Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Student Newspaper Photog Detained, Cuffed

Here's a really intriguing story. Can you figure out whether the student was in the wrong? whether the cops did the right thing? what the implications of this story for student journalism are? This is an excerpt--read the entire story by clicking here.

Lantern photographer cuffed, detained

By Byron Edgington

When two cows got loose last Wednesday, Lantern photographer Alex Kotran hustled to his room in Lincoln Tower. He had heard about the commotion, grabbed his professional camera gear and ran to the athletic fields next to Lincoln Tower.

Within two hours, Ohio State Police had caught the cows – and Kotran. He was detained, handcuffed and is facing a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass.

As Kotran reached the athletic fields where the cows were being chased by police and OSU workers, a woman wearing a School of Agriculture shirt confronted him, he said. It was 2 p.m.

She told him that he was not allowed to take photos of attempts to corral the cattle. She tried to block him from taking photographs, he said.

Kotran explained that he was a photographer for The Lantern, that where he was standing was public property, and that if she wanted him to stop taking photos, she should summon police.

That’s exactly what she did.

Shortly, OSU Officer William Linton approached Kotran and told him that he could not take photos from where he was standing because it was dangerous. Kotran explained that he was a member of the media and that it was public property.

At the time, several officers and OSU workers were on the field chasing the cows. Kotran was nearly 100 yards away from the action.

Nonetheless, Linton ordered him to leave that location, and Kotran complied.

He moved to the other side of the field behind a chain-link fence and continued to shoot photos. It was 2:10 p.m.

At that location, a female RPAC employee and two male workers with grounds keeping also confronted Kotran and told him to stop taking photos.

One of the men grabbed his arm. He gave them the same explanation he gave Linton and continued to shoot photos.

Two of his shots from that location were on the front page of Thursday’s The Lantern.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Anne Lamott on Cover of Writer's Digest


Anne Lamott (google her) is on the front cover of the May/June 2010 issue of Writer's Digest magazine.

Though unorthodox in many of her views, Lamott has a powerful story of her conversion to Christ and is having significant impact on the writing world. We have mentioned her Bird by Bird several times in class.

I suggest you check out a library or a Barnes & Noble and read the feature story in which she talks about her return to fiction writing.

Ind. Governor Urges Three-Year College Degrees

Interesting article in light of our discussion in last Monday night's class. Full article may be seen at http://www.journalgazette.com/article/20100421/LOCAL/304219986

Colleges urged to increase flexibility
Daniels pitches degrees in 3 years


INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mitch Daniels is urging Indiana’s colleges and universities to begin offering three-year bachelor’s degrees that he said would give students a way to “fast forward” their college careers.

Daniels said Monday that three-year degrees would boost the number of Indiana residents with the college degrees he said are crucial to the state’s future workforce.

The governor criticized what he called a “herd ’em in and keep ’em in” campus mentality and called for a new way of thinking that gets students to commencement “as fast as we can.”

“We can’t simply emphasize enrollment any more,” Daniels told an annual gathering of college presidents and higher-education officials in Indianapolis.

Only two Indiana schools – Ball State University and Manchester College – offer an accelerated degree program, and relatively few students take advantage of it.

But cutting out a quarter of school could save some students up to $25,000.

A Lifetime of Christian Journalism--One Reporter's Story

I thought you might be interested in this personal life-story of one of my former newspaper/magazine journalism students. I hope it's an inspiration that you, also, can go on to have a major impact for the Kingdom through your writing and journalism calling. Enjoy!

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2010/s10040118.htm

Joe Loconte to Join Kings Faculty

NOTE: Joe Loconte is exemplary of brilliant young evangelical thinkers/scholars/journalists who are making a significant mark in today's culture. Note the name, and read some of his stuff if you can!

Joseph Loconte Will Teach at The King's College

Loconte Brings Acumen and an Extensive Publishing Record

NEW YORK--Joseph Loconte, the prolific writer, speaker, and scholar, will become a fulltime professor this fall at The King's College, New York City. He will teach a freshman course on Western Civilization as well as advanced courses on American Foreign Policy.

Loconte has been a Visiting Professor at The King's College during the 2009-2010 academic year and has also taught at Pepperdine University. He writes frequently on the role of religious belief in strengthening democracy, human rights, and civil society. He appears regularly on the BBC's "World Have Your Say" and since 1996 has served as a commentator on religion and politics for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."

Dr. Marvin Olasky, provost at The King's College, said, "Joe Loconte has carved out a unique role for himself as a public intellectual. He speaks authoritatively to the mainstream media about what's happening at the intersection of politics and religion. It's great to have him at King's."

Loconte has appeared on the BBC, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, CBS Morning News, Fox News, and Aljazeera television. His articles have appeared in The Weekly Standard, The New Republic, The American Interest, The Chronicle of Higher Education, National Review, The American Enterprise, Christianity Today, First Things, The New York Times, The Washington post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The International Herald Tribune, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, and WORLD.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Loconte earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana and has a master's degree in Christian history and theology from Wheaton College. He is completing his Ph.D. in history at the University of London.

The King's College is a Christian college located in the Empire State Building in New York City.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Does This Sound Like You?

Journalism’s Next Generation: Working with Millennials

By Jake Batsell

Landing a plum newsroom job straight out of college has never been an easy feat. But this year’s journalism graduates face a double-barreled challenge: an unusually stingy job market and a growing perception that their generation has a “lax work ethic,” as a Washington Post headline declared last week.

The Post’s story was pegged to the Pew Research Center’s new project on millennials. If you spend time sorting through the Pew research, you’ll find that it even-handedly portrays millennials as “confident,” “connected” and “open to change.”

Still, the “spoiled” tag persists. Having spent my 20s trying to defy the Gen X slacker stereotype as I worked to prove myself in metro newsrooms, I can relate to millennials who feel frustrated by pop-culture labels.

I’ve worked with millennials for the past two years teaching digital journalism at Southern Methodist University and advising the SMU Daily Mustang. Newsroom bosses, listen up – here are some things you need to know about your latest crop of entry-level hires:

They respond well to clear expectations.

“Got it.” Those are my two favorite words in the millennial lexicon. When you offer clear instruction to a young journalist and hear those two magic words, you can take it to the bank that they’ll follow through. This is not a rebellious generation. Pew’s research shows that they respect their elders. But if you fail to communicate your expectations clearly and assume they already know things that you take for granted, you could be in for a long day.

They’re creative and adaptable.

It’s a myth that all millennials are technical whizzes – every semester in my digital journalism class, there are a handful of self-proclaimed technophobes. Sure, they live on Facebook, but that doesn’t mean they all know how to write a tag in HTML. That said, these “digital natives” are quick studies who love to try new things. This week, I was delighted to discover that two of my students took the initiative to post an instant video report from spring football practice from an iPhone, using free Qik software.

They’re expressive – and they crave feedback.

Anyone who has taught millennials has their favorite doozy of an excuse for missing class. (My favorite was a student who breezily divulged an embarrassing medical condition that I wouldn’t have dared to tell my own professors.) They’ve been raised to freely express themselves, which they do constantly in person and on social networks. And when they work for you, they want your feedback. The strong, silent approach to management is not a great strategy to get the most out of your millennial employees. Let them know where they stand, and how they can improve.

They seek balance.

When discussing the recent Washington Post story with my students, they largely accepted the Pew study’s premise that millennials have a different work ethic than previous generations. After years of watching their parents put work before family, they aren’t so keen to become workaholics themselves. That doesn’t mean this generation is lazy. It’s all about work-life balance.

Earlier this semester, a student apologized in advance for having to leave my class early so she could tutor refugee kids. And because millennials have grown up using technology to stay interconnected, they consider it second nature to work in spurts while away from the office. As one 26-year-old activist told the Post, ”It’s not about being at a desk from 9 to 5. I work part of every hour I am awake.”

They want to make a difference.

Today’s j-school students have endured a steady parade of guest speakers — Baby Boomers and Gen Xers — bemoaning the state of the news business. The best young journalists are undaunted by this sense of pessimism. They want to use their multi-platform storytelling skills to do some good.

Two recent SMU grads spent part of last summer reporting and blogging from Romanian orphanages. This week, students at campuses around the country went barefoot for a day to raise awareness of kids around the world who don’t have any shoes. One of our recent alums helped start an orphanage in Uganda. Millennials are altruistic and want to give back, and they see journalism as a great way to do that.

Jake Batsell is an assistant professor in journalism at Southern Methodist University and faculty adviser to the Daily Mustang. You can read more from Jake on his blog and follow him on Twitter at @jbatsell.

AP Finally OKs "website" for Stylebook

From World Magazine's blog:

Finally, AP Stylebook OKs “website”

by Angela LuApril

For all you journalists, writers and loyal AP Style followers: today AP has finally freed us from using the antiquated spelling of “Web site” (”Web” being capitalized as it is short for the “World Wide Web”). In a tweet from earlier today, APStylebook says:

Responding to reader input, we are changing Web site to website. This appears on Stylebook Online today and in the 2010 book next month.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Mickey D's is 55

Interview a local manager?
Interview people who have worked at one?
Anyone around who worked at the first one?

Some ideas for an almanac article . . . .


McDonald's will celebrate its 55th birthday April 15 by offering 55-cent hamburgers (limit five) at restaurants in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan. Ray Croc opened the first McDonald's in Des Plaines, Ill., on that day in 1955, according to a press release. Today the world's largest chain has more than 32,000 restaurants, including 89 in this area.