Peace Out

From the very beginning, I have always wanted to study Public Relations. I picked UNT because of the journalism program. From the very first class I took, right up until the last one (4470), I have loved every class. Maybe not every minute of every class, but over all I enjoyed my time here.

These classes have taught me more than just how to write correctly. I have learned how to deal with good and bad teammates, take constructive criticism, network correctly and how to be a professional.

As I get ready to leave the Mayborn School of Journalism, I have taken a look back at some of the most memorable times in my Three years here. I’m starting this blog of in the traditional fashion for the last mandatory blog in my undergrad career, with at Top 10.

Top ten ways to tell you went to the Mayborn School of Journalism

1. You see a grammar tweet and immediately go check paper to make sure you didn’t make the same mistake

2. Sex, sports and alcohol are all ways to keep you interested in ethics

3. Being the mayor of the School of Journalism is an accomplishment

4. Your grade is always better when Kentucky wins

5. #asseenoncampus is a common hashtag

6. Tweeting during class is not frowned upon, it is encouraged

7 . Your papers bleed in green or purple, never red

8. You will never misuse American’s and Americans ever, ever again

9. Writing blogs becomes second nature to you

10. You stress over which shoes to wear to graduation, knowing you will be shoe judged

Bonus:

11. You get excited when you make a new word, and see your blog pop up second on Google

The last three and a half years have been amazing. There have been some ups and downs (but isn’t there always), and I have made friendships that will continue on for years to come. My wow moments from this year and this period in my life are different, but connected.

This semester I went into ethics thinking that I had a base knowledge for the theories, and I did- a base knowledge. I learned that depending on what theories you use ALMOST anything can be right or wrong. That wasn’t my wow moment though. My WOW moment was when Dr. Broyles came in to speak to us.

One of the last things she said was “if you can see subliminal advertising, and point out what it is then it is not subliminal.” That one sentence made the entire lecture click for me.

I never really thought that subliminal advertising was real, but her lecture was in lighting. I love how she showed us the advertisements and let us look at them, trying to find what was “seen.”

One of the biggest “wow” moments of my entire college careers is how much work goes into a news story. Growing up watching the news I never thought about how the anchor got the story.

Going through the Mayborn School of Journalism I now know every step it takes to get a story from start to finish. Press releases, media kits, B-roll, interviews, logging tape, live action shots etc. all take part in making one 30 second video.

I hope that as I go on in life, and have full time job (cross your fingers), these things will always stick out in my mind.

Balance Beam

Is there a way to protect against libel and protect free speech at the same time, or will one have to be sacrificed for the greater good? Libel on the Internet has been around since, well the Internet. Bloggers took libel to a new level and now Twitter has created a platform for well, microlibeling. (I know I made that up.)

After having a bad experience what is first thing we do? Grab our smart phones and tweet away. Complaining is one of the top uses for Twitter, and companies are taking notice. More and more companies have departments or agencies monitoring social media for customer service, and many companies will give discounts or freebies to disgruntled customers.

Complaining after having cold food or an awful waitress comes with the territory. If you were there it is your First Amendment right to express yourself. What if you were not there, though? I know it is not ethically right to falsely complain about a place or service you have never been to, but is legal?

People do it all the time. They complain on Twitter without having actually been harmed just to see if they can get freebees. The practice is unethical and doing it is shady, but I also think it is libel, or microlibel.

Beware of what you tweet. In fact, when you are angry you might want to put the phone down and walk away. Calling someone a name or blaming a restaurant for food poisoning when you haven’t eaten there may seem harmless, but you can be sued.

Libel is one thing, but actionable libel; well that is what is missing from Twitter and other social media sites. Proving fault, falsity, injury, defamation, identification and publication can seem like a stretch in a sentence or two. In my opinion, identification, publication and injury would all be pretty simple but proving some of the other key points may be more difficult.

Why isn’t microlibel a word yet? My theory is that not enough people are paying attention. Most people get away with it because one tweet of 140 characters or less will not scream at a company or person to sue. Once the first Twitter/libel case has gone through the court system and sets case law precedents, more people will be sued, especially if there is a large jury award.

Another reason people (and companies) are getting away with microlibel is the anonymity that the Internet can supply. By using fake email addresses, Twitter handles, screen names and blog accounts you could “work the system” and get away with microlibel.

What these individuals don’t know is technology is working against, not for them. Tracking IP addresses, Twitter handles, email addresses etc. can all be done pretty easily. Finding out if you have actually visited the restaurant or went to the event is not rocket science. Every tweet you send and picture you upload from your phone has a location number on it, and if it is on the Internet (unless your privacy settings are super strict,) anyone can see it and find out if you were really where you said you were. No matter how secretive you think you are being, you cannot hide on the Internet.

There has been and will always be unethical, lying, cheating and shady people out there in this world. Microlibel may only be a made up word by a college senior but one day there will be lawsuits and settlements because of it. Once one person, or company, decides a tweet is worth suing over and going to court instead of settling, microlibeling will be included in the next Webster’s dictionary edition.

Sara Alderman|@sea6789