In class writing assignment- Ethics

1. What (if any) are the ethical dilemmas faced by both filmmakers when shooting these documentaries?

There were some questions regarding the sanity of Little Edie and (especially) Big Edie as documented in Grey Gardens. (To see the actual clips, click here.) As a filmmaker, I think there are different ethical dilemmas than as a journalist, however I still think that there would be a heavy personal struggle to decide on whether or not to document the squalor these people live in. However, the Beales were willing to be documented because they got the profits from the film. If the Beales were willing to consent to be documented, the filmmaker probably had no further qualms about documenting them. Big Edie acts as if she is suffering from dementia, as she will rant about random things but can recall perfectly well information about her husband. This would bother me as a filmmaker as I would worry about the sanity of the people.

The main dilemma that I find in Titcut Follies is that the information regarding the sanity of the patients cannot be cut from the documentary essence of the film. Likely the family members of the patients in Titicut Follies had to consent to having their family members filmed, just as with children, so according to Frederick Wiseman's ethics this was likely "good enough."

As I found on Wikipedia (I would normally not use this but the information was cited and seemed very reliable), just before the release of the film in 1967, the governemnt of Massachusetts tried to ban the release of the film, claiming that the film violated the inmates rights regarding privacy and dignity. Wiseman received permission from all the people portrayed in the documentary or their legal guardian (the hospital superintendant), Massachusetts claimed that the permission, "could not take the place of valid release forms from the inmates." A New York State court allowed the film to be shown anyway, but in 1968 a judge in the Massachusetts Superior Court ordered the film to no longer be distributed and for all existing copies to be destroyed. The reasoning for this ruling was reportedly the state's concerns "about violations of the patients' privacy and dignity." I believe that at the time the government in Massachusetts acted appropriately. In 1990, a Superior Court Judge allowed the film to be released, citing that as time had passed, privacy concerns had "become less important than First Amendment concerns." The judge also said that, as many of the former patients had died, there was little risk of voilation to their dignity. Titicut Follies is now legally available through the distributor, Zipporah Films, Inc., for purchase or rental and for both educational and individual license, and I think this is likely now appropriate.

2. Should they have used all of the footage or only some of it? How should that be determined?

With the Beales I think all of the footage should be used. They did not seem to mind the way they lived. And, though some may argue that not all footage was necessary, I think as a filmmaker using all of the footage was key to conveying how the Beales really lived, which is exactly why they are recreating the documentary. The photos of Little Edie wearing rugs and other random things as clothes and her random rants show that she was somewhat ill but also that she was starved of the spotlight and wanted to prove that she was still a debutant.

The actions and/or mental state of the patients seems unethical to present in some portions of Titucut Follies, because it does not always pertain very much to the treatment of the inmates/patients. When asking the men questions of masturbation, it does not seem always necessary to document the patients answers, only the fact that the caretakers were asking these types of questions. However, I also feel that it may have been appropriate to include all this information, as the information presented in the documentary may have been more tame than the actual treatment of the patients, as people will behave better when being watched (sort of a "While the cat's away, the mouse will play" mentality, meanining that with the cameras acting as a watchdog over the institution staff, they likely treated the patients better than they normally would have.)

I think that should be determined by the combination of the ethical base of the storyteller and the Code of Ethics of the organization they represent, though admittedly this may sometimes fall short of the ethical base of readers/watchers.

3. What would you do as a journalist or documentary storyteller?

For the Beales, if I was the journalist or documentary storyteller I would have presented the same information.

In Titucut Follies, I would have not used all the footage in the documentary that Wiseman used. I feel like some of the footage was not necessary to convey the story, in the same way I felt that with the story about Mayor Jim West in The Spokesman-Review did not need to present information about consentual homosexual sex as it was not needed to tell the story.

What's Happening to the News?

I love the Daily Show. If I were to go back to seeking a journalism career, I would go either in the independent, blog-type news, or the satirical, Daily Show-type news. I feel that even at WSU, the Murrow mission has lost its focus, and even our world-renown communications program is becoming more like the rest of the news: tabloids and paparazzi.

As one of the interviewees said, "Simply passing on rumors is not journalism. Simply telling people what they want to hear is not journalism." Well put!

Citizen journalism seems more valid and in-depth than most popular media, and this drives me away from what people are calling "traditional journalism," though what it is in reality is very far from traditional.

In the end, I think what is making such poor journalists is the fact that they rely on money to run. Stations like PBS are still very good at presenting unbiased, reliable news. I think this is because they are federally funded. I think that if stations like FoxNews or CNN were federally funded they would slowly shift toward making reliable news, not just news that sells.

Ethics Assignment

1. When referring to the allegation that Mayor Jim West was pursuing underage boys online, why do you think editor Steven Smith differentiated between a legitimate news story and one that is not legitimate when he said, "If he's [Mayor Jim West] engaged in this activity … we need to know that. If he's not -- there's no story" ?

If West had not been engaging in sexual acts with people that were underage, regardless of gender, there would not be any story because West would have not been doing anything illegal, it would not have been child abuse or child molestation. I find this poor reporting, since West only pursued the boy when he was supposedly 18. And, if the mayor offered the boy an internship, I don't see the problem, because had the boy been the child of a friend who had been offered an internship, there would not have been any problem. I feel that there are likely many people who get internship preference due to the fact that they know someone in the company they will be interning for. They could not have proven that an internship would have led to more sexual conduct, either.

2. How did reporter Bill Morlin justify the use of a concealed identity on Gay.com as part of The Spokesman-Review's and the FBI's "sting operation"? Why didn't Morlin himself create the assumed identity to engage Mayor West online?

They justified it because they would not have been able to confirm West's identity without it. Morlin was incapable of creating the identity due to the Spokesman's code of ethics, which in my opinion he still broke, regardless of the fact that he hired an outside consultant. In my opinion, this was outright baiting.
3. Why do you think The Spokesman-Review ultimately published so many articles on Mayor West's alleged improprieties?

The Spokesman-Review undoubtedly kept having high selling papers when they were running stories about West. And, likely people in Spokane were worried about their children to keep them safe. Smith also ran more articles on West because of a phone call from West where West desired to express his remorse and inside feelings.

4. In the final analysis, who benefited from The Spokesman-Review's decision to expose Mayor West and his alleged improprieties? Who was hurt? Do you think the outcome was worth it? Explain your reasoning.

Helped: Robert Gallagher because he could voice his opinion finally, some of the homosexual/bisexual people that were able to come out of the closet and put in their two cents in the Spokesman's stories.
Hurt: Mayor West foremost, Hahn's family, the boyscouts who were outed as being molested, Robert Gallagher because people knew about his past and how he had been hurt, the Spokesman's ethical level.
The outcome was not worth it at all. As could be seen through the lens when the camera was watching the group of people talking, the one man said something like, "I believe he killed, not killed, dittled little boys, because I've seen him, I've talked to him, he's a sociopath." This man likely would never have said anything like this if the Spokesman would have not run their stories, and you can see how quickly his feelings escalated when he says at first that he believed West killed boys, then retracts his statement. Similar to a racism segment I've seen on Oprah, people's stigmas against others can grow very quickly. When the men took West into the Spokesman's office late at night and told him that it was "nothing personal," they were outright lying. It was essentially only personal. None of the Spokesman's sources specifically said West abused them, and the stories about having children over for pizza and Cub Scout nights seemed exactly like something a Cub Scout leader or soccer coach would do. They ran information like the fact that West has had consentual sex was stricktly personal information, and was not necessary to share with people. The Spokesman would have been better off to run stories like the fact that people who have been molested can forget their negative sexual encounters as a form of coping, which could have been why Gallagher did not voice his opinion at first, adding to the fact that he may have been afraid of West's political power. Even if West supported anti-gay legislature, writers should have written stories about how that is what they likely would have done in that situation also (being the only gay person in his close political circle). The Spokesman had no right to go film West in his church, either. When the Spokesman showed their efforst to cause West severe personal harm, they also chose to say things like "West Goes Down" and "Bye-Bye Bi-Guy," they showed clear anti-gay sentiment, which showed exactly why they ran these hurtful stories. The fact that the FBI never came up with any solid evidence showed finally that the stories were irrelevant and should have never been run.

5. The Spokesman-Review has been criticized as conducting a "witch hunt" in its reporting on the private lives of some city officials. Below is a link to another recent article on Spokane Deputy Mayor Jack Lynch. Do you think that there are any ethical problems in the reporting in this story? Why or why not?

Personally I do feel that there are ethical problems with this story. Maybe I just have higher ethical standards than many of the workers at the Spokesman Review. Since the mayor was not having any problems doing his job and had not been even accused of any misconduct, the paper really did not even have the right to do all this background research on him. And what was the point of bringing in information concerning the park being associated with homosexual activity? I think the paper is just looking for more sensationalistic things to report on and is losing the ability to report on real news.

On a final note, this is why I've chosen to change my major and not focus on journalism anymore, because I feel that most reporting jobs are exactly like this.

Multimedia assignment

The first story I chose was called "Paper plane garage." Although interactive, I would not call it "newsworthy." I would say however that the multimedia component kept the page interactive, and kept me clicking until the end. If used for a child, there were several useful links to teach them how planes fly, complete with moving arrows and increasing/decreasing gradient to describe gravity and lift. Also, it followed a logical path toward learning about paper airplanes and other planes. There was also a link to e-mail the page to a friend, which might be a handy tool for someone who was looking to help a child with a school project, possibly. However, with my internet connection some of the pages loaded rather slowly, decreasing my interest in the page. I gave up looking at this link when some of the embedded links did not work properly.

I also looked at a story called "Listen to the sounds of Motown." I was interested in the topic, so I though it might be a fun read. Again it was interactive, and it was nice to be able to click around at will to listen to whatever year I wanted and to not have to go in a particular order. However, I did not like that the music played as soon as the year opened up, because if you were trying to keep up with the news say at work or in the library and had your speakers on, the music would play instantly, which was irritating. Occasionally it also took longer to load than I would have preferred. I also thought it would have been nice if the links at the bottom of the page would have given a preview of what was in that year that you were clicking on. Additionally, I felt that the page focused so much on being interactive that it lost some of the news quality it could have had.

Virtual Journalism Summit speakers note changes in journalism

Well known contributors to the “virtual world” met Monday April 6 at the Virtual Journalism Summit in the CUB Auditorium to discuss how the convergence of media will affect journalism.

Speakers at the all-day Summit included Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, ThinkBalm co-founder Erica Driver, virtual world journalist Bernard Drax, and others.

While virtual world journalism is a foreign topic to many, many speakers at the Summit assured the audience that there is a very active community of people who report within 3-D spaces. On that topic, many speakers and audience members seemed conscious about how the virtual world will change the face of journalism. While journalism in the real world has undoubtedly undergone major changes within the last few years, speakers had different opinions on how the virtual world will change it further.

One of the most common topics of the day was the anonymity available in the virtual world, and how readers and writers often will not know the validity of a source. Speakers had different opinions on whether or not this anonymity was a good thing.

Second Life founder Philip Rosedale seemed to believe that there was less anonymity in the virtual world than in the real world. “The reality of it is… the projection that you make of yourself through an avatar is in all likelihood a more realistic, interesting, and discoverable representation of your real personality than you are,” he said. Rosedale said anonymity will be something virtual world participants cling to as a safety buffer if they choose to report on heated subjects. Rosedale also argued that due to how lifelike the virtual world is, media and the way people report on the world might not be changed much at all.

Virtual world journalist Bernhard Drax said for him anonymity is not an issue, since he is well known in the virtual world for his real identity. Drax said the virtual world changes reporting very little, other than that reporters in the virtual world need to express that some sources “claim” who they are, noting that reporters need to be very upfront with their readers in order to be good journalists.

Drax seemed very aware of how journalism in the real world is changing also, and said students today need to try hard to uphold journalistic standards, “Journalists of the next generation need to be intensely aware between the difference in journalism and re-writing a press release,” he said.

Swing Out Nowhere 2009 a Major Success

Erin Sargent
Feature Story
April 7, 2009
Swing Out Nowhere 2009 a Major Success

As your eyes adjust to the dim orange lighting in the Moscow Social Club (MSC), they fall upon a dusty disco ball hanging from the ceiling, torn and duct-taped bench seats, and a small stage at the front of the room. You’d never guess by its shabby appearance that the MSC, above CJ’s in Moscow, is the sight for one of the most well known dance events in the Pacific Northwest, Swing Out Nowhere (SON) 2009.

Dancing, workshops and live music combined March 26-29 to kick of the eighth semi-annual SON. The event, put on by the Swing Devils of the Palouse, Inc., featured live music and world famous dance instructors.

SON 2009 began with a dance on Thursday night with D.J.’d music from 8 p.m. until midnight where dancers shuffled and shimmied to the best of their abilities. Dancers reconvened Friday night to “cut a rug” to live music by Solomon Douglas and Pete Petersen. Dancers who were out on the floor beyond the wee hours of the night showed up at the MSC again on Saturday morning at 9 a.m., sleepy-eyed but anxious in anticipation of all that was in store for them that day. Dancers worked tirelessly throughout the day to improve their skills, and took only short breaks before meeting again on Saturday night when Solomon Douglas and Pete Petersen joined forces again to keep the dancers energized until midnight, with a cameo appearance by Heather O’Brien, the lead singer of 6 Foot Swing. Sleepy dancers met again Sunday morning for their last day of sweating and panting to keep up with the effort required from their instructors.

The weekend itself would not have been complete without the world-renown instructors. Dance partners Peter Loggins and Mia Goldsmith and partners Michael Faltesek and Casey Schneider all trekked out to the Palouse from the Seattle area to be part of SON. Loggins, Goldsmith, Faltesek and Schneider collaborated to teach a total of 16 classes over the weekend.

Loggins, widely known as the foremost historians on American Jazz Dance, and Goldsmith teamed up to teach St. Louis Shag, partner Charleston, and “Stops”, a nearly forgotten routine of the early dance scene. They also taught enthusiastic dancers Bal-Swing, a combination between “Balboa” dancing and swing dancing, and some of the history of swing itself.

Meanwhile, in the other dance studio at MSC, Faltesek and Schnieder worked together to teach dancers how to Lindy Hop to songs with a fast beat, slow dance to down-tempo music, and teach the Tranky Doo, a choreographed dance that first appeared in the 1940s at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Additionally they taught tricks and dips to spice up dancers’ repertoires, and a workshop called “silliosity” designed to help students keep their dancing fun and creative.

“The instructors were awesome,” said Geoffrey L. Keller, member of the Swing Devils Board of Directors. “They’re pretty much four of my favorite people.”

Keller, instructor of the American Social Dance classes at Washington State University said he learned a lot at SON. “I picked up a lot more than I originally thought I was going to. I think the classes were well catered to the level of dancers in this area. I definitely see a lot of improvement in my students that took classes at SON,” he said.

Students of the American Social Dance (ASD) class also said they enjoyed SON. Brian M. I. Hansen, and Advanced ASD student said he liked how Faltesek took time to talk to the students as equals, and, “passed on his wisdom that above all, dancing should be fun.”

The Swing Devils Board of Directors works hard to find instructors who will be a good match with the people in the area.

“We look for good dancers of course, but we pick for the best instructors, people that will fit in the best,” said B. Alex Boughamer, Swing Devils president. Boughamer also said the Swing Devils try to change who the instructors are every few years, but who ends up coming to the event depends on availability and cost. “When you run an event and you charge as little as we charge, which is one half to one third of what other major dance camps charge, you have to also look for budget considerations,” said Boughamer. “There’s no other place that I know of that offers classes that cheap with that great of instructors. We’re not Herräng [Dance Camp in Sweden], but for the bang for the buck I don’t know that there’s any other dance camp that beats us.”

Boughamer also said the event this year was a massive success, and said it was the smoothest running SON yet, with possibly the best attendance. However Boughamer admits it likely would not have been as successful without the hard work of the Swing Devils or the passion of the instructors.

“I want to bring in people who have a desire to advance the scene, to spread the love of dance,” said Boughamer. “I want to bring in instructors who want to dance with beginners and help keep those people in the [dancing] community. We want people who are going to represent the best of dancing. Not necessarily the dance itself, but what it should be about, socially.”

Boughamer said he hopes the Swing Devils will be able to finance SON again next year. Keller agreed, saying that he is looking forward to having another event next year and spreading the word to make SON even bigger.

Though the tattered benches of the Moscow Social Club may not seem to have much in store for them, they serve their function once a week to let tired dancers rest their feet. If you wish to experience swing dancing, show up to the MSC on any Thursday for Swing Night. People of all ages and dance experience are welcome, and partners are not required. Lessons start at 8 p.m. and from 9 p.m. until midnight or later you will find dancers out on the floor showing off their moves. Admission is $3, and if you go on the first Thursday of the month, be sure to don your best outfit for “dress up night.” If you enjoy dancing, the Swing Devils will always welcome you to Swing Night, and encourage you to come out for what will hopefully be SON 2010.

International News response

While I like BBC, the first story I head was about how other European countries should “drop” their own currencies and adopt the Euro. This would seem to be in favor the European Monetary Union and the governments which currently use the Euro. However, they still have a bit of the Murrow essence, heard in the story containing information about Google. The BBC correspondents talked about the negatives, but also allowed a senior writer from Wired Magazine to talk about the positives of the program. The story could have been done better however if they allowed someone from Google to respond to the story.

Also, in another BBC segment about people who survived internment camps, they let a Holocaust survivor argue with someone who was arguing that people who have been tortured can become torturers very easily. In Murrow’s fashion, both sides of the argument were allowed to voice their opinions. However, in the small snippets of news which the BBC broadcasts, it gives a very one-sided story. Nonetheless, the news does not seem to favor the British government in any way.

On Russia Today the news seemed very unbiased, but also very “feature”-like. There were several religious undertones in the broadcast, and I’m not sure whether or not this supports Russia’s government. I watched Russia Today for about a half an hour, and did not find very much that it seemed to lean toward favoring Russia’s government. However, being that the stories were so much like feature stories, there was not too much information given on the opposite side of the argument. In a story about kidney transplants the story discussed how people in Moldova were looking for jobs, were told they could earn $500 a month, and were sent to Turkey where they had a kidney removed against their will. The only mention on the opposite side of the argument was mentioning that some people willingly donated organs for money. Also, they seemed to only really report on information which contained Eastern Europe in some way. So, although not very Murrow-esque, they did have some very intriguing news and seem to have a knack for creating stories which keep the viewer engaged. However, I feel that I would have to watch these stations at different times on many different days to get a real feel for their true direction and Murrow-ness.


1. How effective do you think the Internet will be for Al Jazeera as it attempts to reach a U.S. audience?
Although the internet seems to me to be quickly becoming a more popular medium for reaching news, I don’t know that it is helping reach a U.S. audience in all that significant of a way. I think, like expressed in several of the news stories, that Americans fear Al Jazeera, and will be very reluctant to use it to get their news until Americans en mass begin to accept that not all Arabs are terrorists. However, since Al Jazeera is now available via the internet, it is now much more available to those who do with to watch it than it would have been had it only been available on T.V.

2. Based on your own observations, do you think that Al Jazeera English should be allowed to broadcast in the U.S.?
Al Jazeera has every right to be broadcast in the U.S. The staff are intelligent and well-educated, and are not broadcasting terrorist messages via the aforementioned news group. In the fashion of Murrow, every person should get to have a voice and an opinion, and letting Al Jazeera be broadcast is important to upholding all of our standards of living. If we begin not allowing certain networks to broadcast, we are stifling well-deserving people of their right to have opinions, which is a very dictator-like way to run any operation. They also had a lot of first-hand footage of events, showing readers that the things they broadcasted on were not fictitious.

3. What, if anything, do you notice about Al Jazeera's approach to telling the news? How is it different than the U.S.-based TV news outlets that you have experienced?
Al Jazeera’s approach to telling the news seemed very similar to Russia Today’s. Both offered a lot of in-depth information, and didn’t skim stories. Also, they seemed to sometimes have more of a human-interest lean than U.S. stations which aim to get people to either be scared of something, or buy a product (anyone reminded of news stations that started running stories about the Snuggie?). Al Jazeera took more interest in how major events were affecting ordinary people.

4. While on the Al Jazeera site, be sure to check out the network's published Code of Ethics. Based on your own observations, do you think they are adhering to them?
I feel that the Al Jazeera team does adhere quite well to their own Code of Ethics. However, I did notice that most of the information they reported on had to be tied to their own country in some way, which does not comply with the “Treat our audiences with due respect and address every issue or story with due attention to present a clear, factual and accurate picture…” or the part about, “Recognise diversity in human societies with all their races, cultures and beliefs and their values and intrinsic individualities in order to present unbiased and faithful reflection of them.”
Noting this however, I must say that on the whole, they do a much better job being ethical and unbiased than most major American news sites do.

Despite Economy, Internships Still Available and Recommended

Major courses. Minor courses. GERs. Electives. As Commencement looms closer, students at Washington State University have many graduation requirements to worry about. Students in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication have one more prerequisite to concern themselves with: internships.

Students in the Murrow College are required to either complete an internship or take six credit hours of upper-division communication courses. Many students may be left asking one question: which path should they take?

“It’s really an individual choice,” said Lorraine A. Nelson, Internship Coordinator for the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. While taking upper-division courses may be easier, Nelson noted that doing an internship has numerous advantages. “Internships are a good time to test if the field you have chosen will satisfy you,” said Nelson. “An internship in your chosen field allows you to experience the work you will be doing before you actually get out into a paying job and do it. It’s also a good time to make contacts and get to know someone who can be a reference for you in the future.”

Students may also wonder when they should do their internship. The Murrow College requires students to complete certain courses depending on their communication sequence before they can do an internship. Nelson said this requirement is designed to ensure students are ready for an internship before they take it on. Aside from course prerequisites, if a student does their internship in fall, spring, or summer again comes down to personal preference. Students can even complete their internship after they walk through the graduation ceremony, Nelson said.

While students may worry that it will be difficult to secure an internship in the unstable state of the economy, this is not the case. Both Roberta Kelly, Journalism Internships Coordinator for the Murrow College, and Nelson have said they have not seen any decrease in the amount of internship offers they receive. “There tends to be more people that want our interns than we have interns to provide. I think that speaks very highly of our students and our program,” Nelson said.

Internship providers also attest to the high quality of interns which pass through the Murrow College. KREM 2 News provides paid internships for interns, and has used WSU students before. “Many WSU students have gone on to be employees,” said Noah C. Cooper, Executive News Director at KREM 2 News. “Most interns from WSU work out very well.”

Students in the Murrow College receive credit for both paid and unpaid internships. However, finding paid internships with the economy in a slump may be difficult. “I’ve been contacted by a couple of journalistic employers that are very apologetic because they can only provide unpaid internships,” Nelson said.

While students can find many internship opportunities through the Murrow College, they can also choose to instead create their own through contacts they may already have. Students who choose to go through the Murrow College can be assured that intern employers are qualified to be good mentors and will assure they get the experience needed in communication jobs, said Nelson.

The Murrow College is not alone in its demand for interns. “We have not noticed a downturn in internship postings,” said Anne M. Scott, Experiential Education Manager for the Center for Advising and Career Development at WSU. Scott said she has not seen any noticeable change in the amount of paid and unpaid internships.

Feeding the Beast Assignment

The "Beast" is people, and their need for constant information updates, which turns into a 24-hour need for news. It needs to be fed to keep people happy and returning to media outlets for information.

In the rush to keep their jobs, journalists are pressed to find news, even when there isn't any, and are forced to "create" news. The problem with this is that it's inaccurate and immoral, leaving made up stories. Also, it makes media outlets more like tabloids, turning small events into major problems.

The rush to "feed the beast" also creates a time crunch which can lead to less than stellar news stories which may be inaccurate or lacking in information.

Also, if "good" (accurate) news outlets fail to get information seekers the news they want, people resort to looking for the information from companies or people which are not accurate at all but are first to write anything about the subject, which is especially dangerous with the creation of the "blogosphere." In internet, really anyone can write anything, so readers need to be careful about accepting information from these sources.

With many people working on one story, such as in TV, there is much room for inaccuracies because multiple people are gathering information and compiling it. Someone needs to be able to make sure all stories coalesce, and if they don't, needs to find the correct information.

Special Leads in-class assignment

Contrast Lead

I did like this lead, because it made the story much more interesting than if it had been written using a traditional, straightforward lead.

Narrative Lead

If this story had been written with a straightforward "5 W's" lead, it would have been less interesting and would have left the reader more detached from the story. The use of the narrative lead was appropriate and interesting.

Second Day Lead in-class assignment

The parents of a 4-year-old girl who went missing yesterday are asking anyone who might have seen their daughter to inform them or authorities as soon as possible.

"We are begging anyone who might have seen our daughter to please call the police or us. She has never been away from home without us, and we are certain that she must be terrified not to be in her own home. Please, anyone who has information, please let us know," said Maria L. Norton, the missing girl’s mother.

The missing girl, Angela Melissa Norton, disappeared yesterday when under the care of a 16-year-old baby sitter, Nancy Bonner. When the Angela’s parents, Samuel R. and Maria L. Norton returned home from a movie, Bonner was asleep on the couch and Angela was not in the house.

Police are still questioning the Nortons and Bonner in the disappearance of Angela. Police have also searched a six-block area surrounding the Norton house, asking neighbors if they might have seen or heard anything.

Angela has light brown curly hair and was last seen wearing pajamas with Mickey Mouse images printed on them.

2009 Marks Anniversary of Perham Explosion

A reminder to students about relationships and campus safety, 2009 marks the 30th anniversary of a bomb explosion in Streit-Perham Hall at Washington State University (WSU).

A man distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend detonated the bomb on the fifth floor of Perham Hall, killing himself and injuring five others. The bomb exploded at 3:05 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 1979.

The man who detonated the bomb, killing himself, John Stickney, 18, of Mercer Island, was hopeless because of an ended relationship with WSU student Lisa Clark. Stickney called Clark so frequently after the breakup her roommate often complained of never being able to use the phone. Once, Stickney tried to physically force Clark into his car when he saw her walking on campus.

Stickney drove to Pullman after work on Dec. 17 in a last attempt to win Clark back. Clark had been relocated to the sixth floor of Perham upon being tipped Stickney was headed her way. The doors to the dormitory were locked at 10 p.m., in accordance to 1979 campus policy. Though no one knows how, at 11:30 p.m. Stickney somehow managed to get into the locked dorm. Stickney found Clark’s room, empty, then went to the Residential Advisor’s room in an attempt to find her. Campus police were called and escorted Stickney out of the dorm.

Stickney came back to Perham Hall the next day demanding to see Clark again or he would not return home to Mercer Island. Clark told Stickney in a supervised meeting the relationship was over, and Stickney left. Stickney, less than 15 minutes later, returned to Perham Hall this time with a heavy backpack. An employee of a company which specialized in rock blasting, Stickney showed up this time with rock quarry dynamite. Campus police were called again, and Lt. Mike Kenny and Cpl. Dave Trimble attempted to persuade Stickney to hand over the bomb. The officers tried to negotiate with Stickney, but Stickney detonated the bomb anyway. The explosion killed Stickney, injured the officers, and blew out every window on the fifth floor of Perham Hall.

Though in Dec. 1979 the pages of The Daily Evergreen were littered with stories the explosion, few people on campus today were here during the event. While many people do not know about the explosion, professor Eloy R. González was teaching in 1979 at WSU and remembers the event well. González said he used the event to illustrate a theme in class. The example worked very well because the event hit very close to home and was a very tangible topic for the students, González said. “Things like this happen often because parents are not tolerant enough to let kids have their relationships, ala ‘Romeo and Juliet’,” González cautioned about young love.

WSU Risk Manager Rich A. Heath was not at WSU during the explosion, but he has heard about it, he said. Heath suggested students should always take precautions for their own safety on campus. Heath cautioned students to not prop open doors or let strangers into the residence halls, as John Stickney was able to get into Perham Hall after hours. Heath also emphasized the importance of reporting threats and other incidents to university authorities, regardless of the magnitude of the threat. “Our priority is to keep the students safe,” Heath said, “and we need their help.”

If students feel threatened or unsafe on campus they are also encouraged to use the Blue Light emergency phones, Heath said.

If friends and family of Stickney had been more aware of his problems, his story may have had a happier ending. If students or their friends are dealing with a crisis, they can call the WSU Crisis Line at (509)-334-1133, or WSU Counseling Services at (509)-335-4511.

WSU Campus Police can be reached at 509-335-8548.

For more tips about campus safety, visit police.wsu.edu.

Story Pitch Assignment- Perham Bombing, Draft 1

2009 marks the 30th anniversary of a bomb explosion in Streit-Perham dormitory, a reminder to students about relationships and campus safety.
A man distraught over the loss of his girlfriend detonated the bomb on the fifth floor of Perham Hall, killing himself and injuring five others. The bomb exploded at 3:05 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 1979.
The story leading up to the explosion starts with the breakup of John Stickney and Lisa Clark. The man killed in the explosion, John Stickney, 18, of Mercer Island, was hopeless because of an ended relationship with WSU student Lisa Clark. After the breakup, Stickney often called Clark so frequently her roommate complained of never being able to use the phone. Once, Stickney tried to physically force Clark into his car when he saw her walking on campus.
In a last attempt to win Clark back, Stickney drove to Pullman after work on December 17. Clark had been relocated to the sixth floor of Perham upon being tipped Stickney was headed her way. In 1979, the campus policy was to have the outside doors to the dorm locked at 10 pm. No one knows how, but somehow Stickney managed to get into the locked dorm at 11:30. Stickney found Clark’s room, empty, then went to the Residential Advisor’s room in an attempt to find her. Campus police were called and escorted Stickney out of the dorm.
The next day, Stickney came back to Perham Hall demanding to see Clark again or he would not return home to Mercer Island. In a supervised meeting, Clark told Stickney the relationship was over, and Stickney left. Less than 15 minutes later Stickney came back to Perham Hall. This time Stickney, an employee of a company that specialized in rock blasting, showed up with rock quarry dynamite. Campus police were called again, and Lt. Mike Kenny and Cpl. Dave Trimble attempted to persuade Stickney to hand the bomb over. After tense negotiations, the bomb exploded. The explosion killed Stickney, injured the officers, and blew out every window on the fifth floor of Perham Hall.
Few people on campus remember the event, but professor Eloy R. González was teaching at WSU in 1979 and remembers the event well. González said he used the event to illustrate a theme in class. González said the example worked very well because the event hit very close to home, and became very real for the students. “Things like this happen often because parents are not tolerant enough to let kids have their relationships, ala “Romeo and Juliet,” González cautioned about young love.
WSU Risk Manager Richard “Rich” A. Heath was not at WSU during the explosion, but he has heard about it. Heath suggested students should always take precautions for their own safety on campus. As John Stickney was able to get into Perham Hall after hours, Heath cautioned students to not prop open doors or let strangers into the residence halls, for their own safety. Heath also emphasized the importance of reporting threats and other incidents to let university authorities know about them, regardless of the magnitude of the threat. “Our priority is to keep the students safe,” Heath said, “and we need their help.”
If students feel threatened or unsafe on campus they are also encouraged to use the Blue Light emergency phones, Heath said.
If friends and family of Stickney had been more aware of his problems, his story may have had a happier ending. If students or their friends are dealing with a crisis, they can call the WSU Crisis Line at (509)-334-1133, or WSU Counseling Services at (509)-335-4511.
WSU Campus Police can be reached at 509-335-8548.
For more tips about campus safety students can visit police.wsu.edu.

Top-down lead assignment

I found this article in the Spokesman Review. titled "Mother charged in car seat death." The lead was as follows:

"Spokane County prosecutors charged a Post Falls woman with vehicular homicide Tuesday in the death of her infant daughter, who was severely injured by a car’s airbag while riding in a rear-facing car seat in Spokane."

I felt like this was a very well put together lead. It tells us:
Who: Spokane County prosecutors
What: charged a Post Falls woman with vehicular homicide in the death of her daughter
When: Tuesday
Where: Spokane
and how the daughter died, "who was severely injured by a car's airbag while riding in a rear-facing car seat."

Story Pitch Ideas

1. What academic probation will mean for you, if budget cuts will affect this.
-->Sources: WSU academic advisers

2. How doing an internship will benefit you.
-It is not required to do an internship, alternative courses are optional, but what is the best option?
-->Sources: Comm. Internship Coordinator Lorraine Nelson, Wayne Popeski

3. WSU's Dark History
- An incident that occurred at WSU in the 70s has been covered up, and no information can be found about it. I'd like to see what happened with the incident, and why students are not told about it.
-->Sources: Any WSU professors who have been here since the 70s.

4. Is it really cheaper to live in WSU housing?
-->WSU housing authorities
-->WSU students who have lived in both WSU housing and non-student housing.

For an Interesting Compare and Contrast

The Columbian.

The Oregonian.

Political Bias Within News Sources Easily Visible

As can be expected, news websites everywhere are finding the inauguration of President Barack Obama to be the top article of interest for their readers, giving it priority placement on their web pages. However, the news contained within these articles, and the subsequent articles, can show readers just what kind of bias the news organization has.

On The Wall Street Journal, inauguration coverage is key, as well as the prayer given by the Reverend Rick Warren praising tolerance. What hints to me that The Journal has a conservative lean is that in the article about his speech the author did not mention protests were held over Warren's involvement in the inauguration. On December 26, 2008, The Journal published an article titled Rick Warren, Obama and the Left, which claimed that the "left's" intolerance of Warren could hinder Obama's progress. The fact that they refer to liberals as "left" implies to me that they are excluding themselves from the aforementioned group. However, The Journal also published an article about how some of the inaugural balls had "green" features such as recycled-paper tickets. In another somewhat conservative manner, the WSJ published an article written by Jenna and Barbara Bush, the daughters of former President George W. Bush, a conservative. Among other news, The Journal published several articles about how stock prices are falling. What shows the conservative lean of The Journal is the opinion articles, such as the one written titled History Will Remember Bush Well, and one titled Bush's Real Sin Was Winning in Iraq.

I do not believe that The Journal adheres to the "Murrow Standard," because of the tendency its publishers have to promote conservative news and opinion articles. The primary audience of the Journal appears to be conservatives, otherwise the website would not feature such a conservative bias.

As a second source I examined was CNN, which I discovered to have a somewhat liberal bias. Though the presidential inauguration had priority placement on the website, it also featured the breaking news that, "Israeli troops have completed their withdrawal from Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces say." The mention of the Israel and Gaza conflict was almost the only prominent mention of anything which was not related to the inauguration of President Barack Obama or the departure of former President George W. Bush. The only other prominently featured article was one which mentions how the killing of JonBenet Ramsey will be looked at by a new district attorney. The fact that most of the articles on CNN feature the inauguration shows that many of the writers and readers of CNN have a liberal lean and believe the inauguration of the first Black President in United States history is a very significant event. One trait which shows CNN's liberal lean is that the article published about the inaugural ball, and first lady Michelle Obama's fashion choices at it, was longer than the article published about former President George W. Bush leaving office. Though I admit I often prefer this website, the liberal lean which it shows means it really does not fall within the guidelines of the "Murrow Standard."

The third website which I viewed was Google News. Google News seemed to have the most balanced news, and adhered most strictly to the "Murrow Standard." While the articles on Google News do not appear to be written by Google News employees, they instead are compiled from news sources with varying political leans, from all over the world. While the top featured article was about the inaugural balls, the next was about President Obama's actions regarding halting prosectuions in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The third most prominently featured article was about the Israel and Gaza relations. The prominence of this article shows that Google News is not only concentrated on the American inauguration, but also world politics. The Google News website also appears to give links to multiple sides on news issues, not simply ones which favor one political party or another. I believe that readers of the news from this website would be people from all types of political backgrounds as well, since by using this one website they can find multiple sources from any number of issues.

While if I were looking for world news I would use Google News, for U.S. news I would prefer to read news from CNN, because I would prefer to read news with a liberal bias. While I could find news with a liberal bias on Google News, I would have to search for it first. And though I admit reading unbiased news would be good practice as a future journalist, I still prefer to read news which I know is directed at my own desires.