Once again, the tragic news of more journalists killed while
covering a conflict in the Middle East is a stark reminder of the
dangers faced by reporters, photographers and producers who risk their
very lives to report from the most troubled regions of the world.
We extend our sympathies to the families of Marie Colvin and Remi
Ochlik, who died in the Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday when rockets
fired by government forces hit the house they were staying in.
According to a Reuters report, a witness said shells hit the home in
an opposition-held district of Homs, which was being used as a center
for the media. The witness said a rocket struck them as they tried to
escape the shelling...
Fans of A Prairie Home Companion will recognize those words as the
opening to Garrison Keillor’s weekly monologue about the fictional town
of Lake Wobegon. But this week the real life of Garrison Keillor was
probably more exciting than the tales from “the little town that time
forgot,” because this week, Garrison Keillor hosted a fundraising event
for President Obama’s re-election campaign.
The conservative bloggers are treating this event as another
“gotcha” moment for NPR. As the news director of a large NPR affiliate
station, I expect the nasty emails from the crowd who want to “defund
NPR” will start to arrive by the weekend...
We've all been here: covering another fire, sent to another white
powder incident or in the news meeting pitching a story you just are not
that excited about -- being uninspired.
It happens to all of us (hopefully not that often) and when it does it can be frustrating and make the day a lot harder.
For me the key is to work through it and to always start fresh the
next day. It's easier said than done sometimes, but here are some ways I
try to get inspired...
There’s a lesson to be learned from the issue over an ESPN headline
posted on the story about Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks' loss to
New Orleans last Friday. And it has nothing to do with creative
writing.
In case you haven’t heard—the headline, “Chink In The Armor,” was
paired with a photo of Lin in a story on ESPN’s mobile platforms shortly
after the loss. It was up about an hour before being pulled and
changed to a different header. But the damage was done and the
widespread criticism had begun...
From KATC.com: "Another reversal in St. Landry Parish, records regarding sex crimes are sealed again. Bringing you up to speed, February 3 KATC was restricted access to information regarding a rape arrest. We asked about the status of the case and were told they couldn't release that information because it was a sex crime.
On February 6th, a change of course, the clerk's office said they were wrong. Sex crime records would be opened, however the victims' names would be blacked out. When we tested the new policy today, we were told not everything is being made public as first indicated.
So why'd the policy change? Just one day after our interview with the clerk of court, four judges wrote up a new order saying sex crimes records were sealed again. With the exception of certified court minutes, which are edited to protect the victim's identity..."
The Radio Television Digital News Association expresses its condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Anthony Shadid, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning foreign correspondent who died Thursday while on assignment in Syria.
From the NYTimes: "Mr. Shadid spent most of his professional life covering the region, as a reporter first with The Associated Press; then The Boston Globe; then with The Washington Post, for which he won Pulitzer Prizes in 2004 and 2010; and afterward with The New York Times. At his death, from what appeared to be an asthma attack, he was on assignment for The Times in Syria.
Mr. Shadid’s hiring by The Times at the end of 2009 was widely considered a coup for the newspaper, for he had been esteemed throughout his career as an intrepid reporter, a keen observer, an insightful analyst and a lyrical stylist. Much of his work centered on ordinary people who had been forced to pay an extraordinary price for living in the region — or belonging to the religion, ethnic group or social class — that they did..."
From MotherJones.com:
"Do you have any idea how much you spend on food? A few of us here at
Mother Jones tracked our habits and were surprised (and appalled) to see
the damage. Suspecting we weren't alone, we decided to do a little
research. The result is the calculator in the
link below, which allows you to see how your spending compares to that
of others in the United States, your city, and various kinds of
households and income brackets. You can also compare your budget to USDA
recommendations."
Recently I put some thoughts down as to why there has been a flood
of mispronounced words on the air. It really is embarrassing for a
station to put someone on the air that doesn’t know how to pronounce
community street names or towns correctly. It shows the station
disconnect with the people they are licensed to serve. It also shows
that the news person is not willing to take the initiative to learn
about who they are broadcasting to and where they are broadcasting
from. Here is my take on it. Be more than a prompter reader. Be more
than a radio script reader. Learn about your community. Get it right
and say it right. Several people agreed with me...
As in-market competition for more viewers and listeners continues to
heat up, contests, even within or surrounding newscasts, are seen by
some as one way to get a competitive edge.
Now that most stations either have their own online presence—or
partners who do—there may be some confusion about whether FCC rules
apply to contests that may be conducted on air—but promoted only
online.
Well, there’s no confusion at the FCC. And the verdict is that it
doesn’t matter. The broadcast rules apply regardless of where the
contest is promoted...
Editor’s Note: On Thursday, February 9, RTDNA’s Dan
Shelley (pictured right) and Ryan Murphy traveled to the United Nations
in New York City, where they met with 19 visiting Middle Eastern and
North African journalists as part of the U.S. State Department’s foreign
press project. The goal of the project, among other things, is to
highlight the significance of a free and independent press to the
democratic process and enhance foreign journalists’ understanding of the
U.S. foreign policy decision-making process.
This is the second time RTDNA has been invited speak with visiting
journalists as part of the State Department’s program. Following the
1-hour Q&A session, RTDNA.org caught up with Shelley and Murphy for
their thoughts on the day...
Reports this week that Disney and Univision may be joining forces to
create the next 24-hour cable news channel, to broadcast in English, is
the latest nod to efforts to harness a huge—and growing demographic in
this country—the English-speaking Hispanic audience.
In an interview on CNBC following Disney’s quarterly earnings
report, Chairman Robert Iger wasn’t talking about the idea. But the Wall
Street Journal and other outlets were reporting that if the deal gets
done, the joint venture would be based in Miami, where Univision is
located, and could be up and running in time for the November elections...
According to a report by smartaboutmoney.org,
gaining control of your financial situation and using money to help you
reach your goals is possible, but first you must recognize where your
money goes. Evaluate your habits. Start by jotting down everything you
think you spend money on during a one-month period. Next, make a list of
what you actually spend during that month. Be sure to write down
everything you buy and how much it costs. Include rent, car insurance, groceries, and even small purchases such as coffee or snacks.
The annual National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas is
always a great time. The city has acres of casino space to indulge my
not very successful black-jack habit, and miles of exhibit floor space
to drool over the latest gadgets and technologies available in our
business. But when the show is over, I end up leaving town without a
wallet full of winnings or a wall-to-ceiling 3-D video display screen
for the news room.
But this year, RTDNA is hosting a day of programming at the NAB that
will give you information and ideas you can take back to your stations
with you, and make sure not everything you see in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
We’ll even feed you...
RTDNA believes its top mission is to fight for First Amendment rights on
your behalf. Recently, we’ve had the opportunity to have our voice
heard on some key legal issues and now we’re undertaking another.
Your Association is joining an amicus (Friend of the Court) brief in
support of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court case undertaken by the Hearst
Corporation, on behalf of one of its stations, WGAL-TV in Lancaster, PA...
By Kathleen A. Kirby, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP & Ari S. Meltzer, Associate, Wiley Rein LLP
You are probably familiar with the old saying: “If it walks like a
duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a
duck.” Well, in the case of a paid announcement, if it sounds like news
or looks like news, broadcasters must make clear to viewers or
listeners that it is not news. That is the takeaway from a recent Notice
of Apparent Liability that the FCC issued against a Chicago radio
station.
On February 3, 2012, the FCC proposed a fine of $44,000 against
WLS(AM) for violating the Commission’s sponsorship identification
rules...
If you weren’t watching the Super Bowl Sunday, you were pretty much
alone! Nielsen estimates more than 111-million viewers were—making it
the most watched program in television history. For the third year in a
row! That’s a 47 rating and a 71 share for those of you that are into
statistics other than running and passing yardage.
But what’s even more interesting than that fourth quarter was the
fact that, by some estimates, it was also the biggest social TV event
ever. Social Times reports that Bluefin Labs estimates that the game
nearly quadrupled (with 12.2 million) the number of social media
comments made during a TV show—crushing the old record that was held by
the MTV Video Music Awards.
What about Twitter? How about an estimate of more than 12,000 TPS (Tweets Per Second!)...
With election season in full swing and after the recent Super Bowl, I
have been reminded just how important it is to post to Twitter and
Facebook if you want to share news and break news with your community.
You may be thinking, "I share links to my stories all the time," and
that's great, but I believe it takes more than that. And I am not
saying this is a journalist but as a consumer and user of social media.
When I want an instant update on what is going on (latest poll
numbers, score of the big game, etc.) I do not turn my TV on, I log-on
to Twitter. Within seconds I saw that the Giants scored, that Romney was
ahead by a certain percent or that Madonna just announced a world tour...
"One month into 2012, are you making progress achieving your financial
resolutions? If not, we rounded up a few tips to make your goals a
reality when it comes to money. Keep reading!
According to Business Insider, there are several tips to help your audience members. A few are listed below and they continue inside the link:
1. Set Short Term Goals:
If you’re goal is to pay off about $2,000 of credit card debt by the
end of the year, give yourself a monthly and a weekly amount of money
that you can gather to throw towards this debt. Maybe it’s around $50
per week or $200 per month – if you stick to those numbers, you should
have this debt paid off..."
Team up with over 1000 American and German journalists who have participated in the RIAS Fellowship. The 2012 summer program will run for two weeks in mid-June, and take radio, TV, and multimedia journalists to Berlin, Cologne, and Brussels. Along the way you will meet senior German officials, policymakers, and fellow journalists. And you will learn about European press coverage and standards.
By Dr. Lydia Reeves Timmins, University of Delaware
I can. I do. And I teach.
The implication of the title statement is that if you have skills,
of course you use them in the professional world. Before I entered
academia, I must admit I thought that people only became teachers
because they couldn’t do whatever it was they were teaching. I thought
(in the news biz) that all those profs just couldn’t cut it in TV; that
they were unwilling to work hard, just wanted an easy schedule, or only
cared about theories and all the crap that doesn’t matter in the
trenches.
Many of you reading this might think along those lines. Perhaps you remember a professor who was all talk, but no experience...
OK, that headline is a joke on the old teases like "when sneakers kill..." I couldn't resist!
(And please note: I prefer spelling '"lead," for example, '"lead line"as "lede" to avoid confusion in print.)
Our job as journalists is to discover and report news. If you're
anchoring, it's unlikely you've done the discovery but it's certainly
your job to know the story so that you can share it with us from a base
of intelligence and context.
You know those really funny replies you leave beneath your friends Facebook posts?
You know the comments I’m talking about, the really snarky ones that have lots of “likes” and “LOLs”?
Those comments that show your friends you should really be working for The Daily Show, not some stuffy NPR outlet?
OK, maybe that’s just me. But how would you like to see any of the
comments you leave on your friend’s Facebook page show up the next day
on the front page of the newspaper, as a quote, attributed to you?
Every year RTDNF honors individuals in the field of broadcast journalism for their work on behalf of press freedom.
The 22st Annual RTDNF First Amendment Awards Dinner, a black-tie
event, will be held March 15, 2012, at the Ritz-Carlton, 1150 22nd
Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. with a
cocktail reception followed by a 7:00 p.m. dinner. For table and ticket
information, contact Jen Wafalosky at 216.409.8314 or jenwafalosky@sbcglobal.net.
RTDNA has joined a broad coalition of news organizations and news industry groups who are urging a federal appeals court to uphold a lower-court ruling rejecting prosecutors efforts to force New York Times reporter James Risen's to identify his confiden
Apply By: Feb 29, 2012 (Note: Some preference given to applicants based in the Midwestern U.S. under terms of the grant funding from the McCormick Foundation.)
By Mike Cavender, RTDNA Executive Director 
Print Story
Email Story
RSS Feed
By Vince Duffy, RTDNA Chairman-Elect
By Lynn Walsh, RTDNA Blogger
From KATC.com: "Another reversal in St. Landry Parish, records regarding sex crimes are sealed again. Bringing you up to speed, February 3 KATC was restricted access to information regarding a rape arrest. We asked about the status of the case and were told they couldn't release that information because it was a sex crime.
Shadid, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning foreign correspondent who died Thursday while on assignment in Syria.
By Mark Willis, RTDNA Region 6 Coordinator
Editor’s Note: On Thursday, February 9, RTDNA’s Dan
Shelley (pictured right) and Ryan Murphy traveled to the United Nations
in New York City, where they met with 19 visiting Middle Eastern and
North African journalists as part of the U.S. State Department’s foreign
press project. The goal of the project, among other things, is to
highlight the significance of a free and independent press to the
democratic process and enhance foreign journalists’ understanding of the
U.S. foreign policy decision-making process. 
According to a 
By Kathleen A. Kirby, Partner, Wiley Rein LLP & Ari S. Meltzer, Associate, Wiley Rein LLP
By Mike Cavender, RTDNA Executive Director
Team up with over 1000 American and German journalists who have participated in the RIAS Fellowship. The 2012 summer program will run for two weeks in mid-June, and take radio, TV, and multimedia journalists to Berlin, Cologne, and Brussels. Along the way you will meet senior German officials, policymakers, and fellow journalists. And you will learn about European press coverage and standards.
By Dr. Lydia Reeves Timmins, University of Delaware 
By Joanne Stevens, Stevens Media Consulting LTD
