The heart of journalism <3

It's hard to go a day without hearing about media bias, corrupted journalists, the shrinking market and how our jobs will be unnecessary in a matter of years.

False.

People can say these things, but the truth is, the public will always need what is at the heart of journalism. Reading this article tonight on cnn.com reaffirmed that thing I have always believed about (and initially drew me to) journalism, but I often forget when I worry about when I'm working to build my resume. Journalism is about the people and for the people, and nothing will ever change that.

This article is about a photographer who, in 1984, began a project to take photos of all 676 residents in Oxford, Iowa. These photos are now in a book called "The Oxford Project," with photos of as many of the same people as possible 20 years later. In his second time around, he brought a journalism professor to get their life stories. The following quotes really stood out when I was reading the story:

Bloom says journalists these days too often talk to the nation's power players and too few times to working-class people.

"The idea was not to talk to the decision makers, but talk to the people whose lives are affected by the decision makers," he says. "My job in Oxford was to talk to the voiceless, to people who don't have any voice who are the backbone of America."

"People will talk if you're willing to listen," Kristi Somerville says. "They're not small-town stories. They're human stories."

Her mother adds of Bloom's at-ease style. "He said, 'Tell me about your life.' How often does somebody ask you that: Tell me about your life?"

"I walked away from this knowing that life turns on a dime," Bloom says. "I realized that life is really dependent on moments, and you don't know when those moments are going to take place when you wake up. And sometimes when you go to sleep at night, you don't realize those moments have taken place."

We forget that journalism is about people, and when we write about real people, we make a connection. And that's the coolest job in the world. Maybe this post is a little cheesy, but I guess I needed an article like this to remind me why I decided to major in journalism in the first place.

In case you missed it in class...

So when is it OK to use an 'AMer' story?

In case you missed my part of our discussion in class, it is appropriate to use an 'AMer' story when it is the only information you have and an update is intended for later in the day with more context in a 'PMer' story.

The AMer vs. the PMer business story

I read this short article on the Tribune's Web site from the Associated Press:

Dominick's owner sees slight rise in 3Q profit

The Associated Press

12:05 PM CDT, October 7, 2008

Higher gas sales and a boost from its more upscale stores helped grocer Safeway Inc. -- the California-based owner of Chicago-area chain Dominick's Finer Foods -- post a slight rise in profit in its third fiscal quarter.

The nation's second-biggest grocery store said Tuesday its profit rose nearly 3 percent to $199.7 million, or 46 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 6, from $194.6 million, or 44 cents per share, last year.

Its sales rose nearly 4 percent to $10.17 billion from $9.78 billion, helped by higher gas sales and contributions from its more upscale Lifestyle stores.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 47 cents per share and sales of $10.08 billion.

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway plans to continue cutting costs and expects 2008 profit to at least match Wall Street expectations.

Its shares rose $1.05, or 4.8 percent, to $22.82 in morning trading.

I think this is a good example of what the stylebook calls 'The AMer," which is the story when the news first hits. It doesn't speak to the people that made this change in stock prices happen or how it affects them. It's only what happened, and focuses highly on the numbers instead of why the numbers are the way they are.

But the stylebook says that the numbers are made by the CEOs and the decisions they made. By using real people that affected and will be affected by the reported numbers, the story is framed better.

To transform this story into a "PMer," I think one would have to draw on the sentence that says, "Its sales rose nearly 4 percent to $10.17 billion from $9.78 billion, helped by higher gas sales and contributions from its more upscale Lifestyle stores."

In a time when businesses are struggling, why is it that this company saw an increase in sales? Are people eating at home more often? Did Dominick's make some sort of decision that increased interest in their product? Did some workers get laid off?

Sometimes it is important to get the news to its readers as fast as possible. But many times, it is more important to put that news into some sort of context to make the reader understand and care about what we are giving them as the news for the day.

Responses to difficult photo choices

Photo 1: A boy grieves for his dog after it was hit by a car
This photo is not particularly bloody or gruesome, but it does evoke a great emotional response. I would only run this photo based on the news value of it. Is this pair well known in town? Was there something special about the dog? Has reckless driving been a trend in this town does this photo illustrate the effects of it? This photo has the power to make a statement, if it has a statement to make, which is the issue my decision would hinge on. If it is a small story about a boys dog hit by a car, I do not think it is worthy of A1.

Photo 2: A rescue worker tries to console the family of a boy who just drowned in a lake
I would probably choose not to run this photo because the dead boy is visible and it is clear that he is dead. One must also consider the family of the boy. Yes, it illustrates exactly what the emotion of the family was at that moment, and that is what a good photo sets out to do. But that is a very private moment, and if I were in their situation, I would my face the moment when I was grieving my son to be printed for my community to see. This would be especially pertinent if this was a local story and the entire town would see their pain. I think an explanation of how the boy drowned (and if other children are at risk in that lake) along with a mug shot of the boy may work well as a substitution for the photo.

Photo 3: State treasurer of Pennsylvania kills himself at a press conference
If I had to choose between this photo and one that showed him after the bullet had gone through his head, I would choose this one. However, I would rather have the photo of right before he shot the gun if it was available. I'm sure everyone would be wondering what the room and the situation looked like when they heard the news. I think a photo of right before the gun went off would be more clear because it seems as if he is laughing at first glance. So if this was a series of photos, I would be less and less inclined to run each photo as the series progresses. This situation is difficult because you have to weigh the fact that he is a public figure with the fact that he still has a family that will see and have to relive these photos. This story is newsworthy throughout the state of Pennsylvania and I'm sure attracted media attention throughout the country. If this photo is going to run, it is going to run on the front page and so the effects it will have on his family as well as on people who have no connection to him. This is going to be the first image of suicide for a lot of people and that be scarring for anyone who happens to pick up the paper the next day. We need to remember that we don't give readers the choice to see the photo or not. If they pick up the paper, we have already made the decision. I think a good alternative would be the crowd's reaction to the man killing himself.

Photo 4: A printing plant employee lies dead after a former employee of the plant shot him
I would choose not to run this photo because I do not think it tells the story. It shows a man dead. It doesn't show the motion or emotion, or action and reaction that photojournalists are taught to capture. Why show this man instead of the other seven or 13 killed? This man's family members will have this vision burned into their memories, and that is not fair for them. The people that read this story are going to wonder why the man decided to kill these people and how it was possible. How did the survivors get out and how did they react when they were free? I think a graphic explaining where the killer went in the plant along with mugs and short bios of the people killed or a shot of the aftermath (bodies carried out in body bags for example) would be more appropriate and tell the story better than this photo.

Photo 5: Fifteen-year-old climbing a fence when he fell
If this story had significant news value to the community where it was published, I would probably print this photo. But if I found this on the AP wire from a far-away state, I probably would choose to not run it. The photo is graphic and does evoke a gut reaction from viewers. But the fact that the boy survived this feat is impressive. The photo could have been much more gruesome if it went through his head and he was killed by it. Running the photo is probably going to have an effect on the boy and his family, but I do not think it is as scarring as say the previous photo of the dead man or the state treasurer with the bullet in his head. I do not know that this story is worthy of the front page if it happened in a large community, but I would not rule out running this photo.

Photo 6: Mardi Gras riot
I think this photo was the most difficult to look at and the most difficult to choose whether or not to run. It is newsworthy because women need to be aware of the situations that can happen at Mardi Gras. But it is also extremely graphic and the woman in the photo would have to relive that awful moment if she ever saw that photo again. So it's putting the safety of other women against the privacy of one specific woman.
It's possible that someone would be able to tell who that blurred face is. I don't have any compassion for the men grabbing her in the photo, but it is possible for those men to be affected from other people who will see the image. I think this photo would be most difficult to decide if you were local because there is more of a chance for identities to be revealed in that situation. In the end, I would probably choose to not run this for the reason that it is so graphic and can be jarring to children or even young adults who may not understand what is happening in the photo.

For most of these choices, I felt like I needed to know more about each photo and the other alternatives before I could make the decisions. In each case, I felt like there was some sort of "if" statement, which makes me feel like I really didn't have enough background on each of these to make the right choice.