Bloggers v. Journalists

There was one point in Jay Rosen's article "Bloggers v. Journalists is Over" that really struck me and I just wanted to quickly comment on it. On page eight he quotes Andrew Sullivan saying "They [blog readers] were hungry for communication, for checking their gut against someone they had come to know, for emotional support and psychological bonding." I don't exactly know why but this quote just really got me. I realized how true it is for me as a blog reader. I do not follow many blogs on a regular basis but I can tell you I was captured by blogs on one very specific occasion and for very particular reasons. When New Orleans was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina I felt somehow cheated by the mainstream media's reporting of the events. I think the thing that really bothered me was the black v. white looting/finding dialogue that became a constant. So I turned to blog reports and I was amazed at how many first hand stories and analysis I was able to find. But I wasn't looking for statistics in those blogs - I was looking for stories, for meaning and to make my own personal sense of the events. I really liked this one quote and I definitely think that Mr. Sullivan made a great point.

A Visit from Ari

I LOVED having Ari come and speak with us in last Thursday's class period. Okay, so I will admit I love Obama and have been a huge supporter of his from day one. So for me it was a real treat to talk to someone who was so close to him and following his day to day campaign trail so religiously. I think it is really cool that a small website/blog paid such a huge amount of money to have him on the plane day after day. What a cool job! How do I get that job?

I think there are so many great opportunities for journalists to get involved in political reporting in this day. With technology so advanced we are able to keep up with everything on a campaign trail literally minute by minute.

I really liked a lot of the points Ari made about the possibilities of Obama as president and the changes we will see coming along with his presidency. His email list, for example, and website are more techy than any previous president's attempts to reach supporters. I personally think that Obama's emails and website/blog make him so much more of a public servant than a public figure. I feel like I can write a letter or email to the president of my country and expect a response. I think that due to increased ability in technology we have so much more access to him, not only as a leader but also as a person. The President of the United States is, first and foremost, America's most dedicated public servant - so what makes this seem more true than his exposure online.

Natural Disasters and the Media

Are natural disasters happening more frequently or is the emphasis on their coverage that makes it seem this way? I think this is a very good question that I honestly do not know the answer to. The way the media covers natural disasters is amazing. When something so visually devastating happens to an area the media are all over it. They show images of the floods, fires, ruined homes and sometimes even dead bodies to such an extent that most viewers are horrified. However, when the flood waters disperse and the flames diminish, so too does the media. This hit and run style of reporting the chaos but not following up is a huge problem in the media today, and something I find personally upsetting.

Another aspect of natural disaster media coverage that I find fascinating is citizen journalism. With today's technology everyone can be a journalist. Everyone can blog, twitter, YouTube. It's remarkable how much media we are exposed to that isn't created by "professionals." Why, even the term media is changing with the access to create and share almost anything these days. I think it is really cool how people can use the technology to cover and update the world about natural disasters, especially from those people who are experiencing it.

Myanmar and Kenya

I really enjoyed reading Macha's article and talking about the media coverage of Myanmar together. I think it is fascinating how quickly and easily information can be transported around the world today. Even in a country like Myanmar where journalists were forbidden from entering and the state controlled media tried to cover information and visuals from the Myanmar riots got out to media outlets around the world. The same with Kenyan citizen journalism. Access to the web has enabled more citizen journalism and exposure of world events. I think it is pretty amazing. 

Color Blind

I was really bothered by Harding's article, "Color Blind." As a French student during the time of all the protests and riots I remember following both American and French news extensively and I am shocked to hear how despairingly the true minorities in France are represented. I remember seeing coverage that no doubt showed the insurrection but of course slanted it towards an anti-immigrant type of spin. I think it is interesting being an American where we have such a diverse population to see how other countries handle national diversity. 

I don't know if I agree with France's ethnic quota decision for media. I mean, I guess that it is probably the only way to ensure equal representation especially on television, but I think that when you force quotas it can make the problem worse. For example, people who would hire an ethnic minority for a part might write a part written for a character who is stereotypically of that race or background. I think that by creating an ethnic quota they could perhaps be only furthering the problem. 

The Business of News

After class and the reading from the State of the News I was really thinking about news and the business of news. I guess I am shocked to see the actual statistics about how profitable newspapers still are. I feel that since my freshman year I have had the thought hammered into my head about how newspapers are dying, circulation is floundering and the newspaper world in a panic. While it is definitely true that newspapers must find news ways to adapt to a changing consumer market, the problem is by no means as dire as IC has always made it seem to me.  To be honest, before reading the State of the News article earlier this semester I didn't realize that newspapers were actually still making profits. They are still making a ton of money, why not devote a large chunk of those profits towards evolution of their news media?!

News Reporting in Iraq

I really liked the two small articles we read for class that were all journalists quotes about reporting in Iraq and under the CPA. I think that back here at home Americans did not realize just how bad it was over there until things were really looking dismal. As someone who has friends that have died over there fighting I find it appalling that with news like this being created the American public did not learn enough about it. Things have been really bad and scary in this war, this endless war that doesn't seem possible to end. I think as a journalist the scariest possibility I could think of is reporting in war times. It is no secret that reporting in the Iraq war is highly dangerous and perhaps fatal. I wonder what news organizations do to help their reporters adjust once they return from the battlezone.