Former Award Winning Teacher, Daniel Mer Speaks Out Against News Media Misconduct

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Former Award Winning Teacher, Daniel Mer Clears His Name and Speaks Out Against Media Misconduct

After twelve years of staying quiet, Daniel Mer of Kent County, R.I. is telling his story of what happened to him in March of 2011 when he had been detained under false accusations. While Mer had been only briefly been detained and released after one hour,  News outlets had invaded Mer's privacy without reporting that he had been cleared of charges and released after only being detained for one hour.

Mer now has the courage to speak out and tell his story and has begun an investigation on Media Misconduct. Mer's story poses the question, could it be, that because Mer was a teacher, the news media was allowed to smear his name & professional reputation based on an accusation later dropped? 

Mer raises the question, why only the negative reporting but not the positive. For example, why didn't the news media report when the charges were later dropped? These are some of the questions Mer is investigating. Quickly after the ordeal, Mer decided what was best was to return to work and restore his name & professional reputation for his family and for the community. His grateful that they have all stood by him & does volunteer work in community now to give back.

In Mer's words, "It was a crazy time having news media knocking on my door and violating my privacy and civil liberties. I was victimized by the news media and given extra public scrutiny" Mer had dedicated 15 years of library and media education service. Given the amount of positive support from school officials, students, and past colleagues, Mer was able to fight back. He was the lucky one. However, his goal know is to tell his story and begin research on Media misconduct to help any others in the futre who may have been victimized by the news media.  

In the past six years since Mer has cleared his name of any wrongdoing, other companies started to take notice of Daniel's abilities to lead. The first was National Grid, where Daniel worked alongside Ernst & Young helping employees solve technical issues. Other notable accomplishments were his development of an award winning national eLearning system for CVS's MinuteClinic & consulting for Hilton on leading employee tech trainings.  

Mer continues to dedicate himself to the community and thanks to many great colleagues over the years who helped him, Daniel is now returning the favor to help other emerging leaders grow. 

In his spare time, Daniel is a dedicated father of three and recently launched a new Spotify podcast show called "eMERging Leaders Podcast.  Mer looks forward to a bright future continuing to lead scholars to their highest potential of professional growth with his new start up venture, "InfoRef Media".

For more info on InfoRef Media go to http://www.inforef.net 

To tune into Daniel Mer's new podcast click link here: https://open.spotify.com/show/1cHNfgrym0lgwEge2s7R 

Daniel Mer Investigates Media Misconduct : Speaks Out Against Unfair Teacher Treatment

Introduction to Investigating Media Misconduct: Part 1A 

by Daniel Mer, MLIS, MA

The news media plays an important role in society. Informing citizens of news, events in the community. However, on the downside of these beneficial aspects, in the last decade there have been many cases of citizens or students (i.e. the Duke Media misconduct case in 2006 - link below), who had been wrongly charged for some reason or another and yet have faced a smear campaign and news media exploitation. The concept of Digital Forgetting has been study in the last 20 years in the internet age and will be further discussed in Part 1B of this study.  

This investigation poses one of many questions. One question is: at what stage do news agencies overstep the line or privacy for individuals who could have been falsely charged with a crime and at what point do they cross the line into negatively affecting individual's careers and family life? Further, what happens when innocent professionals, students or others have their reputations damaged from media misconduct and how this can affect even online personal identity.

Further, what are our citizen rights and protections in the "court of public opinion"? In the last decade there was the highest national increases of false arrests to many notable public officials, leaders, managers and scholars who had been wrongly charged and yet have faced media exploration. What happens when news outlets go too far before someone is found guilty and how this can negatively affect citizens livelihoods?


Below are some exploratory links on Court of Public Opinion and more:

• Link on Media Misconduct and Public Opinion (Duke University) 

This study was researched by Daniel Mer, Master of Communication, Library and Information Studies from the University of Rhode Island. In his words, "this study aims to explore Media Misconduct and the public opinion dynamic which can occur with media misconduct". 

Mobius the Shepherd: Artist with a Message

Mobius the Shepherd (Daniel Mer) has emerged in the underground music scene as an artist with a message in times when many artists are only seeking commercial success. As the 2nd member of the group Thought Process, there is no controversial topic Mobius will not cover in his expressive lyrical form. He tackled the effects of industrialization on nature on his first solo online hit in 2007 in "Everything I knew", when he took the online community by storm and demonstrated his imaginative realism and mystical side with "Secret Box", which elevated his status beyond just up and coming Mc to being an influential contender in the "Literal Hip-Hop" scene.

He released the solo album titled "Anamorphism" in 2010 and In the works at this time is another Thought Process album due out in 2012-2013. Mobius is also planning on a 2nd solo album within that timeframe as well and he plans to hit a broader audience with his expressive sound and will not be holding back in the range of his messge no matter how controversial in site of the numerous public and personal injustices that plague American society in the digital age.
 
Mobius the Shepherd songs can be heard below:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=831001

Mobius the Shepherd Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nB5BSg7OgA

When does the media go too far? Part 1

 The news media plays an important role in society regarding informing citizens of events and situations occurring in the community. While we all have a right to practice our 1st amendment rights, at what stage do news agencies overstep the line or privacy for individuals who could have been falsely charged with a crime and at what point do they cross the line into negatively affecting individual's careers and family life? Further, what are our citizen rights and protections in the "court of public opinion", or are contributing citizens, taxpayers, and professionals treated as "media fodder" without any rights to privacy? When does the media go too far in negatively effecting people's lives and lively hoods in the digital age or is the age of media ethics gone entirely? Your thoughts are appreciated.

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