Linking Law

From my first day as a journalism student at the University of Colorado Boulder, each of my journalism classes have made a point to set aside either a PowerPoint slide, a class period, a week, or even an entire course to the subject matter of media law. It came as no surprise then, when Dr. Stevens assigned the Linking Law blog post as our class homework - the digital newsroom way to approach the topic.

For my assignment this time around I am to envision myself as a reporter working for the Boulder Daily Camera who was just assigned a story about a CU English Professor who was dismissed because his name was listed on a child pornography Web site as a frequent client. According to the scenario, the professor denies that his name is listed on the site. The rest of my prompt is as follows:

Is it normal operational procedure to list all relevant external links. Based upon your readings and understanding of communication law, would you post the link to the child pornography site? Why or why not? What principles do you use in your decision? What trade-offs are present in the rationale behind your decision?

Well, based upon my readings and understanding of communication law, if I was a Daily Camera reporter I would not post the link to the child pornography site whatsoever. I say this because based on my education in media law - and due to my own personal moral and ethical codes - under no circumstances ever is the publication of child pornography acceptable. I understand in this case the story would not contain any child porn in its text, but it would provide a link, acting as the direct middleman in connecting person to child porn.

In James Foust's chapter titled "Legal and Ethical Issues" in his textbook "Online Journalism", Foust describes the terms obscenity and indecency and their relation to media law. He defines obscenity as referring to "a narrow range of material that describes or displays sexual material in a manner designed to cause arousal and lacks artistic, literary or scientific value." He defines indecency as "a much broader range of sexual and nonsexual material, including certain words, nudity or other things that could offend manners or morals." Obscenity, as I have learned throughout my past media law studies and through Foust's chapter yet again, is never legal in any type of media.

Based on Foust's definition of obscenity and indecency, as a journalist I would deem child pornography, whether publishing it directly or even providing for readers a link which provides full access to it, both indecent and obscene. Since obscenity is never allowed in any media forum than there is no way legally that I would include a link to the child pornography site in my story, nor would I do so morally.

The trade-offs present in my rationale which supports my decision fall along the lines of validity in the story itself. If the professor denies having his name on the Web site at all, and the only evidence that I put forth in my online story are other secondary sources confirming his name, many readers may not believe the story to be true. Or they may question the validity of the entire publication as if the stories aren't going to provide readers with stark evidence of controversial news, then how do they know that the information is true.

For me however, these trade-offs are still worth not placing the link within the story. The ramifications for actually hyperlinking the child pornography site to the story to me would be greater both legally and definitely morally, as I feel as though the story would be contradicting itself granting readers the ability to do the exact thing the CU English professor is being called out for. As a journalist, my job is to dig deep into stories to report factual and transparent news and in a story such as this, I believe that other avenues could be used in writing an accurate, valid story without involving a media law no-no such as any type of link to a child pornography site.

4/20 Story Ideas

Final class project. Depending on the class, many times these three little words can cause students stomachs to cringe as the pulsating anticipation of meticulous work most likely required to acquire a good grade on such project ceases to rest.



Luckily for me, however, my final class project isn't looming over me like a scholastic death sentence waiting for me to break down from stress. Instead of the usual term paper, PowerPoint presentation or other by-the-book final project domain, Dr. Stevens has assigned for my class a final multimedia project in which multiple forms of different technology will be used to tell a story. But what's the story?



The story we will be covering will be focused around the unofficial national/international marijuana smoking day on April 20, also widely known as simply 4/20 to many. For this story, I have been assigned to brainstorm five creative and substantial story ideas that I think would tackle this commonly covered day. Below, I have listed the fruits of my mind-churning labor.



My five 4/20 Story Ideas



1. Traveling for 4/20- 4/20 attracts thousands of people to Boulder for the day from places ranging from other Colorado towns to cities across the country. It would be interesting to look into the travel portion of 4/20 by talking with taxi services, RTD bus drivers, shuttles to and from airports, etc. to determine trends in travel surrounding 4/20. We could interview specific bus drivers about the days leading up to, the day of and the days after 4/20 and how they differ from an average day. We could find travelers from different cities/states and create an interactive map of their hometowns, which when clicked upon provide a short blurb about the person and perhaps leads to a small video interview.



2. Boulder Eateries - Due to the influx of people in Boulder in addition to the so-called "munchies" caused by marijuana, we could approach 4/20 from a food angle including amount of food prepared, sold, left over, types of food that are most popular, restaurants selling food on Norlin quad that day or promoting their restaurants for later, special deals made for 4/20, etc. We could also feature 4/20 participators discussing their favorite choice of munchy for the day. This type of information could be presented possibly in various tables/charts with (if at all possible) sound recordings of interviews with Boulder restaurant employees that describe 4/20 food trends.

3. Norlin Quad Crowd Measurer - I am not sure if this idea is even possible or if it would be too complicated, but I think it would be fascinating to somehow create a progressive, interactive map of Norlin Quad that measures the amount of people on Norlin Quad at various times leading up to 4/20 as well as the locations of people. The map would use colors or symbols of some sort to measure where the people are and how many there are at any give time. We could have a series of maps that show the crowd size and volume at different time intervals before, during, and after the actual event. I think this would be a creative, more aesthetically appealing way to view crowd number information instead of simply stating it. Again, not sure if this would work, but if it did I think it has some pretty promising potential.

4. Class Attendance levels - Because 4/20 for a lot of people is seen as an entire day dedicated to consuming marijuana, many students decide to ditch classes for the day. As 4/20 falls on a Wednesday this year, classes will still be in session and students will be ditching them. For this possible story angle, we could take a survey of many class attendances for 4/20 and compare them to that week, month, or the entire the semester. We could compile all of the information together and take a grand average of attendance variances for the week and/or day of 4/20 and depict the information in an interactive/multimedia graphic. The graphic could possibly be of a classroom and the attendance average could be depicted to the number of filled seats. In addition, we could link video/audio interviews with professors and/or students about attendance on the day of 4/20.

5. Safety/Accident Info - A large crowd of people most times attracts accidents and because of the somewhat distorted state of the majority of this crowd, accidents may be bound to happen. Another angle we could approach is the accident/safety side of 4/20. We could gather information from hospitals as to how they go about preparing for the event, common accidents they see on 4/20 (if any), any out of the ordinary experiences they have had in the past, etc.

Blogging on Blogging

With my first blog assignment completed and filed away within the infinite storage space of the cyber world, assignment number two sits before me, eagerly awaiting my input.

My task: blogging about blogging. Blogging what about blogging exactly? Per Dr. Steven's request, the function, the content and the tone of a blog from his designated list. The option A Teany taste of the Sublime immediately caught my eye due to its unusual name, and so I clicked on the the corresponding hyperlink, deciding that following my instinct was the best method of choice.

My first observation upon arriving at the blog's site was the personal feel emitted overall. On the upper right side of the page sits an "All About Me" section engulfed by a light green color, different from all other green hues splashed across the page. The description that the blog's author - communications graduate student Michael Trimboli - provides about himself, his interests and his ultimate career goals leads me to believe that his published thoughts are intended for an audience of people passionate about food, in particular tea.

Now, I am no expert foodie myself, but like many other people, either relaxing before sleep's intoxicating grasp takes ahold of my body, or self-medicating due to a ruthless and nasty cold, I too indulge frequently in large quantities of tea, and understand the lure such a blog potentially possesses.

With each post, the blog delves more and more into the world of tea, discussing different tea types, various tea uses, recipes calling for tea, franchised tea products and even extends its boundaries to discussing topics related historically related to tea (i.e. the post entitled "Tea Parties Resists Government's Economic Plans). Clearly, this blog's purpose is to make sure its audience gains access to every type of information available on tea and present it in an easily readable and interesting way.

The blog's author speaks to his audience from his own, opinionated point of view, and while sometimes he posts topics based solely on personal experience, he also includes posts supported by articles in the New York Times. In addition, his posts usually appear fully clad with links to various food and recipe websites as well as grocery stores and food markets so as to grant his posts with some source of credibility. I know I hate when someone tells me about a sumptuous new food or drink item to buy and I have no idea where to find it. So links in a blog like this one not only serve as helpful informatives but also as essential tools for the sake of tea loving readers!

The blog's overall layout and design agrees and compliments its content, utilizing calm colors that contribute to its welcoming tone. The basic setup allows for easy access and with a lack of intense, high-tech add-ons, the blog's content behaves as the main focus and tea acts as the star.

So next time I need a snack to accompany the mounds of homework piled up next to my computer, I will refrain from blindly purchasing a 23-ounce can of Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey and instead, let this tea blog choose so that I may indeed experience a teany taste of the sublime.

Self-Serve Yourself

For student veterans of the University of Colorado semester system, the beginning of a new semester always marks two very important events. The first being a brand new schedule with which to enjoy the new faces of both professors and students before the monotony of each course sinks in, and the second, an ever-present, guaranteed three-day weekend.

While during the Fall semester the first weekend falls directly on the Labor Day holiday, the Spring semester commences the week preceding Martin Luther King, Jr. day, making students’ first weekend three days long. So when Dr. Stevens posed the question, “Why is today significant?” in class for our first blog assignment, I knew I wanted to wait until the mini-vacation started to reply with an answer.

In commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, citizens across the nation actively participate in celebrations and acts of service to honor the legacy of MLK, Jr. and his essential contribution to the civil rights movement of our nation. In Colorado alone, while cities like Boulder hosted a rally and march from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., others organized breakfasts, keynote speeches and gatherings with which to emphasize the importance of peace, civil rights, etc.

When I woke up this morning, immensely more buoyant due to the lack of Monday morning back-to-school blues, I woke up acknowledging the significance of today as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day but also acknowledging the significance of an extra weekday to live according to my own schedule instead of one determined by the grueling demands of academia.

As a fourth year student at CU, too many times throughout my college career I feel as though I lived a life organized by thousands of grocery lists, motivated to do things only so I could check them items the list and move on to the next. Sure, there is satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment in achieving such routine tasks, but the incandescent joy and rigor of life’s richness ceases to exist within the repetition a normal school week provides.

On any normal day students wake up, go to class, go to work, go to class, go to the gym, go to class, then return home to eat, take a small break but eventually return to their studies. During the school week my life unfolds within a strict set of boundaries not allowing much leverage to luxuriate in things I truly love. And in this intolerant environment, I live not alone but within the company of others.

Steff Pace, a fellow senior and Psychology major at CU, holds hanging out with her friends to be one of her most valued past times. However relishing in this activity rarely occurs within the midst of the academic year due to her constant class project, class presentation and test preparation overload. What happened to the carefree days of elementary school?!

When the very rare three-day reprieve comes along however, such as the one myself and my other CU companions have just reveled in, the extra day grants students the freedom to enjoy what they want to enjoy without the pressures of class, grades and assignments bearing them down. Spring semester’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday becomes uniquely significant to each student in their own way as they possess the ability to spend the day like the rest of the nation – serving, whether that be collectively with the community, or individually for themselves.

So collectively in the community today was significant because Boulder residents marched across the town in commemoration of a great American leader. Today was significant because parents were able to spend the day with their children instead of work, and children were able to go to the park instead of sit in a classroom.

Individually for me today was significant because I slept in. Today was significant because I relaxed and slowly sipped two cups of coffee instead of a quick gulp of hot liquid while bolting through the door. Today was significant because my feet quenched their craving for concrete on an afternoon run along the creek instead of the unsatisfactory tread of the gym’s treadmill.

Like a buffet of food boasting delicacies from a variety of exotic and sumptuous cuisines, today was significant because I was able to self-serve. I manufactured my day with the flavors that I favor and through those flavors I lived life not as a student but purely as my individual self.

Thank God for three-day weekends.