Ta-da! The Final Draft!

There's not a whole lot of changes, but I did need to change some of the wording. Viel Spass!


Is All News Coverage Created Equal?
Is all news coverage created equal? Do newspapers, magazines, and blogs cover the same events in basically the same way? The answer is no. Really? But why, how? A story first starts out as an event. Then, the event is reported. This is where coverage differences begin. It is not just the event that is being reported, but certain aspects of it are being highlighted. Parts of a story will be emphasized while other parts will be glossed over or not discussed at all. Next, journalists give their take on the event and try to persuade the public to accept their views. This is where coverage really differs. Finally, news sources begin to report on each other’s coverage. This is a basic picture of a news cycle. But a basic picture is not enough. I will analyze several blogs and a newspaper and compare their differences. The newspaper has a mainstream (somewhat left of center) perspective and the blogs have a conservative one. The newspaper is the New York Times and the blogs are Powerline and Hot Air. I have also included National Review Online’s editorial webpage even though it is not technically a blog or a newspaper. National Review is a conservative journal and I will be quoting from its online editorials which are not published in the magazine. As will become apparent, the mainstream paper and the conservative blogs will contrast each other. A recent current event that all of these news sources covered is President Obama’s Asian tour. His trip took him to Japan, China, Singapore, and South Korea with the aim of setting a new diplomatic tone in the region. I will compare the coverage of this event, specifically Obama’s visit to Japan and China, and then explain what these differences mean and why they are important.

The first leg of the Asian tour took Obama to Japan. Immediately, there was controversial news: the President bowed to Emperor Akihito, not just a head nod, but a low, from the waist bow. Naturally, conservative-leaning blogs were the first to cover this story. Sites like Powerline wondered “how low will he go.”[1] Going back to the American Revolution and the precedent set by George Washington, the blog writers stressed the tradition that American leaders do not bow before monarchs. Hot Air provided a video montage of the emperor greeting various dignitaries who did not bow and compared it to Obama,[2] countering the rumor that Obama was following diplomatic protocol. A Powerline article featured a picture of General McArthur standing next to Emperor Hirohito after World War Two. McArthur does not look deferential at all.[3] The conservative-leaning blogs were quick to react and to have strong opinions on the matter. To them, it suggested that America was taking a subservient role to the Japanese. The mainstream media had a different take of the ‘bowing incident.’ This incident was not covered by the New York Times until several days later and then it was mentioned as a brief episode in a series of events. The Times referred to the event as a minor issue blown out of proportion by “right-wing bloggers back at home.”[4] Obama’s bow was, to the Times, particularly trivial compared to his accomplishments, meaning his welcomed reception and apparent popularity in Japan. Was Obama’s visit to Japan a success? Well, it depends on who you ask.

After a short stop in Singapore, Obama visited China. Even before Obama set foot in Beijing, there were speculations about his possible accomplishments, dire predictions of failure, and historical comparisons with past presidents. Whether one looked at blogs or newspapers it was the same: how will Obama define the China/America relationship. The view the New York Times adopted of the ‘Chimerica’ relationship was that the US and China need each other to maintain the balance of power, trade, and money.[5] The view National Review advanced is that China needs us more than we need it due to several serious, hidden problems the Chinese face like future massive population declines and a monetary system dependant on the dollar. When Obama did finally arrive, he began by holding joint-session meetings with Party Leader, Hu Jintao. He then gave several speeches, toured China’s famous sites, and held a question-answer meeting with Chinese students in Shanghai. The New York Times was a little disappointed with Obama’s trip, titling it, “Obama’s Pacific Trip Encounters Rough Waters.” The Times would have liked Obama’s trip to be more open and transparent than the Party allowed and wished Obama had more time with the people.[6] Nevertheless, Obama, according to the Times, paved the way for a less antagonistic relationship between China and America. On the other hand, Powerline and Hot Air reported that the Party government kept Obama on a tight leash. According to Hot Air, “China’s leader made sure that Obama didn’t get the chance (to be successful) by blacking out media coverage of the event.”[7] They criticized him because he did not stand up to Hu Jintao on core issues like human rights and the monetary system. All news sources, liberal and conservative alike, were disappointed at the Shanghai student meeting since the Chinese government obviously controlled the meeting and the students were mostly members of “the Communist Youth League which is closely affiliated with President Hu Jintao.”[8] Another point of agreement between the Times and the blogs was the money issue. As the Times wrote on the subject, “Mr. Obama did not appear to move the Chinese on currency issues.”[9] Larry Kudlow, one of the writers for National Review, writes, “And what’s the current US solution to the dollar problem? Blame China and call for the revaluation of the yuan.”[10] Although all these news sources agree that Obama’s visit to China was not a thunderous success, the extent of that success, if any, is debatable.

Now that we’ve analyzed the coverage of these events, what does it tell us about the news sources? I’ve already divided these news sources into fairly liberal and fairly conservative camps. For instance, when Obama went to China, the proggressive New York Times stated that he should be friendlier and less antagonistic to the Chinese while the conservative blogs stated that he should be firm and put America’s interests first. The Times focused on what China and Japan think of the United States while the blogs focused on American, Japanese, and Chinese policies. In other words, America’s image versus America’s policy. The progressive perspective might be summed up thus: if the United States has a positive image in the eyes of other countries then the policies will fall into place. On the other hand, the conservative perspective might be defined thus: we cannot make other nations like us so we must have strong policies in place based on our national self-interest. Perhaps the coverage of Obama’s tour varied because of this fundamental difference in the purpose of diplomacy. How a news source chooses to cover a story is based on its beliefs.

Once Obama finished his trip, these news sources quickly summed up the trip and moved on to more immediate stories like the Health Care Bill in the Senate and Sarah Palin’s new book (!). While some issues like health care or the war in Afghanistan keep recurring over the long term, stories like diplomatic trips and book sales have a short life span. The story looms large for a week or two until it is completely replaced by the next big story.

We can conclude that all news coverage is not created equal. Different views lead to different ways of covering events. For instance, conservative-leaning blogs emphasize the need to have strong policies abroad and liberal-leaning papers stress the need to harbor good feelings with other nations. When Obama went to Japan, the blogs were chagrined when he bowed to the emperor, but the New York Times thought the incident was trivial compared to his popularity with the Japanese people. The coverage was similar when he went to China; the bloggers wrote about their embarrassment that Obama was not firm with China while the Times wanted Obama to reach out to the Chinese people more than he did. The events of Obama’s trip remain the same regardless of the coverage. He still said the same things and went to the same meetings. But the people who report and comment on these events are human. They have their own perspectives and values and they set their arguments and beliefs in their respective contexts. How can we find out what is happening if the news is so shaped by the people reporting it? What we can do as readers is to read all sides of the story, in this example, the proggressive and conservative sides. That way, we can attain better information and become knowledgeable about both positions. Also, being more informed can help us make better decisions. We cannot take the biases out of the news but we can still know what’s happening in the world. Coverage may not be created equal, but maybe that is not such a bad thing after all.



Works Cited:
Cooper, Helene. “China Holds Firm on Major Issues in Obama’s Visit.” New York Times. New York Times, 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/world/asia/18prexy.html?scp=5&sq=obama%20in%20China&st=cse

Cooper, Helene. “Japan Cools as It Prepares for Obama Visit.” New York Times. New York Times, 12 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/world/asia/12prexy.html?scp=1&sq=Obama%20in%20Japan&st=cse

Cooper, Helene and Barboza, David. “Obama Wades Into Internet Censorship In China Address.” New York Times. New York Times, 17 Nov. 2009. Web 18 Nov. 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/world/asia/17shanghai.html?scp=1&sq=obama%20in%20China&st=cse

Cooper, Helene and Fackler, Martin. “Obama’s Pacific Trip Encounters Rough Waters.” New York Times. New York Times, 19 Nov. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/world/asia/19assess.html?scp=1&sq=obama's%20pacific%20trip%20encounters%20rough%20waters&st=cse

Johnson, Scott W. “Why Is This Man Bowing?” Powerline. Powerline, 14 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/11/024948.php

Kudlow, Larry. “President Zero Sum Goes to Asia.” National Review Online. National Review, 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDgwMjBjODI5ZjZjYWNiZjc1NDBhMjFjOGUyYWFjMWE=

Morrissey, Ed. “China Hits the Mute Button on Obama.” Hot Air. Hot Air, 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/11/18/china-hits-the-mute-button-on-obama/

“Obama, Stop Bowing to Foreign Leaders.” Uconn College Republicans. Uconn College Republicans, 15 Nov. 2009. Web 22 Nov. 2009.
www.uconncollegerepublicans.com


Notes:
[1] Johnson, Scott W. “Why Is This Man Bowing?” par. 4. Powerline. 14 Nov. 2009
[2] I first found a shorter version of this on Hot Air without the music. Apparently, the montage was done by Uconn’s college Republican club. I love the soundtrack on this!
[3] Johnson, par. 6
[4] Cooper, Helene and Fackler, Martin, “Obama’s Pacific Trip Encounters Rough Waters.” par. 10. 19 Nov. 2009
[5] I think it’s interesting how Klemens Wenzel von Metternich’s (1773-1859) theory of the balance of power is still very much with us today.
[6] Cooper and Fackler, par. 9.
[7] Morrissey, Ed. “China Hits the Mute Button on Obama.” par. 1. 18 Nov. 2009.
[8] Cooper, Helene and Barboza, David. “Obama Wades Into Internet Censorship In China Address.” par. 8. 17 Nov. 2009.
[9] Cooper, Helene. “China Holds Firm on Major Issues in Obama’s Visit.” par. 16. 18 Nov. 2009.
[10] Kudlow. Larry. “President Zero Sum Goes to Asia.” par. 10. 18 Nov. 2009.

Reflective Blog Post

I have to say, this class has helped me learn to write faster while still writing well. In high school, I would only write a paper every couple of weeks, although it would be long and on a sometimes difficult topic. Now, I can write shorter papers faster. I do not have nearly as much trouble coming up with things to write about as I did in high school. Maybe I'm learning the gift of gab!

One of the most interesting parts of the class was when everyone posted a blog about where they get their news from. I was fascinated by how many people got their news from secondary sources like friends, family, and late night comedy shows. I expected that people either read the news online at sites like the New York Times and the Washington Post or that they not follow the news at all. I was really glad we wrote that post because it gave me a better insight into my audience's background and I could try to cater my writing to them better.

Another aspect of the class that I really enjoyed was listening to my classmates' views and opinions on the material. For instance in the first unit, many people disagreed with Hedges for similar reasons but opinions were mixed over Carr and Sullivan. In the second unit, I enjoyed hearing the news stories my classmates were reading and which ones they found most interesting. Many people seemed to prefer human interest stories over events or politics. It was really fascinating.

Overall, I enjoyed the class and the topic and I came away with new insights and a positive experience.

Et Voila, My Essay

Here it is. I tried to keep a tighter focus than last time and instead of in-text citations, I used endnotes. Enjoy!

Is All News Coverage Created Equal?
Is all news coverage created equal? Do newspapers, magazines, and blogs cover the same events in basically the same way? The answer is no. Really? But why, how? A story first starts out as an event. Then, the event is reported. This is where coverage differences begin. It is not just the event that is being reported, but certain aspects of it. Parts of a story will be emphasized while other parts will be glossed over or not talked about at all. Next, journalists give their take on the event and try to persuade the public to accept their views. This is where coverage really differs. Finally, news sources begin to report on each other’s coverage. This is a basic picture of a news cycle. But a basic picture is not enough. I will analyze several blogs and a newspaper and compare their differences. The newspaper has a liberal perspective and the blogs have a conservative one. The newspaper is the New York Times and the blogs are Powerline and Hot Air. I have also included National Review Online’s editorial webpage even though it is not technically a blog or a newspaper. National Review is a conservative journal and I will be quoting from its online editorials which are not published in the magazine. As will become apparent, the liberal papers and the conservative blogs will contrast each other. A recent current event that all of these news sources covered is President Obama’s Asian tour. His trip took him to Japan, China, Singapore, and South Korea with the aim of setting a new diplomatic tone in the region. I will compare the coverage of this event, specifically Obama’s visit to Japan and China, and then explain what these differences mean and why they are important.

The first leg of the Asian tour took Obama to Japan. Immediately, there was controversial news: the President bowed to Emperor Akihito, not just a head nod, but a low, from the waist bow. Naturally, conservative-leaning blogs were the first to cover this story. Sites like Powerline wondered “how low will he go.”[i] Going back to the American Revolution and the precedent set by George Washington, the blog writers stressed the tradition that American leaders do not bow before monarchs. Hot Air provided a video montage of the emperor greeting various dignitaries who did not bow and compared it to Obama,[ii] countering the rumor that Obama was following diplomatic protocol. A Powerline article featured a picture of General McArthur standing next to Emperor Hirohito after World War Two. McArthur does not look deferential at all.[iii] The conservative-leaning blogs were quick to react and to have strong opinions on the matter. To them, it suggested that America was taking a subservient role to the Japanese. Left-leaning websites had a different take of the ‘bowing incident.’ This incident was not covered by the New York Times until several days later and then it was mentioned as a brief episode in a series of events. The Times referred to the event as a minor issue blown out of proportion by “right-wing bloggers back at home.”[iv] Obama’s bow was, to the Times, particularly trivial compared to his accomplishments, meaning his welcomed reception and apparent popularity in Japan. Was Obama’s visit to Japan a success? Well, it depends on who you ask.

After a short stop in Singapore, Obama visited China. Even before Obama set foot in Beijing, there were speculations about his possible accomplishments, dire predictions of failure, and historical comparisons with past presidents. Whether one looked at blogs or newspapers it was the same: how will Obama define the China/America relationship. The view the New York Times adopted of the ‘Chimerica’ relationship was that the US and China need each other to maintain the balance of power, trade, and money.[v] The view National Review advanced is that China need us more than we need it due to several serious, hidden problems the Chinese face like future massive population declines and a monetary system dependant on the dollar. When Obama did finally arrive, he began by holding joint-session meetings with Party Leader, Hu Jintao. He then gave several speeches, toured China’s famous sites, and held a question-answer meeting with Chinese students in Shanghai. The New York Times was a little disappointed with Obama’s trip. The Times would have liked Obama’s trip to be more open and transparent than the Party allowed and wished Obama had more time with the people.[vi] Nevertheless, Obama, according to the Times, paved the way for a less antagonistic relationship between China and America. On the other hand, Powerline and Hot Air reported that the Party government kept Obama on a tight leash. According to Hot Air, “China’s leader made sure that Obama didn’t get the chance (to be successful) by blacking out media coverage of the event.”[vii] They criticized him because he did not stand up to Hu Jintao on core issues like human rights and the monetary system. All news sources, liberal and conservative alike, were disappointed at the Shanghai student meeting since the Chinese government obviously controlled the meeting and the students were mostly members of “the Communist Youth League which is closely affiliated with President Hu Jintao.”[viii] Another point of agreement between the Times and the blogs was the money issue. As the Times wrote on the subject, “Mr. Obama did not appear to move the Chinese on currency issues.”[ix] Larry Kudlow, one of the writers for National Review, writes, “And what’s the current US solution to the dollar problem? Blame China and call for the revaluation of the yuan.”[x] Although all these news sources agree that Obama’s visit to China was not a thunderous success, the extent of that success, if any, is debatable.

Now that we’ve analyzed the coverage of these events, what does it tell us about the news sources? I’ve already divided these news sources into fairly liberal and fairly conservative camps. For instance, when Obama went to China, the liberal New York Times stated that he should be friendlier and less antagonistic to the Chinese while the conservative blogs stated that he should be firm and put America’s interests first. The Times focused on what China and Japan think of the United States while the blogs focused on American, Japanese, and Chinese policies. In other words, America’s image versus America’s policy. The liberal perspective can be summed up thus: if the United States has a positive image in the eyes of other countries then the policies will fall into place. On the other hand, the conservative perspective can be defined thus: we cannot make other nations like us so we must have strong policies in place based on our national self-interest. The coverage of Obama’s tour varied because of this fundamental difference in the purpose of diplomacy. How a news source chooses to cover a story is based on its beliefs.

Once Obama finished his trip, these news sources quickly summed up the trip and moved on to more immediate stories like the Health Care Bill in the Senate and Sarah Palin’s new book (!). While some issues like health care or the war in Afghanistan keep recurring over the long term, stories like diplomatic trips and book sales have a short life span. The story looms large for a week or two until it is completely replaced by the next big story.

We can conclude that all news coverage is not created equal. Different beliefs lead to different ways of covering events. For instance, conservative-leaning blogs emphasize the need to have strong policies abroad and liberal-leaning papers stress the need to harbor good feelings with other nations. When Obama went to Japan, the blogs were chagrined when he bowed to the emperor, but the New York Times thought the incident was trivial compared to his popularity with the Japanese people. The coverage was similar when he went to China; the blogs were embarrassed that Obama was not firm with China while the Times wanted Obama to reach out to the Chinese people more than he did. The events of Obama’s trip remain the same regardless of the coverage. He still said the same things and went to the same meetings. But the people who report and comment on these events are human. They have their own perspectives and values and they set their arguments and beliefs in their respective contexts. How can we find out what is happening if the news is so shaped by the people reporting it? What we can do as readers is to read all sides of the story, in this example, the liberal and conservative sides. That way, we can attain better information and become knowledgeable of both positions. Also, being more informed can help us make better decisions. We cannot take the biases out of the news but we can still know what’s happening in the world. Coverage may not be created equal, but maybe that is not such a bad thing after all.



Works Cited:

Cooper, Helene. “China Holds Firm on Major Issues in Obama’s Visit.” New York Times. New York Times, 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/world/asia/18prexy.html?scp=5&sq=obama%20in%20China&st=cse

Cooper, Helene. “Japan Cools as It Prepares for Obama Visit.” New York Times. New York Times, 12 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/world/asia/12prexy.html?scp=1&sq=Obama%20in%20Japan&st=cse

Cooper, Helene and Barboza, David. “Obama Wades Into Internet Censorship In China Address.” New York Times. New York Times, 17 Nov. 2009. Web 18 Nov. 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/world/asia/17shanghai.html?scp=1&sq=obama%20in%20China&st=cse

Cooper, Helene and Fackler, Martin. “Obama’s Pacific Trip Encounters Rough Waters.” New York Times. New York Times, 19 Nov. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/world/asia/19assess.html?scp=1&sq=obama's%20pacific%20trip%20encounters%20rough%20waters&st=cse

Johnson, Scott W. “Why Is This Man Bowing?” Powerline. Powerline, 14 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/11/024948.php

Kudlow, Larry. “President Zero Sum Goes to Asia.” National Review Online. National Review, 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDgwMjBjODI5ZjZjYWNiZjc1NDBhMjFjOGUyYWFjMWE=

Morrissey, Ed. “China Hits the Mute Button on Obama.” Hot Air. Hot Air, 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/11/18/china-hits-the-mute-button-on-obama/

“Obama, Stop Bowing to Foreign Leaders.” Uconn College Republicans. Uconn College Republicans, 15 Nov. 2009. Web 22 Nov. 2009.www.uconncollegerepublicans.com

Notes:
[i] Johnson, Scott W. “Why Is This Man Bowing?” par. 4. Powerline. 14 Nov. 2009
[ii] I first found a shorter version of this on Hot Air without the music. Apparently, the montage was done by Uconn’s college Republican club. I love the soundtrack on this!
[iii] Johnson, par. 6
[iv] Cooper, Helene and Fackler, Martin, “Obama’s Pacific Trip Encounters Rough Waters.” par. 10. 19 Nov. 2009
[v] I think it’s interesting how Klemens Wenzel von Metternich’s (1773-1859) theory of the balance of power is still very much with us today.
[vi] Cooper and Fackler, par. 9.
[vii] Morrissey, Ed. “China Hits the Mute Button on Obama.” par. 1. 18 Nov. 2009.
[viii] Cooper, Helene and Barboza, David. “Obama Wades Into Internet Censorship In China Address.” par. 8. 17 Nov. 2009.
[ix] Cooper, Helene. “China Holds Firm on Major Issues in Obama’s Visit.” par. 16. 18 Nov. 2009.
[x] Kudlow. Larry. “President Zero Sum Goes to Asia.” par. 10. 18 Nov. 2009.

University Chorus Concert, Nov. 23rd

It's here at last! University Chorus is having its final concert next Monday, Nov. 23rd. It will be in Comstock at 8pm. We're singing lots of really nice pieces (one of them is stunning and I'm not kidding!!!). Collegiate Choral is also singing although I don't know what they're doing (I hope they sing the Brazillian piece; that was really cool!). I hope you're coming! It's going to be good!

Approaching the Final Blog Post

In "Taking an Approach," Harris combines style, influences, and methods into one 'move.' In order to write about anything, the writer must 'approach' it. When 'approaching,' the writer takes all her influences and previous knowledge of the subject, whatever that is, with her. The result is that the writer's particular style and biases show in her writing. All texts have 'approaches' including the NY Times and the blogs I'm following.

Since the New York Times is a national newspaper, it's website attempts to mimic the newspaper format: the headlines, the pictures, the editorials all laid out like a newspaper. The NY Times maintains a serious, weighted tone throughout the text. It is an authority to be taken seriously. The Times presents the news from a moderately liberal perspective.

Hot Air takes on a relaxed, colloquial style. It presents the news in sensationalized, and even outrageous headlines accompanied by funny, ironic pictures. On Hot Air, the news is presented almost as entertainment from a conservative perspective even if it's reporting on serious news. Humor, irony, and sarcasm do not make the news any less important, just more fun to read.

Powerline, by contrast, is very minimalist and presents articles in a straight-forward format. The focus here is on the texts and the stories. Powerline attempts to focus in depth on stories it perceives as not getting enough attention from the mainstream media. To do that, it uses a deliberate, lawyerly style from a moderately conservative viewpoint.

Delving Deeper Into Countering

Countering in the Blogs I’m Following:
I could not find a good counter in Hot Air today, but I found a short one on Powerline. The post is in response to an article by NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman. Friedman wrote an editorial on Sunday arguing why America should abandon the Middle East Peace Negotiations and focus on problems at home. In three short paragraphs, Powerline tears Friedman’s article apart. In the first paragraph, Powerline summarizes Friedman’s argument while making a few editorial comments. The paragraph also provides a link to the original article. In the second paragraph, it uncovers the value of Friedman’s reasoning or, rather, uncovers values that Friedman does not say outright. Powerline agrees with Friedman that the Peace Negotiations are going nowhere. The counter is made in the second and last paragraphs where Powerline states that Friedman chose to ignore a major factor in his argument—the Palestinians. The US wants to help the Palestinians but the Palestinians do not appear to want to negotiate. Although the counter does not exactly dissent, the article does suggest that Friedman was right but for different reasons than he states in his article.

Countering My Blog: News is Not Like Making a Pizza
What if anyone could read anything and read anything into it? That is the way things are now. With the invention of the Internet, anyone can access anything at anytime. But how can ordinary people understand issues beyond their expertise, like global politics or national Health Care? Newspapers once provided the information, the knowledge, and the expertise to ordinary Americans. Americans knew what was happening in the world, what was important, and which positions on an issue were worth considering. In other words, the way it was was really better!

(Oops, I’ve slipped into hyperbole! This is not easy to do!)

The Naked 'Counter'

Harris is uncomfortable with ‘argumentation’ as a means of discussion. Rather than using ‘argumentation,’ he has employed the word ‘countering’ to mean debates and arguments in writing. He has divided this ‘move’ into three steps: arguing the other side (which is also a technique used in public debating), uncovering values, and dissenting. The effective writer is the one who can incorporate these steps into writing. I think this may be one of the reasons why the class did not like Hedges--he did not argue the other side or uncover values, he only dissented. On the other hand, the class liked Carr because he did utilize all these steps. Carr acknowledged other arguments and noted their value while still dissenting.

You’ll have to excuse me while I go off on a tangent. I did not think that Harris’ quote from John Berger’s Ways of Seeing was used appropriately. Although I know what Harris is trying to accomplish—showing an example of arguing the other side—Berger’s quote does not do that. Kenneth Clark, who also wrote Civilisation, has a definite view of what is civilized and what is not—that’s his main theory, that civilization is better than barbarism. The brief quote from him essentially says that nakedness is uncivilized or barbaric while nudity is civilized or artistic. Berger is not arguing the other side but saying that Clark is wrong, civilized nudity is unauthentic, and barbaric nakedness “is being oneself.” A rather Romantic idea, isn’t it? Kenneth Clark is definitely not a follower of Rousseau in this case. Harris writes that Berger is expands Clark’s definition to argue his case that nakedness is more original. I don’t think this is the case; Berger frankly disagrees with Clark’s definition. Although this is a very interesting and fun quote, it doesn’t illustrate what Harris is trying to define.

At the end of the chapter, Harris offers some suggestions on how to counter in a civil manner. He suggests that writers should critique rather than argue and he illustrates his point by using the quote from Berger. I don’t agree with that. If you basically agree with the argument, then it’s a ‘critique,’ if you disagree, then it’s an ‘argument.’ Harris writes that Berger “offers a critique without picking a fight.” That’s not what I thought when reading the quote because I disagree with Berger’s analysis. It is not entirely possible to only critique without arguing because there will always be opposing views.

I know I didn’t exactly discuss how the blogs I’m following use ‘countering’ and instead talked about more abstract uses. Having watched Kenneth Clark’s BBC series, Civilisation, I couldn’t help but say something about that particular quote. I’ll try to cover my blogs in my next post since it’s a continuation of ‘countering.’

Share and Share Alike

It's been complete craziness, stress, and chaos this week with the Early Music Concert just over the horizon. This week of craziness has been fun but now it's time to get this blog post out. I'm sorry if it's late.

Harris describes writing as a collective effort: no one person's ideas are entirely original. Rather, writers use each other's writing and incorporate them into their own work. Giving this process the name "forwarding," Harris divides the process into four parts or "moves": illustrating, authorizing, borrowing, and extending. Illustrating is where the author supplies examples of other writers to prove his point. Authorizing is similar in that the author uses the expertise of another author. In borrowing, the author uses the ideas or motifs of another writer. Finally, extending is where the author puts an idea or motif in a different light or perspective. At the end of the chapter, Harris notes that the best writers are ones who can combine two or more of these "moves" in their writing.

I found an example of "forwarding" on Powerline. The article was about Israel confiscating weapons from an Iranian ship headed for Syria. In it, there was a block quote from the Jerusalem Post, followed by a six minute YouTube video from the IDF. At the end of the article, there was an official statement from President Obama. The quote from the Jerusalem Post is an example of illustrating and authorizing. Using an Israeli paper illustrates what happened and gives the blog post more authority since an Israeli paper might have more access to firsthand information than an outside source. Having a video further strengthens the article not only because it's another source, but another media as well. The video was footage and documentation of the actual discovery of the weapons. The quote from a White House statement is an example of extending because the blog post uses the statement to prove why America should take a stronger position against Iran even though that is not what the statement actually said. Here is the article if you're interested. It's the second story down.

Early Music Ensemble's Concert Tomorrow

The Early Music Ensemble is having its fall concert on Nov. 6th (tomorrow). It will be in Comstock Hall at 8pm. We'll be doing works by Praetorius ranging from short chorals to dances to a large orchestra/choir/soloists works. It's going to be really cool! We'll have all sorts of instruments including recorders, which is what I play, strings, a harp, and maybe even a rackett otherwise known as a sausage bassoon! I highly recommend you come to the concert!

Covering the Coverage

I've been doing my best to read the NY Times and my blogs this week. I've noticed some very interesting things this week in particular, for instance, the coverage of the Honduras story. Now, the blogs I'm following are fairly conservative and the Times is fairly liberal. These different perspectives lead to different coverage and emphasis. The blogs have been emphasizing the fact that President Zelaya tried to rig a referendum to make himself president for life and the Honduran parliament had unanimously voted to remove him from office. The NY Times, on the other hand, has been emphasizing the Unites States' involvement with the help of other South American nations in restoring a wrongfully removed president. Both the Times and the blogs talk about other South American countries that support President Zelaya. The Times does not mention which countries these are while the blogs specifically mention Venezuela and Cuba which is a significant detail. Also, the blogs admit that they do not have reporters in these countries, but the NY Times does not appear to have reporters there either, but rather they seemed to be in Pakistan following Secretary Clinton. In addition to the fact that both news sources take a different stand on whether the US was right to intervene: the blogs say we shouldn't have intervened and the NY Times say we were right to do it. It is also intriguing how the writers choose different aspects of the same story to support their beliefs. Because there are so many aspects of a story that may not all be told by a single news source, I think people should try to read sources with different views to see the bigger picture.

Since the blogs I've been following are political by nature, I see a lot of political stories like the upstate NY congressional race between Owens, the Democrat, and Hoffman, the conservative Independent (liberal Republican, Scozzafava, has just quit the race and endorsed Hoffman). The NY Times has more social stories like how public schools are managing during the Recession. The reason for this difference is that these news sources have consciously chosen to focus on certain issues.

News is Like Making Pizza, Have It Your Way!

Jarvis shares similar views about stories and news with Sullivan. Both writers hold that the news is a constantly evolving process. Sullivan illustrates this especially well in his article, “Why I Blog.” He narrates how he interacts with his readers after he has published a post and he even rewrites his posts if he receives new and pertinent information about the topic. Eventually, he takes what he has gathered from his blog and converts it into a newspaper column. “Readers tell me of breaking stories, new perspectives, and counterarguments to prevailing assumptions….Each week, after a few hundred posts, I also write an actual newspaper column.” In other words, the story does not end with the first publication. Jarvis illustrates this idea using diagrams and even a timeline of the life of a news story. The process starts with an event or an idea and evolves from questions, interviews, and research to become the actual written piece which yields comments, corrections, or even a follow-up story.
Chris Hedges in his article “Bad Days for Newsrooms and Democracy” remarks nostalgically that newspapers once served as a window to the world for ordinary Americans. “Newspapers, when well run, are a public trust….They keep citizens engaged with their cultural, civic, and political life….Most of this is vanishing or has vanished.” Jarvis also writes about “The Way It Was,” accompanied by another diagram. Unlike Hedges, Jarvis does not seem to think that this change from the way it was is necessarily a bad thing. But it does mean that newsrooms will have to adjust somehow to ‘the way it is now,’ what he calls the ‘press sphere,’ a world that revolves around the reader instead of the writer.

News About the News

Jarvis begins his article with an interesting point: the media is obsessed with the media. I've noticed this too watching the News Hour or one of the network news. I can't say the same about cable since I don't get cable although I would image it would be in the same situation. This topic would be interesting if, say, I were a journalist, a writer, or someone who worked in the media industry. However, the vast majority of Americans do not work in the media industry. Perhaps it says something about the audience the media is trying to reach--people who are interested in watching news, about the news, for its own sake. I've noticed this trend Online and in magazines, too, although it is easier to avoid these kinds of articles Online or in a magazine than on TV. I think there are too many stories about the media on the media.

Going back to Jarvis' article, I liked how he supported his argument with diagrams and pictures. As a visual person, I find aids of that type helpful and engaging. Otherwise, I'm less likely to finish an article especially if it's especially long or complex.

Jarvis makes an excellent point that much of the news is reactionary. Once a story is public, you can usually find it on TV, on the Internet, in newspapers, and in periodicals. After a few days, you will start to see these various outlets react to each other, sometimes harshly, crudely, and outrageouly. For example, MSNBC might have a story about how Fox News covered the event and vice versa. This reactionary reporting may be happening due the number of news outlet available in our modern world. It may also be because many outlets have to fill 24 hours worth of time with stories. Jarvis has written a thoughtful, incisive article that confirms some of my own observations.

Analysis of the Blogs I'm Following

Hot Air and Powerline are similar in that they both cater to an audience that is fairly conservative or libertarian. Topics on the blogs range from politics to world events to culture and sports. Both blogs assume that the reader has a certain foreknowledge of basic politics and events.

Powerline is "powered" by lawyers, one from Washington DC and two from Minnesota. The lawyers from Minnesota feel that they are a conservative minority in a historically progressive state. The writers attempt to cover stories that they perceive are not being covered by the main stream media as well as they would like. For instance, Powerline has been covering the United Nations even when the stories have not been covered very much on main stream news sources. The writing is very analytical and thoughtful. Even the blog design is not very flashy.

Hot Air was founded by Michelle Malkin and is written by professional Internet writers/journalists like Ed Morrissey and AllahPundit (an anonymous writer). On this site, there are not only blogs posts but links to selected stories on other sites like the NY Times and the Washington Examiner. They also have links to other blogs. There is a lively mood in the design and the writing. Their aim is to provide a different source of commentary and add to the diversity of the blogging world. Lately, Hot Air has been covering the ACORN scandals when main stream news sources have not been covering the story as thoroughly.

Both blogs are similar in that they share a similar audience, but they present their blogs from different perspectives, moods, and purposes.

Experiences and Readings of the Times

I bought a print edition of the NY Times today. I like holding it so much better than squinting at a computer screen. When I'm reading it in print, I can actually see the pictures. The pictures are so small on the computer I can't tell what they are. Yesterday, I was trying to read on my laptop and my eyes and head hurt. Eventually, I had to stop reading.

For the most part, I've been reading the Music and Movies section of the Times. I love classical music and old (really old!) movies. On Tuesday, I read about a movie with Boris Karloff, Bela Legosi, and Peter Lorre! Too bad it's not supposed to be good! Today, I read an article about a Chinese marionette performance in Carnegie Hall. It sounds really cool! I'd like to see that! The group performed a number of complex stories while speaking and singing. It sounds like I would be able to follow and understand the stories even though I don't understand a word of Chinese! I'm attracted to arts and music stories not just because I'm interesting in the topic, but they are accompanied by attractive pictures and graphics.

I do read the main page of the Times but I find there is not a lot of information I find intriguing It seemed like there were more stories and less headlines or current events. For instance, I was hard-pressed to find the story of the Obama administration's attempt to boycott Fox News. Rather, there was a story about Mexican drug cartels which is an interesting topic, but does not exactly have the same kind of relevancy for me. It's more like reading a national news magazine like the Atlantic Monthly than like reading the news.

What's Going On?

It's interesting how much people hear about the news from immediate family and friends. I admit I'm guilty of this too; my Mom is an avid political news reader and she tells me the latest every time I talk to her. My friends are not very interested in the news. In fact, I'm the one informing them what's going on.

It's also interesting how many people get their news from comedy shows like Saturday Night Live. I usually think these shows cater to people who are already informed about the news. I guess this is not necessarily true. Interesting.

These are all forms of relatively passive news gathering. People are busy. Outside this class, I'm not following the news as much as I used to because I'm either doing school work or other activities. I may be getting my news passively right now, but when Christmas break comes around I'll be right back to checking the news daily.

Despite what Carr and Hedges believe, the Internet does not appear to be diminishing civic literacy. Rather, the Internet makes finding news and being informed much easier.

I think being informed and alert about politics and events is very important, even if you are not all that interested in politics. Our kind of government, democracy, assumes that citizens will be interested and informed enough to vote for people who will stand for the same principles as the voter. Also, being informed allows people to petition for new laws, protest bad ones, and hold the government accountable when necessary. I sometimes fear that the people in government will pass bad laws and legislation while I'm not paying attention and I would have done nothing to stop it. Thus, being aware of politics and events is significant even if you don't care about, say, party politics in Washington or a Senate race in another state. Besides, if you are aware of politics, then Saturday Night Live, YouTube videos, and other late night comedy sketches are much funnier and more enjoyable. You have access to a vast discourse community.

Blogs I'm Following for Unit 2

For this unit, I've decide to follow Powerline and Hot Air. By the way, I love the cartoon on Hot Air of the guy shouting at the camera! That's funny! Anyway, stay tuned for the next blog post!

Extra! Extra! Get Your News!

For the most part, I get my news and information from the Internet. When I'm not too busy, I like to read opinion sites like National Review and IBD. I also print out articles from Commentary and New Criterion sometimes which has articles ranging from political to academic topics. When I'm really busy, I don't usually read political sites since reading them does take an hour or so. I do check orienteering blogs regularly since orienteering articles are short and I can pick and choose how much I want to read. If I want to find out something about, for instance, UofL or the Louisville Orchestra schedule, I almost always use a search engine like Google or the website's search engine. I also check the TV news sites for the weather forecast regularly. In summation, I get most of my news and information from the Internet.

I used to read the New York Times and Wall Street Journal in print, but we don't get them anymore. We would get them from the my Dad's law firm for free one day later, but his current firm doesn't let him take them home. It was sort of like recycling! I generally skipped over to the Arts and Fashion pages, then went back and read a few stories that looked interesting. We still get National Review and Orienteering North America in print.

I've watched The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS regularly in the past, but I've hardly watched it this semester since I have classes or homework at that time of day. I've noticed that the show has changed since the 2008 election. Instead of having world news and news of the day then discussions, interviews and stories, the show jumps straight into discussions, interviews, and stories and has very little world and national news. In other words, the show has become more opinionated and less informative. I have not liked this change. I don't watch another news programs because we don't have cable and the network news is somewhat dull and limited.

Final Draft! This is it!

At last, here is the final draft of my essay, Literacy in the Internet Age. I hope it's not too boring! I did expand some of the paragraphs to help the essay flow better. Enjoy! Viel Spass!

Mary Hamilton
Honors English 105-7
Eric Leake
10/3/09
Literacy in the Internet Age
Defining “literacy” has been a quest, pursued by civilization since humans could speak and comprehend. Although history offers many perspectives of literacy, this quest continues in articles by contemporary writers. Some of these writers include Andrew Sullivan, Nicholas Carr, Chris Hedges, Clive Thompson and George Orwell. Each of these writers has a different perspective of the word “literacy,” as discussed below. Literacy in the past has been communicated through books and the spoken word, but the Internet adds a new and controversial dimension to the discussion. Since the Internet is a new form of communication, does it add to older print and spoken media, or does it replace them? In other words, can people become literate using the Internet? There is also the question of the shallowness or depth of reading. At what depth should people read in order to be considered literate? Finally, literacy can undoubtedly be political or practical, but which one should be preferred? These questions of form, depth, and purpose try to explore the broader meaning of “literacy.” Writers both historical and contemporary have attempted to answer these questions. To determine the meaning of “literacy,” we must address each of these questions in turn and see how others have answered them. Once the meaning of “literacy” has been established, then we students can apply it to our lives and strive to become better informed and cultivated -- that is, more literate – people.
The medium for communicating has predominately been writing in the form of books and periodicals. The Internet has introduced a new form of writing that challenges the traditional form. Since the Internet allows thousands of people to find and read the same text simultaneously, it creates an atmosphere of dialogue and debate which changes writers in such a way that they write in a more argumentative, self-conscious style. Clive Thompson investigated this phenomenon in his article, “New Literacy.” Describing a study conducted by Stanford professor Andrea Lunsford, Thompson writes, “[S]tudents were remarkably adept at what rhetoricians called kairos—assessing their audience and adapting their tone and technique to best get their point across.” (Thompson par. 6). Whether students are writing in a chat forum or on Facebook, they are using an argumentative, adaptive tone. In light of the Internet, traditional writing focuses thoughts by forcing writers to organize and observe conventions of grammar and structure. In his article “Why I Blog,” Andrew Sullivan commends the merits of traditional writing while wholeheartedly adopting the blogging form.
“The blog for years points of this essay, for example, have appeared in shards and fragments on my. But being forced to order [my thoughts] in my head and think about them for a longer stretch has helped me understand them better, and perhaps express them more clearly.” (Sullivan par. 40).
Even in our current Internet age, students will still curl up to a book like Harry Potter or Twilight. There is nothing I like better than reading Sherlock Holmes, sci-fi, or classic mysteries on a gloomy day. While traditional writing is more content-oriented, the Internet is more adaptable. Having the old forms available does not mean, however, that the newer media cannot add to literacy, as both Thompson and Sullivan demonstrate. On the contrary, both new and old forms of writing achieve a similar purpose: to inform and persuade. Regardless of the medium, both books and the Internet communicate one person’s ideas to another.
Books tend to represent and encourage intellectual depth. On the other hand, when people think of the Internet, what comes to mind is Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Google. Nicholas Carr believes that the Internet is bringing a slow, irrevocable change in human thinking. “The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” “My mind now expects to take in information the way the Internet distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.” “Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.” (Carr par. 2, 9, and 4 respectively). Carr fears that the Internet with its rapid pace will diminish our ability to comprehend and think deeply. Chris Hedges goes even further to say this shift in thinking damages human cognition and will bring an end to civilization as we know it now. “The change from a print-based to an image-based society has transformed our nation.” “The core values of our open society, the ability to think for oneself to draw independent conclusions…are dying.” (Hedges par. 10 and 12 respectively). Not all writers believe the Internet is destroying Western Civilization or even that the Internet is replacing books. Andrew Sullivan is convinced that Internet writing will make books more valuable than before. “There is, after all, something irreplaceable about reading a piece of writing at length on paper, in a chair or on a couch or in bed.” (Sullivan par. 42). In the study Clive Thompson relates, the students write at a higher level than first supposed. (Thompson par. 7). With magazines and periodicals going digital, readers can view and print out articles when and wherever they want. I have found that I read more when I use the Internet than when I simply read books and I often choose to read at a higher intellectual level than I might have otherwise without the Internet. Even though many people my age choose to use the Internet for social networking purposes, they have the option to read articles and news stories that are written at a sophisticated level. Even before the Internet, people weren’t always reading deep texts. They were reading graphic novels, pulp fiction, and weekly sensational adventure stories. Although Shakespeare and Tolstoy may not be as familiar today as in the past, people will still have a certain amount of depth in their lives.
Writing is a tool that allows people to communicate, but how should this tool be used? Indubitably, writing can be used as a political tool. On the Internet, one can read the news, read and write blogs, and join forums. Many literary and academic writers such as Hedges and Sullivan believe that writing is mainly a political force with some practical use. As a journalist, Sullivan believes that writing is about sharing, discussing, and forming opinions about news. (par. 7,17, 26, and 27). Hedges asserts that literacy is essential for political participation and societal involvement. (par. 1,3, and 4). But should writing be used solely for political purposes? This idea has been explored by fiction writers as well as academic and opinion writers. In Orwell’s 1984, writing is controlled by the State for political and propaganda purposes. The State’s Ministry of Truth’s primary job is to rewrite the past to support the future agenda. (Orwell p. 4 and ch. 4). This is a grim picture of writing wielded as a political weapon. On the other hand, there are purely functional uses of writing. For instance, texts on gardening, exercise, travel, hobbies, and fashion exist for people’s enjoyment and information. Fiction and scholarly works have apolitical functions in people’s lives. The question remains as to which of these two functions of writing should be considered more literate. Depending on the person’s role or job, whether he is a journalist or a dentist, both of these functions makes a person literate. A person can also read political and functional texts, not just one or the other. I read texts ranging from sports to world events to music reviews to politics in Washington. Writing can be used for both purposes, not solely political or functional purposes. The two purposes can be thought of as left-handed and right-handed uses of texts, and surely being able to use both “hands” is to be preferred to relying solely on one or the other.
The art of communicating has many facets, including reading, writing, and speaking. The combination of these facets at a high level of competence results in literacy. The form of writing, in books and periodicals or on the Internet, can affect literacy, but the presence of new, Internet-based forms of writing need not conflict with the old. In many ways, new forms can enhance the development of literacy when combined with old forms for instance, doing research, finding opposing positions, and reading a variety of length and depth. The depth of reading and writing is also a factor in literacy, and reading Internet-based texts may actually encourage interaction with all texts on a deeper level. Finally, the purpose of writing plays a major role in creating literacy. The presence of both political and practical modes of texts on the Internet insures that literacy will not be stunted.
What is literacy, then? All of these factors--form, depth, and function--are determined by society. Society sets goals and imposes expectations on its members. Students today are expected to be literate on the Internet and with books. Being literate depends on what the individual chooses to read. I can read academic theses online and read pulp fiction books from the 1920s or I can read celebrity gossip online and read a hardcopy of Dante’s Inferno with Gustav Doré’s illustrations. Society sets the basic standards and it is up to the individual to reach for those standards and decide exactly what it means to be literate beyond those basic standards. In our American society which emphasizes high economic and sociological mobility, we are free to set our own literacy goals as well as reaching for our society’s expectations. In this country with our nearly universal access to the Internet and to books, we can choose our form, our depth, and our function. Literacy is what your society and you decide it to be.

Works Cited:
Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” www.thealtantic.com. July/August 2008. Web. 12 Sept. 2009.
Hedges, Chris. “America the Illiterate.” www.truthdig.com. 10 Nov. 2008. Web. 15 Sept. 2009.
Orwell, George. 1984. 1949. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Group. 1977 Print.
Sullivan, Andrew. “Why I Blog.” www.theatlantic.com. Nov. 2008. Web. 31 Aug. 2009.
Thompson, Clive. “New Literacy.” www.wired.com. 8/24/09. Web. 17 Sept. 2009.

Desperate! Help!

I don't think the email worked. This is too weird! Try the first link again. I got the paper to come up there a minute ago. This is really disturbing. Anyway, I'll bring hardcopies of the paper so you can finally look at it. I'll see you Friday.

Trying Again

Here's my paper again! I hope it works this time!

First Draft of Midterm Essay

Here it is. I've put it into MLA format yet, but I should have that done when I repost it later this week. Please, let me know if you see any typos or if something seem confusing or if I need to flesh out an idea. I could use anything you give me! Also, let me know if the link doesn't work. Thanks! I hope it's not too boring!

Link to an Interesting Literacy Article

Here is an interesting article. I haven't actually read it yet since it's really long, but it looks fascinating! Have a great weekend!

Caveat Emptor

Caveat Emptor
Mary Hamilton

I sincerely enjoyed writing these posts because I could see my post on my blog and then I could read and compare my classmates' posts. I found it very interesting that all of us would have a different perspective on the same article.

One of the downsides of blogging is that it's time-consuming. I not only had to write the post, but I had to carefully decide what I wanted to show of myself on the Web.

Since my posts were public, I felt I had to cater to a public audience instead of just my teacher and my classmates. This is what Thompson describes in his piece: "knowing who you're writing for and why you're writing might be the most crucial factor of all."

I not only enjoyed reading my fellow students' blogs, but what they wrote influenced me as well. Since other blog posts were very opinionated, I felt I could put more opinion in my pieces. Hence the reason my blog gradually became more opinionated.

My definition of blogging has not changed. Since I'm in the habit of reading blogs, blogging forums, and even live blogs, I have a very defined image of blogging. It's a medium or form of communication that allows anyone to publish his thoughts and read the thoughts of others. Of course, you have to employ 'buyer beware' when reading blogs. Is the writer trustworthy? Does she know the field or the topic? What are his qualifications? If you do a little research and choose qualified, knowledgeable bloggers to read, then you can become a very informed, literate reader.

Arguments Count

Arguments Count
Mary Hamilton

According to Hedges, America is once again quickly degenerating into an image-based society that cannot distinguish between fact and opinion. This is not a good thing, Hedges explains. It means "the loss of civic and public responsibility." He goes on to list practices in the newspaper and media business that blur the lines between fact and opinion. Using a very terse and vivid style, Hedges clearly tries to provoke the reader into worrying about the status quo. He does not back up any of his data with sources and he does not tell the reader what should be done to stop the decline. Instead, he leaves the reader with a vision of a bleak world. I've seen this literary technique in novels such as Orwell's 1984 or Kafka's Metamorphosis. I'm dubious that this technique works in this article because it's not well supported with sources, it's disorganized, and it's more effective in fiction. I also am unconvinced by Hedges' argument that Americans are becoming mindless watchers of pictures. I am equally unimpressed with his lack of research and organization.

Clive Thompson's article begins similarly to Hedges'. "An age of illiteracy is at hand, right?" Thompson then launches into a study conducted by Stanford professor Andrea Lunsford. The study concluded that young people write more than previous generations even though they write differently. Adapting their tone to meet the audience, young people use argument and debate whereas more traditional forms of writing use narration and formal analysis. Thompson concludes that the younger generation is not becoming rapidly illiterate. Rather, they've discovered a new, different way to write--on the Internet. "New Literacy" is a much more convincing article than "Bad Days for Newsrooms" since it supports its argument with data and comes to a conclusion. Both articles try to persuade the reader, but "New Literacy" does it much more effectively and I'm more inclined to agree with Thompson.

Supporting the Argument

Supporting the Argument
Mary Hamilton

In "American the Illiterate", Chris Hedges worries that the American public cannot read well enough to be informed and make rational decisions. If Americans cannot read well, then they are more prone to being deceived by propaganda and may become dependent on an elite reading class. This is a legitimate and serious concern. In the second paragraph, Hedges presents his supporting data: fifty million people read at the fifth grade level. But Hedges does not say where he found this data and his whole thesis is based on statistics he doesn't provide. Without data, it is impossible to know whether he is misquoting or exaggerating figures. This is poor researching on Hedges' part and it weakens his argument considerably.

On the second page, Hedges states, "Political leaders in our post-literate society no longer need to be competent, sincere, or honest." I doubt this is true; in fact, it may be the opposite. The Internet and wireless technology means that politicians are monitored constantly and are constantly in the public eye. Whereas in the past the goings-on in politics did not reach the public for some time if at all, now we know what is happening within minutes. For example, when President Wilson had his stroke and became severely disabled, the public was oblivious to it and the fact that his wife, Edith, may have been running the White House for him. Now, we know about politicians' health within hours of their having visited the doctor!

Toward the end of the article, Hedge fears, "[Americans during the economics decline] will retreat even further into irrational fantasy." What Hedges does not state exactly what fantasy Americans will retreat to. Hedges goes on to explain this is why we need stronger action on the government's part to teach people how to read.

Although Chris Hedges has a legitimate concern, he supports his argument badly, undermining his article. We should do everything we can to teach and encourage people to read, but I do not think it is nearly as catastrophic as Hedges believes.

The HAL Scenario

The HAL Scenario:
My Mind is Going
Mary Hamilton

There is one central theme that runs though Nicholas Carr's article: although the Internet has its contributions, it is taking over the way we live. More specifically, the Internet is hampering our cognitive abilities. Whereas we used to be able to flesh out our thoughts on paper and read longer, more complex works, now we zip from one interesting tidbit to another.

This is not the only time a new process has been heralded as diminishing and demeaning. Carr gives several examples--Socrates lamenting the arrival of writing (p6 & 7), and Squarciafico predicting intellectual laziness due to the Gutenberg press (p7). This fear of negative change is not confined to the invention of writing or the Internet search. I can think of many cultural examples about the fear of technology in the 20th century. Recently I saw the 1964 movie Failsafe. When a circuit malfunctions during a military bombing exercise, planes are given the 'Destroy Moscow' signal. Despite all attempts to bring them back, Moscow and New York City are destroyed in a mushroom cloud. The characters in the movie repeatedly lament that machines have taken over our lives, and that we have lost the human element.

Another cultural example of fear of machines is Isaac Asimov's I, Robot book series. Science has advanced so much that humans can create robots that look and function almost exactly like humans. But advanced robots are baned on Earth because people are afraid of being enslaved by their technological superiority. And finally, there is Fritz Lang's 1928 movie Metropolis where an underclass exists solely to tend to the monstrous machines that run the city.

Nicholas Carr is right to worry about intellectual shallowness and also right to point out the benefits of Internet searching, such as the speed and availability of information. He points out how change can be positive as well as negative in his example of Friedrich Nietzsche buying a typewriter. Nietzsche continued to write even though his style changed (p3). We should be aware of Carr's concerns and attempt to use the Internet to increase our intellectual depth, not decrease it. If we can do that, then we won't have the HAL scenario Carr is so haunted by (p7). "My mind is going, Dave. Dave, I can feel it. Stop, Dave."

Reading and Writing: a Process

Reading and Writing: a Process
Mary Hamilton

In his introduction, Harris describes writing as an action or "social practice" as opposed to a set of rules. He divides the action of writing into five "moves." But most interestingly, he describes writing as a continuous stream of thoughts and ideas that are added to, detracted from, and shaped by people's writing. In other words, the writer takes from and contributes to other writers. "You move in tandem with or in response to others." He tends to show readers how to use texts to increase the value of their writing, taking from the stream of existing ideas and contributing to it.

Harris describes how to analyze writing by defining the writer's objective, noting keywords, or emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of the piece. He repeatedly states that no one can read objectively. By recognizing this, the reader can use it to her or his advantage when she incorporates someone else's text into her writing.

Harris defines writing as a process or a journey, not a fixed position or stance. Reading is similar. He encourages his readers to view writing through different lenses: the writer's, the reader's, other sides of arguments. In this sense, Sullivan's definition of reading and writing and Harris' definition correlate. Both Sullivan and Harris describe reading and writing as an ever-changing process. Whereas Sullivan explains how his blog posts and the comments made on them morph and mold his writing, Harris explains how past writing morphs and molds future writers. Although blogging and academic writing are two different processes, Sullivan and Harris share the same perspective on writing.

Comparing Internet Habits

Comparing Internet Habits
Mary Hamilton

The first thing I noticed is how frequently people use facebook. I don't have a facebook page since I prefer to socialize in person. I've known that many people use facebook quite a lot. Nevertheless, I'm surprised how often my classmates check their facebook page.

My classmates also seem to use the Internet for tech support, for instance, looking at reviews for computer accessories. Since I'm not much of a tech person, I don't look at tech support sites much.

Many people looked at the main news websites such as CNN, Foxnews, or ABC. I do this too, although I did not do it this weekend. Last Friday, I looked up many of these news sites to see how they approached the incident where a pro-healthcare protester bit off a anti-healthcare protester's finger. Each news site (Politico and National Review Online in particular) emphasized a different aspect of the story. Very interesting. A few other students also compared the same stories or issues on different news sites. I especially like reading the news on the Internet because I don't have cable, I don't have time to wait for the news on the network stations, and the network ads are all for geriatric prescription medicine!

When I'm on the Internet, I like to limit my focus to a few sites or interests. Since I have several personal interests, I tend to check sites such as Attackpoint and World of O frequently. Many of my classmates read the Internet at a faster pace, jumping from site to site or visiting the same one many times in a single day.

I really enjoyed comparing my Internet notes with my classmates. This project showed me what other students my age are doing. Now I'm a little more aware of my own Internet reading and I hope I'll maximize the time I spend on it a little better in the future.

More Internet Notes

Mary's Notes Cont.

Monday:
4:20--checked personal mail, responded to some of them
4:36--read Kruse Kronicle, Michael Kruse's blog on economic, political, and religious news.
4:48--read New Criterion
5:05--looked at Trondheim maps on World of O (next year's World Championships will be held at Trondheim, SWE)
5:18--logged off of Internet

UofL Choir Concert, Sept. 13th

All three UofL choirs are having their first concert of the year! The concert will be held at Comstock, Sept. 13th at 7:30pm. University Chorus(the choir I'm in) will be singing three songs: a Mozart piece, a spiritual, and a piece we haven't even seen yet! I'm guessing the Cardinal Singers will be singing their summer repertoire. The only piece I know Collegiate Chorale will be singing is 'Joshua Fit the Battle', which sounded terrific last week! If you go, you're in for a treat! I can hardly wait myself! I hope I'll see you there!

Internet Reading Notes

Mary's Internet Reading Notes

Saturday:
5:26--checked personal email
5:30--read Attackpoint (an orienteering discussion forum)
6:15--logged off Internet

Sunday:
2:43--read World of O (an orienteering blogging site)
2:50--read articles on National Review Online
3:10--read articles on Investors Business Daily Editorials
3:20--read articles on Pajamas Media
3:33--logged off Internet

Notes:
Orienteering is a sport a little like cross-country. You navigate through a course in the woods using a map and a compass.
I was going to watch some movie clips on Youtube but I ran out of time:(

The Process of Blogging

The Process of Blogging
By Mary Hamilton

Andrew Sullivan was ambivalent about blogging when he started. When he first began blogging, he only posted his past articles and columns. Quickly, he found blogging to be a lot like journalism: "We blog now--as news reaches us, as facts emerge." As a journalist, Sullivan began to appreciate blogging and began to write articles and posts soley meant for his blog. He found it a liberating experience--it was immediate and unedited. He could write raw posts without waiting to publish it and without having an editor polish his writing. "The simple experience of being able to directly broadcast my own words to readers was an exhilarating literary liberation."

Not only was publishing immediate, but also criticism was immediate. Sullivan's readers corrected him, argued with him, and trashed him. At first, he was shocked: "Now the feedback was instant, personal, and brutal." Eventually, he learned to use his readers' challenges to edit his blog, improve it, and enrich it. His readers would give him stories, information, and ideas. He used the different perspectives his readers provided to improve the quality and texture of his blog.

Sullivan recognized that blogging was "superficial" and more "colloquial" than print journalism. But he also realized that he could reflect on his own writing and gain a clearer, more defined truth. His process of public self-reflection created better "print writing." "But being forced to order (my thoughts) in my head and think about them for a longer stretch has helped me understand them better and perhaps express them more clearly." Already an accomplished writer, Andrew Sullivan's blog gave him direct access to his readers, let him learn from the process, and become a more aware writer.

Access and Transparency

Access and Transparency
Mary Hamilton 8/28/09

The most interesting thing about creating a blog is how accessible it is. Anyone who has access to the Internet can create their own blog and post comments. The availability of the Internet and blogs means that people almost anywhere can follow national and international events and post their own opinions of them. This also means that people can follow almost anyone else's blog. When people have greater access to information about events, this can led to greater transparency and literacy. Such transparency and literacy is very fitting for a country that emphasizes freedom of the press and transparency in government. For example, during the Revolutionary era, the number of newspapers and political pamphlets increased dramatically. Pamphlets, in particular, were like 18th century blogs. Some of the most famous "blogs" during that period were "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine and "The Federalist Papers" by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. "Common Sense" made people think about why they were fighting the Revolutionary war and "The Federalist Papers" helped ratify the Constitution in Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia following the war. It is important in the 21st century to maintain the kind of transparency and literacy our country was founded upon. Just as the printing press offered people in an earlier age a connection to the public events around them, so can the Internet and blogging offer a connection to us to the major events in our own day. Blogging allows us to follow events, read other people's opinions and form our own thoughts. I hope I will be able to be better informed and make better judgements through the experience of writing this blog.