AJR in the Classroom

Discussion questions for the December 2006 / January 2007 issue, along with suggestions for further readings.


Story 1: "Expect the Unexpected"  | Story 2: "Blogging Between the Lines" 
| Story 3: "Tribune Tribulations" | Story 4: "Behind Bars"



STORY 1: "Expect the Unexpected: Variety is the watchword at the post-Ted Koppel 'Nightline,' a very different animal than its vaunted predecessor. Serious journalism remains, but there’s plenty of fluff in the mix."  By Paul Farhi 

 

MORE INFO FROM THE STORY:  Farhi reports that a year after Ted Koppel stepped aside as anchor of the thought-provoking ABC newsmagazine, an overhaul by a new management team has created a zippier show. While it still does commit some strong journalism - such as its Oct. 2 piece on the shootings of 11 Amish girls in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse -  the show is sometimes obsessed with the trivial. Farhi notes that by incorporating three stories into 22 minutes of air time, some of the show's pieces feel underreported. And some of the new features - such as "Sign of the Times" - feel lightweight. A piece in September, for instance, reported on how aging rock stars sometimes have health problems. But the new "Nightline" has kept pace with or exceeded Koppel's version in Nielsen ratings. And ABC News President David Westin says the show has met two goals: "to maintain a substantive and unique news program in late night, and to maintain the audience that Ted had built."

 

CLASS RESEARCH AND DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENTS:
  • What are the serious, investigative newsmagazines remaining on television? "60 Minutes"? "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer"? "Nightline"? Others? Ask students to write 1,500-word research/analysis papers that discuss the landscape of current TV newsmagazines and make reasoned arguments on whether the news shows are committing serious journalism. If the newsmagazines fall short, what should they be doing better? Is that investment in quality journalism likely to happen, in an era of declining TV newsmagazine profitability? (See The State of the News Media 2004: An Annual Report on American Journalism/Network TV," from the Project for Excellence in Journalism.)
  • Invite in a panel of broadcast professionals from the local chapter of the Radio-Television News Directors Association to talk about the future of the TV newsmagazine. Is there currently a place in commercial television and an audience appetite for serious, long-form news shows?

    RELATED STORIES AND BACKGROUND:


    STORY 2: "Blogging Between the Lines: The mainstream media have fallen in love with blogs, launching them on everything from politics to life in Las Vegas to bowling. But does the inherent tension between the blogosphere’s anything-goes ethos and the standards of traditional journalism mean this relationship is doomed?"  By Dana Hull  

     

    MORE INFO FROM THE STORY:  Most news site blogs are written by staffers, but some are contributed by freelancers or special guests. Hull reports that the blogging obsession is creating debate about everything from staffing to sourcing to ethics to standards of liability. Among the issues that editors and publishers are considering: Should blogs require the same standards of reporting and sourcing as reports written solely for traditional media? Should reader comments and visual submissions be edited or screened before publication? Should anonymous posts be permitted? Should standards be higher for blogs written by staffers than by the general public? Should reporters be discouraged from publishing personal blogs in which they air personal views? A few newspaper bloggers have already run into trouble, Hull reports. In April, for instance, the Los Angeles Times suspended Michael Hiltzik's Golden State blog because he used pseudonyms to post comments.

     

    CLASS RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT AND DISCUSSION:
  • The teacher should make a list of eight to 12 news sites that publish blogs. Half of the sites should be local news sites; half should be national (such as the New York Times online). Divide the class into small groups and ask each group to contact editors at specific sites, to determine if they have written policies addressing blog practices and standards (see paragraph above). If so, what do the policies cover and why? If not, are there informal guidelines followed on the site?  Students should summarize their findings in a written document and be prepared to present them verbally to the class.
  • Invite in a panel of local bloggers, editors and publishers. Encourage a freewheeling discussion with the class on best standards and practices for news site blogs. Are bloggers concerned about too many constraints being placed on them -- such as pre-publication editing?

    RELATED STORIES AND LINKS:




    STORY 3: "Tribune Tribulations:     When the Tribune Co. acquired Times Mirror in 2000, it promised dazzling returns from the synergy between its newspapers and television stations in major markets. Here's why those bold dreams haven't been realized." By Rachel Smolkin 

     

    MORE INFO FROM THE STORY:  Smolkin writes that "the reasons for the underwhelming results are complex, driven in part by bad timing, bad luck and a bad newspaper economy." Attempting to meld different cultures - between Tribune and Times Mirror, but also between newspaper, television and Internet operations -- also proved daunting. Former Los Angeles Times Editor John S. Carroll underscored just how different those TV/newspaper cultures could be: "One Sunday there was a very slick advertising brochure about KTLA distributed in the Sunday paper, and it had profiles of their journalists, some of whom were exceedingly good-looking. One of the first pieces of information they had about the journalists was their sign of the zodiac. I thought, 'How in the world do you blend this with Los Angeles Times journalism?' " He adds tartly, "I suppose we would have been good synergists if we had started listing the zodiac signs of our reporters." Compressing foreign and Washington bureaus, as part of the synergism plan, and reducing staff also took a toll on morale. But newspaper analyst and AJR columnist John Morton says synergy ultimately won't be a failure: "Whoever owns the most horses in the race is going to be better off in the end," he told Smolkin.

     

    CLASS DISCUSSION AND RESEARCH:
  • Ask students to research what your area's professional newspaper, television and Internet outlets are doing to provide content and advertising synergy, (if anything). Are the operations owned by the same company? Do they have content-sharing agreements? Or are they all separately owned or operated? How healthy are the operations - financially and editorially? Students may gather information through interviews with key sources or through more traditional backgrounding. You may want to split them into teams to gather the research. Each team should prepare a report on their findings and be prepared to present it to the class.

  • Spur a class discussion on the role that competition in a news market has traditionally played in aggressive reporting and news scoops. A generation ago, it wasn't uncommon for a given news market to boast two strong daily newspapers, at least one alternative weekly and several TV stations, all separately owned and operated. Have mergers of these TV and newspaper operations dulled reporters' drive to do their best reporting? Or have they enhanced coverage? Have other news outlets (such as citizen newspaper sites and citizen blogs) stepped up to provide healthy competition?

    • RELATED STORIES AND RESOURCES:

    STORY 4: "Behind Bars:      An Iraqi working as a contract photographer for the Associated Press has been held—uncharged—by the U.S. military for seven months. The U.S. says Bilal Hussein has links to terrorists. The outraged AP implores the Pentagon to charge him or free him." By Charles Layton 

     

    MORE INFO FROM THE STORY:  Layton writes that the 35-year-old Sunni Arab was taken into custody April 12 by U.S. Marines and is imprisoned in Camp Cropper near the Baghdad International Airport. A military spokesman says three separate panels have concluded that the photographer had "prolonged association" with al Qaeda members. The AP argues that Hussein was not present at any of those hearings and has never heard evidence against him. Tom Curley, the AP's president and CEO, says he believes Hussein was picked up for taking pictures of insurgents on their own turf -- photos the military didn't like. (One of those photos was among the 20 from Iraq for which the AP won a Pulitzer Prize in 2005.) The case is unfolding against a backdrop of U.S. news organizations' increasing reliance on Iraqi stringers for news and photos in regions where it has become unsafe for U.S. journalists to move about freely. Conservative bloggers in the United States have accused Hussein and other Iraqi photographers of spreading enemy propaganda.

     

    CLASS DISCUSSION AND RESEARCH:
  • Layton reports that the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented seven cases of journalists being detained by the U.S. military in Iraq without charges or adequate disclosure of evidence against them. Ask students to write a 1,000-word paper detailing the work history and achievements of those journalists and the military cases against them. Papers should include sourcing and informal citations.

  • Ask students to write a research paper on one or more 20th-century conflicts in which the military and the U.S. press have had disagreements about how the war should be covered and how much access to the war the press should be granted. How did the press-military clash play out? Did it set the stage for improved - or worsened - relations for the next war's coverage? Papers should include sourcing and formal citations.

  • Invite a professional news reporter or photographer who has covered war to come to class to talk about the challenges of obtaining news in a war zone, including the challenge of gaining first-hand access to the fighting and other atrocities.

    • RELATED STORIES AND     LINKS: