The 1st regular media monitor or 1st bonus can be posted here (Fair, Foolish, or in a Fix: good practice, violation, or dilemma), with deadline on Tuesday Feb. 2 at 12 noon.
Instructions have been given in class. (As stated before: Students may use pseudonyms or pen names, and conceal their faces, and may also use their own platforms and simply paste the links in the comments section. (If pseudonymous, pls provide the department assistant with your pen name). Pls use the comments section of this post. As stated, the media monitor commentary may either by typed as text in the comments section or as a link leading to the post in the platform of the classmember/ post author. Pls type in the first line whether the post is a regular media monitor [1st Regular Media Monitor) or a bonus post (1st Bonus Post) to aid the checker in locating and categorizing each box. Tnx).
Baseless rants will not merit any points – the commentary should use, cite, and quote the pertinent provisions of the 2014 SPJ Code of Ethics as taken up in class this week. Failure to provide the pertinent provision will result in a score of zero. The SPJ provisions have been provided in the handouts distributed in class this week. They were also discussed in powerpoint in class. For students who are completely incapable of reading the handouts given to them, the provisions taken up in class are embedded below, before the end of this post, in blue font.
As a heads-up, the following are the first two bonuses that can be posted in lieu of a regular media monitor [as stated, only one media monitor per week(which can either be a regular media monitor or a bonus post) is allowed to avoid cramming and jamming up of posts: the purpose of observing the weekly media monitor is to build the daily habit of reading/ viewing media content with discernment).
On occasion of the Chinese New Year on Feb. 8 and Valentines Day on the 14th, the following are the first two bonuses:
1st bonus post: Advertorials (the holidays are always commercialized: the media will churn out ads and promos disguised as news features). Choose from any of the following 2014 SPJ Code of Ethics provisions (these provisions will be taken up next week, this bonus can be posted at any timein lieu of a regular media monitor as long as only one media monitor per week is posted. Students who think/ feel they can tackle this in advance can do so, and post it as their bonus here in the first media monitor. Again, to repeat: the bonus post can be submitted at any time as long as only one media monitor per week is posted.)
For the 1st Bonus on Advertorials, choose from any of these provisions: “ACT INDEPENDENTLY
“ The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public
Journalists should:
– Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
– Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility.
– Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; do not pay for access to news. Identify content provided by outside sources, whether paid or not.
– Deny favored treatment to advertisers, donors or any other special interests, and resist internal and external pressure to influence coverage.
– Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two. Prominently label sponsored content.” (2014 SPJ)
To give students additional advance notice, the second bonus will be on news feature reports that show “superstitious and pseudo-scientific beliefs and practices, such as supernatural powers, foretelling of the future, astrology, phrenology, palm-reading, numerology, mind-reading, hypnotism, faith healing or similar subjects”.
These abound in the run-up to the Chinese New Year, hence, the advance notice.
Here are the pertinent provisions of the KBP Broadcast Code: “Art. 13 SUPERSTITION AND THE OCCULT: “Sec.1 Programs featuring superstitious and pseudo-scientific beliefs and practices, such as supernatural powers, foretelling of the future, astrology, phrenology, palm-reading, numerology, mind-reading, hypnotism, faith healing or similar subjects shall be careful not to induce belief in them. Care shall be taken to prevent the exploitation of people who may be easily swayed by such superstitious and pseudo-scientific beliefs and practices.
“Sec.2.Programs or program materials that promote or encourage occult practices, black magic, witchcraft, and similar activities are prohibited.” (KBP Broadcast Code) ♣ ♣ ♣
For the first regular media monitor: (2014 SPJ): “SEEK TRUTH AND REPORT IT “Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information. Journalists should: – Take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible. – Remember that neither speed nor format excuses inaccuracy. – Provide context. Take special care not to misrepresent or oversimplify in promoting, previewing or summarizing a story. – Gather, update and correct information throughout the life of a news story. – Be cautious when making promises, but keep the promises they make. – Identify sources clearly. The public is entitled to as much information as possible to judge the reliability and motivations of sources. – Consider sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Reserve anonymity for sources who may face danger, retribution or other harm, and have information that cannot be obtained elsewhere. Explain why anonymity was granted. – Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing. – Avoid undercover or other surreptitious methods of gathering information unless traditional, open methods will not yield information vital to the public. – Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable. Give voice to the voiceless. – Support the open and civil exchange of views, even views they find repugnant. – Recognize a special obligation to serve as watchdogs over public affairs and government. Seek to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the open, and that public records are open to all. – Provide access to source material when it is relevant and appropriate. – Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience. Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear. – Avoid stereotyping. Journalists should examine the ways their values and experiences may shape their reporting. – Label advocacy and commentary. – Never deliberately distort facts or context, including visual information. Clearly label illustrations and re-enactments. – Never plagiarize. Always attribute. “MINIMIZE HARM “Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect. Journalists should: – Balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness. – Show compassion for those who may be affected by news coverage. Use heightened sensitivity when dealing with juveniles, victims of sex crimes, and sources or subjects who are inexperienced or unable to give consent. Consider cultural differences in approach and treatment. – Recognize that legal access to information differs from an ethical justification to publish or broadcast. – Realize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than public figures and others who seek power, influence or attention. Weigh the consequences of publishing or broadcasting personal information. – Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity, even if others do. xxx (2014 SPJ)
This is your first assignment and it’s easy, but it’s also a ticket to a seat to the first day of classes and succeeding meetings. Ps submit your avatar and public profile electronically before the first meeting or during the first 15 minutes of the first meeting – failing which, you will be excused so you can submit the requirement. FOR THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES: In order to have an organized flow of class discussion: Everyone is required to attend the orientation on the first day of classes – even those who have not completed their payment. Experience shows that those who fail to attend the orientation fail to be aware of the requirements and class policies, fail to get their topics for reporting (for 30 points) and end up DISRUPTING THE CLASS with their noisy cellphones, noisy inquiries, and abrupt behavior in trying to get out of the classroom to comply with the requirements. Students who show inability to comprehend words will be asked to drop the class before wreaking more havoc. Students will always be held responsible for whatever they miss as a consequence of their being late or absent, and are requested not to harangue the handling faculty to be given special treatment by way of a “personalized briefing”, or update, or to get topics. Students who persist in refusing to comprehend words will be asked to drop the class. The class record and class scorecards of this class are electronic (with one print copy as final backup). My avatar and public profile are in this site, in the “About” widget. The widgets appear when the Toggle is clicked. The Toggle is an app that is tucked in the upper-righthand corner of the page, as a small box with three horizontal lines. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS, FIRST DAY OF CLASSES: As stated, the class records are electronic and will be based on scores arising from compliance with the requirements, to be centralized electronically in the department file. For the first day of classes, in the first 15 minutes of class hours, or earlier, pls submit electronically your avatar and public profile by embedding them or linking them in this site, in this post, in the comments section (you may post them earlier, before classes). You may use the computers in the department, or the computers in the classrooms, or the free and public computers in the corridors and lobby, or the free and public computers in the library, or your own devices (the college has a free, public wifi). Those who fail to comply with this requirement up to the first 30 minutes of classes, or when the roll is called, will lose their seat in class, will be requested to leave the room in order to comply with the requirement, and will be marked as absent. The avatar is your digital public photo. For this class, do not submit an image of a cartoon character or a computer-generated character unless you want to be considered a winged creature in class. Do not submit a microscopic, dot-size photo unless you want a dot score for all the requirements. Pls make your avatar at least the usual 1” x1”. Thank you. The public profile is the public description of yourself, the profile that you use in your public sites. Use your nicknames only, do not submit your full names in this site. In your public profile, pls type as heading the designation of the class you are enrolled in (J101, or Ethics, or Media Law, or Grad Sch) — this will make the work of the department easier. Then, pls include the following information in your “description”: 1.your course; 2.your favorite book or novel of all time (and state why); 3.your favorite film of all time (and state why); 4.your favorite media practitioner of all time (any medium: newspaper, broadcast, multimedia, film, social media, etc), (and state why); 5.your favorite song/ music/ band/ songwriter of all time (and state why); 6.your favorite meal of all time (and state why). 7.”hobbies”, if any (optional). Those who do not have these will be asked to show or perform their own original composition in class as a description of themselves. There are several ways of producing your public profile: 1.Thru your own public site (thru free sites such as FB, Twitter, tumblr, wordpress, blogspot, etc) 2.or thru Gravatar (a free app/site), 3.or thru about.com (another free site/app) (although there is nothing absolutely free in the internet: advertisers buy your info, so just use your nicknames, not your full names.) If you’re using Gravatar or about.com, the app automatically shows your avatar anywhere you post in the net, and in the comments section of this site, so you won’t have to embed, separately, your photo. There are two ways of submitting them in the comments section of this post: 1.By embedding, as in-line text; or 2.by linking the url of your own site (pasting the url of your site in the comments section). Simply click the comments box at the end of this post, then type: you may embed your public profile and avatar, or paste the link to your site where your public profile and avatar appear. If you are a recluse, or have zero presence in the internet, you may get the class email address from the department and email the requirement. You will need to FOLLOW UP the department to submit it to the handling faculty – the disadvantage of this procedure is — as experience shows – this takes more administrative steps; any delay will be counted against the student for failure to follow up efficiently. A one-pager directory will be routed manually (print) in class where the student will be asked to write their email address and “name of person to contact in case of emergency” and that person’s contact info. This document is confidential and no one is allowed to borrow or to photocopy it. Those who fail to submit an avatar and public profile will not be allotted an electronic classcard and will not appear in the electronic class record. Those who are not allotted a classcard and do not appear in the class record will be considered a fictitious character. Their grade will be given by Talim of the Village of the Wind Deity.
