Timeliness required in sports reporting

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Madison Cramer

By MADISON CRAMER

It’s one of my favorite times of the year in the sports world: March Madness. From the days filled with exciting games, one after another, to the upsets that shock the nation, there’s nothing better. But with this “madness” comes the need for fast-paced reporting.

Especially as the tournament kicks off and so many games are played in a row, quick, efficient reporting is essential. Much of the public wants to know the score, what happened, and who did what, all almost immediately. There’s no time to wait. In today’s world of social media, word spreads fast, and that’s what we’re used to. That need for immediate knowledge is what makes timeliness so essential today.

These days, it’s easy to find hundreds of articles about a game right as it ends. The public relies on and expects this, so journalists must deliver. The time crunch on journalists is surely stressful, but it’s necessary in such a fast-paced world, and especially during such a fast-paced event as March Madness.

So, while accuracy is obviously the most important component in reporting, timeliness follows soon after in importance, especially during this crazy month of college basketball.

Don’t miss your deadline!

Posted on March 16, 2015 by S. Molly Dominick

By S. MOLLY DOMINICK

Since coming to the University of Miami in August last year, I’ve been working on the student newspaper The Miami Hurricane. In that time, one word has been etched into my brain as being most critical to my job as a reporter: Deadlines.

Deadlines. All-day deadline work sessions. Don’t miss your deadline. From the get-go, the word “deadline” has been repeated again and again, with intense focus given to the importance of timeliness.

But timeliness often comes into conflict with accuracy. In fact, this conflict is so pressingly problematic that the Code of Ethics for the Society of Professional Journalists includes the following statement:

“Remember that neither speed nor format excuses inaccuracy.”

Noting this, it’s interesting to me that there’s been such a sharp focus on timeliness, within an organization that trains future journalists, when well-regarded standards of practice warn against doing so.

Even if not heralded as the most important aspect of journalism, timeliness receives the most attention. News, like anything else, is a business—specifically, the business of being first. And from an ethical standpoint, timeliness is essential to bringing news that is relevant and important to the public it intends to serve.

But ideologically, accuracy clearly reigns as just as — or more — crucial. Even if you are the speediest news writer in the world, it will mean nothing if your work is riddled with errors.

But during my experience as a student reporter, I’ve noticed that accuracy is only brought up in conversation once someone has already made an error.

Because accuracy is so important, people assume that others recognize it as such—like it goes without saying. But when you don’t say, it leaves the forefront of people’s minds to be replaced with what you are talking about: deadlines. And people are talking about those constantly.

If we give accuracy as much—or more—time in the spotlight as deadlines, hopefully we can better train ourselves as future journalists to avoid ethical gaffes before they occur.

Covering Ultra will be a challenge

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Hanya ALKhamis

By HANYA ALKHAMIS

The Ultra Music Festival is coming soon. From March 27-29 Miami will be drowning in electronic music and overjoyed youth. Taking place in Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami, Ultra is being anticipated by music lovers and journalists alike.

How does a journalist get a piece written about Ultra? Does he or she attend the festival? Or just cover it by what is posted on the Internet and social media? Personally, as a journalist, I would attend the music festival and talk to people attending. I would also keep a camera ready for pictures and to capture videos of any unusual and new activities taking place. I would even stay until the end of the music festival to get further interviews from the attendants, ssecurity and clean up crew.

I would attempt to talk to Ultra’s public relations team and get a press pass to talk to the musicians and DJ’s that will be playing.

As a journalist, there is no such thing as too much information. You need to get all the information needed, even if you don’t end up using everything you collect. Ultra would be a great opportunity to test my abilities as a journalist and see if I am ready to tackle a challenge that requires so much coverage.

Twitter’s negative effects for users

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Diya Vasudevan

By DIYA VASUDEVAN

I remember that, as a child, my mother would often chide me about the lack of filtration in the comments I made and the stories I told. There were no boundaries; I was a brutally honest child — and a loud one, too. Nothing that happened in the family stayed in the family. They often suffered the consequences of what they called my “verbal diarrhea.”

As I got older, though, I’d like to think I figured out what I should and should not say depending on the situation. However, there were times that I slipped up in a big way and was only lucky that spoken words weren’t lamented like the ones we let loose on the Internet. Media forums such as Facebook and Twitter have made it infinitely easier to express our opinions for the world to see and I learned the hard way that once it’s out there, there’s no taking it back.

So, when at 19 my Dad questioned why I didn’t have a Twitter account, I laughed and looked at him incredulously, “Do you really think Twitter is the best tool for someone who has to consciously remind herself of what she can and cannot share with the public?” At which he replied that he simply used Twitter for his work and perhaps I could use it in the same way.

The truth is that a social media forum such as Twitter terrifies me, the number of times celebrities get hauled up for their tweets or accidentally send out a nude picture for all of two seconds someone out there catches them and, like I said before, it’s words or nude images they can’t ever take back.

Twitter is essentially used to capture what you’re doing thinking or feeling in that moment in 140 characters or less. Often times when things are said in the moment they aren’t fully thought through, and these words can be read by future employers, college professors, colleagues and friends and can potentially hinder your future. We have to be careful about what we do and do not post on the Internet and Twitter does not help.

There’s always another side to the story

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Chelsey Sellars

By CHELSEY SELLARS

As I placed my items on the grocery store conveyor belt, I glanced over at the gum
and magazine rack.

Upon all the fashion and sugary goods, I found a picture of President Obama’s contorted face on the cover of the lovely Globe: In small print next to Obama’s face, once you get past the bright yellow “psychopathic rages” and “egomania” accusations, reads “making crazy faces in healthcare video February 2015.”

Globe is infamous in America for its questionable headlines and material, so naturally I was skeptical about these allegations. I quickly Googled “Obama makes faces” and stumbled upon this quirky video of Obama teaming up with BuzzFeed to remind millenials of the deadline for Obamacare:

The clip is called “Things Everybody Does But Doesn’t Talk About,” which features Obama taking selfies and making bizarre faces in the mirror. I realized that the picture from Globe was the same one as this screenshot of the video.

As stated before, Globe is notorious for creating tabloids, but what if you did not know that first hand? What if you were in America as a traveler, and happened to see this crazy headline? You might believe it and go on to share the news.

The media are there to inform the public of what is going on beyond their backyard. However, we cannot be sponges and simply absorb the information. I believe that we should always yearn for knowledge and have some skepticism when it comes to media; the more we investigate, the more media literate we will become.

Covering the color of that mystery dress

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Hanya ALKhamis

By HANYA ALKHAMIS

It was on a Thursday night when everyone was on their phone and staring at a dress, which was either black and blue or white and gold, depending on the viewer.

Pathetic, it was just pathetic to view how people made a big deal over a worthless dress that had no significance what so ever. It was on all Web news sites. And it got considerable mainstream news media attention. Even the national TV networks gave it attention.

Everyone was all over the place about it and yet, if it were to be about the wars and political disputes happening in Arab world, no one would have cared.

The social media’s main topic on Thursday night and all of Friday was the dress and the color perceived by each and every person.

It is insane and foolish how everyone was on his or her phone Thursday night talking about this mysterious dress that was both black and blue or white and gold. Everyone spent an hour or two or even the whole day just to figure out the mystery and Googling the reason why they saw what they had seen.

The image contained a striped dress, a dress that was seen to be white and gold in my perspective. The controversy was all over how one perceives the dress color differently than another. Many argued it was white with gold stripes or blue with black stripes.

The mystery dress was a sight test to test how people view colors differently. The dress is actually known to be white and gold, but there is an explanation why some viewers, viewed the dress to being black and blue.

As some people go through hard negative events in their life they start to see colors a different way. This proves why many people believed that the dress was black and blue rather than white and gold.

Whatever color you saw depended on the emotion you were feeling and the type of mood you were in, and that is the primary reason why people argued about the actual color of this mystery dress.

Google renovates its campus for future

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Nigia Greene

By NIGIA GREENE

Google has new ideas for renovations for its California campus. It has a sci-fi feel to it and plans to implement a lot of new technology. The plan is to display how far the company has come. There are plans for light-weight block structures that can be moved around as the company continues to grow. New inventions such as self driving cars, solar powered drones and robots.

The company is taking a huge step into the future, literally. It’s almost like a playground for the company research projects. Google is well known for the inspiration it provides for its employees. It is always moving forward and it keeps the employees in tune with their work. Sort of like a way to encourage workers to stay on top of their game.

“Different segments within the buildings’ canopies will ‘form small villages’ where employees can work or relax,” a Google representative stated. There will be a new parking lot and under used areas will be turned in to “native ecosystems” such as wetlands or re-integrated oak trees.

If the plans are approved Google will increase its square footage by millions.

Net neutrality and journalism

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Nadia Bacchus

By NADIA BACCHUS

On Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to implement new rules regarding Internet neutrality. These rules make sure that Internet service providers allow open access to all legal content and applications.

What does this have to do with journalism you ask?

In the digital age that we live in, half of all Americans use the Internet as their main source for news. For the younger generations, up to 70 percent say it’s their main source for information.

Imagine if Fox News used Comcast as a service provider while CNN used AT&T. Depending on the amount of money either service provider could pay would determine the kinds of stories you are allowed read and block the ones they didn’t want you to see.

Big companies would be able to spend larger amounts of money for faster services while smaller, independent companies would be stuck with slower access because that’s all they could afford. People would prefer going to the larger company’s site because they would rather not have to wait longer for their videos, pictures or stories to load. In some ways that is a form of censorship. That is a clear violation of our First Amendment.

Thankfully, due to this recent ruling all information will still be available to everyone will any kind of Internet service.

Without research, there is no story

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Madison Cramer

By MADISON CRAMER

As I sit here working on an article for a sports website I write for, I’m realizing just how important it is in journalism to conduct thorough research. I often read articles that have only one source and/or very little information. What good does that do?

Research is vital.

The article I’m currently working on profiles an athlete and, if I wrote it only using my knowledge, I wouldn’t have much of an article at all. I’d have a few sentences at best. While gathering all of the information needed to write something like an athlete profile can be a long and tedious process, it’s imperative. So, I read information about the player on several Web sites and I conducted interviews with people who are very knowledgeable on the topic. By the time I was done with my research, I was ready to write. I finally had more than enough information to begin the actual writing process, which brings me to this current moment.

This process has made me wonder how a journalist could possibly write an article without first gathering relevant facts. And not just the basic facts that scratch the surface; I’m talking about the in-depth facts that have to be dug up from the depths of several resources. Every article needs some meat to it. Without it, the article is most likely going to be bland and ineffective in delivering the necessary information.

Therefore, an article isn’t actually an article until proper research is conducted. Journalism relies on research and without it, the industry would be practically useless.

Yahoo! News has a problem

Posted on February 20, 2015 by S. Molly Dominick

By S. MOLLY DOMINICK

If I’m feeling crotchety and in the mood to get myself all disgruntled about journalism, I know the first place I need to visit: the Yahoo! News homepage.

On the screenshot below, I invite you to marvel at the juxtaposition of headlines:

A story about what could possibly be the largest-ever human exodus — I repeat, the largest-ever human exodus, a staggering story with widespread societal and environmental implications for more than 13 million people—is sandwiched between stories about a celebrity and an infamous dictator marketed like a celebrity. Without discussing the merits of entertainment journalism as a whole, I think it’s safe to say that those headlines should not be grouped together in the same category, at the bare minimum.

What’s more, we need to keep in mind the way that a company like Yahoo! structures its homepage. Headlines are placed in a purposeful order of importance, based on which articles the company thinks its readers should see most. According to the above order, Iggy Azalea’s absence from social media deserves more exposure than human-inhabited islands’ absence from the face of the planet.

Call me remarkably crotchety for my 19 years of age … but by golly, what the devil is going on here?

DIGITAL NEWS REPORTING

Journalism and Media Management Department, School of Communication, University of Miami