The beginning of this chapter states that the “disseminators of news have connected American citizens to the shared events that shaped their national experience”. Indeed, with the advancement of technology and transportation, citizens will get their news more reliable and faster than even. Many today’s newspapers are originated from the “penny news”. In order to attracted more readerships, the early newspapers began to improve the quality of the newspaper and the distribution method. They started to lower papers’ price and cover various social issues. Therefore, citizens can easily obtain the information they need to know, and they will change their viewpoints about a particular event.
As radios, televisions, Internet, and other electronic devices emerge, the news spread more quickly to every part of country. The electronic news becomes the main tool for accessing the news. Citizens can view live event through televisions, such as the Kennedy assassination. Newspaper begins to report and reveal the news about wrongdoings of politicians, crime investigation, celebrities, and other matters. With these abundant information the newspaper has covered, many citizens feel overwhelming. As a result, they only care about the big news, such as the terrorist attacks on September 11. However, I believe that citizens still care about the news because muckrakers have aroused the public awareness about the dark side of the society.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Chapter 6 MUCKRAKING
Muckraking is a part of journalism that exposes the misdeeds and corruption of big businesses or government to the public. By revealing the wrongdoings, society will be more democratic, and citizens will be freed from monopoly and corrupt government, and to be self-governing. Lincoln Steffens, S.S. McClure, Ida Tarbell and several other muckrakers are the forerunners of the muckraking journalism, and they have revealed the corruption of local government leaders, senators, Standard Oil Company, the meat packing industries, and other big businesses. Without these muckrakers, society will be controlled by dictators and monopolists. Once citizens acknowledge these wrongdoings and have full information about the potential dangers that investigative journalists have exposed, they will protest and ask government and businesses to reform.
The New York Times article “BP Faces Record Fine for ’05 Refinery Explosion” by Steven Greenhouse said that the BP Oil Company is fined again by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, “after a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at its Texas City, Tex. Refinery”. According to The New York Times’ documents, the BP Oil Company didn’t correct and improve its safety hazards since the last explosion, and there’re more violations that the company had. With the Times has revealed this information to the public, the public awareness will arouse. The public wants the BP Oil Company to be more compliant with OSHA. Otherwise, there will be another explosion. The muckraking doesn’t only focus on exposing big business company’s wrongdoing, but also it also reveals the poor quality of the food, medicine, and so on.
The New York Times article “BP Faces Record Fine for ’05 Refinery Explosion” by Steven Greenhouse said that the BP Oil Company is fined again by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, “after a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at its Texas City, Tex. Refinery”. According to The New York Times’ documents, the BP Oil Company didn’t correct and improve its safety hazards since the last explosion, and there’re more violations that the company had. With the Times has revealed this information to the public, the public awareness will arouse. The public wants the BP Oil Company to be more compliant with OSHA. Otherwise, there will be another explosion. The muckraking doesn’t only focus on exposing big business company’s wrongdoing, but also it also reveals the poor quality of the food, medicine, and so on.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Response to the New York Times's article “Bombings in Iraq, Deadliest Since 2007, Raise Security Issue” by Timothy Williams
The two suicide car bombings occurred in Iraq were very terrified and inhuman. This terrorists’ attack caused many people died and wounded, and it also damaged the two government buildings—the Justice Ministry and Provincial council complexes. This incident was not occurred only once in Iraq. It has happened several times last year. These kinds of attack have brought many casualties to the nation, but I believe this kind of incidents can be prevented by adding more security guards and troops to the Iraqi streets and neighbors and patrolling more frequently around. Especially, Iraqi presidential election is coming, so the government must be cautioned and be aware of any terrorists’ attack. The government should not just keep promising to its citizens that government “has kept the country reasonably safe”. The Iraqi government should take actions not just making promises to its frighten citizens. It feels very weird to me when I read a line in the article, it said: “The bombers apparently passed through multiple security checkpoints before detonating their vehicles within a minute of each other …”. Passing multiple security checkpoints, that is amazing how these bombers can pass through, and how the Iraqi security performs its work to protect citizen from terrorism.
Is the article “White House Art: Colors From a World of Black and White” by Holland Cotter a feature story?
The article “White House Art: Colors From a World of Black and White” by Holland Cotter is a feature story. At the beginning of the article, the author begins to talk about a list of paintings Obama had in his presidential home, the list of painting includes Jasper Johns’s, Ed Ruscha’s, and other famous artists’ works. The article doesn’t immediately begin with topic subject. These are just soft lead, but there is a transitional paragraph talks about Alma W. Thomas, and that is Cotter actually wants to talk about. He wants readers pay particularly attention to only one artist, Alma W. Thomas.
This article doesn’t look like any other news articles which have the answers to the five W’s—who, what, when, where, why, how. The author uses narrative writing style to describe the life of Alma W. Thomas. He gives detail information about Alma W. Thomas’s life and her career. Thomas was born in Columbus, and she taught art for thirty-five years and began her new career as a painter of abstracts in her age of sixty-nine. Alma W. Thomas was the first African-America woman to have a solo at the Whitney Museum and had several retrospectives. When he fully described Alma W. Thomas’s life and how she dealt with racial problem. At the end of the article, Cotter has given some opinions to the Obama White House: “forward-looking without being radical; post-racial but also race-conscious;…”
This article doesn’t look like any other news articles which have the answers to the five W’s—who, what, when, where, why, how. The author uses narrative writing style to describe the life of Alma W. Thomas. He gives detail information about Alma W. Thomas’s life and her career. Thomas was born in Columbus, and she taught art for thirty-five years and began her new career as a painter of abstracts in her age of sixty-nine. Alma W. Thomas was the first African-America woman to have a solo at the Whitney Museum and had several retrospectives. When he fully described Alma W. Thomas’s life and how she dealt with racial problem. At the end of the article, Cotter has given some opinions to the Obama White House: “forward-looking without being radical; post-racial but also race-conscious;…”
Monday, October 19, 2009
The observance of Hispanic Heritage Month
The observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, which starts from September 15th to October 15th, celebrates Hispanic heritage and culture of those people from Spain, Mexico, and the Spanish-speaking nations. LaGuardia Community College holds a Panel Discussion about the event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7th. The topic of discussion is “Hispanic or Latino, what’s in a name?” and “A discussion and debate on Heritage and Identity”.
Journalism Professor Victor Rosa, Associate Director of Student Life Office Irene Sosa, Cooperator of Women Center Joanna Deleon and Student Ambassador Candice Profit are invited in the Panel Discussion. Also, there are about twenty-five students and some professors attended the Panel Discussion. The host Kazembe Batts has asked a question to the guests: “How can you identify yourselves either a Latino/a or Hispanic?” The guests gave very interesting responses. Student Ambassador, Candice Profit identified herself as a Latina, the daughter of a African American father and a Puerto Rican mother, because she said she wanted to “keep the culture alive, and it is up to you”, so Profit is studying the Spanish language because as a child her father didn’t want her to learn. Joanna Deleon preferred Latina to Hispanic. She didn’t like the word Hispanic because the word as it consisted of “His-” and “panic”. There’s a answers and questions session about the words Latino and Hispanic, some of the audiences said that it is appreciate to refer to Spanish-speakers as Hispanic because the very early Spanish history has rooted and influenced every part of the world.
The words “Latino” and “Hispanic” have no difference for me because these two words basically have the same meaning which is Spanish-speakers. Because Spanish-speakers are located different parts of world, so they define these words separately. I believe it doesn’t matter which word is for your identity, and the bottom line is that do you know who you are?
Journalism Professor Victor Rosa, Associate Director of Student Life Office Irene Sosa, Cooperator of Women Center Joanna Deleon and Student Ambassador Candice Profit are invited in the Panel Discussion. Also, there are about twenty-five students and some professors attended the Panel Discussion. The host Kazembe Batts has asked a question to the guests: “How can you identify yourselves either a Latino/a or Hispanic?” The guests gave very interesting responses. Student Ambassador, Candice Profit identified herself as a Latina, the daughter of a African American father and a Puerto Rican mother, because she said she wanted to “keep the culture alive, and it is up to you”, so Profit is studying the Spanish language because as a child her father didn’t want her to learn. Joanna Deleon preferred Latina to Hispanic. She didn’t like the word Hispanic because the word as it consisted of “His-” and “panic”. There’s a answers and questions session about the words Latino and Hispanic, some of the audiences said that it is appreciate to refer to Spanish-speakers as Hispanic because the very early Spanish history has rooted and influenced every part of the world.
The words “Latino” and “Hispanic” have no difference for me because these two words basically have the same meaning which is Spanish-speakers. Because Spanish-speakers are located different parts of world, so they define these words separately. I believe it doesn’t matter which word is for your identity, and the bottom line is that do you know who you are?
Monday, October 5, 2009
Response to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics
Every professional, such as doctors, lawyers, engineers and so on, has own professional code of ethics, and they must follow the code of ethic of their own and do what it supposes to do, and the professional misconducts won’t be allowed. For journalists, they have their own—the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. Every journalist around the world has to obey every code from this journalistic code of ethics. If journalists are against this professional conduct, they won’t qualify to be a journalist.
From the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics “Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information”, I believe this is one of the most important codes for every journalist. Being a journalist, he or she has to be honest and never deceive the readers with the information that provided. Also, journalists have to report the stories and information from both sides of an issue, and they can’t be partial towards either side. A journalist also has to be brave to report an issue from different kind of situation and environment. Even journalists try to provide the readers with the information about the soldiers in a combat; they have to risk their lives to report the information from the combat zone. In fact, if there is information about government officials have misused their power, such as in the Watergate scandal that reported by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. They risk their lives to uncover the misused power of the president of United Stated, and that led to the impeachment of the president.
Another code from the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics says that “Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible”. This code is also essential for journalists, but in the early development of journalism, this code has rarely been followed by early journalists. According to the book Mightier Than the Sword by Rodger Streitmatter, Sam Adams had used incorrect information about the conduct of the British soldiers in Boston, and also he’d distorted and exaggerated the news about the soldiers. Although Adam had violated the code of ethics, he made cornerstone for today’s journalistic conduct.
From the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics “Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information”, I believe this is one of the most important codes for every journalist. Being a journalist, he or she has to be honest and never deceive the readers with the information that provided. Also, journalists have to report the stories and information from both sides of an issue, and they can’t be partial towards either side. A journalist also has to be brave to report an issue from different kind of situation and environment. Even journalists try to provide the readers with the information about the soldiers in a combat; they have to risk their lives to report the information from the combat zone. In fact, if there is information about government officials have misused their power, such as in the Watergate scandal that reported by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. They risk their lives to uncover the misused power of the president of United Stated, and that led to the impeachment of the president.
Another code from the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics says that “Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible”. This code is also essential for journalists, but in the early development of journalism, this code has rarely been followed by early journalists. According to the book Mightier Than the Sword by Rodger Streitmatter, Sam Adams had used incorrect information about the conduct of the British soldiers in Boston, and also he’d distorted and exaggerated the news about the soldiers. Although Adam had violated the code of ethics, he made cornerstone for today’s journalistic conduct.
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