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

Second Edition Available Now!

The second edition of Mass Communication: Living in a Media World is now available at the very student-friendly price of $45. (Yes, the new edition sells 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.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I am getting ready to move to Kearney, Nebraska, and I'm afraid there will be very few posts until I get settled down there. So watch for Living in a Media World to resume regular publication in late July.

For those of you who are interested, I'm going to be chair of the Communication Department at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Go Lopers!

June 20, 2008

Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

• Has Apple Really Sold 5 Billion Songs?
  Yup. And they rent or sell 50,000 movies a day, too. This is why they are now Apple instead of Apple Computer.
• Were Dove's "Lumpy Ladies" Really Unretouched?
  That's the question that a recent New Yorker article raised. The article claims that the "real women" featured in the ads were not as naturally beautiful as the ads claimed and had benefited from extensive digital retouching. Dove disputes those charges, saying that there was nothing more done than some color correction and dust spot removal. Perhaps more interesting is this blog post from the New York Times questioning what constitutes a "natural image" these days.
• What Makes a Hit Song a Hit?
  And ought musicians be judged by there hit singles? Those are the questions Suzanne Vega tries to answer in her blog post at the NYT.

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June 17, 2008

Summer Movie Update - Iron Man Edition
Not going to be having regular updates until my move is over in late July, but I had to put together this entry on summer movies.

• Creature Effects Great Stan Winston Dies
  Stan Winston, famous for his effects in movies ranging from Aliens to Jurassic Park to this summer's Iron Man, died Sunday from multiple myeloma. Thanks to Movie Make-Out for the news, and to AICN for a good review of Winston's career. (BTW, Movie Make-Out is edited by Gordon McAlpin, who draws the wonderful webcomic Multiplex).
• No Mainstream Media Dept. - Iron Man Director Talks Directly to Fans Through MySpace
  Why settle news and feature stories about directors of cool summer movies when you can talk with them directly through MySpace. (And for that matter, directors can go directly to the fans to make their case against the studios...) Iron Man director Jon Favreau has used his MySpace page to talk with fans about his concerns that Marvel Comics is trying to move the Iron Man sequel forward to quickly.
• And Speaking of Iron Man...
  Thanks to Jade Walker for finding this great parody of the Mac/PC commercials:
  

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May 2008

On The Move
Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I am getting ready to move to Kearney, Nebraska, and I'm afraid there will be very few posts until I get settled down there. So watch for Living in a Media World to resume regular publication in late July.

For those of you who are interested, I'm going to be chair of the Communication Department at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Go Lopers!

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Wednesday - April 30, 2008

So Maybe Posting EveMany of you remember when the rything To The Web Isn't Always The Best Idea
Wonkette was the hottest D.C. blog around. A large part of it came from the snarky wit of Ana Marie Cox, but much of the popularity also came from a particular item Cox posted about an overly explicit blog Capitol Hill staffer Jessica Cutler was keeping about her sex life. Apparently Cutler's lesson has yet to be learned by many out there in the D.C. area.

• Example One - Christmas Ape
  Washington Post sportswriter Michael Tunison got fired recently when he was outed as the "Christmas Ape," a popular writer for the Kissing Suzy Kolber NFL blog. His blogging identity as the Christmas Ape is full of politically incorrect talk that is in turns vulgar, racist, and (supporters say) very funny. It also was not consistent with the image the Post wanted to project. So, if you don't want to get fired from your job with the MSM, don't reveal your secret blogger identity.
• Example Two - Teachers on Facebook
  College students get warned repeatedly to be careful about what they post on Facebook for fear that it might be seen by their parents or potential employers. (See the first chapter of Mass Communication: Living in a Media World for an in-depth discussion of the issue.) But now the issue has moved off campus and into grade school and middle school. No, it's not the students who are posting photos of their misbehavior - it's the young teachers. And parents are not amused. What we are seeing is a clear example of Truth 3 - Everything from the margin moves to the center. Facebook isn't just for students any more - it's for a whole generation that's grown up posting everything about their lives for their friends online.

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Tuesday - April 29, 2008

Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

• Why Doesn't Miley Cyrus Like Her Annie Leibovitz Photos In Vanity Fair?
  Perhaps because they look like Annie Leibovitz photos? Disney is complaining that the supposedly provocative photos were deliberately created to sell magazines. Whodda thunk it?
• ABC Shows Dominate GLAAD Awards
  Brothers & Sisters and Ugly Betty get top honors for their portrayal of gay issues.

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Monday - April 28, 2008

Truths Four & Five Dept. - Video Game Fears Remind Us Of Horror Comics
OK, I know that has to be the worst title for a blog entry I've ever written. But bear with me. You know Truth 4 - Nothing's new: Everything that happens in the past will happen again; and Truth 5 - New media are always scary. And one of the examples of Truth 5 I've frequently used is the fear from the 1950s of the effects that horror and crime comics. David Hajdu has a new book out on the subject called The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare And How It Changed America. NPR's On The Media had a fascinating interview with Hajdu on the fears parents and other adults had of horror and crime comics turning juveniles into criminals and killers. You can listen to the program now, and a transcript of the segment should be up soon.

The book, and the story on it, seem particularly timely because all of the critics of media and youth culture are getting their collective undies in a knot over the release of the latest Grand Theft Auto game. The Grand Theft Auto series glorifies crime, sex, and violence in much the same way as an R-rated movie might. And while the games all carry the "M" video game rating, which is supposed to keep them from being sold to teens, they are among the most popular games among kids. Interestingly, the New York Times calls it a "violent, intelligent, profane, endearing, obnoxious, sly, richly textured and thoroughly compelling work of cultural satire disguised as fun."

Interestingly enough, one of the creators of the latest GTA game says that it is "too intense" for kids. He's quoted in the Washington Post as saying:

"If you let your child play this game, you're a bad parent," he said. "The thing is, Rockstar does not want kids playing this game."

The version of the game released in Australia and New Zealand has been edited down to a more PG-13 type level.

I understand why parents object to the games (I won't let my 12-year-old play GTA games), but I think there are some fascinating parallels between the fears of comics in the 1950s and the fears of video games in the 2000s. (Or perhaps the similarity is between the folks who like to score easy points by criticizing them!)

Fantagraphics has posted a brief excerpt from Hajdu lecture during which he shows a sample of a 50s-era anti-comic propaganda film to YouTube. The quality isn't great, but it's a fun example.

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Thursday - April 24, 2008

Media News You Might Have Missed Dept.

• Apple Profits Up 36 Percent
  Will Apple be the next big media company?
• Users Asked To Translate Facebook Interface
  Facebook is going global, and they are asking users around the world to help them translate the social networking site into the new languages. Will "crowdsourcing" work for them?
• Murdoch Has Trouble "Monitizing" MySpace"
  News Corp. is having trouble how to make money of their social networking site.
• Murdoch Grows His New York Media Empire
  Looks like he's buying Newsday. Though there may be other bidders for the Long Island paper.

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Monday - April 21, 2008

Joe Jackson's Jive's Still Jumping
I went to see Joe Jackson and his trio in concert up in the Pittsburgh area Saturday evening. A really vibrant evening of music. And unlike so many of the 80s musicians touring these days, Jackson's not doing a nostalgia show. Half the show was devoted to playing the majority of his new album Rain. And the audience reaction to the new material was every bit as enthusiastic as too the classics. You'll note I didn't introduce him as 1980s angry-young-man-new-wave-rocker, because that just isn't who Jackson is these days. The link at the top is to an radio concert he did for NPR recently. Below are links to several stories about his current album and tour. Thanks to Brian Steffen for the concert link.

• Five Questions with Singer-Songwriter Joe Jackson
  An interview from the Detroit Free Press. Jackson is delightfully prickly, as always.
• A Review of Jackson's Recent Boston Show
  Not the concert I went to, but a true enough review of the show I saw. The only thing I would note is that the audience in Pittsburgh was very enthusiastic about all his material from the new album. (As they should have been.) Boston Globe
• And a Review From the Boston Herald
  One of the interesting notes is that while he has a core show structure, Jackson does several different catalog songs each night.
• Interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
  Including details about a play he's working on about Bram Stoker.
• Review of Jackson's Kingston NY Show
  This generally positive review notes that Jackson occasionally blew the lyrics on older songs. I noticed that a couple of times during Saturday's show. But I also notice that he changes his choice of songs each night; he doesn't just take the same sets for every show. Also, it seemed to me that his piano playing has never been better, and that that's where his mind was.
• An Interview With Bass Player Graham Maby
  Jackson's long-time bass player Graham Maby is a strong reason to see Jackson's trio in concert. He reminds of jazz bassist Steve Swallow.
• Joe Jackson Covering Steely Dan's Any Dude Will Tell You
  

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Wednesday - April 16, 2008

Just Because It's Non-Fiction Doesn't Mean It's True Dept. - Well, There Were Kids At MIT Who Played Blackjack
I went to see the movie 21 this weekend, which is based on Ben Mezrich's bestseller Bringing Down The House. The book tells the story of the 1994 edition of the MIT blackjack team that made millions of dollars by developing a team approach to counting cards.

I enjoyed the book immensely when I first read it several years ago, and I liked the movie, too. While I couldn't remember the exact details of the book, it was clear that the movie makers had taken a lot of liberties with the details of Mezrich's book. For example, the protagonist of BDTH was Asian American, the hero of the movie was white. Details, details....

But the differences sent me online to remind me how the book turned out, and to see if I could find out what happened to the main characters. What I discovered was not particularly surprising, given the spate of recent fictional non-fiction books. As near as I can tell, it is true that there were kids at MIT who used a team-approach to counting and playing blackjack, and they did get kicked out of casinos. Beyond that, an article from Boston Magazine raises a lot of questions of how much of Mezrich's book was factually correct, how much of it was based on "composites," and how much of it was flat-out mad up. Similar questions were raised in a recent Boston Globe article titled "House of Cards."

Poynter Institute's Roy Peter Clark tells the Globe that the real problem with books like BDTH is that they tend to blur the line between what is real and what was made up:

When the public learns that a small piece of a supposedly nonfiction story has been fictionalized, they begin to doubt everything in that story, and when they begin to doubt a particular story then the doubts occur in their mind about whether they can trust any work, or any work of nonfiction

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Monday - April 14, 2008

Schools, Students, Legislatures Complain About Textbook Prices
Over the last couple of years, there's been an increasing number of complaints about college and high school textbook prices. The complaints include:

• Books are updated more often than they need to drive out used books sales
• Students have to pay for "pack ins" like CDs or workbooks that they don't really need
• Teachers don't pay any attention to what books cost
• Publishers create less expensive black & white editions for foreign markets and keep the lower priced books from being sold in the United States

A number of "solutions" to this problem have been proposed, including requirements that professors order their books early enough that bookstores will know whether they can buy back old copies, promotion of e-textbooks, laws that require publishers to tell professors how much their books really cost, and laws that would require publishers to inform faculty on how much a book has been updated with a new edition.

I might note (blatant commercial plug) that the second edition of my textbook Mass Communication: Living in a Media World covered issues in greater depth than did the first edition, eliminated color photos, controlled production costs, and sells for about half the price of the first edition.

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Living in a Media World Archive