Sept.+29

**(1) Class Summary**
We started off the class by discussing whether or not we believed what the Mother Jones reporter, Mac McClelland, did was right. During a visit to a hospital with a rape victim in Haiti, were her Twitter "updates" ethical? We discussed where journalists boundaries lie. Who should decide when explicit details are too much? We looked at factors like: 1. McClelland style for tweeting updates is already known to her followers (she's done this style of journalism before). 2. Her followers know her position and credibility since she has covered various stories, like the BP oil spill. 3. The rape story had already gotten publicity locally, just not in the United States. But the class debated to what extent were her tweets inappropriate? With any story, it's important to have reliable sources, but it's hard to make judgment without knowing the context. Next, we took notes on the concept of Gatekeeping. Gatekeeping is "a regime of control over what content is allowed to emerge from the production processes in print and broadcast media." Basically, gatekeeping is used as a filter. News stations and organizations have their own filters to control what their audiences receive. In a way, it is a term related to censorship because news organizations decide what information to distribute. To relate gatekeeping on our level, our university has thought about shutting down internet access temporarily in certain parts of the school to cut down on internet piracy. When online news sources come in to play, gatekeeping changes. The reason is because the whole globe has access to a website all day, everyday. We closed the notes by watching two videos that had to do with today's topics, the spread of news and rape. They were very touchy subjects, for in the second video, Haitian women were interviewed and the class got a first hand glance at what post-eathquake Haiti is like: a violent-filled land with dangers lurking everywhere, especially for women. When they were over, we broke up into groups and debated whether filters should stand. Either 1) with the individual journalist, 2) witht he news organization, or 3) with the individual person/audience.

**(2) Class Discussion**
Today we had a good lesson on what gatekeeping was. It was nice to hear everyones opinions on wether action 1, 2, or 3 is best when it comes to gatekeeping. I know that I am a 1 because I didn't feel that the journalist who was tweeting the news of the Haitian woman who was raped should have been tweeting that. I feel that the journalist should have just taken her own notes on the rap and it should have been her job to gate keep the information. She should have kept notes and then used them to write an article on the story. There was a quote from Akhila Kolisetty that said, "Twitter is too ephemeral a tool for something as serious as rape". I agree with that quote completely. If I was one of Mac McClelland's followers I would be angry because I wasn't getting a full story on what was happening. I wouldn't have access to look it up anywhere else either because she hadn't written it yet. I also think that she shouldn't have tweeted about the rape because did the rape victim really know and understand what McClelland was doing when she asked for her consent? I don't think she did and I'm sure she was in shock to where she didn't understand enough with what was going on.

**(3) Materials used in class today, or that provide additional background**

 * Powerpoint shown in class**

[|How to use Twitter] [|Twitter for Journalists] (BlogTalkRadio, 90 minute program, Columbia Journalism School) [|Jon Stewart on Twitter Frenzy] [|Trouble with Twitters: Super News] Lists of journalism students, j-profs and journalists to follow on Twitter ([|Emily Ingram], [|10,000 Words], [|Paul Bradshaw])
 * Twitter**

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: [|Violence Prevention]
 * Sexual Violence**

Excerpt of "[|Haiti: Killing the Dream]" [|CBS History of Haiti] [|Al Jazeera's History of Haiti] [|Cross International] [|Current TV: Live from Haiti] [|Rape Accountability and Prevention Project,] [|Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti]
 * History of Haiti**