Week4 Abstracts
Laura Wright
Week 4 Abstract Package
“20 UNDER 40″
Reading PRESSTIME’s list of the top 20 under 40 opened up my eyes to how much more goes into the newspaper industry than just the jobs of reporter-editor. Going to journalism school, you’re trained to think in terms of graduating and then becoming a copy editor, assignment editor, reporter, or “online person.” The “20 Under 40″ show us that circulation, project management, advertising and marketing have had just as big an influence on journalism as we know it to be today. Recently, I’ve had a hard time thinking about journalism in terms of being a business like any other, but it really is. The ideas of customer satisfaction and catering to your audience all sound like mantras you would associate with the white-collar corporate world, or even the service industry, but they are just as important when it comes to the business of information. With that business, you need innovation, fresh-thinking, hard work and a willingness to adapt – all qualities that each of the 20 individuals on PRESSTIME’s Top 20 list seem to embody. The nominees come from a variety of backgrounds – from newspaper giants like The New York Times and USA Today to smaller papers and news outlets like The Tallahassee Democrat and The Norwich Bulletin.
The fact that no one on the Top 20 list is a print reporter demonstrates the industry’s evolution towards stressing new media, different ways of presenting information and providing neatly segmented bits of content for every sort of person on any kind of schedule. Every one of those on the Top 20 list is hard working and dedicated to the business of providing the highest quality of information, but what I see here as the overarching theme (which a majority of them mentioned) is the idea that you should always question the current system, always be willing to change based on what works and what doesn’t. The Top 20 all have something refreshing in common – they aren’t completely gloom-and-doom about the future and direction of the journalism industry. They don’t take the easiest approach of always yearning for “the good old days” of typewriters and stacks of notes. While they are realistic in recognizing the increased emphasis on raising profits, they’re excited and willing to take risks to keep the business Many reporters and editors, understandably so, are having a hard time making the transition from what’s always worked in the past (traditional print journalism that focuses on objectivity, the nitty gritty facts) to what may be ahead, which is a more three-dimensional way of thinking about providing information. Change is always scary, especially with industry like journalism with such a rich and steady history, but we have to learn to embrace it with excitement and a willingness to learn.
Al TOMPKINS’ CRIME STORY RESOURCES
The Poynter Institute’s Al Tompkins gives some unparalleled advice and tips for anyone who wants to go into crime reporting (or who inadvertently does when they find out that’s where most entry level newspaper reporters start out) and who wants to go beyond citing figures, statistics and all the other black-and-white minutiae that seems to be pervade crime stories. Statistics can be misleading. Sure, a 50% rise in the number of sexual assaults in Alachua County in a year may seem like a big deal, but when the number the year before was only 30, this increase isn’t really so newsworthy or indicative of any major shift or trend. We have so many commonly held beliefs when it comes to crimes (burglaries go up around the holidays, rapes are more common at night, etc.). While some of these are true, many are misconstrued. More hard-nosed, innovative crime reporting could help reverse this dangerous trend. Looking beyond the numbers and at the bigger picture is a major part of this, as Tompkins explains.
As for story ideas, Tompkins shares a wealth of them that go beyond the basic murder-arrest-imprisonment angle. The rise in juvenile crime is something that doesn’t receive much coverage, and there is some real opportunity here for examining the larger issues that play into it, like the school system and family life. The bad check story is something I never see covered and wouldn’t have thought of at all. A great story would be how retailers have taken stricter precautions to protect against bad checks, and like Tompkins said, spending a whole afternoon talking to store owners who have to deal with trying to get these “deadbeats” to pony up the cash. This story would be infinitely more interesting than a vanilla story on a local man being arrested for drug-dealing. A great investigative piece Tompkins mentions is examining the worst speedtraps in a city and tracking down what happens to the money obtained from the speeding tickets. Is it donated to some sort of charity for those hurt by a drunk or speeding driver? Does it eventually end up in the pockets of the legal system? The questions here are endless and would make for an interesting series of stories. As Tompkins suggests, far too many news outlets only report on a major prostitute sex sting. Rarely does a reporter examine if and how a city tries to prevent prostitution through drug rehabilitation and other forms of counseling. Much of our hesitancy to delve into these complex issues surrounding crime has to do with being taught to take the “Just the facts, ma’am” approach with newswriting. If we take a second to examine into the institutions and organizations around us, it might be construed as “taking sides” or being “too political.” This is the exact opposite of what should be happening in crime reporting, where there is probably the most potential to expose corruption, shed light on community problems and really change people’s lives for the better.
THAT FIRST INKLING: THE ORIGINS OF ENTERPRISE STORIES
I’ve always been curious as to how The New York Times always manages to have such a variety of extremely in-depth enterprise stories on every subject imaginable. The Times has pretty much set the standard for what it means to hatch a story idea and cover it from every possible angle with the precision and insight that make it the first name in award-winning print journalism. The results of Byron Calame’s survey to the reporters and editors of the Times provides us with a wealth of knowledge about what goes on behind the scenes of a prestigious paper. It’s telling that well over half of the initial ideas for the 23 articles came from the reporter him/herself, with none of the ideas coming from the “big 13″ editors named on the paper’s masthead. This is a testament to the fact that most managing/supervising editors should be the ones who help refine or tweak an original idea if needed. The reporter’s curiosity should the first step toward an enterprise package, and like Abramson says, should “bubble up” depending on what’s happening in the community or even on a national level.
The anecdote of Jeffrey Gettleman’s Page 1 article “In Iraqi Divide, Echoes of Bosnia for US Troops” is a great example of fresh-thinking in the drudgery of stories that come out of a long, drawn-out war, where you risk rehashing the same ideas in multiple stories. At least his editors were receptive to the idea of changing the original story to something that focused more on the former Bosnian peacekeeper and how his past was shaping the way he viewed the sectarian tensions in Iraq. Reporters should feel comfortable with coming to their editors with a re-tweaked version of a story if they feel that a different angle would be more appropriate or more interesting. Some reporters may feel afraid to approach an editor with a conflicting idea, especially when the story is the editor’s brainchild, but this shouldn’t be the case.
Often, as Calame’s piece demonstrates, the simplest of actions can result in the hatching of an insightful story idea. Roger Cohen’s trip to a tennis club led to a thoughtful, well-planned story that started with a specific anecdote about Italian architecture and ended up touching on the larger issue of how different countries view change. But, as Calame points out, much of a reporter’s story ideas come from following up on previous articles, even articles written by reporters from other news outlets. Many a time, I’ve read an article in the paper and had questions about it afterward that could have been covered in a follow-up story or simply a better, more comprehensive original story. Often, when interviewing a source for one story, he or she might key you in on a trend that’s more timely and leads to an entirely different story altogether. As Calame’s research shows, story generation can be the result of weeks of thought, simply a little bit of happenstance, or both. Either way, reporters must be innately curious about the world around them and develop a keen eye/ear for what would make for a groundbreaking enterprise piece.
TABOO TOPICS IN JOURNALISM TODAY
Accuracy in Media’s political leanings are obvious, but its mission statement is even more troublesome. It advocates accuracy and objectivity in the media but derides liberals in the process and is clearly partisan in its advice-giving. Despite what Cliff Kincaid and the rest of his team at AIM seem to believe, I really don’t see the supposed liberal bias in the media. In fact, I see a lack of an opinion all around. Of course, there are the cloudy areas like Fox News and CNN, which many call the conservative and liberal forces in cable news, but as far as daily papers go, most are rife with pro-con, let’s-be-politically-correct coverage.
Of course the taboo topics that Kincaid lists are hard to cover with objectivity. No one writing about them can say with absolute honesty that he or she has neutral feelings toward the issues of gun control, homosexuality, abortion and religion. There are exceptions to the rule, but it’s naïve to pretend that even while covering the news, we can totally and completely separate ourselves from the issues. Those writing about abortion shouldn’t have to cite the link between abortion and breast cancer as the sole focus of their stories, especially if the link is based on data that are statistically insignificant. We should always be careful in what angle we take, whether it’s “liberal” or “conservative.” Creationism articles are lacking in the news, but that’s because journalists are supposed to be the watchdogs of government, and we can surely agree that religion and the government should not co-exist. Whether AIM likes it or not, the separation of church and state prevents journalists from covering the theory of intelligent design with any depth or comprehension.
The “demonizing” approach that AIM claims liberal journalists take with the issue of DDT is troubling. While AIM proclaims that journalists are clearly biased and misinformed about issues like Islam, pornography, AIDS and homosexuality, it does not cite any evidence to support its opposing stance. “DDT has saved lives and can millions more,” Kincaid says. According to whom? What kind of survey or research can he actually cite? This isn’t to say that journalists shouldn’t be held to the same strict standard when taking the “liberal” approach to covering a particular social issue, but the statements made by AIM in this piece are rife with generalizations.
Maybe we shouldn’t be so afraid of a lack of objectivity in the news. With the rising competition between “just the facts” newspapers and the frank, editorial tone used on citizen journalism Web sites, maybe we should take a stance one way or another. Our readers might like it or they might flat out oppose it. But isn’t that what freedom of choice is about?
JANET COOKE’S “JIMMY’S WORLD”
CASE STUDY
This was an even more powerful example of how easy it is to fake a story, dupe your editors … and ruin your career. (Or get a sweet cut from a movie deal based on your screw-up.) Janet Cooke’s story was full of holes and inconsistencies. It’s a wonder it got past Ben Bradlee (although, apparently he was known for being a risk-taker and brazen as far as editors go). At the same time, however, I can understand the Post’s willingness to take the story as-is. As much as it was outlandish, it was provocative, and Cooke’s writing was captivating. It won the Pulitzer, the most prestigious award as far as the written word goes. The fact that all this happened under the watch of The Washington Post shows that it can happen anywhere. Even though it’s embarrassing and disturbing to see how a journalist could blatantly deceive readers, it’s definitely an important case study for future editors. “Jimmy’s World” undoubtedly raised the eyebrows of some editors at the Post (and hopefully not just the copy editors). If these skeptical editors had been more vocal about their concerns, this story wouldn’t have made it to print. We take most reporters at their word, but fact-checking is as important as ever, even when it has the potential to piss someone off. Since Cooke was a black woman working at a mostly white newspaper, maybe some were worried that their questioning her might have been misconstrued as prejudice. While Cooke’s legacy may be disastrous, her story is a thought-provoking lesson for anyone considering a job in journalism, especially editing.
STORY IDEA
With President Bush’s announcement of the economic stimulus plan, which includes sending out tax rebate checks to several million American families and individuals, I’d be curious to see what UF’s economics professors think about the ideas behind it and how the rebates may or may not affect students. The rebates will range anywhere from $600 to $1,200 depending on your filing status and how much you earned in 2007.
Will some students theoretically be eligible for the tax rebate? The rebates will most likely require an individual to have earned at least $3,000 in 2007, which is possible for those students who work 20-30 hours a week.
I would talk to a few working students to see how hopeful they are about receiving a check, what they would do with it (save vs. spend), etc. UF Professor Debbie Garvin, a CPA and tax expert, could give information on how this would most likely affect UF’s student population.
Another source would be UF Professor Jonathan Hamilton, chair of the Economics department. He would provide some tips on what young people should do with their tax rebates if they do end up getting one. He could also provide some insight into whether or not the rebates have the potential to reverse a recession.
15-20 inches with money-related graphic or a photo of a student working. Online story could have some sort of calculator where readers could enter their information and determine if and how much of a tax rebate they would receive. Another option for online could be a quiz to determine what you should do with the money based on your financial situation and spending habits.
