Today, anyone can break a story and publish it to the world instantly. That doesn't mean they should nor does it mean their methods or their content mean anything. For those that still try to "practice" journalism and do so responsibly and ethically, this blog if for them.
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Journalethix
By Andrew AlexanderSunday, July 12, 2009
The Washington Post’s ill-fated plan to sell sponsorships of off-the-record “salons” was an ethical lapse of monumental proportions.
Publisher Katharine Weymouth and Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli have now taken full responsibility for what was envisioned as…..FULL ARTICLE HERE
Eli Saslow captures a horrible event by treating all her subjects with dignity and without exploitation. The writing is fantastic. Please read her article from Sunday’s The Washington Post.
Howard Kurtz writes in his Washington Post column on the media that Gawker is proud of its position in the “blogosphere” as a rumor monger, scoffing at traditional journalism.
What good are institutions like this and how can we dissuade the population from supporting them?
On Tuesday, May 19, The Washington Post printed an article that posed an interesting question: is Twitter art, and can it also be considered literature? The article, “Short(est) Stories: The Art of Twitterature Means Making 140 Count”, acknowledged that despite the banality of content on the site from tweets as inconsequential as “eating dinner” or “my daughter took a nasty fall”, there are some Twitters out there who are not, like celebrity Twitterer Ashton Kutcher, famous and yet amass huge followings-sometimes as many as 400,000 people. 
So what makes a successful Tweet that might get one followers? The Post offers four guidelines.
- Make it participatory.-Instead of saying “Looking forward to dinner” instead tweet “What’s an easy quick and healthy meal”. People will be more likely to respond. Posting links are also good for generating discussion.
- Make it universal.-musing on subjects too vague or two narrow aren’t going to get you many followers. Instead appeal to a wider audience.
- Make it count.-Although it contradicts spontaneity, you might want to think before you tweet- consider revising tweets before you send them so that they are absolutely perfect. An iPhone applicationBirdhouse enables you to store tweets and tweak them before tweeting.
- Make it … Art. This last one is as open ended as art itself. Everything from novels to haiku have been composed on twitter. An appeal to aesthetics might get you an art house following.
