Googlism

Call it fate; call it being immersed in the field on different levels, but ironically my journalistic conundrum of the week just so happens to fall along the same lines as our class's weekly topic question concerning legal issues surrounding web journalism.

Graduating from Piper High School, I take the subject of plagiarism to heart. But until this week, I hadn't considered all of the ways it is overwhelmingly present in web journalism.

I went into helping 693 and 415 students put their stories on the web with the understanding that pulling pictures off the web was okay. After our discussion in class on Wednesday, I realized I needed to be more cautious.

For an extra perspective, I thought I'd bounce the idea off some of the people at Lawrence.com.

Phil Caulthon, the editor of Lawrence.com, as well as most of the denim-clad web staff, represent the laid-back environment of web journalism. I think Rob Curley describes Phil (and the mood/new standard) when he said that it is a whole lot easier to break the rules if you know and appreciate them first.

The team at Lawrence.com is notorious for creating their own graphics and photo illustrations; Photoshop has become a staple in new media.

But even though the staff Lawrence.com, may use pictures from the web as a base for some of their photo illustrations or features (like the new feature where they post the most popular picture when a particular word is googled), they still are respectful of being respectful of journalistic standards (and keeping it legal) just a bit more relazed. Phil said that he gets calls from the Pitch and the Star wanting to share material, and he knows he can call them if he needs info.

This applies to sharing photos and information on the web. It is sloppy journalism to google your subject and copy and paste any given picture to your blog/web site, if you are basing it on the old rules, but this is an entirely new ball game.

My first personal brush with this experience happened a few weeks ago after I took pictures of post-game celebrations at the KU vs. K-State game. My initial reaction was "How cool! My someone likes my work." I didn't really care that they had used my work for their website, a compilation of Jayhawk sports. In fact, I thought it was appropriate, and was especially happy when I saw they gave me credit.

New media is more relaxed environment, but that doesn't mean the ethics and rules don't apply. Webbies may be able to go to work in jeans (or their pajamas if working from home), but from the professionals I've been around, I've learned it's important to the status of the medium to maintain legitmate practices.So next time I'm involved with a web project that needs a photo, instead of googling it, I use my handy Photoshop skills and make my own.