radiation in japan?

It's scary what's going on in Japan. So many people have been forced out of their hometowns and even people far away have been forced to eat only food and water that has been approved and is safe. Some people will no doubt never be able to return to their homelands. I hope that they can put the fires out and make sure that no more nuclear material gets out into the environment.

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Rex Bougrand

60 Minutes vs. Red Eye- Hard News vs. Soft News

In the world of news reporting, there has been much debate about how hard news reporting has apparantly gone the way of the dinosaur, with news instead being thoroughly filled with entertainment and infotainment. I saw further proof of this while viewing a Fox News program called "Red Eye", which airs at 2 A.M. weeknights. The show is ostensibly a talk news program, but crosses the line between comedy and news by pretending to be a news program but actually just a place for ridiculous and even obscene humor to be passed off as news. However, it is presented in a manner that is similar to other Fox News programs, distancing itself from real satire like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report". The program also features "freak show" type highlights, such as children who suffer from birth defects being highlighted and then discussed by the "panel" who are essentially comedians. This was one of the strangest and most disturbing shows I have ever seen and the fact that Fox News shows it at all, given that it is an extremely low-viewed hour, must raise some questions about their judgement.

Fortunately, I was pleased to read in "The New York Times" this week that "60 Minutes", CBS's long running newsmagazine, has been garnering extremely good ratings with their increased focus on real stories and good reporting. "60 Minutes" has been one of the few places that I have ever seen coverage on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, both with Lara Logan. She is a consummate professional who does great reporting. The show has also had interviews with the presidential candidates and other shows that are topical, relevant and hard-hitting that have helped their ratings while increasing the quality of the news reporting. CBS News has always had a solid news department and this would make Edward R. Murrow proud.

The 5th Gatekeeper Gives Promise

Like any musical group that is trying to make the big time, my rock band's biggest dream would be to get noticed by a record executive, get signed to a label, and then proceed to make a hit album that sweeps the country. However, our exploration of the five gatekeepers of the music industry introducd a way that access, if not promotion can at least be afforded to any musical group that wants to be available to a wide market.

One firm that is making this possible is a company called Tunecore.com. They charge a set amount per song posted to Itunes, plus an annual storage and mainatainance fee. In return, the group gets all the profits from the online sales and posting of their albums on Itunes. In this way, groups can bypass the traditional band-label relationship and operate as an independent entity.
Many bands have made good on this way of operating, however, it is still hard for a relatively unknown band to break out with all the promotion on itunes from traditional music companies. Hopefully this "5th Gatekeeper" can continue to change and make the people's accesss to music more democratic.

Political Pundits and Mass Communications

In the elections that just transpired in the past few weeks and at all times for those that are interested in politics, political pundits are always popular to listen to and to "love or hate" as one's political orientation calls for. On TV and Radio, there are many political pundits, exponentially more that there were even thirty years ago. One of the most popular is Bill O'Reilly, whose program on Fox News Channel is according to the Nielsen ratings one of the most highest rated programs on television. Unlike the eloquent, stylish, and substantive political pundits of the past, like William F. Buckley, O'Reilly rarely engages thought and instead shouts down his political opponents, including "Guests" on his show. This is a sad change in the landscape of political debate, and also shows a conscious move on the part of the rich people behind the networks.

Instead of thoughtful political debate that encourages objective thought and better citizens, political debate has been "dumbed down" to the lowest common denominator by simply engaging in swearing and shouting down instead of thoughtful discussion. It makes the shows as much entertainment as what they should be, political growth and understanding. People don't even have to engage the issues, they can just enjoy the arguing and shouting and not even listen to the words, just the yelling and general stupidity of today's political discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrfPMa3lONU

History and Learning

Today in class we were discussing the "Digital Divide" and the problems encountered by needing to build human resources, which is more difficult that just handing someone a computer and telling them to use it. One example that sprang to mind was Bill Gates. When he was a boy, he went to an exclusive private high school that cost $10,000 a year when Harvard cost $2,500 a year. His mother and other parents bought a supercomputer for the school for interested boys to use, as well as instructors to help them use it. This gave Bill Gates much of his first exposure to computer programming.

Even if a third world country had been given the expensive school and the expensive computer, they would have had no ability to rise to Bill Gates' stature without learning how to operate the complex computer. It would just be something to stare at. Bill Gates' history with the digital divide allowed him to become of the richest and most computer-smart people in the world. In history, it is important to realized how people ot where they did- many times because they were on the right side of the "Digital Divide", something that like wealth or connections is totally random and does not provide equal opportunities to all like our Constitution calls for.

Growing Up Online

I was interested to see this Frontline Documentary for a second time after seeing it on PBS a few months ago. One of the most troubling things I can see in the future from this phenomenon of "Growing Up Online" is a profound dependence and addiction to the online realm. People of my age, around 20, grew up in an area where we still relied on dial-up and the internet came to us slowly. This brings me to remember when it took 6 hours to download a music video, and then see if it was in a viewing format (Quicktime, Realplayer, etc.) that was compatible. The internet was slow instead of being as instantaneous as it is now. If kids are exposed to this from such a young age with high-speed internet, I think that their attentions spans and serious attention to academic pursuits really will drop.

My mother, who is a teacher, used the same language as the similarly aged teacher in the documentary, who said that she "felt like a dinosaur" because of the advancement in technology. She feels that entertaining students with electronic devices like smartboards cannot replace deep engaging teaching and learning, and ultiamtely acts in some cases to just make teaching more superficial. I must agree in some respects, although as people get more dependent on technology, this may be the only way that they can relate to the material, although I am not sure it is good to further encourage technological dependency and addiction in the serious realm of an academic classroom.

This seems to be the other trend: that people don't really care because they will gladly sacrifice other activities to be online. I even find this happening to me at times. Hopefully the internet does run out of bandwidth so we don't get too close to this wonderful but very addicting media.