Remedial Academy

Citizen journalism: What is that anyway?

remedialacademy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:38:27 +0000

Why didn’t we think of this before? All this time we could have fired those trained, experienced reporters who expect salaries and benefits, and then turned the news gathering over to these citizen journalists. We could have closed – indeed, never opened – 300-plus journalism schools. Let the students learn gender-based world politics critiques instead. You know, something more universally useless. Simply put, every week we could have saved millions of dollars of precious advertiser money, and we know how critical that money is.

Is ‘buying news sources’ ethical? Not here

remedialacademy — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:40:52 +0000

Almost universally in journalism schools, professors teach you never to buy news or buy access to news makers. Never. Don’t do that. Yet, radio and television students dash out and go to work in their field and quickly follow their employers’ policies of buying the news. Obviously one of the reasons they do this is that these broadcasters are limited by the number of reporters in the “news center.” Broadcasters simply skimp on hiring reporters, and even then they seem to seek good looks more than intelligence.

Stand behind your comments: Use name

remedialacademy — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:58:13 +0000

You can chalk this up to the grumblings of an old fart who refuses to see bliss and wisdom in progress, but I grew up believing that standing behind what you say, write, and even murmur was the better choice. If you write something, you should put your name at the top and be ready to defend it. That’s integrity. It shows you have fiber and strength. To refuse to stand behind your own words reveals you as dishonest and gutless. It shows you are at least a weenie.

Wanted: Something to believe in

remedialacademy — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:16:44 +0000

It is going to be tough for this new generation to carry the torch. Perfectly good kids say they have very little to believe in, that they were taught this truth by not being taught something else, and that they learned it well. As our education system bolstered the curricula with meaningless glop, the same system also retreated from giving students the tools and ideas for them to find something to believe in. So students now go to college and consider journalism and advertising and public relations as pretty much equal. They are not equal. How can you “believe in” anything to do with, for example, public relations?

Cover religion in depth - begin now

remedialacademy — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:30:01 +0000

For decades journalism has been tip-toeing around any topic smelling like spiritual or religious matters. It has been an attempt on the part of media not to offend anyone, so it limited stories to bare facts — announcements of change of leadership, times of services, names of churches, priests and ministers under arrest, and occasional explanations, right out of the encyclopedia, of a few crucial beliefs. That must change, and it is changing.

Media Ethics: A short course

remedialacademy — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:31:32 +0000

The man in the water did the right thing, gave the ultimate gift, and did not have time to weigh the options. He did the right thing because he already knew and lived by a value system ingrained in his life. His ethic was clear: He valued most highly the lives of his fellow human beings. That value, among others, certainly, became the heart of his ethics.

This podcast discusses media ethics but does not provide dozens and dozens of rules. For the best code, go here: http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

Learn to look over the horizon

remedialacademy — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:16:28 +0000

By looking over the horizon, I mean to look carefully through the evidence available today, finding the patterns often readily visible, and reporting the consequences, the inferences your examination produces. Go to experts and present what you’ve found and get their considered evaluations, too. While it is unlikely you’ll find patterns experts have not yet seen, it does happen. In either case they will be thrilled to discuss them with the reporter who has revealed a mind behind the face.

Four important flaws of journalism

remedialacademy — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 04:31:50 +0000

I’m always rather pleased with the competence of news people. They might be idiots, however, and I’m just comfortable talking with them. But today we’re not in good economic times while newspapers and magazines have been in a depression for several years. Their answer to tight money, disappearing advertising, and declining circulations is to buy out the expensive veteran news staff and replace them with younger, greener people. Many medium sized newspapers use nothing but college interns to report on the same complex stories veterans used to cover. The point here is that the competence of the news media just ain’t what it used to be a mere five years ago. While this is great news for college journalism programs, it is bad news for American readers.

Feared economic dark cloud: Deflation

remedialacademy — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:40:42 +0000

But the declining price spiral tends to feed on itself, and over a few months the robust, healthy economy of old now has pneumonia. Worse, nobody seems to know how to fix it. Now what we have is deflation, and that economic condition is deadly. In my estimate, that’s what we shall soon experience in America, and it won’t be any fun at all. Let us hope that people smarter than me are working on this. Deflation is best remedied in advance, but while that’s true, it’s easier to control inflation than deflation. Deflation leads to despair, economic ruin, bread lines, and depression, aptly named psychologically and economically.

English majors, professors are OK

remedialacademy — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:36:34 +0000

Good writers teach you how to shape stories. They select verbs with precision. They splash scenes together and make it look easy. I told them to read every Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Read well-written books on history, economics, physics, politics. Read, read, read. Albert Einstein and John Kenneth Galbraith are among the clearest writers I’ve encountered, and if you don’t know who they are, please find out.

Read like an English major.

Newspaper beats organize news coverage

remedialacademy — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:29:03 +0000

The newspaper beat system can be very confusing.

The newspaper beat system could not be simpler.

Neither statement is true, and both are true. Yeah, that’s how I see it. However, that and a buck-80 can get you a soft drink. The truth is, newspapers – and you can include magazines and many TV stations – handle the beat system differently. There is no correct beat system. But, here are some thoughts about how a beat system works.

Criminal Court 101: A primer for writers

remedialacademy — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:14:46 +0000

In the newspaper business, the editor introduces you to the court system when someone is on vacation or sick. “You, Roat, the guy the cops arrested yesterday faces arraignment in about 45 minutes. Cover it.” What you want to say is, “Huh?” But what you say is, “Yes, sir,” while figuring out how to learn who the cops arrested, where the arraignment is, and what the hell is arraignment, anyway?

That’s my mission today. I need to help you through those awkward moments getting introduced to strange terms in big court buildings run by experienced and egotistical judges. And you’ll get a real delight from hallways full of lawyers, too. Oh, how exciting they are.

Government 101: A few tips to understand it

remedialacademy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:57:42 +0000

Government is a mess today.

That’s not a political comment. That’s the view of reporters who suddenly must understand government based on the pathetic education provided them in high school and college. A high school senior today can believe states have presidents, not governors, and still graduate at the top of the class. Why would anyone want to learn all that government crap, anyway? Let’s assume you might want to know, and I’ll give you some basic things about the nature of government to help you out.

Open records/open meetings: Democratic notions

remedialacademy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:32:49 +0000

Governments have a lot of information, much of it hard to sort and difficult to access. While we’d like to think our governments’ records are always there for public inspection, that’s just Disneyland. I’ve worked for government at least three decades (even as a professor I was a state government employee, you know), and I’ve watched administrators hide information just because someone might read it. Duhh. As for meetings, you’d be surprised how often government employees and politicians sneak around so people won’t see them discussing the public’s business.

This is a primer on open record and open meeting laws. Every journalism professor thinks you already know this.

Open marketplace of ideas is our fundamental right as writers

remedialacademy — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:06:35 +0000

It began with the idea – originally an English philosophical idea – that no one should fear bringing up unpopular ideas because truth will continually defeat falsehood. As naïve and hopeful as this idea seems, if you push the notion one more step, you create the right to place any idea into the marketplace. So what began with John Milton and John Stuart Mill evolved into the “open marketplace of ideas” when Thomas Jefferson got a grip on it.

What are we talking about here? We’re talking about what has become known as the “open marketplace of ideas,” and how that notion — fundamentally necessary in this culture — worked its way into the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and what that means. Sure, most studies of these topics might require a book shelf, so we’re doing our best to highlight it here in five minutes.

Every writer should know at least this much.

Use active verbs, pursue an active life

remedialacademy — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:02:04 +0000

If you say things like, All my decisions are made by someone else, or, Things just seem to happen to me, or, My grades are being destroyed by circumstances. Do you get the idea? Let me put that passively for you: Was the idea gotten by you? Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? It’s worse than ridiculous. That mode of existence can and will demolish your self-respect, dismantle the respect from others who can make a difference for you, and will undermine your future.

This podcast goes beyond advice about using active rather than passive verbs and urges you to begin living active lives. This is the cheapest and best psychological lesson you will get today.

Interviewing: How to be professional in a casual world

remedialacademy — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:53:05 +0000

There you are with your list of questions – carefully worded, sometimes sinister, but always clever – now clenched in your clammy fist as you sit down for your first professional reporting interview. You smile, and the subject smiles. You both sip coffee. You adjust your blank sheets of paper on your knee. As you attempt to write a date, then pen jabs through five sheets and puts indelible ink on your new pants. Staying cool, you unfold your list of questions, and you read the first one: Could you tell me how much money you make? Oh, dear, you poor, pathetic rookie. You received your interview training from an idiot.

Be aggressive, be casual, and be aggressive, too

remedialacademy — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:30:21 +0000

There you are standing in the middle of the street, a public street, with your newspaper camera, which you brought for another assignment. Three houses away a man is beating a boy with what looks like a baseball bat, chasing him here and there and hitting him when he can. The child is screaming and bloodied. You remember that your Mass Communication Law professor cautioned the class a journalist could violate this man’s privacy if you print a picture, and you should consult an attorney first who is savvy about media law. After all, the batter might sue you. That’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. Take the damn picture! In fact, take several. Wear out the shutter taking pictures.

Urging you to become an aggressive reporter, Ron Roat offers four lessons about the news business.

For an election year: A short lesson on economics

remedialacademy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:48:22 +0000

If this is 2008, it is election year. If this is 2008, the news is full of stories about economics. While the election is responsible for a great deal of the stories about economics, most of it comes from the fall-out of bank failures, mortgage loan defaults, rising gasoline price, and a thousand other indications that the economy going you know where. A responsible, educated journalist will want to know as much as possible about economics any year, but this year is even more important. How can you ask an intelligent question without a background in economics? Come on, it’s doubtful anyone down the hall in the business office will bring you up to speed without telling everyone in town you’re an idiot. This podcast will help.

Gushing, and saccharine emotional overloading

remedialacademy — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:56:50 +0000

In journalism, people die. They do not pass away or pass on or just pass. The dead do not ascend to somewhere above. More likely, dead people are toes up on the coroner’s table getting the final physical exam, and reporters are nice enough not to mention that. What I’m talking about is gush, or prattling over whatever subject lies before us. Gush is syrupy, usually unjustified positive overstatement, and the statements often go on and on, the facts lost in a thick, sugary soup of words.