AJR in the Classroom

Discussion questions for the December 2005 / January 2006 issue, along with suggestions for further readings on revenue models for news Web sites, journalists' roles in crisis situations, e-mail interviewing and reporting on the poor.

 

 

Story 1: Adding a Price Tag | Story 2: Off the Sidelines | Story 3: Inbox Journalism  | Story 4: Reporting Out of the Comfort Zone

 


STORY 1: "Adding a Price Tag: The New York Times joins the ranks of news organizations charging for some of their  online content. Is paying for Internet news inevitable, or will the Web's 'information wants to be free' culture prevail?"  By Lori Robertson 

 

MORE INFO FROM THE STORY:  TimesSelect charges online users $49.95 a year to access The New York Times' op-ed pieces and columnists, story archives and other services. Other news Web sites, like the Spokesman-Review's, are charging users to read the print edition online but are giving them Web extras for free. And still others, like The Washington Post's site, require users to register to read the online product, but rely on advertising to support the business. What will be the Internet revenue model for the future? Futurist Roger F. Fidler, who has been conceptualizing electronic news design for decades, predicts subscription fees will be embraced more widely. But he believes the fees will be lower than newspaper subscription prices.

 

CLASS INTERVIEW ASSIGNMENT / DISCUSSION / RESEARCH:

  • The Newspaper Association of America keeps a list of newspapers that charge for online content. There were at least 44 on the list in November. The teacher should get a copy of the list and assign each student a news site to call to interview a top editor or the publisher. Students should find out when the Web site shifted from free to paid subscription; how much users are charged, and for what; and how many subscribers are signed up. They should also find out how much revenue is flowing in annually from the subscriptions, if the revenue is meeting expectations, and how big of a percentage that is of the site's overall income. Students should type up their findings and be prepared to present them to the class.

  • Students should do readings on the future of electronic news media (for a jump-start, see links below), then write an 800-word, sourced analysis, making their own predictions on how these news products may look and read in 10 or 20 years. What type of content might we see? How will it be delivered? Where will the revenue come from? Bonus points for sketches of page designs. 

ADDITIONAL READINGS AND LINKS:



STORY 2: "Off the Sidelines: Many journalists jettisoned their detached-observer status and jumped in to help the suffering victims of Hurricane Katrina. When should reporters intervene? And where is the line between humanitarian assistance and unacceptable activism?” By Rachel Smolkin

 

MORE INFO FROM THE STORY: Reporters and ethicists offered differing opinions on where they'd draw the line. According to Smolkin, no one interviewed for the story said journalists should never help under any circumstances. But some, including Paul McMasters, the First Amendment ombudsman at the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center, said a journalist's role in objectively documenting the news could become compromised if he or she becomes a part of the story. Michael Josephson, founder and president of the Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics, countered that a journalist's primary obligation is to act as a human being.

   

CLASS DISCUSSION / RESEARCH PAPER:

  • Invite a panel of three professional journalists in for an ethics discussion. Try to include a photographer, a print journalist and a TV journalist. Lead a talk on when - and if - it's appropriate to offer aid to victims of a crisis or tragedy while reporting a story. And if assistance is given by the media, should that action be revealed to the public during the telling of the larger story? Or would it be interpreted as media grandstanding?

  • Have students write an 800- to 1,000-word research paper on pre-Hurricane Katrina instances in which media were criticized for lending a hand in the face of crisis or tragedy -  or for failing to lend a hand. Students should cite sources used and offer their thoughts on whether journalists acted appropriately. They should be sure to include background and context on their case(s), along with reaction from other media at the time.

 ADDITIONAL READINGS AND LINKS:

 


STORY 3: Inbox Journalism: The e-mail interview has become an increasingly popular technique. It eliminates endless rounds of phone tag, and it gives sources a chance to provide well-thought-out answers rather than top-of-the-head responses. But critics warn that it's hardly a substitute for real-time conversation and may be a recipe for sterile journalism.” By Kim Hart  

MORE INFO FROM THE STORY: Some editors are concerned that e-mail interviews can promote lazy reporting and reliance on untrustworthy sources. Others say that nuances of an in-person interview - body language, tone of voice and off-the-cuff-remarks - can be lost when the exchange is only electronic. But others counter that e-mail interviews give journalists a written record of the "conversation." And, they say, the computer exchanges can break down language and geographic barriers, and, in some cases, induce harried sources to reply when they're not willing to invest the time in a phone conversation or a sit-down chat.

CLASS DISCUSSIONS / RESEARCH:
  • Instructors should lead a class discussion on their own interviewing practices and preferences and encourage student journalists to give their thoughts on the pros and cons of e-mail interviews. Specific examples should be offered. Included in the debate should be a discussion about the pitfalls of exchanging information by e-mail with sources who wish to remain anonymous. As Hart noted: "That need for caution was illustrated when Time magazine handed over to a special prosecutor the electronic notes and e-mails of White House correspondent Matthew Cooper in the Valerie Plame case."
  • Ask students to do research on cases in which journalists were duped by sources they'd interviewed by e-mail. Students should jot down notes on at least one case and be prepared to present it to the class.


ADDITIONAL READINGS:

  • "Uncharted Terrain: While it’s too soon to gauge the extent of the damage, the Judith Miller/Matthew Cooper case already has clouded source-reporter relationships and impelled news organizations and journalists to reexamine practices ranging from negotiating with sources to taking and storing notes," by Rachel Smolkin, published in the October/November 2005 issue of AJR.

  • "E-mail interview advice," by Jonathan Dube, published on Poynteronline Feb. 13, 2003.

  • "Are Online Search Tools Lulling Journalists into Laziness?" by Mark Glaser, published in the July 22, 2003, issue of Online Journalism Review.

  • "Step-by-Step E-mail Interviewing Tips," by Sandeep Junnarkar, published on Poynteronline Oct. 16, 2003.

 


STORY 4: “Reporting Out of the Comfort Zone: Setting college students loose in a low-income neighborhood doesn't quite inspire the enthusiasm Syracuse professors hoped it would." First Person by Steve Davis and John Hatcher 

 

MORE INFO FROM THE STORY: The 30 print journalism students - mostly white - expressed discomfort at interviewing sources very different than themselves, had to learn to shake their overreliance on the computer and the telephone for interviewing, and had to hustle to succeed. But those who worked hard and showed initiative came away with a couple of great stories, their teachers said.

 

CLASS INTERVIEWING / REPORTING ASSIGNMENT AND DISCUSSION:

  • Ask students to do a search for examples from the professional media of well-reported stories on the poor. Examples don't have to be current; they could be decades old (and could include winners of journalism prizes). Students should make a copy of one of the stories for each of their classmates and the teacher, and they should write a 500-word analysis that summarizes the piece, describes special challenges the reporter likely overcame to complete the story and  speculates on whether anything similar could be attempted in the university's coverage area. Students should be prepared to present their findings to the class.

  • Teachers could set their own reporting classes loose on a low-income neighborhood to find an interesting trend or feature story. For this shoe-leather assignment, set some restrictions: No e-mail interviews allowed; multiple sources must be interviewed; the majority of the interviews for the story must be done in person, and not by telephone. Students must find a story untold by any of the local media. Story lengths could range from 500 words to 2,000 words, depending on the skills of the class and the type of class (beginning news writing vs. complex writing). Students should be required to list all of their sources by name, title and telephone number on a sheet attached to the end of their stories. They should be warned that instructors will spot-check sources for accuracy.

ADDITIONAL READINGS AND LINKS:
 

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Teachers' guide written by Chris Harvey, online bureau director at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism and former managing editor of AJR.
First two items published Dec. 9, 2005; third item added Dec. 10, 2005; fourth item added Dec. 15, 2005.

Copyright © 2005 and 2006 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Permission is granted to freely print, for classroom use, up to 100 copies of the most up-to-date version of this document, as long as the document is not modified.