Response to chapter 14 questions

Question 1

Rule number 1 - Absolutely no plagiarism

This rule is overly emphasized in schools everywhere. With the economy in dire straits, all journalists must resist the temptation to take short cuts. Even in this day, people still ignore this rule and hope to slide by the incompetence of their editors. Like in school, doing this will cost a person his or her job.

Rule number 2 - Sacrifice is evil

The exchange of quality for being the first to the source is not good. The added publicity resulting from this is all fine, but when the choice to make edits is passed over, then their priorities are crooked. Planning is a necessity during this particular time. The importance of accuracy will never be overstated in this field.

Rule number 3 - Know background information on sources before pursuing

The chance of someone giving out misinformation is too great to risk on anonymous sources. This includes those who withhold their individual names for security reasons. Avoiding this could possibly result in loss of job security as well as the job itself.

Question number 2 - Since the advent of the internet, being objective has been a hassle. Personal biases must be pushed aside before going into any field of journalism. If a casual observer can tell right off the bat that coverage of an event was biased, then the failure lies with the networks. The opposite applies as well. Without being objective, people can be swayed to believe anything the media puts out. Anything that the media puts out as villainy, the public will be expected to follow.

Question number 3 - The newspaper does make some attempts to be transparent. For the stories that are used, conflicting accounts are seen. A liberal usage of direct quotes is used to avoid any hints of plagiarism. There is also an online edition for additional comments. However, the elimination of biases needs improvement.