Student reporters charged with trespassing while reporting on trespassing

Last February I wrote an article looking at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a a nonprofit organization that tracks alleged violations

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

of free speech at colleges. Today, FIRE posted an interesting link on its Twitter account.

Apparently, two student journalists at The Breeze, the independent student newspaper at James Madison University, are facing charges from university police after they entered a dorm room to interview students about a crime alert.

The Breeze

The Breeze reported:

Judicial Affairs has charged two Breeze journalists for alleged disorderly conduct while reporting, possibly violating their constitutional rights.Tim Chapman, editor-in-chief, and Katie Hibson, a contributing news writer, were notified by e-mail Thursday afternoon of the charges: trespassing, disorderly conduct and non-compliance with an official request.

Judicial Affairs Director Josh Bacon was out of the office Friday and unable to comment. He has previously said that ongoing cases are confidential.

Adam Goldstein, attorney advocate for the Student Press Law Center, said the charges go against the First Amendment rights not just for journalists but for everyone.

“We all have the rights to ask questions if we want to,” Goldstein said. “It’s a pretty straight forward case.”

On Sunday, Hibson, a sophomore media arts and design major, was investigating the Oct. 14 trespassing incident in Hillside Hall, which The Breeze learned about when JMU sent a “Timely Notice” e-mail Sunday morning. Hibson said she was invited into the residence hall Sunday afternoon when she identified herself as a reporter. She said she was invited into the building by resident Ariel Spagnolo, who Hibson said was no more than 15 feet away as she interviewed people. After identifying herself to Resident Adviser Maria Lane, Hibson said she was asked to leave, which she promptly did.

Hibson returned to Hillside later in the afternoon with Chapman, a senior media arts and design major, while accompanied by a resident who also works on The Breeze staff. After trying to interview residents, Hibson said Hall Director Sarah Woody and Lane asked them to leave the building, and Woody then called police.

The fact that judicial officials not only had the audacity to kick these reporters out of the dorm, but also have a legal view so skewed as to believe they can justify pressing charges is truly mind-boggling. As student reporters, both Chapman and Hibson have ever right to enter any dormitory on campus, especially when accompanied by a student who resides in that dorm.

In my time at The Post, I’ve had to enter unfamiliar dorms on numerous occasions, but, at least for now, the residence life officials haven’t made an issue of it. There is nothing wrong with a reporter, who has identified themselves as a reporter, asking questions. In fact, it’s our job. The funny thing is, in far to many cases, universities try to stifle the First Amendment freedoms that our tuition dollars are paying them to teach us about.

The case at James Madison seems pretty open and shut. The school’s Student Handbook, disorderly conduct is any disturbance “that interrupts the orderly operation of the university and/or infringes on the rights of community members.” The student reporters did nothing to violate this policy, and left when they were asked.

Part of me really hopes James Madison’s administrators continue to pursue this case so a judge can set the public precedent that blatant violations of student journalists by colleges and universities are not acceptable. Whether that happens or not, these journalists should be both supported and commended.

French government hands out free newspapers

I wish I lived in France.

For the record: France is still lame, but the "My Free Newspaper" program is pretty boss

That may seem like a strange but fairly irrelevant statement, so for context, I’ll clarify that I hate France and all things French. I can’t stand the French language, French movies, French food…I can’t even stand most people who study French.

But with that said, this headline on NYTimes.com caught my eye yesterday, and I must admit, the French have gotten something right, in a major way.

Basically, the French government has started a program in which they give out subscriptions to any newspaper to people ages 18 to 24-years-old.

Let me just go on the record now and say, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard of.

Newspapers have tried many things to stave off a seemingly relentless decline in readers. Now France is pushing forward with a novel approach: giving away papers to young readers in an effort to turn them into regular customers.The government Tuesday detailed plans of a project called “My Free Newspaper,” under which 18- to 24-year-olds will be offered a free, yearlong subscription to a newspaper of their choice.

“Winning back young readers is essential for the financial survival of the press, and for its civic dimension,” the culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand, said.

About 60 publications are participating in the new project. In addition to papers like Le Monde and Le Figaro, they include a variety of local publications, as well as the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. Even L’Équipe, a popular sports daily, is taking part.

Costs of the project are being shared by the newspapers and the state, with the government allocating €15 million, or $22.5 million, over three years.

The government said 30,000 people had already signed up for free subscriptions under a preregistration program with individual newspapers; a special Web site will be available soon to speed the process.

I repeat, this is awesome.

Now, I won’t argue that this program will successfully stall the slow and painful death of newspapers as we know and love them. I firmly believe that the newspaper industry has become bloated and is currently undergoing a necessary purge partnered with a re-prioritization. If newspapers are going to survive, it is going to be due to their ability to innovate in the areas of multimedia and social media, as well as their ability to break news in ways no other medium can offer.

With that said, the French government’s institutional support for the newspaper industry is something I can only pray the U.S. government will copy. This industry needs all the backing it can get, and winning over young readers by incentivizing reading a newspaper is a pretty solid way to provide that support.

Major Daily Newspapers See Big Drop in Circulation

Well, it’s that time of year. The most depressing, humbling and upsetting day of the year: the release of the Audit Report of Circulations —which so kindly details how many people have stopped picking up newspapers over the last six months.

The Wall Street Journal

Editor and Publisher released circulation numbers for March-Sept. 2009, and as could be expected, numbers are way down for the country’s top 25.

The Wall Street Journal was the ONLY member of the top 25 to register an increase in circulation, up .61 percent from last year. The biggest registered loss in circulation came from The San Francisco Chronicle, which lost 25.82 percent of circulation, followed closely by the Newark Star-Ledger, down 22.22 percent.

My hometown paper, The Cleveland Plain Dealer came in at a -11.24 percent change.

The papers which gained the most in circulation, (yes, there really are papers that had an increase in circulation), were the York Daily Record (+16.45), Women’s Wear Daily (+14.31), The Oakland Press (+7.26), Las Vegas Review-Journal (+6.56), and The Chattanooga Times Free Press (+2.18).

Overall, daily newspaper circulation dipped 10.6 percent, to 30,395,652.

Responding to Readers: Is it worth it?

This morning I saw an interesting article via Twitter from the Romenesko blog: WP ombud: It’s “suicidal” for reporters to ignore e-mails from readers.

In interest of full disclosure I need to clarify two things. The first, is that I tend to read most if not all articles I see from newspaper ombudsmen because this year the editors at The Post have discussed the possibility of hiring an ombudsman. The second, is that I ALWAYS read articles by Washington Post ombudsman Andy Alexander, because he is a former editor of The Post and I had the pleasure of interviewing him last spring.

Andy Alexander

In his column yesterday, Alexander discussed a new policy at The Washington Post that lists each reporter’s email address at the bottom of each of their articles. The inclusion of reporter contact info was a small change when compared to the massive redesign the paper underwent this week, but Alexander noted that he’s already gotten feedback on the move.

Adding reporters’ e-mail addresses at the bottom of stories responds to frequent reader exasperation over not knowing how to contact Post journalists. But already, several readers have complained to me that reporters haven’t responded to their e-mails. It’s a chronic problem in newsrooms. Many busy reporters are overwhelmed by e-mails. But too many simply refuse, or are too lazy, to respond. With newspaper survival at stake, that’s suicidal.

That’s a stong statement, but it’s an accurate statement. Journalists need to prioritize correspondence with their readership, because in any market, maintaining and nurturing the relationship with your readership is vital to your credibility —and your survival. In an ever-changing industry, newspaper reporters have to be open and receptive to feedback from readers, both good and bad.

Job-stealing Celebrities?

Jenna Bush Hager

The Associated Press reported today that Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former-President George W. Bush, has been hired as a correspondent by NBC’s “Today” show, and will contribute monthly pieces to the show.

Hager, a 27-year-old teacher in Baltimore, said she has always wanted to be a teacher and a writer, and has already authored two books. But she was intrigued by the idea of getting into television when (Executive Producer Jim )Bell contacted her.

“It wasn’t something I’d always dreamed to do,” she said. “But I think one of the most important things in life is to be open-minded and to be open-minded for change.”

Steve Harvey

Hager’s new employment comes one week after “Good Morning America” announced that comedian Steve Harvey will join the show, contributing a series of reports covering a variety of issues.

These two celebrities join the ranks of broadcast journalism as the profession hopes to climb it’s way out of it’s darkest hour –marked by layoffs, buyouts and unemployment.

Reaction on the members-only forum of the National Association of Black Journalists was mixed.

Many argued that by taking these positions as correspondents celebrities are stealing jobs from unemployed journalists.

“It’s disheartening to read knowing that spot should’ve been taken by one of the many unemployed journalists, said Kathy Chaney,  a staff writer for the Chicago Defender. “Does Steve really need this on his resume?”

Eugene Kane, a columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, argued that there is no need being upset when celebrities like Harvey become correspondents, because the jobs wouldn’t have been filled by journalists anyway.

“There’s no need decrying the hiring of Harvey or Hughley or any other entertainment figure who gets a gig on one of these ‘news show’. They know what they want, and it’s a star correspondent who will attract ratings.” He said.

“Clearly, they weren’t going to hire a real journalist anyway; he’s not taking work away from anybody in NABJ.”

I’ve yet to decided how I feel about this issue, so I’m going to leave it open to you. Should networks hire celebrities to fill correspondent positions while thousands of professional journalists remain unemployed?

Let me know what you think

What Kind of Facebook User Are You?

CNN.com published an interesting article today: The 12 Most Annoying Types of Facebookers.”In my opinion the list was on point.

Combine dull status updates with shameless self-promoters, “friend-padders” and that friend of a friend who sends you quizzes every day, and Facebook becomes a daily reminder of why some people can get on your nerves.

Here are 12 of the most annoying types of Facebook users:

The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore. “I’m waking up.” “I had Wheaties for breakfast.” “I’m bored at work.” “I’m stuck in traffic.” You’re kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn’t mean we all want to know when you’re waiting for the bus.

The Self-Promoter. OK, so we’ve probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

The Friend-Padder. The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies — you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway — might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 “friends?” Unless you’re George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That’s just showing off.

The Town Crier. “Michael Jackson is dead!!!” You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.

The TMIer. “Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids.” Boundaries of privacy and decorum don’t seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their sex lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.

The Bad Grammarian. “So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe”. Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.

The Sympathy-Baiter. “Barbara is feeling sad today.” “Man, am I glad that’s over.” “Jim could really use some good news about now.” Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks — baited with vague tales of woe — in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.

The Lurker. The Peeping Toms of Facebook, these voyeurs are too cautious, or maybe too lazy, to update their status or write on your wall. But once in a while, you’ll be talking to them and they’ll mention something you posted, so you know they’re on your page, hiding in the shadows. It’s just a little creepy.

The Crank. These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn’t complain about. “Carl isn’t really that impressed with idiots who don’t realize how idiotic they are.” [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.

The Paparazzo. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone’s posted a photo of you from last weekend’s party — a photo you didn’t authorize and haven’t even seen? You’d really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.

The Maddening Obscurist. “If not now then when?” “You’ll see…” “Grist for the mill.” “John is, small world.” “Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not.” [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you’re not being mysterious — just nonsensical.

The Chronic Inviter. “Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which ‘Star Trek’ character are you? Here are the ‘Top 5 cars I have personally owned.’ Here are ‘25 Things About Me.’ Here’s a drink. What drink are you? We’re related! I took the ‘What President Are You?’ quiz and found out I’m Millard Fillmore! What president are you?”
You probably mean well, but stop. Just stop. I don’t care what president I am — can’t we simply be friends? Now excuse me while I go post the link to this story on my Facebook page.

In addition to what I think was a well-constructed list, CNN also lets you take a quick quiz to determine what type of Facebook user you are. While I know I exhibit a few qualities of the above categories (I’ve been know to post the occasional depressing status update, and I’m sure I’ll post a link to this blog post), I was happy to read the results:

Chances are, you are a popular resident of Facebook whose updates are interesting to read. Keep posting.

Well, you don’t have to tell me twice.

TOP TEN: Best Michael Jackson Front Page Designs

It’s been almost two months since international pop icon Michael Jackson passed away, and, it seems that the mainstream media has finally let the story die. Which means, now is the perfect time to take a look at how some of the country’s newspapers covered his death. Now I’ll admit, I haven’t seen every single MJ front page, so forgive me if I leave someone off the list, but here are my Top Ten Michael Jackson front pages based on visual appear, portrayal and presentation of information, and uniqueness.

10. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

-Good use of a quotation in the headline rather than simply relying on a cliche. Strong

visual element by choosing an action shot rather than a still portrait.

9. The Arizona Daily Star

-One of the few major papers that managed to do a prominent tribute to Jackson while still featuring hard news on the cover (Note the rail column on the left). Again, the usage of a picture of Jackson performing rather than a posed shot makes for a much more powerful image. The photo timeline at the bottom is an added plus.

8. The Denver Post

-If you haven’t figured it out yet, I like action shots.

The Denver Post also did something that I thought was really appropriate, rather than giving a traditional photo timeline, they showed the ever-changing appearance of Jackson by giving a timeline of headshots- showing how Jackson morphed over time.

7. The Ventura County Star (Ventura, Calif)

-Running the dominant image in black and white really makes the other images pop off of the page. And again, using a photo timeline to show the progression of Jackson’s appearance is a great idea, and the contrast between color and black and white really makes this timeline stand out. Also, this is the first paper I saw that ran an image of the fans.

6. The Chesterton/Valparaiso Post-Tribune

-Again, less is more when it comes to color, and the large image of a young Jackson evokes the most beloved images of the superstar. I love the simplicity of this page, which truely serves as a tribute to Jackson.
5. The Telegraph (Macon, Ga)

-Good variety of images, and this was one of the few papers that listed Jackson’s accomplishments in a format other than a traditional timeline. While it is a color photo, the strong presence of black and white really highlights Jackson’s signature white glove.

4. The Winston-Salem Journal

-Easily one of the best usages of color photography. Also, the Journal gets credit for using a unique photo, most papers used one of five or six pictures, but this dominent image was not one of them. This page gives the appropriate play to Jackson but also features other hard news coverage, another plus. Also, I love the usage of the color red throughout this package. Most of the front pages focused primarily on black and white imagery, but this front page highlights the color red in both the dominant image as well as in two of the smaller images.

3. The Fresno Bee

-The decade-by-decade breakdown via the timeline is a great touch, while the color of both images ties the package together. Again, less is more, and that is proven by this page. The Jackson piece is only a little more than 1/3 of the page, yet the package is attractive and effective.

2. The Orlando Sun Sentinel

-One of the sleekest pages from the day. Effective packaging with the think outline around the Jackson headline, image and article. Again, less is more. The one word “Michael” headline is extremely effective, while the choice of an action shot -and not a widely used action shot- really makes the dominant image jump off of the page.

1. The Columbus Dispatch

-Hands down, this was the most unique from page from June 26. The large cutout of Jackson performing almost makes him look like Willy Wonka, which, may or may not be an appropriate portrayal of one of the world’s most polarizing and controversial figures. The Dispatch was one of the few papers to utilize cutlines under the secondary images, which extremely effective provide crucial background info without adding unnecessary clutter to the page.

So there you go. Let me know if you agree or disagree, love or hate my picks.

R.I.P. Sun Newspapers

Ok, so the headline isn’t EXACTLY accurate.

The Sun Newspaper chain, which services most of the communities in Northeast Ohio, is not closing, however, late last month the company announced it would be closing 11 of it’s local newspapers.

The Cleveland Leader reported:

On Thursday Sun Newspapers announced major changes were coming to the chain of local weekly papers, including the reduction of employees and the elimination and consolidation of some papers. A subsidiary of Advance Publications, the company was founded in 1969 and is one of the largest chain of weekly newspapers in the U.S..Sun Newspapers currently puts out 22 publications serving 72 Greater Cleveland area communities in five counties – Cuyahoga, Lorain, Medina, Geauga, and Summit. Once the 60-day reorganization plan is completed, there will be just half as many publications at 11.

The accounting, payroll and retail sales departments at Sun Newspapers will also be eliminated and handled through contracts with the Plain Dealer, which is also owned by Advance Publications. Classified ad sales will continue to be sold in-house, and home delivery will be handled by the Plain Dealer.

Editorial staff will also be reduced. Employees that lose their jobs will receive a severance package based upon their years of service, and will be paid any accrued vacation. They will also be eligible for temporary health insurance coverage.

Sun Newspapers President and CEO Keith Mathis said:

“We’re going to focus on the papers with the strongest financial and community support and some that we feel have potential for growth.”

He added that Sun Newspapers will continue to provide local news to readers, and remain a leader in the communities served by the papers.

While I had a bit on an adversarial relationship with my own town’s Sun paper, , as editor-in-chief of my high school paper The Shakerite, the closing of any newspaper, especially at the local level is devastating. Details of the reorganization include dropping all coverage of five Cleveland-area communities, a deep blow to east-side news coverage.

Lessons learned from the NABJ Monitor

Last week, I had the unique, and awesome opportunity to work as a student reporter for the NABJ Monitor, the

A small part of my NABJ family

student project newspaper produced for the 2009 National Association of Black Journalists convention in Tampa, Fla. This was the second student project I’ve worked on, and this year surpassed any expectations I might have had coming in.

The friendships I made – and re-kindled – are ones that will last a lifetime, and the mentors I found provided guidance and insight into an ever-changing industry.

Thank you to everyone, from the project leaders to my fellow students to the staff at the Tampa Bay Convention Center, for making last week one of the best of my life.

Top Ten Lessons Learned:

10. The copy desk likes you a lot more when you spell people’s names correctly

9. After a long day of talking to unemployed journalists desperately seeking a job, recruiters are more than happy to talk to a young hot-shot only looking for some internship info

8. People running for elected office are… people – with emotions, feelings, hopes and fears. Ask tough questions, write down their responses and then get out of the room and give them some space.

7. If your bus breaks down on the way to your destination…it will likely break down again on the way back from your destination (Especially if it’s called the Libra)

6. A stressful newsroom can be quelled with a simple YouTube search of Gucci Mane.

5. There is nothing cheap to eat in Tampa Bay, just give in and buy the over-priced hot dog from the Starbucks stand at the convention center.

4.“We need to stop trying analog solutions to digital problems”- Jarrad Henderson, one of the best quotes of the week.

3. DJ’s who change the song every 20-seconds can single ruin any chance I have of looking like I have rhythm

Me + Dancing + Bad DJ = Disaster

2. What is said on Twitter doesn’t always stay on Twitter. Tweet with caution.

1. NABJ is a family, once a member always a member.

Lessons from NABJ: Convergence the Key

For the last week I have been in Tampa Bay, Fla. working as a reporter/blogger/designer for the NABJ Monitor,

Tampa at Night

the student-run newspaper distributed during the annual National Association of Black Journalists conference. This is the second year I have worked for a convention student project. Last year, I was the youngest member of the UnityNews, the student project paper for the Unity:Journalists of Color conference in Chicago. (Click here to read a blog post about the Unity conference.)

This year’s conference was an interesting one indeed.

Attendance was down from past NABJ conventions, reaching only about 1,600. . . about half of the number of people who usually attend a convention. The career fair was sparse, which nearly half of the available booths going unsold.

It was also an election year at NABJ, so campaigning dominated the hallways, workshops and hotel lobbies. I worked as a reporter for the paper’s “election team,” which means I had the interesting privilege of interviewing, following and harassing many of the 24 candidates running for office.

In addition to networking and reporting, NABJ Tampa served as a training ground for myself and my fellow rising journalists.

Monday was spent at the Poynter Institute, in seminars and training sessions focused on audio, visual and multimedia training as well as social networking and search engine optimization.

The student project newsroom itself was one that hinged on the concept of convergence. Broadcast students worked with online designers. Photographers crafted their first print stories. And I, a hardened print reporter, took control of the newspaper’s layout, working on the design team.

While there were many lessons learned in Tampa (most of which will be blogged about later), one remains the most importance. Convergence and versatility are essential to the ever-changing world of journalism.