Sunday, May 28, 2006
Fancy little gathering
The University of Oregon J-School is one classy entity. Approximately 50 people gathered Friday for the presentation of the school's Payne Ethics Awards in the Knight Library Browsing Room, a semi-formal room with a fireplace and large map of Oregon in the background of the podium, which featured an official J-School banner.
The seventh annual Payne Award ceremony honored The Spokesman-Review (Spokane) for its ethical decision-making process during an investigative series on Mayor Jim West's possible involvement in illicit sexual behavior and possible abuses of power. The Spokesman-Review eventually hired a detective to stake out Internet chat rooms in order to positively identify West. Editor Steve Smith accepted the award on the paper's behalf. Smith explained his appreciation for the J-School's Payne Ethics Award because of the the heated debate surrounding the newspaper's actions.
The Payne Award for "Individual Journalist" went to New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald for his decision to assist the main source in a child-pornography story during and after his involvement with the story. Eichenwald and The Times assisted this individual, then 18, during rehabilitation and the eventual prosecution of participants in the porn ring that he had been involved with. Eichenwald discussed how the Internet is creating new challenges for journalism, many involving ethics, that the industry has never confronted.
But first, Eichenwald commented on the shiny, book-sized Payne Award which opens to reveal an engraved mirror. As he read the inscription, he mentioned that the award was figuratively "a very accurate representation of what we went through" during the reporting process.
The recipients, as well as family members of Ansel Payne and other guests, were honored by the ceremony. Enough so that Eichenwald flew to Eugene from Houston during his coverage of the Enron trial to accept the award.
The University of Oregon School of Journalism does things right - from the nationwide committee that selected this year's Payne Award winners largely because of their concerned involvement with contemporary journalism issues to the lustrous awards themselves.
It's definitely an honor for me to be part of the Oregon J-School, and I fully expect doors to come swinging open moments after I mention my affiliation with the university to the professional journalism world. If not, I'll be forced to call Dean Gleason and have him explain how professional and fancy we Ducks are.
The seventh annual Payne Award ceremony honored The Spokesman-Review (Spokane) for its ethical decision-making process during an investigative series on Mayor Jim West's possible involvement in illicit sexual behavior and possible abuses of power. The Spokesman-Review eventually hired a detective to stake out Internet chat rooms in order to positively identify West. Editor Steve Smith accepted the award on the paper's behalf. Smith explained his appreciation for the J-School's Payne Ethics Award because of the the heated debate surrounding the newspaper's actions.
The Payne Award for "Individual Journalist" went to New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald for his decision to assist the main source in a child-pornography story during and after his involvement with the story. Eichenwald and The Times assisted this individual, then 18, during rehabilitation and the eventual prosecution of participants in the porn ring that he had been involved with. Eichenwald discussed how the Internet is creating new challenges for journalism, many involving ethics, that the industry has never confronted.
But first, Eichenwald commented on the shiny, book-sized Payne Award which opens to reveal an engraved mirror. As he read the inscription, he mentioned that the award was figuratively "a very accurate representation of what we went through" during the reporting process.
The recipients, as well as family members of Ansel Payne and other guests, were honored by the ceremony. Enough so that Eichenwald flew to Eugene from Houston during his coverage of the Enron trial to accept the award.
The University of Oregon School of Journalism does things right - from the nationwide committee that selected this year's Payne Award winners largely because of their concerned involvement with contemporary journalism issues to the lustrous awards themselves.
It's definitely an honor for me to be part of the Oregon J-School, and I fully expect doors to come swinging open moments after I mention my affiliation with the university to the professional journalism world. If not, I'll be forced to call Dean Gleason and have him explain how professional and fancy we Ducks are.
# posted by PASStheTEA_B @ 9:36 PM 
