Declaring war on errors

The founder of the Web site Regret the Error (slogan: Mistakes Happen), Craig Silverman, has a new book out by the same name. It’s not just a compendium of hilarious newspaper corrections, although there are plenty of them, including these winners:
* “We spelt Morecambe, the town in Lancashire, wrong again on page 2, G2, [...]

Ethics in translation

How do you use sound bites from an interview with someone whose native language is not English? The standard approach is to have their answers translated and use a voiceover for the bite you decide to include. That sounds simple enough, but it can get complicated, as Rich Beckman points out in NPPA’s [...]

Video veracity

We often talk about the opportunity multimedia reporting provides to tell more of a story - the Web, for example, is a perfect medium for providing audiences access to source documents, links to more information, etc. Now, KCNC-TV in Denver has found a way to use the Web to be more transparent in its [...]

Journalistic suicide

A cable news anchor in New York has lost his job for making a crank call to one of the station’s talk shows. A Washington Post reporter has been disciplined for sending an angry email. Both journalists expressed their personal opinions in ways they clearly should not have.
According to the New York Daily [...]

Are social networks fair game for journalists?

Social networking sites now host billions of pictures and comments, a few of which might be relevant in covering a news story. Can the media use them? In the October 2007 NPPA News Photographer magazine, Brian McDermott reports that different newsrooms answer that question differently. KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh used photos from a [...]

What do you owe your newsmakers?

There’s no doubt that your approach to a story may change in the process of reporting it, but do you need to let the people you’re covering know that, too? 
For me, this question was raised by a little brouhaha involving a student journalist and her professor at UNC-Chapel Hill.  The reporter, Carla Babb, did a story that the John [...]

Multimedia can add diversity

“Multimedia has the power to reach a more diverse audience.  Mastering these new communications tools is how African Americans can ensure they will continue to have a voice in government and advance their own personal power.”
Speaking to an audience at Virginia Commonwealth University on October 10, the executive editor for Black Enterprise magazine, Derek Dingle, said [...]

VNR: FCC says pay for play doesn’t matter

The Federal Communications Commission says just because you’re not getting paid to air it, doesn’t mean you get a free ride when it comes to identifying VNRs for viewers.
According to Broadcasting & Cable, the FCC has issued four more proposed fines against Comcast for airing four video news releases (VNRs) on non-controversial topics for which [...]

Maintaining independence

Being a good journalist does not mean you can’t have personal opinions; you just can’t let those opinions creep into your reporting. But how do you stay independent from what you are as opposed to what you think? By being a journalist first, says Tom Avila, a staffer for the National Lesbian & [...]

FCC News: VNR fines and minority media-ownership

Here’s another good reason to avoid using a Video News Release (VNR) without proper attribution: You could be fined!
According to the Hollywood Reporter, for the first time ever, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau is calling for a $4,000 fine against Comcast for showing a VNR without telling viewers they got paid for it.
Comcast says that airing [...]