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| Courtesy photo |
| Students who attended the SPJ conference were (bottom row, from left) Jake Wright, Chrissy Ashack, Stephanie Doctrow, Claire Aronson, (back row, from left) MJ Slaby, Danielle Rindler, Lindsey Erdody, Michael Auslen and Mary Kenney. |
The nine students who attended also collected Mark of Excellence awards while attending the conference, which honors collegiate work from 2010.
Here are students' reports on the workshops:
New ethics cases
By MJ Slaby
The Society of Professional Journalists recently updated its journalism ethics casebook, so for our final session of the day, several of the IU members attended a session that discussed two of the cases in the book with the cases’ authors.
The first case was about running crime scene photos and deciding which photo was more graphic. The first showed bullet holes in the body of the victim and the second showed a body covered by a bloody sheet.
For me, it was obvious the first photo was more graphic and that seemed to be the consensus in the room. However, the two newspapers who covered the shooting decided to run different photos on the front page. And what was most interesting is that both editors defended their decision by saying they chose the less graphic photo.
The second case was of a newspaper editor who decided to publish the photo of every person who lived in that county who received a charge of driving under the influence in that county. This case sparked more discussion because some people felt people with the DUIs brought them upon themselves, while others said, “Why just DUIs? Is this setting an agenda?” I agreed that the editor’s cause was noble, but I don’t think it was the place of the newspaper to set an agenda. What was most interesting about the case was that it took a change in editors to stop the practice of publishing the photos.
Both cases only proved to me that ethics is not as clear as we sometimes think. And it was really great to be able to discuss cases with the authors who know even more about the case than is in the book. Most of all, ethics is best to discuss with as many people as possible.
Reporting from Japan
By Claire Aronson
After receiving the news last fall that I would be traveling to Japan over sring break with my J460 International Reporting journalism class, I was ecstatic to say the least. I prepared for my reporting project and learned about the Japanese culture from my professor.
Then, March 11 happened. My class was at a hotel by the Indianapolis airport getting ready to board a flight to Tokyo in a few hours. However, we awoke to the news of Japan having suffered its largest earthquake. Immediately, all of our initial instinct was that we wanted to report on this natural disaster. Unfortunately, the flights were canceled and we were stranded in the U.S.
As the events in Japan developed, I followed the news incessantly. One of the reporters I consistently followed was Hagit Limor. When I saw that she was presenting a session at the Society for Professional Journalists Regional Conference this past weekend in Kentucky, I knew I wanted to hear about her experience in Japan.
Limor was in Japan as part of a reporting exchange when she the earthquake struck the region. Limor’s reaction, like any journalist, was to go report on the conditions. Limor did just that. She used the power of her cellphone and stayed connected with news organizations in the United States. She did broadcast stories, radio segments, blogs and news articles.
Her session did more than strictly show the devastation in Japan. It showed that journalists had the ability to drop everything and report on a breaking news story utilizing the use of a cellphone. Media outlets across the U.S. picked up Limor’s articles. It showed me how versatile Limor was in her Japan reporting.
Social media and other legalities
By Michael Auslen
Is it legal to print a photo in a newspaper that was posted to Twitter by a random citizen? What about Facebook wall posts from a deceased individual’s friends?
It is this type of question that journalists today struggle with most. There are very few precedents for online media law, particularly related to social media.
To try to understand how to make the right decision regarding social media legal issues, some of IU’s SPJ members attended a session on modern media law with experts from across the country at a regional conference April 2.
During the session, press lawyers talked about recent notable cases, including the first photos available from the airplane that landed on the Hudson River in New York, which were taken from Twitter by many news organizations.
The IU students were particularly interested in the use of Twitter posts in news reporting, like the IDS has done since its post-spring break redesign.
The experts were vague, saying that a judge’s response would vary on a case-by-case basis, depending on the specific use of social media, attribution and other factors, but that as long as news organizations are careful, they should be safe.