Lasting Effects of a Smear Campaign

Smear campaigns, or the systematic destruction of one's political career are not new to this country. There seems to exist a double standard between conservative public figures and more liberal figures, regarding the ethics of retracting smear campaigns.

In the case of Shirley Sherrod, the official was taped at an NAACP dinner addressing racism to a white farmer, which was then heavily edited and skewed to appear "racist."

Despite the basic journalistic principles of ensuring facts of a story are correct and cooberated, conservative media producers ran wild with the story. How could they not? In the era of Obama in which post-racialism is an insidiously expanding ideology and the protected interests of White, conservative elites is being challenged, a story of a black official appearing "racist" towards a white man served as a jackpot.

Rush Limbaugh utilized the smearing of Sherrod to say the NAACP "is as racist an organization as there has been and is in this country."

Limbaugh must have suffered historical amnesia and forgot about the most racist and murderous organization in the United States, the Ku Klux Klan and its descendant the police force.

The smear campaign successfully ruined Sherrod's career, forcing her to resign.

Later, a few news organizations and distributors apologized for not getting the facts straight. Bill O'Riley apologized for "not doing [his] homework."

Despite this apology, many conservatives were unapologetic to Sherrod and the damage these accusations had caused. I am nearly certain if the tables reversed, any liberal outlet would be forced to issue a large apology to a conservative official, and his or her mistake would be highly publicized.

Does Transparency Ruin Journalism?

The journalism industry's debate over whether transparency benefits or hinders journalism is far from coming to a resolution. Journalists, such as the New York Times' David Carr is an advocator of transparency and lists his e-mail address underneath articles for readers to directly contact him. 

While many journalists argue that transparency is beneficial and neccessary for correct journalism, others view it as a hinderance to reporters. 

Stephen Ward of PBS is of strong opinion that transparency should not be "over-hyped," otherwise it "distorts the ethics of democracy and media."

In my opinion the omission of personal bias, position, or other "revealing" facts is a greater detriment to journalism and the public than the 'over-hyping' of transparency. I do not think that one's personal bias can ever be over-hyped. In fact it does not receive enough hype. 

For Carr, articles that he has written disclosing personal investment or a stance have been labeled as "activism."  He argues that activist "has become a code word for someone who is driven by an agenda beyond seeking information on the public's behalf."

If this were the case, a large percentage of producers, editors, and journalists in corporate media outlets are activists for corporate interests. 

Corporations such as Disney are intertwined with ABC and its content, it is impossible for the station to produce content that is lacking in a strong bias for the Disney corporation. 

There needs to no longer be a double standard in the journalism industry surrounding transparency. All news outlets and reporters need to disclose their biases.

  

Charging Viewers to Use YouTube

During May 2013 many UK news outlets reported a new YouTube policy to begin charging for subscription services. 

In a Telegraph report, subscriptions services to "30 content creators, including children's programers Sesame Street and Muppet creator The Jim Henson Co." and other popular channels. 

Initial pricing for the subscriptions will start at 99 cents a month and could average $2.99 a month. This change would apply to 10 countries at the launch. 

Google's switch to subscriptions for channels should not come as a surprise. The company began overtly crossing the path into the corporate world when short commercials serviced on popular videos. 

Colorlines Sponsor Set to Re-brand

The organization that created and publishes the famous racial justice website, Colorlines, has now re-branded to "Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation."

A public relations statement on Race Forward's website states that the goal of rebranding is to "lead with race in the same way that [their] organization does, highlight with centrality of addressing 'Race' an the importance of paving the way 'Forward' to racial justice, and convey the urgency of moving forward using the word 'Race.'"

In a story explaining the shift, Rinku Sen describes the change as one "to reflect [their] mission and strategy most accurately" 

Race Forward's news outlet remains largely untouched by this rebranding. However, on the Colorlines homepage there are two stories, including Sen's, explaining the process of rebranding the Applied Research Center and its refined charge for racial justice. 

 

YouTube Changing The Face of Journalism

In an age of emerging interactive media and social networks, YouTube has changed the face of journalism and reporting. Before the rise of YouTube's partnering program, those who dreamed of being a TV personality or disseminator of news had to wait to be hired by a news outlet.

Now that independent users are able to spread their own stories, commentary, and interests, the way the world thinks of reporting is rapidly changing.

As reported in a NY Times story, creator of "What The Buck," Michael Buckley is prime example of a YouTube success story. Buckely was earning over $100,000 from YouTube advertisements through his comical commentary show.

For people who wish to expand their voices and create their own YouTube success stories, these users must be willing to put as much time and effort into their YouTube shows as bloggers. Buckley was putting over 40 hours a week into his segments before people began to notice his work.

Other success stories include actor Joe McHale of "The Soup,"  Ryan Hall of "Stereotypes" which examines assumptions based around race, gender, sexuality and pop culture. This series is a bit different because it was initially created by Pharrell Williams.

Stereotypes caters to a niche community of typically socially conscious people and those who are interested in or experience social inequalities in their daily lives. This segment tackles these serious issues in a comical way, by asking strangers a series of satirical questions around these topics. Stereotypes currently has nearly 260,000 subscribers.

A clip from "Stereotypes"

Collaboration not Competition

The New York Times article addressing Talking Points Memo made a significant argument as to why the blog is so successful. The history of how TPM became a now-famous muckracking blog is based heavily on the concept of collaboration with not only other outlets, but their readers as well. 

As Josh Marshall and his colleague worked to break their story on the firing of attorneys that did not agree with President Bush's agenda, they utilized their audience to be successful. 

In an era of increasing media that focuses on being interactive with its audience, blogs and other online news sources must incorporate that interaction with readers in order to be successful and to have meaningful content. 

Blogs are usually targeted at a particular audience - therefore serving these communities. How can a blogger expect to fully service his or community specified community without somehow involving this group of people in the creation, review, or distribution of its media. 

Edward Snowden Denied Clemency

Edward J. Snowden, who leaked classified NSA documents describing surveillance techniques by the US Government, has been denied clemency for his actions.

The American Civil Liberties Union describes clemency as "forgiveness for a crime and the granting of relief from all or part of a sentence"

In a New York Times Caucus article, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Diane Feinstein was quoted saying "he was trusted; he stripped our system." Feinstein claimed Snowden should have called the House Intelligence Committee with his information if he was a "legitimate" whistleblower.

Stomping Out the Competition...and Ourselves

The buying out of many independent newspapers is only limiting the number of different news outlets present in the U.S., thus altering the forms of reporting in these publications, and ultimately the competition. However, while stomping out the competition, larger corporations or owners may be stomping out themselves as well. The history and ultimate demise of the Chicago Tribune alludes to that very fact:

1979: the LA Times Mirror buys the Hartford Courant
 
April 1999: Hartford Courant (T-M) buys ALT Weeklies

March 2000: Chicago Tribune buys TM --> buys Courant and Alternative Weeklies

2007: Sam Zell buys the Tribune

2008: Tribune in bankruptcy

Who Is Considered a Journalist?

As a few liberal or left-leaning states begin to include bloggers under the label of "journalist," most states still ban untraditionally paid writers and news creators from cultural recognition and legal protection for their work. In a 2012 case regarding an investigative blogger "Crystal Cox," U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez ruled that there are seven signs of "real journalism".

A Forbes article laid out Hernandez' points:  

1. Education in journalism.
2. Credentials or proof of affiliation with a recognized news entity
3. Proof of adherence to journalistic standards such as editing, fact-checking, or disclosures of conflicts of interest
4. Keeping notes of conversations and interviews conducted
5. Mutual understanding or agreement of confidentiality between the defendant and his/her sources
6. Creation of an independent product rather than assembling writings and postings of others
7. Contacting “the other side” to get both sides of a story

Readers That "Look Like You"

During his presentation William Jacobson, founder of Legal Insurrection, stated that the majority of his readers most likely "look like him" (middle-aged, college educated, and -although he danced around this fact- white). I am having a difficult time deciding whether it is practice and wise to seek readers that in fact "look like me" and what effect that has on the content and comments produced.
When I think of an online publication, such as Colorlines, it targets such a multicultural, multiethnic, and diverse audience. As a result, it produces very diverse content and creates interesting dialogues on its site. I fear what are the consequences of having a both a staff and audience that reflects one's own ideals and demographic, as well as closely monitoring comments from users.

It's just food for thought.

Lessons from Legal Insurrection

Since I have started blogging, none of my posts have been particularly personal. However, I feel that this blog post warrants my own personal insight. 

At first, the concept of having a conservative blogger come in to my class and give a presentation about starting an independent blog did not strike me as possibly problematic. However, the creator of Legal Insurrection taught me many lessons that class period. I definitely gained insight into the complexities of starting a blog - the amount of hours and constant updates that need to be a part of that process. From a business standpoint, I definitely benefited from hearing him speak. 

I also learned a few other lessons during this presentation. One of these lessons being to interact with individuals who may not share the same political ideologies as you. Respect is essential to having conversations with "liberals" or "conservatives," progress in a conversation cannot be made without this as a basic understanding. However, respect and avoidance are not synonymous. It was interesting to observe how the speaker seemed at times hesitant to engage in a discussion surrounding his political viewpoints, however he has created an entire blog based on these viewpoints. 

I am happy that I posed the question of why he refuses to discuss politics in his classrooms, but claims that his readers return to his sight because he puts himself and his viewpoints out on the Internet to be scrutinized. His own students - liberal or conservative (if there can be clear-cut definitions of these political ideologies) would benefit from him putting his opinion out there as well. 

Birth of Mailing Prices, Death of Small Magazines

With the rise of mailing prices for distributors of content, such as magazines and other printed publications, the affect of this rise would seriously hurt small magazines. There is the argument that magazines could move to the Internet, rather than relying on subscriptions for revenue. Would that even out the competition, or simply cut off a key avenue of profit for small magazines?

The Path to Gaining 1000 True Fans

In the dense blog-sphere and massive competition, one solution to matching competition from large media creators like Netflix is to have 1,000 true fans. The 1,000 true fan theory concludes that a core group of fans can sustain a business and foster profit for the creator. However, can 1,000 dedicated consumers be attained through a product that is broad? I question whether consumers can latch onto an idea that hasn't started as a niche. The famous Humans of New York photo blog on Facebook is an example of this niche. The idea started off as something incredibly simple: photographing strangers in New York City and capturing small quotes. It quickly went viral, and now has 1.5 million likes on Facebook, dominates Instagram, and the creator is working on a HONY book. Could this be possible if the focus of HONY did not focus on a specific city? 

Building Communities with Blogs

In the current age of technology and easy access, blogs have become not only important but an integral part of our daily Internet experience. As a fierce journalism outlet, blogs can no longer be brushed off as silly, informal, or lacking lasting power. The concept of blogs as creating communities across the Internet is important to understanding the power of blogs. 

As a member of Generation Y and daily consumer of media, I see first-hand how blogs affect my communities, both online and offline. Two of the most influential blogs in my circle of peers and colleagues are Buzzfeed and Upworthy. Both sites contain content that focus on social justice issues, however, Upworthy is filled with a bit more of this content. 

Upworthy's slogan illustrates the power of blogs that Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo and John Tozzi in his article "Bloggers Bring in the Big Bucks" address. Blogs, whether serious, funny, or pertaining to a special interest, have the ability to increase communities. The idea of passing on information to other users and friends is a key aspect of why they are so successful.  Users are able to share things that they find important to other people, thus always creating an expanding pool of viewers. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/

http://www.upworthy.com/

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2007-07-13/bloggers-bring-in-the-big-bucksbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice

Exodus

Robert S. Abbot's Chicago Defender sparked the immense flight of Black Americans from the overtly racist clutches of Southern states to the"liberal" North in search of escape from racism and job opportunities. Described by Abbot as the "flight out of Egypt," thousands of black families packed up and left to Chicago. Although a monumental moment in history for many Black peoples, was Abbot's campaign helpful or hurtful to the lives of African Americans?
Despite the overt racist nature of the South - including the rampant lynchings of black brothers and sisters, the North did not offer a future that was less racist and less discriminatory. Yes, many families were able to attain economic prosperity in ways they could not attain in southern states, but did this offer a reformation to the way society viewed Black peoples or did it provide a temporary fix to the larger problem?
As white soldiers flocked back to the United States, after World War I, Black Americans quickly became aware that their economic prosperity was only a temporary solution to the shortage of poor whites from the labor pool. The overabundance of people of color in urban centers, such as Chicago, caused many problems that could not be fixed simply with another exodus of people to a different area.
The Chicago Tribune's description of the Chicago riots of 1919 are a prime example of how Abbot's campaign affected the lives of many Black people, but ultimately did not tackle the root of the United State's racist, sexist, classist structure that hinders the lives of Black people all across the U.S. - regardless of which region they live.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-chicagodays-raceriots-story,0,1206660.story

The Revolution Will Not Be Objective

As a journalism student, many of my courses contain an implicit or explicit hinting towards objectivity and maintaining it in our stories. From my Introduction to Journalism course to News Editing, objectivity and every its synonyms are drilled into our heads. Contrastingly, the courses I take as an African Diaspora Studies minor instruct me otherwise. While studying the Black Power movement, Chicano/a Movement, Third World Liberation Movement, and current movements, one fact became increasingly clear: social equality and media objectivity do not necessarily coexist. 

It may be true that "good reporting" needs to be produced from an objective framework, but that may not mean that revolutionary media needs to be produced from that same framework. Studying the histories of papers advocating for workers rights during the United States' industrialization era and abolitionist publications during the U.S.' dark period of slavery, were not at all published from an objective lens. That, consequently, is the reason that these publications were effective. Multiple publications, such as the Working Man's Advocate and The Free Press that raised awareness about the issue of child labor, were centralized on a clear view: that laws needed to be developed for child laborers. William Lloyd Garrison did not publish The Liberator from an objective point of view. In that era, objectivity - as most of the larger publications attempted to achieve - only created complacency in the oppressive system at the time. 

Publications that make a difference in the lives of those fighting for social equality and a truly just world, cater to particular view points. If these publications did not take such a firm, oppossing view to existing literature of issues of poverty, race, class, sexuality, and etc, the status quo would never shift in different directions. 

References: "Awakening of a Nation to the Sins of Slavery" and "Fighting for the Rights of American Labor" in "Voices of Revolution"