Freedom of Speech & Protest

This child is holding a protest sign on March 26, 2010, often used by the Westboro Baptist Church, which was in the news today as part of a Supreme Court case about whether its members can be restricted from protesting during funerals. This photo — by k763 — is reproduced under a Creative Commons license.

HARTLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — For picture part the assignment, you just need to complete all the elements above:

• Upload the photo.
• Aggregate it to an item in the news.
• Credit the photo and link to the photo, CC license and photographer.

That aside, I also picked this photo because I was hoping you could tell me if it's appropriate to use in a news context, especially given it's a child? Also, is it appropriate to use to describe an event that happened today even though this picture was taken in March?

Remember, extra credit points for commenting …

Joshua H. earns EC point

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Joshua H. caught a mistake on my portfolio page where I had a missing word in my introduction. That shows the importance of proof-reading and that anyone — teachers included — can make mistakes. Thanks for your help, Joshua.

It also gets him on the board in the Extra Credit Contest.

Corey S. first to net extra credit point

HARTLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Corey S. found a mistake in the post about the race for extra credit. I wrote “reverse” when I meant “reserve.” It was a great catch and the kind of thing you should all be looking for.

Note, we'll be keeping track of the contest in a text box in the right sidebar. Sidebars are standing elements in a blog. This is the first of many that you will see me add over the semester. You will also be adding them, too.

Link, comment your way to extra credit

NEW YORK — A good way to attract an audience is to provide content members of that community will want to read, so the very first post for this blog will address an issue most, if not all, online journalism students are interested in — extra credit.

Yes, it is possible in this class, but you have to do well in a contest designed to enhance everything we do in our assignments and on our discussion board.

This blog is dedicated to online journalism and you can earn extra credit by helping me add content and discussion or by finding grammar, spelling or fact mistakes within the course on Blackboard. Tally enough points by submitting links to me related to online journalism, by commenting on posts from others in this blog or finding my gaffes and you can boost your grade.