Michael Tomasky, an American editor-at-large for the UK Guardian recently posted this video on his blog:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/video/2009/sep/17/barack-obama-anti-christ-republicans

In the video he discusses a new poll of New Jersey democrats and republicans. According to the poll, an astoundingly high amount of republicans in New Jersey think that President Obama is the Antichrist, or aren't sure but speculate that he might be. According to the video, in the same poll a large percentage of democrats that that former President Bush had prior knowledge of September 11th. I have many questions about this poll and the choice to publicize it. How valid was the poll? How was it executed? Was it a fluke or can it be checked? Does Tomasky have an ethical obligation to tell us a little bit more about the poll before reporting on it? Should the report contain more information than just the statistics on a poll and editorializing? On a more fundamental level, what are the ethical ramifications of giving this poll so attention when there are so many other things happening in the world? Discuss.

Does a murder involving someone from Harvard or Yale deserve more coverage than someone from another university, even someone from USF? It appears so. The murder of Yale University grad student, Annie Le, has received A LOT of media attention. As slate.com reports,

"The New York Times, one of several Ivy League house organs, has already published five articles about Le's disappearance and murder and the apprehension of suspect Raymond Clark III. The Boston Globe has published at least six stories about the case, and the Washington Post has run at least three briefs from the Associated Press. The Times of London, published five time zones away, can't seem to sate its appetite for Annie Le news. Even the proletarian New York tabloids—the Post and the Daily News—have gone ape for the story."

But why? Is there something about an Ivy League student/professor that is more alluring to the public? Are they worth more because their IQ’s are above average? Is it the public that is obsessed with the Yales and Harvards of the nation, or is it the media’s fixation? Furthermore, is it ethical to give more coverage to one murder over another based on something like the location it took place at or the person who was killed?

Here’s some articles about the crime itself… Just google “Annie Le” and thousands more come up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/nyregion/14yale.html?scp=3&sq=Annie%20M.%20Le&st=cse

http://www.wfsb.com/news/21022287/detail.html

This article says Le’s brother was overwhelmed by the media coverage of his sister’s death:

http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=67274&catid=2

Here’s some discussion of whether Ivy League murders are more newsworthy:

http://www.slate.com/id/2228705/

http://www.newser.com/story/69731/ivy-league-crimes-are-more-equal-than-others.html

http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/09/18/media-frenzy-over-yale-murder-draws-criticism/

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Jonny's Ethical Dilemma

My ethical situation involves Jeff Gerstmann, former writer for upper division gaming site GameSpot.

I've included multiple mediums to soak up this dilemma. For the readers of the class:

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2007/11/30/free-jeff-gerstmann


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Gerstmann#Termination_from_GameSpot

For the video watchers:

http://blip.tv/file/518912

Aaaaand for the comic enthusiasts:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/11/30/

Message Ethics: Can You Be Too Entertaining with what you have to say? I've heard about the noise-to-signal ration. How about the fun-to-signal ratio?

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• Tila Tequila Shows Off Bruises, Allegedly From NFL Player Shawne Merriman (ballerstatus.com)

Ethics seems too refined a term to describe the professional shortcomings of this sports column.

But any writer can fall in love with her/his own cleverness. But how did the copy editing/editing corps let this through? Do they hate the guy??

The kicker:

And ballplayers, who always invent the slang no matter what ESPN would have you believe, came up with an expression for a home run that you might appreciate.

Congratulations, Jaycee. You left the yard.

Backing away from ‘multimedia specialist’ self branding


Some advice from a working reporter: Be a reporter first, to which you add multimedia skills.

Here's Brian's ethics post. I'd put this as my first question. What are the ethical implications *for the news organizations*? Is there any ethical concern for them? Brian raises some important legal questions. But is there an ethical dimension?????

From Brian:

Journalism Organizations Protest Big Ten Restrictions on Game Coverage

Yes another sports story but very interesting. They are putting restrictions on what journalists can use, including pictures and video, from college football games. They are severely restricting online journalists and bloggers.

Can these journalists argue based on their first amendment rights? / Do they have a realistic argument for protest?

Why are they being restricted in the first place?

What are the implications if they continue to be restricted?

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=169619

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• Rules for the Modern Journalist -- One More Time (socialmediatoday.com)

Number one thing: This ad is fun, and you may well empathize. But the story behind it could certainly inspire some ethical discussion, though perhaps nothing of relevance to journalism.

Except maybe this: Journalists don't stage events. (Except except, sometimes TV recreates certain news events. Damn.)