Sometimes the addictiveness of certain websites really scares me. Take icanhascheezburger.com for example. I love that website (with a very mild, detached love I mean). It makes me laugh, and shake my head, and roll my eyes, and a lot of times I'll get on it to take a five minute break, but not stop looking at the pages of pictures for at least half of an hour.
It's really rather ridiculous. But today, it wasn't pictures of funny cats and their captions that got me. I fell into the Wikipedia abyss. "It's not a credible source," teachers say. "Stay away from it except for looking up simple things you are supposed to know anyway and will never cite in your papers."
But I was doing research. I was looking at conservative and liberal media, and trying to find a simple list of corporations (papers, networks) that would give me any idea of what everyone else thought. And I did find an article about "Media bias in the United States". It was very easy to find. I can hear the tiny voice in my head of one of my teachers scolding me and making sad tsking noises.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry I read the entire thing. I'm sorry I've turned into every other college student on the planet. It's very shameful, and I apologize.
But where else can you find easy information?
Wikipedia seems to have a little bit of something for anything you want to know. And other sources of information do not lend themselves to the usage of broke college students (hey, that's me!). Sometimes it's just not possible to find information in "credible" news sources.
And would Encyclopedia Brittanica have a side-by-side comparison of the most and least liberal news media organisations in the States? Nope.
"There are no topic results related to your search." Okaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy.... Great. Thanks.
Even I am really tired of hearing classmates and professors rant in class about the decline of the newspaper and how much they hate blogs and Wikipedia and Twitter (and who knows what else) because they demean journalistic integrity, but still. Since even I fall into this hole, I suppose I still don't have a set answer in my own mind.
I do find it incredibly amusing that some students of journalism hate blogs because they contain too much opinion. I am apparently not a "real" journalist.
Now, I really don't think...
Oh, I'm sorry...I forgot that opinion has no place in "real" journalism. I'm supposed to participate, but not contribute, is that it? How in the world can you write an article, not put your opinion into it, and keep a reader from falling unconscious after the second sentence?
Saying that makes me think of my AP History teacher, Mr. Lightfoot. He was an interesting person. Maybe I'll write a profile about him someday. The strangest thing about Lightfoot was his inability to answer questions. At least, that's what we thought it was. Turns out he actually hated history, and only wanted to teach biology. Go figure. Anyways, sometimes we would ask him who his favorite president was. Or even the top five. He would NEVER give us an answer! He'd say, "What I think doesn't matter. I don't want to color your judgment."
The entire class would always bristle at that. Color our judgment? What, are we lemmings? Mindless and hopeless with a penchant for only following the leader?
Yup. Apparently we are.
Why else would we spend so much time complaining that FOX is conservative, the Times is liberal, and that something needs to change? The conservatives want more conservative reports. The liberals want more liberal reports. No surprises there. I find, to my relief, that a large number of the people whining about media biases are at least the informed citizens.
And I believe they're all complaining because the liberals are afraid that people will listen to the Washington Times and turn into Bible-thumping pastors, and the conservatives are worried that people will listen to the Wall Street Journal and become, what? Sorry, I can't think of the opposite transformation. Something about gays? Probably.
Of course, the relief I felt after finding out that journalists are worried about the general population being led astray disappeared quite soon after I remembered that they are, after all, simply complaining and slinging mud at one another.
I did find an article, written in 2005, about the findings of one UCLA professor of political science. Of all of the outlets researched, apparently Jim Lehrer was the most central-thinking. Looks like I'm going to have to do some more research. I wouldn't want to read unbalanced material and stop thinking for myself.
Final thought: Apparently FOX News execs get morning memos detailing the stories of the day and how they will be covered? I actually have heard this before, but I'm still wondering about the truthfulness of the fact. Who's to say the other papers don't get the same thing?
24 February 2009
17 February 2009
Hating conservatives and liberals
In honor of journalism and all that is fair and good in the world, I'm going to begin a mini research project.
I want to know why everyone hates conservative journalists.
I'm sure there is a good number of you who are now saying, "But I don't hate them! That's not true!"
It is true. Just try sitting in on one of my Journalism classes, it doesn't matter whether it's Reporting or International Media or any of the others. If you enter into ANY sort of discussion about what newspapers students read, there is ALWAYS at least one person who says something along the lines of, "Oh, and I look at Fox News sometimes. But I hate it."
And then someone mentions Rupert Murdoch, and then someone says something about conservative journalism in general. During the entire discussion, I sit in my seat trying to figure out why I hate neither liberal nor conservative journalism. I hate reporters who only ever talk about one side of the story, and then claim that they are unbiased.
What I really want to know is this: How do we KNOW that liberal papers are unbiased, and that conservative papers are biased? Or vice versa?
Because it seems to me that in the end, all it comes down to is a matter of personal opinion. So we'll have to see how this goes.
And on a completely random note:
The sports desk is listening to songs from the Little Mermaid (Disney, of course) on YouTube. It's very strange to hear middle-aged men singing along with a cartoon I was tragically devoted to when I was little. At present, I am afraid of sharks and fish in the ocean. Tragic.
I want to know why everyone hates conservative journalists.
I'm sure there is a good number of you who are now saying, "But I don't hate them! That's not true!"
It is true. Just try sitting in on one of my Journalism classes, it doesn't matter whether it's Reporting or International Media or any of the others. If you enter into ANY sort of discussion about what newspapers students read, there is ALWAYS at least one person who says something along the lines of, "Oh, and I look at Fox News sometimes. But I hate it."
And then someone mentions Rupert Murdoch, and then someone says something about conservative journalism in general. During the entire discussion, I sit in my seat trying to figure out why I hate neither liberal nor conservative journalism. I hate reporters who only ever talk about one side of the story, and then claim that they are unbiased.
What I really want to know is this: How do we KNOW that liberal papers are unbiased, and that conservative papers are biased? Or vice versa?
Because it seems to me that in the end, all it comes down to is a matter of personal opinion. So we'll have to see how this goes.
And on a completely random note:
The sports desk is listening to songs from the Little Mermaid (Disney, of course) on YouTube. It's very strange to hear middle-aged men singing along with a cartoon I was tragically devoted to when I was little. At present, I am afraid of sharks and fish in the ocean. Tragic.
12 February 2009
Disturbia: war.
First I should mention that I hate that song. But I've used it as my title today to preface some things that I've had a chance to see this past week.
I wish our world wasn't nearly this disturbing, it's really very terrible.
Here's a clip about a man charged with sexual battery against a SIX MONTH OLD LITTLE GIRL.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29165667/
I don't understand why people do this, and how you could resort to hurting another person, an infant, because he or she was bothering you. Why would you leave your daughter with a person like that? I don't know if he was the father, brother, cousin, neighbor, or whatever. You don't do things like that.
Second, two Florida teens were arrested for FAKING A RAPE on another teen boy from their highschool.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29167296/
also at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/02/12/0212simrape.html?imw=Y
May I just say, WHAT?! I...I just....I don't understand! What kind of family lives did these two boys have that even hinted to them that doing this was OK? Seriously disturbing. He "realized his actions were inappropriate"?? So that means that the peer pressure to prey on others is so great, that kids will go so far as to fake rape?
Let's move on to other parts of the world. I found this article published online today by the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7887520.stm
"FIVE CHILDREN SHOT IN AFGHANISTAN"
I seriously doubt the troops were aiming at the children; what I would like to focus on is the fact that children were anywhere near that sort of situation. I've never been to Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, or any other countries in that immediate area. Yes, I'm the privileged white chick who, one might argue, understands only that Prismacolor pencils are the best and that some university professors respond better to BS than others. But I think I know when and where children shouldn't be around adults, and I'd say war is one of those times.
For that matter, adults shouldn't be around adults at that time. I'm tired of reading death counts and hearing about martyrs and children being killed because they were in the middle of a situation everyone says they hates yet no one can ameliorate. A couple of semesters ago, one of my journalism profs would give my class pop quizzes on the headlines of the day. The last question, 8 times out of 10, was, "Current Iraq War Death Count?"
I'd honestly never paid attention to it before. But when you're reading through the obit page every day, reading about people who you didn't know who are now being buried under dirt and flowers, and you're watching this number climb every month....
Maybe this is entirely unrelated, but I watched the Incredible Hulk last night with one of my favorite friends. I would suggest seeing it, Edward Norton, I would argue, was the best Hulk so far. In the beginning of the film, General Ross calls in a group of soldiers to hunt down Banner, who they've found in Brasil. Here's the pertinent part: Does the general tell the soldiers exactly what they were up against? That Banner would turn into a fifteen-odd-foot tall anger machine and tear them to pieces? Nope. He tells them that the scientist stole military secrets and was a fugitive from the law.
OK, so the film was made by Hollywoodiens. It's part fiction, part social commentary. It just makes me wonder, how much of the truth was told to the soldiers going into what we call the Middle East? In relation to what they were told, I don't care as much about what I, as a citizen, know. If it were between me knowing and them knowing, I'd want them to know.
When I get into things like this, all I can keep thinking about is how sad our world is. Look at some of these photos: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/08/europe_warehouse_a_home_for_italy0s_migrants/html/1.stm
Sometimes I wish I were more politically and economically minded, so that I could at least explain these things to myself.
I wish our world wasn't nearly this disturbing, it's really very terrible.
Here's a clip about a man charged with sexual battery against a SIX MONTH OLD LITTLE GIRL.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29165667/
I don't understand why people do this, and how you could resort to hurting another person, an infant, because he or she was bothering you. Why would you leave your daughter with a person like that? I don't know if he was the father, brother, cousin, neighbor, or whatever. You don't do things like that.
Second, two Florida teens were arrested for FAKING A RAPE on another teen boy from their highschool.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29167296/
also at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/02/12/0212simrape.html?imw=Y
May I just say, WHAT?! I...I just....I don't understand! What kind of family lives did these two boys have that even hinted to them that doing this was OK? Seriously disturbing. He "realized his actions were inappropriate"?? So that means that the peer pressure to prey on others is so great, that kids will go so far as to fake rape?
Let's move on to other parts of the world. I found this article published online today by the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7887520.stm
"FIVE CHILDREN SHOT IN AFGHANISTAN"
I seriously doubt the troops were aiming at the children; what I would like to focus on is the fact that children were anywhere near that sort of situation. I've never been to Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, or any other countries in that immediate area. Yes, I'm the privileged white chick who, one might argue, understands only that Prismacolor pencils are the best and that some university professors respond better to BS than others. But I think I know when and where children shouldn't be around adults, and I'd say war is one of those times.
For that matter, adults shouldn't be around adults at that time. I'm tired of reading death counts and hearing about martyrs and children being killed because they were in the middle of a situation everyone says they hates yet no one can ameliorate. A couple of semesters ago, one of my journalism profs would give my class pop quizzes on the headlines of the day. The last question, 8 times out of 10, was, "Current Iraq War Death Count?"
I'd honestly never paid attention to it before. But when you're reading through the obit page every day, reading about people who you didn't know who are now being buried under dirt and flowers, and you're watching this number climb every month....
Maybe this is entirely unrelated, but I watched the Incredible Hulk last night with one of my favorite friends. I would suggest seeing it, Edward Norton, I would argue, was the best Hulk so far. In the beginning of the film, General Ross calls in a group of soldiers to hunt down Banner, who they've found in Brasil. Here's the pertinent part: Does the general tell the soldiers exactly what they were up against? That Banner would turn into a fifteen-odd-foot tall anger machine and tear them to pieces? Nope. He tells them that the scientist stole military secrets and was a fugitive from the law.
OK, so the film was made by Hollywoodiens. It's part fiction, part social commentary. It just makes me wonder, how much of the truth was told to the soldiers going into what we call the Middle East? In relation to what they were told, I don't care as much about what I, as a citizen, know. If it were between me knowing and them knowing, I'd want them to know.
When I get into things like this, all I can keep thinking about is how sad our world is. Look at some of these photos: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/08/europe_warehouse_a_home_for_italy0s_migrants/html/1.stm
Sometimes I wish I were more politically and economically minded, so that I could at least explain these things to myself.
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