Journalism IS Loyalty, or it Should be.

I enjoyed group 4’s presentation this past Tuesday on journalism and loyalty.  One random thing I liked about their presentation was how they designed their handout, making it horizontal on the paper rather than vertical like everything else we ever get to read at school.  It was a nice little “switch up”.  I liked how their presentation was clear-cut and to the point.  One thing I learned from their presentation that I had not really thought about before was that 70% of journalists hold the audience as their first loyalty, while 80% have their “core” principals around citizens.  If this is true, shouldn’t that 10% more be saying that their loyalty is to the audience first as well? It would only make sense.  Another interesting fact that we were actually quizzed on in class was that Adolph Ochs bought the New York Times in 1896. I had never heard of him before so I looked him up to learn more! Here is a link to his biography:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/ochs.html

The article (which is linked here) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/business/media/pew-media-study-shows-reliance-on-many-outlets.html connects very well with the groups’ topic.  The point of the article was proving that although much of the media is now being overtaken by national media corporations, local news stations and newspapers are still popular and successful.  They are succeeding in 11 topics like “local government updates, zoning news and crime reports” while national-level companies are more successful in breaking news, weather, and traffic.  Twitter and the social media are also in favor of local news and it was discussed in the article how news is locally spread by “word-of-mouth” or in other words “word-of-tweet”.  Below is a link to a YouTube clip of Katie Couric speaking to the creator of Twitter, Biz Stone about the rise of social media.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1AeOV1nll8

No such thing as Unbiased

Is it the job of a journalist to rake up all the nitty-gritty details to place someone in a certain light? Or is it their job to tell the simple truth?  In my opinion, there is no such thing as complete unbias.  Every single person on this planet has grown up with different circumstances, different experiences that shape their opinions and perspectives.  It is impossible to state a real “bird’s eye view” of a situation, no matter how controversial it may be.  On that note, journalism is an essential building block of society, without it we would not progress or evolve.  Like the group said, “Journalists hold a mirror up to society,” forcing citizens to look at one another and question if everything is morally straight.  Below is a link to a YouTube video called “Pakistani Truth News” I just thought the title was a bit ironic… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9NrFNggpd0

            I really liked how the presenting group brought the class into the discussion by asking questions to the class as a whole, and giving an incentive (Dove chocolates).  http://www.dovechocolate.com/  It was a clever and fun perspective of their project that added to their already well-researched and presented topic. 

            Below is a link to an article questioning whether or not journalists are really digging deep to find the truth in the world today.  I found it to be quite interesting and made me do a mental double-take in questioning the intentions of our journalists today. 
http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/101937/Where-Are-Muckraking-Journalists-Today.aspx

News in the Future

I really enjoyed this past week's presentation on the future of news.  I especially liked how they used Prezi for their presentation, as it flowed really well and was visually pleasing.  Here is a link to Prezi: http://prezi.com/ for anyone that doesn't know what Prezi is, or how to create a Prezi presentation.

Everything is shifting to the web, even television and newspapers, and people are becoming skeptic about the existence of newspapers in the future, wondering if they will exist at all. I liked how the group presented a different aspect of this.  They explained how changes in demographics and general lifestyle and family habits are evolving, requiring a high demand for quick information.  News and journalists must start switching to internet connections in order to keep up with the world and the fast-paced mindset of society.  This is not necessarily a bad thing since news and its mediums have always been evolving.  It is just a continuation of the uphill evolution of media. I decided to research some more statistics of the current internet usage in America and also found some information on cell-phone service and text message numbers. I have included an article with some of those statistics.  Here's a link: http://mobithinking.com/mobile

I believe that the media and news stations will survive, as long as they strive to stay in connection with the world and the newest technology.  Without journalists, the world will become even more corrupt as we will have no one to bring us reliable information.

Converting to Comms 239

This blog is now going to be used for my Comms 239 class.  The name, “It’s all just a big time bomb” still fits because it applies to journalism in a sense that there is only so much time before a story is reported, and the information is out for the public to feast on.  If journalists aren’t responsible in getting the correct and factual information out, some one else will, and they won’t care whether or not it is the truth. 

            In reflection to last weeks’ class and the group presentation (September 6^th), I really liked how the group presented their chapter and gave the class a handout, which outlined the material.  I really appreciated that and used to it to take notes on!  One thing I would have suggested about their presentation was to more evenly divide the information that was presented between the group members.  It seemed that some of the members had bigger topics in comparison with other group members.  Other than that though, it was a well-presented topic with clear information.  For my link I decided to look up Walter Lippman since he was part of the chapter and I did not write down any information about him or his influence on journalism.  Below is a link to a biography I read about Lippman and his political/journalistic experiences. 

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlippmann.htm 

Edited Thesis and 5 Background Sources

The rise of pressures in society and the globalization of food chains in America is causing extremes in addictive eating habits and body types.  Both obesity and eating disorders are enveloping society.
Here's a link to an article relating to my thesis..
http://fmhsloudspeaker.wordpress.com/category/local-news/Here are my 5 background sources:

1.  Title: The Influences of Mental Health and Culture on Weight and Eating Disorders

Source: Weight in America: Obesity, Eating Disorders, and Other Health Risks. Ed. Barbara Wexler. 2007 ed. Information Plus Reference Series Detroit: Gale, 2007. p51-60.

 This exert is about the battle of eating disorders and the pressures in society that cause eating disorders.

 2.  Title: Nutrition Transition: Worldwide Diet Change

Author(s): Barry M. Popkin

Source: Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. Ed. Solomon H. Katz. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. p600-605.

 Historical nutrition patterns and shifts in diets, activity, and body shape patterns.

3.  “take a load off.” By: Bolster, Mary, Natural Health, 10679588, Jun2007, Vol. 37, Issue 6

Database:

MasterFILE Premier

Found on EBSCO HOST on library website

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=9&sid=cfcf98ed-4004-489e-b261-643fdd94f3dc%40sessionmgr115&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=f5h&AN=25087115

4.  Connecticut Q&A: Dr. Kelly Brownell; Americans, Obesity and Eating Habits.

Authors:

JACQUELINE WEAVER

Source:

New York Times, 1/29/1995, p3, 0p

Document Type:

Article

Possible quote to use/theme of article: “obesity and eating disorders are extremely complex problems fueled by an irresponsible food industry”

5.  Study Finds Calorie Postings in Restaurants Don't Change Eating Habits.

Authors:                      HARTOCOLLIS, ANEMONA  Allen, Jonathan

Source:            New York Times, 10/6/2009, p26, 0p

Document Type:  Article

“The study, by several professors at New York University and Yale, tracked customers at four fast-food chains -- McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken -- in poor neighborhoods of New York City where there are high rates of obesity.”

Issues paper thesis

Globalization is causing extremes in addictive eating habits and body types.  Both obesity and eating disorders are enveloping society.

I have no idea what to write about....

In this Issues Paper the possibilities are endless.  My problem is thinking of one.  Especially one that can somehow turn into 8 to 10 pages!
I could possibly write about....
...how globalization is ruining historical and sacred monuments and sites.  For example: a Starbucks has recently been built in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Picture below:
 
...how the globalization of instant gratification (through communication, entertainment, food, money, media, etc) is destroying the world and ethics of humanity.
These are just a few ideas, what do you all think?