Just Tweet It Please

Before we left class last week, Professor Campbell asked us where we get our news from. I thought about it and realized most of what I consider news comes from Twitter. This is fairly ironic because I was skeptical to start a twitter account in the first place, but a year later I'm pretty much addicted to it.

I love it for three reasons. The first is that I can choose to follow whoever and whatever I want; from friends back home to celebrities and even news organizations and BYU. Its how I figure out whats going on on campus, or back home or even across the world. Many journalists have their own twitter accounts and following them gives you updates on what is happening in the world.

Another reason why I love it so much is because everyone I follow has relevance to ME. I follow the Jets because they are MY favorite football team, I follow BYU because its where I go to school, I follow Pete Wentz because I love his music (and his face lol); and the list goes on and on. But the most important part is that I follow who I want to because I want to.

Another good thing about twitter is that everyone else is tweeting whats important to them, so I can get information about sources that I do not directly follow. For example, a good friend of mine follows ABC News and retweets them often, giving me the option to delve deeper into what she tweets if I choose to. And should I choose not to, that's fine to. Its the most personalized news source I've got and I love it!

So if you have something of relevance to my life, do me a favor and just tweet it please.

Fair && Balanced? Rightttttttt

If I had to choose, I would love for the United States to take the Democratic Corporatist approach...ASAP. I mean, for all intents and purposes, we already have. It would be a lot easier if news corporations came out and admitted what everyone already knows, because personally I think they are insulting the intelligence of the Unites States population by telling us they're reporting objectively when they are not. Please don't misunderstand; I know that human beings are naturally bias, and consequently, what they report will have a slight bias. My problem is when that bias becomes more than slight, but I am still being told that what is being reported is objective. That is lying; and I do not appreciate being lied to. The bigger problem is that we seem to have more claimed objectivity than actually objectivity these days, making it harder figure out who I should believe.

Journalists first obligation is to the truth; but as we talked about in class, truth is different to everyone. It seems a journalist can only report what they know to be the truth about a situation. But life is not like math where 1 +1 always equals 2. We do not all exist in the same reality, and people will read, watch and listen to someone who resides in the reality closest to their own. Why not just let them know what reality that is and save them the time and trouble?

Oh How Times Change...

And those changes were portrayed in the lesson Group 2 taught us last week. The face of media as we know it it changing so rapidly that our generation is sitting directly in the middle of it and can barely keep up. The Youtube video that started the lesson was the most awesome and scary thing I've ever seen. The effect media has in our everyday lives was put into numbers-- numbers that alarmed me. For example, one of the facts from the video clips said was that "If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world." Goodness Gracious. Facebook has more members than the United States does people. I would never in a million years have guessed that.

But back to the lesson, it was pretty good. The content didn't seem to follow the reading exactly, which was fine. I was glad to see that Group 2 found a way to make the lesson their own. The lesson definitely lacked class participation at some points, leaving me lulling (especially since this class is right after practice). I was glad when we began to be a part of the lesson and give our input, because that is when I feel like I am getting the most of what I am learning. Also, I loved the handout we got right at the end. It is definitely something I will keep because the information is useful and even a little inspirational so I don't forget why I'm doing what I'm doing.

All in all it was a good lesson that effectively conveyed the extent of the media effects in our lives.

Talk about Too Much Pressure...

I know giving the first class lesson must have been hard, but I thought that Group 1 did a pretty good job with it. I really enjoyed it actually. There was good use of video clips (my fave!) that kept my attention. This was really important to me, because I have a pretty short attention span. Giving me something to laugh at every half hour or so, especially in a class as long as ours, is essential. The group members (Sorry I don't know your names) did a good job of dividing and conquering the lesson so no one voice was heard too much. They were thorough with the lesson plan and were good at getting the class involved at times when we seemed to be lulling.

I have only one criticism, and that is the final point they were trying to convey by putting candy in two different bowls. I still don't quite understand what the take home message was supposed to be, but I got so sidetracked with the candy I didn't bother ask for further clarification. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Outside of that, however, I think that Group 1 set a great precedent for the rest of the class with their lesson.

What is Journalism & What makes a Journalist?

      Journalism is the discipline dedicated to taking a world of information and sifting, ordering and presenting that information to either the general public or a specialized group to whom it pertains in as close to an objective view as is possible (Wow that's a mouthful). A Journalist is simply someone who undertakes this discipline, and pledges to carry it out with ethics and class.
      The natural next question, however, would refer to citizen Journalism. Is every blogger on the Internet a Journalist? No, they are not. I think what makes citizen Journalism most different from the discipline people study on college campuses all over this country is objectivity. A blogger is writing their opinion, much like I am doing right now. They have no ethical standards to live up to, no general public to inform of things that are pertinent to them, no editors checking spelling and grammatical errors. These things may seem trivial, and I commend every person who uses their 1st amendment right to put their opinion out there, but the fact remains there is a difference between doing things for fun and being...Certified, so to speak. People simply expect more from Journalists than they do of bloggers.
    
      Its like calling my Mom a chef. Sure she cooks dinner everyday, and does a good job at it, I might add. But she is not held to the same standard as someone getting paid to cook. Much like I am not held to the same standard of Katie Couric.

This is kind of weird...

I'm not much of a blogger, although I will admit it is kind of enticing. I'm just doing this for class, and so far I'm enjoying it. Shouts to my good friend Sidanii (the best blogger I know) for literally walking me through this entire thing. Homework assignments coming soon. That is all.

:-)