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.

The Rhetoric Beat

I know we were not assigned anything to post about Cunningham's article "The Rhetoric Beat" but I enjoyed it so much I need to just vent about it. I found this idea fascinating. I have never studied it before, or even heard of it. The media and government's use of the word war and war-like language during 9/11 and after is so true. I began thinking back to the coverage I saw on that fateful day and I actually remember the most horrible image I saw where a man was falling out of the WTC building and people were running from the dust and rubble and the ticker lower third said America at War? Just simply using this is a great example. I think that we were all so shocked and scared by the acts of 9/11 that war seemed the only natural response to us. We felt so threatened and vulnerable I think we needed to feel like we were on top again and war seemed the only way in which we could reassert our strength. 

Tabloidization in the News

I find tabloidization in the news inevitable with the way our world is today. I am not saying that this is either right or wrong, merely an observation. These days people (and myself included) are bombarded all the time with fictional super sensational films, television shows and even advertising. Look simply at a detective/police show from 20 years ago and today. For example, look at the differences in violence and graphic nature between Magnum P.I. and 24! How can we not expect our news media to become more sensational. People almost need the sensational aspect to be attracted to the news. I think there is a big split in my head between ideal and true journalism and then the business of news. News as a business needs to be more sensationalized these days to attract customers.