Green Movement Goes Blue

With last week’s Earth Day celebration activities fresh in the minds of Maine residents, Governor John Baldacci claims that the state has a long standing dedication to the environment. One area of major concern is clean water, making the Clean Water Act essential to the future of Maine beaches and coasts.

The Clean Water Act, a federal act, aims to restore and maintain the natural, biological integrity of the world’s waters. In Maine, this means honing in on the protection of coastal waters. On June 12 of last year, a bond was approved, delegating $18.3 million toward improve both water quality and wastewater infrastructure. This came after a report in 2007 announced that more than 80 percent of industrial and municipal facilities in Maine discharged more pollution into Maine waterways than the Clean Water Act permitted.

According to documents obtained by an independent research group called Environment Maine, facilities were exceeding their permits by more than 2.5 times the legal limit. Because of these violations, state officials chose to make clean water a focus in recent years. Currently, most companies violating the clean water laws get nothing more than a simple slap on the wrist. However advocacy groups, such as Environment Maine, is calling for stricter enforcement. The group is not only calling for stricter enforcement, but they are calling for an increase in the amount of the fines given to violators. Their website claims “when fines are imposed, they should be high enough to deter future pollution. It shouldn’t pay to pollute.”

The only way to improve the water quality issue within the state of Maine is to draw attention to the problem. This involves contacting local representatives to voice concerns, as well as report clean water violations to the proper agencies. One agency that fields calls is the Department of Environmental Protection, which allows people to speak one on one with field service and enforcement staff workers to determine the best plan of action to address the specific violation.

With all the media attention on the current state of climate change and pollution in the country, clean water has taken a back seat. It is time to bring the spotlight back to an area of environmental concern which can greatly impact the health of Maine citizens in the future.

Budgets and Policies Weigh Heavily on School Board Agenda

Budget cuts and policy changes were the main topics on the agenda of the AOS 92’s March school board meeting. Administrators, faculty, and others of Vassalboro, Waterville, and Winslow attended the meeting to discuss the impending changes in the newly formed administrative group.
The meeting began with a review of previous minutes, as well as an overview of awards and activities that had taken place from the last meeting. This included awarding the successful music program in the school systems. Assistant Superintendent Peter Thiboutot talked of the success of K-12 leadership meetings thus far, claiming that the coming together of leaders from all schools has helped lend ideas toward a successful future.
“The meetings have been very informant”, Thiboutot explained.
After the opening duties were completed, the discussion moved quickly into budget talks, as the new AOS has to find a way to work with a larger district while still saving money. With the new budget, Waterville Public Schools alone will be losing approximately $909,000 in revenue, and the AOS as a hole will be losing $1.9 million.
“We need to bring our structure down to something we can manage,” Haley claimed. “We need to make proactive decisions about what resources we do have.”
In order to address these issues, a budget team has been developed to work out the figures. This team is made up of both faculty and administrators from all schools within the system, and holds monthly workshops to hammer out the budget details.
In other business, Waterville Senior High School Assistant Principal Carol Dodge introduced a change in the attendance policy. She explained that a team of faculty wrote a complete rewrite to streamline the policy. In the current policy, students were failing in October due to absences, which meant they would fail for the year. This eliminated the motivation for those students. The new policy would allow for students to make up absences through extra work outside the classroom, to help them get back on track.
“The policy was supported by all but one teacher,” Dodge said. “The object is really to level the playing field, lower dropout rates, and raise the graduation rates. The current policies separate the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. Those that ‘have’ can get excuses, but the ‘have nots’ can’t,” explained Dodge.
“I am proud that Waterville is taking the lead in the change in education in the state of Maine,” Pamela Trinward, school board member and state Representative, said.
While the future of education in the state of Maine is currently unknown, the overall feeling of the AOS board members was both optimistic and realistic. The funds are limited, the times are hard, but the determination for success may be just what the district needs to stay on track.

Early Errors Sink Mules

WATERVILLE-Early mistakes proved to be too much for the Colby College baseball team to overcome in the Friday afternoon matchup against conference rival Bowdoin College at Coombs Field in Waterville.
While the Mules fought hard to battle back throughout the game, a seventh inning rally by the opposing Polar Bears, including a homerun and an RBI single, sank the home team in the end. The win moves Bowdoin to a 20-5 record on the season, 3-1 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Colby falls to 9-10, 0-7 in the conference.

The Polar Bears struck first in the game, with the help of a hit batter, two walks, and a Colby College passed ball, in the first inning to score a run. They added to their lead in the second inning, thanks to two more hit batters, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly by catcher Reid Auger.

Colby fought back, using a two-run single by senior Nick Ruocco in the second inning to erase the deficit. Bowdoin wasted no time getting their lead back, receiving an RBI single by Kevin Zikaras in the third to put them on top 3-2, but again that lead was erased in the next half inning, courtesy of Brendan Gallagher’s two-run triple and Nikolas Atsalis’ RBI single. The Mules led 5-3 at the end of the third.

Both teams fought hard in this back and forth battle, pitching and strategy to garner runs. The Polar Bears took the lead for good in the seventh inning though, scoring two runs in the seventh and adding an insurance run in the eighth inning, taking advantage of one of only five Bowdoin hits in the game.

Carter Butland earned the win in relief for the Polar Bears, while Brady Hesslein took the loss for Colby. The two teams are scheduled to meet again on Saturday in a double header, although due to the impending weather, the meeting is subject to change.

Twitter Provides More Than Gossip

Wildfires broke out all around San Diego in October 2007, leaving residents in panic and fear. Where did they turn for their news? Not the television, not the radio, but instead they turned to the more unconventional social networking website, Twitter.
Local and national media outlets flooded the scenes of the wildfires, jamming the airwaves and providing little detail as to what sort of resources were available to citizens. This is when San Diego natives Nate Ritter and Dan Tentler stepped in with a unique solution. The two began posting rapid-fire updates on Twitter, after conducting interviews from friends as well as observing first-hand reports. Twitter provided the people of California real insight into just exactly what sort of danger they were really in.
Twitter, known by most as a website that allows the average people to keep up to date with the lives of their favorite celebrities, is a micro-blogging social network website that allows people to publish 140 character messages that can be read by followers. In the face of a natural disaster, though, Twitter provided a new, invaluable service that other media outlets could not provide.
Not only is Twitter a useful way to provide personal accounts of natural disasters; it is also much speedier than any other news source. Twitter accounts are updated and maintained by average citizens, which means that information can be posted immediately rather than having to wait to go through production, as it does television news media. Reporters take the time to set up a story, and get an angle on the story. With Twitter, information can flow rapidly, before it ever reaches the major news outlets. It provides information immediately, which is what people want in the face of a natural disaster.
Twitter, the free social network site, has evolved from a simple gossip network into an important source of news in the face of a natural disaster. The world of journalism is always evolving, providing citizen journalists the opportunity to serve their fellow citizens in an invaluable way.

SoCal Earthquake a Powerful Reminder of Twitter’s Potential.. (July 29, 2008). http://venturebeat.com/2008/07/29/socal-earthquake-a-powerful-reminder-of-twitters-potential/
Poulsen, Kevin. Firsthand Reports from California Wildfires Pour Through Twitter. (October 23, 2007). http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2007/10/firsthand-repor/

Broadcast script

[Kristin] Good evening, and welcome to the Black Bear News. I’m your host, Kristin Tormollan, and here is what’s happening.
[Take VO]
[CG: University of Maine Rotaract Club at last year’s Relay for Life]
The University of Maine Rotaract Club is still looking for ways to raise money for their team in the annual Relay for Life event held on campus. Relay for Life, a 24 hour marathon for runners and walkers held yearly to raise money for the American Cancer Society, will take place on April 16 at the Orono campus. Rotaract set a fundraising goal of 800 dollars for the event, and has raised around 300 dollars thus far.
[TAKE VO-SOT]
[CG: Alison Dunn]
[TRT: 0:10]
[Kristin] And that’s the latest news.

Club Strives to Improve UMaine

The University of Maine Rotaract club spent most of their Tuesday night meeting organizing some of the major activities remaining on their calendar this semester.
The Rotaract club, a Rotary-sponsored service club that focuses on gathering 18-30 year-old men and women together to serve their communities, consists of around 15 male and female students looking to better the UMaine environment, as well as the Bangor/Orono community as a whole.
Currently, the group is working with the University’s Alumni Association in its annual Phonathon. Rotaract members are volunteering their time to call alumni in order to raise money for the school. Also on the Rotaract agenda is the University’s Relay for Life event, taking place on April 16, 2010. The Relay for Life, a fundraiser for cancer research, requires teams to raise money in order to participate. The Rotaract club has set a fundraising goal of $800 for this event, and is currently brainstorming on ways to reach that goal. They have raised $295 thus far, but still have a ways to go in order to reach their goals. The club is participating in a Penny War, as well as holding events such as a traveling bake sale, in order to help them in their lofty relay goal.
While their projects range from large, like the Phonathon and Relay for Life, the club also organized smaller activities.
“We are hosting Karaoke in the Bear’s Den this Friday night. We have some members helping out at the YMCA Spring Fair this weekend as well,” Rotaract President Alison Dunn explained.
Being a part of the improvement of the school community is a great way to meet new people. So whether you are interested in service or just having fun with a new group on campus, the University of Maine Rotaract club is a great place to start.

To learn more about Rotaract, please visit:
http://www.rotaract.org/

Community Market Thrives in Green Movement

The green movement continues to gain momentum in central Maine towns, as the Sustain Mid-Maine group strengthens its push for a more sustainable Maine. In a Strategic Analysis released in January of 2009, the group announced that it was in the process of implementing a plan to grow and support local food. A direct result of this can be seen on Main Street, Waterville, where Barrels Community Market, a newly developed year-round farmers market, is thriving, giving hope for that sustainability is taking hold.
Barrels Community Market, a nonprofit community market, sells locally produced goods at their downtown Waterville venue. The store sells both food goods as well as locally made products, like lip balm and headbands. Barrels Community Market also provides education and volunteer opportunities for the public, fulfilling the “engage the educational community” goal of the Sustain Mid-Maine project.
As explained within Sustain Mid-Maine’s Strategic Analysis, the expected result of growing and supporting local food would give every Waterville resident access to local, affordable produce every day, as well as space and support to anyone who wants to grow their own food. Members of the team developing this plan included Laura Patterson, Ann Beverage, and David Gulak, among others. Gulak now manages Barrels Market, which is open Monday through Saturday.
“We now average 50-75 transactions a day, with over 100 people coming through the market daily,” Gulak commented in response to how the community reaction has been to Barrels. Gulak also said that their clients range from Colby College staff and students, local business people, and residents. The store also accepts food stamps.
In the future, Sustain Mid-Maine hopes to encourage small gardens, including both community and home gardens, and expand the community supported- agriculture business in Waterville. While there is more to come from the project, the work done by the planning committee, Waterville Main Street, and local government officials is already leading central Maine toward a greener tomorrow.

http://www.barrelsmarket.com/cms/
http://www.waterville-me.gov/content/1233954771sap.pdf

Small Towns Make Big Moves to Go Green

Small towns are taking large steps to spark the “go green” movement in the state of Maine. Now the central Maine area is seeing the results of their efforts. On February 12, 2010 Waterville and Winslow, and the group Sustain Mid-Maine were awarded a $170,000 grant from the State of Maine Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant program. The grant is issued with the intention of towns implementing a two year energy savings plan that will help lower home energy use and promote the use of renewable energy resources.
The announcement comes about one year after the towns took action to make green energy a possibility in central Maine. On a snowy weekend in January of 2009, more than 60 central Maine citizens gathered at the Waterville Opera House in order to discuss how the region should handle the issues of global climate change and rising oil prices.
The Energy Conservation and Sustainability catalyst took to Main Street, Waterville, and involved input from a diverse group of people. Contributors included teachers, college students, state legislators, engineers, retiree, and many other members of the community. Every person had the opportunity to speak their mind about how the area should tackle the issue of sustainability. Not only will the grant aid in sustainability, but it will also help in the creating of new jobs, claimed John Joseph, Energy Committee Chair of Sustain Mid-Maine.
“The plan we devised is in line with local and national efforts and aspirations to accelerate energy conservation, the use of renewable resources, and the creation of productive jobs for the future,” Joseph explained.
These new job opportunities will provide a much needed uplift in the struggling economy, seen both nationally and locally. It is estimated that the plans for the grant will create more than a dozen local jobs and could save over $115,000 in energy costs for Waterville and Winslow homes each year. As of December 2009, the unemployment rate in Waterville was 8.5%, a bit higher than the Maine average (maine.gov). The creation of jobs, on top of the energy conservation benefit, makes the grant a win-win situation.
Central Mainers have been given the opportunity to set a “green” example for the rest of the state, and the country to some extent. Now it is up to them to put this opportunity into the spot light.


Citation:
Carnrick, Doug (2009). Community Catalyst Creates Vision 2020. http://www.waterville- me.gov/content/1245679528sustainability---community-catalyst-creates-vision-2020,- ch.pdf. Accessed February 23, 2010.
Erario, Steve (2010). City Awarded $170,000 for Energy Saving Projects. http://www.waterville- me.gov/news/article.php?id=128. Accessed February 23, 2010.
Maine Department of Labor (2010). Local Area Unemployment Statistics. http://www.maine.gov/labor/lmis/laus.html Accessed: February 25, 2010.

Hockey and Haiti

Hockey and Haiti
For Immediate Release

ORONO- A Haitian earthquake relief group is looking to the ice for assistance. The University of Maine is combining with a local healthcare partnership group in order to raise money for the struggling country after its devastating earthquake. The university is sponsoring a “white out”, in which all students are encouraged to wear white for school support, at the men’s ice hockey game this Saturday. Students will have the opportunity to make lots of noise, support their team, and raise money for the earthquake response efforts in Haiti.
During the game, raffle tickets will be sold for a drawing which will include numerous prizes. The major draw of the raffle is a UMaine hockey jersey, autographed by all the players. Raffle participants will also have the chance to win gift cards to local restaurants and bars. Tickets for the drawing will be sold for $5 for the first ticket, and $1 for each following ticket. All proceeds from the raffle will go directly to Konbit Sante, a Maine based volunteer partnership with the goal of helping to care for the Haitian community.
Konbit Sante, based out of Portland, ME, works with the Haitian Ministry of Health in order to better the health care system in Haiti. The group has been involved with teaching nursing, pediatrics, internal medicine, urology, as well as many other health areas. With the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti, Konbit Sante is working extra in order to clean up and reestablish normalcy in the troubled country.
The Black Bears look to get their season back on track, after suffering two tough losses against conference rival Boston University. They will be taking on the Minutemen of UMass-Lowell Saturday, in the second of a two game series kicking off Friday night. The Black Bears are led by Gustav Nyquist who has 14 goals and 28 assists, for a total of 42 points on the season. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m. for both games.
To learn more about Konbit Sante, please visit their website at http://www.konbitsante.org/.

The One Who Smiles

An infectious smile, a contagious laugh, and a kind and giving heart come together in perfect unison to form the character of Kate Dutil. While those who know her well lover her for her kind heart, those who meet her cannot help but appreciate her positive attitude. What many people do not know, however, is the extreme amount of hard work and perseverance that it took to get her to this point in her life.
On the outside, Kate seems as though she has it all, and to some extent she does. It is not, however, the result of simple good fortune. It is instead the result of hard work and determination. From early on, she understood the value of hard work. Academically, Kate was an honor student, making high marks in honors classes all through high school. The transition from high school to college proved to be a challenge, but Kate handled it with ease. Originally majoring in the field of molecular and cellular biology, Kate thrived in the lab environment. She made a name for herself in the predominantly male major. Even with that success, however, Kate realized after some time that her true passion was in teaching. In the spring of 2010, Kate began a new journey in the world of secondary education.
“Kate will make a great teacher. She is a hard worker and very smart. Students will be lucky to have her as a teacher,” friend Melissa Leach said with pride.
Shifting from one major to another was a difficult experience, but not an impossible one. Kate has managed to do it with ease, maintaining excellent marks and sustaining her friendships. What made it easier for her?
“I used my experiences switching from land sports to swimming to help me when I switched majors too,” Kate explained.
After being diagnosed with a tendon problem in her knee, Kate was forced to give up here interest in land athletics and refocus her attention on swimming.
“Hurting my knee definitely was an obstacle, but I decided to look on the bright side,” she claimed. “Not being able to run was difficult, but I wanted to try swimming and give it my all.”
That she did. After much training, nobody remembered the injury. Kate took to the water immediately. She earned the school records in the 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, and the 400 freestyle relay. Not only did she break school records in those races, but her relay team also qualified for the New England tournament four years in a row, an unprecedented achievement for her team.
Wherever she ends up in her career and whatever obstacles may come up, Kate will without a doubt find success, and she will do so with a smile on her face.

Writing for Broadcast Media

Writing for broadcast newscasts proves to be incredibly difficult. With only a half hour show, broadcast journalists must convey all the major headlines in a very short amount of time. This includes the weather report, news stories, sports recaps, and some editorial stories. Stories, then, must be quick and to the point. While the headlines need to grab the attention of the audience, they also need to be direct in order to get the most information across in the shortest amount of time.
WGME has received multiple awards for broadcast excellence. Their stories are usually well put together and very concise. That is not to say, though, that every lead comes without error. Journalism is subjective. While the copy editors of WGME seemed to think that their piece on blasting a quarry in Westbrook on February 1, there are some parts of the story that I feel could be changed. For example, the lead of the story does nothing to grab the attention of the audience. This story is more of a human interest piece rather than a breaking news story, so it needs that much more help in coming across as important to the viewer. By delaying the lead, the writer lost my interest. It was difficult for me to figure out what exactly the story was talking about and what the major points of the story were. If I was in charge of editing copy before the airing of this story, I would have rearranged the lead to include the important details, such as the who, when, what, and where of the story. This would not only grab the attention of the viewers, but it would clarify the thesis of the story.
On top of the formatting changes, I would also make some grammatical changes to the story. There is a sentence in the middle of the story that is awkward, seeming a bit fragmented. The story reads “Pike industries owns a quarry on Spring Street” (WGME 2010). The sentence does not really fit in with the flow of the story, and seems a bit out of place. I would have included this information within another sentence, condensing the story. One of the biggest rules of journalism is to say as much as possible in as few words as possible. This was not achieved in the WGME story. Overall the story is a good one, however even good reports have room for improvement.

“To Blast or Not to Blast.” News 13 at Six.WGME, Portland. 1 February 2010.
http://www.wgme.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wgme_vid_2282.shtml

Convergence and Consolidation: The State of Modern Journalism

The introduction of new technology may not be as positive as many people assume it to be. While the integration of internet, mobile media, blogs, and other such interactive news reporting sites pop up around the World Wide Web, the potential for growth in the realm of traditional media is rapidly declining. Due to the influx in new technologies, both the quality of reporting and the newsworthiness of the information being produced are becoming quite suspect.
While modern media forms, including television, magazines, newspapers, and computers have allowed journalists to flourish, the new turns in technology are making the field more complex. These complexities are doing more harm than good. Many argue that areas, such as the internet, have allowed journalists to research more efficiently, and create news sources that can be supplemented with pictures, videos, and fan feedback. This is absolutely true. The internet, however, is a completely open medium. Anyone, including freelance writers, professional journalists, or just an average person off the street can claim a domain on the internet. These average people now have the ability to write news stories, without the hassle of an editor, a fact checker, or any sort of objective eye in which to correct unseen mistakes. This can become incredibly dangerous. The internet allows false information to be posted; information that could potentially be harmful to an individual or a society at large. Not all information is caught by lawyers ready to swoop in with libel claims, or intentionally infliction of emotional distress suits. Not every blog on the internet can be monitored, nor can every report be checked for accuracy. The convergence of media and journalism, while to an extent can be a wonderful thing, is hovering over the line of social disaster.
Consolidation poses another threat to journalism in the modern day world. Consolidation, or the ownership of multiple news sources by a single company, is running rampant in the newspaper world. According to a report from Credit Suisse-First Boston, the chances of consolidation in newspapers is quite high, and that small companies “could become take-out targets” (Morton 1). Many small newspapers are being bought out by large publishing companies, which then consolidate the multiple local newspapers into one, more general paper for the area. In small states like Maine, this really hurts the newspaper industry, as there are few writers to begin with. After consolidation, many jobs are lost, leaving journalists without jobs. In time, the lack of true “local” news hurts the newspaper, as people begin losing interest and terminate subscriptions.
The trend of consolidation also hurts the free flow of ideas in journalism. While the large corporations are slowly taking over the media, the ability for new and different ideas to emerge is rapidly diminishing. Journalists are now working for “the man”, and must adjust their writing accordingly. Their messages must fit in with what the company stands for, in order to please the ownership. The consolidation of media puts a strain on the marketplace of ideas, one of the founding principles of journalism. Journalists working for consolidated media now put censors on their writing, in order to fit the mold of the company, and end up sometimes end up sacrificing their opportunity to spread their true ideas.
While convergence and consolidation certainly have their pros in the journalistic world, their potential harm seems to outweigh their pros. Journalists must be wary of the changing times, and adapt their writing, and their mindset, accordingly.


Morton, John. Consolidation Nation. American Journalism Review. November 2002. 26 January 2010.

Critiquing the Best

The New York Times provides news reports to millions of readers across the country, and across the world. It is looked upon as one of the top news sources globally. This, however, does not mean that every report printed by journalists on the New York Times’ payroll is perfect. No one is immune to mistakes. If reviewed, it is easy to say that every article in the publication has at least one error, major or minor. There are so many different standards journalists have to meet when writing an article; it is easy for a few blunders to fall through the cracks.
In his January 20, 2010 article, Marc Lacey wrote a world news piece discussing the current health concerns facing the nation of Haiti after the devastating earthquake. The article contains many positive qualities, but there are also a few areas that could be improved. The article is quite focused, centering solely on the issue of health in Haiti. Lacey does not stray away from the topics of illness and disease throughout his piece, which is a positive journalistic quality. Lacey is also objective in his article, reporting not only on the issue at hand, but also on what is being done to help remedy the situation. He also includes what still areas still need work in the recovering country. For example, in the middle of the article, Lacey states, “Still, health experts were arriving in Haiti from Israel, Cuba, Portugal and other countries, many with stocks of medicine and supplies as well as extensive experience in disaster conditions,” (Lacey). He quickly follows that by claiming a health care agency in Haiti “estimated that 20,000 Haitians were dying daily from lack of surgery”, (Lacey). By juxtaposing these concepts, Lacy shows the issue at hand as well as what problems still remain, all the while removing his personal opinion from the situation.
While the report is fair, balanced, and well researched, Marc Lacey missed out in a few areas. He included some extra information to emphasize points, however the comments are unnecessary. After clearly making the point that the conditions in Haiti are as basic as can be, Lacey said, "At some of the hospitals and clinics now treating survivors, the conditions are as basic as can be, with vodka to sterilize instruments and health workers going to the market to buy hacksaws for amputations," (Lacey). This paragraph is graphic, a bit gruesome, and takes away from the brevity of the story. The article would not lose any power without this paragraph. Overall the piece could use some editing, as it carries on a bit too long. Also, his writing structure is lengthy. He does a great job integrating sources into the piece, and attributing them appropriately, but throughout the article his sentences seem a bit long winded. Journalists strive for short, snappy sentences, getting the point across in as few words as possible. March Lacey could improve on that in his New York Times article.
The “Nightmare in Haiti” article demonstrates disaster and hope intertwined in one region of the world. In its entirety, Marc Lacey did an excellent job reporting on this sensitive subject. With a few minor edits, this piece could be top notch.

Lacey, Mark. "Nightmare in Haiti: Untreated Illness and Injury."New York Times. 21 January 2010: A1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/world/americas/21haiti.html?ref=todayspaper

Writing the Truth

Everything printed in newspapers is true. At least, that is what most of the general public believes. Sometimes, however, journalists there are exceptions to this statement. Whether the journalist is misinformed or maliciously ignores the facts in order to create a juicy story, some articles are published with less than truthful information. This creates a bit of a quandary in the world of journalism, forcing the public to determine what is real and what is false. In order to protect the false printing of information, libel laws for publication have emerged. Libel law protects people from defamation, and it remains one of the biggest legal issues facing journalists today.
A form of defamation, libel is written word that causes injury to ones reputation. Libel is a hot button issue facing journalists because not only do they have to make sure what they write is truthful, but they are also responsible for information they quote from others. According to the AP Stylebook, “A republisher of a libel is generally considered just as responsible for the libel as the original speaker. That you were simply an accurate conduit for the statement of another is no defense to a libel claim” (AP 384). Journalists are responsible for not only checking their own facts, but also for checking the facts of all others appearing in their article. This makes for extra work and diligence on the part of the reporter.
The courts require five standards of proof in order to convict a journalist of libel. This five prong test gives some protection back to the journalists. First, it must be proven that the printed defamatory statement was indeed made, and not simply implied. Second, the statement must be a factual statement rather than a statement of opinion. Opinion is protected, falsifying fact is not. Also, the statement in question must actually be false. A libel claim cannot be made if the information is simply embarrassing, but truthful nonetheless. The statement must also be directly of or concerning the person bringing the libel suit to court. Finally, it must be proven that the statement was published with “the requisite degree of fault” (AP 385), meaning there was some sort of negligence or actual malice involved with the printing.
While libel itself is a complicated legal issue in journalism, it becomes even more complicated when discussing private versus public figures. Each level of status requires a different level of proof. It is much harder for public officials and public figures to win a libel suit in comparison to private individuals. Public officials and public figures must prove actual malice, while private individuals must only prove negligence. Negligence, simply put, it when false information is printed without the knowledge that it was actually false. Actual malice means that there was prior knowledge of falsity before printing. Two Supreme Court cases helped form this libel law, Gertz v. Welch 418 U.S. 323 (1974) and New York Times v. Sullivan 376 U.S. 254 (1964). In the Gertz case, it was determined just exactly what kinds of people qualify as public as opposed to private, and further explained the actual malice versus negligence decision established by the New York Times ruling.
Journalists face many legal and moral issues in everyday society. They must act legal and lawfully in everything they do. Libel law is one of the biggest legal issues facing journalists in today’s society. If violated, journalists not only risk major financial lawsuits, but are more than likely face losing their jobs as well. Libel law makes fact checking one of the most important aspects of writing a news story.

Gertz v. Welch http://www.lexisnexis.com.prxy4.ursus.maine.edu/us/lnacademic/mungo/lexseestat.do?bct=A&risb=21_T8319884256&homeCsi=152583&A=0.8034961933612275&urlEnc=ISO-8859-1&&citeString=418%20U.S.%20323&countryCode=USA
New York Times v. Sullivan
http://www.lexisnexis.com.prxy4.ursus.maine.edu/us/lnacademic/mungo/lexseestat.do?bct=A&risb=21_T8319903296&homeCsi=6320&A=0.6559475672726641&urlEnc=ISO-8859-1&&citeString=376%20U.S.%20254&countryCode=USA

Christian, Darrell, Jacobsen, Sally, Minthorn, David, Eds. Associated Press 2009 Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. New York: The Associated Press, 2009. Print.