Comm455/History of Journalism

Who invented original reporting on television?

Posted by: heatherblevins | September 27, 2011 | No Comment |

What is original reporting?

Jim Romenesko called attention to this CBS News promo that was released in August, claiming the network invented original reporting on television. The promo states:

“What is original reporting? It’s finding your own facts, seeing them first hand; telling the story no one else will — or can.

It’s not just reporting what others are reporting. It’s substance over showmanship. It’s what we do at CBS News every Sunday, and every day of the week. But hey, it’s not like we invented original reporting on television. [Cut to a black-and-white image of an old “60 Minutes” set] Oh wait; yes we did.“

The dramatic collection of clips depicting the chronology of broadcast journalism at CBS provided a sense of its rich history. The sarcastic statement suggesting CBS did not invent original reporting, followed by a pause and a pompous “Oh wait; yes we did,” heightens the drama of the message. But, is it true?

"What's My Line?" television show, 1956

Read More…

under: Comm 455
Tags: broadcast, CBS, Charles Collingwood, David Shedden, Douglas Edwards, Eric Sevareid, Heather Blevins, Jim Romenesko, Journalism, NBC, reporting, Robert Trout, Television, Walter Cronkite, What's My Line?

Media Star: Anderson Cooper

Posted by: carriedelisio | September 27, 2011 | No Comment |

Anderson Cooper has a nightly show on CNN called “Anderson Cooper 360°” where he reports on national and international news events. The show airs at 8 PM nightly on CNN. Cooper is known for reporting on-location from areas where there is breaking news. While he has correspondents film and compile news packages for his broadcast, Cooper still has the willingness to go out into the field.But what makes Anderson Cooper a star?

Cooper working in Afghanistan in 2009.

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CNN’s Anderson Cooper reports execution will begin in 30 minutes (now 10:38 ET). #TroyDavis #AC360

Duder78
September 21, 2011

Cooper is known for being a first responder in the media world. He is the first reporter to many locations.

Anderson Cooper First Big Anchor On The Ground In Haiti

Anderson Cooper is the first major news anchor on the ground in Haiti. The CNN anchor who made his name covering Hurricane Katrina flew out of New York at 1AM and filed his first report from the earthquake-shaken region Wednesday morning.

Cooper has also received flashy, Hollywood accolades. He was recognized for his breaking news coverage at the 2011 Emmy Awards.

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Anderson Cooper @cnn wins for amazing breaking news Haiti coverage #Emmys

abiwrightny
September 26, 2011

As of September 12, 2011; Cooper also hosts his own daytime talk show.

Anderson Cooper Talk Show, ‘Anderson,’ Launches

Anderson Cooper is launching a bold, risky new chapter in his career on Monday, as his daytime talk show finally premieres. “Anderson” has been in the works for a year, but viewers will, at last, get to see whether Cooper can make it in the highly competitive daytime world when his show debuts on Sept.

Not to mention the numerous appearances he’s made co-hosting Regis and Kelly. He’s sat in the co-hoster’s chair 32 times.

There’s also this…

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anderson cooper is soo sexy….

tashacaitlyn
September 26, 2011

Cooper also has a less serious side. He has made waves virally when he lost composure on live television during his “Ridiculist” segment on Anderson Cooper 360. The puns just keep on rolling.

All of the different ways Anderson Cooper is involved in media makes him a star. He is able to present hard news to the public with his nightly show, but also connect with them on a new level with his daytime talk show. He wins awards and loses composure. Combined, all of this makes him a star.

under: Comm 455, Uncategorized
Tags: Anderson Cooper, Carrie Delisio, Emmys, media stars, Regis and Kelly

Franklin’s favorite editor

Posted by: Danielle Roussey | September 27, 2011 | No Comment |

In 1738, Elizabeth Timothy quickly went into work mode after the death of her husband, Lewis Timothy. With six children ages 13 and under Elizabeth assumed role of publisher and editor of the “South Carolina Gazette,” working side by side with Benjamin Franklin.

Credit: http://www.nwhm.org

Skyping Dr. Freud

Posted by: bpassmor | September 27, 2011 | No Comment |

Most of us know the therapy cliche of a patient sitting in a doctor’s office with their feet propped up on a leather sofa as they divulge their life’s problems. All the while, a doctor sits in an adjacent chair, jotting down notes furiously and writing various prescriptions.

Whether we have been through this ourselves, know someone who has, or simply identify it from television and movies, this has been the long standing, conventional form of therapy.

But what happens when therapy becomes unconventional? E-therapy, the therapy that cures you from the comfort of your own home.

Online Therapy

Online therapy, also known as e-therapy, e-counseling, tele-therapy or cyber-counseling, is a relatively new development in mental health in which a therapist or counselor provides psychological advice and support over the Internet. This can occur through e-mail, video conferencing, online chat, or Internet phone.

Although this practice is nothing particularly new, the recent rise in patients utilizing this form of therapy speaks to the importance put on human interaction.Therapy, one of the most highly personal acts, has morphed into mini-sessions with patients skyping their psychiatrists on-the-go.

Patients have traded in that stationary hour of talking for video conferencing while running errands, amongst other duties.

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It pains me when I hear my colleagues say, “Don’t tell me online therapy is effective.” So you want me to lie?

SusanGiurleo
September 26, 2011

In regards to communications, while e-therapy has been proven beneficial, just as face to face therapy has, the problem is that it devalues human interactions.

Human beings are social creatures and benefit from being around other social creatures.

Decades ago, therapists were able to actually see the effects of their advice. Yet today, therapists have to trust their patients are taking their advice, instead of being able to physically check up on them.

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The changing face of #therapy Therapists Are “Seeing” Patients Online – NYTimes.com — http://t.co/VtIMC30J

DrMelanieG
September 26, 2011

Therapists Are “Seeing” Patients Online

She mixed herself a mojito, added a sprig of mint, put on her sunglasses and headed outside to her friend’s pool. Settling into a lounge chair, she tapped the app on her phone. Hundreds of miles away, her face popped up on her therapist’s computer monitor; he smiled back on her phone’s screen.

Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites also show our changing socialization views.

It is not uncommon for there to be a room full of people, who do not make eye contact with one another, because they are so tuned into their smartphones and laptops.

Today, news spreads faster on Twitter than it does in real conversations. Facebook allows us to legally stalk acquiantances, who we may not have spoken to in years. And Tumblr is nothing more than a random stream of consciousness reposted by thousands.

Facebook”s New Features Might Not Be as Private as You Think [UPDATED]

Apparently, Facebook has a lot of work to do on its privacy controls. In some cases, the new “ frictionless sharing ” features of Facebook can make it so that even when you’re logged out of Facebook, your browser is still tracking every page you visit, sending that data back to Facebook

Years ago, society relied on actual word of mouth to keep people connected and spread news.

Now? There’s an app for that.

under: Comm 455
Tags: Brittany Passmore, socialization, technology, therapy

Travel Journalism’s itinerary

Posted by: aramage | September 27, 2011 | No Comment |

Travel journalism has been around since 1160, where a rabbi wrote of his travels. In that age, travel news was mainly written. Now it is usually televised or photographed.

Marco Polo even aided travel journalism. In 1275, when Polo was jailed, he told a writer of his travels.

Regardless of the medium, travel journalism seeks to describe places to an audience. It may be that in this age, we are more visual so these television programs or photographs speak to us more. There are whole magazines and tv channels that are devoted to travel journalism.

Many magazines are strictly travel journalism

Humans are known to be curious, so it’s no surprise that travel journalism has been a part of our history. It will also continue to be a part of our future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlaImU2j_hM

under: Comm 455
Tags: Conde Nast Traveller, Lexie Ramage, Marco Polo, travel journalism, travel writing

Athletes and Twitter: Is it worth the risk?

Posted by: patcarroll | September 27, 2011 | No Comment |

Trial of the century: How the Lindbergh baby stole all the headlines

Posted by: mashkenaz | September 27, 2011 | No Comment |

The kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s baby boy became a media sensation, quite possibly leading to the poorest outcome of all. Read More…

under: Comm 455, Storify, Uncategorized
Tags: celebrity, Charles Lindbergh, crime, Lindbergh, Lindbergh kidnapping, Marissa Ashkenaz, Sensationalism

The wonderful world of travel reporting/blogging

Posted by: sarahe | September 26, 2011 | No Comment |

There are a number of different ways to document your travels: travel blogs, travel journals, vlogs and even Twitter.

Long before Tumblr and Blogger, people actually hand wrote their travels in journals. One of the earliest examples is from Christopher Columbus notes on Marco Polo. Here is a picture:

via Wikipedia

Travel reporting also has origins from the Song dynasty in China while Greek travel (fiction) literature dates all the way back the second century.

An important figure in travel reporting is Richard Hakluyt. He published “Voyages” in 1589 which was about the discovery of North America.

Travel reporting was quite common throughout the centuries with many keeping travel journals but with the acceleration of technology almost anyone can be a travel reporter. Even I had to create and keep up with a travel blog during my travels during a study abroad program this past summer. The ability to update and post photos from your trip allows your average person to be a journalist.

Gary Arndt is a man who sold his house and everything he else owned to travel the world. He kept a travel blog which is now an extremely popular travel blog at http://everything-everywhere.com/. Utilizing all the tools of the web, Arndt posts photos, writes blog posts, uses links to elaborate on his travels and constantly creates lists while sending out a newsletter that keeps readers updated.

Gary Arndt at a Songkran celebration in Thailand. Image via www.everything-everywhere.com

Gary Arndt is a man who sold his house and everything he else owned to travel the world. He kept a travel blog which is now an extremely popular travel blog at http://everything-everywhere.com/. Utilizing all the tools of the web, Arndt posts photos, writes blog posts, uses links to elaborate on his travels and constantly creates lists while sending out a newsletter that keeps readers updated.

Gary is now a popular travel writer with no professional background and is a member of two different travel journalism organizations. He originally majored in mathematics and political science. This is just to show you that anyone can be a travel reporter/journalist.

After reading up on travel journalism history and the state is in now I have determined that the only thing necessary to become a travel reporter is to travel. So pack up your bags, grab your laptop and get going. Bon voyage!

under: Uncategorized
Tags: Gary Arndt, Richard Hakluyt, Sarah El-Hage, travel reporting

Twitter: The global renaissance of spoken news

Posted by: Ramy Zabarah | September 26, 2011 | No Comment |

The new news apps

Posted by: jsharma1 | September 26, 2011 | No Comment |

Tablets are the latest craze around the world in 2011. From the iPad, to the Galaxy Tab and now even Amazon wants a crack at it.

Sure these things are cool to play with, but did we really think it would change the face of journalism?

Sports Illustrated last year created what I think is one of the greatest apps ever for the iPad:

This year, even more news apps are being created. CNN recently bought a magazine style app called Zite. Another new app has emerged in recent days called Evri, a topic-based reader app which lets you see more news that interests you, and even tells you what is trending based on Twitter, Facebook, frequency and velocity.

To me, this is no longer a fad. I find myself wanting a tablet and these new apps are not discouraging me. In a few years I wouldnt be surprised if everyone was reading the news off of an iPad.

under: Comm 455, Uncategorized
Tags: Amazon, American contributions, CNN, ipad, Jay Sharma

Is Blogging Killing the Feature Story?

Posted by: Ramy Zabarah | September 20, 2011 | No Comment |

Movie rental conglomerate Netflix recently announced that the price of renting films on their site would double by September of this year. Well, September came around and Netflix lost 600,000 members in the U.S. alone. Yesterday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sent out an amiable email to all customers announcing the introduction of Quikster, a Netflix company.

Ten years ago, a move like this would have been followed by a swarm of objective feature stories (and even hard news stories) in various publications regarding the impact Netflix has on movie rental consumerism and the approach it’s taking. Although the same might happen today to a lesser extent, we live in a new age; the blogging age.

Immediately following Hastings’ desperate approach to reel back in the few customers who think Quikster is a redeemable token of his gratitude and guilt, the blogosphere flooded with numerous accounts of the situation, ranging from angry posts to objective posts to even some very humorous spin-off posts like this one about a stoner who already has the rights to the Twitter username, Quikster.

Where once there was a single place for writers to objectively recount the events of an industry-changing decision, there now is an outlet of endless proportions where anyone can take the situation and do it with it what he/she pleases.

In a 2004 post in the New York Times, Katie Hafner expressed what she thinks of blogging’s true charm.

“A few blogs have thousands of readers,” Hafner said. “But never have so many people written so much to be read by so few.”

I like to think there’s a lost art in feature writing, but is blogging killing the feature story? Perhaps the future belongs to a new art of journalism which values writing for the sake of writing; just to let it out.

under: Comm 455, Uncategorized
Tags: Blogging, Feature Story, Feature Writing, Netflix, Ramy Zabarah, The Feature Section

Rock the Party!

Posted by: theaaroncanada | September 20, 2011 | No Comment |

Ever heard of the band Tea Party? Of course not, unless you’ve been living in Canada for the past decade or two. And even then it might be a stretch for anyone reading this blog to say “Oh… yeah. Tea Party. “The Edges of Twilight” was a wicked awesome album… eh?”

But now these crooning canucks may have more influence over the future advertisement of various American Republican candidates than Matt Drudge.

That’s because the band, known mainly as the pioneers of the musical style “Moroccan Roll,” bought the rights to the domain name TeaParty.com in 1993. After a moderately successful run, including tours in Europe and Australia, the band split in 2005, and the site was largely forgotten about.

Then Washington came calling.

Apparently the NEW Tea Party finally got fed up after having to redirect millions of limited-government supporters from what would be the obvious and convenient URL, to the less obvious TeaParty.org or TeaPartyPatriots.org.

Granted, those two sites are among the first few results in any Tea Party Google search. But considering the average internet user’s propensity for direct-navigation traffic (web addresses typed directly into a browser’s address field), it would make sense for the up and coming political movement to buy out the rockers’ site once and for all.

At what cost?

Possibly over a million dollars, which would put TeaParty.com among very select company, along with sites like Vodka.com and Poker.com, which sold for $3 million and $1 million, respectively, to sell for seven figures or more.

Not bad for a group that never had an American hit.

The problem, though, is that the band already reunited for a summer tour, and is set to head off to Australia for another in February. Which could mean bigger bucks for Stuart and the Jeffs (the band’s three members), or just one big middle finger from north of the border, should the guys choose not to sell.

Stay tuned. This might be a fun story to follow.

Considering the push the Tea Party is trying to make leading up to the 2012 elections, having an impressive central website (that takes as little effort to find as possible) could make a real difference in the number of voters checking off names on the Republican side of the ballot two Novembers from now.

under: Comm 455
Tags: Aaron Canada, Canada, Rock n' Roll, Tea Party