Difference between reading a paper newspaper and reading online
This article compares the knowledge of readers who read paper newspapers to readers who read online news. 2000
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Do readers like quotes in stories?
This article explains that readers prefer stories that have direct, attributed quotes in stories, plus some other surprises. 1998
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Should Cuba be on terror list?
Should Cuba be considered a terrorist nation? Note the reference to Joanne Chesimard (aka Assata Shakur). 2004. This relates to the next article on the Black Panthers.
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What happens to old Black Panthers?
This article traces the history of the Black Panther movement and how it applied to news issues. 1998.
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Reaganomics
How did it influence today's leaders? Are we following it now, and is this a good or bad thing?
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Watergate
Go to this Word file for the link to the Watergate site. Make sure you click on all the links on the web page so you understand the background of Watergate.
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Exxon Valdez oil spill
Oil was everywhere. Animals died, people were put out of work. It was massive, and the captain was drunk! Just click on this link to go to the web page.
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Edward R. Murrow
Who was this guy? Everybody seems to talk about him in hushed tones all the time? Try this link and this one to find out.
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New York Times vs. Sullivan 1964
Some people think this is the most important free-press case ever to come down. Read the court opinion here, and the background here. Make sure in this second link you go into each Supreme Court justice's background and be prepared to comment. Notable: Justic Hugo Black denying he is a racist.
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A lotta journalism stories
This site links to many journalism stories (over 100). Your assignment is to go through as many of these short descriptions as possible and report what you find as the trend in journalism over the years. Are journalists getting better or worse? Is the public more or less accepting of them? Anyway, the link is here.
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Whitewater
Everyone talks about Whitewater, but so few people know what it means. It had something to do with the Clinton's, and it was a big headache for Hillary. FInd out what happened here.
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Marshall McLuhan
Who was this guy McLuhan? He was there at the dawn of civilization -- media civilization, that is — and he said something very important. Try looking around this website. If you want big kudos for reading his The Medium is the Message, this link will enable you to buy the book for less than seven bucks. It's also in the Rutgers Library for free.
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Who was Newt Gingrich?
Who was this fellow named Newt Gingrich? He created something called the "Contract with America." What did it say? How did he change politics? Try this link.
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Janet Cooke
Janet Cooke is one of the most famous plagiarists in history. Read this and this and see if you can explain why she did it -- as well as how to convince journalists not to try something crazy when they write.
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Timeline of Journalism
A lot has happened since journalism came to the shores of North America. This timeline traces the history of journalism plus gives insight into some of the major issues that concern reporters.
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William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was one of those larger-than-life journalists. He's known for a lot, but probably his most important ethical link was his involvement in the Spanish-American War . Other details are located here.
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Jonestown Massacre
You may have heard the horror stories about the Jonestown massacre and Jim Jones, but in your journalistic travels, it is good to place it into a cultural milieu. In other words, what did it mean? Why were people so shocked? Here is someone who was there. How does her reaction color your view of the whole incident? And how does hers differ from this other survivor's reaction?
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The Feminine Mystique: The Women's Movement at its Origin
When Betty Friedan died in 2006, she left behind a gigantic legacy that is, surprisingly, not particularly well-known today, especially by the people she helped. Read a this chapter from the book and this one and react to this article.
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Lorena Hickok
The concept of women standing up to men and doing men's jobs is not new to journalism. Lorena Hickok did it years and years before anyone even heard of the women's movement. Who was this special person? She gave up journalism to become Eleanor Roosevelt's assistant. You would really look great if you read at least part of Doris Faber's "The Life of Lorena Hickok: E.R.'s Friend," New York W. Morrow, 1980. See if you can buy it or check it out of the Rutgers Library. Or go to this site and read about women as journalists during World War II.
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The decision to go to war in Iraq
Did President Bush lie about getting the U.S. into war against Iraq? The Center for Public Integrity not only thinks so; it has quantified the number of times and charted the dates. Check this out. Also, read what this Berkeley professor thinks about the whole thing. He has some very astute comments. Finally, what does President Bush think of those who believe he lied? Read his 2004 defense at this link.
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History of Middlesex County
This is the place to learn the history of Middlesex County, written by the county administrator. It's a downloadable pdf and is filled with rich lore. Recently published!
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Anne Royall, an early female American journalist
Anne Royall, an early American female journalist, was brought up in a news conference by President Harry Truman in 1948. Her full story tells a lot more about this remarkable woman, a model for moderna journalists.
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Is There a Santa Claus?
This is perhaps the most famous piece of writing in American history, but what is the back story? Read this and report back what you find out: that journalists are not seers.
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Euphemisms, etc.
What is a euphemism? What are some other important parts of the language? Check this out to start. Then, read through the links of this page, and you will be able to report back some pretty weird stuff -- but stuff that in most cases is essential to understand if you want to be a good writer. Finally,see this page as one source for understanding how strangely certain people like to talk -- more to confuse and soften the harsh effects of something than to tell the truth.
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Is Wikipedia a good source?
Wikipedia is used exhaustively by students to learn quick facts. But is this online encyclopedia which uses its own users to write it reliable? Read this to find out.
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Air crashes -- why are they so frequent?
Take this web page and this one and give a report on why airplanes get into crashes and disasters. Help future journalists understand why the federal government is so careful about what it puts out to the media. Help us to see why planes fail -- and, more importantly, why the system fails. Also, note that there are many more crashes than are generally reported in the news. Why do you think that is? Make sure you go way back in history (1950 at least) to spot trends.
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What is civic journalism?
What is this thing called "civic journalism"? It is quite controversial and not all journalists think it's the greatest thing. The Pew Center thinks it is. Click here to go to their links to find out why. This site gives a fairly balanced view. Here's another, and here is one more.
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The mystery of D.B. Cooper
If you run an airline, don't sell a ticket to a dude named D.B. Cooper. Read this to get started. Watch the CBS news story from 1971 here. This link tells you that the FBI has reopened the case recently.
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How safe is our food?
Covering the politics of food is a serious business. The food supply is threatened by salmonella, e coli, mad cow disease, genetically modified foods that are uncontrolled and plain old politics. Click here to read about Marion Nestle's take on the food supply. She is an academic writer and the author of Safe Food. Here is what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration thinks. This article says Americans are afraid of eating unsafe foods. This article explains that food companies do not even have to tell consumers that they are packaging genetically modified food. And here is the government's take on it.
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Past and present of journalism
First, begin with this chronology to follow journalism's long history and summarize it. Then continue here to check out the history of journalism by decade. After reading about 1900, click at the top of the page on the 1910, then 1920 and so forth. Each click will take you to a new page which shows some superstar journalists of that era. Next, read this article which tells about the history of New Jersey journalism. Finally, this article tells you about the "perfect storm" of New Jersey newspaper failures.
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