The First Amendmnet Handbook

Jared Lambert
Comm. 240
5/19/09

The First Amendment Handbook

Everyday, all over the country, journalists tread a thin line regarding the first amendment. Therefore, it

is very important for every journalist, including student journalists, to have a general understanding of the

laws upheld by the first amendment. The First Amendment Handbook does an excellent job at providing

general information on the rights of an individual that can help a journalist know the boundaries on

defamation, privacy laws, and things that are not commonly known, like surreptitious recordings and

access to public places. All of this and more is found in the handbook and serves as a support system for

all journalists.

A journalist well versed in the instruction laid out in the First Amendment Handbook will be more

likely to avoid problems associated with libel. Libel is the written form of defamation towards an

individual. Any false information that can damage a person’s reputation is considered libel. For this

reason it is very important for every reporter to make sure that what they are saying in print and how they

say it is completely true.


Much like libel, another form of defamation is slander. Slander is the spoken form of defamation

towards another person’s character. Many television news reporters are guilty of slander when they fail to

check the facts on what they are reporting.


The First Amendment Handbook helps journalists understand invasion of privacy laws, which vary

from state to state. For example, California has the strictest privacy laws in the United States due to the

fact that there are many celebrities that live there and that the paparazzi love to write stories about them.

Because of this, it is very important that every journalist understand their individual state laws concerning

invasion of privacy.


The Handbook doesn't just cover general first amendment laws but also points out others that are more

unique to journalism. Some of these include surreptitious recordings, which limits the use of the such

devises as tape recorders or video camcorders during an interview with an individual. Much like privacy

laws, surreptitious recording laws differentiate between states so it is important that journalists be aware

of the specific laws applicable to their state.

Journalists will always need to understand what is public and open to everyone and what is private

and nonpublic. The First Amendment Handbook does an excellent job at expounding on the point that

many places—such as courthouses, jails, and city halls—may serve the public but are not considered

public property. Such nonpublic zones require reporters to attain special access to enter.


The First Amendment Handbook does a great job outlining the important rights individuals have and

how every journalist needs to be familiar with them in order to take the necessary precautions when doing

a report. If every reporter was able to understand all the aspects that the first amendment protects there

would be fewer lawsuits in America.

Xinhua News Agency

sorry this wasn't posted til now I just realized I hit save as draft and not publish post
Xinhua News Agency

The Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the People's Republic of China and by far the biggest center for collecting news in China. According to Wikipedia, the Xinhua News Agency employs over 10,000 people and maintains over 100 bureaus worldwide. (To put that in perspective, Reuters News Service employs approximately 1,300 people.) Apparently, the goal of the Xinhua News Agency is to become a world recognized reporter of the news but with the underlying premise to always promote a positive image of China and the Party ideology.
The Xinhua press agency began operating in November 1931 as the Red China News Agency. In 1937 the name was changed to Xinhua News Agency. The Xinhua headquarters is located in Beijing.
The Xinhua News Agency has been described as the "eyes and tongue" of the Communist Party. A former director of the Xinhua News Agency noted that: "The agency was a bridge between the Party, the government and the people. communicating both the demands of the people and the policies of the Party" (Wikipedia, "Xinhua News Agency" [5])
Wikipedia also points out that being so closely tied to the Party and the government, the Xinhua News Agency has a credibility problem. China has recently announced that it will invest 20 billion yuan to try to change that credibility perception so that the Xinhua News Agency can be recognized as a true journalistic presence in the West.
In an effort to expand their readership to countries outside China, in 1997 the Xinhua News Agency created the Xinhuanet which is an online news service. Xinhuanet provides news services in six languages - Chinese, English, Spanish, French, Russian and Arabic and now has over 800 million hits and 80 million page views per day.
Xinhuanet reports that it is the top news website in China and one of the most influential sites in the world. According to Alexa, a U.S. website-ranking service, Xinhuanet is third among the world's news websites, narrowly trailing the BBC and CNN.
Xinhuanet has set as its goal to "publicize China and report the world." (www.chinaview.cn 2007-08-31) It releases approximately 15,000 news stories per day where 80% of the stories are about China. The stories are designed to promote China's politics, economy, society, science and technology, education and culture.
Xinhuanet has reporters in more than 100 countries around the world. The News Service releases news twenty-four hours a day. Xinhua claims to utilize the most modern communication technology. It utilizes a "satellite communications and transmission network and has introduced 10 computerized information processing systems covering text editing, photo processing, news communications, economic information and data indexing." (www.chinaculture.org)
Xinhuanet states that it pursues timely, accurate, credible and fair news coverage. It boasts that it was the first website to inform the world of U.S. air strikes that heralded the start of the Iraq War and other major international issues. (www.chinaculture.org)
Xinhuanet utilizes an all-media approach in releasing news stories, including: text, photos, graphics, audio, video, short message, MMS, WAP, electronic magazine and RSS. Xinhuanet notes that it is so proficient in broadcasting live international events, that it was approved to cover the live press conference of the Sino-U.S. summit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and members of the White House press corps watched their live feed and filed theire stories based on what they saw and heard from Xinhuanet. (www.chinaview.cn 2007-08-31 16:07:38)

So it is obvious that The Xinhua News Agency and the Xinhuanet have established a world presence in reporting news of China and news of other countries throughout the world. The issue still looming over the Xinhua News Agency is credibility. It is probably still difficult for viewers to know if the reports are timely, accurate, credible and fair or if they are slanted to present China in a positive light at the expense of accurate information.


Works Cited
www.chinaview.cn 2007-08-31
www.chinaculture.org

Salt Lake City Permit Fees Increase!

Salt Lake City Permit Fees Increase!

Can you imagine a City Council Meeting where an increase in Permit Fees was proposed and almost everyone in attendance broke into applause. That show of overwhelming support was part of the Salt Lake City Council Meeting held on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. The Parks and Service Bureau proposed a increase in various permit fees. Denise Richards, who had been on the parks and service bureau for over four years, explained that the permit fees would mainly go up on special services, while the more common permit fees will stay the same. Building Permit fees would not go up but the cost of services would go up by 7% and all "forms of structure work will stay the same... no commercial or residential building permit fees will go up."

Even those that will be affected the most by the permit fee increase applauded the proposal. Simon Thompson who owns a small architecture business was "heartedly for the whole proposal" he added, "you don't get many commercial businesses that would say that about a fee increase".

But why would everyone be in favor a paying more for something? The Parks Bureau explained that they needed this increase to try and avoid any layoffs for any of their employees so that they can do their job as efficiently as possible and help the economy stay on its feet. Simon explained that especially working in architecture the faster he can get his permits the better everyone will be. He also explained that the fee increase would affect the more specialized work and the commercial respects a fee increase for those forms of services.

This seems to be a great example of how all the people in Salt Lake in all forms of industry are trying to keep this economy going strong amidst hard times.

Give a Man a Fish You Feed Him For a Day Teach a Man to Fish You Feed Him For a Life Time

There cannot be a worse feeling in the world than having to tell your children that you wont be able to eat that night because you have no money. Danisio DeLuz was forced to live through that time and time
again.

Danisio DeLuz is a 32 year old with a wife and a baby living on the island of Sao Vicente in the country of Cape Verde 500 miles off the coast of West Africa. He was struggling with no job and no way of providing for his family.

Although Danisio had no job opportunities in front of him he was directed to a free course that would help him start his own business with a micro loan of $1,000. While that may not seem like a lot in America it is more than enough in Africa.

The free course helped Danisio focus on the skills he already had. In his previous work experience Danisio expressed a skill he had in making fiberglass. It was something he already knew how to do and loved doing it. The course helped him understand how to incorporate his already known skills into his own business. They also helped him see that while there were already companies on his island that made fiberglass he could create his new business in fiberglass boat repairs, which his island sorely needed.

After completing five week coarse Danisio created his small business called "Fibribot Conserti" right off the harbor with the money from his micro loan. Within one year he had paid back the micro loan and within two years he became one of the biggest boat repair shops in the country.

Danisio is just one of the examples of how the right kind of humanitarian aid can go a long way.