Picture This

Our task for this week in Journalism 420 is to view a few questionable pictures and decide whether to use them in a newspaper.

The first task was to decide which of the four photographs I would use that were taken of Pennsylvania treasurer R. Budd Dwyer’s suicide at a press conference. Personally, I would approve to use pictures 1a and 2a on the website. Picture 2a, the photo with Dwyer holding the gun in both hands near his chest, is the best picture to use. The gun is more visible. This facial expression tells part of the story, and it motivates the reader to find out more. Pictures 3a and 4a are too graphic for a typical newspaper and do not encourage readers to learn more about the suicide. In simple terms, they are repulsive.

In addition to looking at 1987 suicide photos, I looked at several other questionable photos. I decided what pictures should run by answering circumstantial questions in my head. Does the picture tell a story? Would this cause even more unnecessary grief for family and friends? Answering these questions helped me to analyze and find my decisions.

Here are my thoughts for each individual photo:

Picture 1: Boy lost his dog
This picture tells a story without words. The little boy has lost his pet, a friend, a playmate. Although the picture almost seems intruding, it would work well for the correct story. I decided to run the picture because it is a pet, not a human who was killed. It is not graphic with blood and guts everywhere, but tells a story well.

Picture 2: A child is the victim of the water
The emotion the photographer caught on the faces of his family was unbelievable, but I would not run the photo. If the photographer cropped the faces of the people crying and left out the dead body, then I would use the photo. The photo, as it is, is too intruding and seems disrespectful to the victim and his family.

Picture 3: Newspaper plant killing
I would definitely not use this photo. This photo is not needed to further explain the happenings in the newspaper printing plant. In my opinion, it would be disrespectful to the victim, his/her family and friends to use the photo. It is utterly disheartening. If a photo does not tell more about an event, then there is no need to waste the space, which is the case for this photo.

Picture 4: Boy and the fence
Wow, what a picture. Because the boy ended up being OK, I would decide to run the picture. It is not gory, but it does show how the boy harmed himself on the fence. This picture is worth a thousand words. No amount of writing will show readers what this picture does. If the boy would have passed away from the accident, I would absolutely rethink my decision.

Picture 5: Mardi Gras gone wrong
No, it is not appropriate to run this photo even though “all parts” are covered up. This picture shows nothing but a naked female body with lots of males grabbing for the body. Words are able to tell the story without using this degrading photo. Newspapers provide readers with news not trashy tabloid pictures.

Once I analyzed each photo, I found a few trends in my decision making. If dead bodies were in the photo, it should not be used. If the pictures helped illustrate the event, then the photo should be ran if it was not disrespectful. The one photo that was the most difficult was with the family finding their son from a drowning accident. The photograph showed so much emotion and told the story so well, however, there was a dead body. The picture was great, but the dead body seemed to be too private for the world to see. Overall, I found that if I answered a few simple questions the decisions were relatively simple to make.

Constantly Critiquing

After a few weeks of editing class, I feel myself editing everything I read. Sixth grade was the last time I thought about coordinating and subordinating conjunctions or comparative and superlative adverbs. I use them all of the time, but now I am reminded of what they are called and how to properly use them.

Once revisiting grammar rules, I have found myself practicing my editing skills regularly. I have never done this in the past, but the habit seems to be taking over. For example, I am performing a very redundant task of sticking 14,000 labels (yes, 14,000!) onto postcards for a soy food program at work. As boring as it is, I continually find myself thinking that I would use a different word choice, select better pictures, and use fewer complicated sentences for the postcard. Although I think the communication manager does an outstanding job, I might have changed a few things after being reminded of editing issues.

Now I wonder if I am going to ever be able to read anything without critiquing it in my head. I critique text messages, headlines, emails, and even my 8 year old sister’s writing. (How horrible is that?) I am glad I am being more conscientious about writing, but I also hope to learn how to enjoy reading and learn not to criticize everything. Mistakes are bound to happen.

Note: To check out some headlines with some major editing issues, check out http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/505755/newspaper_headline_typos.html?cat=2. Some of the headlines with editing errors are humorous.

Plagiarism vs. Ficiton

“Liars, Cheats and Thieves” was the title of our lecture Monday. Janet Cook, Steven Glass and Jayson Blair were a few the journalists mentioned. I had heard of their cases in the past, but had never really examined any of them. Jayson Blair’s most interested me.

While in class we watched a small clip of Jayson Blair’s interview with Katie Couric. Throughout the interview he was “coming clean” and telling viewers what he lied about and why he had been dishonest. Blair made up interviews, created quotes, and plagiarized at least 37 other stories.

Because I was interested in his story after class, I checked out the case in more detail and found the link to New York Times’ article entitled “Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail of Deception” written on May 11, 2003. You can read it at
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/national/11PAPE.html?ex=1367985600&en=d6f511319c259463&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND. Beware, it is lengthy, but it is filled with detailed information.

After class, I thought about the question our teacher had asked in class, “Which is worse, plagiarism or stories that are completely made up?” Several students in the class raised their hands and said fictional stories were worse. Their thoughts were that journalists who created stories disregarded the viewers trust and totally lied. I agree, fabricating stories is irresponsible and appalling, but I feel plagiarism is probably worse. Not only did those journalists lie by conveying the message that they wrote the material, but they also stole the work of someone’s. However, in Jayson Blair’s case, it does not matter which is worse; according to the New York Times he did both, a disgrace to an already struggling industry.

Grammar, an intimidating word

Editing. It cannot be too complicated, right? I hope it will not be impossible. These thoughts were running through my head during the first day of class. Honestly, I have been anxious about this particular class for most of my college career. Perhaps, I know my downfalls.

Let’s rewind back to the great years of junior high. I spent many hours sitting in an uncomfortable desk, with disgusting gum stuck under the desktop, while my teacher diagrammed sentences on the dusty chalkboard. How was diagramming sentences going to help me in the future? I could not imagine needing to know the eight parts of grammar ever again. Instead of listening, I found other things to entertain me during class most of the time. Now, I realize I should have paid closer attention. Mrs. Danner, my English teacher was not so crazy after all.

I spent my next several years writing papers without much thought about subject and pronoun agreement, dangling and misplaced modifiers, and passive voice. I wrote my papers to meet the subject and length requirement, but there was no real “grammar” requirement.

To further my problem of using improper grammar, I began texting and emailing extensively when college began. As our book, When Words Collide, says, this relaxes the English language even more. I abbreviate my words so badly in text messages that my grandmother would have no idea what I am saying if she read one.

With Journalism 420 and my future career, I need to change my game. I already find myself “combing articles with a fine toothed comb” to find errors. I have also noticed a more professional tone with emails because I use complete sentences. However, I still have vast improvements to make.

To summarize what I am saying, I will need to apply rule number 10 in Chapter 2 of When Words Collide. I need to apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. It’s true; I have many bad habits with grammar. I acknowledge I am no grammar genius, but with practice I can improve. With practice the word “grammar” will not be so intimidating.