Paying the (Newspaper) Bill

     At Lindenwood University, a student can walk into several different buildings and be able to pick up a daily paper.  Lindenwood provides students with an equal amount of opportunities to involve themselves with local or worldly news coverage.  As a part of a thriving, social campus life, colleges should present each student with the chance to read newspapers as it “builds students’ learning and thinking skills” (Media Ethics 203).  The ethical case entitled “Paying the (Newspaper) Bill” presented in Chapter 7 of Media Ethics Issues and Cases discusses Rice University Dean of Undergraduate’s decision to cut-back spending of campus news circulation.  Students must now pay for newspaper subscriptions.  

Micro Issue

Q:  Should students, either through their mandatory fees or other means, be required to support campus media?

A: No.  Campus media should be free to all students in college.  Although overly stereotyped, college students do not have adequate means to pay for tuition and other student fees, let alone pay to read the daily paper. 

The Dean argued the decision for cut-backs on newspapers provides Rice students with “high autonomy” (Media Ethics 204).  He believes taking away the freedom of reading a free paper will foster in the overall decision making process of all students as he stated, ‘My goal is to make as few decisions for them as possible’(Media Ethics 204). 

Regardless if Rice’s campus papers were free, students would have to make a decision to read the paper either way.  Even though papers at Lindenwood University are free, I don’t necessarily read one every day. 

Many journalism classes at Lindenwood ask for students to bring in the daily paper as a means of education and learning.  Requiring students to pay for the paper would cause chaos and most students would refuse to do so. 

Midrange Issue

Q: As a part of the educational experience, should campus media ever reduce staff? Cut budgets? Decrease circulation?

A: Campus media should only reduce staff if certain teachers seem unqualified to teach communication courses or if students on the campus paper are going against certain ethical codes.  Cutting budgets and decreasing circulation of campus media would downplay the “social institution” aspect of a college.  Even though the internet provides the same if not more information than that of a newspaper, ‘contemporary research on the rationale for using newspapers in education still validates’ (Media Ethics 203).

 

Macro Issue

Q: Is it the business of a university to assist students in acquiring the habit of consuming the news?  Does the venue (print vs. Internet) matter?

A:  I think all universities should encourage students to study the news and to reinforce the notion that not all news sources are valid.  Students should be encouraged to research news and to do some behind the scenes investigation if the sources seem flawed.   However, I don’t think it’s the universities business to tell a student how to get the news. 

I don’t mind newspapers; I just prefer watching television news or browsing the web to get my news information.  Print vs. Internet doesn’t really matter.  The news is news and an online paper or print paper is most likely going to contain the same information.

Citizen McCaw

    Citizen McCaw documents the resignation of top editors and columnists at the Santa Barbara News-Press in 2006 over publisher and owner of the paper Wendy McCaw’s alleged meddling in news coverage.  Without the reliability of experienced news reporters, readers began canceling subscriptions.  Former editor Jerry Roberts who resigned from Santa Barbara News-Press stated in the film, “We’re in the truth business”.  Roberts is not only referring to the journalists that quit the Santa Barbara paper, but all journalists, publishers, and editors, including McCaw.  Before deciding to run the Santa Barbara News-Press, McCaw had no prior experience in the world of journalism.  Perhaps her unawareness of journalistic truth caused her to run the story which falsely accused Roberts of downloading child pornography. 

    “The truth business” contains an ethical code.  The SPJ Code of Ethics was written in 1926 and has been revised four times since, with the last revision in 1996.  The four main ethical rules explained in SPJ include “seeking the truth and reporting it, minimizing harm, acting independently, and being accountable” (“Society of Professional Journalism”).  The story addressing Robert’s affiliation with child pornography was published on April 22, 2007.  The front-page article took Robert by surprise as the Santa Barbara News-Press failed to contact him for comments.  The low ethical standards of McCaw were shown through her personal strike at Roberts and the entire profession of journalism.  Like the code states, McCaw was not “abiding by the same high standards” in which she held to others (“Santa Barbara Independent”).  What was McCaw’s reasoning for putting the former editor’s hard-drive through an extensive investigation?  She was trying to find dirt on Roberts.  This is one of the many ways McCaw tried to challenge or somewhat silence her enemies.  The phony story on Roberts went against all main points in the SPJ Code of Ethics. 

    The documentary highlights many of McCaw’s threats, intimidation tactics, and lawsuits against her former colleagues.  Although the story caused Roberts personal suffering, he can now be seen as an idol for journalism.  Roberts resigned from his dream job as to not infringe on the SPJ Code in order to maintain his credibility to the profession of journalism.

Pretending to be Chris Hansen from “To Catch a Predator”

“To Catch a Predator” was definitely my most interesting projects I’ve ever been involved with.  Interrogating these sex offenders and pedophiles was nerve wracking and the conversations between the predators and underage decoys I was able to view were both shocking and overtly inappropriate.  How these potential sex offenders didn’t think they would eventually be caught in action, I do not know.  In the age of internet, nothing is private.  No matter how many privacy settings exist, the information is never as secure as it seems.  Internet based companies are constantly watching what people visit online in order to infiltrate the information and send advertisements directly to your browser.  Companies hired to watch your internet involvement is just one of the many examples of how your information on the internet is really never private. 

Hosting “To Catch a Predator” made me feel as though I was providing important news to viewers.  I didn’t really feel like a journalist.  I felt more of a news anchor reporting on the sex offenders living in people’s computers. The show worked in conjunction with online watchdog group Perverted Justice.  Although critics bash the show by saying that media outlets, such as “To Catch a Predator”, don’t have the right to expose criminal behavior is absolutely ridiculous.  Who was going to expose the information if we didn’t?  We left the legal punishment of each suspect up to police and prosecutors.

The show allowed viewers to understand the “need to know” basis of dangerous predators online.  Parents and all online users need to know the reality of online pedophiles and perverts. 

I don’t think the show did any harm to the public.  It simply showed the dangerous reality of online predators.

Little Rock Blog

When Dr. Benjamin Fine was seen “lifting her [Elizabeth Eckford], saying, “”Don’t let them see you cry””, a storm brewed within the white racists. 

Dr. Benjamin Fine, the education editor of The New York Times, was one of the first reporters to cover the Little Rock story.  A firsthand witness to racism, Fine decided to channel his emotions as a journalist.  As Elizabeth Eckford made her way to the bus stop, whites yelled cruel and unfathomable remarks at the young black woman.  In such a controversial time against races, it took one to stand above the rest.  As Fine became that one person to avoid conformity, I am brought back to a memory from grade school.

Every grade has “that one nerd”.  “That one nerd” in my 6^th grade class had his head buried in a book at all times and could be seen occasionally picking his nose.  The vision of a nerd picking their nose is so stereotypical, but that’s really what he did! One day, during a snack break, my teacher took a bathroom break, leaving a bully free environment open for business.  When four boys had “that one nerd” pinned against the locker threatening him, I yelled, “Stop”, at the top of my lungs.  It got the attention of the entire class and the teacher walked in at the nick-of-time.  I felt at that moment that I had truly done something to help. 

Treat others as you would want to be treated.  You become a great example for others if you follow this Golden Rule.  Fine, a white journalist, kept his emotions in check while also showing humility toward his subject.  Fine wanted to get a good story and knew exactly how to approach such a sensitive situation. 

I don’t think journalists force empathy in situations similar to that of Fine’s, however I do think journalists should know when to help others.  They must be flexible enough to get a good story while relating to the subject.    

Watch the video of Elizabeth Eckford walking to the bus stop.  What would you do if you were a journalist trying to get a story?