http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/14/media/michael-flynn-investigative-journalism/index.html
journalists kept asking questions and it led to big things
“the sources caused journalists to dig for more and more details about Flynn’s calls. One story became 10 stories, and 10 became a hundred”.
“Evan Osnos of The New Yorker tweeted, “The Flynn story is a reminder of a big truth: Journalism lives. And principled public servants who got the story out are hidden heroes””
Flynn called the Russians multiple times
Flynn resigned
The move comes less than a month into the job, making him one of the shortest-serving senior presidential advisers in modern history
Flynn was a white house national security adviser
“More than whether he really had a conversation with the Russians about sanctions, the key issue internally was whether he told the truth to Pence”
“We need to know who else within the White House is a current and ongoing risk to our national security”
“Flynn was not able to definitively refute a Washington Post story late last week that his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak included communication about the sanctions. It is illegal for unauthorized private citizens to negotiate with foreign governments on behalf of the US”
“Many expressed concern at the idea that Flynn, a retired lieutenant general who headed the Defense Intelligence Agency, would discuss sanctions with a foreign official”
Shane Moreland Channel 7 KWWL
Saturday Night Live- Melissa McCarthy: Sean Spicer Press Conference
“fake news”- political, look at trusted sources, what was trusted 10 years ago might not be trusted today, look at lots of media for a long haul,
Brian Williams left NBC for fake stories
Trump admin calling on local affiliates not just big news orgs
norm turned upside down
people are tired of media complaining about not getting picked
journalists get extremely close to the president- too close? cloud your judgement?
“good to shake up the status quo”
makes you think about why they do what they do (journalists)
trust in journalists is about as low as it can get tonight
need a balance of news stories
people are interested in lots of things
“people buy the paper because of the headline”
Video- shooting, murder, dead person, no info from sherrif’s office; if there is a problem people look to the news source first; 3 days to get info, let news help to let people know they’re safe, if you can see it from a public place you’re fine to take pics/videos, when media is clearly in the right and it goes before a jury- 50/50 chance of being right- media has to be very careful
as journalists you represent the people- the sheriff/police represent the government
the public needs to know
RTDNA code of ethics- minimize harm particularly to vulnerable individuals, responsible reporting means considering the consequence, right to to report does not always mean its right to do so, obligation is to pursue truth and report, not withhold it, shying away from difficult cases is not ethical
“journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations” gorge orwell
“job is to be reporters not repeaters”
stories that are hard to confirm- “come do a story on me” red flag!! need cooperation and facts, when someone calls their own news conference its very suspect
a lot of this is a judgement call
don’t believe anything anybody tells you; believe they’re lying; they have to prove it; don’t take things at face value; fact check; hold them accountable; challenge them on their answers; use your common sense; ask questions
just go and you’ll find a story; news doesn’t happen in the news room, it happens out there
if you don’t talk to the media, it looks like you’re hiding something
do everything you can to protect identity of sexual assault victim- rape shield law in Iowa
hard to do a story on sexual assault
if you do something wrong, make amends first and foremost not excuses