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Oprah asked the hard questions to James Frey who admitted he fabricated the truth or as Oprah simply said–lied in his book A Million Little Pieces.

As in any good journalism organization, the truth is vital.  What about nonfiction books? Should we hold the same fact checking standards to a genre that claims to speak the truth?  Or are their allowances in memoirs and in author’s memories that we should let go.  I mean it has been proven when a crime happens, witnesses all seem to have their own recollection.  

What should Frey have done?  Frey should have just said, ”This is a novel BASED on my life experiences.”  BASED ON is the key word.  The book should have NEVER been allowed to be sold as a nonfiction book.  Publishers do not have the strict policies as news organizations do, they only go by the word of their authors.  So should we go with truth with a small “t” or Truth with a capital “T” when it comes to nonfiction books?  It’s hard to say because isn’t it all relative?  I mean, take for example a celebrities memoirs?  How many people have refuted their depiction in one of those books?  Frey, I believe did wrong.  He mislead the public into saying, this is the ABSOLUTE Truth with a capital “T”. 

But, how many times do we embellish our own true stories? It makes me wonder how many other nonfiction books that I have read embellished the facts.  I’m sure it probably is not the first time an author of a memoir or nonfiction book has lied.  But, we also have to allow more creative freedoms than the normal New York Times’s article.  Let’s not forget that it’s called “creative” nonfiction for a reason.  Maybe Frey’s book was not ALL fiction, but shouldn’t books be placed in more than one category. I mean, sometimes I think Homer’s Illiad should not only be found in poetry, but also classic fiction and even in philosophy.   

The solution could be that we create a new genre category… “Almost the Truth.” 

Questions for Others in Frey Scandal - New York Times

The questions about how publishers should deal with the truth or falsity of the books they publish are likely to continue to resound through the book business. Yesterday, publishers, literary agents and booksellers said that, in the wake of Ms. Winfrey’s condemnation of Mr. Frey and Doubleday, they expected memoirs and other works of nonfiction to come under increasing scrutiny before and after publication.

Some publishers said they would continue to rely on authors and their literary agents to stand behind their works, even as they occasionally press them for details on some of their claims.

The New York Times reports that text messaging is our new shorthand. For example, when I write “brb” in my instant messenger it means–”be right back.” Or if I type text message using my cell phone, which I hate doing, I always substitute “u” for “you.” or “r” for “are.” OR for laughing I automatically use “lol.” It’s become second nature for me to text message using shorthand.

The Pleasures of the Text
By CHARLES McGRATH

As with any language, efficiency isn’t everything. There’s also the issue of style. Among inventive users, and younger ones especially, text-messaging has taken on many of the characteristics of hip-hop, with so much of which it conveniently overlaps - in the substitution of “z” for “s,” for example, “a,” for “er” and “d” for “th.” Like hip-hop, text-messaging is what the scholars call “performative”; it’s writing that aspires to the condition of speech. And sometimes when it makes abundant use of emoticons, it strives not for clarity so much as a kind of rebus-like cleverness, in which showing off is part of the point. A text-message version of “Paradise Lost” - or of the prologue, anyway - that tries for a little more shnizzle might go like this: “Sing hvnly mewz dat on d :X mtntp inspyrd dat shephrd hu 1st tot d chozn seed in d begnin hw d hvn n erth @{rcub};– outa chaos.”

The Week reports on if newspapers can survive in these modern times. I thought this article made important points about why we should and should not keep newspapers. The article also addresses citizen journalism.

Newspapers
Writing their own obituary?

Newspaper people like to say that their industry is in “transition,” said Justin Davidson in Newsday. Newspapers appear to be transitioning, all right—into obsolescence. A decade into the Internet age, the daily press seems more befuddled than ever, “attempting to transform themselves into electronic media with one hand, while clinging to their ink-on-paper past with the other.” That’s a tough trick, and it’s not going well. A few decades ago, the question for most Americans was which newspaper to read. Now, only about half of all adults read any newspaper, while for 18- to 34-year-olds, that figure has dwindled to less than 20 percent. Newspapers are scrambling to connect with young people and find their place in cyberspace—but so far, they’re not succeeding.

A new law protects you from annoying anonymous emails and online comments.

Annoying Online Posts Could Be Illegal

Writing annoying, anonymous online posts or e-mails could land you in jail for as long as two years. That’s according to the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, which was signed into law last week.

According to a section of the act, anyone who uses the Internet anonymously “with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass another person” can be tried for violating federal telecommunications law and face fines or jail.

CBSnews.com reports that a Georgetown University survey found more than half of the blogs are kept by 13-19 year-olds. But, should parents be aware their child has a blog and be required to monitor their teenager’s blog. Parents need to help educate their teens and themselves on the dangers of the Internet, especially privacy before objecting to the idea of their teenager blogging. Blogging could provide the outlet teens need and parents might enjoy their teens insight.

Helping Your Kids Blog Safely

Another term, “spaces,” is used to describe services like MySpace, LiveJournal, Xanga and MSN Spaces that provide people with free tools to create their own online communities or blogs.

Kids are using these blogs for all sorts of things, ranging from describing their homework assignments to exploring their hobbies to exposing their innermost thoughts. Some kids post photos on their blogs or put up links to their favorite music or movies.

There are a lot of positive aspects to blogging. For one thing, it helps teens develop language and communications skills, and becoming an Internet publisher can greatly enhance a teenager’s sense of self-esteem. Blogs offer young people not only a sounding board for what’s on their mind, but also feedback and validation from others, who can comment on what they write using a feedback mechanism on the blog itself.

The British Library never stops to amaze me. They have created an online catalog of Mozart’s works.

Mozart’s musical diary goes online

LONDON (Reuters) - A musical diary by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart goes online on Thursday, allowing Internet users to browse handwritten pages from the composer’s catalog and listen to the opening bars of rarely performed works.

The British Library in London has produced a digital version of 30 pages and 75 musical introductions from “Catalog of all my Works,” which can be accessed on its Web site www.bl.uk/turningthepages.

Here’s a neat idea that one professor provided for his students. Additional lectures provided by podcasts… where one can download a professor’s lecture onto their MP3 player.

Now educating on an iPod near you

Many students walk through campus listening to their MP3 players, often with a favorite band filling their ears. But for a growing number of people, the sound may also be the voice of one of their professors.

Last term, journalism professor Al Stavitsky experimented with creating online audio files called podcasts, which he termed “Al Pods,” for his Mass Media and Society class.

Stavitsky, associate dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, said his podcasts differed from podcasts available at some schools in that they did not reproduce class lectures. Instead, they provided new content bridging the lectures and the assigned readings, freeing Stavitsky from spending large amounts of class time talking about the readings.

Eugene Kane ,writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, brought up some good points in his article Blogging gives everyone a voice.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Internet is overrun with blogs. These personal Web sites are written by both amateur and professional journalists with an ax to grind or strong opinions they are dying to express. Many of them are read by only a small group of readers, sometimes just family or friends.

Despite the current hype over bloggers taking on the mainstream media - “MSM” to many bloggers - I believe there’s little chance that blogging will replace traditional forms of reporting and commentary. At least, not in the near future.

But yes, they are making an impact.

What I liked about his article is that he says the best blogs guide you to stories that don’t are not over opinionated. I agree. In my personal and professional opinion, I feel that if you want people to listen to you, you must leave out the overdone opinions and guide readers to seek out their own opinion. But, in the light of the ritual of communication theory and the theory behind community… people will find like-minded individuals to discuss politics, religion and other social conversations, which I tend to avoid. I was reading about China today and how MSN censors searches for certain words. China is also a country that censors bloggers or is trying to figure out a way to censor MORE bloggers. We are lucky we can rant and rave about anything we want. We are lucky to have a voice in our country. But, remember, be smart about what you blog and others might become loyal readers. Just remember an employer or potential employer are now doing Internet searches to seek out these over opinionated employees who give too much of themselves away.

I agree, most bloggers won’t be famous or won’t be heard from other than the occasional visitor who are either family members or friends. But, it’s nice to know that people have a voice no matter what… I guess my best advice is to think before you post because you really never know who might pop in and read. OR if you’re a vlog, pop in and watch.

I will be presenting a paper in Albuquerque February 11 at the SW/TX Popular Culture and American Culture Association. My paper is titled “Wired Ethos: Establishing Ethical Standards for Online Journalism Weblogs”

Here’s an interesting article. After an advocacy group called Ban Trans Fat sued Kraft Foods for plugging up Californians arteries with hydrogenated oils in oreos (among other things as well I suppose) companies have been monitoring online activity such as blogs for instant feedback. It makes sense that companies would stop the surveys and phone calls and act on instant real-time consumer feedback. Bloggers just have to remember to make smart comments about products that make companies listen. A good rhetorical argument is a powerful tool on blogs.

Why companies monitor blogs | CNET News.com

“When you’re listening to the Internet, the discussion is taking place in real time,” said Intelliseek spokeswoman Sue MacDonald. “We’re able very quickly, sometimes in a matter of days, to pick up on what consumers are saying. If there’s certain issues, like safety recalls or any mention of a boycott, we can set up an alert, so that we can alert a company or a brand so they can be on their guard and be ready to react, if that’s what it takes.”