Air quality in Maine

Clean air is becoming an increasingly serious issue, both locally in Maine and internationally. This is not only an environmental issue, but health and economic issues as well. Throughout the U.S., successful economies of tomorrow will use more efficient energy; reducing waste, reducing capital outflows, increasing in-state jobs and improving air quality. Air pollution is linked to many negative health effects including a decreased life expectancy, respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses and asthma. The state of Maine has one of the highest rates of lung disease across the country, with more than 120,000 citizens affected.

According to a report by Environment Maine, the United States can reduce global warming pollution by 10% annually by investing in clean energy and transportation. This report estimates that investments in clean energy, such as solar and wind power, will lead to a reduction of 670 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

There are two types of air pollution that the state of Maine is highly concerned with; ozone and particulate matter. Ozone pollution comes from emissions from industrial facilities and electric utilities, vehicle exhausts and gasoline vapors. It is a primary component of smog and can reduce lung function and permanently scar lung tissue. Particulate matter (PM) includes dust, dirt, soot and smoke, as well as other matter in the air and plays a major factor in haze.

The Efficiency Maine Trust devised a three-year plan to help Maine citizens save energy to help meet state environmental goals by reducing both ozone and PM emissions. This plan is called the Triennial plan and has been submitted to Maine’s Public Utilities Comission (PUC) for review. The idea is to provide planning, program design and implementation strategies for all alternative energy resources and energy efficiency programs in Maine. This plan could result in $840 million in energy savings and reduce more than 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually; the equivalent to removing more than 52,000 cars from the roads.

The American Lung Association gave both Hancock and York counties a failing grade in respect to ozone pollution. The ALA also gave four Maine counties “D” grades in their survey of ozone pollution and no county in Maine received a higher grade than a “C”. (MPBN)

On April 5, 2010 Governor Baldacci signed legislation helping to cut air pollution by reducing the allowable sulfur level in heating oil and other related oil products. This legislation was an important accomplishment for the Natural Resources Council of Maine and Maine's Environmental Priorities Coalition. Sulfur pollution accounts for about half of Maine's haze problem. Reduction in sulfur pollution was the original purpose of this bill as part of a national effort to reduce sulfur adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency. This law will cause sulfur levels to drop from today’s levels of over 2,000 parts per million (ppm) to 50 ppm by 2016 and only 15 ppm by 2018.

Maine air quality has gotten worse over the past couple of decades, but there are many measures being put in place today by environmental groups and local governments to reverse the rise in air pollution. We are becoming more conscious of our health and our environment and this is being shown in the recent "Green Movement" to switch to more energy efficient power sources and the reduction of pollutants.

Assignment 13-2 (Environmental issue in Maine)

I'll be researching clean air in Maine, pollution from vehicles, steps to produce wind power in Maine and Maine's air quality. This is not only a local issue, but a national issue as well.

Sources of information:
http://www.nrcm.org/issue_windpower.asp
http://www.environmentmaine.org/newsroom/energy
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P1-126992214.html
http://www.environmentmaine.org/clean-air
http://www.maine.gov/dep/air/lev4me/index.html
http://www.nrcm.org/project_cleanair.asp
http://www.nrcm.org/issue_cleanenergy.asp
http://www.maine.gov/dep/air/ozone/
http://www.maine.gov/dep/air/ozone/currentdata.html
http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=3564
http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/hap/state.tcl?fips_state_code=23

Graphics:
http://www.maine.gov/dep/air/toxics/images/REFINERY.JPG
http://www.maine.gov/dep/air/toxics/images/fallscene.jpg
http://alg.umbc.edu/usaq/images/pm25_super_2004-07-23.gif
http://environmentdebate.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/air_pollution_china.jpg
http://maine.sierraclub.org/East%20End%20PV.JPG

Assignment 12-1

ORONO, ME -The body of a 20 year-old UMaine student was found by a passerby around 5:40 a.m on Middle Street on January 30. For two and a half months police have been searching for a suspect in Jordyn Bakley's death, and on Friday morning around 6 a.m., they found him. Police have arrested Garrett Cheney, 22 of South Berwick, in connection with the death of Bakley.

Cheney has been charged with manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death to a person, aggravated criminal operating under the influence and criminal operating under the influence. He turned himself in to Maine State Police after finding out there was a warrant out for his arrest.

Bakley was a junior elementary education student from Camden, Maine. She was active in the Student Women’s Association and recently had her photography displayed at the Hunting House Gallery in Orono. According to the state medical examiner's office, Bakley died of blunt force trauma.

Cheney was in Orono on January 29 to celebrate his cousins 21^st birthday. The two visited a couple of bars and drank together before Cheney left a bar on Middle St. around 3 a.m. The court affidavit states that Cheney struck Bakley while driving on Middle Street on the wrong side of the road shortly after 3 a.m. The collection of evidence, such as part of the vehicle's grill which led to the discovery of the vehicle that struck Bakley, led to Cheney's arrest.

Images retrieved from the Maine Campus

http://mainecampus.com/2010/04/16/arrest-made-in-bakley-hit-and-run/?ref=hp

The court affidavit states that Cheney then headed south on I-95 and drove his truck off the road in Etna around 3:30 a.m., on January 30. He is alleged to have been driving home to South Berwick, 181 miles from Orono. He was charged with operating under the influence and was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.15-nearly twice the legal limit.

Cheney's defense lawyer, William T. Bly, is an experienced Maine OUI defense attorney. Bly claims that the police arrested the wrong man and believes the police stopped investigating alternative suspects too early in the case. "We believe that they have the wrong guy. The irony is that my client wrecked his car in Etna and immediately called 911. We believe that is not consistent with somebody who was involved in a hit and run accident and trying to get away," explains Bly.

Cheney’s bail was set at $50,000 surety or $20,000 cash and he posted the surety around 4 p.m. Friday. He is scheduled to have his first court appearance on May 20 at the Penobscot County Judicial Center. If convicted of manslaughter, Cheney faces up to 30 years in prison.

Assignment 10-1

Social-media tools such as Twitter, Wikipedia and Facebook have become a key source of information about disasters in the twenty-first century. These websites help spread awareness quickly and to a large population. Facebook users create relief-effort groups and fan pages, spreading the words to millions of users. Twitter users post links to relief funds and spread the word about disasters as well. All of these sources create an information web that extends far beyond the demographic that watches the news or reads the paper, and these social-media websites do it quickly too. "Slacktivism" has become the popular word to describe the various (Internet) petitions, groups and "tweets" intending to bring help where it's needed. The reason this receives a negative connotation is because people are quick to spread the word of help and relief efforts, but far less quick to actually [financially] contribute to these efforts.

After the magnitude 7 earthquake in Haiti in 2010, people flocked to social-media websites for information. People tweeted links to relief funds such as the Red Cross and Transcom, uploaded pictures of the disaster and constantly updated information. When people hear about an event like this, they don't want to sit back and watch it happen on the news-they want to get themselves and others involved. These social-networking sites act as news wire services, passing along information as soon as it is discovered. Immediately after the disaster in Haiti, four of the top 10 Twitter topics were on Haiti or earthquake relief. This shows how useful these websites are in spreading information, and that people actually pay attention to and pass on this information.

Several months after this disaster, Twitter is still being used to spread the word about progress and relief efforts. "Tweeters" post pictures of rebuilt homes, post links to news stories discussing Haiti and are continuing to post about relief funds. Although several social-networking sites have been very effective and beneficial to Haitian relief funds, Twitter seems to stick out. It has proven to be a very important tool in fundraising and raising awareness. "Following the earthquake in Haiti, Twitter has once again become a platform to disseminate the news and, more important, a way to quickly raise money to support relief efforts," said Mark Evans of Sysomos Inc., one of the world's leading social media analytics companies.

Haiti is the largest recent disaster, and really showed how much social-media websites could do. Technology has made the process of donating and spreading information more efficient and enabled more people to take action. In the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, the Red Cross raised more than $4 million in donations from its text message campaign: "Text 'Haiti' to 90999 and a $10 donation is added to your cell phone bill". This campaign was so simple and efficient, without needing credit cards and paypal accounts, that donations have flooded in.

Social-networking sites are becoming more than "social" networking. They're becoming outlets for expressing opinions, spreading information and increasing the desire and efforts to help others. With the continuation of the century, these websites will become more crucial to the public when it comes to obtaining information quickly and accurately.

Meeting/Speech

Lucy Honig returned to Maine on Thursday, March 25 to speak about her new book “Waiting for Rescue”. Honig began her writing career in Maine, later moving to New York and then to Massachusetts. Honig has appeared in 2 O’Henry prize collections and in the Best American Short Stories. She spoke at the Writing Center, 4^th floor Neville Hall, at 4:30 on Thursday.

Honig was introduced and her books were for sale at the meeting. There were 16 people present at the meeting, and these people ranged from young college students to older faculty members. Honig introduced her book, described the plot, characters and ethics of the book, then read several excerpts to entice readers while still allowing mystery for those who hadn’t yet read it.

Honig opened the floor to questions after reading excerpts of her book, and members of the audience asked about her characters emotions and thoughts, her writing process and her life experiences. Honig talked about how her books are semi-autobiographical and described the life experiences they are based on.

Honig discussed the writing process of her latest book. The book was originally short stories, but Honig connected all the short stories using one character. “When I first started this book I had a lot of stories I wanted to write so I started writing short stories on the same document. Eventually I tried to sort them out into 5 or 6 stories, but something in me said ‘these are not separate stories’ and I made them converge” Honig finished with book-signings and received applause from the audience.

Anthem sues the state of Maine over denial of request to increase rates

Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield, the largest insurance company in Maine, is suing the state of Maine after being denied permission to increase insurance rates. Anthem requested a rate increase by as much as 37.8%, but was denied by Maine Insurance Superintendent Mila Kofman. The company claims the increase in cost is necessary to compensate for growing costs and an increase in the use of health care services. Anthem is a subsidiary of the national insurance company WellPoint, Inc.

Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield bought out a non-profit insurance company and has raised premium rates 10 times since. The average individual insurance-payer in Maine pays more than four times as much for insurance as they did ten years ago; before Anthem had a monopoly on Maine’s insurance market. The company controls about 79% of the Maine health care insurance market and provides service to more than 12,000 people statewide.

Anthem is suing after being denied a 3% guaranteed profit margin for 2010. Anthem’s rates have gone up 85% in the last 10 years in Maine. (3) A lawyer in the Attorney General’s office claims that going a year without a guaranteed profit will not drain the company and Mila Kofman calls Anthem’s request “excessive”. (3) Mila Kofman granted Anthem an average 10.9% rate increase last year, rather than Anthem’s proposed rate increase of 18.5%. Anthem retaliated by suing the state and has proposed an average 23% increase for the year 2010. (2)

But the citizens of Maine are saying no to Anthem. About 100 people turned out at the Cumberland County Civic Center to protest Anthem on March 18. A chiropractor practicing in Waldoboro said “My business has already been hit hard by the recession. If Anthem increased rates even more then less people would come see me for treatments and I don’t think my business-an 18 year-old, family business-will survive. Maine citizens can’t pay any more for insurance”.

The federal government is pointing at Anthem and other WellPoint subsidiaries requesting rate hikes in states like California as even more reason to create universal health care. President Obama notes rate hikes as a cautionary tale unless extensive health reform is executed. A veteran who receives free medical care through Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VA) Togus in Augusta says “I go there for medicine I need and I’m not going to be able to get this medicine if rates increase even more. I need this stuff, but Anthem doesn’t care”.

The state of Maine has no obligation to guarantee profits if the rate increases are discriminatory towards customers or excessive. Anthem is claiming that they are being discriminated against relative to other companies in Maine because another individual insurer in Maine was provided a 3% profit and risk margin for 2010. (1) Anthem’s claim is that this violates their equal protection rights under both the federal and state Constitutions. (4) However, there is no statute mandating that Maine provide Anthem or any other insurance company with a guaranteed profit.

Joe Ditre, executive director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care, Maine’s largest consumer-health coalition, says “health insurer’s profit expectations may have to change”. (2) Anthem made $4.7 billion profit in 2009 and is expecting even larger returns in 2010. “Companies are entitled to make some profit…however, it can’t be over the public good” Ditre said.

The Bureau of Insurance has received several hundred letters, e-mails and phone calls from Maine citizens regarding the proposed rate increases. Mila Kofman will issue a decision on Anthem’s case after a public hearing in April, where Anthem will make its case for rate increases.

1. Dayen, David. (2009, October 5). WellPoint Sues Maine To Raise Premiums 18.5%. The Seminal. Retrieved from:http://seminal.firedoglake.com/

2. De Hoyos, Martha. (2009, October 5). WellPoint, Inc. Subsidiary Sues State of Maine for Failing to Guarantee Annual Profit Margin of 3%. Common Dreams. Retrieved from: http://www.commondreams.org

3. Gerencher, Kristen. (2010, February 18). States grapple with health-insurer rate hikes. Market Watch. Retrieved from:http://marketwatch.com

4. Huang, Josie. (2009, October 5). Anthem Sues State of Maine over Rate Hike Request Denial. MPBN. Retrieved from:http://www.mpbn.net/

5. Thompson, Adam. (2009, October 8). Health Insurer Sues Maine for Guaranteed Profits. Progressive States. Retrieved from: http://www.progressivestates.org

Anthem sues the state of Maine over denial of request to increase rates

Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield, the largest insurance company in Maine, is suing the state of Maine over the denial of request to increase insurance rates. Anthem requested an increase in rates by as much as 37.8%, but was denied by Maine Insurance Superintendent Mila Kofman. The company claims the increase in cost is necessary to compensate for growing costs and an increase in the use of health care services. Anthem is a subsidiary of the national insurance company WellPoint, Inc.

Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield bought out a non-profit insurance company and has raised premium rates 10 times since. The average individual insurance-payer in Maine pays more than four times as much for insurance as they did ten years ago; before Anthem had a monopoly on the insurance market in Maine. The company controls about 79% of the Maine health care insurance market and provide service for more than 12,000 people statewide.

Anthem isn’t suing for an increase in insurance rates, but instead for a 3% guaranteed profit margin for 2010. Anthem’s rates have gone up 85% in the last 10 years in Maine. (3) A lawyer in the Attorney General’s office claims that going a year without a guaranteed profit will not drain the company and Mila Kofman calls Anthem’s request “excessive”. (3) Mila Kofman denied Anthem’s proposed average rate increase of 18.5% last year, instead approving a 10.9% increase. Anthem retaliated by suing the state and has proposed an average 23% increase for the year 2010. (2)

The state of Maine has no obligation to guarantee profits if the rate increases are discriminatory towards customers or excessive. Anthem is claiming that they are being discriminated against relative to other companies in Maine because another individual insurer in Maine was provided a 3% profit and risk margin for 2010. (1) Anthem claims this violates their equal protection rights under both the federal and state Constitutions. (4) However, there is no statute mandating that Maine provide Anthem or any other insurance company with a guaranteed profit.

President Obama notes rate hikes as a cautionary tale and previews “of coming attractions” (2) unless extensive health reform is executed. Joe Ditre, executive director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care, Maine’s largest consumer-health coalition, says that “health insurer’s profit expectations may have to change”. (2) “Companies are entitled to make some profit…however, it can’t be over the public good” he said. (2)

There have been many public events over the past year regarding Anthem. On March 18 at 5pm there will be protests outside the Cumberland County Courthouse, with speakers raising awareness of the issue. Citizens are being encouraged to attend the actual court case on March 19 to listen to Anthem state their case.

1. Dayen, David. (2009, October 5). WellPoint Sues Maine To Raise Premiums 18.5%. The Seminal. Retrieved from: http://www.seminal.firedoglake.com

2. De Hoyos, Martha. (2009, October 5). WellPoint, Inc. Subsidiary Sues State of Maine for Failing to Guarantee Annual Profit Margin of 3%. Common Dreams. Retrieved from: http://www.commondreams.org

3. Gerencher, Kristen. (2010, February 18). States grapple with health-insurer rate hikes. Market Watch. Retrieved from: http://marketwatch.com

4. Huang, Josie. (2009, October 5). Anthem Sues State of Maine over Rate Hike Request Denial. MPBN. Retrieved from: http://www.mpbn.net

5. Thompson, Adam. (2009, October 8). Health Insurer Sues Maine for Guaranteed Profits. Progressive States. Retrieved from: http://www.progressivestates.org

News Release

Greek-wide talent show brings fraternities and sororities together

Sasha Kauffman, February 20, 2010 The bi-annual Greek talent show is this Thursday night February 18, 2010 at 7pm. Every semester, during Fall Greek Week and Spring Greek Winter Carnival, Greeks put on a talent show. The show celebrates the creative talents and friendly competition of fraternities and sororities once a semester.

Each semesters’ [Greek] week has a different theme. This semester’s theme is Disney and Greeks will be performing to and dressed to Disney in the show. Nine fraternities and five sororities will be participating in the event, of the 18 fraternities and seven sororities on campus.

Greek Week and Greek Winter Carnival are week-long competitions between fraternities and sororities on campus. Greeks compete for the most points through various participation events all week. This semester there was a canned food drive, snowball fight, sled race and Disney trivia, among other events. Every semester there is letter sign-in day, when Greeks wear their letters all day and compete to sign-in the most members for their chapter.

The talent show is the largest and final event of the week. Fraternities and sororities dress-up, choreograph dance routines, act and sing during the show. The acts represent the individuality and creativity of each chapter and are funny and in good-spirit.

Last semester’s talent show was a Nickelodeon theme. Greeks dressed up as characters such as Doug from ‘Doug’ and cat-dog from ‘Cat-dog’. They wrote songs, played musical instruments and performed dance routines. This semester’s theme has brought as much excitement and entertainment as the last. It is a theme that every student is familiar with and grew up with. Disney characters and songs being performed in the talent show include the Mickey Mouse Club, the Lion King, Peter Pan, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.

This semester’s talent show is in Minsky hall and free to all students. For further details contact Gustavo Burkett on First Class. [For immediate release]

Profile

Jasmine Dawn looks like your average college student. She’s blonde, attractive, blue-eyed and always smiling. She lives in the dorms, eats lunch at the Union, works on campus and goes to class most days. But what sets her apart from the average UMaine student is that she’s straightedge and LDS. What makes her even more different? She used to have a mohawk and colored hair and used to experiment with the things most teenagers experiment with.

Jasmine is a first-year modern language major. She’s an eighteen-year-old girl from Farmington, New Hampshire. She doesn’t drink, she doesn’t smoke, she abstains from sex until marriage and she attends church every weekend. Is this hard for her? No, she says. “People say it’s hard being straightedge in college, but it’s not a struggle for me because those things don’t tempt me” she explains. Flashback to the 15 year-old Jasmine and you’ll see a girl with a green mohawk, going to hardcore shows and the occasional party on the weekends. Around this time, she began going to church with her grandmother and “decided to follow the teachings of LDS.” She decided to become straightedge and LDS because “[she] had to pick what was best for [her], and deducted that the straightedge lifestyle was best for [her].”

The University of Maine was not her first-choice school. Her dream school is Brigham Young University in Utah, a university where 98% of the students are Mormon. But she liked UMaine after visiting a couple of times and feels a sense of security and place here. “I came from a really small town, where everybody, including myself, is pretty close-minded. But I’ve grown to be a lot more open-minded since being here.” On move-in day her first thought was about being afraid of “having to deal with all these drunk people running around and puking all over the place coming home from parties,” but she’s learned to accept these people and “understand that people live different lifestyles.”

The people who know the 18 year-old Jasmine Dawn could never imagine her as the 15 year-old Jasmine Dawn. But she’s proud of who she’s become and the things she’s abstained from. The biggest problem she’s encountered from her lifestyle is people judging her and “thinking [she’s] lame and that [she doesn’t] go out and do things, because [she has] just as much fun as anyone else.” A daily struggle that she has is the fact that people she met at UMaine don’t know how she used to be, and they don’t understand that she struggles with a lot of temptations here, but she’s remained true to her lifestyle and she continues to have the desire to live the straightedge lifestyle.

Assignment 4-1

This WCSH6 news report was about a man who died in a rare shark attack off the coast of Florida. The story isn’t local, but the news reporter interviewed one of the victim’s closest friends in Florida, so the story had some good sources of background information.

This newscast was in past tense, with all verb tenses in agreement-in past tense. The report was told through mostly active voice, with a subject, verb, object composition. The sentences were pretty short and directly to the point, but were a little too succinct for me. If I had been in charge of editing copy before the story was aired, I would have provided more details about how the man died because the reporter failed to state his cause of death, The reporter only said the victim had been bitten by a shark and died later at the hospital. If I were in charge of this newscast, I would have wanted to provide more details about why the man was out in the water, how the shark bit him and how he died. The newscast did a good job putting in background information from an interview with one of the victim’s closest friends. I would have made the sentences a little more detailed; with longer sentences instead of many brief sentences that seemed a little too short.

I would have connected the story with past deaths in the area due to sharks, or the reason the attack was so “rare”. It would have been nice to know the history of shark attacks in the area and if there were often sharks near that beach. I think this would have added some human interest to the story, and left the listener less confused. I would have interviewed the lifeguard and gotten more details on how the man was found, how long he had been in distress and maybe some comments from his family. I would have liked the story to be more descriptive and easier to relate too.

Convergence & Consolidation in Journalism

Both media convergence and consolidation are happening in today's media field. These have raised both suspicions and praise from the public and the people in the field. They're both not necessarily good for journalism; but they're both happening and there's nothing we can do about it. Convergence and consolidation are results of today's culture and today's mass-media, and the journalism field wouldn't be as effective without them in terms of reaching a broad audience and providing the audience with more news outlets than ever before.

Media convergence is a necessary evil in today’s journalism field. The convergence of different media formats such as television, newspaper and radio provide more than one outlet for news access. This is an advantage for audiences because it allows them to access news through more than one outlet (video, writing, graphics, etc). Convergence is also beneficial for news corporations because it allows the news to reach a broader and larger demographic; allowing more viewers to access information.

Convergence is not all good, however. It contributes to loss of jobs and unemployment in media formats such as newspapers and magazines because of increased technology. Convergence replaces the old, fundamental way of journalism by allowing journalists to easily access information, true or false, instead of going out and getting it straight from the source, themselves. Overall, convergence is good for the journalism field because it provides news corporations with a larger audience and provides audiences with more ways to access news.

Consolidation in the media is leading to a field of oligopolies that overshadow small, local and personal news programs. These massive conglomerates (Time Warner, Disney, etc) are becoming increasingly concerned with profit, rather than the public interest. These corporations are experiencing an increase in control over the media due to the dwindling number of competitors, and this is bad for the public because it can lead to less voices heard, less coverage, less accuracy and less information being provided. Unchecked media consolidation is not good; it leads to a lack of diversity, less local programming and fewer sources for information and news. It could possibly diminish the quality of journalism by no longer carrying out investigative journalism, which is the “watch dog” job of the media.

Consolidation, in any form, leads to lesser-quality work. It switches the gears of the companies from public interest to private profit. It reduces the amount of information available, because when large companies have a hold on information; they can decide what to do with it. Consolidation is good in terms of cost-cutting and cost-effectiveness, but causes adversities in the credibility, reliability and ethics of the journalism field.

Critique

(News article)

This article describes the racial and ethnic diversity in a Pennsylvania school, and attributing these factors to a lot of violence towards Asian children in the school. The article begins with a description of the surrounding area to develop an image of diversity for the readers. The first mistake I noticed was in the second paragraph:

"Inside is a cauldron of cultural discontent that

erupted in violence last month — off-campus and

lunchroom attacks on about 50 Asian students,

injuring 30, primarily at the hands of blacks.

The Asian students, who boycotted classes for more

than a week afterward, say they've endured relentless

bullying by black students while school officials

turned a blind eye to their complaints."

"...primarily at the hands of blacks." This is an inappropriate sentence, especially so early into the story, and especially because of the focus on race and ethnicity in this specific story. The reporter used "Asian" to describe Chinese, Japanese and Korean students, but then used the term "blacks" to describe African-American students. This is an inconsistency in wording and could easily be offensive. This writer should have checked his consistency and language more carefully. The source for this information is a secondhand account and lacks credibility, or so it seems. If the writer had included direct quotes or specific incidents, this source would have been more accountable. However, the writer did attribute the information received to the source (the Asian students), which shows that he (the writer) did pay attention to accuracy. There is no verification to the credibility of the account in the article, even though there may have been verification that the author didn't put into the story. The author makes another language inconsistency mistake in the next paragraph:

"Philadelphia school officials suspended 10 students,

increased police patrols and installed dozens of new

security cameras to watch the halls, where 70 percent

of the students are black and 18 percent Asian."

Again, the author refers to "black" and "Asian", instead of "African American" and "Asian", which could offend people of any color and looks inconsistent. The writer isn't using two parallel words to display equality and non-racism and this could upset readers. This language difference could be viewed as bias or prejudice and unfair.

"The Philadelphia school district acted with

"deliberate indifference" toward the

harassment and failed to prevent the Dec. 3 attacks..."

Again, the author fails to attribute credibility to the source, with no description of the source, no name and no depth into what "deliberate indifference" implies.

"Asian students say black students routinely pelt them with food..."

This sentence is messy and inconsistent, again. The wording isn't very intelligent or precise, either. The constant stress on blaming the black students could be viewed as racism, bias or unfairness and the author should have investigated into whether or not students of other races were harming and terrorizing the Asian students.

The article is a little bit long for the topic, and it gets a little too long towards the end, so the brevity could have been worked on. I followed the story right up until the last couple of paragraphs, where I lost interest in the story. The focus is clear, although some of the information, sources and affiliates are confusing and it was hard to tell how these sources related to the story sometimes. I think the author could have researched the story a little bit more and gone more into depth about the violence, the perpetrators, the victims and the outcome. I felt like the author was a little biased or stereotypical towards the "black students" who "bullied" the Asian students with the unequal wording to describe the races. The author didn't explore the "black students" side of the story; he/she didn't include any quotes from any of the accused, so the story seemed a little on-sided.

However, the story was pretty in-depth with concerns to the Asian students side of the story and the actions of the school and school-board members. The author dug up information and quotes from sources I would not have thought could add much to the story, but they did. The story made sure to mention criminal charges and legal matters so the reader was not left with any questions. Overall, it was a fairly thorough story with a decent length and proper attribution to sources and information.

Photojournalism and doctored photographs

A large practice that has been surrounded by controversy lately is the doctoring and retouching of photographs for magazines, advertisements, newspapers and billboards. Photographs have been doctored, altered and retouched for decades, but with the introduction of new technology over the past decade, it is far easier to dramatically change pictures and more commonly practiced than ever before. These pictures have never been faster or easier to make with relatively cheap Photoshop programs available to everyone.

This photo-editing revolution has some believing it will lead to the “downfall of photojournalism” in the United States. Photojournalists are becoming less credible and the public is losing faith in the accuracy and truth of the news. These doctored photographs are winning the Pulitzer Prize and creating a more competitive and unfair environment in the photojournalism world. Photojournalists are feeling the pressure to produce an above-average photo in order to receive publicity, and, to do this they often resort to doctoring and editing photographs.

In 2007, an Ohio newspaper, The Toledo Blade, received a call about suspicions that they had run an altered news photo on the front page four days earlier. The culprit was the famous Allan Detrich, who had a reputation as a brilliant photojournalist. Detrich was twice named Ohio Photographer of the Year and a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1998. He denied that the photograph he sent to the editor was the photograph he meant to send. He claimed that the altered photograph was for his personal use, and he had mixed up the photos while sending them to the paper. After investigations, 79 of his photographs submitted for publication in early 2007 were found to have been doctored. Detrich admitted to habitually erasing “people, tree limbs, utility poles, electrical wires, light switches and cabinet knobs” from his photographs, as well as adding things like hockey pucks and basketballs into the frame.

Allan Detrich was highly revered and rewarded for his work, but his work was often altered, giving him an unfair advantage with respect to other photojournalists in competition. He is not the only famous journalist to be caught doctoring and altering photographs running in newspapers, on television, in magazines and on billboards. This practice is so commonly used today that it destroys the fundamentals of true, respectable photojournalism.

Doctoring photographs is so easy and so common that there are now professions and organizations completely dedicated to discovering these photos and revealing them. This profession is called “Digital Forensics” and these scientists study the light, depth and pixels of photographs. Doctored photos can be detected by finding spoiled pixel correlations, inconsistent specular highlights and light-source direction, as well as other advanced computer-based techniques.

Why are doctored photographs so bad? Because the public relies on journalists, news anchors, broadcasters and photographers to deliver the truth. With doctored photographs, the credibility and reputation of these sources is at risk. People become increasingly suspicious of news sources as these photos continue to be revealed, and their trust is waiving. The art of photography is at risk because people don’t need to take a perfect picture anymore; they can just doctor it to their pleasure. Photography is an art form, and it needs to remain fair in order to survive. These photographers ultimately do create a better picture, a more newsworthy picture, maybe a picture that will win an award. But the cost of the credibility of the individual photographer and the reputation of the entire journalism field is not worth the rewards reaped for these altered pictures.

Ricchiardi, Sherry. (2007). Distorted Picture. Retrieved from http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4383

Scientific American. (2010). Digital Forensics: Altered Lance Armstrong Photo Explained. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=digital-image-forensics-lance-armstrong

Assignment 1:

1-4 Create a blog entry that discusses a legal or moral issue in journalism. Be sure to cite and link to the articles your use for your entry. Your entry should be between 300-800 words and formatted for online.

CMJ 236

I'm Sasha Kauffman. This is my blog for CMJ 236. I'm a first-year and a communications major but I'm planning on declaring journalism after this semester. I'm obsessed with finding out the truth and discovering how corrupt everything is so I'd like to be an investigative journalist. I love traveling and I want to study abroad next Spring in Australia. I've been writing for my entire life, but I never thought until this past semester that I would do it as a career.