LIS 5100 : Avoiding student plagiarism

In an assignment for LIS 5100 this week, I was asked to discuss how I’d handle a student plagiarism case. As UCM’s policy on Academic Honesty (2017) points out, “[A]cademic honesty is one of the most important qualities influencing the character and image of an educational institution.”

Steve Buttry, my journalism mentor, dies at 62

Steve Buttry

My condolences to the family of Steve Buttry, who died Feb. 19 of pancreatic cancer at age 62. I met Steve when I worked in the newsroom of a California newspaper; his employer, Digital First Media (DFM), provided management services for the newspaper’s parent company.

Our newsroom was transitioning to a multi-platform publishing strategy that placed an emphasis on “digital first,” and Steve came to our newsroom during a tour of member newspapers to share resources and strategies, and also to bring back with him any challenges we might face at our stage of implementing.

Steve Buttry to teach at LSU

Steve Buttry

Steve Buttry, my mentor in social media, fact checking and media ethics, announced this week that he will teach full-time at the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication.

Earlier this year, Buttry became a free agent, following layoffs by Digital First Media (DFM).

Buttry’s announcement this week was welcome, awesome, news to this former DFM journalist. His full-time role of educator seems like a really good fit.

My journalism mentor seeks new opportunity

Steve Buttry

Steve Buttry, a mentor of mine, announced that he’s a free agent, following layoffs by Digital First Media.

Until February 2013, I worked at the Lake County Record-Bee in northern California. Owned by MediaNews Group, it joined the DFM family when MediaNews appointed John Paton as its CEO and entered an agreement with Digital First Media to provide management services.

The move brought a change in emphasis from next-day print journalism to “digital first” publication across websites and social media.