Protecting our way of life

A bit of analysis

A statement like the above (from this source) implies a definitive and quantifiable definition for something - way of life - that most of us, when pressed, acknowledge is constantly changing, evolving, fluctuating.  

Let's put aside the obvious - that there are certain features that define "our way of life."  (Mr. Davis goes on to name a few in his campaign message from the above source) and that to fully understand that phrase it must be examined in context and parsed accordingly.   It, though, is symptomatic of many common politically oriented cliches, phrases that tend to feed into a simplified narrative that this country swallows on a daily basis.

This narrative is amplified by these cliches' complete dominance of the media's discourse.  To take an example, a personal favorite, the HEARTLAND OF AMERICA.  Without second glance, we know that the phrase denotes the midwestern US.  Yet, what makes that America's heartland more than, say, NYC?  

Good Media

Avoiding the question - what is good media? - why is it that the best things are funny now a days?

Satire of Obama.

Ethics in Media?

Can't be.  

Here's a funny (sad) little article about the prayer Obama left in the Western Wall.

Bias?

Can't be.

Article

Coverage?

Why do the items that get coverage get coverage?  Why do they deserve it?  Who picks what gets covered?  Etc.

Here's an interesting article that might shed some light on those basic and fundamental questions.  

Slap in the Face

Obama, it seems, has forced presidential hopeful John McCain to play by his rules.  Obama, as most of us know, is a fairly decent writer and has recently submitted an article to the nytimes detailing his position on Iraq.  The oft accused leftist newspaper has just rejected a rebuttal authored by McCain.  While many may scream "liberal bias" and while that certainly might be partly true.  After reading McCain's editorial, I don't doubt that he graduated in the 1000 club at the US Naval academy (those outside of the 1000 top students per class [usually class range to about 1200]).

Journalism and the Future

You journalist buff's in our class might want to check this out.  An interesting piece on the future of journalism and the challenges new media faces.  

A Fair Fight

Every article that attempts to address the issue about media coverage of the general election always comes down to the word "fair."  What does "fairness" mean in the context of an election?  Are elections even supposed to be fair at all? 

Here's an article for you, think about those questions while reading it.  

Media Coverage

This was an interesting article. Here's a tidbit from it below.

The imbalance has appeared in various analyses of the news coverage. The Tyndall Report, a news coverage monitoring service that has the broadcast networks as clients, reports that three newscasts by the traditional networks — which have a combined audience of more than 20 million people — spent 114 minutes covering Obama since June; they spent 48 minutes covering McCain.

Here's the rest of the article.

Video Blog

While I was in France...  

Indulge yourself

I always thought academic freedom debates were a necessary part of any institution of higher learning.  Knock  yourself out.