Friday, November 30, 2007
Final Blog Assignment #6
As a student of journalism we are all trained to be objective and keep a fair and balanced perspective when we write. So when I began my blog, I found it hard to project strong opinions or even to type sentences starting with "I." After a bit of a slow start, I found my "voice" and settled into the type of posts I felt were relevant to my blog as a whole. As you will see, most of my posts are about the candidates for president in 2008 and what they have been up to. I covered funny, light stories like the Steven Colbert post and also hard news stories such as various polls and what they mean. I really enjoyed the fact I was able to include some of my own photos for stories which I think really adds to the quality of a blog, as it breaks up the text and gives a visual aid for the story. I feel fortunate that through other classes and my part-time job (former Co-op internship) I had access to stories such as my post with the Ben Affleck pictures, and the Roth family from Salem, New Hampshire.
As I continued to blog, I decided the angle I was going to take was through the notion that people, especially in my generation, are more private citizens then public citizens. Many people I have met and interviewed have told me they feel disenfranchised and as a result, have become complacent and apathetic. With that idea in mind, I continued writing and in one post I included an essay in which I looked at that issue through First Amendment glasses.
Overall, my experience was very positive. It forced me into a whole new style of writing and I really learned a lot from it. Also, it made me research alternative online resources to add to my blog. Through that research, I learned about a lot more sources than I would have ordinarily, as I used to rely on the same few websites for my daily news. Finally, my blog also offered a place to post and share my photography and my news video packages I had been working on all semester for a different class.
I am unsure at this point if I will continue blogging, or if I do decide to continue with it, if my blog will look the same as it does now. One thing I do know is blogging is quickly becoming a trend used by media outlets, other professionals and individuals alike. I think this trend will have, and is having, a significant impact on the "traditional" reporting styles. Some examples of this you will see in the links in my blog to sources such as CNN's Political Ticker and other individual reporters' blogs. I think people tend to resist change if they are used to one way of doing things, but with the sweeping changes the Internet has created for the news business and for society as a whole, a shift in how we do things is happening, right in front of our eyes. This is an exciting time to be apart of and one that should not be resisted but looked at as an opportunity to reinvent some of our old ways of doing things.
A Serious Bomb Threat...
Good Job, New York Times
Interesting Poll Findings
Well, These Are Some Thoughts...
Citizen Journalism
Having said this, I would have to give some props to CNN for trying to come up with a way to get voters involved and to change the format of these debates. Basically, the idea that CNN had was for average Americans to be able to submit their questions via video onto YouTube and CNN would then sift through them and chooses the ones that will be asked. However, CNN has gotten into some trouble with the second every YouTube debate that happened this week for the Republicans. The news channel has been criticized for leaning more to the left, and now is accused of "planting" questions with more liberal leanings or agendas. You should really check out Professor Kennedy's blog on this topic. He has a link to one question in particular that was asked by a former general in the military who is openly gay, and it just so happens also openly supports Hilary Clinton's campaign. Professor Kennedy also offers some suggestions to fix the current problem with the system that I think are quite interesting and worth checking out.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Where They Stand
Economy
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Rudy's Ties
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Romney's Religion
The ideology in our country is clearly that religion should not play a part in government and in fact, the Framers of the United States Constitution believed in the separation of church and state. For this reason, some feel that a politician's religion should not be a part of the office he or she holds and in the business they conduct there. This is why some don't feel it is right to ask a candidate questions about their religion. However I would argue, especially when choosing a candidate running for the highest office in the country, ALL aspects of that particular individual should be fair game as they all play a part in the character of the person their ideologies which ultimately play a major role in how they make decisions.
When John F. Kennedy was running for president a lot of people made a big deal about JFK being a Catholic. Up until his election to office, there had never been a Catholic president. In the current election, many have drawn parallels between JFK and his Catholicism to Mitt Romney and his religion. Romney is a Mormon and some say this may pose a challenge for him. After what happened in Utah with a Mormon man being arrested for practicing Polygamy and the popular HBO series Big Love about a Polygamist Mormon family, many Americans are unsure of what to make of the religion and many political analysts say if Romney doesn't come out and make a speech clearing the air of some of the stereotypes associated with the religion, Romney might loose a lot of headway in the campaign for president. Click here to read an interesting article related to this issue.
"The Marlboro Marine"
Sunday, November 25, 2007
An Interview with a College Student
*How old are you?
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The iPod Touch is Pretty Cool...
As a student at Northeastern University, I can understand student debt. I myself have almost six figures worth of loans out just for my undergrad degree and like NYU, Northeastern is very expensive, costing upwards of $40,000. I am not saying any of this justifies this poll's finding, because I think it is abhorrent that students in pursuit of a higher education would put voting so far down on their list of "important things" that they would take a new piece of technology over their rights as an American citizen. The college tuition thing I can sympathize with, but I think when some analyze this poll they might be quick to judge it as a glaring example of our generation's apathetic attitude and feelings of being disenfranchised. However, those same students seem to contradict themselves:
Ninety percent of the students who said they'd give up their vote for the money also said they consider voting "very important" or "somewhat important"; only 10 percent said it was "not important." Also, 70.5 percent said they believe that one vote can make a difference - including 70 percent of the students who said they'd give up their vote for free tuition.Click here to read the entire article. The findings are really quite illuminating.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
First Amendment Discussion
With the current elections in full swing now, there is a lot of commentary on the "race" and on the issues at hand in the newspapers, on TV and especially on the Internet. Some of this commentary can be offensive or against what you personally believe in, especially in the blog forum, which tends to be personal and tailored to the author's beliefs and ideologies. I have tried in my blog to remain somewhat neutral in the reporting aspect of my stories. If I have a strong opinion about something, I will interject it into my story if I feel the need to. I think it is important, especially today, with the almost omnipresence of the media, that when you get bombarded by information from all different types of sources, you are able to distinguish the proverbial tree from the forest. In other words, you are able to see the larger picture and you don't get caught up in too much fact, or conversely, too much opinion. Having said that, there is a great need in our democratic society for fact and opinion. Both are considered to have substantial newsworthiness and that need speaks directly to the reason the First Amendment was included in our U.S. Constitution. I felt compelled to have a discussion on the First Amendment, considering I am the author of a blog in which I do a mix of reporting and commentary. The premise of my blog is that people need to pay attention to the issues surrounding them and to care enough to educate themselves and then take some action. Without the protection the First Amendment offers us all, it would be difficult to do this because if the capability to disseminate information was not protected, the public would be powerless against a government that is designed to be checked by the people. Thus, my discussion of the our first freedom listed in the Bill of Rights.
The language of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution is well-known to many and it has a profound effect on our lives as Americans. The entire profession of journalism, the media and therefore much of our society as it exists today would be entirely different if the First Amendment was not in place. The more serious investigative journalists that are a part of the media, have been called the “fourth estate,” or the fourth branch of government, involved in the checks and balances system. The question of what kind of “checks” if any, the government can put on the media has been debated and cases have been brought to the United States Supreme Court. There have been attempts the government has made to do so in cases such as New York Times v.
I can understand that certain publication of very specific classified matters should not be published in the interest in saving lives, it is important not to let those few exceptions set a precedent for a slippery slope that would leave Americans with no real First Amendment rights and the press as a public relations tool of the government.
When asked by a man on the street what type of government the Framers had decided upon,
Last month, the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was invited by
It seems that in theory our government should protect and provide for these freedoms, but in reality there is a struggle to keep them narrow and well-defined. Certain “symbolic speech” such as burning the American flag, is extremely offensive to some people. Those people tend to call upon their patriotism and claim the act should be punished. I would argue, however, the real patriotic thing is having the strength to allow the burning of the flag even though it goes against everything you might personally believe in. You can’t deny another’s First Amendment rights on the grounds that you just don’t agree with the same things as they do. The United States Supreme Court affirmed this in the 1989 case,
Americans enjoy these rights and seem to exercise them freely and without instance when their own ideas, sentiments and values are being expressed. However, they seem to be quick to argue against those rights if the speech is counter to what they believe in. It’s important to have the strength to listen to others ideas, because a loss of one person’s First Amendment rights is a loss for all people.
Planting A Seed, Hilary?
Blogs Blogs Blogs
Richardson's Strategy Versus The Others'
If you are the type of person that likes to further question things, you are probably thinking, well how much does this all cost? Excellent question. CNN's source for answers to such questions is TNSMI/Campaign Media Analysis Group. According to CNN, Mitt Romney spends about $85,000 a day on TV ads, McCain has spent about $300,000 on his ads, Obama leads the Demoracts spending $3.9 million and Clinton and Richardson both tie with $2.2 million in TV ads.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Obama the Softy?
Obama may have been criticised in the media and elsewhere for his less than stellar performance in the debate, however, no one can deny he is still a major contender in the Democratic presidential race. Obama seems to answer the questions straight out even when the answer may be hard truth a voter may not want to hear. At the end of the Time article, the author tells a story about when a mother asked if he would consider extending Social Security to stay-at-home moms. Obama explained simply "No," explaining further the financial repercussions of doing so. I think a lot of candidates in that situation would have cleverly dodged such a question and moved on to the next. Keeping in mind the uphill battle our country is facing with the war in Iraq, global warming, badly damaged relations abroad, and problems at home with border security, social welfare programs and violence on our streets, the time for being politically correct is far over. It is time for straight talk and more action. This is why every American should be paying attention to the candidates and to the issues because whoever takes over the White House next year, will be dealing with all of these issues and will be cleaning up the mess the Bush administration has made. We should at least know who we are dealing with and who we are going to be sending in to do the job."[Obama] has been more herbivore than carnivore in debates...in the days leading
up to the Oct. 30 Democratic debate: a fevered, unsolicited-advice orgy, none of
the advice was substantive, of course. It was all about tactics. He had to make
his move or lose...and so, there he was onstage next to Clinton the night before
Halloween and not exactly dressed as an assassin. He took his shots,
judiciously - and more comfortably as the evening wore on."