Do independent hyperlocal news sites face different ethical challenges than bigger news organizations? Yes, according to a new report, Rules of the Road, from American University's J-Lab. Author Scott Rosenberg says hyperlocal sites have "fewer traditions and rules and more confusingly blurred boundaries." So how …
Twitter got a ton of free publicity this week by releasing #TfN, a newsroom guide for Twitter. "We want to make our tools easier to use so you can focus on your job," the guide says, "finding sources, verifying facts, publishing stories, promoting your work …
The mayor of Seattle is telling local TV stations to back off. In Georgia, the governor's office went so far as to ban an Atlanta station from a public event. What's going on here? Elected officials often don't like the way they're covered but they usually …
Wearing dark sunglasses and a baseball cap, Bubba the Love Sponge brings it on. “Oil prices are a scam,” he roars. “A select few people are getting ultra-rich on the backs of the American family!” It’s classic Bubba, the same shock jock shtick he’s been …
Should online video follow the same conventions as TV news? Adam Westbrook thinks not. In a provocative essay, he argues that several TV news conventions were developed to help journalists work faster and tell stories in less time--constraints that he believes do not apply to …
Who would have ever imagined needing to advise NPR to slow down? The public radio network has been known for many things since it launched four decades ago, but speed wasn't one of them. Lately, though, NPR has tripped up more than once because it …
You've written a story for the Web or a post for a blog and you need to add an image or a related video. If you didn't take a photo or shoot footage yourself, what are your options? The Internet is a treasure trove of multimedia …
Forgive me for tooting my own horn, but I'm pleased to announce the publication of the second edition of my book, Advancing the Story: Broadcast Journalism in a Multimedia World, co-authored with Deb Wenger. It's available now from CQ Press or Amazon, and we hope you'll …
A disgraced ex-governor, a talent show host and an Oprah wannabe. Not a bad guest list for Letterman, perhaps, but as prime-time anchors on a cable news channel? This is what's become of CNN. The one-time cable news leader has had a horrible year. Over the summer, viewership …
Some people set their sights on the news business at an early age; others just stumble into it. But to stay in it and be happy for more than 30 years takes a combination of grit, talent and luck. Laurie Hertzel had all three. Her book, …
Transparency, accountability and openness are among the core values of journalism. They're embodied in SPJ ethics code, after all, which thousands of journalists and news organizations subscribe to. So what would be the point of a pledge to support those three values--a pledge that comes with …
The National Enquirer's story about what it calls "the Al Gore sex scandal" is a fascinating case study in journalism. Whatever you think about the newsworthiness of an updated police report about an incident that allegedly occurred four years ago and that police refused to investigate, …
