UCF Journalism Student

What did he say?

2006-10-22T14:59:00.001-04:00

via Abu Aardvark:

Reading it makes clear that the parts of Fernandez's comments which have been quoted extensively are mostly a throat clearing preface to saying that Arabs need to move on and talk about Iraq's future instead of "gloating" over American problems. This is a way of establishing credibility and a reputation for candor with Arab audiences - two things that almost all American spokespeople who stick to the administration's script lack. His humility treats those audiences with respect, rather than trying to force talking points crafted in Washington down the throats of skeptical listeners who live in the region and know better.

Furor over Amb. Fernandez' comments on Al Jazeera is incredibly misplaced. What's lacking in the coverage is the context, which makes clear that he was using the part about arrogance as a set up to engage the Arab world, not simply talk down to it.

Read Abu Aardvark's whole post, but definitely click the link about spinning in other languages.

Much of my research and work has been on the use of rhetoric, I'm fascinated by it. What it really boils down to is that those who too blunlty and overtly spin aren't that bright, though surely brighter than those who fall for it, but there are ways of framing one's rhetoric for a particular audience that can achieve a sense of commonality or reduce the likelihood that the audience's perceptual force fields, meant to deflect non-ideologically conforming thought, can be brought down. Erasmus, Hobbes, early 20th century Imagists, and modern day linguists all say the same essential thing -- how we use language matters, both explicityly and implicitly, and we must therefore take care to insure its careful use.

Why oh why can't we have this at the main campus?

2006-10-22T14:47:00.000-04:00

Via SliceNY

Pizza trade magazine PMQ and Christopher Muller, a Florida professor, hope to create the country's first university-based pizza research program at the University of Central Florida's Rosen School of Hospitality Management in Orlando.

Yeah, I'm knee-deep in studying for the Dow Jones test. It can't be too hard to score a 95, right? All others before me were clearly pikers -- I'm far more anal-retentive, or is it anal retentive? Damn you Brunson and your witty t-shirts, damn you to copy-editing hell...

What so often gets lost

2006-09-17T14:22:00.000-04:00

via Andrew Sullivan:

Michael Totten interviewed Israeli military historian Yaacov [Jacob] Lozowick, curator of Yad Vashem [Hand of God] Museum and author of Right to Exist: Moral Defense of Israel's Wars, about the recent war with Lebanon.

MJT: So do you think it was a mistake to leave Lebanon and Gaza?

Lozowick: No.

MJT: Why?

Lozowick: Because Zionism is not about controlling Arabs.

It really is amazing how often that gets forgotten. I encourage you to read the rest of interview and understand why Lozowick refers to Lebanon 2 as "The Stupid War."

JOU3200 Students:

2006-09-11T22:02:00.000-04:00

Ah, Editing I -- the memories overwhelm.

But I've come to rescue you, to give you guidance in order to weather the storm -- I've come to you with "Got-chas" and you can thank me later.

The Chicken hates the soup of

The cold cow in West in special grade picks

Butter many privates

Thousand enrich the special features three text cure

The bureau swallows to take the fish idea powder

Fuck to fry the cow river

What's that you say, you can't use Chinese menus?!?! Okay, you caught me, I just wanted to write the last one.

That's bringing teh funny.

September 11, 2001

2006-09-11T18:50:00.000-04:00

The real memorial is in our heart, the memories of your deeds that day will never be forgotten. Let not the cynical, the callow, the craven distort your bravery for their own gains. Today is your day. We honor you so.

We can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract - Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln.

Down-Under Hangover Cure...Mmmmm McPizry

2006-09-10T19:39:00.000-04:00

via Slashfood

With the big game over and tailgating memories turning into prayers to the porcelain God, what better way could there possibly be than to chase away the green gills than with this official hangover cure from Austrailia?

From the Department of You Can't Be Serious

2006-07-23T18:22:00.000-04:00

via Billmon

London Daily Telegraph:

White House aides have said they consider the Lebanon crisis to be a "leadership moment" for Mr Bush and an opportunity to proceed with his post-September 11 plan to reshape the Middle East by building Sunni Arab opposition to ShiÂa terrorism. Yesterday Mr Bush cited the role of Iran and Syria in providing help to Hezbollah. (emphasis added)

Let's just think about that for a moment. Billmon alludes to 1984, calling it another Oceania moment. My beat, so to speak, is journalism, so I'd compare it to this. For any reporter to credulously write this down, completely unthinkingly, and not reflect for a moment that this is any possible way going to pass the laugh-test is stunning. Absofuckinglutely stunning. Except for this post, I'm speechless.

Soi Disant

2006-07-22T17:10:00.000-04:00

Rich Lowry, NRO :

Just talked to someone very close to U.S. policy-making on the Mideast. I didn't cull much new or different from what we've been hearing and reading. The sense is that the Lebanese government is happy to see Israel pound Hezbollah, but can't say it out loud.

Reality :

I have convened the diplomatic corps in Lebanon today to launch an urgent appeal to the international community for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire and assistance to my war-ravaged country.

You are all aware that seven continuous days of an escalating Israeli onslaught on Lebanon have resulted in immeasurable loss. The toll in terms of human life has reached tragic proportions: over 1,000 wounded and 300 killed so far; over half-a-million people have been displaced; in some areas, the hospitals have been crippled and are unable to cope with the casualties; there are shortages of food and medical supplies; homes, factories and warehouses have been completely destroyed; UN facilities in Maroun al-Ras and Naqoura have just been shelled, so have army barracks and posts of the Joint Security Forces; a Civil Defense unit has been wiped out and foreigners are being evacuated.

As I speak, the trauma, the desperation, the grief and the daily massacres and destruction go on and on. The country has been torn to shreds.

Is the value of human life in Lebanon less than that of the citizens of other countries? Can the international community stand by while such callous retribution by Israel is inflicted on us?

Will you allow innocent civilians, churches, mosques, orphanages, medical supplies escorted by the Red Cross, people seeking shelter or fleeing their homes and villages to be the casualties of this ugly war?

"Is this what the international community calls self-defense?

Is this the price we pay for aspiring to build our democratic institutions? Is this the message to send to the country of diversity, freedom and tolerance?

Only last year, the Lebanese filled the streets with hope and with red, green and white banners shouting out: Lebanon deserves life!

What kind of life is being offered to us now?

I will tell you what kind: a life of destruction, despair, displacement, dispossession, and death.

What kind of future can stem from the rubble?

A future of fear, frustration, despair, financial ruin and fanaticism.

Let me assure you that we shall spare no avenue to make Israel compensate the Lebanese people for the barbaric destruction it has inflicted and continues to inflict upon us, knowing full well that human life is irreplaceable.

You want to support the government of Lebanon? Let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, no government can survive on the ruins of a nation.

On behalf of the people of Lebanon, from Beirut, Baalbek and Byblos, to Tyre Sidon and Qana, to each and every one of the 21 villages at the Southern border, declared a no-go zone by Israel, to Tripoli and Zahle, to every other town, I call upon you all to respond immediately without reservation or hesitation to this appeal for an immediate cease-fire and lifting of the siege, and provide urgent international humanitarian assistance to our war-stricken country.

I would also like to thank the international organizations and the friendly countries that have already extended their valued help.

I would like to thank all those who are also preparing to do so.

The Israeli war machines continue to inflict destruction and killing without any hesitation.

Excellencies, we the Lebanese want life. We have chosen life. We refuse to die.

Our choice is clear.

We have survived wars and destruction over the ages. We shall do so again.

I hope you will not let us down this time. Thank you.

Rich Lowry on Chuck Hagel:

Chuck Hagel is now deemed a foreign-policy sophisticate for mindlessly repeating over and over that there are “risks” to invading Iraq. Golly, Chuck, really? Hagel MUST have a Ph.D. in international relations or something to have developed such a nuanced view of American foreign policy. Who knows how many thousands of hours of study and thought it took Hagel to come to the conclusion that invading Iraq is “complicated” and “risky”? I bet Nebraska has never been blessed with such Metternich-ian savvy, possibly ever. So, it’s really too bad that Hagel debased his foreign-policy genius in the New York Times today by resorting to the most shamelessly stupid of peacenik arguments: “Maybe Mr. Perle would like to be in the first wave of those who go into Baghdad.” Ohhh, Chuck—your rhetorical powers are over-awing us here in The Corner. How long did it take you to think that one up?

Any Questions?

h/t Greg

Where I Make Prof. Fedler Proud

2006-06-11T18:26:00.000-04:00

Fill-in blogger and Princeton student Asheesh Siddique on Tom DeLay and Thomas Jefferson:

I have no desire to portray Jefferson as a flawless deity- because he was not one. But for DeLay to compare himself to Jefferson is absurd- the third President did the most to lay the groundwork for republican government in the service of the American people, while the former House leader has spent his career trying to exterminate our democracy.

And my lowly contribution:

First, do you really think DeLay's rhetoric matches his own beliefs - that he values his own contributions similarly to Jefferson, Lincoln, et al.? It's pure political BS, the man could rob a liquor store and declare it a victor for liberty.
More substantively, Jefferson's political dirty tricks included his financing of "The National Gazette" after Washington became president. The Anti-Federalist directly subsizized the paper and gave the publisher Philip Freneau governmental work as a reward, hiring him as a translator for the State Department concurrently with his publishing duties. The party paper used vicious means of attack, debasing the craft of journalism. The controversy began to embarrass Washington, which was an extension of personal animosity between Jefferson and Hamilton. The party also hired Benjamin Boche, who was the grandson of Benjamin Franklin, and a radical Anti-Federalist. He published the ï¿½General Advertiserï¿½ which was renamed the ï¿½Auroraï¿½, in which he savagely attacked both Hamilton and Washington. His goal was to drive Washington from office because he favored an Anti-Federalist president. He started a failed campaign to impeach Washington, and pestered him by sending three copies of the paper to his home everyday.

He responded, so as they say, go read the whole thing.

Ouch

2006-06-08T07:59:00.000-04:00

via Brad DeLong

There's editing for content, editing for style/grammar/syntax/etc., and then there's ripping someone a new asshole:

Returning to the post above, "As the election season continues to play out, expect to see more antiestablishment candidates rise to the surface and watch for the diminishing importance of entrenched endorsements" could practically have been lifted from the pamphlet-speak Orwell anatomized in "Politics and the English Language." In which field of human endeavor do seasons play out while watching things rise to the surface and simultaneously worrying about things that are entrenched? Water-polo World War One re-enactments, perhaps? You are stringing together hackneyed figures of speech without pausing a moment to consider their actual meaning. This is a basic mark of bad writing. You're an educated man who can do better, so knock it off.

And the beat down continues:

Webb, though, is in an advantageous position since he has both the grassroots and D.C. Democratic establishment firmly behind him.

If the grassroots are firmly behind him, does that mean Webb is flat on his back?

And goes on, and on, and on, and on....

How Not to Write an Opinion Redux

2006-05-01T16:20:00.000-04:00

Start here and come back. Good, you're back now.

Now go here and come back.

Yes, she won. But more importantly, how stupid does the opinion writer feel now? Granted cert and earned a favorable ruling, quite a pair of successes for a woman best known for a pair of, well, never mind.

This just underscores the need for well-informed journalists in general, and opinion writers specifically, ones who know their beat and know the issues. The writer displayed a stunning lack of both knowledge and critical faculties when it came to crafting his opinion.

From Logical Fallacy to Reality...

2006-04-11T14:27:00.000-04:00

...in the span of three months!

First week of Editing I:

Brunson: Spot the logical problem with this outsourcing story.

Class: What do you mean the drive -thru operator is in India?

Brunson: Right!

April 11, 2006

Brunson: Spot the logical problem with this outsourcing story.

Class: umm...huh?

Brunson: Whoops. Next example.

The Perfect End-of-the-Year Gift for Professor Brunson

2006-04-04T14:31:00.000-04:00

I'm not saying he is one though...

Who says journalists are bad at math?

2006-02-26T13:10:00.000-05:00

Via Kieran at CT

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

What Would J.S. Mill Say?

2006-02-01T09:05:00.000-05:00

via Chris at Stumbling & Mumbling:

Women in the North East, Wales and in poor areas are more likely to be victims of violence than other women. That's the finding of this paper (pdf) by Kent Matthews and colleagues. They estimate that, in the North East, 519 women per 100,000 are admitted to A&E as a result of violent injuries. In Wales, the figure is 460 per 100,000. But it's only 134 in East Anglia and 222 in London.

Okay, but how is that related to college life and Mill you ask?

More intriguingly, higher beer prices are associated with less violence, because they mean less drunkenness. They say:
A rise in the real price of alcoholic drink would have a significant downward effect on the rate of violence-related injury.
However, male injuries are three times as sensitive to beer prices as female injuries.

Let's not forget that Mill feared higher costs on alcohol could be an (un)intended regressive tax on the working class, which he feared. Add college students to that class as well and we've got a real quandary. Less injuries/domestic violence or cheaper beer? Does that mean I'll have to give up my Stella Artois and go to Natty Light?

What's a black eye between friends.

For All Those Curious

2005-11-11T19:58:00.000-05:00

This is why there's no good or workable current solution to the Palestinian/Israeli crisis.

Evolution, bitches...

2005-10-16T12:43:00.000-04:00

Special post for Professor Knuckey:

Good things definitely come to those who wait...

A Loss for Us All...

2005-10-10T08:04:00.000-04:00

To this let me add my voice to the chorus of those depressed and offer my condolences. Dan's site is a go to for information for anyone curious about International Political Economy, world affairs, and Salma Hayek. But more than that it's the discussions his site, Brad DeLong's, Crooked Timber, Duck of Minerva, and several other wonderfully written academic blogs generate that will be missed if he or any of them decide to give up blogging if they perceive it as a threat to tenure.

I just recently wrote a paper for class in which I was able to cull much of the extra-curricular knowledge I've gained over the past 3+ years reading blogs. I wouldn't have been able to write with the precision and depth of knowledge without the basis those bloggers and the conversations they generated provided. I didn't crib from their sites, didn't copy their posts word for word, but it was the ideas the exposed me to, the different modes of thought and analysis they used, that served me so well.

I feel for Dan and his family (he has a wife and two young children) and I know he'll get offered a slew of positions soon - he's a prolific publisher and blogging has opened doors for him in many ways. But they'd made Chicago their home, and the crush of losing a job at one of the premiere universities in the country must be crushing. I just hope his experience doesn't become a cautionary tale for others who want to blog.

This all may go back to the Tribble piece I wrote about before, but the fact remains that those who blog not only find an outlet for their interests above and beyond academia but affect the lives of those students they may never meet. Maybe Dan wants a job at UCF, I knew one poly/sci prof who I'm sure no one would miss...

How Not to Write an Opinion

2005-10-10T07:46:00.000-04:00

I truly cannot believe the Future published this opinion about Anna Nicole Smith's lawsuit before the Supreme Court.

Two weeks ago it was declared that former Playboy Playmate and poster girl for insanity Anna Nicole Smith will go before the justices of the Supreme Court to plead her case involving the massive fortune of her late husband, J. Howard Marshall II.

Smith deserves nothing more than the embarrassment of having a nation laughing at her and of her life parading around trying to convince the world she really loved an 89-year-old man.

The woman may not be right in the head, which seems evident by her believing that the precious time of the nation's highest court should be wasted by a has-been model trying to once again convince anyone that she loved Marshall.[emphasis added]

All of which pretty much sums up the editor's feelings about Smith and her case, yet curiously offers not one whit of information about the case or why the court agreed to hear it at all. The court, not Smith, chose to hear the case brought before it, at least 4 justices deemed the underlying issues worthy of a public hearing. The Supreme Court issues about 90 opinions a year, so the likelihood of getting your case heard is slim, but that they chose to hear Smith's case is not a result of her being the only pettitioner, she was among 4,500 others.

This editor's opinion [unsigned and not an editorial] is laughably naieve and full of ad hominem attacks and serves no purpose other than as a canvass for the author's raging id. If s/he wanted to debate the merits of the case, fine, but this isn't journalism, it's the journalistic equivalent of shooting spitballs at the fat girl in class. Why did the Court choose to hear the case, what are the underlying legal issues, etc. not this nonsense.

But my favorite part was this piece of wrongheaded moralism

It is the Supreme Court's duty to build a sense of legal responsibility in this nation, not to help a woman find some brain cells.

Oh relly, since when junior? The Court's function is to hear and decide cases of major relevance, to pass judgment on policies that affect a broad swath of people. I can only imagine what the editor's would have felt about Falwell v. Hustler - ooh that dirty and disgusting Larry Flynt, how dare he make fun of the righteous and moral Jerry Falwell. For shame great Court for hearing the case, let's just throw him and his wheelchair in the dungeon and he can spew his filth to the rats.

From His Mouth to God's Ears...

2005-10-01T19:08:00.000-04:00

Via the The Washington Monthly:

"U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said that terrorists 'do not need pretexts for their barbarism' and that suppressing the pictures would amount to submitting to blackmail.

'Our nation does not surrender to blackmail, and fear of blackmail is not a legally sufficient argument to prevent us from performing a statutory command.'"

Not exactly a victory for the fourth estate but one can be proud that our national interests and purpose can be used to justify our 1st Amendment protections...

A Reed Under my Fingernail

2005-09-23T12:45:00.000-04:00

So Ralph Reed's on his way to UCF to debate Nadine Strossen of the ACLU about the intersection of church and state. I'd rather know how he keeps his face so smoothe and wrinkle free. Forget all of the Abramoff nonsense, that's the real intrigue regarding the former head of the Christian Coalition.

Come one, come all, it should be fun, but maybe no so much for Ralph...

You Say Tomato, I Say You're a Moron

2005-09-21T09:55:00.000-04:00

Bruce Bartlett, economic advisor extraordinaire, is no knee-jerk Bush supporter, so why is he being booked as one? Because the bookers on cable “news” shows have no clue what they’re doing. It’s very simple to set up a right/left dichotomy, but the issues don’t lend themselves to this convention. Life isn’t mono-causal, things happen for a variety of reasons, but to constrain debate to this level is inconceivable, for what is the point a news show if not to inform?

Bartlett’s prescription is to cease with the “debate” format and have the interviewer conduct two separate segments with the guests, to allow a full airing of the relevant facts. What he misses is that this would force the producers to do actual research and ask probing questions, and we can’t have that can we? It’s much easier to bring on two shouting harpies instead, let them at each other for a five minute block, then go to a boring package lifted from the network news that nobody saw, how else to explain David Shustor’s ubiquity on MSNBC? This isn’t lazy journalism, this is carnival barking: “Step right up and see the blond fembot versus the wonky, wimpy liberal. Oh no she didn’t!”

My favorite part of Barlett’s lamentation is this though:

And, unfortunately, everyone is now trained to know that when one has the camera and microphone they are pretty much free to say what they like, even if it is totally off topic and even untrue. On one occasion, my opponent called me a liar on air at the end of the segment, so that I could not respond. Afterwards, off camera, he conceded that I was right. But no one watching the exchange ever knew that.

Yeah, we report, you decide – but we say what gets on the air.

As for his prescription for raising the level of discourse:

My point is a plea to news bookers and producers: Please let me make my point. Have the reporter or anchor ask what they please. But don’t force me to engage in an artificial debate just to create “fireworks." And if I must debate someone, please make it someone of equal stature to myself.

Why not ponies for everyone while we’re at it?

On Anonymity

2005-09-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

I changed the title of the blog recently to protect the innocent, i.e., me. In a previous post I touched on the reasons why those of us blog, but there is a downside to blogging. Duncan Black, a/k/a Atrios, hid his identity while he was a professor to protect his university from liability. Publius is still anonymous to the public, though he communicates with his law dawg blogging cohorts. Of course the majority of bloggers are known figures, many of them academicians, who freely express their opinions without fear, but how safe are they?

Several months ago Ivan Tribble wrote an essay for the Chronicle of Higher Education on blogging and the pitfalls bloggers may face in applying for jobs at universities. This touched off a mini-firestorm with academic bloggers who criticized the hiring committees for being too small minded and paranoid. It's easy to confine this situation to academic bloggers, but what about government employees, or nannies?

I may or may not work for the school newspaper, but assuming I did and I criticized an editorial decision or article on my blog, should I get dropped beacuse of it? Though I'm very careful to hide my politics in public, demurring whenever I'm asked to sign a petition, join a group, or reveal my partisan ID, I'm less discerning in my blogging, and therefore I'm more vulnerable to charges of bias. Though I’m far less profane than most, I still use this blog as a repository for my mental musings [no jokes please about the lack of posts resulting from a lack of brain activity], that is if I ever start blogging regularly.

The pajama-clad media may be free, but it has its costs.

Diversion, thy name is Eszter

2005-09-21T09:23:00.000-04:00

She's smart, she's funny, she's a great cook, but we all love Eszter for her timesinks, like cubeoban. For the discerning math geek who can't start his take-home test in all of us. If you get past level 16 without realizing the futility of the game, I'll buy you a beer for being a better man than I.

If you really want to explore your inner geekdom, check out the hosting site too.

PS - Congratulations to Eszter on her new fellowship.

Arf, arf

2005-09-21T09:20:00.000-04:00

This is how I've been feeling lately, despite my shiny new coat...

If Life Was Fair...

2005-08-11T18:20:00.000-04:00

Sigh, if life was only fair...

...The override policy for the communications department wouldn't be so restrictive and there'd be an infinite number of seats in JOU3100 and JOU3200 in the fall semester. We need a better policy because recently accepted journalism students get shut out of requisite courses, thanks to the ill conceived policy which lets students register 2 semesters in advance. Secondly, all of the discretion is left up to one woman, unlike other departments which let the professors decide, and overrides are only granted to graduating seniors, not those in their senior years. What kind of sense does that make...

...Cafe Mindanao would have a greater following on campus. I know Thai food is in vogue, and I love Thai Singha's menu, but if you want explosive flavor and original food, Cafe Mindanao is a better bet. For starters, try the fried lumpia [3 for $2.50], they're like spring rolls but crunchier and come with a mildly spiced dipping sauce, you'll never order spring rolls from a Chinese take out again. For an entree, try the Inihaw Pusit [Chargrilled Squid - market price] which comes with jasmine rice and is served over onions, and ginger. The dish comes with this amazing vinegar sauce that you either can dip the squid into or drizzle it as I did. The sauce is mild but if you ask the waitress they can add spices and peppercorns for a bigger kick. If you don't want the squid, you can substitute it for fish [isda - market price] or pork [na baboy- $8.95] and you will thank me. I don't have much of a sweet tooth but I couldn't resist Toron [2 for $1.95], it's a plantain filled with jackfruit, wrapped in a lumpia wrapper, fried, and drizzled with caramelized sugar, too good for words. It's only a few minutes from campus and the prices are perfect for the indigent types at UCF...

...While I'm blogging about restaurants, I might as well mention Gizmo Sushi [used to be Momo], hands down the best local sushi restaurant. I'm pretty particular about sushi, the flavors need to be vibrant and the presentation needs to be appealing; we eat with our eyes as much as our tastebuds afterall. As Scott Joseph says, it's in a hideous strip mall, but it's essentially at the NW corner of the intersection of University and Semoran, so you can't miss it. They have an extensive list of rolls and maki selections that go great with a Kirin or Ichiban. A shot of sake as an apertif and you're good to go...

...Finally, the breaks between semesters would be longer: 10 more days and counting.

Let Freedom Ring!

2005-08-09T07:36:00.000-04:00

Posting during a semester break, I truly need help...

So what's on the internets these days?

Hmmm, well it seems we've now gone back in time, to 1998 in particular, to see that the DoD will now be putting soldiers on the Brooklyn Bridge. Hurray! It may be cryptic, it may be hyperbolic, but let it not go unsaid, if the Iraqis are having such a problem drafting their own constitution, why not give them ours, we're certainly not using it...

On to other issues. This is a thorny issues for journalists, for how in jeebus' name do we protect this woman and defend her right to not divulge her source(s) when the result of her cheerleading has been so destructive? How do you like it now, GENTLEMEN?

Oft asked, but rarely in polite company, is why do we we blog?Henry at Crooked Timber provides one reasonable answer, it's quick, easy, and it provides a useful forum to publish and gain wider recognition. Unfortunately this gives us the Hugh Hewitts of the world, but without the blogosphere, there'd be no Crooked Timber, only those reading NBER papers or lucky enough to have his classes would be able to enjoy Brad DeLong, and Publius might be just another coporate attorney/whore, whom we'd love just the same...

As none of you have noticed because nobody reads this site, I just recently added a Flickr badge. This site is truly amazing for sharing pictures, which I abhor taking nonetheless, but I heartily recommend thse clusters of cityscapes: 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5.

And now something extra special for all of you math geeks out there, enjoy...

We was roobbed...

2005-08-02T07:08:00.000-04:00

So many good ideas or stories to blog about, so little time...

Alas, I was robbed of a scholarship. Read mine, and then the two who won and you tell me who deserved it.

In gauging the media’s impact on the decisions we make, we must first quantify the media’s ability to shape our perceptions in general. Two political scientists, Shanto Iyengar and Donald Kinder, addressed this subject in their work on the ability of the news media to alter which issues were deemed high or low priorities by viewers. In News That Matters: Television and American Opinion, the two scientists were able to demonstrate that over a period of time, increased coverage of certain issues changed a subject’s perception of those issues’ relevance. By demonstrating a direct correlation between news coverage and issue relevancy, Iyengar and Kinder were able to deduce that the media can, and does, play a large role in shaping the way we view the world and the decisions we make.

Evidence of media influence in the decisions we make can be found in the pervasiveness of hidden advertising in movies, television shows, and now political advertisement. In a confluence of influence peddling in California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was recently chided for including product placement ads in his political ads, rewarding large campaign donors with free advertising while trying to convince the general public of his worthiness for reelection next year. This Kafkaesque example of imbedded advertising is hardly unique, instead a sine qua non characteristic of the media as a whole.

As our media and consumer culture has evolved, new metrics for worthiness have developed. In yesteryears, one would ask if a movie received one or two thumbs up or particular number of stars, to gauge the critical response and helped us decide whether to see the movie or not. Today, box office estimates, “buzz”, websites such as Aint It Cool News, or entertainment “news” shows, can determine whether a movie will be successful. Word of mouth used to be a reliable viral marketing device, but today opinions about movies, restaurants, books, or consumer goods invariably come from the same media outlets, primed to convey the same message by professional spinners and marketers. While there are many examples of mass marketed products that have failed, the list of those who benefited from scant marketing other than traditional word of mouth is woefully short.

I was raised in the culture of mass media and advertising exposure, from TV ads during The Smurfs to silently envying James Bond for all of his cool toys. I regularly consult newspapers, Zagat, and internet sites to evaluate restaurants or check the buzz on a new movie. Some would argue that the law of diminishing returns will eventually take hold, that mass media and marketing saturation will dilute the responsiveness of the public to the goods being advertised. To them I can only reply, there will always be a better mousetrap built to ensnare the public, utilizing new forms subtle, viral, or imbedded techniques to influence the buying public, because as Tocqueville noted over 200 years ago, ours is a materialistic society where keeping up with the “Joneses” is part of our national DNA.

And now for the winners.

I report, you decide.

Bias to thee, but not to me

2005-03-31T14:08:00.000-05:00

Chris Evans, my journalism professor before I came to UCF, wrote a letter to the editor of the Sentinel criticizing the word choice in several pieces regarding Terri Schiavo. The professor and I have different sensibilities regarding bias, its genesis, cause, and its role in descriptive reporting, which we've about argued in the past, and this letter suggests his views are still the same.

At issue is the choice of the word "parched" to describe Schiavo's tongue and the phrases "went through" and "endured...food or water". I agree with Evans that the use of the terms and phrases is improper in strict reporting, but I don't detect bias in their use. Rather, I think this is more indicative of lazy reporting and failing to delve beyond the way this issue, or any, is framed by the loudest and most persistent advocates or opponents.

The professor and I first differed over bias when he criticized an early article I wrote about a libertarian economics professor as being overly biased. In my view, the piece was fair to his views but contained strong counterarguments to his theses, some of which were colorful. Since it was my first real piece, I over indulged myself and was a little too punchy with my segues, but it wasn't biased. We never agreed over the appropriateness of the piece. The second time our views clashed was when he admitted that in his own reporting he overcompensated for his liberal views and as a result his pieces were slightly slanted to the right. To me this is demonstrative of a larger journalistic culture that failed to maintain the belief in their own judgment and to literally call them like they saw them, free from fears of accusations of bias. In my view, honest and accurate reporting is better than scared and unintentionally slanted reporting which results too often in an "on the one-handism" style of reporting. This too was an argument where we agreed to disagree.

In his letter he seems more concerned with preserving the precepts of neutral reporting, and chides the reporters for relying on assertions of fact from either indirect knowledge or non-authorotative pundits. To me that's not biased but lazy. It reflects both a lack of greater understanding about the issue and the inability to further resolve the issue, instead relying on either dueling opinions of fact (an odd sentiment to say the least) or reporting so neutral that one is left with less of an understanding about the issue(s) or event than the reporter. In addition, reporters too often fail to pierce the way an issue or even is framed (or spun, or lied about, take your pick) by opponents or advocates, and allow their own reporting to reflect it.

By adopting the language of Schindler supporters regarding their daughter's condition, using phrases that connote cognitive ability or actions beyond her reflex-motor capabilities, reporters substitute their own judgment and understanding of the issue to partisans. Coupled with a propensity for "group-think" reporting, this results in a far more dangerous mode of reporting than mere bias, neutral ignorance, e.g. the reporter knows nothing and its purpose is to provide a forum for dueling quotes prefaced with an engaging lede. This mode of reporting serves no one but the partisans who seek to introduce their opinions, however divorced from reality they may be, into the "public debate."

Race to the Bottom

2005-03-19T08:31:00.000-05:00

The sad spectacle of the Schiavo case has revealed a disgusting race to the bottom between the media and the politicians. What does this say about us as a nation, that we're addressing 14th Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment, but not acknowledging that there is a humane way for her to die? Andrew McCarthy of NRO, while needlessly hectoring the left, makes an awfully compelling case for euthanasia, which may be the only acceptable way to resolve this situation, despite it not being what the courts found were her wishes.

Before the media hordes and politicians ginned up this story, the Tampa Tribune described Ms. Schiavo's eventual death thusly:

If it is removed, Mrs. Schiavo would die painlessly in a week or two. She does not feel hunger or thirst, and she would just drift away, doctors say.

Without much comment, I encourage you to read two posts that describe Ms. Schiavo's condition accurately. The first if from Reason Magazine from late 2003, the second a more recent post on the "doctors" who are giving false hope to the Schindler family. Then tell me if you still think this is truly about Terri or crude political tactics used to "energize" the base and distract from more vital issues.

Thin Soup

2005-03-16T08:09:00.000-05:00

As college aged journalism students, I'm sure we all watch the Daily Show with glee. Those not sunning themselves this week were treated to an enlightening appearance by Tom Fenton, former CBS correspondent and author of Bad News: The Death of Reporting, the Business of News, and the Danger to Us All. Though the title is hyperbolic, Fenton makes a compelling case that the news divisions have been "demobilized" and on the ground reporting has been replaced in favor of cheap to produce chat/opinion/bloviation shows.

As a veteran of CBS when Sir Stringer's division was slashed by then owner Larry Tisch, Fenton has seen the trajection from aggressive international reporting to domestic pablum. One might question his contention that the media gave the Clinton administration as much of a pass as they've given Bush's given their pursuit of non-scandals, but it is hard to argue that the "news" today hasn't become watered down, chasing the "burning truck" as Stewart put it. Just watching the CNN intro to their morning show, you don't get a sense of the developments in China this week, the full picture of what's happening in Lebanon, nor the gutting of aid to the Palestinians by Congress. Add John Bolton's nomination, the furthering of America's unipolar pursuits, the return of PAYGO to the budget, and dollar fluctuations, and you could construct an entire newscast of stories that will never get the attention they demand.

As journalism students, it will be up to us to direct the future of journalism. Do we continue to head down this dark path of obscurantism or do we embody the ideals of Mencken? Such is our charge.

Midterm Notes

2005-03-08T19:46:00.000-05:00

Email me and I'll send you what I've got.

Substantive posting soon to follow

2005-03-06T17:54:00.000-05:00

I promise...
JOU3004 Notes will go up later today