Op-Ed: You're Either a Team Player or You're Not

A news organization works like a sailboat. Its employees—from journalists to editors—write, report and edit, contributing to the operation’s smooth sailing. The intricate procedures within the collective operation all fall under the common umbrella of the organization’s standards and ethics. And these are clearly understood by every member, as the direction of the boat has long been established.

But what happens when one particular sailor whips out a pair of oars and starts paddling like hell in the opposite direction?

Such is the case of NPR veteran Juan Williams, who was recently fired for a controversial comment he made on the Fox News program, The O’Reilly Factor. Williams, who has been a Fox News contributor since 1997, admitted to the notoriously conservative host that he gets “worried and nervous” when he sees people in Muslim-garb on an airplane.

Those who are quick to criticize NPR’s decision should think twice, as his anti-Muslim comment was not the sole reason behind the organization’s seemingly swift termination of his contract. This event was actually the last draw. For example, Williams said last year on Fox that Michelle Obama has “got this ‘Stokely Carmichael in a dress’ thing going,” alluding to a leader of the black power movement of the 1960s.

One should not mistaken this NPR-Williams affair to be an issue of First Amendment rights of a matter of censorship. It was a matter of compatibility—or lack thereof.

Yes, journalists are people, too. They are entitled to their own judgment, values, opinions and prejudices. At the same time, journalists differ from everyday citizens because their values reflect not only their own but those of their news organizations. When these ideologies conflict in direction with that of the collective operation, it’s not necessarily taboo nor is it the end of a career. It’s a matter of conflict of interest, a conflict in direction. It’s just time to find a new boat.

Which is exactly what Williams did. He accepted a lucrative 3-year contract with Fox News immediately after his ties with NPR were cut.

This incident is not unique in the least. Earlier this month, Rick Sanchez made a controversial comment on a radio show, calling Jon Stewart a “bigot” and saying that Jewish people run CNN and all the other networks. He was subsequently fired from CNN. Octavia Nasr, a then-CNN senior editor for middle-east affairs, was fired for sending out a tweet that expressed reverence for a former leader of Hezbollah, an organization that the U.S. government designated as a terrorist group.

Yes, these statements may not have been politically correct, but that was not the primary reason for these journalists’ termination from their positions.

The success of news organizations largely derives from the trust and support from its readership. That readership is, more often than not, those whose values and political affinities match those of the publication. So when one member puts the entire operation in jeopardy with a comment that is out of line with the organization’s trusted and established standards, it’s a sensible move to let him or her go.

It may be a different story if the crew, as a democratic body, decides to shift gears and change directions. As long as that isn’t the case, however, the boat must keep on sailing towards its pre-established destination, even if the extraneous few must be left behind.

"Superman's social network nightmare"

We've all been there.

Know how to use Photoshop? Gap doesn't

So they've got themselves a new logo. One question: What the hell is that blue box doing there?

After more than 20 years of sticking with the classy, trademark logo, they decided to "up the game" by updating their logo with a design so rudimentary and trivial that my little 8-year-old cousin who recently made a Facebook with the sole purpose of playing Bejeweled would be able to outdo it using Paint in like, five minutes.

This new logo debuted yesterday via the official Gap Facebook page. It was met with so much criticism that they've deemed it as their "crowd-sourcing project" and are taking design submissions for their logo from the Facebook community.

This is fascinating to me, as it precisely illustrates the point Henry Jenkins makes about the blooming power of new media. The interactive nature of social networking sites is blurring the lines between the virtual world, the media and reality. Through Facebook and Twitter, TV sitcoms and films are being born from ordinary people (i.e. CBS's "&^%$ My Dad Says"). And now, laymen such as you and I can be the new logo designers for Gap, an international, multi-billion clothing retailer.

Cyber Bullying is IRL (In Real Life)

Well, Twitter is on the news again.

This time, it's on the spotlight after a freshman at Rutgers University tactlessly ousted his shy, homosexual roommate on the social networking website. The 18-year-old roommate, Tyler Clementi, ended up committing suicide.

On the evening of Sept. 19, student Dharun Ravi is believed to have tweeted: "Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay." Before leaving his room, he had stealthily set up a web cam to catch his roommate in the act. He went on to broadcast Clementi's sexual encounter on the internet. Two days later, he did it again: "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again."

The next day, Clementi jumped off a bridge and killed himself, just moments after he updated his Facebook status from his mobile: "jumping off the gw bridge sorry"

It's completely incredible how big of a role social networking sites now play in our lives. Just think -- a few strokes on the keyboard have the potential to drive someone to his death. More so than ever, the discrepancy between our digital world and our real world is melting away to form a new realm in which html codes and binary numbers are as relevant as spoken words.

In this digital age, each one of us newly hold significant power in possession, a kind of power that is not unlike that of celebrity tabloid magazines. They make profit out of full-page headlines that shout baseless claims about certain celebrities engaging in steamy affairs, using drugs, abusing their kids, getting liposuction, and the list goes on. Celebrities' lives are flipped inside out for the entire world to scrutinize and gossip about, regardless of whether the claims are true or not. Their reputations are constantly on the line.

Now, with about 20 million users on Facebook, 75 million on Twitter and 100 million on Youtube, it's quite apparent that the internet is the biggest, greatest forum to exist, definitely incomparable to the circulation of a tabloid magazine. And the thing is, we all have the access and the authority to act as its "contributing reporter." We have at our disposal a sizable audience who would read our posts and watch our videos. And with the internet culture's lack of censorship and obsession with memes (definition: "Phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an esoteric inside joke."), achieving a "viral" status takes mere days, if not minutes. For instance, via the web, your average Joe can very easily become a celebrity(i.e. Antoine Dodson of the 'bed intruder' fame).

As respectable citizens of the World Wide Web, we should recognize the power of the typed word and the streamed videos as well as the diminishing line between reality and the virtual world. For Ravi, who has been charged with invasion of privacy and possibly with bias intimidation for targeting Clementi for his sexual orientation, he had to learn the hard way that merely deleting those immature tweets won't bring his roommate back.

To borrow a line from Spider-man's beloved Uncle Ben (may he rest in peace): "With great power comes great responsibility."