Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Banning Smoking In Public Places

House Bill 259 is causing quite a debate between smokers and non-smokers, in North Carolina.

There are several sides to this story. On one side…we have the smokers who believe they should be allowed to light up their tobacco products anywhere they wish, including in restaurants.

We have the non-smokers who argue they should be afforded to the opportunity to enjoy a meal, at public restaurant, without having be in a smoke filled room.

And yet, there is a third side…the business owners. Many area restaurants and bars claim that having to go smoke-free will force them out of business.

Now in it’s third edition, the bill is still in the works. The debate over the health risks and implications continue. And today, the House voted to postpone any action on the bill until May 1st, 2007.  So for now, you can continue to smoke in public.

The bigger question is how long will that last?
I wonder, will this bill ever come to a vote? Could it pass in an area that is deeply rooted to Tobacco farms?

I encourage your comments.
Meanwhile, here is today’s webcast.

Jason
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Thursday, April 19, 2007

VT Massacre Video: NBC17’s Statement

There has been a lot of discussion about the use of the VT Massacre pictures and video, by NBC News. 

As a local news organization, we have a responsibility to report the news. I want to take a moment and explain to you what we have decided, as it relates to NBC17’s use of the massacre video and images.

Below is a statement from NBC17 News Director, Nannette Wilson.
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The decision to air the video and statements from Cho Seung-Hui was not made lightly by NBC 17 News.

Like NBC News, careful consideration was, and continues, to be given to all aspects of this very difficult story.  We recognize the sensitive nature of this particular material for the families of the victims, the Virginia Tech community and all of our viewers who are undoubtedly affected by this story. 

We agree with NBC News that Cho’s statements and videos may offer some insight into the critical question of why a person would commit such a horrible act.  We want to give our viewers an opportunity to see and judge for themselves.  We also want to give viewers the option of not watching the video by warning them about the nature of this content before it airs. 

There will be limited use of the video going forward, and we will continue to warn viewers if and when we do. 

As always, we encourage feedback from our viewers and find their input invaluable in our quest to serve our community better, every day.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Duke Lacrosse: What’s Next?

By now, you’ve probably heard all about the charges in the Duke Lacrosse case being dropped.

Yesterday, NC State Attorney General, Roy Cooper, announced he was dropping the Duke Lacrosse case. He cited conflicting information in the accuser’s recounting of the story, as just one of the reasons for the dismissal of the charges.

For thirteen months, these young men have had their names in the spotlight. The direction of questions appears to be shifting. Should the accuser be charged? Should she be provided mental assistance? Will she retain custody of her children? 

One of the discussions we had in our newsroom was if we should name the accuser, and under what conditions would we name her.The Winston-Salem Journal blogged about this very issue, too! (editors note: The Winston-Salem Journal and NBC17 are both owned by Media General). I invite your thoughts on this practice.

Check out our special Duke Lacrosse coverage page.

Got an opinion on this? Let me hear it.

-Jason
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Monday, April 09, 2007

Our First Blogger Meetup

In February, we hosted the very first NBC17 Blogger Meet Up. I definitely needed the help of area bloggers to get this meeting off the ground, so I asked them lots of questions.

In return, I got lots of answers.

I must say this blogging community is amazing. It is our hope to embrace the blogosphere. Barry, our General Manager, said it best when he posted on Ed Cone’s Blog:

“Are we sincere in our efforts to tap into the vibrant local blogging community? Yes. Do we have a lot to learn about the way people are using the web and new technology? Yes. Will we make mistakes along the way in navigating a new direction? Yes, yes and yes.”

I agree with Terry Heaton, Triangle bloggers are a bunch of fun. I shared a number of great conversations with a number of different bloggers. They each have an opinion and engage their readers with that opinion while inviting a two way conversation.

To Terry’s point, this was an eye-opening experience for me. I had no idea what to think about the blogosphere when I embarked on this meet up. I can now say I am on a learning curve… an adventure to learn as much as I can as soon as I can. While I didn’t think bloggers slept in and stayed in their pajamas all day, I did not realize how many bloggers do this as more than just a hobby, but as a voice and in some cases as a full-time job.

Our purpose remains the same now as it did prior to the meet up. We are looking to embrace bloggers, to learn what is important to each of them and to seek out ways that we can help the local blogosphere.

I met so many interesting people: Luther, Zoe, Chuck, Jason, Matt, Wayne Sutton, Rob, Andy Beal, Marcus Williford and Nathan Gilliatt. One of the attendees, Stephanie is launching a blog soon.

This truly was a great first step, of many, in getting to know each of you. Inside The Core will be a first hand look at our news operation, as I see it from the Assignment Desk/MCC, aka the core of the operation. Why did we make certain decisions? How did we come to decide things? This blog will have all that plus, hopefully, a lively dialogue with each of you on daily news items and topics that are going on in your neighborhood.

So stay tuned…

We took some cool pictures at the blogger meet up, you can view them by clicking here.

-Jason
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