WEEK 11: Research Round Table

SHARE YOUR FINDINGS

We will discuss the database research that you did about your chosen Journo Hero. Be ready to discuss your findings. Also think about:

• Which of these databases proved most useful and why?
• What was the learning curve like in using these databases, as opposed to doing a quick Google search? Did it become easier with use?
• What are advantages you found in using these topic-driven databases as opposed to a Google search?
• Did you find any other topic-driven sources along the way? Any that you would recommend to the rest of us?

Each student will have a chance to speak individually and share their blog post with the class.

Be prepared to speak for a few minutes — a great chance to practice public speaking and professional presentation skills. Also a great chance to become comfortable talking about research.

I'll bring snacks, as always.

HOMEWORK

READ   This short overview about the Muckrakers and the Progressive Era from Kahn Academy. 

READ   This passionate guest column from Nieman Reports magazine by veteran investigative reporter and journalism historian Steve Weinberg about the inner fire that drives investigative journalists. He is the author of, among other books, Taking On The Trust, about Ida Tarbell's take down of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Co. 

WATCH   This 50-minute documentary about famed Muckraker Upton Sinclair and an unusual interaction between journalism and politics in the 1930s: The Great Depression, Pt. 4: We Have a Plan

BLOG   Write a regular-length blog post reflecting on these short writings and/or the video. Consider:

• What is the difference between Yellow Journalism and Muckraking?
  
• Why would some people consider both of them to a bad thing? Who would those people be?
  
• If one is good and the other bad, how can journalists make sure that the good one is not confused with the bad one? How can they make sure the public knows that the good one is a public good and not a public evil?
  
• If Muckraking is about watchdog journalism, how involved in politics should journalists be? A lot, a little, not at all? Share the thinking behind your answer. 
• How is the term "muckraker" related to the term "whistleblower"? If journalists and journalism scholars praise Upston Sinclair for his work as a muckraker back then, why don't they praise Julian Assange for his work as a whistleblower today?