Tweet your Homework

The end of summer and beginning of fall is often a time for new-- new notebooks, new pencils, new back-to-school shoes, new teachers, new classes. And this year at DePaul University, students are also offered something new that I think has great potential: a journalism class devoted to Twitter. The course, which is apparently the first college class ever to be devoted entirely to the social networking and micro-blogging platform, is called “Digital Editing: From Breaking News to Tweets.”

"Digital Editing: From Breaking News to Tweets, is really about learning how to make sense of the clutter of the Web, particularly in situations of breaking news or major developing stories, and how to evaluate and verify the authenticity of reports by citizen journalists," says Craig Kanalley, a Chicago Tribune digital intern who is teaching the class. Part of the focus of the class will be evaluating and verifying material produced by citizen journalists-- just what the world of journalism needs!


Would you take this class? Is this class beneficial for the modern journalist or just succumbing to entertainment as media?

Verification: Why caution is key

I'm not sure how many of you are aware, but very recently CNN seriously botched up a news report making it quite obvious why the element of verification is so important.

On September 11, 2009, a routine Coast Guard training exercise on the Potomac River caught the attention of television crews that were already on alert for trouble due to the fact that it was the anniversary of 9/11. CNN took this information and ran with it, publishing reports that wrongly suggested shots had been fired on the river and noted that President Obama had just finished speaking nearby at the Pentagon. This information raised the possibility of some sort of criminal plot and the false reports produced an hourlong scare about gunfire and a terrorist attack. If only CNN had verified their facts before relying on a police scanner to misreport a Coast Guard training exercise.

In response to this incident, Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism said, “There’s never a benefit to a news organization in having something first if it’s wrong. That’s why caution is important.”

The essence of journalism is a discipline of verification. Clarifying common misunderstandings and improving fact-checking may be the most important step a journalist can take to bettering the quality of their writing and the news they deliver, as well as sparking meaningful public discussion. In the end, the discipline of verification is what separates journalism from other fields.

Carol Marin, a Chicago newscaster explained verification in a very succinct way:

"When you sit down this Thanksgiving with your family and you have one of the classic family arguments--whether it's about politics or race or religion or sex-- you remember that what you are seeing of that family dispute is seen from the position of your chair and your side of the table. And it will warp your view, because in those instances you are arguing your position . . . A journalist is someone who steps away from the table and tries to see it all."


What do you think is the best way to avoid these instances of misinformation from occurring? Are the inevitable?

"Breaking news is our meat and potatoes."

--Pam Cross, WCVB-TV news anchor

Tell Me Why: The Importance of Verification

As an aspiring journalist and modern student of communication arts, I've stumbled across this imposing, imminent and unavoidable thing--the Internet. While I have Googled and Wikipedia-ed my way through quite a few college assignments, I never really considered the ethics involved. I always cited my sources, so I didn't see a problem. The real question that I never asked myself was where was this information coming from? Was this Website really giving me credible information? Who was verifying these facts? As some assignments go, not knowing didn't pose a real problem. But, as I started to get deeper and deeper into my newfound love of journalism, I realized that my previous Internet habits couldn't really slide anymore. This is what brings me to my point, and a question that I hope Becoming Lois Lane can help answer:

How does a journalist stay true to the fundamental elements and ethics of journalism when there is so much easily accessed "information" out there on the World Wide Web?

How does a reporter take the time verify a tip when someone else might be breaking that story? Whether or not you want to admit it, we are rapidly moving into a world where news is immediate. Whether you get it Tweeted to your Blackberry or emailed to your iPhone, information has become accessible from almost anywhere, but is it always reliable?

What do you think? Is there a solution for the modern-day journalist in a world of immediately accessible information?

"In the end, the discipline of verification is what separates journalism from entertainment, propaganda, fiction, or art. Journalism alone is focused on getting what happened down right." -Kovach & Rosenstiel

The Elements of Journalism

What is journalism for? As times change and news becomes more and more mediated and immediate, the definition of journalism becomes blurry. Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel have compiled the essential elements that define journalism and its role in today's society:

-Journalism's first obligation is to the truth
-Its first obligation loyalty is to citizens
-Its essence is a discipline of verification
-Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover
-It must serve as an independent monitor of power
-It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant
-It must keep the news comprehensive and in proportion
-Its practitioners have an obligation to exercise their personal conscience
-Citizens, too, have rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news

--The Elements of Journalism