Buzzfeed’s New Leaf

Buzzfeed is changing its practice in regards to the stories it posts and shares each day in a major way. According to the Columbia Journalism Review’s article “Who cares if it’s true?”, written by Marc Fisher, Buzzfeed has been growing in staff and audience and has thus decided to take more responsibility for the information it spreads. For these reasons, the company is becoming known as a place to get news stories from as well as entertainment.  Fisher mentions the words of Rega Jha, writer for Buzzfeed, how although Buzzfeed still covers fun topics such as difficulties women with big butts experience, it is also covering more serious topics such as sexual abuse going on in India. Fisher also mentions how copy editors have been welcomed as part of Buzzfeed’s staff to fact-check articles on the company’s Top 10 list as well as investigations and narrative features. The company has also begun to make corrections to falsified information, as Buzzfeed staff member Burton told Fisher. All in all, the company is making an effort to become a more reliable source that publishes serious news stories alongside entertaining ones for their growing audience.

The primary concern that media veterans have with the hyper-immediate news delivery online-saavy companies such as Buzzfeed take part in is that information could be incorrect. Fisher tells how older journalists such as Andrew Sullivan believe that entertainment and journalism should not be mixed, for the accuracy of hard news may be compromised. Through social media platforms such as YouTube and Twitter, millennials especially have gotten used to getting news quickly, though not always correctly. Fisher explains how the speed associated with the internet has caused stories to be released as quickly as possible, albeit the weak sourcing they have received. He tells how news is released instantaneously and, if incorrect, is corrected later rather than waiting for the news to be verified as true before being released. It only makes sense then that old-school journalists would be horrified by the new generation’s way of delivering news, for they are used to several fact checkers going over everything and making entirely sure that news is correct before releasing it.

Although Buzzfeed is trying to turn a new, more accurate leaf, potential problems with their practices or process of vetting stories could arise from the stories they do not check. Yes, Fisher does explain that the company is using copy-editors for more-important stories, but what about the less-important ones that could still go viral? Also, not all of Buzzfeed’s staff think of themselves as journalists, as Fisher explains, which could lead to staff members creating stories on a whim without doing a check on whether the information is legit. In order for Buzzfeed to really become a reliable source, all staff members should be held responsible for making sure to the best of their abilities that the stories they pursue are not hoaxes, and, if they are not sure, to seek help from copy editors. If this is done, then maybe Buzzfeed will succeed in becoming a trustworthy source of news as well as a fun place to go to for entertainment.

Exploring Interviewing in “The Pain Of 'Perfectly Normal': A Vietnam Vet's Long-Silent Torment” Podcast by NPR

             In “The Pain Of 'Perfectly Normal': A Vietnam Vet's Long-Silent Torment” podcast on NPR’s Storycorps podcast section, a clip of Barbara Lau interviewing her husband, former Vietnam soldier Hartmut Lau, is played in honor of Veteran’s Day.

Before interviewing her husband, Barbara did not know anything about what happened to him during his time in Vietnam. She did not need to ask questions, but rather gently nudge him into telling his story about a specific memory of the war, commenting when appropriate and allowing Hartmut to get all of his words in the open.

Though Barbara did not need to question her husband to bring his horrible memories of combat to light, she prompted him into speaking of them by stating that although he has told her about West Point, he has never told her anything about Vietnam. When Hartmut pauses in his story, Barbara comments kindly, as though just in a conversation, to urge him forward in providing details.

The interviewer, Barbara, did not seem to have a strategy. She simply seems to be there to help relieve her husband of his memories in Vietnam by getting him to tell the tale and offering a listening ear.

In the beginning of the interview, Hartmut seemed closed off and evasive of providing details. Barbara handles this by telling her husband that he spoke as though he was explaining something that happened to somebody else, but he was there. After this gentle prod, her husband opens up to the painful details of his experiences in combat.

The relationship between interviewer and interviewee in this podcast was evidently a close and loving one, seeing as they are husband and wife. This arrangement was clever in NPR’s part, for it was obvious that it helped for Hartmut to be able to share his entire story with his wife rather than a random interviewer.

I learned from this interview that when interviewing, one must be a good listener when the interviewee is talking, for sometimes they will pause before getting the strength to go on or to collect their thoughts. I also discovered the importance of pushing the interviewee to go on by using short, simple words, as though participating in a conversation.

National Public Radio, or NPR, News Podcasts

           National Public Radio, or NPR, provides many different types of information for the public on their website, podcasts, both news-related and entertainment-related, included. It is, according to Google’s definition, a non-profit form of media that is both privately and publicly funded that sells information to newspapers and periodicals. 

           The list of sponsors for NPR is quite long, but on the list of those who donate $100,000 to $249,999 are legacy media stations ABC and 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment, as shown on npr.org’s pdf form of sponsors for fiscal year eight. Although NPR is generally believed to be a trustworthy source of news, there is speculation by some about whether or not NPR really reports news as it is or if they are influenced by the big corporations that sponsor them, as  the article “NPR: National Public Radio Or National Propaganda Radio?” on 12bytes.org mentions. 

           NPR provides hourly news and politics podcasts lasting five minutes each in their “Hourly News Summary” podcast category. Correspondents from different spots on the globe report to NPR with information, and different staff members tell the stories on the podcast.

           The “Hourly News Summary” podcasts cover stories on a smaller scope, providing a summary of current events and giving general details about them. These podcasts do not dig too deeply into the stories, but they provide enough information for listeners to gain an overall sense of what is happening.

           The sound quality on the “Hourly News Summary” podcasts by NPR is quite good. There are not any quality issues, and listeners are able to hear the reporter without trouble. The reporters speak with clarity, making it easy for listeners to understand them.

           If given the choice, I would rather listen to the “Hourly News Summary” podcasts than read them. It is much easier to make time to listen to them than it is to read them, and the sound quality is good enough that listening will not impair my understanding of the story.

Why You Should do Schoolwork at the Glendale Community College Library (For Glendale Community College Students)

 The Glendale Community College Library is an invaluable resource for students. The facilities offer a quiet study space, endless resources, computers, and professional librarians to help find information.

Academic achievement and usage of the library are linked, according to various studies such as those of Ying Zhong and Johanna Alexander, present in their article Academic Success: How Library Services Make a Difference , where they mention, “The library assumes an important responsibility to facilitate students’ education, providing services, programs, and resources to assist students in being more effective and efficient in their academic career—to succeed academically.”

For these reasons, the GCC library is a great place to study.

The library has several different spaces. Upon entering, there is a circulation desk to the left where materials are checked out and returned, a reference desk straight ahead, several desks for studying behind the reference desk, and a spread of computers behind the study tables. Surrounding this are shelves upon shelves of books.

These areas are well-utilized by students, who typically occupy the computers and study tables. Student Lisette Lamas demonstrates this in describing her favorite place in the library. “My favorite place would be here on the computer. Doing homework, and then if I want to, I can listen to music while I do my homework,” she says.

After catching a glimpse of the library, one might think that’s all there is, but, according to GCC librarian Elizabeth Salina, the library has more to offer. “We have a quiet study corner. And, in the group study rooms, too, we have flat screen TVs where you can project through an HDMI cord that you can check out up there.” She gestures towards the circulation desk. “We have laptops you can check out, so you can work on presentations,” Salina explains, going on to add, “and then we have white boards in those group study rooms.”

These are some of the lesser-known services the library offers students who need to study. However, the library also offers places to rest with some light reading and relaxation. “We have, like, a reading area right there; back there we have popular reading and magazines that you can sit when you have some chairs, and you can comfortably rest,” Salina describes.

Along with the facilities, the GCC library has a trove of resources. When asked, Salina delves into a description of the information resources the library provides. “We have your textbooks that you can use in the library here if you're waiting for your textbook to come in. We have books that you can check out; we have magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals, and different kinds of media both in print and online that you have access to as a student.”

Besides for physical materials, there are numerous online resources, accessible through the link to the library on the Glendale Community College website. Salina goes to her computer, doing an online search. “You can do your research here or from home, and this One Search will find articles, books, and videos,” she explains. “It’ll find resources,” she mentions, “and it tells you how to cite, how to print them out.” The One Search allows students to search for information, which can be limited by specifying more details in the academic search engine or by limiting the types of material wanted on the sidebar at the left.

When a research project arises, the library is a smart place to do it, seeing as there are resources and librarians available. Student Lamas demonstrates this, saying, “When I come to the library, I come to do, you know, my homework, and then I come for the books for some resources for my research and stuff.”

The importance of these resources in one’s college education is made evident by S Basheer and A Razzaq in their article Impact of College Library on Student’s Academic Achievements, which explains that “it is found among other things that students in college with good library resources and full time librarians performed at high[er] levels than students with minimal or no library resources.” This shows that the library is a great place for students to acquire research information from, for they will have access to resources and can get help if necessary.

The GCC library is more than its facilities and resources. As Salina says, “Anything, any information question [students] have in support of their studies, or even their personal life, if we can help, we do.” The GCC library is its librarians, always ready to help.

The benefits of working in the library are endless. According to Karen Brown in her article Academic Library Contributions to Student Success: Documented Practices from the Field, “Academic librarians are establishing connections between different aspects of the library (e.g., instruction, reference, space and facilities, and collections) and numerous academic success factors (e.g., student retention, persistence, GPA, engagement, graduation, and career preparedness).”

With all of the benefits the GCC library has to offer students, what better place to get schoolwork done?

Web Sources

http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/national/baltimore/papers/141.pdf

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/42166/1/MPRA_paper_42166.pdf

http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/issues/value/contributions_report.pdf

My Journalism Hero

              My journalism hero is Walter Cronkite. According to biography.com’s biography of him, Walter Cronkite was born on November 4, 1916. He decided he wanted to be a foreign correspondent, which is a journalist who reports news from another country, as a young boy, according to Leslie Clark’s article Walter Cronkite: Witness to History on pbs.org. Cronkite began his journalism career with jobs from small newspapers and radio stations and moved his way up to the United Press wire service, as Clark states. Clark continues, mentioning that there, he learned much of his steady, accurate reporting skills before he joined the army during World War II as a war correspondent and was later asked to join CBS radio, who noticed his hardworking nature in the army. According to Clark, Cronkite turned down CBS’s offer, and it was only years later when he was again offered the job as a TV reporter that he took it.

                Clark explains that Cronkite began reporting for CBS when television was still relatively new, so he had to make the rules up as he went. Cronkite, according to Clark, received further popularity when heading a program called “You Are There”, in which he and other CBS journalists would pretend to report on a famous historical event. Clark states that he later became anchor of the CBS Evening News. In my opinion, Cronkite is most well-known for this position, for here was the segment in which he would address important issues such as President Kennedy’s assassination, the imprisonment or Americans in Iran, the death of Martin Luther King Jr., and the news that the U.S. could not win the Vietnam War, signing off every single time with the words, “And that’s the way it is.” According to Clark, Cronkite resigned from CBS Evening News in 1981, continuing to sometimes do special reports.

                I like Walter Cronkite because of his steady, accurate, and honest way of reporting. He told the facts straight-up without dressing them up, as shown in his report on Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. He also reported for the people, always keeping to his strong moral fiber, as present in his breakdown of the Watergate Scandal, which Clark reports to have made the White House threaten to revoke CBS’s station licenses, although CBS stuck to their story. Cronkite kept his emotions in check when reporting, but when he did show a display of sadness or happiness on camera, it meant a great deal, as is evident in the moment he took off his glasses in sadness over President Kennedy’s assassination and when he also removed his glasses, but this time grinned, in his excitement over the first landing of man on the moon.  Walter Cronkite was known as the most trusted man in America and was called “Uncle Walter” by many for his trusting manner and accurate reports. There is something about this man who told stories well enough to keep America captivated for almost twenty years that makes me aspire to be as good as him one day: good, honest, and ever serving the public.

Building a Website as a Journalist

           Today, the internet is incredibly widespread and accessible, and it can be used to a professional journalist's advantage. Having an online resume site or web presence allows a journalist to showcase their skills at no cost except for the time it takes to create content and design a social media platform. Once a blog or website is developed, anybody can read its content. This gives professional journalists free exposure and allows possible employers to find out more about them and, if desired, to contact them. Along with possible employers, a journalist can gain a public following if people enjoy reading their content and can then bring attention to topics they believe to be interesting, triggering conversation among the people.

           Sites can be built using a variety of different tools. There are free website-building tools with ready-made templates, such as Blogger and Weebly, available for anybody who wants to write. These websites are a great start for those who aren't sure how to begin since they are pretty user-friendly. For those who have experience in basic coding, HTML5 and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) can be used to create a more personalized website. Whichever route a journalist decides to go, creating a website will allow them to present their ideas, content, and style for people to view and gain an idea of who they are and what it is they write about. 

           Branding is defined as creating a unique name or image for a product. In the case of an online web presence, the journalist's content is the product, and its unique name and image are the quality with which the content is written, the topics it covers, and the level of credibility displayed throughout it, among countless other qualities. Consistency is when conformity is applied to the journalist's website/blog design along with their words. This means that the overall theme of the web page or blog should be consistent throughout each post in order to be aesthetically pleasing, and the writer's opinions and facts shared throughout their writing should be the same, unless they have reason to change, in which case their audience must be informed. Keeping branding and consistency in mind is important when creating a web presence or online resume, for these affect how people will think of the journalist.

           If there is an opportunity at which a file must be linked to within the web page or blog, it is necessary to pay attention to the digital format of the file. Make sure that the digital format is compatible with most web browsers before adding the link onto the website or blog. Some digital formats used to display text that are widely compatible are text documents (such as Microsoft Word) and PDF files. Popular image digital file formats are JPG, PNG, and GIFs. Note that digital file formats for sound bites and video clips will take longer to load on a browser. If a journalist wants to upload a file and is uncertain if it will work, they should do some research on that particular file format to find whether it is a widely-compatible format or not. However, these types of files will usually enhance the journalists website or blog by providing a variety of information for their audience, whether it be supplemental reading, visual representation, or audio.

           A journalist should organize their website so that a home page is available for blog posts and writing content, an about page is available to provide a description of the writer and their content, a contact page is accessible for those who wish to contact the writer, and any other pages are separated by category. One might even separate their posts by category so they are easier to find by topic. A good example is this journalist's blog: https://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/. The journalist, Steve Buttry, has organized his blog to be user-friendly and easy to understand. A good example of a well-organized website can be found here: http://www.andrewkardon.com/. Andrew Kardon, a freelance writer, displays all necessary information neatly throughout his website and uses good design to make it visually pleasing. However a website is organized, it should be easy to use for the audience and provide a pleasing aesthetic.

           Creating a web presence can help a journalist represent themselves better as a professional by showing that they are committed enough to their work to create a web presence in the first place. Not all journalists are familiar with web design, but creating a website or blog shows that they are willing to learn new things in order to get their writing out there. A web presence also gives a journalist a reason to write for the public, which in itself provides a basis of their writing style and credibility. Professionalism can be based off of how strong their content is and how well they present themselves. Putting in the effort to make it easier for potential employers to find them and discover their writing style through their web presence puts those journalists ahead of the game and exudes a confidence directly correlated to professionalism.

Accountability and Transparency in Journalism

            Out of the four main ethical obligations of journalists listed on the Society for Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics, I find the most important to uphold to be accountable and transparent. 

By definition, to be accountable means to be held responsible for the explanation of one’s work. This is incredibly important for journalists to abide by, for if a journalist is putting their own words out for the public to read and take to be true, they must be able to explain their words and answer any questions posed by the public. Being able to do so essentially makes a journalist credible.

To be transparent, on the other hand, means to be open. A journalist must be open about any motives behind an article or any reason for bias to appear in a story; the facts must be laid out for the public to digest and form conclusions from. In being transparent, a journalist can gain more trust from the public and thus gain more readers and build credibility.

             Being accountable and transparent increases the credibility of any journalist. Whether it be by quickly correcting any mistakes, clarifying information, exposing unethical activity done by any organization, or by holding themselves to the highest of standards, accountability and transparency are important in journalism to keep journalists trustworthy. If it weren’t for these obligations, the public would not be able to trust the word of any journalist, and the freedom of the press would do no service to a suspicious public.