Doing the right thing

Today we talked about journalism ethics. It's a complex topic and the answers to what is right and wrong aren't always apparent. As I mentioned, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has a code of ethics, as do the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA, which recently changed its name from Radio Television News Directors Association) and the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA).

One of those very complex issues involves WikiLeaks, and its release of classified documents about the wars in Iran and Afghanistan. Here's what SPJ had to say about it.

And below are just a few of the questions you might ask, plus guidelines to follow, when trying to make ethical decisions.

•Seek truth and report it as fully as possible

•Act independently

•Minimize harm

Questions to ask:
•What are the possible consequences of my actions?

•What is my journalistic purpose?

•What are my alternatives to maximize my truth-telling responsibility and minimize harm?

•Can I clearly and fully justify my thinking and decision? To my colleagues? To the stakeholders? To the public?

I know we talked a bit about this, but feel free to post any further thoughts.

FINAL RADIO PACKAGE

YOUR FINAL PACKAGE:
• Will have an anchor lead and tag (neither of which is recorded). The end of the anchor lead will say: 270 reporter (your name) has the story.
• Must include natural sound
• Must run between 1:30 and 2:30
• Must include at least 3 interviews (main character, expert, other source)
• Will include reporter narration that ties the bites together (narration is recorded)
• The final recorded line of the package will say: For 270 news, I'm (your name).

The piece must be ready to play for radio as is. Make your edits tight and clean. If you are having trouble with Audacity, check out the tutorial. You must export your file as an MP3. Call your script file: YOUR NAME SCRIPT. Call your audio file: YOUR NAME.

The final packages are due Wednesday, Dec. 8. You will put them in the Dropbox so we can play them.

Here's what I'll look for when I'm grading them:

Lead and tag: Did you lead with an important element that makes listeners understand what the story is about, as well as grab their attention? Did you save a piece of information (not opinion) for the anchor tag?

Reporting and content:
Is the story newsworthy?
Is it accurate and fair?
Did you attribute where necessary?
Are your sources solid and balanced?
Did you provide context -- why the story matters?

Writing:
Is the story well organized?
Did you tie it together with transitions, so that it flows?
Did you follow broadcast style?
Did you use correct grammar and spelling?
Did you write in active voice when possible?
Did you write short, conversational sentences?

Sound bites:
Did you choose bites that are interesting, or show emotion?
Did you avoid "information" bites that can be better stated in the reporter narration?
Did you introduce people fully and at appropriate times?
Did you write strong lead-ins to the bites?
Did you avoid "echo" lead-ins?

Technical aspects:
Are your recordings clear and understandable?
Did you mix the story properly with a consistent sound level?
Did you avoid clipping sound bites?
Did you leave natural pauses between edits, but not too much to create dead air?

Running time:
Is the package the appropriate length as assigned?

Upcoming assignments

Here's a reminder of what's due and when.

TWO RADIO PROJECTS

• Two story ideas for a final radio package are due Monday, Nov. 22, in writing.

• This week you’ll be using the Olympus recorders to try out a Person on the Street. story. That is also due on Nov. 22. You'll work in pairs, so if you do NOT already have a partner, post a note on this blog and you can see who else needs a partner.

Tobacco Ban POS

• “What do you think about UM’s tobacco ban on campus, which takes effect next fall?” (You may need to give them more background if they are not familiar with it.)
• Work in pairs with a recorder.
• Get answers from several people. (Get a diversity of responses, age, gender, race, student, non-student pro, con, etc.)

FOLLOW THE POS FORMAT IN THE HANDOUT I GAVE YOU.

• Write an ANCHOR LEAD. IT IS ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
• There will NOT be reporter narration on this POS story. It is a reader, meaning no reporter’s words are read.
• Lead into the sound bites this way:

Take SOT (sound on tape)

Each BITE is introduced like this: (Bite-Jones). Sound bites are not all capitalized.

Write an ANCHOR TAG. It provides a last piece of important information, or context. It’s all CAPS.

Using Audacity to edit audio

Soon you'll be recording and editing audio, just as we did in class today. The Audacity audio editing program is free. It's on every J-School computer, but you can download it by going here. There is also an Audacity manual on that site. It may be easier for you to find one of the many tutorials on YouTube to give you more practice in editing Audacity.

I also neglected to tell you the last step in editing your packages (which you'll do later). Once you have gone to Tracks in the File menu, and selected Mix and Render, you'll need to export the file as an MP3 so that others can hear it. Go to File, then Export. It will give you options. Choose MP3 files. (Ignore the chart that comes up, asking you to fill in the name of the artist, etc.) If you have the Lame application installed on your computer it will let you save it. If not, you'll have to download Lame and try again to save it as an MP3.

To download Lame, go here.

You can always practice what we did in class today by going to my professors folder and importing those audio files again, then editing them into a final package. If you run into trouble, let me know.

Post your top radio stories

On the right side of the blog you'll see a link to NPR. That's where you'll most easily find stories. Once there you can click on any of several links to news. Hourly news will give you the top stories on NPR that hour. Under NEWS and PROGRAMS you'll find dropdown menus with links to programs that air news stories. Listen to the stories fully; don't just pick the first one you hear from any of those links. Sometimes you'll need to click on the "Listen to recent audio stories from this topic," so you get more than just text.

You can listen to Montana Public Radio by going to mtpr.net.

Summarize the story, just as you did for print stories, and provide us with the link as well.

Start paying attention to how reporters write in and out of the audio bites. We'll talk about that more in the coming classes.

And again, your top stories are...

Put this on your calendar

Why is it important for journalists to be sensitive to issues that affect people out of the mainstream? Because an underlying principle of journalism is that we give voice to the voiceless, those who often don't have the means to have their stories told. It's an important responsibility.

In Montana we have a special responsibility to be cognizant of diversity issues. That's because this is not a very diverse state in terms of ethnicity. Look around you; most of us are white, many of us are middle class. What must it be like to be in the minority? Diversity, of course, isn't just about race. It can take the form of sexual orientation, religious persuasion, physical disability or any other situation that puts a person into the position of being part of a minority group.

On Oct. 28, a Thursday, UM will hold a Day of Dialogue about diversity. Events begin the evening before the day-long observance with a lecture on Oct. 27 by Professor Paul Lauren.

Here is the Day of Dialogue home page, with a link to the schedule of events, which run throughout the day. You must choose one event to cover. That story is due Friday, Oct. 29, in class.