Trademark Taboo

Trademarks are tricky little devils.  There are many common words that we use everyday that are actually trademarked.  While this may not seem like a problem, it can be for journalists.  Journalists have to be careful about how they use words when writing because they certainly don't want a lawsuit on their hands.  To be safe, journalists must avoid using trademarked words in their pieces, and instead come up with another way to get their point across.  This task can be a bit difficult, but it definitely saves the money and time of having to go to court.

Did you know that these words are trademarked?

Investigating Journalism

You may or may not have heard of David Protess, a professor at the journalism school at Northwestern University.  For 30 years, he has been behind the Medill Innocence Project, which has freed 12+ prisoners who were wrongly convicted.

However, now the tables have turned, and he is being investigated.  Lawyers are claiming that his and his students' tactics are too deceptive and that there have been cooperation schemes.

Whatever the outcome of this trial, I hope that journalists will still continue to dig for the truth and help to free the innocent.  Journalism is a public service, and we must remember that just reporting the news is not enough, we must dig a little deeper.

The Internet Giant

I'm a journalism major.  Saying this out loud to myself or better yet, a room full of people can be quite intimidating.  I get asked what exactly I plan to do with my degree, since it appears to the naked eye that the journalism world is on its way out.  I always politely respond to people who question my decision, telling them about how I don't think journalism is quite dead and how my skills are applicable to many other jobs should I find otherwise.

Today's two articles both deal with this sensitive issue of the vitality of journalism in the face of the Internet and new media.

Journalism is ever expanding into the digital world, where the readers are.  Readers for the most part no longer flock to the print media, and we realize this, and are in the process of adapting & evolving to fit these new demands.

Though, the digital world presents a fair share of problems as well.  Including increased competition, which might very well bring an end to journalism as a serious profession.

I personally believe that journalism can and will survive, it is just going to morph into whatever form that the public demands and wants, and that is perfectly acceptable to me.