Mars99's Weblog

Legal and ethical considerations on the Internet

mars99 — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:50:25 +0000

The first task I’d do is verify the authenticity of the video that shows the prominent minister with a drink in his hand and hanging out with scantily clad women. There are a couple of ways the video could be verified. Obviously, the first way would be to call the minister and ask him directly. But I’d want to do more reporting first before contacting him. So, I’d call the bar manager and/or owner and ask if the minister had been hanging out at the bar that day. Also, I’d ask the bar manager about the identities of the women in case he or she knows. Are they mistresses? Prostitutes? Friends? Perhaps the bar owner knows. I’d also ask to speak to any patrons who are still at the bar who may know who the minister is. If I don’t have any luck getting the bar manager/owner on the phone, I’d go visit the bar. Who knows? Maybe the minister is still hanging out at the place. If I’m able to verify the video’s authenticity, then I’d go to my assignment desk editor and let him or her about the video. From there, we’d determine how we want to proceed. We would need to call the minister to get comment from him and find out who the women were. Also, the station would probably want to check for any previous footage of the minister that shows him preaching on the virtues of marriage. I think we should air the video if we can get comment from the minister whether it’s on or off camera.

Final Project

mars99 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:48:01 +0000

For my final project, I’m profiling Suzanne Baldon, a forensic artist whose work has helped authorities identify homicide victims and missing persons. In one case, her reconstruction of a homicide victim’s remains found 40 years ago helped authorities determine an identification. Fort Worth police had kept the skeletal remains of a homicide victim named Kenneth Bennett Glaze who had disappeared in 1963. His car was found abandoned a few days after his disappearance. His remains were found months later in an unincorporated part of Tarrant County. The police released a sketch, but no identification was ever made. The remains were turned over to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office where experts re-analyzed the bones. Ms. Baldon later did a facial reconstruction. And a family member identified Mr. Glaze and DNA testing confirmed his identity. For the video, I’d like for Ms. Baldon talk about one of her cases. I may ask her to discuss the Glaze case.

Also, I’d like to capture the facial reconstruction process and how it works. Ms. Baldon, who is an anthropology lecturer at the University of Texas at Arlington, teaches class on Monday nights. In April, she and her students will work on a facial reconstruction project. I’m hoping I can show the process by taping her working with her students as she teaches them. I plan to pull still images from the video which could be used in a slideshow.

Check out my Slide Show!

mars99 — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:54:07 +0000

Analysis of photos

mars99 — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:43:55 +0000

The Los Angeles Times recently had a piece about a commercial diver who is working in an industry that has been in decline and become more dangerous. Terry Herzik, 61, goes diving for sea urchins and sea cucumbers, which are considered delicacies in Asia. According to the story, the sea urchin market is currently overloaded. Buyers don’t want any urchins until the quality improves. But Mr. Herzik continues to dive in search of good urchins even though his occupation has taken a toll on his body. He dives in icy water and drags heavy bags of sea urchins and sea cucumbers. He’s often tired after diving for several days. And sometimes he may not get much during his dives.

Here is the link to the story complete with pics, http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-herzik19feb19,0,1405353.story

The story features two photos. One photo shows Mr. Herzik pouring warm water into his wet suit to help brace himself for the icy water off Catalina Island. His eyes are closed. One hand is on his forehead while he’s pouring water on himself using his other hand. I think the photographer should’ve perhaps captured Mr. Herzik after he completed a dive. I think this type of photo would have better represented Mr. Herzik’s fatigue or stress especially if he had just finished a dive that proved fruitless. This story was about his struggle on whether to stay in a depleted industry that had once been fulfilling for him. But at the same time, he’s diminished much of his retirement fund and he needs the money to support him and his wife. So, I think the photo should have somehow conveyed his distress.

The other photo in the story is a small headshot of Mr. Herzik wearing his divemask underwater. I think the photographer should have shot a picture of Mr. Herzik collecting sea urchins in the ocean. I think this would’ve been a better visual. But I also have to consider that perhaps the newspaper doesn’t have underwater photo equipment. Or maybe there wasn’t a photographer on staff who is a certified scuba diver that would enable him/her to shoot pictures underwater.

I also read another LA Times story about how the Chino meat packing plant in California was recently closed down by the government after an undercover investigator witnessed sick animals being brutalized there. The investigator was part of an undercover operation led by the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office. The investigator had an hidden camera that showed some workers brutalizing animals who were often too sick to go to their slaughter. Federal regulations mandate that only animals who can walk on their own can be used for meat. According to the story, cattle that cannot walk have a higher occurance of mad cow disease and need to be euthanized and removed immediately. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the recall of 143 million pounds of beef, the biggest beef recall in U.S. history, after learning of the investigation’s findings.

The article’s picture shows a close shot of a security guard shutting the gates at the meat packing plant after the government ordered for the plant to close down. I think the picture is good because it depicts the plant’s closing. But I also think it would’ve been better if it had been shot at another angle. Perhaps the photographer could’ve taken a wider shot that shows the security guard using his entire body weight to close the gate instead of a tight shot that only shows a small portion of the gate. I think the wider shot would’ve better conveyed the enormity of the situation.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-undercover19feb19,0,7609483.story?page=1

Thoughts about LA Times series & multimedia package

mars99 — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:25:03 +0000

In 2006, The Los Angeles Times featured a five-part series about the environmental crisis in the oceans. The series also featured an incredible multimedia package that included interactive graphics, a message board, videos, and a photo gallery. Click here to be directed to the package, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans/la-oceans-series,0,7842752.special

The underwater photography and videography are stunning. The quality of the video made me feel like I was watching a documentary on the Discovery Channel. The video provided good examples of how some of the coral in the oceans are decaying. One video called “The Tipping Point” showed scientists visiting coral that had been damaged when a hurricane hit Discovery Bay, Jamaica about 26 years ago. Then, the scientists thought the coral would recover and survive. But it never did. Instead, factors such as overfishing led to the coral’s continual decay.

What I especially liked is how the multimedia component conveyed some of the complex processes that contribute to the contamination of the world’s oceans. For instance, one part of the interactive presentation showed how coastal water can experience “toxic shock” when it’s exposed to an overabundance of nutrients from run-off from the mainland. This overabundance can inhibit oxygen in the water, which leads to the death of sea stars, corals and some fish. Readers can click on five graphics that detail this process. The graphics are animated, depicting sealife, water flow, etc.

You can tell this series really resonated with readers because the message board had been pretty active until it was closed down. The discussions are archived. This is probably one of the most active message boards I’ve seen for a newspaper series. I’ve seen message boards for other packages on other news web sites where the only people posting discussion entries are the journalists who wrote the series.

The series is well-written. And the reporter Kenneth Weiss did an excellent job of humanizing some of the environmental issues. One of my favorite pieces entitled, “Dark Tides, III Winds,” features anecdotes from some Florida residents who become sick when there are outbreaks of red tide along the state’s Gulf Coast.

Red tide is essentially toxic algae blooms that contain toxins that are carried onto the shore by the sea breeze, according to the article. The outbreaks are referred to as red tides. What causes red tide? Here’s a graph on its explanation from the article: Overfishing, destruction of wetlands, industrial pollution and climate change have made the seas inhospitable for fish and more advanced forms of life and freed the lowliest — algae and bacteria — to flourish.Some of the anecdotes and quotes are powerful and give the readers a real sense of how harmful red tide can be.Here’s one example:

John Purdy, a former Manatee County lifeguard, was paddling his surfboard over a wave last fall when some sea foam lifted off the water and into his mouth just as he was gulping for air.“I felt like I inhaled a garbage bag,” said Purdy, 33, a former high school swimming champion. “It locked up my lungs and throat like a paralysis.” The seconds ticked by. “I was thinking, ‘Is this the way it’s going to end?’ “

Overall, I enjoyed the series. It was educational and well-reported. And the multimedia package definitely enhanced the story and understanding of how the world’s oceans are in distress.

Hello world!

mars99 — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:53:40 +0000

This is my first post in my visual journalism class at UNT.