Ethics in the newsroom?

“The Wire” is a drama television series that focuses on different states of the media and how journalism works in the offices of The Baltimore Sun.

Season five consisted of 10 episodes, many of which pertain to the newsroom in various aspects. Issues that exist today are depicted and this show gives the viewer a real sense of what really occurs in present newsrooms.

Episode three of Season 5 is entitled “Not for Attribution.” This hour long show portrays various issues in the newsroom.

In this episode, reporter Alma Gutierrez wakes up early in the morning to get the Baltimore Sun and to see her story that is supposed to be on the front page. However, when she gets the newspaper she realizes it is not on the front page, but on the second section below the fold. She is angry because her story on homicide victims was cut from 35 inches to only 12.

This is a common issue in journalism because many reporters get angry when they are lied to about the placement of their story. Alma thought that her story was important and the public should be aware of what happened. She also was not told by her editor that her story was going to be cut, so she was still expecting for her name to be on the front page of The Baltimore Sun.

Later in this episode Detective James McNulty decides that he wants to fabricate a story. Fabrication is an ethical question in journalism, and it should not be done. To fabricate is to devise something falsely. McNulty does this by placing a red ribbon around one of the homeless homicide victims. This then changes the story because there is a serial killer who puts red ribbons around his victims. This homeless man was not killed by the same serial killer, but McNulty is changing the evidence so it will seem like he was and this story will then become more interesting and written about in the Sun.

Later on in the episode Executive Editor James C.Whiting III gathers everyone in the newsroom to make an announcement.

He says, “It’s a bad time for newspapers, as you all know. The news hole is shrinking as advertising declines.”

Basically he says that there is going to be a fresh round of buyouts and the newsroom needs to learn to do more with less

“Some of you will be moving on to other opportunities beyond the Sun,” he adds.

This is another way of saying that people will start to be laid off because the news industry does not bring in as much money as it used to.

“The Wire” is a successful HBO program that depicts reporters and what goes on in the newsroom, which is something that is rarely seen on television. The different issues that occur throughout the season expand to more than just buyouts, corporate ownership, and fabrication. However, these are three main issues that are dealt with in today’s society, so I thought it was important to discuss them. Although “The Wire” is not the type of drama I usually watch, it was interesting to see how the journalists work alongside the detectives and police officers in a city that is so close to where I go to college.

Important Rules of Journalism

In order to be a journalist there are many rules you need to follow. Journalists have a responsibility to their readers and the publication they are writing for.

One important rule journalists should abide by is to be objective. Being objective to a journalist means that they have to be careful not to put bias or their own opinions in their stories.

Accuracy is another quality that journalists must have. This requires the journalist to double and even triple check their information before publishing anything. Inaccurate information lessens the writer's credibility and it is extremely important that names are spelled right and quotes are attributed properly.

Another important journalistic rule is fairness. Basically this means that journalists have to cover all sides of a story. Some journalists may have the tendency to not include all views of a story.

It is essential that journalists gather all the information that they can in order to create the story that will be the most objective, accurate, and fair.

Picture Day

It is not easy to take the perfect picture because there are many aspects to photography. Photographers take a lot of shots so they have more to choose from. Taking pictures from a variety of angles can help improve the shot. This gives the photo more depth and is more interesting to the viewer. This mug shot of Matt Dockery, Mass Communications student, was taken on Towson University's campus. Close-up mug shots are important in journalism so the reader can get a better idea of who the story is about.



In photography it is important to pay attention to the background and the lighting. Make sure there is nothing in the background of your picture that interferes with the message you want to portray. The right lighting is also essential in order for the image to be seen exactly the way you want it to.


Delta Sigma Phi fraternity members see-saw for 48 straight hours in order to raise money and awareness for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. They have been raising money and supporting testicular cancer for 10 years.

Towson scares students with their Haunted House

The event I am going to cover for my first multimedia story is the Haunted House that will be taking place in the Newman Center across from Stephens Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 29. This Haunted House is four floors of a murder mystery.

Potential sources for my story include other people walking through the haunted house, the tour guide and the person who set the whole thing up. Some questions I could ask would be about how long it took to set up, is there a cost and where does the money go?

There would be a lot of photo opportunities while walking through the Haunted House. I could take pictures while walking through and this would strongly depict the story I will write.

Hopkin's doctor gives hope

Four women diagnosed with terminal breast cancer are searching for a cure, and a Johns Hopkins oncologist may be able to give them what they've been waiting so long for.

Annie Siple is a 43-year-old woman who was first diagnosed with breast cancer and within a year spread to her liver. Although she hasn't been suffering, her condition is terminal. Siple is part of a small clinical trial for women with Stage IV breast cancer. Dr. Leisha Emens, an oncologist at Hopkins believes this experiment could "lay the groundwork for a vaccine to prevent breast cancer."

Emens experiement involves training the immune system to attack cancer cells. There are 40,000 American women that die of breast cancer each year. Emens' study involves many injections, blood tests, and of course the uncertainty that it may not work. Even if the odds are against this experimental vaccine, it may give women the chance for a longer life.

When the vaccine Emens created was tested on mice it cured some, but there is no definite way to know whether or not it will work on humans. Emens first study began in 2004, and she is still enrolling more women in the program.

Siple is just one of Emens' terminally ill patients, and she has been patiently waiting for three months to find out if the vaccine is working.

Emens says, "The news isn't perfect, but it's not terrible."

The tumors in Siple's liver have grown, but no new ones had been formed. As Siple continues to wait for positive results, others also hope for a cure for the disease that kills so many loved ones.

It's not his last lecture...

I was looking for a speech or event to cover in Towson or one of the surrounding towns, when I realized that it would make more sense for me to look on campus. In the Daily Digest I found out that Towson is having their own version of "The Last Lecture" by Dr. Randy Pausch. In my Comm 131 class last semester we watched some of "The Last Lecture" and it interested and intrigued me. On September 23 Dr. Ed Chute, former professor at California University of Pennsylvania will speak here at Towson. He is known for being active in the Civil Rights Movement, and also being a humorous and inspirational speaker.

Dr. Chute will clearly be my main source, but I will also do some research on his background and just to learn more about him before listening and taking notes on his speech. As of right now I don't know much about Dr. Chute, but he sounds like an interesting man full of wisdom and life experience. Questions that could be asked may be about his experience in marching in the Civil Rights Movement.

Tweeting on Twitter

I've never actually heard of Twitter until using the web-site for class, but I can see why it is used in the journalism world. These days everyone wants their news right when it happens, which is why many people use Twitter to tell stories and give updates on events using the 1-2-3 filing method. I read through other class member's Twitter posts and found 3 that I think are worth mentioning.

I thought Nicole's shorts summaries on the Go Green campaign at Towson showed a good example of 1-2-3 filing. Her first tweet tells the reader what the article was about in just 6 words. Her second tweet then defines single-stream recycling because some people may not have heard of it. It also states why this is easier for students and a better way to recycle in general.

The article about Univ. System of Maryland's budget cuts was summarized well in tweets by Matthew. His first tweet lets the reader know that these budget cuts will have an effect on Towson, which then captures their attention. His second post describes the main points of the article. If I hadn't already read the article, these posts would make me click the link to find out more.

Lastly, Mike's tweets on Towson football's loss against Richmond represent good newswriting as well. He uses abbreviations to make the posts short while still being informative. The first tweet includes who, what, when, and how, only leaving out the where. In the second post he notes that Towson played Richmond, so "where" could either be at Towson or at Richhmond. He gives more information by stating the quarterback's full name, telling the readers it was Towson's second loss of the season, and that Richmond is in 4th place. All of this information was told in less than 200 characters, but still describes the story in just enough detail.

So much news, so little time...

Summary leads and short reports are 2 of the most important parts of a news article because they essentially find the heart of the story. These give the reader a chance to see if the story interests them with a quick look rather than having to read the whole thing.

Short reports can vary in the form they come in. They are typically bulletins which range from 1-2 sentences, e-mail alerts, crawlers, or newspaper briefs. Crawlers are the scrolling words on the bottom of the screen on sports or news channels, and newspaper briefs are the same only in print form. The declarative or opening sentence of news stories are called summary leads. These are useful to the reader because they project the important facts of the story in past tense and include the an element of time.

One example of a summary lead I found on the New York Times website. Alongside a picture it said "In one the most dramatic days in Wall Street history, Merrill Lynch was near a deal to avert a crisis, while Lehman Brothers hurtled toward liquidation." Although this was only one sentence long, it really gave good insight of the story behind it.




On the New York Times website I also found examples of short reports. One in particular was a football score under the sports section on the bottom of the page, saying "Giants 41, Rams 13: Giants Win on the Road, Again." This is a short statement but it displays a lot of information. Not only does it give the score of the football game but it also lets the reader know (if they didn't already) that the Giant's have been winning while playing in other stadiums.

Newsworthy or not?

"What is news?" is a commonly asked question among journalists. People may have their own opinions about what they consider to be newsworthy based on their personal interests and concerns. Overall, however, there are 9 traditional news values that journalists have in mind while creating their story. Impact can be direct, indirect, or potential and can effect the audience in different ways. Prominence, unusualness, currency, and conflict all help a story become more newsworthy. Timeliness, proximity, affinity, and human interest which evoke an emotional response from the reader are important as well.

I was scanning the Baltimore Sun website looking for interesting articles that I would consider newsworthy, or figure out why they were deemed newsworthy in the first place. The first article I came across was about a fire that burned down a playground in Baltimore earlier today. It was a big fire at the Memorial Stadium site because approximately 35 firefighters were called in to go put it out. This story was short, but I think that it is newsworthy because of its timeliness and impact. It says that the fire was nearly contained at around 3:15 p.m., and I am reading this story a little more than one hour later. That's some very fast news. This fire may have had direct or indirect impact on families with children who live in the Baltimore area and frequently go or have been to this YMCA playground. (Photo taken by Barbara Haddock Taylor)

Everyone in the U.S. has recently become fans of Michael Phelps, the 8 Olympic gold medal winning swimmer, but I probably don't even have to tell you that. So I'm sure that everyone in Baltimore and specifically Towson has been wondering when their American hero would return to his hometown. An article on the Baltimore Sun website announces that Phelps will be coming back to Towson on October 4, a day in which a parade will be held in his and Katie Hoff's honor at Fort McHenry. Since Phelps attended Towson High School and is an Olympic winner this story contains prominence, currency, timeliness, and proximity. It contains currency since Phelps has been regularly featured all over the news and on television since he won his gold medals, and people are still talking about him. Overall, this article is a very good example of what newsworthy is.

The next article I read was very different from the first one. I found it under the section "Weird news" and was intrigued. Apparently, in a Japan zoo there are polar bears who have turned green because of algae. This phenomenon is puzzling the visitors at the Higashiyhama Zoo. It has been a concern if this algae is harming the polra bears, but a zoo official says that their fur coat will return to its normal color when the growth of algae decreases in November. This story can be considered newsworthy because of its unusualness, and it has some degree of human interest attached. It is not every day that polar bears turn green, so people are likely to be interested in this story and finding out the cause. If readers are not yet aware that the polar bears are fine and not suffering from their change of color, they may have an emotional reaction. If it caught my eye, I'm sure other people browsing the Baltimore Sun would notice it also.

Blog 2 ...

Backpack journalists are freelance writers who work by themselves and do whatever it takes to get the whole story. In order to do this, they need to carry every item that is essential to creating the best story they can at all times. These items may include a notebook, tape recorder, camera, video recorder, laptop, and other technological devices. Jared Silfies blog shows and explains everything he carries with him in order to report a story. I think it tells a lot about Silfies as a journalist that he carries around the book The Elements of Style, and therefore is familiar with it and uses it frequently as a point of reference. It shows that he is serious about coming up with the best story he can and doesn't want to make any mistakes. Although I have never read The Elements of Style I definitely will because I think it would help me to become a better journalist.

I enjoyed looking and reading through most of the portfolios, but one in particular intrigued me more than the others. Rachel Youens is a multimedia journalist who lives in Austin, Texas. The first thing I noticed on her website was the artwork and the layout. I like how it is set up in a fun but not distracting way. Her video on the style and trends in Austin was put together in an interesting way and flowed really well. If I decide to keep pursuing journalism I would definitely want to create something in a similar way that Youens has done with her website. She must have to carry around a lot of equipment in order to make the videos she does and report in her style. Such items probably include a laptop, USB cord, digital camera/video camera, and the standard notebook. I was interested in reading her resume and also impressed while a little jealous of all of the experience she has. Her website definitely gives bosses and jobs a memorable impression of her, and aspiring journalists could learn from her.

About Me...

Hey everyone, my name is Ariel Gononsky. I am 19 and a sophomore here at Towson. I'm from Wantagh, New York which is on Long Island. I have a black lab mix named Reggie and I love animals in general. My major is Mass Comm. with a dual track in Advertising and Journalism, although I'm not really sure what I want to do yet. I live in the University Village with 3 roommates who are my best friends. We're all in the same sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma. I enjoy being active in my sorority and I love being a part of it. Next summer I am hoping to get an internship in New York City at a magazine, publishing company, or anything in the Mass Comm. field. I also want to study abroad in London next year for a mini-mester or summer semester. I love being in Towson and am looking forward to learning a lot in this class.