Citizen journalism

If Paul Carr meant to start a debate, he succeeded. Over the weekend, Carr, who writes for Techcrunch, penned a criticism of citizen journalists at the Fort Hood shootings that picked up quite a bit of traction online.

Aside from his many Twitter mentions, other social media critics responded to his critique and while most felt his post didn't have the substance to sustain a convincing argument, Megan Garber writing at the Columbia Journalism Review was more...Go to full story

Most film audiences are familiar with the phrase, "Based on a true story," or the even looser attribution, "Based on true events." They understand that what they see on screen is a fictionalized version of people, places, and events that, in some form, really exist. But they're also savvy enough to understand that reality has been rewritten and rearranged to make it more interesting.

Denver Post theater critic John Moore raises questions about...Go to full story

With the rise of 24-hour cable TV came the need for more and more content. But without the funds to pay more and more staff, broadcasters have increasingly turned to pundits to fill their air time. Sometimes those pundits are experts with specialized knowledge; often they are people who are able to speak on camera and will take a strong position to promote an agenda, political or otherwise. In the October issue of The Atlantic magazine, staff writer Mark Bowden looks at the...Go to full story

The social media platform, Twitter, first gained legitimacy as a valuable news tool last April, when it helped connect protesters in Moldova and then, more remarkably, during and after Iran's election this past June. But a college class on Twitter reporting?

According to Medill Reports, beginning this fall students at DePaul University in Chicago were able to enroll in "Digital Editing: From Breaking News to Tweets," a journalism course created and led...Go to full story

The Federal Trade Commission has published the final version of its guide concerning the use of testimonials and endorsements in advertising.

Last updated in 1980, the guide now includes revisions for advertisers promoting atypical consumer results. As Brian Solis writing for TechCrunch/The Washington Post explains, "advertisers were allowed to get away with promoting unusually positive or outlier experiences in a testimonial as long as they included a...Go to full story

An amendment to the proposed Free Flow of Information Act (S. 448) has ignited heated discussion about the formal definition of "journalist." The Free Flow of Information Act, also known as the federal media shield, would provide protection in federal courts for journalists who maintain the confidentiality of anonymous sources. The bill is meant to ensure that the public has continued access to sensitive information and stories provided by sources who cannot reveal...Go to full story

While there is little question that the actions of the community organizing group ACORN--revealed in a series of covert videos encouraging prostitution and fraud--are unethical, the question of whether the filmmakers themselves were acting ethically is up for debate.  In a recent bulletin, Ethics Newsline highlights the response of three journalists to the widely broadcast footage: ACORN workers offering advice to the two activist filmmakers who posed as a prostitute and...Go to full story

Last week, we wrote about the New York Post poaching a story from a blog called NewYorkShitty.com and not crediting the blog writer, named Miss Heather, for her scoop. We spoke with Miss Heather about the Post's statement regarding their crediting policy, "THE NY POST CREDITS BLOGS, BLOGGERS AND OTHER MEDIA ALL THE TIME, AS OUR READERS KNOW” (emphasis theirs). She said, "That may be their practice on paper, but that's not their statement in reality." As... Go to full story

StinkyJournalism.org’s study on the gift tax implications of citizen journalism was the topic of a recent conversation between WBFO reporter Mark Scott and Lee Coppola, Dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at St. Bonaventure University.

During the interview, Coppola expressed his opinion on citizen journalism-- one shared, but not always expressed by many in the journalism community. "Overall I am against it, because too many...Go to full story

Robert Mackey, on the The New York Times blog "The Lede", questioned the impact of citizen journalism.  Citizen journalists don't scoop mainstream media, according to Mackey, rather, they tip them off to major stories.   "If an eyewitness tweets a report of a news event and it is not picked up, echoed and amplified by news organizations," he asked, "is it qualitatively different than an eyewitness account shared with even a large number of...Go to full story