journalism

I Can’t Handle the Truth

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.”

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…)

Continue ReadingI Can’t Handle the Truth

Wikipedia, Museums and Journalists

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 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…)

Continue ReadingWikipedia, Museums and Journalists

Making Mistakes in Online Journalism Report

Originally published on Mar. 4, 2012

On Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011, NPR News broke the story and reported — on air and online — that U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was killed in an attack at a public event near Tucson, Arizona.[1]

Within a half hour of NPR’s report, three cable news networks – CNN, Fox News and MSNBC – replicated the report. The ABC, NBC and CBS news divisions followed, along with other major news sources across the country, from the L.A. Times and Reuters to Talking Points Memo, many crediting NPR as the source.[2]

Aftermath of Giffords shooting, Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

The problem: it was false. NPR mistakenly reported Gifford’s death when, in fact, she was alive and still in surgery. (more…)

Continue ReadingMaking Mistakes in Online Journalism Report