American journalists use multimedia to provide readers and viewers with
Read more...By: Quinn Albrecht
By: Sarah Harl
In its November 9th edition, the Murfreesboro Post allowed an opinion column to be run by humor columnist Stephen Lewis.
Shortly thereafter, Michael Pirtle, publisher and editor of the paper, was issuing a formal apology for the racist and narrow-minded humor that was published in the Lewis column.
The column, entitled "Ode To Obama" includes a song written by Lewis which I was warned I wouldn't "get" because I was under the age of 30.
And he was right. I didn't get it. In more ways than one.
First, apparently you need to be familiar with the television show The Jefferson's to fully understand the reference, which I decidedly am not.
And the second reason that I didn't get it is that there is never under any circumstances warrant to make racist remarks about anyone, but specifically not about the man who has been chosen by a significant majority of this country to be our leader.
It is never appropriate to refer to the White House as a "pimp pad." I don't care if the occupant is black, white, or Hugh Hefner. It is the home of our president, and just as I would expect anyone to treat my home with respect, so we need to treat his with respect.
Also, regardless of anyone's feelings on Sarah Palin, she does not deserve to be referred to as a "cute, cheap thrill."
And apparently Lewis does not restrict his ridiculous comments solely to blacks and women. He also refers to newly elected Tennessee state representative Dr. Rishi Saxena.
Lewis is adamant that Dr. Saxena should learn to talk with a southern accent. Or at least make "y'all" and "fixin to" a part of his vocabulary.
The fact that we don't need our state senators furthering the use of horrible grammar in this country is even beside the point in this situation. The point is that the south has continued to be seen as a safe haven for racists for so long because they have been resistant to change.
And now that there are people in place who can possibly transform the ways of some southern racists, a story like this gets run in the Murfreesboro Post, taking us right back where we started.
You can disagree with someone on policy. This is perfectly acceptable, and even necessary within the framework of the United States government.
But it is inexcusable to disagree with someone because they are not a white male. Most of the country has been able to move beyond that, and its time that Tennessee join us.
As long as columns like this continue to be published, the south will continue to look like a bunch of uneducated hicks, and the Republican Party will continue to be seen as inherently intolerant, since, unfortunately, many of these narrow-minded, ignorant people align themselves with this party.
So shame on Stephen Lewis for writing this article, and shame on the Murfressboro Post for running it. Issuing an apology after the fact reeks of irresponsible decisions in editing. Saying that the article was written in humor doesn't help the cause either, because it wasn't funny.
When you print something, people are going to read it, and when you print something asinine and racist, people are going to talk. And whether or not you believe it should reflect on your newspaper as a whole or not, it does.
I bet it's not so funny anymore.
By: Shauna Agan
My grandpa was watching his soap operas today as he does everyday. He must have really been watching them today rather than falling asleep because when I went to visit him tonight he was very ticked off.
My grandpa’s soap opera was interrupted by a newsflash that he didn’t like. This news was a video of President-elect Barack Obama walking up to the White House and shaking hands with current President George W. Bush.
The reason my grandfather got so ticked off about this was because he did not believe it was newsworthy enough for the station to completely interrupt his television program just to show this. We all knew sooner or later Obama and Bush would get together and eventually shake hands. Why is it news just to show it on television?
Since the election has happened, media is trying hard to find something else to focus on. Their answer is to show anything and everything they can about the transition of power.
While I do believe it is newsworthy that Obama and Bush met today, I do not think it was important enough to interrupt a television program to show them shaking hands. Big deal.
I agree that the transition of powers is very significant in our country right now and it does deserve media coverage. However, I think media is going to focus way more on it than needed.
A lot of things that are newsworthy become old news fast because of the rapid media coverage. When a story is covered too often, people get sick of hearing about it.
Often times, media goes too far and over emphasizes the newsworthiness of a story. The media will cover the story too much, and it is no longer news. There is such thing as too much media coverage.
By: Lexie Hagerty
When people talk about the future of journalim, the talk seems to go on and on.
However, I recently read a blog called "If I had three wishes, I'd ask for more wishes..." and thought it was an awesome, but simple blog about the future of journalism.
The author, Sarah Jappy, implied that the only way to save journalism if to rely on luck. Otherwise, it is a lost cause as far as salary goes.
"There is a pleasing symmetry to this unjustness: I have no laptop, so can’t get the job…I have no job, so can’t get the laptop. Catch 22, journalism stylee!" Jappy said at the end of her blog.
I love this line. She wrote her blog to point out what a large amount of money could do for the journalism industry and how without this large sum, the journalism industry could go downhill. This is due to the low salaries that journalists are paid.
This last line states it plain and simple that an increase of salary is the only way to save the industry. Otherwise, journalists aren't going to be able to afford their own job.
By: Kayla Miller
Once again, I was reading two different, online newspapers and found two articles that told me different statistics from a bombing in Baghdad.
From reading New York Times, I found the article titled Triple Blasts Kill 28 in Northern Baghdad. Well, that's interesting I suppose, until I reached another article of the same sort from the Wall Street Journal titled Twin Blasts Kill at Least 31 in Baghdad.
Now what the heck? Who is to believe? Twin bombings or triple? Twenty-eight people or 31? I mean, gee, the journalists already got it wrong in the title!
This reminds me of the time in class when we talked about how reporters needed the exact number of people killed in the plane crash. I guess now I understand why journalists need to get the facts straight. Especially when two articles telling the same story are spreading different facts.
One of these two journalists (or maybe even both), need to check into what really happened.
All I got to say is, "Get the facts right, people."
© Blogger template On The Road by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009
Back to TOP
