Posted on Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Ten Westminster College broadcast communications students and their instructor attended the 2009 Poynter/Kent State University Media Ethics Workshop Sept. 17.
The students are in the Broadcast Journalism class taught by Bradley Weaver, Westminster instructor of broadcast communications, who accompanied the group.
The national conference brought together students, faculty, professionals, ethics experts, and featured online journalists.
WKYC-TV journalist Eric Mansfield advised students who wanted a job after graduation to learn how to use social network sites Facebook and Twitter and learn to use them ethically. Mansfield and other experts discussed what values will be carried over from traditional journalism as the evolving model of news continues to change.
Westminster students agreed the most compelling session was a panel on "When the News Finds You through Social Media." Topics included ethical issues involving the use of images, video, and information from sources like Facebook, MySpace, and weblogs. The panelists stressed the need for accuracy, credibility, and making those resources a first step, not an end result.
"My dissertation research focuses on media ethics and the hyper-reality created by the media circus regarding certain news events," Weaver said. "The experience of hearing from experts in the field gives our students another perspective."
Contact Weaver at (724) 946-7238, e-mail weaverbl@westminster.edu, or visit http://bccapstone2005.blogspot.com/2009/09/learn-to-use-twitter-facebook-and-do.html for additional information.
