Making Sense of the Media

Allegations of sexual impropriety in the Lakeland, Florida police department (LPD) have shaken the police department and the community.

A State Attorney's Office report details allegations of consensual and forced sexual encounters involving more than 20 LPD officers or former officers.

And the Lakeland Ledger newspaper can take a lot of credit for helping bring the scandal to light.

Are you a traditional consumer of media, a social consumer or a lurker? 

Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense-Making Project" said that the recent glut of news from the Supreme Court,  the George Zimmerman trial and a filibuster in the Texas legislature revealed how many different kinds of news consumers there are in the digital age.

"This was the week I realized how dramatically everything has changed in the way we consume news," explained McBride. "And, at the same time,  how firmly some of our roots are still planted in the old platforms."

Neal Conan has hosted NPR's Talk of the Nation for more than a decade, but this week it's Conan himself who has everyone talking.

On Thursday, the veteran journalist will host his final broadcast of the call-in show, which airs four days a week.

Defense contractor employee Edward Snowden says he released information about the National Security Administration's "Prism" data collection program because he believed the government was doing wrong and was not going to tell the American people.

Just about everybody is packing a smart phone these days -- a smart phone equipped with a pretty decent digital camera.

And, as a cost-cutting move, the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper has fired all of its photographers and will, instead, rely on reporters taking news pictures with their smart phones.

But, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense-Making Project" said having a camera does not make someone a professional photographer.

What do the first 24-hour cable news network and a website known for cute cat videos have in common?

Well, CNN and Buzzfeed are about to share a YouTube channel.

Live, street-by-street television coverage of the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma was not enough warning to prevent the deaths of 24 people.

But, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project" says coverage of emergencies like this still has room to get better in the digital age.

The revelation that the Justice Department got a hold of phone records at the Associated Press in an effort to track down a leak has already had a chilling effect on the news media.

That's the conclusion of Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project."

"If you're working at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) or the Department of Agriculture and you think there are stories that the public ought to know, you are very unlikely to call a journalist right now," said McBride.

When Washington Wizards Center Jason Collins announced in a "Sports Illustrated" article that he is gay, it was a huge deal in the media.

And, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project" said the coverage was justified.

"This is big," explained McBride. "We have been waiting for this moment in the United States for a good three or four years."

The media has not provided wall-to-wall coverage of a particularly grisly trial of a Philadelphia abortion doctor because editors and producers say there has not been a hunger for more coverage from readers, listeners and views.

But Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project" said that the media has missed a chance to have a very important discussion by providing more coverage of this story.

"Mother Jones" magazine decided to publish recordings of a campaign strategy session in the Louisville, Ky. offices of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell while keeping the source of that recording anonymous.

Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project" says some stories are worth the risks involved in using anonymous sources.

The Associated Press Stylebook has decided to recommend against the use of the phrase "illegal immigrant" by journalists because of concerns about accuracy, according to Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project."

Since 1953, the AP has been publishing a stylebook that has become a go-to resource for journalists, writers and advertisers when it comes to style and usage.

But, the AP kicked up some controversy recently when its new stylebook recommended against using the phrase "illegal immigrant."

Changing your Facebook profile picture to support gay marriage is not the same as protesting in the streets.

If you checked out Facebook in the week that the Supreme Court heard two cases on gay marriage, you saw many people's profile pictures changed to a pink equal sign on a red background.

The media needs to do a better job of covering rape cases.

That's what the widely covered rape trial of two Steubenville, Ohio football players shows, according to Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project."

Guilty verdicts March 17 in the rape trial case of two Steubenville, Ohio football players proved, again, how strong a role social media played in this case.

And, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project" said it is just the beginning of this new age of social media power.

The two young men may not have been charged at all had they not, themselves, posted incriminating photos of the victim on the internet.

Journalists can no longer be certain that when they write they will get paid.

Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Making Sense" project says that there has been a big debate in recent weeks over journalists being asked to give up some of their words for free.

If you haven't seen the "Harlem Shake" videos sweeping the internet, that says something about how plugged in you are to the World Wide Web.

That's the conclusion of Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project."

If you are completely unplugged, here's a a brief explanation of the Harlem Shake.

These are 30 second videos of people dancing crazily to a tune by New York DJ Baauer.

What does ending Saturday mail delivery have to do with the media?

Well, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project" says there are still some kinds of media that use snail mail.

"There are two categories of news that traditional come through the mail," McBride explains. " One is magazines, and many of the news weekly magazines are delivered on Saturday. And then, the second, there are certain community newspapers that rely on the post office to distribute their newspapers. These are predominantly small...rural communities."

The Super Bowl may be the most watched TV event of the year, but in this multi-media age it's also the last gasp of old media.

Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making Project" says that while the Super Bowl continues to draw bigger and bigger TV audiences, it's just not the way people experience media anymore.

Most of us have heard the story of Notre Dame Linebacker Manti Te'0 and his girlfriend that didn't exist. She was an internet hoax.

The real story of his imaginary girlfriend wasn't told by the big sports media organizations that had helped spread the myth to begin with.

No, the bloggers at a sports website called "Deadspin" broke the news.

That doesn't really surprise Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's Sense Making Project.

"Deadspin is known as a, sort of, in your face, I'm gonna stick my finger in the eye of the big guy sports website," she said.

The debate over gun violence in America was re-ignited with the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December.

Shortly after the shootings, the Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., ran a story with the names and addresses of registered gun owners in the area.

The newspaper said that it felt "sharing the information about gun permits in our area was important in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings."

However, the newspaper's action caused another firestorm, with one New York State senator immediately proposing to remove the names of registered gun owners from the public record -- making them available only to law enforcement.

To Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute's "Sense Making" project, this is what can happen if journalists aren't careful with how they use public records.