Class Notes

December 5th

Tonight’s topic of discussion is about “the cake”. Today in the United States Supreme Court, they reviewed the case about a baker refusing to make a cake for a same-sex couple. One of the main questions asked was whether or not the cake was (in a sense) a form of speech. Did the baker have the right to refuse? Should same-sex couples consider this discrimination and fight it? After reading the many articles about this, it is hard for me to come to a solid opinion. I believe that the First Amendment does protect the baker, but I also believe that the baker is personally discriminating against the couple just based on sexual orientation. I am completely against racial discrimination, but with the many sexual orientations in today’s society, it is important for us as a nation to decide the protections and rights of those people. Even at a university level, many students and faculty now put their pronouns on their business cards, name badges, emails, etc. It is so interesting how blown up this case has become; I hope that this case sets a path for other sexual orientation and First Amendment cases in the future.

Here is a list of articles I viewed:

November 28th

Anelia informed us that our final assignment changed to a reflective essay rather than a news reporting over a Supreme Court case. The essay will be about how we relate journalism to law and what we all learned over the semester. She then showed us a video that depicts how journalism and law play a part in our everyday lives. The video was a burial of a fallen U.S. military member in which many other veterans were present. Watch the burial here on Facebook and read the obituary. The man buried was 101 years old. Anelia was taking the video, and you could tell that she was emotional (hear crying) but she continued to do her job. She told the class that her and the man, Bob, had known each other. In 2009, he had wrote to Anelia saying that he wanted her to accept the flag from his grave on behalf of his family when he passed. What an honor. “If you lived to be 100 years old, what would matter,” asked Anelia. “To me, journalism is an adventure.” Bob told his family that they didn’t have to make the trip for his funeral, but his family knew that they would and still wanted Anelia to take the flag. When he died this week, Anelia wondered if Bob’s daughter was coming like she had promised, and found out that she had died in a car accident last year. It was as if Bob knew that he wouldn’t have family there. This topic is very personal to her, and wants us as a class to remember it.

Anelia proceeded to show the class videos from other burials of military members, showing the class the importance of journalism. The videos depicted the burials in their sacred state and explained that one of the videos got a response from a son of a fallen soldier that she had captured his fathers last performance. Anelia learned that the Westboro Baptist Church was going to picket on the funeral, but the motorcycle gang in Waverly threatened the church that the members wouldn’t leave alive. Stories like this get more meaningful with time. “Make sure your life is meaningful.”

The class switched gears from military burials to the murder-suicide case of local women, Lindsay Nichols. This is a reporting covering the case. Another report of the case. Lindsay broke up with the shooter because she found out that he had 9 month old child and was in the process of getting divorced. She started dated a new man, and the shooter, a doctor, was upset which led to the murder-suicide. Anelia played the 911 call from the night of her murder, first asking the class if anyone needed to leave. As journalists, we have to be prepared to hear things like this and continue to do our job. The call was made by Lindsay’s current boyfriend.

Quotes/Info from call

boyfriend tells operator that the guy has a gun, Chase Weber
he is describing the situation as the couple is arguing, he is getting anxious
operator is extremely sassy
Chase says that Lindsay was shot first and then told the operator that the man went down
- things he shot himself
Chase didn’t get close enough to her to see where she had been hit
operator was super calm but sounded super rude

Lindsay was worked on in the hospital for 45 minutes but surgeons were unable to revive her. The ex was not witness in this case because he shot himself, so Chase was the main witness in this case. I think the 911 call could have been handled better, but we also don’t know what the operator was going through before the call. As a journalist, we wouldn’t be able to express our opinions of the operator. Anelia challenged us to think about who all had to get involved in this case being apart of the media, the law, and the medical field. The ex had bought the gun in Iowa, so it is assumed that he had this planned out. There are so many places to insert yourself into this story- the wife of the ex, the child of the ex, the new boyfriend, Lindsay’s parents, friends, etc. This story is especially hard because the ex was a doctor and he is meant to heal; makes you wonder what goes through someone’s head on the daily.

Anelia shifts the mood of the class from sorrow to aspirational as we look into who covers the Supreme Court. She played a video, but asked us not to take notes (from C-SPAN Presents- Supreme Court).

Homework- write a profile of a Supreme Court Justice of my choice, 800 words, learn about their lives, include the links to the information I used

November 14th

The first discussion in class was about the shooting that happened on the hill last Friday. Apparently, the police have not found the shooter, but there is no longer a threat. To me, this doesn’t eliminate a threat if the suspect is not found even if the shooting was “targeted”. A student in class is actually roommates with the women who found one of the victims. Anelia explained the importance of the shooting just because of the high density of students on the hill. As a journalist, it is up to you to write the facts not your opinions unless otherwise noted. Should UNI Office of University Relations release some sort of statement about this? They already sent out two alerts. Many students believe the university should release a follow-up statement.

We then went to the Black Hawk County Real Estate Mapping website to search our homes and see just how easy it is to find the lay-out of homes. I find this especially scary because anyone (including thieves) can know the lay-out of my house. This creates a clash between privacy and public information. Unfortunately, my address could not be found under the website.

Snyder Story

Cpl. Matthew Snyder; Killed in Iraq in 2006

Introduction Video

can the church be sued
Marines father long painful story
members of the church held up signs at the Matthews funeral saying that he was in hell for being a soldier
is the church engaging in free speech or are the stepping over the line of privacy?

Australian Video- Fags Going to Hell (Westboro Baptist Church)

pure hate; church winning case of free speech
church damns fags, countries,
“Homosexuals are a walking abomination of God” “God hates fags”
US Supreme Court filed that this is their freedom of speech
“England and Australia are past any hope”
the video went on to discuss Albert Snyder’s story
- “Its an abuse of the First Amendment” – Al
- he tried to take a stand against the church but lost
Westboro church uses their own children for the protests
- the goal is for children and family to be hated

News Interview in Real Time with Margie

Margie Phelps- argued before Supreme Court
- addressed the streets in Scriptures
they visit high schools all over the country
- believes the commandments of god are not up for negotiation
she starts to get heated; seems very passionate about her beliefs
44,500 pickets total–wow
- seem very organized if they can keep up with this number

Louis Theroux Video

he went directly to the Baptist families to get answers; can’t make assumptions here
Fred Phelps- pastor and head of protests
he starts by asking about the signs
- lady keeps calling the signs “cute” (Shirley? Fred’s daughter)
says Obama is the antichrist
little boy confirms that some people have left the church
- always evil; pride of the heart
the church makes covers of popular music to try to get the message across
THIS IS A CULT- what the shit is going on
- also these people get their money from suing others for the appeal of free speech

Oral Argument Supreme Court

obviously the main argument is whether or not the church has the right to free speech in regards to the privacy of the funeral in which they protested at
- Supreme Court says that the protests didn’t intrude in the funeral
protestors not committing a crime
- simply protesting
within defamation limits? were they far enough away?
the same signs were used at all protests says the Supreme Court
- plaintiff says that we can assume that they were directly referring to Matthew and his family going to hell
- Albert felt personally attacked by the signs
who is the church referring to when they use the word “you” on the signs
- court says “you” is a larger group of people not an individual target
300 feet away from funeral
Albert saw the signs on the TV not at the actual funeral
- the church did have flyers up saying that they were protesting on the day of the funeral
what are the requirements for emotional distress?
church uses the funeral to their advantage with no respect to the grieving family
- Albert is left with no remedy whatsoever
At this point, Margie comes into the court
court goes into depth how we define “fighting words”
- church was not charged with fighting words to begin with
how does this case compare to a stranger saying that they are happy that someone’s son died
making the deceased person a public figure
maximum publicity for church
- says this motive is false
speech as a matter of public concern

Homework: This will be the last graded assignment before the final. I need to turn the court decisions into a story. This is due November 28th. “You are completely well equipped to do this,” Anelia stressed to the class. Use meaningful quotes, but do not use language that I do not understand. Legal jargon should not be used or used very minimally.

November 7th

Before class, Anelia emailed us with the legal paperwork behind the case of The State of Iowa vs. Hillary Lee Hunziker. Hunziker is facing first degree murder chargers after admittedly stabbing her ex-husband multiple times; she also told ambulance personnel that she had this event planned out. Anelia asked us to write a news article based on the email during class time before our guest speaker arrived. Here is the start of my story:

Women Charged with 1st Degree Murder after the Stabbing of Ex-Husband

INDEPENDENCE, IOWA–On the early morning of November 6th, Jason Allen Hunziker was found dead in his bedroom with stabs wounds found on his left arm and calf. Officers arrived at the scene after an emergency call was made by John Doe (child of defendant and victim) stating, “My mom just stabbed my dad.” Another call was made by Jason himself shortly after–“My wife just stabbed me and took my child.” The women, Hillary Lee Hunziker, is actually Jason’s ex-wife and is now facing charges of first degree murder.

Hillary and John Doe were found after the cops arrived on scene in Robins, IA. According to the report, both Hillary and John Doe were covered in blood and Hillary still had the knife on her that matched the lacerations on Jason, as well as other smaller knives and razor blades inside the vehicle.

Hillary was transported by ambulance for treatment of a laceration on her hand in which she told ambulance personnel that she planned out the attack. She had bought a knife from Walmart, wore special black boots, and snuck into Jason’s home. She parked down the road to avoid detection.

Further investigation showed that Hillary gave her mother specific instructions on where to take John Doe if something were to happen between the ex-couple. Around 6am on the 6th, Hillary contacted her mother saying that she had done it and for her mother to follow her given instructions.

The classed then discussed what stood out to us in the report. Many agreed that the quote from the child was one of the most important aspects.

Next, a UNI police chief addressed the class in regards to the rape on campus and the federal law that now follows the case. Helen Haire- Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety.

law passed by US Congress- Clery Act
- crime reporting’s
- $54,789 any violation can be subject to this amount
- “This is an institutional responsibility”
- passed in 1990
- Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act
Jeanne Ann Clery
- rape and murdered in her dorm room at Lehigh University
- 181 reports of propped-open doors in Jeanne’s dorm in the four month prior to her death
- her parents wanted this prevented- maybe not have sent her to that college
Institutions must
- submit crime stats
- issue campus alerts
- missing student notification process
- maintain fire logs
Clery Geography
- “we are interested in specific areas”
  - On campus, residential housing, public property, non-campus
  - streets that run through campus
  - “if you look at the foot print campus, its the streets that run through campus but are owned by the city”
  - “that is non-continuous to campus” (non-campus)
    - fraternity/sorority housings are non-campus categories
- “once you hit our border, it stops”
- “this can get really deep”
  - including what sidewalks are covered
- “the band travels to Europe, wherever they stay in London it counts”
  - have to ask London police if crimes were reported
    - however, the are not under any legal terms to give information
- “anyone who has jurisdiction here, I have to send a letter asking if they had any crimes on our property”
- “just because there is a fence, does not mean it is not accessible”
  - two-foot fence or hole in fence
Clery Crimes
- not necessarily the same as the Iowa Code of Law
- part one offenses
  - murder, rape, incest, arson, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault
  - “you look at this list and you’re gonna tell me that you have a good idea of what they mean, but I’m gonna tell you, you don’t.”
    - “you think you know but you really don’t” “you need to know how the statistics are compiled”
- “jet skis are not motor vehicles, but snowmobiles are”
  - under clery but not under state law
    - boat has to be registered but clery doesn’t count a boat as a motor vehicle
- “you cannot get caught up in what your state law says”
- “under state criminal code, there is such a thing as burglary of a vehicle, but clery does not define a vehicle as an enclosed area for a burglary”
- “is an airplane a vehicle under clery purposes?”
  - nope!
  - “but a motorized wheelchair is” “tell me what kinda sense that makes”
- definitions that Cedar Falls police use are different than what the university uses under clery
- hierarchy rule
  - most severe crimes are listed first
  - used to be that if you had a murder, rape, and robbery that you only counted a murder; now you have to include any sexual charge
  - arson also has to be counted for
  - “if four people rape one victim, it counts as one statistically” this is a victim count
  - “again, have to know how statistics are filed”
  - “overcounting is just as bad as undercounting”
Offenses Added in the VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) in 2013
- domestic violence
- dating violence
  - “was there a physical assault first of all, secondly was there a relationship between the parties involved”
  - “there is a definition”
  - “intimate relationship does not mean sexual relationship” “I can have a very, very intimate relationship with you without touching you”
  - if one party says they are dating, they are dating
- stalking
  - very difficult to meet definition for stalking in criminal code
  - “fits closely with Iowa code of harassment”
  - “she has to have fear or emotional distress for herself or for somebody else”
  - “we have to read these things very carefully when they come in”
- monthly police scoring for how to compile these cases
  - stalking would be scored the most
  - “it really pisses me off when people come in when some of it is so junior high”
    - “well they don’t like me anymore” “and it gives me a statistic”
- “I would love to have 20mins with the incoming freshman”
  - “if somebody ever says leave them alone, leave them alone”
- “where were you as a victim when you first noticed stalking, 2 or more”
  - “you if knew he was on campus while you were off campus, it would be included”
  - if he is at Iowa State both campuses get to report it
- don’t read anything into her using he/she
- weapons: carrying, possessing, etc.
  - arrest or referral, both you would only count the arrest
  - go by what local state law says and what is defined as a weapon
    - can be as specific as the length of the knife
- drug abuse violations
- liquor law violations
  - 22 year old has a keg of beer in res room; not illegal, but a violation of policy
Hate Crimes
- any of the previously listed offenses that are motivated by bias and larceny-theft, simple assault, intimidation, damage of property
- level of injury for simple vs. aggravated assault
- bias categories
  - race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability-added later; national origin, gender identity
Compiling
- university police, campus security authorities, local law enforcement
Emergency Notifications
- UNI Alert of text messaging
- immediately notify campus upon confirmation of significant emergency or dangerous situation
- have to do this as soon as possible but HAS to be confirmed or legit
- does it present an immediate threat
  - tornado warnings
Annual Security Report
- has to be released by Oct. 1- NO EXCEPTIONS
- Policy statements and procedures
Fire Report
- required by everyone who uses on campus housing
- “only applies to on campus student housing”
  - ONLY HOUSING
  - not, for example, Lang Hall
“Also have to make sure that scores get reported to Annual Report”
“I cant make you file a police report”

October 31st- Happy Halloween

Anelia informs the class of an extra credit opportunity this Thursday in which the Iowa Supreme Court will be discussing a case.

Next, we discussed the sexual assault crime on UNI’s campus and the press release about it. Anelia had the class find the arrest reports about the case. I found the arrest report from the Cedar Falls arrest log, and the proceeded to find information about the Iowa code of 709.4. Westendorf was charged with third degree sexual assault described here. Anelia then had us look up Westendorf on Facebook; we assumed that the profile we found was in fact him even though the profile is not updated. A female student in our class actually knew Westendorf from work and confirmed that the profile is him. The incident was said to happen in September. “It is really important to know where you stand and where your rights are,” said Anelia. The next step after researching the information about the case, is to research if other competing firms have published information related to the case. KCRG had a story, mugshot and video of the case. “You should never super-imposed. Only use relevant content,” described Anelia in regards to using Facebook information. Anelia was in contact with the Black Hawk County Police Department through this process, and eventually the sheriff sent her the mugshot, confirming our first assumptions of the offender. As of now, we don’t know the details of the investigation, just that an investigation is under way and that Westendorf could spend up to 10 years in jail. Using local people hits a sensitive spot, but it makes everything much more relevant.

The class then watch a video of what we had to reflect on for homework-rape on campus. This case is centered around the rape allegations made by Jackie on UVA’s campus. Many students say that UVA is a party school. Info from the interviews of Jackie’s friend group:

Jackie had a crush on friend Ryan (from the friend group), later Ryan would say that the two just needed to be friends
- Jackie was crushed but a boy from chemistry class asked her out shortly after, Haven Monahan
First thing that Ryan wanted to do was to go to the police after Jackie explained the story
- Ryan found her sitting on a picnic table
“We stopped hanging out a few weeks after” Ryan
- drifts away from whole friend group
- not because of assault but because she kept asking Ryan why they couldn’t date (Ryan simple didn’t want to)
Case came public two years after when Rolling Stone released the “Rape on Campus” right before Thanksgiving after a female student was murdered and another went missing
- “more lewd and dramatic than her friends recall hearing” news reporter
The Rolling Stone reporter was sought after for TV interviews and the Dean of Students is put on blast
- UVA tries to keep order in control under “total crisis”
- Dean of Students (Nicole Eramo) receives multiple accounts of hate mail
Eramo says the story published was not what happened with Jackie
- her support of Jackie was very misleading
- she would never cover up rapes; “I know I didn’t say it.” Eramo in regards to the quote she said to Jackie
- she had to limit what she said because of school privacy rights; thought she was going to get fired
A new reporter wants to dig into the truth
- does not want to disprove the case but wants better information (Shapiro)
- other colleges go on to do reviews of the case in which they find faults
The friend group of Jackie’s started doing interviews because they were depicted in a different way than what they say actually happened
- “I don’t believe what was depicted in that article took place.”
5 months after publication, Rolling Stone took down the article
Eramo sued Rolling Stone and the journalist for defamation
Haven Monahan was in fact Jackie
- Jackie had created false phone numbers for Haven in hopes that Ryan would fall in love with her
- Jackie even told Ryan she was terminally ill and could have potentially faked the rape for attention
Jackie stories was a series of composites from pop culture
- rape scene from a movie has the same exclamation from victim that Jackie said that she said during rape
- love notes from movies (Dawson’s Creek)
“Complete misrepresentation of what kind of person I am” Eramo in regards to photo
- editors at the magazines first asked if the photo was too mean
Journalist “I have no way of knowing” in regards to whether or not Jackie was really gang raped
- “I took Jackie as a very credible source.” journalist
- “Brings me back to the time that I realized I had full faith in Jackie and her story and discovering that she had mislead me was just devastating”
Rolling Stone admits mistakes but defends its statements of UVA not taking rape on campus seriously
- not a single student was expelled for sexual assault on the campus
- Eramo says that the campus does what they can and always has room for improvements
Eramo no longer works with students very often
Ryan thinks that nothing happened on the night but something could have happened in the past that Jackie took the story from
- false reporting of sexual assault; set back of what women are doing to protect themselves from rape and coming forward
fraternity involved in story also sued Rolling Stone

Class Discussion of Video

Rolling Stone being such a big magazine to not fact-check more thoroughly
False reporting of sexual assault is not heard of and this case brings it to light
- set back for women who actually go through this
Apparently, Jackie takes back everything she said and the reporter was the one who wanted the article to go public
“Biggest mistake reporter made- she shouldn’t have trusted. No matter how sympathetic the source is” Anelia; “Such a beginners mistake”
- Jackie told the journalist that her friends did not want to talk and the journalist trusted just that info
- Her mind played a game on her in which what she believed was true took over what disproved the truth that she believed
  - confirmation bias!!!
- going after stories that are hard to tell is a challenge–have to empathetic as interview but it makes you vulnerable as a reporter
We don’t know if something happened to her beyond the case
- Was she really raped that night? Did she make it up? Did something happen to her in the past?

October 24th

Anelia informs us that we will be looking at investigative reporting-when it goes good and bad.

Discussion Video of Spotlight

director became fascinated with journalism and how the case unfolded
Baron says that the movie was “quite authentic” and got the life of journalists just right
- most movies don’t portray journalists in their real every day work
journalists created a database to figure out who the guilty priests were
“very careful not to sensationalism the story” director
- director even got the chance to speak with victims
“profession that is under tremendous financial pressure” Baron

Behind the Scenes Interview with Spotlight – Hollywood vs. Authentic

Sacha
- the script followed what actually happened
- “I feel grateful for that”
- “Seeing these actors become my former co-workers”
- “Mitch Garabedian hero of the story”
  - allowed the media to have some insight into the case; journalists had a start
- Marty Baron brought in fresh eyes
- stories often take time
  - “you need patient of editors who are willing to do your thing”

Greater Boston Video Discussion

interview with real Garabedian
film is very powerful and moving
not all victims were males, some were females
it has empowered victims- this is history being made- victims aren’t forgotten

CBS Interview Video with Actor Ruffalo and Real Person

“I just had to tell the story” Mark Ruffalo
“I found out that a great reporter turns his life into his work” Mark
Mark got to ask Michael what it was like
- he wasn’t used to being the one answering personal questions
“I love the message it gives about investigative reporting” Michael
“No one expects there to be a predator there” Mark
- more horrific aspects of movie, you are destroying someone’s faith

Class Discussion of Movie and Interviews

Movie will reach farther; more impactful
- this goes on who the audience is; millennials will watch the movie before reading a newspaper articles
- be open minded to what professors say, they like being reminded of how young our minds are
journalists vs. actors
- have to tap into interviews
- want to portray what actually happened just in different mediums
once you become the story, you give up all power and the actor portrays you
Why did none of us students hear about this? Why such a limited impact on our culture?
- What makes movies impactful to our generation?
- We can all derive different messages from the same movies

We then discussed what is happening in the media today that is getting a lot of attention. Many of the cases involved sexual abuse including the Harvey Weinstein case. Here are the links to what I followed in the media about this case:

These links tell a different part of the story with the last link being an informative timeline of abuse allegations made by women against Harvey. According to some, Harvey did these things under the impression that it was consensual. The hashtag on Twitter #MeToo made it possible for others to share their stories of sexual abuse. Harvey’s wife left him and his contracts with movies are being revoked. How could his brother not know what Harvey was doing behind the scenes of their business? Many people were silent because he was a “Hollywood God” and his actions were just his personality; people looked the other way.

Anelia then pulls up videos from each of the people the class researched to gain more insight. Harvey’s search had about eleven million different results. This plays into us becoming the liability of the company we work for.

Lawsuits often create framework for journalists to report on. This ties us in with law enforcement more closely than we think.

Anelia next sent the class an email that made us look at the question of what happens when journalists get it wrong. First piece she sent . Second piece she sent. Ultimately, this case really hurt Rolling Stone as a reputable magazine. Reading the second piece, I am able to see the mistakes that the journalist made with the annotated notes. Many of the mistakes were the inconsistency of the victims reports and what actually happened that night giving the public the wrong information. After the details of that night, the report goes on to talk about how the college rarely does anything about sexual assault because it would make them look bad if the campus continually had reports of sexual abuse. (The rest of this discussion will be finished under homework)

Rolling Stone Video

Jackie made up a hoax
- her story is drawn from pop culture
The dean says the picture is a complete misrepresentation of her
Jackie’s story does match up on different accounts
Rolling Stone thinks that the dean of UVA and others created a hostile environment for victims of sexual assault or took it seriously
- dean says UVA was trying to get the campus’s sexual abuse counseling at a better point

October 17th

Anelia asked us to visit the SNAP website. This website is a place for survivors abused by priests to share their stories. During the first part of class we looked at SPOTLIGHT which showed the beginning stories of SNAP. The first story dealt with a priest being accused of raping/molesting nearly 80 people within the church mostly being school boys.

Lawyer- Mitchell Garabedian (represents the victims, multiple attempts by church to get him disbarred

Editor- develops a good relationship with Garabedian, seeks big picture, when advised that 60% of the readership is Catholic he does not balk, stumbled in the dark

Fall Out- 600 stories, 249 priests were accused

The Video

Take notes and direct quotes. What is the road to truth telling?

happened in 1976, starts with Boston police department
won’t tell media anything yet, “what arraignment?”
know that the media is lying
doesn’t think the story is for them yet
SPOTLIGHT- four person investigative team that remains confidential
- trolling around for next stories, couple months to find a good story with a couple years to investigate thoroughly
- very high time investment
we can always do better as journalists
newsroom has a lot of older white men (Boston Globe)
Marty Baron
saw the first accusations of priest in a column
- Marty wants the file a motion to get the papers in church lawsuit
- basically would be suing the church to lift the seal on the papers
assumptions are made by other reporters because they do not want to “sue” the church
- Marty forages forward to get the newsroom on board with getting the papers
the Herald is the Globes competition in town
“involves the church, there will be a story”
“we are just filing a motion”
- church will fight very hard for the case
- publisher has to think about what the audience wants
  - will people be offended that the newspaper is attacking the church? 60% of readers are Catholic
$20,000 for molesting a child
most victims don’t want anything to do with TV
- hurts press because they cant get a story out
“Don’t want you recording this in anyway, shape, or form. In fact, I shouldn’t be speaking to you.” The lawyer
- does the paper have the resources to take on the story? reporter believes so
- wants to talk to victims
“off the record, I cant talk about it”
“knowledge is one thing, but faith is another”
when a priest talks you and makes you feel important, you cant escape
- physical and spiritual abuse
- feels like you are betraying God if you tell someone
“this is big”
- this is involves the whole nation, not just Boston
people have known about the abuse but have since done nothing
- hard dealing with churches
Globe is looking around for SPOTLIGHT to see what they know
- Globe needs to interview victims to get a story going
reporters from Globe interview two men
- both do not want reporters to use names
- girl interview- “specifically, he molested me”,
  - using “molested” isn’t enough, people need to know what happened with details
  - “way to make me more comfortable with my body” “thought you could cheer me up giving me a blowjob”
  - “first time in my life that someone in my life told me that it was okay to be gay and he was a priest”
  - guy was very confused going through this time
- guy interview- “he offers to take me to get ice-cream” Patrick, “he grabs my dick” “I was fucking pertified. I didn’t know what to do, I was just a little kid”
  - “Did you see him again after that” interview “Yeah” Patrick
lawyer failed to tell reporters that he dealt with any of these cases before the stories were brought to attention again
church promised to take the priests out of circulation
- “why aren’t there any records”
  - “we dealt directly with the church”
  - no paper trail at all
  - no filing with court, just church sitting down in a room
13 priests involved in Boston
- will event to a big story
“if it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one”
people believe that churches know of the crisis
- started in 1985
statistic says that 90 priests could be involved in Boston
- “people would know and no one has a said a thing”
- been studied for 30 years
reporters want to find the 90 priests which requires them to find more victims
- working diligently to get story out asap
finally found 87 priests
- “could it be 90 priests”, “you better stop this Robbie”
- clearly something is being hidden
- Mr.McLeash
  - reporters “You’re going to give me the names of the priests and victims”
  - McLeash says he sent the names over 20 years ago but the Globe buried them
people will be coming at reporters soon enough
girl reporter confronts one of the priests
- keeps getting directed to others to find the priest
- finally found him
- “yes, yes. but I never felt any pressure from it”, “I never raped anyone. There is a difference.” priest she found
- he said that he had been raped and he did not do that to the boys in the church
- “he didn’t try denying it at all” girl reporter
“a lot of pressure to keep quiet from the church” a female member of church
documents are public but the church doesn’t want them found
- church removed legal documents!!! holy shit
- these documents are a huge asset to the case so the reporters need to get their hands on them
worked so hard find the documents, but if made public then ALL media sources will have access to them
- competitive problem
- now they need more time
parents of victims even kept silent
- letter from parent was proof, seven boys in their family were victims
- reporters want to write now but publisher is hesitant
  - need the full scope
  - “they knew and they let it happen” “we got to nail these scum bags”
    - one reporter is very, very upset
plan to run story after New Years
- 9/11 also happened this year
reporters keep talking to victims
- having a hard time with the realness of the case
stories wont run unless reporters have confirmation from inside the courtroom
what took the newsroom so long? if this has been going on for years? why are they just now publishing?
lawyer that defended church just circled names from reporters
- this wasn’t breaking the laws
stories out
- brings in victims that are being abused right now
- victims call into the Globe after the story is out

Class Discussion of Video

so much work was put into the story
the challenge of reporting abuse

October 10th

Anelia starts with telling us that she will be showing us the testimony of a young UNI student who just graduated. This person went to a party, had to much to drink, and ended up having sex in a truck. This case was covered with expanded media coverage by Anelia by using video recording during the testimony. “The story will haunt this man plenty without having the video.” The girl comes out the day saying that the man raped her. She is showing us the most embarrassing part of the testimony in which the man goes into detail about the night in front of jury that is probably his grandparents age. Things to consider- how much of the video would you print and publish to the public

Video- Daniel Farmer

25 years old at the time of trial, born and raised at Charles City where he graduated
attended UNI for business management
- “found out the hard way that business is not for me, so I change my major to secondary education”
- grades increased with the change in major
seems like a very respectful guy and intelligent
explained his experience with student teaching
- explained the four levels
party was in October of 2011
- had just finished his student teaching at the end of October
- graduated in December of 2011
he knew of the victim but hadn’t met her, he did invite her to the party
- “more the merrier, started inviting all kinds of friends”
- told him that she wanted to come but didn’t know if she could
arrived at party around 10-10:30pm
had not been drinking before, but during the party he was drinking Natural Light
- tasted a couple peoples mixed drinks
party asked him to identify where car was parked at the party
“In my opinion I think there was 60-70 people at the party”
victim arrived 30-45 minutes after him did
victim came up to party with a group of friends
victim sought him out at the party
- conversation was very short and sweet, about 1mintute
next conversation was around 11:15pm when she texted him “where are you”
- he responded with outside
- “she found me outside and was talking with me”
- gave her a beer and went separate ways again
saw her again 15 mins later
- she came up to him asking for another beer
- “I have some in my car, we can go grab some if you want”
- went to get some at the car; said the victim was kind of stumbling but not necessarily a drunken stumble
- proceeded to show court the route they took to the car with the exhibit on the wall
he answered all questions with certainty and respectfully
started to kiss on the way to the car for about 2-3minutes
- stuck her hand down his pants, “she was touching me and rubbing me”
- she had stopped because they both made it clear that they wanted another beer
finally got to car
- she opened the door and got a beer
- she also took her shoes off, “I didn’t think anything of it”
- I reached in behind her and got a beer
- we started to kiss again, “intense makeout session”
- “she eventually seated herself on top of me, and she took off all of her clothes”
- she was making out and grinding on him in which he thought she wanted sex
- no attempts to get out of the car, no mouth covering, no saying no
- “she did orgasm a couple times” “she was definitely enjoying it, moaning”
  - he did not ejaculate, described his situation as “whiskey dick”
class discussion
- credible, very respectful to judge, well-spoken, not shaky
- speaks with hands
- doesn’t look like a guilty person
- we did not hear the other side
- he was found not-guilty
- “crime can happen when you least expect it” Anelia
- had obviously rehearsed the questions with his lawyer in regards to the timing of kissing and how did he already have whiskey dick
- expanded media coverage rules forbid showing the jury!!!
- nature of asking about the sexual act–shows the how the girl wanted it
- lost all privacy

Next everyone in the class got to share their experiences with the court assignment. One student talked about how she felt that courtroom needed an update. As a class discussion we talked about how only certain cases get reported by the news. Everyone got different insights from their experiences and it was interesting to learn about each.

October 3rd

Class started with an opportunity to listen to Mary Beth Tinker about her court case that essentially dealt with the freedom of speech for students within schools.

Moving back into the classroom, we discussed our struggles going through the assignment of turning a court decision into a news story. Many students had the same struggles of getting through the content of the decision and understanding what was being said.

Headlines- “Court rules in favor of..

Lead

was the decision unanimous?
- 7-2, 5-1 what are the statistics?
should include the final decision!
who wrote the courts opinion-Justice Edward M. Mansfield
should come naturally in dissenting order or importance
- make it more personable
address the W’s

Social Media Coverage of Assignment

First Link
- very attention grabbing headline
- noticed a lot of short sentences compared to mine
- doesn’t go into detail about the previous probate case or explain what the certain Acts say
- sub-headlines for major topics

Oral Arguments of the Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District

“this case involves the right of public school students rather than faculty members in regard with disruptive tactics”
“first amendment free speech case”
no student could come to school wearing the arm band for the purpose of protesting the war
students thought they had the right to wear the arm band to school and would not take it off because of consciousness
Mary Beth wore the arm band throughout the entire afternoon without any disruptions and was later asked to take it off in which she did but was still suspended
John Tinker wore his arm band days later and went through the morning wearing it with no disruptions other than discussions during lunch
“I believe the method the students choose did not have the intentions to be disruptive”
- “chose a method that would not be distracting, but also not ineffective”
“the difficulty with this policy is that the faculty did not report wearing the arm bands as disruptive”
basically the entire oral part was all about whether or not the arm bands were disruptive or not
teachers were noted that they were upset for children expressing political beliefs in school rather than the bands being disruptive
this case provides good context for further cases of students rights in school

September 26th

Facebook Live- Garage Fire

Anelia asked us to break down the video into parts based on how long each scene was shown
- reporter on camera- 11 seconds
- visual one (picture of fire)- 8 seconds
- video one (fire) – 18 seconds
- video two (witnesses)- 17 seconds
- video three (aftermath)- 12 seconds
- reporter on camera- 10 seconds
“how much time does the anchor have”, “how much time is voice over” Anelia
reporter had face-time with audience for about 21 seconds
original footage- witnesses and background source
“no story is static” Anelia
- unanswered question- what started the fire

Michelle Kohoe Case

tried murdering both of her sons and putting the blame on a stranger
- one son survived and told officials that their mother did it
Link from CNN about the case
9-minute clip of Michelle being asked questions in court- told to take direct notes that elevate the case
- “my first visits with them I felt very frantic” Michelle
  - trying to say that she felt pressed for time with her attorneys
- “this was my first time dealing with legal jargon and the law, so all of it seemed very foreign to me” Michelle
- “I needed the jury to hear from me” Michelle
- continued assertion that she wanted to testify
- her meeting were short, without medication
The next clip
- asked about her I.Q.
- “I didn’t feel stable enough to testify” Michelle
- “I needed the jury to hear my experience, I needed the jury to hear that it was out of my control that day.” “I know that this horrific, tragic act happened at my hands but it never would have happened at a health mind” Michelle
  - her step-father haunted her thoughts
- “I wasn’t at a stable point to convey that strongly enough to a jury” Michelle
- “As I have grown healthier, I have gotten more stable to put it into words” Michelle
- “at the time I was expressing it in the best way I could, in the condition I was in” Michelle
  - in regards to past trials
- “I knew I was going into trial and I was going in unprepared” Michelle
- seemed more assertive in this clip
- Most Recent Info

Supreme Court Case- Reporting an Iowa Supreme Court Decision

Direct Link to Report
first part gives dates
- writing the story as if the decision was made today- homework purposes
attribute quotes to Judge Cady from the debriefing
background information gives you an idea of how to construct the story
opinions are sources that you can use in a story
- attribute to the judge who concluded the opinions

Alcor Life Extension Foundation Case

headline–attention grabbing
lead paragraph
turn this opinion report into a legitimate news story
- make it reader friendly
about 1500 words, includes quotes
- at least five direct quotes- relevant!

September 19th

Our class visited the KWWL news channel station in Waterloo in which I had to take notes on paper.

September 12th

The class took a look at the Iowa Judicial Branch website and looked at one of the news releases. This is the specific news release we looked at. Direct quotes need to be added to a news release to add to the value; in this release, the class talked about how we need to contact the clerk and the police to gain more information. Reporters should write a beginning story and also post to social media to get information from jurors and witnesses. Another source would be local attorneys and private detectives. In this news release, contacting the bank involved would also be beneficial.

The next thing we looked at was the expanded media coverage page. This is were guidelines for social media coverage on cases are posted; there are many rules and regulations for reporters to follow and also a request form. Here is where the rules are listed. “Here are the rules you must follow precisely because you represent the public,” added Anelia. The rules are in place to keep citizens protected and give a sense of safety.

Anelia then shared a video she made covering the case of a bank robbery and an officer shooting. The two convicted were young adults who were apparently “drug buddies. According to Anelia, the judge was pissed off because it was way early in the morning and she usually works as a magistrate not a district court judge. “Think about the privilege of being able to be there,” Anelia added. The nineteen year old was charged with six counts of terrorism and attempted murder; the twenty-five year old, six counrts of attempt to commit murder and four counts of terrorism. The men looked like they were coming off of a high. Two sheriffs were present in the room as well. The judge in the case, was the same judge that visited us in class today! Anelia even got to video the suspects leaving the courtroom and being escorted onto the elevator.

GUEST SPEAKERS- Judge Peter Newell and Magistrate Karen Thalacker

Bremer county has two magistrates
- she is on every other week 24/7
- “I’ve got to have my phone on and has to be a priority”
judge gets less calls around the clock but is consider full-time
Magistrate
- small claims cases, lowest level of judge
- search warrants
- sent bond, verify addresses and names
- speeding tickets
- “I cant do the rest of the stuff Pete can do”
- send people to jail for up to 3o days
- can also marry people “I do a lot of weddings”
- have to re-apply for job every 4 years
District Associate Judge
- next level above magistrate
- theft, DUI, marijuana charges
- can marry people and set up adoptions
- can charge one year in county to five years in prison
- a district court judge is even higher still–million dollar lawsuits, civil cases, murders
  - can sentence to life in prison
- juvenile cases
Types of Felonies: Class A- life, Class B- (armed robbery), Class C (controlled substance) 10 years
“we cant take a public decision on political matters” –lady
- she had to take her political bumper sticker off of her sons car so they wouldn’t seem swayed
- “wont even let us go to the Iowa Caucuses” lady
  - could influence the public
- “had to give that up” lady, she used to work for the Iowa Caucus
Media Rules
- “inform them about all the rights they are giving up”-him
- Irish man gets taken to an English court without having family know anything
  - secret evidences, “telling you are guilty without showing the evidence”- him
- “everything I do can show up in the paper” -him
- “holds everyone accountable”- lady
- “if newspapers reporters weren’t workers their rears off 24 hours a day, we wouldn’t know a fraction about it” lady
- the goal is to get the truth out! let the public decide what they think about what you put out
- “need to be people of the highest integrity” lady, talking about journalists
- so much to be told about what public figures are doing
- “tension about what is public and what isn’t” him
  - search warrants examples of being sealed
- “judges have a great deal of authority over their courtroom” lady
  - gave Anelia the authority to video during her cases
  - example- Chris Soule case, court is very sensitive to not having one assume that he is guilty
    - if the media is super biased, it can uproar the case and get the journalist in trouble–even sentencing
    - the pressure to get a story out before everyone else can affect a journalists morals in this situation
    - “judges don’t like to be in a rushing” him
- “everything you do is monitored in every courtroom in Iowa” lady
- judge has the right to say no to recording
- professionalism plays a role in this
- “my initial reaction is panic”, him in dealing with the extended media coverage
- “if you don’t tell your reporter this is off the record, tough” Anelia
- have to be careful about even facial expressions when judging a case
- very cool that after the blurb was added about the child not belonging to the judges, no one asked again
  - shows people listen
importance of fair trial
- “our whole system is based on confidence and trust” him
- the courtroom is meant to do stuff civilly and peacefully
- “it is a system based on honest, integrity, and respect” him
- very important who you choose has a judge
  - “hey judge, I’m six months sober” “I got my kids back”
  - don’t be angry when you sentence someone, “its kind of like parenting”
  - ritual to court preceding that puts a lot of thought in even before the case
  - jury gets to be angry, judge tends to get dispassionate
- example-
  - the suspects pregnancy should not effect the big picture in the case which was is it okay to be drunk on your property?
- “even the guy with 15 DUI’s has the right to a fair trial” lady
  - jury issues, don’t want him/her back on the road
- high profile cases require more of a private jury selection
- judges need to a have a relationship with someone in the press and vice versa!
  - professionalism! respect each others jobs!
- “court system and media are really a reflection of society, we all cross paths” Anelia
hardest decisions?
- taking away parental rights
  - drug addictions
  - put a child into a foster home- issue is whether they can be at home
- lack of money puts some suspects at a disadvantage
- economic challenges, transportation, no resources
Creston, IA- 5 kids dressed as KKK
- blows up social media
- kicked off football team, town is very confused what happened
- crime not charge because they were on private property
- saying it is freedom of speech
- one family came out with a public apology
mistakes?
- “come at you so fast” him
- example- DUI, wont send person to jail but will regret it if the person turns around and kills someone
- “make a decision and move on” lady “if someone disagrees, they can always appeal”

When the judges left, we discussed how we have access to look at Iowa judicial reviews. These reviews give a back ground of the judge and also how the judge is doing in the profession. This is the 2016 judicial performance page.

September 5th

Our class visited the Black Hawk County jail in which I had to take notes on paper. A reflection from the experience is posted on my front page and also in the homework drop-down.

AUGUST 29TH

Student Court Experience

two female students share their experience sitting in a court trial
- ended up being a murder conviction
- many deputies and cops were in the courtroom
- very hostile environment; trial lasted about 5 minutes
- another female student was actually around the area when the shooting happened
  - August 2015
  - man was shot in front of his children
- convicted murder got up to 10 years in prison
- the students could have taped the family in the parking lot after the verdict
  - this is legal for us to do
  - the students didn’t feel right recording the distraught family especially because they are not professional journalists
    - relates back to morals
- Anelia- “the most sacred thing I do is witnessing”
  - you cover something and you can leave it behind, however the people directly impacted will always remain
- think of the victims pain as a hurt from the injustice instead of hurt from losing a family member

Jaycee Lee Dugard & Elizabeth Smart

Diane Sawyer Coverage (Part One)

Philip Coredo (convicted sex offender) and Nancy kidnapped her at 12 years old in the fifth grade on June 10th 1991
“You would never know how she survived” -Diane
pine cone necklace- “symbol of hope and new beginnings, life after something tragic”- Jaycee
very close with her mother
- first day of school she was innocent and wanted to ask her mother if she could shave her legs
half way up the hill to the school bus, she was paralyzed by a stun gun, sharp ended of a pine cone are the last thing she touches
- Nancy held her in the car; investigators think Nancy scouted out Jaycee
- 2 hours away from her home
was handcuffed naked and put into a shed that was police would never investigate
“some sounds and smells never leave you”- Jaycee
“I tried not to cry because I couldn’t wipe them away”
made it appoint to remember that she heard a train, so she could tell her mom where she was
- the moonlight shining through the one window would remind her of her mother; kept her hoping and surviving
Philip
- says he was a musical genius on the brink of a break through
  - would sing at a children’s play ground even though he was a sex offender
  - probably where Nancy would scout little girls for Philip
- parole officers would visit him after he got out of jail early for raping a girl for over 8 hours after she escaped, but officers never thought to look in the many sheds in the backyard
- hears demon angels; says he is the chosen one
  - told her she was protecting other little girls from this happening to him
she didn’t have a toilet or tooth brush; relied on Philip to bring her food and go to the bathroom
right after she is kidnapped, she was forced to shower with Philip and hadn’t ever seen a man
raped day after day in handcuffs
- “there was a switch I had to shut off”
Philip later brought in a TV but she could never watch the news
- QVC was the only channel
month and a half later she was moved out of the sound proof shed into a room in the garage next door
he would take “runs” where he would do drugs
- made jaycee dress up for hours
- she had to comfort him when he would come off the drugs and then he would threaten her
thought this would be the rest of her life
- “there was never a day that I didn’t cry”
most haunting memory
- hearing the lock when he would enter and the squeaky bed
“How did you stay sane” – Diane
- “I was still alive” “You do what you have to do to survive”
“Survival is your strength not your shame”- Diane she came out to help other girls
Philip taped the rapings
- prosecutors asked her to watch them to make sure that no other girl was raped; she watched them
keeps getting moved back and forth from the room to the sound-proof shed
Philip eventually introduces Jaycee to his wife Nancy
- first time they meet, Nancy brought a teddy bear, a Barbie and chocolate milk
- Nancy told her she was sorry for what they had done but yet knew everything and didn’t do anything
- “She’s just as evil as Philip” – Jaycee
- jealous of Jaycee in some instances
couple would give Jaycee kittens and then randomly take them away
wouldn’t be able to write or speak her name for 18 years after writing her name in the diary she was given by the couple
Jaycee’s mother prays in her room every night
Easter 1994- Pregnancy was announced to Jaycee by Philip and Nacny
- 4 and half months pregnant, 13 years old
- had the baby in the backyard, locked up and alone
- Philip removes the umbilical cord with his hands to get the baby out
- “I felt like I wasn’t alone anymore” – Jaycee after giving birth
- 3 years later, another birth in the backyard
- taking care of the babies with only what she learned from TV
given a tent outside with a fenced in area after both children are born
- planted a garden
- created a school for her children in the tent–only with a 5th grade education
- started keeping scraps of paper to make a journal that she would hide from the couple
Jaycee was forced to tell her children that they were just her sisters and that Nancy was actually the mother of them both

Anelia (Class Discussion After Video)- “What would happen if I took the last 18 years of your life away”
- even trying to put yourself in Jaycee’s shoes in incomprehensible
- Diane never tried to put herself in Jaycee’s shoes and was very careful with her words and to not over step lines
- connection and interview was better with Diane being female and older/experienced (almost motherly)
- Parole Officers Punishment? Class Discussion Only
  - lawsuits
  - job loss
  - no malicious intent but missed it 60 times???
    - what were the procedures for them?
- Punishment for Philip and Nancy
  - is Nancy more evil?
  - death penalty? life?
- Morally Confusing
  - punishments
  - the children being products of rape
- “Try to minimize pain and harm” – Anelia
On Own Research
- Jaycee was denied lawsuit that was filed against the parole officers supposedly watching Philip after he was released from jail
  - government said that they could not be held responsible for abduction or captivity as there was no way of knowing that Jaycee would have been a victim because he was not yet under parole while she was victimized
- Jaycee and her children received a $20 million dollar settlement
- Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years to life for kidnapping and rape
- Nancy was sentenced to 36 years to life
- Diane Sawyer Coverage (Part Two)
- Jaycee was told that she was protecting her children by keeping them in the fence
  - fear of outside world
- “dreams for the future, see my mom”- Jaycee
- Campus Police Officers (UC Berkley)
  - Lisa Campbell and Ally Jacobs
  - felt the girls with Garrido were in danger
- after 18 years she wrote her name down for the cops to see after the campus officers to her in for questioning for being with Garrido
- “My baby is home, she’s back” Jaycees mom
- Diane started tearing up, showing empathy
- “Parole visits were epic failures” – Chris Cuomo
  - switched to guy interviewer to discuss Garrido and the failures of the parole officers
  - federal government even knew about the sound proof room
  - cut short his parole for good behavior
  - no officer bothered to look in the backyard even after 911 calls from neighbors
  - Cuomo is a lot more to the point, not asking about emotions but rather facts
- Gave Diane a pinecone necklace
  - “Wear it with happiness”
- Diane referred to the book, she did her research
- “It’s interesting to hear you call him their dad”- Diane
  - never judged Jaycee for it

AUGUST 22ND

Iowa Cold Cases

Lillian “Eileen” (Huff) Demaris

happened in Mason City, IA–close to my hometown, where I went to community college
went missing August, 14th 1952 leaving behind 3 daughters (age 6 and under)
absolutely no trace of her, was eventually declared dead
she was married 4 times–possible suspects
wasn’t seen again–daughters looked for her as they grew up

JonBenet Mystery

Brother sues over claims he killed his sister ($750,000)–MSNBS Live Video
- he was only 9 years old at the time
- Interviewers/Reporters can come back saying “it was just general reporting”
- could have been an accident..?
- he has to show malice from ABC interviewers; ruined reputation
The Case of JonBenet Ramsey–Video
- December 26, 1996–5:52am–Boulder, CO
- reported kidnapped by mother, found dead later the same day in the family home
- ransom demand was found
- “our goal is to finally get to the truth”–one of the investigators years later
- investigators did a complete re-evaluation of the case
- John Ramsey was 14 years older than Patsy
  - john married twice
  - very well off with computer business
  - patsy dies in 2006
- team of 7 investigators met 20 years later
- 911call–
  - mothers voice only
  - 6 seconds of inaudible content at the end
    - tried to have enhancement done
    - “we are not speaking to you”–investigators think is Johns voice
    - “oh Jesus” “holy Jesus”,,????? “what did you do?” “help me Jesus”???–pasty’s voice
    - “what did you find”–Burkes voice???
      - parents said Burke was sleeping during the whole thing
  - “we have a kidnapping”–patsy
  - “the moment you hang up the phone, the moment you give up hope”–investigator
    - thinks patsy should not have hung up; the dispatcher was continuously saying her name
  - dispatcher–Kim Archuleta
    - first time she was interviewed in 20 years
    - “sunken feeling like something wasn’t right”
    - “sounded like she said “we’ve called the police now what (patsy)””
    - thought she heard 2-3 voice in the room
    - conversation seemed rehearsed and the tone changed when Patsy thought the dispatcher (Kim) disconnected
    - wanted someone to come talk to her–WHY DIDNT SHE COME FOWARD??
- Ransom Letter
  - addressed to Mr. Ramsey
  - says that the kidnappers have JonBenet alive and want money
  - Signed–Victory S.B.T.C.
  - investigator questions
    - listen carefully??–too specific
    - $118,000 is what was wanted
    - sentences show confirmation that quotes were taken from different movies
    - 76% is extranenous and not necessary, too specific
      - “whole letter could have been done in 4 lines”- fitzgerald
    - purposeful mistakes made in language to disguise who really wrote the letter
  - Writing Linguistics
    - education- high
    - gender- female
    - age- 30+

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