April 1

I think the code of ethics for the New York Times is pretty interesting. When I was at the Times building one of the editor's there talked about the experience of helping create their code of ethics and how many months and years it took to finally finish it. One thing in my section of reading that I noticed and agree with is its extensive coverage of what Time's employees can and cannot do as far as receiving free gifts, tickets or meals and all of the possible ways around it. I also like that they provide a sample letter for employees to use when returning gifts back so if makes the act of doing it easier and less work. I think that is something we should definitely do.
I also think the part about speaking in public and the guidelines Time's employees must follow is smart, but not something that our organization would probably have to worry about at this point, though something we should at least mention and think about in the future. I would also include the part about not using press release materials, such as books, tapes and movies, for distribution. As a food site we will probably get a lot of cookbooks, food samples etc. so it's important to remind our employees that these are for work purposes only and not to be handed out to family and friends.
I thought the section on freelancing was the most useful to our media organization. Most of us in the class will be using a lot of freelancers probably to get off of the ground and running. Let's face it, it's cheaper these days. So I think making them sign a contract that says they must follow the same guidelines as other full-time employees while on assignment is a smart idea and one that we should use.
And as I said before I think the sample letters are great idea and we should have the same courtesy offered to our employees.

March 25

In "Code of Ethics..." I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more specific guidelines for "professional electronic journalists." I thought most of it was pretty straight forward, and honestly not all that different from what a code of ethics for a print journalist should look like. Though, perhaps that is the lesson here, that no matter what medium you use as a journalist ethics still apply. But I think, and when we create our mission for our Web site we should consider this, that there should be some outlines for creating Web content that would be more specific, and rules regarding using public sites for information and being wary of all sources on the Web.
I was happy to see "Guidelines for Ethical Video..." after my last paragraph. This was a little bit closer to what I was thinking electronic journalists should follow also. Because the news on the Web is made up of all of these different components it is important to include video and sound bites to the list of rules. I really thought the part of about slow motion was interesting, something that I never thought of before but it is true. Also the use of music and how it could possibly show editorial judgment is a good rule of thumb to include.
"Ethics in Digital Photography," is something that I think non-journalists should read also. As a news consumer, most times, you never even think that a photograph you see on a newspaper, Web site or TV package is altered so you don't look for that kind of thing. Until I worked with the technology that can do these edits and changes flawlessly I didn't really think about it either, but now that I know it is out there it is a real worry of mine as an editor. I think in our mission, Final Draft should include a clause about using photos from credible sources, our own photographers, or freelancers whom we have a good, stable working relationship with.
In "Photojournalism Ethics Guides," I really thought the Sarasota (FL) Herald-Tribune did a great job of highlighting the problems areas of photojournalism and offered a clear and cohesive outline for how photographers and editors can go about discussing and deciding what to do if an ethical situtation was to arise. I think something like that would be useful and smart in our own guideline. I also liked how all of the papers stressed the importance of clearly indicating if the photo was a set up portrait or an actual action shot. I think this is something that a lot of papers do with giving it a second thought as to the ethical implications that calling a set-up shot truth can bring.
I thought Steele did a good job in his blog addressing the problems news organizations on the Web are facing when it comes to ethics. His list from the panel about areas of online media that could bring about problems is helpful and definitely something our group should look at. By outlining the problems it will be easier to come up with clearer solutions. And, to be honest, I wasn't surprised about the list of ways news organizations deal with these problems compiled by the panel. Of course there is some confusion, because the medium is still pretty new. Things like citizen journalism are still be figured out, and so knowing what ethical challenges will be faced and how to deal with them are pretty new too.
The "Guidelines from the Conference" were really impressive. I specifically found the parts about clarifying between opinion, commentary and news important seeing that many online organizations do a poor job at it. I also thought the discussion on monitoring ways readers contribute to the discussion useful. And I liked that they kind of addressed the "good enough" idea of journalism that is being developed from the immediacy required by the Internet, even including production quality in the discussion.

March 18

In "Redesigned Newspapers" I really liked getting to see what all three papers did to update their look. I think each had some great ideas, but my favorite was The Hartford Courant's new look. I really loved how they used a vertical head and incorporated the dot com. Fantastic! It is a great way to show readers that you are a Web site news organization that just so happens to run a solid daily paper also. I also really loved the design aspect of using one large eye-catching photograph. The Hartford Courant seems to have a more magazine feel, which is something that a lot of people still respond to. It's nice to know that one of the oldest newspapers in the country can adapt and roll with the times. Something as little as redesigning the front page can really rejuvenate readers and reporters working on the paper. I also really liked The Oklahoman's idea of making the newspaper smaller, at 44 inches. It makes the paper easier to hold and more portable, something that the actual holding of a paper still wins in over Web-based news, even though portable devices are becoming more popular the majority of the population doesn't read its news on a cell phone...yet. I think using this smaller size is something Final Draft should do in the actual print edition of the paper, and also using our actual web address name as the name of the paper also.
In "Next Generation of Visual Thinkers..." it makes me depressed that I didn't go to school at Michigan state! When I went to the college newspaper conference at Kansas City last semester with the Ithacan I saw so many interesting graphics and designs used to tell stories in a stronger way than just words. I wish all the time that I could do that, or knew how to do that. I think that using graphics, almost like a magazine, is what will help keep newspapers alive in the future of visual readers who are looking for quick and interesting information. Something I think we should defintely use at Final Draft.
In "One Image, One Word," I have to agree that when the story is big enough one picture, or word is all that is needed. I do think this practice can be abused, however, when papers use the design technique all of the time. This is something that I think Final Draft wouldn't use unles something major happened in the hyper-local area that we will be covering.
In "Is the Web a Tab?" I'm not really sure if I have an opinion on this one. I think she is write, readers want their information to be short and accessable, so that is what we will do!
I thought "Debunking Myths" was a lot of fun to read. When I first started at The Ithacan I would constantly hear all of these rules about design such as the don't pick a photo where the person is looking off of the page, the person's head needs to be the size of a dime etc. And I would ask why? Because I was curious and eager to learn everything at once. And all I would get back in response was "well, I don't know. You just don't do it." So it was nice to have the author agree with me on some of these things. I do, however, feel that knowing and understanding these rules is important for beginners (including myself) so that one can later respectfully break the rules when coming up with more creative designs. I hadn't heard of the dollar bill one before though -- I kind of liked that one!
I was at Friday's class before break so I'm not going to blog on the last reading.

March 4

In "The Morgue," I appreciated hearing Matthew's point of view about what is going on in the LA Times, and across the country for that matter. It must have been very difficult for him to write about it, given the close ties he has to the paper. But sadly, this is a story we as journalism students have heard over and over again, and I quite frankly am not in the mood for it today. The main lesson I can take away from this that might be beneficial to our media site, besides scrapping it all together and getting another major, is to concentrate on the local. Like he mentioned, he can still get good news about Washington from the Post. In today's cut-backs all newspapers can do is cling to what they do best, covering what is right outside their doors.
In "The Platform," I thought the question of who owns the news an important one to consider when discussing this, I also thought the connection between bailing out banks and possibly bailing out metro dailies an interesting one to make. Why not? Well, of course we know why not. Because tax payers will say it's not up to them to bail out news corporations that dug themselves into a hole -- even though that is essentially what banks did. But for some reason we have sympathy and a need to help those bankers with their flashy suits and money-filled pockets, but when it comes to the scrappy reporter in the tweed carrying around a notebook it's a different story. Grrr....but maybe the reason why it has never been thought that the government and the people who consume the news should help us out everyonce in a while is because we, as the medium (I think I used that correctly) are constantly publishing our woes, telling everyone it's our own fault for not getting with the program sooner. Instead we should play dumb like those smart bankers...and maybe then we'd get a bail out.
In "Imagining a City Without its Daily," I again shut down reading these stories. I think it's important to know what is going on in our own business, but one of these is enough and I'm not sure how else to comment, other than telling the Courant to keep on trucking -- hold ground and do what you do best -- cover the local news and continue investigative pieces.
In "A Nonprofit Panacea..." I think the idea of having a media organziation that is nonprofit is interesting and clearly successful, if the organizaiton finds a family like the Sandler's to fund it. I think using ProPublica's content is a smart idea and something that I would consider doing on our media organizaiton to fill any voids in investigative journalism. I also think that Warren Buffet should fund our project. That's my best idea yet...