Blog Topic Coming

The blog topic will be posted by the end of the day. check back later.

Spring Break

No posting this week as it is Spring Break on campus.

Pack Your Bag

Hello all,
I once saw a news piece where a journalist asked the presidential candidates what book they would take with them to the White House. That's a neat question and it reminded me of that old question, "If you were stranded on an island........"

So here's my media related question to you this week. Write a short paragraph on each:

1. If you were stranded on an island, what magazine would you like to wash up onshore every week? And why?

2. If you were stranded on an island, what one movie would you like to take with you (in a portable dvd player, of course)? And why?

3. If you were stranded on an island, what one album/song would you like to be loaded on the mp3 player you took with you? And why?

Good Luck

No Post This Week

Originally i had wanted to skip the blog during midterm week, but i thought the editorial cartoon was such a good topic that i posted it anyway. turns out that it was a good topic and got a lot of you to respond. so this week we'll take a break. come back next monday for a new topic.

The Washington Post Cartoon

Recently, the Washington Post editorial section posted the following picture.

The Post Editorial staff claimed that the dead chimpanzee referenced an earlier story in the week regarding police officers having to shoot and kill a monkey that attacked and killed a woman. The cartoonist claims he was commenting that the latest stimulus bill was written by a bunch of dumb monkeys (congressmen). But others disagree.

Many claim that the monkey could be seen as a racist comment on one of the chief architects of the stimulus bill, President Obama. They claim that the editors should have recognized that the editorial could be misconstrued and should have pulled the cartoon. For a summary of this story, click here .

What’s your take? Is the cartoon O.K. or is it racially insensitive? Is this a legitimate argument or in our quest for political correctness, have we become too sensitive?

Was A-Rod an A-hole to the Media?

I'd like you to watch the following clip about the A-Rod steroid case by clicking here. The testing that happened years ago was supposed to be anonymous, yet A-Rod's name was published. Some journalists have argued that the other 103 names that tested positive for steroids don't need to be published. What do you think? Should their names be released just like A-Rod's. Do you think A-Rod was targeted because he has had poor relations with the media in the past.
What about A-Rod's claim that the Sports Illustrated reporter has been unnecessarily hounding him. Apparently there will be another press conference by A-Rod today around 1:30.
Do you think the press needs to be more active in covering steroid abuse in professional sports? What do you think about "public shame" that the video clip mentions? Is that the role that the media should serve in these cases?

Let's Talk About Sex

Last week's talk about Jessica Simpson got us talking about sex a little bit so let's stay with the topic. Late last year, CNN published a piece on a RAND study linking teen pregnancy to watching sex on television. First, read the piece here. After reading i want you to address a few questions.
1. Do you think the results are correct? Does watching more sex on tv lead to teen pregnancy?
2. What other factors are also leading to teen pregnancy? In the piece one person says that too many things other than parenting are always blamed for teen pregnancy. Do you agree? Could good parenting counter the effects of watching too much sex on TV.
3. Could there be a third variable going on here? Teen pregnancy is on the rise. Sex on TV is on the rise. The number of hours of TV watched is on the rise? What's going on?
4. The term Media Literacy is used. This means teaching people how to critically interpret and understand the media with which they engage. (Basically you're taking a class in media literacy right now). Is there a place for this in the classroom? And how can we teach media literacy in the classroom when education budgets are being slashed and we are barely getting basic skills like reading and writing taught in the classroom?