An honest mistake -- or something else?

When the CBS News show "48 Hours" aired a segment a couple of weeks ago about a murder in Columbia, Mo., it altered a picture of the front page of the Columbia Daily Tribune the show used as a graphic. CBS has acknowledged the mistake, although it has not explained very well how it happened. But there is evidence CBS still doesn't understand the seriousness of its action -- particularly given the conclusion the show drew about the case.

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The art of linking

Linking is one of the most powerful tools the web offers to journalists. With relatively little effort, journalists can use links to expand their stories and enhance the experience of the readers. Yet very few journalists or news web sites take advantage of this opportunity. Here are a few thoughts about this tool and how to use it.

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War News Radio

Students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania have created an Internet radio station devoted to covering the war in Iraq. But their station, called War News Radio, is different. Instead of gathering Associated Press and other news service reports and repackaging them, they are creating their own reports using sources that are not often heard from and technology that is not often used by news organizations. The students troll the web for sources of information about Iraq – many of them in Iraq itself. Then they use an Internet telephone service called Skype to call these folks up, interview them and put together their stories. The result is something you would not hear on most radio news broadcasts, even National Public Radio, which, by the way, did a story about War News Radio in January and interviewed two of its producers. Another story about War News Radio has just appeared in the Los Angeles Times. War News Radio is the product of some innovative thinking and initiative, and it could happen anywhere.



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A wide range of knowledge

Among the many qualities that modern journalism demands of its frontline footsoldiers -- reporters -- is a wide range of knowledge. Simply put, reporters should know a lot of stuff about a lot of things. Terry Mattingly, who runs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, made the point eloquently in his weekly column about religion a couple of weeks ago. He tells the story of a reporter who seemed surprised and thought it was "interesting" that the new Pope also has the title of "Bishop of Rome."

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Grading writing assignments

For quite a number of years I taught the introductory writing course at the University of Alabama, the infamous Mass Communication 102. I worked with seven or eight graduate teaching assistants each semester, and in our weekly meetings we talked a lot about grading. This memo to them grew out of those discussions several years ago. It outlines some of the considerations writing teachers should give when awarding grades.

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Generous words for JPROF.com

Chip Scanlan is one of the Poynter Institue's writing gurus and a writer whose advice on the craft is widely read and respected. In addition to his articles on Poynter's website, he has begun a weblog called The Mechanic and the Muse: An Owner's Manual for Writers. Scanlan recently stumbled onto this web site and had some kind and generous things to say about it on his weblog, concluding with "If you want to learn about journalism and its current state of practice, pitfalls and power, J-Prof is one of the first sites I'd send you to."



Read more about journalism and issues facing the profession at JPROF.com.