Tim Russert died too soon; so has my mourning

I mourned with the nation when I heard that Tim Russert had died—I mean, it was GREAT to watch him at work—but I could only handle about 20 minutes of the discussion about him this morning on Meet the Press. The moment Maria Shriver showed up and started talking about how great he was—he introduced her to a nun Tim loved, as I remember, and Maria would often autograph books for this nun—I caught an ick vibe w/r/t watching all the rich people talk about their rich departed friend, who was noted as remarkable, in part, because he came from Buffalo and still managed to fit in among the smart, rich people in Washington.

I’m all for journalists doing well, but, even in memorial moments, they should resist using their national platform to promote themselves and their own star power. They should be as I’ve typically thought Russert to be—of and for the people. But, even as Brokaw, Carville, Matalin, Shriver and the others spoke kindly of their friend’s common-man persona, I felt more and more as though he was just one of “them” rather than one of “us.”

I’m all for the media elite, by the way: I want the people on the national stage to be the best of the best. However, when they let their guard down because of emotion—as many of them have this week—then they risk seeming not just elite, but elitist.

Announcing underwriting on a non-commercial station

If you work for a non-commercial college station, follow these simple tips for your underwriting so that it stays “underwriting,” which is allowed, and doesn’t move into the realm of “advertising,” which is not allowed:

1. No calls to action, such as “Go pick up this book.”
2. No qualitative or comparative language, such as “This is the best book on gospel music.”
3. No language encouraging buying, selling, renting, leasing, etc.
4. No price information.

There are more complicated ways to think about this, but as long as you follow these four rules, you’ll be safe in nearly all situations.

Sincere credit right here to Bill Keith, adviser to WSDP, the student-operated radio station owned by the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park in Canton, Michigan.

Me me me

So I’m having a sick day today—dental surgery last week, finishing off my Vicodin today, feeling just fine—and while watching MSNBC I decided to Google myself, which turned up this blog post about myself that I’d never seen before.

The Internet is weird.

Using anonymous sources

Those of you who work with me know already that I’m not a fan of anonymous sources: I believe they significantly diminish the credibility of the source, reporter, story and publication to which they are connected. Why?

1. The Source: If you want to put forth your information, you should be willing to put forth your name. (There are exceptions to this, of course, such as the drug dealer who fears a retribution killing, but the exceptions should be that extreme.)
2. The Reporter: A reporter who can’t get his or her sources to go on the record is clearly less talented than those who can; moreover, whenever I see that a reporter has failed to name a source, I wonder whether the source truly exists. As a reader, how can I really know whether “a University of Vermont sophomore” represents an unnamed source or merely the person that the reporter wishes he or she could have interviewed?
3. The Story: If I see an unnamed source in a story, I consider the story untrustworthy. If the reporter can provide a named, trustworthy source for every unnamed source, then I consider the story more trustworthy—and I’d encourage the reporter, in this case, to eliminate the unnamed source.
4. The Publication: Why not eliminate ALL names from a publication? After all, the reporters would have an easier time in life if they weren’t ticking off their sources. The editors wouldn’t have such a problem if they could print what they wanted without fear of accountability. Of course, most sources would rather get out their ideas without having to truly stand up for what they believe . . . OR, instead, we could support the idea that freedom of speech requires the courage to stand by what you say. Let’s not be a bunch of gossips spreading . . . gossip. Let’s be journalists presenting well-documented FACTS.

Finally, let me say the obvious: No credible news source is anonymous. Some, however, are unnamed. (The reporter, at least, knows who the source is.) Let’s allow the reader to know who the source is, as well. the reader deserves that level of respect.

Here’s an interesting piece by the public editor of the NY Times about the use of anonymous sources.

A STUDY that I requested by students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism suggests that The Times has made progress in its effort to set higher standards for using anonymous sources, the lifeblood and the bane of journalism…….

The Bo Diddley Show

I dedicated this morning’s Proximate Blues show on WRUV to Bo Diddley, a blues master who pioneered the “Bo Diddley beat. The artists he influenced range from Neil Sedaka to The White Stripes. For a not-quite-comprehensive list of the songs featuring the beat, click here.

Gawking at ourselves online

Great I-centered story in The New York Times Magazine today about a young woman reaching the heights of modern Internet celebritude on her own terms (mostly), with career-ladder benefits, with all the attendant ups and downs, at Gawker.com.

Read the story. You might need to log in first.

Best of The Vermont Cynic!

Hello lovers of great journalism:

Please to enjoy the Best of The Vermont Cynic for the period designated as Spring of 2008.

Click the clickable thing below to enjoy Cynical goodness:

Community Radio Rolls

After six weeks of graveyard (4 a.m. to 6 a.m.) training, I had my first daytime show today. Sooooooo much different, and not just because of the sunlight.

Having people stop in to chat while I was on air was fun but also a challenge in that I had to think constantly about how many seconds (32, 31, 30 . . .) were on CD 1 and whether I was prepped to go on CD 2 while I talked with them. In three hours I got a half-dozen calls: not a lot, I suppose, but I was surprised at how chatty people were! I got great requests, found out from one caller the REAL name of Howlin’ Wolf and introduced one listener–who wanted to know the name of “that one singer who sounded Middle Eastern” in the middle of a semi-long Middle-East set–to the glories of Gracenote.com.

The last caller–listening to 80s pop that I was arguing had roots in traditional blues–freaking HATED what I was playing. His comment—”This music sucks”—was followed by silence. Only later did I realize that the DJ who followed me specialized in scary (to my ears) howling metal and, quite probably, my caller should have waited a few more minutes to tune in. (Now I’m understanding, too, why my response—”Hey, sorry about the pop, but we’ve got some more great blues on in about another 60 seconds.”—was met only with more stony silence.) But so great: the wonderful VARIETY of community-based radio!

Five good comments; one hateful call. And you KNOW that I spent too much time focusing on the last call. But what fun work, anyway. Who knew that people–other than myself and the people I know–still listened to college radio???

Happy day. Keep it locked to 90.1 WRUV-FM Burlington.

The 100 worst groaners!

Check out these terms to avoid in print and broadcast news writing!

And then, for my broadcast folks out there, check out these tips and directions for writing a news broadcast.

Blogs UVM students love

My news-writing students are putting together their own blogs now, so I’m posting a few that some of my other Web-savvy students tell me they love. (For my NW students: keep in mind that the stories you do for my class should still be objective and newsy. Of course, what you put on your blog after you’re done with the class is fully up to you.)The most popular blog I’ve heard of so far from my students is Stuff White People Like, which has great use of photos and organization, as well as humor.Some other student-recommended blogs include:

Notcot
Digg
Gizmodo
Geeksugar and other Sugar sites
Jezebel
Coolhunting

And please never forget the old-timers:

Salon

The Huffington Post

If you have suggestions for other great student-oriented blogs, please leave a comment and let everyone know!