What's broken in the newsroom?

Throughout the whole Season 5 of The Wire, their were a lot of issues happening in the newsroom. One of the major issues at hand was fabrication. Stories were being made up and exaggerated, which is not newsworthy. That goes against journalism rules and the code of ethics.

According to webster.com, the definition of fabrication is "to make up for the purpose of deception."

Their becomes great speculation that Scott Templeton, a young reporter for The Baltimore Sun, makes up his own stories. It seems that he does so to impress others and to have a higher position at The Sun. He is one to make up his stories for the Baltimore Sun. He began fabricating stories basically from the start. It all started in Episode 2, Unconfirmed Reports, with his beginning story consisting of a teenage boy in a wheelchair presenting no real name, only a so called nickname, no photo or anything. With no evidence he gets away with it and the faulty story is accepted by Executive Editor James Whiting. From then on Templeton made up stories and quotes throughout the season.

Templeton just makes stories up like it is the correct thing to do and like it is absolutely nothing wrong with doing so.

He also presented a story about a so called mother that died of a toxic reaction to blue crabs. The mother left four children in care of her sister. According to Templeton, as the sister raises the four children she collects money to pay for their education.

It is no secret to the staff that Templeton fabricates stories. David Simon clearly dislikes Templeton because of all of the fabricated stories and quotes he provides.

The whole happening of Templeton and his fabricated stories is similar to the Jayson Blair story. Blair, a young reporter as well, who resigned from the New York Times after he was caught fabricating and plagiarizing stories. Templeton and Blair both took part in the same act, fabrication.

Fabrication is a very serious issue in the newsroom. I feel that it goes against any rule for journalism and is far from ethical. Fabrication clearly does not make for a good story even if the made-up story is portrayed as real or even sounds nice. I feel like if you are going to make up stories then why become a journalist. It is not fair to the paper, staff or others that would love to be in the newsroom writing newsworthy stories. The obvious and correct thing to do is to fire anyone who is participating in fabrication. If it is done once then it is bound to happen again. Reporters are under a lot of pressure, having to deal with deadlines and all of the happening stories and events. Regardless of all of the present pressure, it is never acceptable to make up stories and quotes. Whether if the fabrication is based off of pressure of just to be noticed, appreciated, impressing others or raising standings it is not necessary and should never be done.

picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/77/The_Wire_-_Season_5.jpg

Journalist Rules!!

The three most important rules: Accuracy, Privacy and Plagarism & Fabrication

Accuracy- all of the information a journalist gives has to be correct. If it is just one minor error present, the work is worthless. Everything has to be done, written and said correctly. I feel that if something is not accurate, its value goes down along with the value of the journalist for reporting incorrect work.

Privacy-their are many laws present that can get to a journalist if privacy rights are violated. A journalist has to know their limits and follow them. Many break the law and are sued because of privacy rights. Privacy is very important.

Plagarism and Fabrication-you have to do your own work. Why go into the field of journalism if you are just going to copy off of someone else, it is not right. You can not add on extra information or anything to a story that is not true, nor can you make up a story just to receive the glory or meet a deadline.

Their are consequences for all three of these rules if they are broken. I find these to be very important for journalist to follow.

*flick.flick*

Mikal is smiling while trying to dismiss the cold weather. It was very windy, which made it even colder outside, but yet a smile a remained on her face.

This is a statue of a tiger, showing it roar. The tiger is a demonstration of the Towson Tiger that was given to the campus by the alumni in 2007.

"xxxxx" is riding a seesaw with hopes of raising money for cancer foundation that his fraternity is hosting. "xxxxx," a xxxx at Towson University, dedicated his time for 48 hours to ride a see saw with other fellow fraternity brothers for a Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer.






To take a better photo you have to keep some things in mind while shooting the picture. Depending on the type of camera you have, you have to hold the camera a certain way. If the camera is more thick, you should hold the bottom to keep it still, so it will not move while taking a picture. If you have a smaller camera, then you should hold it with both hands, but without your fingers in the way of the lens.

When taking a picture you should get in steady yet different positions. Shooting not only from eye level, but lower and higher levels makes for a better picture. Taking many photos of the same image is always best, you have a variety to choose from of which you like best. The image that is in the frame is important, you have to study that and fill the frame for a great photo. While filling the frame, you should look for different angles to shoot the photo. The rule of thirds is important when taking pictures. Always keep your eyes out for unique shots, take a photo that may be surprising to your eye.

"Mr. and Miss. Black Towson University"

The current “Mr. and Miss. Black Towson University” is John Campbell and Michelle Mitchenor. Michelle is a member of the Greek organization Delta Sigma Theta. On behalf of the Deltas, they will be hosting a "Mr. and Miss Black TU Talent Showcase." This event will take place Sunday, November 9, 2008, from 5:00pm to 9:00pm on Towson’s campus in the University Union Potomac Lounge. The cost of the event is $5 per ticket. Towson is conducting this event with anticipation of discovering which young lady and man has it in them to be crowned and titled the next “Mr. and Miss Black TU.”

Accredited references for this event include: John Campbell, Michelle Mitchenor, Brittany Bolden and Leandra Thomas (members of Delta Sigma Theta).

Some possible questions that can be asked at this event to audience members may be: “Who do you think will be crowned the next Mr. and Miss. Black TU?” “How was the show?” “Are you pleased with the outcome of the event?”

Some possible questions that can be asked to the participants of this event may be: “How did you prepare for this event?” “Were you nervous?” “What was the most exciting/scary moment?” “If you could have done anything different what would it have been?”

Opening Remarks...

"Open Mic Night"

This event is Towson University’s first Open Mic Night. It will be held on Thursday Sept. 25, in Paws from 7:30pm to 10pm. A lot of students will be performing their wonderful talents. Light refreshments will be served and the best thing about it is its free.

The main sources for this event is the Campus Activities Board for Towson University.

No questions will be asked.

At this event, I plan to look for details regarding how many people will be performing and how many people will actually come out to support their peers and Towson University.

"Tweet Tweet Tweet"

Christina Rutter

I absolutely love this tweet. She was on point with her creativity of writing about the stories. Good newswriting because it is consisted of creative writing. She put thought into her leads and they were written correctly. Sometimes less is best, your choice of few words was best. Having few words made it easier for me to grasp the moral of each story. It was not a lot of information coming at me all at once. Good Work!

Mikal Annis

Very imaginative. Your choice of wording was perfect for each story. It actually made me want to read the stories over again. Great Job!Represents great newswriting because it is well written. Also, short, sweet and got to the point. While at the same time interesting. You gave the main points of the story in a way that I and any other reader can understand the whole story without reading it first.

Ariel Gononsky

Simple but neat. Good news writing because her leads were accurate. Follow-ups were truthful and appealing. Your writing is presented very clear and simple. You followed directions and answered most of the "5 W's and an H," which made it easier for me to comprehend the stories.

What's New???

News to me is vital information about current events.

However, according to wikipedia.org news is "News is any new information or information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience."

Fire Destroys City Playground

This happened at a park at old Memorial Stadium. The cause of this fire has yet to be determined. No one was injured, only a lot of broken hearted people. The community helped build this park and now they are all together mourning over the lost of a place that felt like home to most.

This is newsworthy because it has a direct impact to the people of the community, it displays timeliness by recently happening. The parks proximity is very close to those whom was affected by this.

Harford Sheriff's Deputy Arrested in Baltimore

The deputy was accused of coaxing a woman to a residence for a bachelor party and pushing her down a flight of stairs.

This is newsworthy because it has sort of an impact on readers because the Harford community can now be more aware of the people and things going on in the area. This story is a little unusual, it displays conflict and is a recent event.

'Project Runway' winner Christian Siriano has designs on Emmy Awards

Famous winner of Project Runway will have his own designs being worn on the Emmys this year. This is newsworty because it is interesting. This is a great display of prominence, he is definitely well-known in the fashion industry. This is sort of unusual because he is so young and was just the winner last year. Many people are interested in fashion, the awards and Christian so affinity is involved. This is a great display of human interest.

The Traditional News Values:

Impact-effect on the audience. Their are three differenent kinds of impact; direct, indirect and potential impact.

Prominence-information on well-known people. These stories are about famous people, it keeps the audience interested in celebrity gossip.

Unusualness-insubstantial stories. This is stories with events that are a little odd, that you would not normally think of to be a story.

Currency-a direct tie to stories already in the news

Conflict-people battling nature, other people, themselves and other issues. This keeps people intersted and on the edge of their seat wanting to read more and know exact details.

Timeliness-how recent an event happened

Proximity-physical nearness. How close the setting of the story is to the reader.

Affinity-when people are interested in other people who share characteristics. A connection the reader may have to the story whether if it is the topic or people in the story.

Human Interest-strong emotional content. How the reader connects to the story and how much they may be involved.

photos:fire, sheriff, Chrisitan

definitions:chapter 2

In The Beginning...

A backpack journalist is a new approach to reporting. Backpack journalist develop stories of interest from various places by traveling. Jared Silfies carries a notepad, camera, pencils, USB cord, laptop and a couple of guiding books in his backpack. The book "Elements of Style" says that Jared is an excellent journalist. He is well prepared and very passionate in his work's of grammar and composition.

Rachel Youens works in the area of Austin, Texas. I think she carries a camera, a sketch pad, pencils/pens and maybe various fashion magazines. She may have a book of patters, swatches of fabric and different kinds of utensils. I think Rachel carries these items with her because her interest is to incorporate fashion through journalism. She presents her passion of fashion in her compositions of blogging. With these particular items she is able to record and capture her ideas and they are a big help in doing so.

The Sweetest Thing...

My name is Tamara Noe'l Leak. My birthday is December 3rd. I am 19 years old going on 20. I was born and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland. I am the youngest of four. I have two sisters and one brother. They all play a major role in my life especially my mother. She is the one I look up to and the person that keeps me grounded. I love her dearly for encouraging me to keep God first. He is my everything.
I'm a junior at Towson University majoring in Mass Communications with a track in Journalism. I hope to write for a magazine and one day own my own magazine. I look forward to expanding my knowledge in fashion and photography. In my free time I enjoy writing of course, photography and shopping.

Now Welcome to The Sweet Life...

sweeter than you. love myself. cake&&ice cream. slim jim {tabasco spiced} yumyum. ICE. cream soda. black. writing. dogs. watermelon. candy. photography. surprises. sweetness. love.
so much more where that came from.
want to know.ask.

sweet goodbyes.