Journalism Mixed with Television

Journalism Mixed with Television

“House of Cards” is the scandalous new television show that is only available on Netflix. The entire season is available at one time, the pace you watch the episodes is up to you. While this could potentially by the future of television, the plot is what those interested in the world of journalism will be enticed by.

The show is based off of a British show of the same name and stars Kevin Spacey and Kate Mara. Zoe Barnes, played by Mara, is a reporter who is covering Spacey’s character Frank Underwood as he is passed over for Secretary of State. She develops an ethically questionable relationship with the source of her story.

In the show, Underwood is the current leader of the Democratic Party and when he is passed over for a promotion he decides to exact revenge on those who betrayed him. This is what leads the young political reporter for the Washington Herald newspaper to him.

The show takes viewers inside what a political journalist’s path may be like as they undermine and discover what is going on in politics. Do you think “House of Cards” could be an accurate representation of political journalism? Or is it far too dramatic to really be like this in the real world?

Check out this trailer for Netflix’s latest show “House of Cards”

Top iPhone Apps For Journalists

Both technology and the field of journalism are ever changing, so why not use one to improve the other? There are many applications available to assist journalists in reporting on the go. Here are a few apps that will be sure to make life easier.

1.  iSaidWhat?!

This simple application makes saving interviews a breeze. It allows you to record, import, cut, arrange, and share audio from your iPhone device. You can import files via WiFi and iTunes as well as output them through Email, WiFi, Facebook, Twitter, and more. The app can be purchased for a mere $2.99!

2. Dropbox

This application is perfect for journalists. Dropbox is a service that allows you to basically carry your photos, documents, and videos anywhere! Are you tired of emailing files back and forth to get them on your computer or phone? Well this application is going to help you more than you know. With Dropbox you can access your files from any computer as long as you log in to your account. The best 

part is, it’s free!

3. Byword

Are you ever out when a great article idea strikes and there is nowhere to write down your thoughts? This handy application solves that problem! It has a clean-cut interface that simply allows you to write on your phone. While you are writing it automatically syncs to your documents. It also has the ability to sync to a Dropbox account! Download this helpful app for $2.99.

These are only a few of the many applications that can help make a journalism career fit easily with the constantly changing technology. As time goes on there is sure to be more and more developments to help make mobile journalism simple.

Marco's Big Gulp

So there was Senator Marco Rubio (R.- FL.) last week, responding to President Obama's State of the Union address and telling listeners what was wrong with the President's views, when suddenly the unthinkable happened: the Senator got thirsty!

Pausing in the middle of his presentation, Sen. Rubio reached for a bottle of water and took a quick drink before resuming his comments:

A nothing moment, right?  Wrong.  The Senator's gulp--some would say gaffe--went viral on the Internet, prompting jokes and parodies and largely overshadowing the substance of his comments.  Witness the following:

 

 

This isn't the first time, of course, that an elected official's unscripted moment has become fodder for the press.  When President George W. Bush briefly lost consciousness after choking on a pretzel in 2002, for example, the incident was widely reported and became the subject of comedians' jokes.  Senator Howard Dean's "primal scream" along the 2006 campaign trail also became big news, his boisterous performance broadcast so widely that Dean's Presidential aspirations were virtually dashed.  It would seem that just about everyone in the public spotlight has at least one of these episodes; perhaps it comes with the territory.

But I'm struck by the extent to which Rubio's H20 "break" appears to have obscured his response to the President's State of the Union speech.  You can find plenty of people who know that the Senator abruptly interrupted his comments to take a swig of water.  But how many can you find who remember what he actually said?

That's a less-than-desirable consequence, I think, of an environment where "cheap thrills" rule.  It's hard to say who's more at fault here--the media that picks up on leaders' every slip-up or a public that's perpetually hungry for a laugh, no matter how inane or inconsequential the source of the guffaws.

I'm no fan of Marco Rubio or the larger Republican message, but in the interest of promoting a serious conversation about the direction of the country, the news media would be wise to focus more on our leaders' messages than their missteps.  And the rest of us would be smart to stop giggling like schoolkids over every little thing and pay more attention to the big picture, scary as it may sometimes be. 

Facebook: Connecting People & Spreading News

Facebook is the social media website that has swept the world. However, it isn’t just about seeing what your high school buddies are up to and clicking through endless pictures of your friends. Facebook has found it’s way into becoming a news source and a way to report on current events.

When Hurricane Sandy ravaged New York and cut out the power, people were left disconnected and in disarray. What was the storm doing in other places? What is happening with other towns? What is happening in my town? Facebook came to the rescue and allowed a solution to be developed.

 In Oceanside, most of the town was without power and could not find out what was going on around them. A Facebook page was created titled Oceanside NY Hurricane Sandy Updates. The page permitted the community to come together and provide information for one another. They posted about what stores were open, what restaurants were running, what areas had power, and where people could find help. The social media site has lead community members to reporting on their own situation.

It is not uncommon for Facebook to break news to many users. Whether it is finding out about a tragedy in Newtown or which celebrity won a Golden Globe, Facebook is often the first place many people see this news.

Think about it, where was the last piece of news you learned about from? Did you read it in a newspaper? Watch it on the news? You may just surprise yourself and realize you may have seen it in your Facebook newsfeed.

Check out this video: Facebook Newsfeed: The New Face of Journalism?

Difficult Interviews

It may be a journalist's greatest challenge: conducting an interview with someone who refuses to answer questions or who spins the issue to his or her own point of view. Government officials, athletes, celebrities, attorneys, CEOs, educators (yes, educators!)--all withhold information or slant their answers when it suits their interests.  Even people who are ordinarily candid with the press can bob and weave with the best of them when faced with questions they'd rather not answer.   

While journalists don't find themselves in these situations every day, most experience them from time to time.  And on such occasions, most try to remain professional, asking questions, listening to their subject's responses, and posing good follow-up questions--all while trying to keep their frustration from showing.  But when they sense that their subjects are determined to either sidestep their questions or put up a smokescreen, most are also not shy about confronting dodges and doubletalk.  

Not all journalists respond to such situations in the same way.  Some clearly display more patience, giving their subjects lots of room to roam before jumping in and bringing the conversation back to the issue or question at hand. 

But other interviewers have less tolerance for spin: they're quick to interrupt their subjects and push them to face the contradictions inherent in their words and actions or own up to their less-than-admirable beliefs and behaviors.   

Which style works best?  Take a look at the following clips and decide for yourself.  The first video features Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball," questioning California Representative John Campbell about Barack Obama's citizenship (better known as the "Birther" controversy).  The second features Piers Morgan interviewing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about his remarks questioning the existence of the Holocaust.  And finally, Anderson Cooper interviews Republican Representative Michele Bachman on her plans to reduce America's deficit.  Each interviewer's style is unique.

 

 

 

 

 

Reddit: Changing Journalism As We Know It

The relatively new website, Reddit, is changing the way interviews are done on the Internet. The site is based upon sharing ideas in the form of written word, photos, videos, and other links. A user is entitled to “up-voting” or “down-voting” a post, and is therefore in charge of what appears as most popular and most seen on the home page.

Reddit has potentially created a future form of interviewing technique, online crowd sourcing. The website offers something called an “AMA” which stands for Ask Me Anything. Through this format users can ask whatever they want to the individual who has agreed to answer such questions. The individual is usually someone who has had a unique experience, who has created something popular, or who is a celebrity. They have to provide verification for their identity and will usually respond to questions for about two hours.

This type of interview, a crowd questioning a single subject, may not have seemed too interesting to the world of journalism. However, during this year’s election President Barack Obama agreed to an AMA session on Reddit. He answered all kinds of questions from the public from  “What is the recipe for the White House beer?” to  “What was the most difficult decision that you had to make during this term?” Obama was able to utilize this format to connect with the public in an efficient way.

Will online interviews done by multiple people be the next stop on the ever-changing track of journalism?  Will sites like Reddit be the starting point for big changes in the interviewing process?

Learn more about Obama’s AMA here:

A Woman Journalist in the Combat Zone

When I read about the Pentagon's recent decision to lift its ban on women in combat, I immediately thought about a different sort of woman "warrior"--Lara Logan.

In 2011, Logan, a CBS reporter covering the downfall of former Egyptian President Mubarak, was attacked, beaten, and sexually assaulted by a mob of Egyptian men.  The assault happened in a crowded and chaotic section of Cairo on the night the Mubarak government fell.  Logan was separted from her CBS colleagues and attacked by a large group of frenzied men.  Her ordeal was horrific.  Though she was eventually rescued by a group of Egyptian women and soliders, she later said that she thought she was going to die.

Following the attack on Logan, several major networks considered removing their female reporters from Egypt, a country where harassment of women is commonplace.  Though no female reporters were removed, the incident recalled (and briefly revived) a long-standing debate about whether women journalists belonged in combat and other situations in which, because of their gender, they were at risk.  

Fortunately, several female journalists, including Logan herself, put the question to rest.

Susan Milligan, a political reporter who had covered the war in Iraq, called the idea "insulting."  She added, "If you're pulling all of the women out, you're essentially saying that what happened to her [Logan] is her fault." 

Another journalist, Kim Barker, writing about the incident in the New York Times, argued that women not only belong in combat situations but see wars (and similar situations) in ways that male reporters often do not.

"Without female correspondents in war zones," Barker wrote, "the experiences of women there may only be a rumor.  Female correspondents often tell those stories in the most compelling ways, because abused women are sometimes more comfortable talking to them.  And these stories are at least as important as accounts of battles."

Logan herself has returned to covering wars.  After recovering from the assault, she is now back in the trenches, reporting on the war in Afghanistan and researching a piece for CBS on Al Qaeda in Iraq.

"We believe in these stories," she says. "I'll never stop covering them."

As for her brush with death in Egypt, she notes that she refuses to allow it to define her.