Below is another article by Joseph, written for his FLVS Journalism course.


For an FLVS Journalism, I watched almost an hour of local news, put forth by News4Jax. Some of the things I was supposed to look out for were: expressions of opinion (a big no-no in reporting) the effectiveness of informing the viewer, and things done correctly or incorrectly.

I started watching the news at about 5:30, and finished shortly before 6:30. News4Jax, just like every other station at that time, was running headlines about the recent verdict of the Casey Anthony case, among a few other topics. News4Jax effectively presented both sides of the story, by showing clips of citizens who voiced both support and opposition to the outcome of the trial. The reporters themselves did not express their opinion, but merely prodded those whom they interviewed, to give detailed responses as to why the felt as they did.

Besides the Casey Anthony case, News4Jax covered topics such as beach cleanup after Independence day celebrations, questions concerning Governor Scott’s policies, and others. As I said before, News4Jax did a splendid job of keeping their opinion from conflicting with the facts.

Only in one instance, did I see opinion expressed, and it can easily be excused. John Gaughan (in my opinion—the best weatherman ever) discussed the upcoming weather using terms such as “I think”, “most likely” and “probably”. Though this is an expression of opinion, it can be excused because the subject of weather is an art of prediction—and consequently a knowledge opinion.

In conclusion, News4Jax was effective in informing me about topics regarding both local and national news. It was presented in a professional light, and the viewer was given the straight facts regarding the issues. I cannot think of any particular way in which News4Jax could have presented the news, as they did so extremely well.

Sources:

News4Jax.com