Somebody just asked me if we are having class tonight. She noted that I hadn’t posted anything new this week. If you remember, last week after we talked about the drug busts I said tonight we would cover the Katrina material. So yes, we do have class tonight on Feb. 23. Know your Katrina stuff and see you at 6:30.
For class on February 16, 2012
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. It created a mess like the US had never seen before. The only comparable storms that I know of were Hurricane Andrew in Florida in the 1990s and the Galveston Storm of 1900, which killed 6,000 people. Even so, Katrina was different because most of its damage was caused by flooding, not directly by the storm itself.
This week we will talk about coverage of Katrina and, by extension, how to cover this kind of storm.
Read this timeline of Katrina.
And this overview of the city on August 30.
For class on 2/9/2012
We will cover just two episodes from history this week, but they are biggies. Each has much to teach us about news coverage in times of crisis. These are two of the biggest from the past 20 years.
First: September 11, 2001. Read this story about the most famous photo taken that day. As you read it, think about the photograph. What is its story? What is its meaning? Beyond the photo’s own story, what is its role in the larger story of that day? Many news outlets which used that photo received scathing criticism from members of their audience. Should they have used the photo? Why or why not?
Second: the Waco siege on April 19, 1993. Read all the parts of this chronology. You will need to know the story to understand the video we will watch in class.
Some unforeseen obstacles have cropped up this weekend and I will not be able to post this week’s reading list until Monday.
Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause you.
For class on 2/2/2012.
One of the thornier problems of covering breaking news on live television is the possibility that viewers will see somebody get killed. This has happened several times throughout history.
November 24, 1963: NBC broadcasts Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald (video)
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Oswald’s murder is that ABC figured somebody would take a shot at Oswald, so they tried to broadcast it live. Read this chapter, “A Television Network Gathers The News,” in this online book. The link should go to the beginning of the chapter.
April 30, 1998: Six L.A. TV stations broadcast Daniel Jones killing himself (graphic video)
Car chases are a dime a dozen in Los Angeles, and the TV stations break into programming every time. This one ended when the suspect shot and killed himself. On live television. Watch the clip and then read this.
November 27, 1999: Three L.A. and two San Diego stations broadcast police killing a car chase suspect (mildly graphic video)
Less than a year later, several of those same stations showed police shooting the suspect in another car chase. Watch the clip and then read this.
July 15, 1974: Christine Chubbuck shoots herself
There was at least one other instance of a TV station broadcasting a suicide on live television. But the woman who killed herself, Christine Chubbuck, was the host of the show which was on TV at the time. She planned to kill herself during her live show, but nobody else knew she was going to do it. It’s not fair to blame anybody but Chubbuck for the broadcast of her death because of the way she planned it. Still, it’s an instructional episode. Read this PDF for the whole story.
Videotaped Death on Television
Separately, there is the issue of showing videotape of people dying.
June 20, 1979: Bill Stewart, a reporter for ABC News, was shot and killed by Nicaraguan soldiers. His photojournalist filmed the shooting, which was later shown on network newscasts in the US. Click here for the story* and here for the video.
Jan. 22, 1987: Pennsylvania State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer shot and killed himself at a news conference. It was not shown live, but in that night’s newscasts some TV stations showed the video. All of it. Be warned: it’s very graphic.
The use of the video was pretty controversial. Read this and this.
*99.9% of the time, WikiPedia is not an acceptable source. I’m using it here because I have verified the facts in their article and it’s the most concise summary I could find. Do not cite WikiPedia as a source in any assignments for this class. Ever.
This is a presidential election year, so it makes sense that we should be inundated with political coverage.
Still, 18 Republican debates so far does seem a little much. After all, it is only January. We still have a long way to go before the conventions.
This week we will start to talk about political coverage: balance, tone, amount, and more.
Here’s this week’s reading list. Read the following stories and be able to discuss them intelligently in time for our next class meeting. Pay particular attention to the tone and balance of each article. Are any of them biased toward a particular candidate? Do they seem to push a certain point of view with regard to the political spectrum? In class I will ask you specific questions about each of these articles, so I would recommend taking notes on each one as you read. (Remember the participation part of your grade in this class.)
NYTimes.com: Fresh Doubts About Republican Contest
Real Clear Politics: GOP Establishment Will Have A Meltdown If Newt Wins Florida
WaPo: Five lessons learned from the South Carolina primary
Washington Examiner: Why Gingrich won — Why Romney lost
Weekly Standard: What Mitt Must Learn from South Carolina
NYTimes.com: Did Gingrich’s Win Break the Paradigm?
Wall Street Journal: Gingrich Won on Electability
National Review: What’s the Rationale Now?
Politico: Mitt Romney’s misery, in a word: Bain
Jan. 25 update: I forgot the most important one of the week:
A friend just shared this with me. It’s great. Please read it for some insight into how certain things work. Hopefully you know this already as an upper-level student, but a little refresher can’t hurt.
Forbes contributor: “Dear Student: I Don’t Lie Awake At Night Thinking of Ways to Ruin Your Life”
Soon I’ll start using this site as a teaching tool for TCU JOUR 40553, Issues in News, which I will be teaching in Spring 2012.
I just posted the syllabus. My resume is also here if you’re interested in that.
