Terror and Sex

I decided to research some of the more contemporary aspects of the media.  The article on the Clinton Scandal was particularly interesting because it serves as a marker for the change between factual reporting and "vamp" reporting.  This exploitation has evolved into many different types of media: tabloids, shout shows, talk radio, etc.  Here is my annotated bib for the source on Clinton:

Hachten, William A. “ The Clinton Scandal and Mixed Media.” The Troubles of Journalism: A Critical Look at What’s Right and Wrong with the Press. 3^rd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005. 113-121. Print.

            

            Hachten observes the embarrassment of media journalism in the Clinton Scandal and beyond.  Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky in 1998 brings out the worst in media journalism.  The “mixed media”, or the incorporation of new trends and technologies in reporting, has “altered the news media”.  The 24-hour cable news, opinion-based arguments, and “slinking standards” of sources support allegations “rather than dig out the truth”.  The sources hold power over the media.  The power in mixed media shifts from factual news to opinion-based talk TV on such networks as MSNBC and Fox News.  The journalism rule, that every source must be verified by two separate sources before being published, has been replaced by propaganda and the desire for “blockbuster stories”, such as the Clinton Scandal.  The media “shout shows” spew propaganda and political opinion that confuses the public, leading to disdain for the news media.  Public opinion can be mended with the incorporation of stern policies that research the validity of each source.  The doubt that exists in public opinion for the future of media journalism is based on the anticipation of the next big story.  A return to traditional journalism can, hopefully, mend the media’s relationship with factual reporting, and place them in good favor with the public view.    

Annotated Bibliography (d)

IN151, Assignment Three: Annotated Bibliography (d)

Serazio, Michael. “Rethinking a Villain, Redeeming a Format: The Crisis and Cure in Tabloidization.” The Changing Faces of Journalism: Tabloidization, Technology and Truthiness. Ed. Barbie Zelizer. New York: Routledge, 2009. 12-16. Print.

            Serazio raves about cheap media that “seduces through flashy fashion and vapid content”.  Tabloidization, which uses “vaudevillian bluster” to attract readers of all ages and walks of life, may not be the devil that journalism thinks it to be.  The format of the news strengthens the interest in politics and democracy.  This information is easily presented to “simplified palates of the lower class strata”.  The shift from factual news to obscene theatrics of tabloid writers spirals the news out of control.  Carolyn Kitch describes journalism as “feeling” and not “knowing”. 

Since September 11^th, people have become more apt to sentimental values than to factual news stories.  Tabloidization offers grief, but undermines heroism and “represents a danger of dependency”.  Sentiments thwart intellectual development in journalism.  Tabloids may be here to stay, but the “cheap” story should vanish.  The shift from lengthy, “complex stories” to the popular flash of tabloids has changed the world’s view on current events.  Elitist news, as the tabloids call it, may offer boring stories, but they are more accurate.  The popularity of tabloidization should be backed by “the fundamentals of good journalism”.  An alliance can be created, although “cautious peace with…(the) long time villain” will need compromise within “truth and objectivity”. 

             

Annotated Bibliography (c)

IN151 Assignment Three: Annotated Bibliography (c)

Alterman, Eric. “Introduction: Bias, Slander, and BS”. What Liberal Media?. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2003. 1-13. Print.

Alterman, a self proclaimed liberal, starts his satirical outlook on media bias by telling us to “pick up a newspaper or turn on your TV”.  Media’s bias suits both the conservatives and the liberals, but sways to one side or the other, depending on what “social scientists” you talk to.  Stories are exaggerated and “liberal media” is “a myth”.  Republicans utilize the biggest tool of persuasion by demonizing the left.  Dwight Eisenhower degrades the liberal media who “sought to undermine the Republican Party’s efforts” to improve our nation.  Conservatives use the SCLM, or so-called liberal media, as an excuse for conservative failures.  Disproving the right proves easy to do.  Anne Coulter, a Republican and former MSNBC pundit, thinks all journalists are “retarded”.  Bernard Goldberg, author of Bias, uses just that, biases, as his success.  Self parodies at an all-time high, Goldberg breaks his “omerta” by attacking colleagues.  His failure to prove the liberal bias lies in his inability to do adequate research.  Social broadcasts, soaked with his “own experiences” discredits him completely.  Despite right-wing ravings, the media is an “independent beast”.  With the conservatives screaming for war, and the public confused on media bias, the time is right for America to “even up the sides a bit”.  

Annotated Bibliography (b)

Pasley, Jeffrey L. “The Newspaper-Based Political System of the Nineteenth-Century United States”. “The Tyranny of Printers”: Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2001. 1-23. Print.

            Pasley explores the “merger” between the media and politics.  With journalists beginning as politicians, personal news stories are left out at the local level with “only the largest urban dailies…” reporting on personal, local stories.  The journalist’s power shifts as they “exercise control” in the 19^th century as the center of politics.  Sprung from “technological necessity” and the cultural need, politicians are unable to “campaign” independently.  Newspapers follow candidates to their events and mold public opinion on their political policy.  Word spreads by diverse American geography.  Jefferson-Hamilton debates spark increase in the partisan press and formation of the first political parties.  The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper created in 1831 by William Lloyd Garrison, springs from specialty interests.  The specialty papers are results from America’s uneven development in politics.  As the antebellum period ushers in new political parties, New York’s Tammany Hall dominates as one of the only political organizations to campaign constantly and independently.  Newspapers fill the gaps for others.  Newspaper editors become the most prominent politicians.  Thurlow Weed becomes a Whig and Republican editorial leader, using “political communication”.  The “newspaper politics” from the late 1760’s-1830’s define the editor’s role in the democratization of partisanship in America. 

Annotated Bibliography (a)

Huntzicker, William E. “News Hits the Streets”. The Popular Press: 1833-1865. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. 1-18.

Huntzicker recounts the History of American Newspapers beginning with “blanket sheets”: large newspapers big enough to “sit on”. These begin to change as The New York Sun incorporates personal articles and smaller papers.  The switch from “partisan and merchant journalism to commercial penny press” occurs with the creation of a mass audience.  David Day opens the Sun for ordinary people to read about themselves.  “A Boy Who Whistled Too Much” is an example of a simple narrative about people with little political relevance. As the paper grows, George Wisner, the “first full time police reporter” for the Sun becomes Day’s partner.  The “editorial moralizing” and “human miscellany” encompassed by articles such as “THE WAY THE WORLD WAS MADE” are titled all in caps to grab attention. Personal biases form most of the stories.  The sentiments cease once The Civil War leads to the following criteria in journalism: Who, what, where, and when.  Wisner follows the lead to become a master of journalism for the Sun, and Day promotes his company and heads the advertisements such as  “Marshall’s Infallible Remedy for the Piles”, a cure for hemorrhoids, which appeals to “unfortunate New Yorkers”.  This type of “succinct advertising” grabs the attention of the masses.

Annotated Bibliographies

So far, my research has consisted of reading through varies books on the history of press in America.  I have found two interesting points so far: The early newspapers in New York slowly started to be consisted of novelties items in the 19th century, and that the first real politicians were actually newspaper editors.

First Blog

This is my first blog on The Wonders of Visual Rhetoric.