political reporting

politics are interesting. the topic(s) come up in everyday conversation, and there is media coverage everywhere. there are entire television networks dedicated to political discussion/debates/coverage. yet i find that the most interesting (and really the only kind of coverage i watch) is satirical coverage. the daily show and the colbert report are two of the most successful shows aired on comedy central. they not only make you laugh, but inform the viewer of important topics in the world. almost all of my political coverage blogs have been from "indecision 2008" - comedy central's election coverage.
before satirical coverage of politics came into effect, in my opinion, the nation was much less informed on current political happenings. now with the help of jon stewart and stephen colbert, people from the tweens to retirees can enjoy. its a revolution of sorts in the way politics is viewed. its become so popular that stephen colbert jokingly put himself in the running as president because his viewers wanted him to, then had to pull himself out because he was actually taking the votes away from real candidates.
along with the comedy central shows there are also the daily monologues given by the slew of late-nite talk show hosts. jay lenno, david letterman, etc. while they poke fun at more things than just politics, it usually is made up of mostly political humor.
i like the coverage of today. while it is filled with bias - normally to the left. it still is informative. for people who really take politics seriously, go watch the news, read a magazine. but seriously, there aren't that many college age kids - who are these shows biggest demographic - who take politics very seriously. and besides that, who doesn't need a little humor in their life?

plagiarism = evil

PLAGIARISM IS BAD!!! i've been hearing it since middle school. never copy someone's work, or you will fail and get in deep trouble. but hey come on, who hasn't taken ideas from wikipedia and changed 2 words before transferring it into your paper. don't deny it! but who knew there were different kinds of plagiarism? i thought that was it, you copied, you're finished. no if's and's or but's about it.
yet a very good point is brought up in the Poynter article. unintentional plagiarism (although he doesn't believe such a thing exists). sometimes things just happen. and honestly, if you have a clean record, i don't believe a journalist should be fired the first time they make a mistake. maybe it is a 'sink or swim' business, but hey, shit happens.
yet, out in the real world. after the foggy goggles of college have cleared away, there comes a point when you really have to take journalism seriously. attribute quotes, cite information, etc.
save the random facts that you 'saw somewhere' for party conversation, or perhaps across the dinner table.
when it comes down to the power of the news you have to be consistent and accurate. there is little room for errors. i hate that. but it is what it is.