Looking for Student Blogs

I'm always looking for links to blogs being written by student journalists. If you have one, or know someone who does, drop me a note!

Dr. H

We're Back!

I've been working hard at finishing the second edition of Mass Communication: Living in a Media World. The new book will be available in stores in early August at the very student-friendly price of $45. (Yes, the new edition will be selling for less than used copies often do of the first edition.) It features a newly strengthened media literacy focus, greater depth on a number of topics, extensive coverage of "long-tail" media, and new chapters on media effects and global media. For more information, visit the CQ Press website.

Tuesday - July 31, 2007

Fashion Victims, Yes; Sexism, No; Givhan Gives Clinton The Cheney Treatment
So, did you ever think you would see the words "C-SPAN," "cleavage," and "Clinton" all together in the same sentence? Well, yes, I suppose if it were Bill Clinton you were talking about, the sentence might make some sense. But we're talking about Hillary here. And by "we" I mean the Washington press corps, which can't seem to get enough of the story.

For those of you who've been at the beach for the last few days, here's the story: Robin Givhan is the Washington Post's 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion critic. She's fond of writing provocative commentaries about major political figures. Her most recent talk-generator ran under the headline "Hillary Clinton's Tentative Dip Into New Neckline Territory." In it, Givhan discussed the implications of Ms. Clinton showing a tiny amount of cleavage during a recent Senate session aired on C-SPAN 2.

The article has set off a storm of controversy. Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman was the first to weigh in, followed by Howard Kurtz, Post ombudsman Deborah Howell, and just about everyone else.

But here's the thing. There's charges of sexism, charges of trivializing Clinton and her candidacy, charges of "aren't there more important things to talk about." To which I say.... Robin Givhan is paid to write about fashion. She wrote about the fashion surrounding one of the most important and powerful women in America. We live in a society obsessed about appearance. What else would she write about? As for charges of sexism.... Two years ago Givhan wrote about the coat Vice President Dick Cheney wore to a winter ceremony at Auschwitz. She note that he wore a parka rather than a more formal overcoat, and all that that meant. Seems to me she's treating men and women exactly the same - talking about how their fashion choices affect their public image. She's also written about Lady Bird Johnson, Nancy Pelosi, and the dueling candidates running for Maryland comptroller.

The response to the column, on the other hand, may be something different. What started out as a thoughtful political fashion analysis has turned into nothing more than an opportunity to talk about cleavage.

Link Me

Wednesday - July 25, 2007

Voice to the Voiceless Dept. - OK, So Maybe There Was a Point To The CNN/YouTube Debate
Yesterday I raised some questions about whether the YouTube questions on the Democratic debate this week had any real value. Not having watched the debates, I primarily discussed whether the format should have involved more input from YouTube users in selecting the questions. But now, thanks to West Virginia Public Radio's Scott Finn (who interviewed me this week for a completely different story), points out that there were a lot of good questions posed during the debate in a way that wouldn't have worked using a conventional town hall style format.

Most notably, one of the questioners was a friend of mine, Michael Sharley. Michael is a local attorney with a quick mind and a really sharp wit. He is also disabled with cerebral palsy. He is in a motorized wheelchair, and he can be difficult to understand when he speaks. But if you listen carefully, he's got a lot to say.

For the YouTube debate, Sharley submitted his question about health care for the disabled as a series of placards displayed with music playing in the background, ala Bob Dylan's early music video for Subterranean Homesick Blues. (OK, I know it was really a clip from the film Don't Look Back.)

Michael Sharley's Debate Question

Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues Video

• West Virginia radio commentator Hoppy Kercheval weighs in on his take on the debate questions.)

Link Me

Tuesday - July 24, 2007

Media World Round Up

• Blogging As Social Activism
  Greg Letiecq blogs in the DC area as Black Velvet Bruce Li and he's become a leader in the anti-illegal immigrant movement. He's also helped elect people he supports and kill of the campaigns of people he opposes. In short, he's using his blog as a tool of grass-roots activism. A must read story from Sunday's Washington Post.
• Bat Boy Needs New Home! No More Aliens Kissing Hillary Clinton!
  The brilliant tabloid Weekly World News is shutting down, and no longer will we be entertained by the adventures of Bat Boy and the adventures of the omnipresent alien who was visiting Washington and kissing Hillary Clinton.
• CNN and YouTube Try a New Kind of Debate
  Monday night Democratic presidential hopefuls squared off in a debate where the questions came from YouTube. A gimmick? Certainly. Could it have been something more? Most likely. Someone out there wrote (and I can't find the reference anywhere) that it would have been a better Web 2.0 debate if the questions had been chosen by the votes of YouTube's users. I agree. (And if anyone knows who wrote that, send me the link.)
• Everything From the Margin Moves to the Center Dept. -- TV Newser Goes to the Times
  Following 15,470 posts, Brian Stetler is leaving the must-read television blog TVNewser for the New York Times. He's going to play the part of Howard Kurtz there. (Thanks to FishbowlDC for the link.)

Link Me

Thursday - July 19, 2007

Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

• Why Would You Want to Know the Ending of the Harry Potter Finale Before Reading the Book?
  I, for one, am doing my best not to find out the ending before I read it. But someone has posted digital images (some readable, some not) of the whole book on the net, and several papers have published spoilers, though USA Today and the AP have pledged not to do so. (BTW, Rosebud is a sled....) Looking for links to the spoilers? Won't find them here.
• What Will Rupert Do With The Wall Street Journal Once He's Got It?
  The board of Dow Jones has voted to approve the sale of the company to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Now the Bancroft family has to agree to the $5 billion buyout. Will this mean that the Dow Jones Average will become the Fox News or Rupert Murdoch Average? (Thanks to Romenesko for the links.)
• Who Knew Blogs Were 10 Years Old?
  At least that's what the WSJ is arguing. Commentary on the blog anniversary by Mia Farrow, Tom Wolfe, Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, Newt Gingrich, and Chinese blogger Xiao Qiang. (Thanks to Fishbowl DC for the link.)

Link Me

Monday - July 16, 2007

Harry Potter and the Critics Who Want To Make Sure You Know They Don't Care That HP7 Is Being Released This Week
As everyone who has shopped in the United States in the last six months must know, the final book in the Harry Potter series will be released for sale to the public on Saturday (or more precisely at midnight on Friday).

And that can only mean one thing.

No, not that you will have to go to a Harry Potter Release Party at your local chain bookstore. (Though you may well have to do so, depending on the age and interest of your children and your own personal nerdiness quotient.)

It means that book critics from major newspaper will have pontificate on how Harry Potter is no big deal. They will say that reading the Harry Potter books will not resurrect the American publishing industry, they will not turn children into readers, and that much more worthy books will continue to be ignored.

Don't believe me? Take a look at the following:

• NY Times: Potter Has Limited Effect on Reading Habits
• Boston Globe: In End, Potter Magic Extends Only So Far
• Washington Post: Harry Potter and the Death of Reading

Thanks to Galley Cat for pointing me to a couple of these articles. Of course, the cranky critics provide a bit perspective with all the rest of the Harry Potter coverage. Other stories include the efforts readers will have to go through to avoid spoilers, efforts by distributors to enforce the Saturday embargo on the book, entire newspaper web pages devoted to the series (USA Today's has a countdown timer on it), and the success of the new Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie. For the record, I've been re-reading book six in the series as an unabridged audio book on my iPod, and I really enjoyed the movie in the theater this weekend.

• Bonus Kid Lit News Item - Why Won't We See This German Children's Book in the US? Cause It's Too Naughty!

Link Me

Saturday - July 14, 2007

Who Said Comics Have To Be Funny Dept. - Lisa's Dying And Nothing's Gonna Stop It
OK, so I'm a big comic nerd.

I've got a list of web comics I read daily. (As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I'm a big fan of The Devil's Panties (about neither devil's nor underwear), Girls With Slingshots (the work of Danielle Corsetto - who should draw more landscapes like the ones I bought for my wife for her birthday this last year), Sheldon (which could actually go mainstream any time) Synaptic Misfirings (about the wildly non-PC Bryce Campbell and friends), and Unshelved (about life at the library).

I'm also an occasional graphic novel reader, partial to the work of the prickly Alan Moore, famous for the League of Extraordinary Gentleman books (please pay no attention to the wretched movie based on it) and V for Vendetta (which I think got a pretty decent movie treatment).

But my longest love of comics are for the family oriented strips that turn into continuing drama about ordinary life. I enjoy Doonesbury, of course, and I was a long-time fan of the long-gone Bloom County, but my favorite strips are For Better or For Worse and Funky Winkerbean.

For Better or For Worse, a family-oriented strip drawn by Canadian Lynn Johnston, set off a storm of controversy back in 1993 when it dealt with a teen-aged boy disclosing to his parents and friends that he was homosexual.  The strip touched off a furor, with readers writing and calling newspapers to complain about the “inappropriate” content in the comics.  Placed in the context of the times, the complaints make little sense: newspapers of the 1990s routinely carried news about homosexuals, gay rights, and AIDS.  Since then, FBOFW has dealt with a host of serious issues - aging, sexual harassment, and bullying of students with disabilities. To me it is the perfect comic strip - it is funny, poignant, and true to life.

Funky Winkerbean takes the real life tone of FBOFW and adds in divorce, alcoholism, war, cancer, and - soon - death. As is obvious to anyone reading the strip, Lisa Moore, who had a baby while in high school, is dying of breast cancer. The strip has been criticized for being relentlessly grim as well as for dealing with the hardships of being in the Army Reserve. I love this strip for several reasons. First of all, with its focus on Midwest freaks, geeks, jocks, band, and high school life in general, it connects to a world I remember fondly. The characters live a real life and have grown up into adulthood. (Something it shares with FBOFW.) And finally, it deals with the ugly realities of life, like cancer. If we go to movies, novels, operas, etc. for emotional release, why can't we do the same with the comics. I'm reasonably certain I'll get all weepy when Lisa dies this October, but I'm not going to stop reading the strip.

The main link at the top of this entry is to a great profile of Funky writer Tom Batiuk that ran in the Cleveland Free Times. It gives you some great background on the artist and the strip, and the lead is a great bit of atmospheric writing.

Link Me

Friday - July 6, 2007

What Have Journalists Found 50,000 of Lately?
50,000 is journalists' favorite number. The one thing you can be sure of when you see 50,000 in a news story - there probably wasn't 50,000 of something to be found. (50,000 is the number journalists and sources use when they want there to be a lot of something but not too much, and they don't know what the actual count is.) Here are a sampling of 50,000 stories from the last week.

• 50,000 New Jobs For Virginia
• 50,000 Jobs in Video Game Development
• 50,000 Laptops Bought for College Students by World Bank
• 50,000 Women Rally in India for Candidate
• 50,000 Aquatic Animals Killed by Whey Spill
  This is also the first, and probably only, time I've referenced the web site AllAboutFeed.net, which covers the animal feed industry.
• 50,000 Cubic Meters of Rainwater
  An Indian railroad is going to harvest 50,000 cubic meters of rainwater that falls on its tracks to help recharge the falling levels of groundwater in the area. Actually an interesting story. (Though I still wonder about the 50,000 in it!)
• 50,000 Illegal Irish Immigrants
• 50,000 Chinese Taxis
• 50,000 British College Students

Link Me

Monday - July 2, 2007

Foodies Unite Dept. - Pixar Hits The Target Better Than The Food Network
Never mind that Ratatouille had the smallest opening of any Pixar film since A Bug's Life or Toy Story. This movie is going to have legs, and it ought to come from the foodie community. The story of a rat who wants to be a chef brought in $47.2 million this weekend, but I suspect that it will hold onto its audience better than most summer movies based on what should be great word of mouth. Press on the movie has been excellent, with positive reviews from USA Today, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. But for me the most interesting coverage was the podcast of Elvis Mitchell's interview with writer/director Brad Bird, who also did Iron Giant and The Incredibles. What makes this film so great is that it brings the world of fine food, and the love it, brilliantly to life. And with little trumpeting of who the voice actors are, it features the endless talent of Peter O'Toole as the bitter food critic Anton Ego, and Ian Holm (Bilbo in Lord of the Rings and Ash in Alien) as a scheming competitive chef. Do yourself a favor - find a kid and go see this. Or leave the kid at home and book a reservation at your favorite restaurant afterwards.

Link Me

Living in a Media World Archive