Why Do We Watch?

As I was looking around for info to blog about today, i ran across this interview with comedian Adam Carolla. Carolla's talking about Piers Morgan (who took over Larry King's interviewing show) and why people expected him to be good at his job. In the middle of Carolla's rant, he hinted at something i've always wondered about. Why do we care about people like The Kardashians, The Real Housewives, or any other reality TV people. If you talk to anybody on the street, they express their disgust and disdain towards these stars. Still, their ratings are big enough that they come back every season. Carolla suggests it is because we, as a society, are voyeurs and that we are so narcissistic that we enjoy watching other's own narcissism. Watch Carolla's comments by clicking here (note there is some harsh language). Do you agree with Carolla? Do we envy these people? Do we secretly wish to be as spotlighted as them? Why do we watch these reality shows?

Newsroom Evolution

An article was recently released regarding suggestions that newsrooms should adopt to make them more updated and fresh. I'd like you to read the suggestions by clicking here. I'd like you to post your reactions to the items. Which suggestions do you agree with? Which suggestions do you think could have unintended consequences and what would those consequences be? Are all these suggestions helpful for newsrooms or could there be problems?

P.S. - Someone used the name "NaturallyDelish" to post last week. I'm not sure exactly how i'm supposed to determine the student's name to award them credit. I'm not qualified to determine who in class is the most "naturallydelish!"

Off The Record

The following comes from Chuck Ross of TV Week:

"Last month, when it became known that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was going to be taking another leave of absence, Time Warner's Fortune magazine ran a story with information that heretofore had not been public: that Jobs had been treated for cancer in Switzerland in 2009.

Now, it's not a secret that Jobs has had cancer. But this particular information had not been made public by Jobs or anyone else. The article in Fortune said the author of the article had been told this information off-the-record by a source. The source had subsequently died, so the information was no longer off-the-record, the article said."

So here's my question. What do you think "off the record" means? Do you think there are any limitations to that? When should something move from being "off the record" to being "on the record?" If the "off the record" source died, does that necessarily mean the information is fair game?

P.S. someone posted last week with the name "eld_school." If this is a classmate who wants points for the blog, you'll have to let me know who you are. There is no way i can guess who "eld_school" refers to.

Positive Aspects of Video Games

Recently, an article was published which found that girls who spent time playing video games with their fathers had better relationships with them. You can read it here.

Most news about video games seem to just state the negative aspects. I'd like you to consider both the negative and positive aspects. So i'd like at least a paragraph on each. 1) What are the negative future consequences of video game play? and 2) What are the positive future consequences of video game play?

Is There Space for Al Jazeera

Whenever a government is threatened with being toppled, one of the first things the dying government does is shut down the press within the country and try to stop international press members from coming in. With the recent political unrest in Egypt, it became clear that access to the story was limited in the first few days. While American journalists were trying to gain access and travel to Egypt, the middle eastern news network Al Jazeera was already in the area.

Al Jazeera has an English-spoken channel. But this network is offered in only a handful of areas across the USA. One concern regarding Al Jazeera has traditionally been that it perhaps has a pro-Muslim bias, although Al Jazeera has constantly responded that it has no political or religious affiliations.

Do you think the recent events show that our national cable and satellite providers should show more interest in providing English-spoken foreign news networks? Or should we trust our own national news networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN) to report the news? Would you want to subscribe to Al Jazeera if it was offered in your cable or satellite package?

For a more detailed description of the issue, click here. Also, look for yourself. While you might not have access to Al Jazeera on television you can watch a live stream of it by clicking here.