NGOs say not enough is being done to tackle world hunger. Overall, I felt that the article was very well organized, well-written and successfully provided preliminary coverage of the summit thus far. The article would benefit from future follow-up articles on the continuation and culmination of the summit, once that information becomes available.

The article was very well structured and featured abundant sources as it broke into specific sections of coverage on various angles of the Obama family’s cultural differences, as compared to past first families, and how the culture of their family helps them to make connections with the common folk of America, including: the gadgets and technology they use, their physical fitness routines, family matters and socializing. Each of the sections is appropriately supported by specific examples and colorful quotes that illustrate the culture of the family fully for the reader. Another great aspect of this article is the multimedia add-on it offers. The article features a video montage by the AP that chronicles many of the cultural descriptions of the family seen in the article. The video adds depth and perspective to the article, as a whole. Also, the article features many additional links to find out more information about President Obama’s rating and to see more of the Obama family culture.

Hall and Puente’s well-organized and amply sourced feature increased the integrity of this piece overall. Quotes were used well to create emotion and perspective, and the array of sources consulted effectively produced the best version of the article possible. Overall, I felt that this article was high in quality and fulfilled its function as a comprehensive feature.

Johnny C. Whitehead, Chief of the UMass Police Department (UMPD), was my first interviewed source on this topic. I wanted to speak to Chief Whitehead in regards to the UMPD’s use of Facebook in the investigation of two University students who caused over $8,000 in damages earlier this semester when they allegedly stole and crashed a University research car. The individuals’ Facebook statuses implied what they had done and were seen by police officers that will use the published information as evidence in court.

“While it is not a source of information we rely on, this year, especially, the UMass Police Department has capitalized on Facebook as means of further investigation when we have access to pages of interest,” said Whitehead.

“Students often forget that anything they post on the Internet, especially Facebook, is at the hands of the public and has the potential to be used against them,” said Whitehead. “It’s important to be very smart about what you post on your page. I know that, on my end, I often see the debilitating effects of using Facebook without consideration of the content you’re posting.”

Whitehead’s interview was an effective means of confirming the often-unconsidered uses of Facebook by students on a local level.

Since my interview with Whitehead, I came across a very useful article and video report, which I plan to cite in my final paper. A CBS report by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi in June 2006 said some employers, “estimated that about 20 percent of companies are secretly scanning online profiles before they interview applicants. What they often find is shocking – including profiles that detail drug use, orgies and illegal behavior.”

Quoted in the report was Tim DeMello, who owns the Internet company Ziggs, which lets people post an online business-oriented profile that the company says will come up first in most Internet searches.

In the report, when DeMello was asked if he does an Internet search for online profiles when he chooses whom to hire, he replied, “Of course. Everybody does. It’s important to know what your ‘online footprint’ is.”

“[Applicants] come in all buttoned up, their clothing is meticulous, they spend years building this resume, and this person that’s sitting there is almost entirely different than the person posting on [their Facebook page],” said DeMello, “It really makes you question the person.”

In the report, many employers admit they’ve even learned how to access profiles students think are “private” — and they’re surprised by how many students don’t care if everyone knows everything about them.

“I think some of these sites out there are going to be the most expensive free Web sites to their careers that they’ve ever seen,” said DeMello.

In addition, I also came across a well-done CBS video report, “Addicted to Facebook” by Wyatt Andrews that chronicles the website’s spread to nearly every college in America and how it is becoming an online addiction for over 7 million students.

In my final paper, I will continue to broaden the coverage of this issue by looking at it from a national level, as well as a local level. Additional sources that I may consult to do this will include further studies and reports released by other reliable news sources, students both at UMass and on other campuses, admissions officers both at UMass and on other campuses, specific companies who use Facebook as a tool to look into potentially recruited graduates, as well as students who have already been incriminated by their posted content.

See the CBS reports here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/20/eveningnews/main1734920.shtml

The news keeps us informed. For decades, the news, in its many changing forms, has provided society members with a basis and array of information from which the reader was able to develop his/her understanding of the government, nation and the world. Because of the news, society members are able to remain educated and informed about the world’s events, especially given the perks of new media in currently offered today.

Along with keeping us informed, the news offers a truth-telling and timely source of information. The news helps society members to set the record straight. Without the news, society members would rely heavily upon word-of-mouth information, allowing for the development of rumor and hearsay over truth and fact. While it is true that the news often features an element of bias, I believe that as long as the reader maintains this as fact, the reader is able to weed out the bias to come to understand the factual story through a number of publications. The news also provides information in a largely unbeatable rapid manner. The news’ availability on the Internet essentially allows for it to spread at a heightened speed, leading society members to become and remain informed as the world’s events unfold.

The news also holds our leaders and authoritative figures responsible for their actions. Because the news keeps the public informed about everything, including the government and its members’ actions, the news holds political figures accountable for what they do. There have been countless instances of questionable dealings of certain government personnel and because of the news’ investigative nature, the public was made aware of them, when they otherwise may not have been.

As the nervous system of society, the news plays a chief role in the education and management of society. The news keeps us informed of the facts faster than any other medium and allows us to take solace in knowing that our nation and world leaders are not immune to the news’ coverage. Without news, I think, the world would cease to function as we know it.

According to Davey’s article, for more than a decade, classes of students at Northwestern University’s journalism school have been investigating the work of prosecutors and the police, and have helped to lead to the release of 11 inmates, the project’s director says. As part of the Medill Innocence Project, the students focused their investigative efforts into the case of the man convicted in a murder 31 years ago. Oddly enough, however, a hearing has been scheduled next month in Cook County Circuit Court on a very unusual request: Local prosecutors have subpoenaed the grades, grading criteria, class syllabus, expense reports and e-mail messages of the Northwestern journalism students themselves. The prosecutors, it seems, wish to scrutinize the methods of the students, this time. The university is fighting the subpoenas.

The notion that students would have been rewarded with better grades for witnesses who confirmed the thesis that Mr. McKinney was innocent is simply false, said David Protess, the professor who leads the students and directs the Medill Innocence Project.

According to Davey’s article, among the issues the prosecutors need to understand better, a spokeswoman said, is whether students believed they would receive better grades if witnesses they interviewed provided evidence to exonerate Mr. McKinney.

I undoubtedly agree with Northwestern University and Mr. Protess who say the demands are, “ridiculously overreaching, irrelevant to Mr. McKinney’s case, in violation of the state’s protections for journalists and a breach of federal privacy statutes — not to mention insulting.”

It is extremely disheartening to think that the government would turn its back on student journalists, as they are in the case of the Medill Innocence Project participants. Student journalists should be recognized for their hard work, dedication and passion for justice, rather than be tirelessly scrutinized over outlandish claims. The article states that the students willingly provided their videotaped interviews of critical witnesses and affidavits to the prosecutors, but in June the prosecutors subpoenaed far more — the students’ investigative memorandums, e-mail messages, notes from multiple interviews with witnesses and class grades. In this case, the prosecutors have clearly overstepped their boundaries, violated the state’s protections for journalists, are in breach of federal privacy statutes and send the wrong message to student journalists who solely seek justice and truth. Journalists and prosecutors should be on the same team. Clearly, the prosecutors are attempting to do exactly what Donald M. Craven, the interim executive director of the “Illinois Press Association,” said, “Taken to its logical conclusion, what [the prosecutors are] trying to do is dismantle the project.”

I am glad to know that many professional journalism groups have reached out to these students in support of their efforts. By providing their notes to the prosecutors, the students would abandon their rights as journalists and would forsake all sense of ethics and basic journalistic practice. I admire Mr. Protess and his students for resisting the prosecutor’s demands on them to become “an arm of the government,” as Mr. Protess said. The students should hold on tightly to their rights and continue to follow their leader, Mr. Protess’, advice, “My students are told to uncover the truth, wherever that leads them.”