Op/Ed/Commentary – Journo James's Journal

I Can’t Handle the Truth

Post author:journojames
Post published:May 3, 2012
Post category:Journalism News Op/Ed/Commentary Papers/Reports

Originally published Mar. 30, 2012

William Faulkner once sarcastically commented, “Facts and truth really don’t have much to do with each other.”

The Nobel Prize laureate had a point: people find different truths from a single set of facts. And here lies the challenge for journalists, fact-checkers, and — for at least one morning session — our J556 Online Seminar class.

Consider this: “the majority of Americans are conservatives.”

Barack Obama Continues Campaign Swing Through Florida — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Photo by Joe Raedle, courtesy of Getty Images

That’s what Florida Rep. Sen. Marco Rubio claimed anyway in a speech at the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington on February 9.

Is it true? Is it even factual? (more…)

Wikipedia, Museums and Journalists

Post author:journojames
Post published:April 20, 2012
Post category:Journalism Op/Ed/Commentary Papers/Reports

Originally published Mar. 9, 2012

Lori Phillips, the current Wikipedian-in-Residence at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, admitted last week that she never thought Wikipedia would become such an important part of her museum studies research.

Lori-Phillipswikistrategies — Lori Phillips, Photo courtesy of Wiki Strategies

It was enlightening to hear her talk about how she’s realized the importance of Wikipedia and its great potential as a collaborative learning tool, especially when partnered with museums.

Phillips said that museums are looking to the future and trying to find ways to become more technologically creative, collaborative and accessible to the public. She said that Wikipedia could help museums do all of that. (more…)

Verbum Dei’s Oscar Rosa, Soccer Coach

Post author:journojames
Post published:March 23, 2012
Post category:Feature Interview Op/Ed/Commentary Sports

Originally published Nov. 20, 2011

Helping kids through sports.

Such a simple and noble thing has been sadly twisted and perverted in the last couple of weeks with all the recent revelations of alleged child abuse at schools, such as Penn State and Syracuse.

Kids and sports should always go together; it’s something that should be celebrated, never mourned nor questioned. There’s too much darkness right now. A moral compass that points to some light is desperately needed.

A little bit of that light was found this week.

On a late Thursday afternoon in Watts, under a crisp, darkening November sky, a rookie assistant coach keenly watched his young soccer team perform passing drills. (more…)