New Multimedia-Increasing Knowledge or Laziness?

Okay, so one of my favorite things that I have written about, concerning the upcoming election, in my blog is the various forms of multimedia that websites are using. It’s fun to look at the different forms of media involved in politics, and not just print and broadcast. As important as print and broadcast news are, I think it is also vital to look into the future and where journalism can go. News organizations are finding innovative ways to cover politics and they deserve just as much attention as other forms of journalism.

The great thing about these new forms of multimedia is the simplicity and ease of using them. Instead of reading an entire article, or a bunch of articles if you really want to know about the issue, you can just click around and see what you want to see. Everything is laid out right in front of you. One shouldn’t brush off older forms of journalism and only look at the fun multimedia when it comes to learning about an issue though. A good mix of print, broadcast, and new multimedia is the best way to get the full coverage of news.

Yesterday, The New York Times website added a new piece of multimedia “Naming Names.” This application gives all the “names used by the major presidential candidates in the series of Democratic and Republican debates leading up to the Iowa caucuses.” There’s a circle with all the candidates’ names around the outside. Lines are formed from name to name, indicating that one candidate used the name of another in the debate. When you click on the name of a candidate, arrows show you who used their name. Quotes also appear so you know what was specifically said about the candidate, and who said it.

Time.com has a poll titled “How America Decides.” The poll shows how people form opinions. It does this by incorporating a person’s knowledge of the candidate and the emotions inspired by that candidate. You select a candidate and three bar graphs show percentages for various subcategories for knowledge of the candidate, traits that describe the candidate extremely well, and emotions evoked by that candidate. It’s kind of hard to explain it in detail, but once you start clicking around on it you can really understand it in full.

This use of multimedia made me laugh the most. ABC.com’s “Buzz-o-meter” (which is the lamest name by far) names one candidate the “Buzz Maker of the Week.” For example, Obama was this week’s Buzz Maker because of Oprah and all that jazz. What makes me laugh is how this reminds me of trashy magazines dealing with celebrities. Not much really goes into this application, and if you follow politics you would already know everything it has to offer. I guess it’s good if you missed out on politics for the week, maybe you were in a week-long coma or something, and you need to quickly catch up.

I’m torn about the use of these multimedia applications and if they really are good for our country. I definitely think they are more good than bad, but I think lazy readers could use them incorrectly. Instead of reading an article and getting really into the news, one can have fun and click a few buttons and think they are aware of everything. I guess it’s all up to the people that use them. If you want to get a lot of information, you can. It’s definitely out there. If you want to take the easy way out, you can. You can just look at the “Buzz-o-Meter” and learn what made headlines in politics that week.

Reading!

Missouri Professors: Merrill's Offense Was Plagiarism

Let me just start by saying, that poor girl. She just made a mistake and I really don't think she meant to plagiarize at all. She's a student, she's learning. That's part of education, isn't it? Making mistakes and trying to correct them? By just pulling her column completely, they are not giving her the opportunity to do better. I understand the school wants to set and maintain journalism standards, but they have to remember that students are there to learn. They don't know everything going in. If they did, they would not be there.

It's important that she and other students learn the responsibilities of their actions, but it is also important that they get the right education before they can even make the mistakes. If she had been told about how to properly attribute someone else's quote (which can be tricky, and doesn't always look as pretty as it would if you just left it out), she might not have even made the mistake in the first place.

I agree that what she did should be labeled as plagiarism. Using another person's writing, ideas or quotations, is essentially stealing. If I spent my energy and time writing something, then saw it used elsewhere without attribution I'd be pretty angry.

I still feel bad for her though. They could have handled the situation better.


Carelessness is not plagiarism

And poor John Merrill! He clearly did not mean any harm. The man was 83 and was a professor! He knew what he was doing for the most part but made one little slip and killed his credibility. His post was so sincere and I really feel for him. I am astounded that the school administration didn't stand up for him. Absolutely astounded.

He makes a very good point about semantics and the lack of a clear definition of plagiarism. There really is no absolutely, clear-cut definition of the word. That paragraph, to me, puts him on such a higher level than the people who pulled his column. This is something that he has definitely put a lot of thought into. I highly doubt the Missourian editor has thought as much as Merrill has about plagiarism.

Miller just didn't see using other people's quotes as plagiarism. It wasn't in his definition of the word. And how was this story not edited and checked before it ran? Someone should have caught his flaw somewhere along the line before it was published.

Some of the comments people wrote on this story were incredibly harsh. I understand that using the quotes without citing the source is inaccurate and that he simply could have called and got new quotes himself. Maybe his apology was just so heartfelt. I don't know. I can see both sides. I know that what he did wasn't right, but I still feel for him.

Maybe it's the fact that he's 83. In my head I am probably meshing who he really is and a little, lost old man. Maybe if he said he had Alzheimer's he would have gotten off easier.


Places Journalists Should Go for Politics

Well this is nice? I really don't know what to write about it. It increases my stalker capabilities, that is for sure.

"It can be fun to run their home through Census data to get a description of their neighborhood."

I have definitely done that...but not with political figures. More like people who I like to creep on. The best way to start a conversation is definitely, "So is it true that 98% of your town in Caucasian?"

The sites given here are pretty crazy, things I would never dream of. Project Vote Smart seems really cool, esp. how you can search speeches and public speeches. There are SO many sites. SO much information available.

This just furthers the point that you really can find almost anything you want/need on the Internet. I often forget this, or simply do not know where to look. But with this stalker's handbook provided, I will forever know where to look.

By the way, my town (Medway, MA) is approximately 3.6% Asian and 2.3% of individuals are under poverty level. And about 1,067 citizens are under age 5. These are all facts that you NEED to know.

"Is Oprah a different kind of celebrity?" was a question addressed on Fox News Tuesday.

The segment "Bill vs. Oprah" covered how Barbara Streisand announced her support of Clinton and compared it to Oprah's support of Obama. They made it seem like a HUGE deal. It was deemed breaking news. The only thing that was new to the story though was the Streisand bit, and they only talked about it briefly.

The majority of the story was about Oprah's influence on the public, which I do not think is breaking news by any means. The public has been well-informed on Oprah's backing of Obama.

The reporters made it seem like Oprah is God. That everyone listens to her and will do as she does. I have to wonder how many people are really influenced by such prominent celebrities.