Around the Wire: Jailed Al Jazeera Journalists, TIME’s Top 10 Photos of 2014 and More Media News

Welcome to the latest installment of Around the Wire, PR Newswire’s round up of journalism, blogging, and freelancing stories from the past week.

Image by Adobe of Chaos; used under CC BY 2.0

1. Mouths Taped But Voices Loud: Protests Mark One Year Since Al Jazeera Journalists Jailed (Mashable)

This week marks the one-year anniversary of three Al Jazeera journalists jailed in Cairo last year. Convicted of terrorism related charges, the trio were reporting on the ongoing protests related to former president Mohammed Morsi. Each man now has served the first year of a nearly decade-long sentence.

With their mouths taped shut, protesters gathered earlier in the week to stage a silent protest. In addition, correspondents from a number of outlets held signs reading “journalism is not a crime” and #FreeAJStaff. This is another stark reminder of the dangers faced by journalists on the front lines.

2. TIME Picks Top 10 Photos of 2014 (TIME)

The power of an image has become magnified in the era of social media and the overwhelming growth of bite-sized news. Due to the instantaneous nature of today’s news flow, some readers will not make it past a glaring photograph let alone the caption. This lends all the more credence to the adage that a picture really is worth a thousand words or at least 140 characters.

3. AP’s Year of Freaking Out Language Geeks (Poynter)

To those who have studied and mastered the art of AP style, there is something sacred about the fact you can discern even the slightest style error in your favorite writers’ work. You take pride in the details, and sometimes the lack thereof your colleagues seem to pay to them. So it comes as no surprise that Poynter’s most popular post of the past year has to do with an AP Stylebook rule change that also led to some very noteworthy tweets.

4. 2014 Year End Social Journalism Report (Muck Rack Daily)

Continuing the trend of year-end round ups, Muck Rack has provided us with a look inside the world of social media journalism. Twitter tends to be the favorite for journalists and their audiences making it the focus of this article. You may find it interesting that the fourth most followed broadcast journalist is an 81-year-old man. It proves that social media may not be solely for the young, but also the young at heart.

5. Top Social Media Movements, Moments and Mishaps in 2014 (PBS MediaShift)

Rounding out this week’s top five is, you guessed it, another year-end review. This time, it focuses on the biggest moments in social media over the past year.

Social journalism has become a major player in the who, what, when, where, and why things become news. Making it emotional in different ways, yet important to take a look back on what made headlines over the past year.

Subscribe to Beyond Bylines in the sidebar or add our RSS feed to get media trends, journalist interviews, blog profiles, and more sent right to your inbox or feed reader.

Ryan Hansen is an audience researcher with PR Newswire keeping track of the latest New York media moves. Follow him @RPH2004 for tweets about media, food, and his general take on something that may be irrelevant.