It’s about time a reporter said “fucking nigger” on CNN.

Before you blow a gasket over my lede, let’s revisit this story: CNN reporter Susan Candiotti read the following on air as reportedly posted from the Facebook account of a shooting suspect in Tulsa, Okla.: “Today is two years that my dad has been gone, shot by a fucking nigger.”

The phrase was that of the suspect, not the words of Candiotti, who warned viewers about the offensive nature of the statement before she read it. Anchor Fredricka Whitfield apologized for the use of the phrase immediately following the report.

A little more than a week later, the Los Angeles Times published photos of U.S. troops posing with body parts of Afghan insurgents who reportedly blew themselves up by accident. The photos were given to the newspaper by a soldier in the 82nd Airborne Division and included images such as (from the story):

“Two soldiers posed holding a dead man’s hand with the middle finger raised. A soldier leaned over the bearded corpse while clutching the man’s hand. Someone placed an unofficial platoon patch reading ‘Zombie Hunter’ next to other remains and took a picture.”

Both of these media incidents drew criticism in the days that followed each one, raising questions about standards practiced by each news organization. In the case of CNN, according to the Poynter Institute, at least one critic suggested that the network was “ginning up a race war,” an opinion I personally believe to be utter garbage – history teaches us that no one ever benefited from a race war. Just ask the city of Los Angeles.
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On Monday evening, SPJ Generation J committee members spoke on Twitter about their use of Pinterest. Pinterest is, as committee member Jennifer Sullivan said, the hottest new social network and delivers great brand techniques for individual journalists and news orgs, although Mike Brannen noted, organizations are late to the game.

If you feel as though you too are “late to the game,” review the chat and check out these five “how-to Pinterest” tips to peak your interest in creating a resume on the site, or even just using it as a way to show a more personal side of your brand.

A pin is something that you like (which is represented by a heart) on a particular board. A pin board is a collection of pins that can be grouped by a user to show exactly what category they believe the items fit into. Some common pin boards are titled: Home, Wedding, Decor, Cooking, Books to Read, etc.

To add a new pin board, upload a pin or add a pin, you simply click the Add+ button on the top right hand corner of the homepage.

To view different sections of Pinterest, you click the “Everything” button under the Pinterest logo and select the category you’d like to view.

When you click a pin, you are taken to that user’s board and then if you click the pin again, you’re taken to the website where it was found.
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