Monthly Archives: May 2013

The justice department has seized the phone record of the AP press and its reporters. AP says that this violated their first amendment right to free speech and impedes their process for gathering news. They say that the phone records can reveal anonymous sources and other information that they have gathered. The government is citing national security as its excuse.

I think this story is important because it is undisputed that journalists and news organizations are a check on government and corporations. Where their tools for delivering the news to the public be seized, we would no longer have access to information. The fact that the government always uses “national security” as an excuse has become a pattern that will filter the news we receive and will allow the government no accountability for their actions.

You can read more about it with this link:

1) Do you think that there are any integrity issues with writing a detailed profile using stories and anecdotes to describe a person you have never met?

2)Would you describe works you have done like the piece on Richard Pryor as new journalism?

3) What is your process for maintaining a clear chronology, while writing a piece as long and detailed as the Pryor or Fonda profiles?

4)What is your note taking process like, and how do you use notes to develop a story?