Lesson 07.00 Starting Your Project

            Before taking this course I thought a journalist was more of someone who just wrote for newspapers and news stories.  I thought the purpose of journalism was letting people know about current events.  Previous to taking this course I thought journalist just had to just be factual as a part of their ethics.  I thought the difference between opinion writing and impartial reporting was that opinion writing was using your opinion and impartial reporting was just based on facts.  I now realize that there is a lot more to it.  The huge difference is that news sources won’t be considered reliable with the use of opinion writing.  Yes, I was interested in Journalism as a career before this course, because I knew that it sounded really interesting and I enjoy revising and writing articles.

            In my mind the definition of a journalist is someone who informs people about what is going on around the world.  Whether it is through a written article or through the news, radio, or internet.  I think that the purpose of journalism is to keep people informed about current events.  I think that journalistic ethics consist of being impartial, telling exactly what happened without altering details, showing both sides of an issue, and being a reliable source.  This is different then what I used to think by the fact that I didn’t think it was as important to show both sides of an issue.  Impartial reporting is simply only reporting reliable facts and details.  Opinion writing is writing/reporting about your personal thoughts and opinions.  I have always thought that this was the difference between impartial reporting and opinion writing.  Yes I am interested in journalism as a career, because I feel that I would really enjoy getting to be a leader and seeing the outcome of all of my hard work.  I feel that the future for journalism is that articles will come out even faster, and that new machines will be able to detect any opinionated words used in an article.

Thinking About Careers; 6.0

Christiane Amanpour is a currently well-known Journalist that interests me.  She entered her career as an assistant for CNN news network.  Amanpour works for ABC and CNN news.  On CNN she is currently their top international correspondent, and on ABC news she is one of their global affairs anchors.  I feel that Christiane Amanpour has a very high level of experience.  She has very high level jobs in the Journalism field and has been working for CNN for over 30 years.

                Amanpour’s current jobs can be very alike and different from her previous jobs.  She has broadcasted from all over the world giving us news in her previous jobs as well as today.  Currently she is the head international correspondent of CNN so she has a lot more responsibilities then she has had in the past.  As a global affairs anchor and correspondent she has to make sure that she is always prepared and ready which is a lot different from her beginning assistant job at CNN where she began to train for her current jobs.  I feel that Amanpour’s career has reached the top, because she already holds very high up positions on major news networks.  Some responsibilities that someone in Christiane Amanpour’s shoes would have to fill is always being prepared, dressing appropriately, researching background information, and staying organized.

Source:

http://gulfbusiness.com/2013/08/top-10-journalists-in-the-world/#.VGAsrvl4o4Q

Intro to the Writing Process

          I feel that writing is a way of showing your opinion, informing a group, or entertaining readers.  Writing is a huge part of the world that we live in today.  Without writing people would go uninformed or wouldn’t know other people’s thoughts and opinions.  Writing is within everyone’s daily life.  Whether it is jotting down your grocery list or writing a novel.

          I personally feel that the world is a totally different place with writing.  The importance of the written word is indescribable.  With writing it’s possible that doctors can figure out the cures to many diseases by writing down facts and ideas.  In my personal life I write at school, while doing homework, texting, and writing emails.  If I didn’t know how to write I wouldn’t be able to do many things that I do on a regular basis.

          It is possible to write impartially.  But, it is likely that a person/reporter will accidentally state an opinion.  Sometimes by the way things are worded opinions could start to sound like facts.  It can often be hard to pick out the opinions from the facts.  Most of the time people have opinions on a topic or issue making it hard for them to write an impartial piece.

Introduction to Persuasion: 4.0

Introduction to Ethics

          To me being ethical means being responsible and having a good moral during what you do in life.  An ethical journalist for example is someone who might write mean insults about someone based on a personal opinion.  If you agree to work on a project with your friend make sure that you take an ethical action to take half of the work to do your self and don’t let your partner do all of the work.

          Many times people are in situations where it is hard to tell what the right choice is.  Especially with friends it can be tricky on how you should react in a given situation.  Do you want to be their best friend or the tattle tail?   To me the ethical duty as a friend is to make sure that if they are in trouble you help them.  Even if they get mad at you, you still did the right thing.  If one of my friends were to give out their address to a stranger on the Internet I would become very scared for her.  I would go and privately speak to her parents about the matter.  I think that my friend would be thankful for saving her and her family from a complete stranger walking up to their home.

          Ethics applies to journalism.  With unbiased reporters the news has all factual information.  If a journalist interviewed a woman about a presidential election who said something bad about one of the candidates and the reporter felt the same way doesn't mean that they should publish the comment based on personal feelings.  A journalist has an ethical duty to report the right information to their audiences.  People shouldn't be misinformed because of a journalist’s feelings towards something.

News Broadcasting: News 13 (at 7:00)

Written by Alana Halperin

         Good afternoon central Florida! This is Alana Halperin here on News 13.  We give the latest updates on things happening right around you.  We also make people aware of things that have happened in the past and help make sure that you are prepared.

          Today I watched News 13 at 7:00.   Broadcasting tonight on this local news station was Sandra Osborn who helped inform her audience about Hurricane Charlie that had occurred in 2004.  The broadcast talked about how people might not be prepared for another hurricane, due to the fact that it has been such a long time.  During the broadcast Sandra Osborn stated no opinion on the topic.  The people who were interviewed didn't all have the same thoughts, which helped show a mix of opinions.  Sandra Osborn made everyone watching very informed of the hurricane.

          This broadcast was very informative and I couldn't find any opinion being stated.  It told the audience about Hurricane Charlie and displayed pictures showing all of the damages that it had caused.  It also reminded us to always be prepared at our home in case of a storm.  To make the broadcast even better than it already is Sandra Osborn could have quickly went over what to have in your home in case of another hurricane or storm (water, flashlights, ect.).  News 13 is a very unbiased and factual channel that informs many people on the local news.  Thank you for watching, and I hope you have a great rest of the day!

What is News?

Written by Alana Halperin

          What is news?  It could be something that you hear people talking about, something that you see while driving by, or even something written in a letter from your friend.  There are so many different ways to get news and to interpret it.  I define news as something that you can watch, read, or hear about.

          Dictionary.com defines news as “a report of a recent event; intelligence; information.”  I think that news isn't necessarily just about the report, but about the way you find out about it.  News isn't heard about by just one way.  There could be several different places that you can find out about the same story.  News is the way that people find out about what occurs right around them.  It is what helps keep people informed about the world.

          News is different from other ways of communication because of the fact that it is informative to people all over the world.  Communication can play a major role in news.  When people talk to others about different news stories they begin to hear about what is occurring and they start looking up stories on events.