Comm455/History of Journalism

Hurricane Sandy seems to have done nothing to the Northern Virginia area.

NOVA woke up on Tuesday to a low number of power outages, barely any flooding, and minimal structure damage. Compared to New York City we really got nothing. It was merely a day-long storm. For NOVA, ‘Frankenstorm’ was all hype. For New York, however, it fulfilled the drama of its daunting nickname.

New York City

Cars in a wading pool at the entrance to a parking garage in New York on Tuesday

Northern Virginia

Northern Virginians resume normal, everyday activities on Tuesday after the storm

According to Dominion Electric, the Northern Virginia region only suffered from about 43,000 power outages. In contrast to New York City’s 750,000 residents left without power, NOVA made out well.

Northern Virginia Power Outages

The journalism world is a strange one. Nowadays, news organizations have created new “social media guidelines” that prevent journalists from stating anything that expresses an opinion on something.

Why do we pretend that journalists are impartial robots without opinions?

Octavia Nasr, former CNN Senior Editor of Middle East Affairs, was fired after she tweeted this:

Courtesy of http://cdn.pjmedia.com

Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was labeled a terrorist by US officials because of his involvement in the establishment of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Huge backlash led to CNN dismissing her because they believed “her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs [had] been compromised going forward.”

Jack Shafer, opinion writer for Reuters, said,”The journalistic orthodoxy… maintains that news reporters and news editors must not have opinions, or if they do, they must not state them.”  The belief that journalism involves the unbiased, objective journalist is simply not true.  Just because someone acts objective does not make them objective.

Are journalists gonna say controversial things? Of course, everyone does. Why should that disqualify them from ever practicing journalism ever again? Pretending bias does not exist can sometimes be damaging because journalists may find themselves covering both sides of the story without digging into the truth of any of the facts.

Some prefer that journalists express their opinion and bias and let others argue the points out. Today, communities of people are going to social media platforms like Twitter to share, discuss, and comment on news because that is where “the news” is presented best.

Everyone makes mistakes, even the news. However with technology consistently evolving and the Zuckerberg wall constantly moving, one would think mistakes would happen less frequently.

But they still happen all the time.
In the 1400’s one of the biggest flaws with the printing press was ensuring death. In 1431 there was at least one false Joan of Arc wanders about after the real one was executed. Could the same be said for Elvis and Tupac?

I mean with Tupac being able to perform as a hologram you know that technology truly is limitless.

But technology doesn’t stop mistakes from happening. Fast forward to 1981

There was an attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. He was shot and seriously wounded, he suffered from internal bleeding a punctured lung. ABC, CBS and NBC had the video above featured on their news station within half an hour of the shooting. Both Dan Rather on CBS and Frank Reynolds on ABC delivered obituaries for White House Press Secretary James Brady, who was paralyzed, but still alive.

Another big slip up happened earlier this year in June, when CNN and FOX slipped up by reporting that the individual mandate for the ruling of the Affordable Care Act had been struck down when in actuality that was not the case.

So are mistakes due to people  trying to meet a deadline and not fact checking or is it something else? In the case of Reagan and the Affordable Health Care Act I think it’s reporters infatuation with sensationalism. As terrible as it sounds, viewers get joy out of bad things happening. As we discussed in class more people like to read about death,crime and  basically anything else going wrong in the world.

My only hope that since the ability to upload news is only getting more efficient with the increasing technology that the information being delivered does not suffer in the process.

Created in 1840, the National Anti-Slavery Standard helped contribute to the fight against slavery in the United States all the way until the Emancipation Proclamation was issued and beyond.

Indeed, the Standard did not cease publication until 1870, with the passing of the 15th Amendment which effectively granted African Americans the right to vote.

The National Anti-Slavery Standard dickenson.edu

The Standard was created by the husband-wife team of Lydia and David Child, who were both affirmed abolitionists, as well as being writers in their own right. (Lydia Child was the author of the poem “over the river and through the woods”)

Using the motto “Without Concealment—Without Compromise.” the Standard sought to extend the rights of slaves all across the country. With perhaps the exception of William Lloyd Garrison’s Liberator, the Standard was the most influential voice for abolition leading up to the Civil War.

When the war ended in 1865, however, the Standard continued to advocate for the rights of not only former slaves, but women’s suffrage as well.

An arm of the American Anti-Slavery Society, which also published Garrison’s Liberator, the Standard was able to fall on many resources to ensure publication and continue networking. It also attracted popular contributors, such as former slave Frederick Douglass.

With the passing of the 15th Amendment the Standard gave up its thirty year run. However, it was able to contribute to other causes being taken up by the press in the United States.

While a true-to-form propaganda film has not made it into American theaters for many years, there are still films being released today that critics equate to propaganda.

Avatar, the immensely successful 3D epic released in 2009, had its fair share of criticisms and critiques.  There were many who said it was a blatant rip-off of Pocahontas. Others, like Nile Gardiner, claims it is “the most expensive piece of anti-American propaganda ever made” in this blog entry for The Telegraph.

In his post, Gardiner says, “When I saw the movie last night in a packed theatre, I was disturbed by the cheering from the audience towards the end when the humans – US soldiers fighting on behalf of an American corporation – were being wiped out by the Na’vi.” While many would argue that the U.S. military portrayed in the film did have it coming, this was a major departure from the usually pro-American bias in films.

From there, the list goes on; Transformers, Shooter, The Expendables, Act of Valor, and so on.  Many of today’s American films, particularly action films, are said to contain at least elements of propaganda.  Who the target is varies between films; sometimes it is pro-American, sometimes it is anti-American.

Even though these films are more about explosive entertainment than indoctrination, it is still important for viewers to be critical of the images they see and, hopefully, form their opinions on U.S. and world politics outside of the movie theater.

Here is a humorous list of movies laced with propaganda.

For the last week all of the east coast has been bracing themselves for Hurricane Sandy, which has adopted the nickname ‘Frankenstorm’. The category one storm is expected to cause severe damage and possible evacuations. Schools, jobs and many businesses have been shut down Monday and Tuesday, unsure if they will reopen Wednesday.

As the worst of the storm is fast approaching, more than 9,000 flights have been canceled and put a halt on many travelers plans for the week. Towns like Ocean City, MD and the Outerbanks in North Carolina are getting hit hard, already resulting in several deaths and destruction of homes.

The main northern Virginia airports Dulles and Reagan have cancelled all flights Monday. There are expected cancellations and delays to continue into Tuesday as well.

Hurricanes are not common in the DC area where it is expected to hit hard. Residents have gone into a panic stocking up supplies and essentials, clearing out stores in the area.

So far New York and New Jersey are getting the brunt of the storm, already experiencing extreme flooding, while New York City had begun evacuations of low lying zones as early as Sunday morning.

Hopefully this storm will die down or pass quickly without too much serious damage, but it looks like for now Halloween week will be spent indoors.

Donald Trump recently released a public address in which he asked for Obama’s education records in exchange for a $5 million dollar charitable donation.

Can we really say we’re surprised? Donald Trump has yet again slithered himself into our countries’ political discourse. At one point last year he even flirted with the idea of running for president. 

Yet another example of the destructive ideology that if you have enough money you can buy a spot within our political sphere and even consider running for president! Sorry Trump, but this seats saved for someone who will look out for everyone, not just themselves.

Trump only has a voice because our mainstream media outlets plaster the front pages with this sensationalized ‘news.’ Thankfully, the only front pages you’ll see this story on are TMZ, E! and other celeb news outlets. Though these stunts give him entertainment headlines, also give him more time on The Daily Show.

This isn’t the first and it won’t be the last publicity stunt we’ll see from Trump but we can all rest assured knowing that he’s faded into a national joke.

During the Dark Ages, when only the wealthy could afford to send their children to school and illiteracy was rampant, the only source of information for most people was the Church.

It would seem today, in a developed nation where the literacy rate is 99% and information is available at the tip of our fingers, there should be no excuse for ignorance.

Republican Senate candidate from Indiana, Richard Mourdock, proved this wong. Mourdock made a colorful remark that rape which results in pregnancy is “something that God intended to happen.” This baseless, non-factual argument was his primary defense for banning all abortions.

This thought process, although shocking to many people, is not uncommon. Right wing evangelicals have fought to overturn Roe vs. Wade for decades, with religion being their strongest argument. But as stated earlier, it’s not because of a lack of education or awareness, but an overpowering religious influence that threatens to penetrate our rights and freedoms.

With the election drawing closer each day, our path to the Dark Ages could be built once again.

Launched on June 1, 1980 Ted Turner’s Cable News Network (CNN) continued people’s innate desire for news. CNN was the first 24-hour cable news program. CNN gave us “the sights as well as the sounds of the news became available 24 hours a day,” as Mitchell Stephens notes in his book “A History of the News.”

Before CNN, individuals waited for the 7 o’clock evening news to tell them of the days events. The internet didn’t exist and a daily newspaper only gave you the news a day after. CNN allowed for individuals to get the news they needed now rather than later. In 2000, twenty years after it first was launched, CNN could be viewed in over 212 countries with over 17 million individuals seeing CNN in their homes. That number has significantly grown in its now thirty year history. 

In it’s first broadcast, CNN began reporting reliable news using the best tools that television had to offer. CNN’s first broadcast premiered with anchors Lois Hart and David Walker who read off of a typed script.

You can watch the full first hour broadcast of CNN in full via Youtube.com.

Beginning with an inaugural speech by founder Ted Turner, CNN paved the way for other cable news outlets such as MSNBC and FOX.

Speaking outside of the CNN center in Atlanta, Turner spoke about the three flags standing in front of him. The first was of the Georgia’s state flag following the American flag. Ted Turner paused on the significance behind the third flag standing in front of him: the flag of the Untied Nations,

“And over on the other side we have the flag of the Untied Nations because we hope that the Cable News Network with its international coverage and its greater depth coverage will bring both in the country and in the world, a better understanding of how people of different nations work together…”

Ted Turner’s vision of a more connected world has gone beyond television. Now with a click away, individuals can connect to each other through news and information through the internet. Ted Turner’s vision of what CNN’s potential was, could never have fully been imaged to the scale it is today in a world of 24-hour news consumption.

The Newseum looks at CNN throughout the years and its impact on news and news reporting.

According to  Beth Hayden and Rafal Tomal at copyblogger, There’s nothing new about “social media.”

Hayden and Tomal also state that,”the concept behind Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking tools isn’t new. These sites just give us new, sexy, and easy-to use ways to do what we’ve always wanted to do online — exchange ideas and information.”

Hayden and Tomal cite the beginning of social media in 1971, when an email was sent by researchers in Switzerland.

But was that really the beginning of social media?

Word of mouth, dating back almost 550 years, was the beginning of social media. The historical timeline below depicts the use of the internet as a social media tool. Not the beginning of the social media phenomena.

The info-graphic below tells the story of a social internet.

The modern day word of mouth.

Where Ray Sears reconnected with his long lost love; and where Carly Fleishmann, an autistic and non-verbal woman, could finally communicate with the world.

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

With all the media coverage telling us that Hurricane Sandy is going to reak havock on the East Coast there is one question to wonder about. Really?

Will Sandy really cause so much damage as the media says it will? There’s no way to tell but one thing is for sure. This hurricane is being sensationalized and blown out of proportion by our media. The same media that told us that our world was pretty much going to power down at the turn of the millineum — Y2K.

Sensationalized news reports may start of small, but for the most part they are big stories — stories that could potentially affect the masses, just as Hurricane Sandy could. Similarly, in medical reporting, sensationalism is frowned upon. This is due to the fact that it could desensitize the public through disappointment. The same goes for big stories that don’t ever come to fruition. Y2K was an utter bust.

Hurricane Sandy is beng reported on this week as if it were the November election, itself. In fact, at the present moment it may be on the news just as much or even more than the 2012 Presidential Election. If the people don’t witness what the media says will probably happen, they will ultimately be disappointed and become desensitized by such drastic reports.

People are preparing for the worst when Sandy comes ashore sometime within the next day. The water aisle in a local grocery store is almost empty, as seen in the above photo.

News is ubiquitous. But does that mean that people are actually absorbing it? Television has given people the ability to see what’s going on in the world at anytime. Internet is another medium that informs people about the local and worldly happenings. But what are you taking away from it?

I get it, your busy. So am I. As a college student we have a million and one things to think about. We can be a little selfish. But for most of us taking the time to seek out something that doesn’t personally affect us does tend to seem like a waste.

But if you don’t you can look like this:

Ignorance is not bliss. You are responsible for knowing what’s happening in the world because if you don’t then how can you change it?

Some of these people have made a difference and it’s possible that you can too

Remember that there’s really no excuse because media today doesn’t stop. There are 24 hour news sources like CNN and Al-Jazeera that can keep you up to date on the latest. Social media doesn’t stop either, so just take a moment. Look. Learn. Absorb.

Just please take advantage of the television, internet and social media. Let it educate you, not make you ignorant.