May 4, 2008
· Filed under Reading
J. Patrick Coolican from the Las Vegas Sun explored the dangers of groupthink in his article, “The Perils of Political Narrative: One Reporter’s Story.” Coolican explores how groupthink has evolved and become a form of narrative, which has had both positive and negative impacts on the world of journalism from personal experience.
According to Coolican, groupthink as narrative is developed when: “A bunch of reporters and editors read on another’s dispatches, talk at events and on planes, and come to a rough consensus about where things stand and what’s important.”
I think this idea of groupthink is significant because it allows reporters to gather and ultimately print the same information so that no one is singled out for printing the wrong information; however, if all newspapers print the same thing, people will no longer have a need for a variety of news sources. Not only would most newspapers go out of business, but I believe our Democracy would be put at stake because there would be less diversified information available for people to interpret and formulate their own opinions.
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May 4, 2008
· Filed under Assignments · Tagged blogging, rhetoric blogging
The Caucus has reported that Obama officially defeated Clinton in Guam by only seven votes. Obama received 2,264 votes compared to Clinton’s 2,257 votes. The results from Guam are considered especially significant this year since the Democrats are in the midst of a “delegate-by-delegate” battle.
Because of the closeness of the vote, the outcome in Guam is unlikely to have an impact on the delegate margin. However, the caucuses also determined two of Guam’s five superdelegates. Pilar Lujan, who is uncommitted, won the race for party chairwoman, and Jaime Paulino, who supports Mr. Obama, was elected vice chairman. Two of the island’s other established superdelegates are on record as supporting Mrs. Clinton, of New York.
Tip.
April 28, 2008
· Filed under Assignments · Tagged blogging, rhetoric blogging
In “Obamania Sweeps France” by Annick Cojean, we learn that American Democrats living in France still prefer Barak Obama to Hillary Clinton, despite his loss in the April 23 Pennsylvania primary. In Paris alone there are 289 members registered to support Obama, with only 64 registered in support of Clinton. While these American Democrats may not be able to sit front row at a presidential debate, they are still connected to the presidential race through their televisions, the internet and their connection with Obama’s Legislative Coordinator, Michael Robertson, who keeps them updated via speaker phone. This distance also does not keep Obama supports from voicing their disapproval of Clinton and her decision to still remain in the race for the nomination.
“It’s terrible!,” says one white-haired woman. “Hillary has carried on a vicious, negative, Republican-style campaign.” A man says: “For eight years, we have had to deal with an American president who’s as dumb as a stone. I’m afraid Hillary will look a lot like him! The country’s in flames she hears nothing, listens to nothing and hangs on beyond all reason!”
Some smile, most shake their heads. “It’s incredible that we’re still talking about her! She has lost!” says one bitter woman. “It’s not only her ambition or her ego that impel her” adds a man next to her, “It’s the large groups and lobbies which control Washington. They think only about their contracts and tremble about seeing a new man.”
Tip.
April 27, 2008
· Filed under Reading
Brian Carroll uses Aristotle’s rhetorical concept of ethos in his article “Culture Clash: Journalism and the Communal Ethos of the Blogosphere,” in order to compare and contrast blogs and traditional print media. While traditional print media organization’s ethos is typically based on values such as accuracy, fairness, timeliness, precision, clarity and comprehensiveness; the ethos for news and information blogs is based more on values such as immediacy, transparency, interconnectivity, and proximity to the events.
Blogs have been perceived as a threat to traditional journalism, but times are changing and as newspaper readers are aging and dieing off, newer generations are looking to the internet for news coverage. This raises the important question of how will old media survive in this changing environment?
“It is suggested here that old media can better adapt and survive, even thrive, by opportunistically and selectively combining the schemas for ethos in and for traditional print media with those embodied by news and information blogs” Carroll stated. “The blog is but one digital medium or form in an evolving media ecosystem that increasingly enables and rewards participation by individuals, making traditional news media’s cognitive recognition of this communal ethos all the more important.”
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April 27, 2008
· Filed under Reading
One of my favorite ice-breakers is the game Two Truths and a Lie. The goal is for the audience to distinguish from the speakers three statements which is the lie. This game helps individuals learn more about strangers, but I also think it can be used as an analytical tool to further one’s understanding of research, articles or other complex subjects.
I was very intrigued by the interview with Farai Chideya in chapter six of “Dispatches from Blogistan.” I thought Chideya made several bold statements, some of which I agreed were true, but some I thought were false. In the spirit of games, I thought it would be exciting to play a game of Two Truths and a Lie to further explore and analyze Chideya’s views on blogging.
Statement #1: Concerning journalistic ethics, Chideya stated: “It’s not that citizen journalists will be held to the same standards as “mainstream” journalists, but that coming up with a set of ethical rules you follow will make you better” (88).
Statement #2: “In five years, there will be less and less meaning to being ‘print,’ or ‘online,’ or ‘audio’ or ‘video.’ Anyone who can be multimedia will be multimedia” (88).
Statement #3: On traditional media and blogging, “I think in some cases it works well and, in some cases, news organizations aren’t ready for the higher level of opinion and critique that comes with the blogosphere” (88).
So which statements do I agree are truthful and which do I believe is false?
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April 27, 2008
· Filed under Assignments · Tagged blogging rhetoric, rhetoric
Barak Obama continues to change what was once considered the norm, as explained at The Caucas, The New York Times Politics Blog. The Indianapolis Star allowed Obama to participate in its editorial board meeting, which was also broadcast live on its Web site. Editorial board meetings historically have been closed events where editors would privately discuss and form judgments on the presidential candidates.
“In this campaign, a few editorial boards have taped their meetings with the candidates and then put the video up on their Web sites. The Reno Gazette-Journal was one, which was noteworthy because it made some news; that’s where Mr. Obama made some much-discussed comments about Ronald Reagan.
But this may be the first time such an interview is live streamed in real time. In this fast-paced campaign, you might as well use the Web to break news yourself before someone else does. And readers love the transparency. So this is yet another way that the Web is changing politics.”
Tip.
April 20, 2008
· Filed under Reading
The definition of a journalist and the journalistic privilege’s traditionally allotted to these individuals has come into question as blogs continue to gain not only popularity, but also credibility. Clay Shirky, the author of “Here Comes Everybody” sheds light on these very interesting conflicts in today’s media regulations and the impact they might have on the media’s future.
Shirky’s article was very insightful and I suggest that media professionals, students and the general public all take the time to read and reflect on his ideas which affect all of us in some way or another. I would like to focus on the personal impact Shirky’s article had on me and my view of my future career as a journalist.
I personally agree with the traditional definition of a journalist, which Shirky cited from the Oxford English Dictionary, that defines a journalist as: “a person who writes for newspapers or magazines or prepares news to be broadcast on radio or television.” I worked hard to get into the University of Washington’s journalism program and now I feel that the level of prestige associate with my future degree will significantly decrease because the web now allows anyone to become a journalist or publisher.
“Out social tools remove older obstacles to public expression, and thus remove the bottlenecks that characterized mass media,” Shirky explained. “The result is the mass amateurization of efforts previously reserved for media professionals.”
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April 9, 2008
· Filed under Reading
In elementary and middle school I kept a very detailed diary of my everyday proceedings. I wrote in my diary every night before going to bed, until my mother brought up a very private topic, that I had only recorded in my diary, at a family dinner. I was obviously very frustrated with my mom and the fact that she had been reading my personal diary, and I immediately stopped writing entries.
My past experience with diary intrusion has made me question why people keep online diaries. Why do people want to expose their inner thoughts, feelings and emotions and who wants to read information that might be uncomfortably personal or intrusive?
Fortunately, “Dispatches from Blogistan” by Suzanne Stefanac shed some light on my questions in the chapter titled “Blogs as Diaries.” In an interview with Bruce Sterling, an author, editor, activist and critic, Stefanac recorded that there is a need to completely redefine the word “privacy.”
“I have real problems with the word privacy. It meant something at one point,” Sterling stated. “But now, there are so many types of intrusions … there are just too many ways in which we violate one another” (55).
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