My idea of journalists and news changes quite a bit since I took the class. I used to think that what journalists do is merely retelling the story they’ve heard of, and the credit is more to the sources rather to them.

But after a semester working like a reporter, I come to realize how important the role journalists play in telling a piece of news.

At first,  a well-trained journalist would not put much of his own voice into news. News always needs to be impartial. In telling the news, a journalist needs to make sure that both sides of the story are covered.

Second, journalists need to step out of their own living circle to collect the sources for the news. And in collecting news, a journalist needs to think about the public interest. Rather than putting whatever he see or heard of, he needs to organize the information he receives, and deliver those that the public may find amusing.

Journalists are the transparent connection between the public and the information. They provide the public with what they need, while making sure their own voices do not disrupt the news.

The White House had played “a game of Transparency Battleship” with the public. According to ProPublica, an independent, non-profit newsroom specifies in Investigative Journalism, the Trump White House still hasn’t release the entire financial disclosures of its staffs despite the request from several media.

Compared to former presidents, president Trump seems have brought a lot of people who “have been very blessed and very successful by this country” into his administration, according to Press Secretary Sean Spicer, quoted by the ProPublica. As the people working for the president are considerably wealthier than those serve former administrations, Trump White House makes it even fisher by withholding their financial status from the public.

Fortunately, the media does not give up easily in such issue. ProPublica, along with the Associated Press and The New York Times, launches a war with the White House on the issue of transparency. While the White House refused to give any comments, ProPublica has posted all the 88 fillings they had received, and thus give access to people with various expertise to examine them.

An approaching war

From KnobbeMartens, it is learnt that following the recent Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands case, on March 31, Puma sues Forever 21 over the design of several of its shoes. Comparing the pictures of the accused and that of the original, it is quite obvious to see the similarity over the clear and simple design. However, whether the clear and simple design qualify for copyright protection, that is a different issue..

To what extent design deserves copyright protection, this is not a brand new issue. For decades original designers have been troubled by it. The difficulty of the issue remains in the hardship of judging intellectual effort in designing, where the judges are forced to enter the domain they are not familiar with. However, ever since Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands case, a better definition for the given expression manifested in the designing seems to emerge. And thus makes it easier for judges to place the qualification for copyright protection. It is the author’s belief that the impending Puma case would further a standard in the designing world, in which artists’ idea would be better protected.