Blogging the State of the Union

I'm watching on C-SPAN. No commentary from the MSM. I want my news unfiltered.

GWB gets a special escort of senators into the House Chamber. (There's about 30 of them).

I wonder who's going to get a special shout-out tonight. They like to have some hero to salute watching from the audience.

Did you know that from Thomas Jefferson to Woodrow Wilson, the State of the Union was delivered by letter, not in person?

Here comes the cabinet. There's Condi (next president of the United States). Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General (and new shortstop of the Boston Red Sox, if I'm not mistaken). C'mon, Condi, have a seat. Let's get this show on the road.

9:08 -- Here he comes, followed by the senators. There's Frist, Pelosi. There's Laura. (She looks absolutely gorked!) Now he hops confidently and fitly up to the lectern. (That mountain biking keeps him in great shape!) Rhythmic clapping -- coming from the Republican side, no doubt. And there's the famous smirk.

9:12 -- Underway. A shout-out for the late (earlier today) Coretta Scott King (she'll be together now with MLK, W, says).

Let's be civil and respectful to one another. "The state of the union is strong, and we will make it stronger".

No protectionism. We will lead to secure our people. We seek the end of tyranny.

9/11 -- drink up!

Democracies respect their neighbors, expand freedom. (Are you listening, Hamas?)

1945 -- 12 lonely democracies. Now, hundreds. Women voting in Afghanistan.

Syria, Burma, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Iran -- not free! (But it is demanded.)

Some people don't like freedom. We're talking "radical Islam" -- a perversion of a great religion. Bin Laden. We'll fight to keep it (apparently they didn't think we would -- how they have misjudged us!) No retreat. If we don't fight them, they'll come and get us. "Radical Islam." We will never surrender to EVIL.

No isolationism (those who want to cut and run). The Evil Empire.

We have a clear plan for victory in Iraq! Government, reconstruction. Modern economy = freedom. Iraqis taking up the fight. Things are going great in Iraq. No worries. We are winning. (Good to know.)

The road of victory. (The second road mentioned in this speech.)

We'll reduce troops when the generals say so, not the politicians.

Responsible criticism okay -- defeatism is forbidden. No second guessing.

Dan Clay -- Marine Staff Sgt. Letter to his family. What honor is. I died for you. Don't falter. Sarah, Joe and Bud get the first shout-out -- they're here. Right behind Laura. Don't forget the sacrifices of military families. (Who does?)

We must defeat their dark vision with hope. Onto the Middle East. Rule of law. Protection of minorities. Egypt. Get with it. Hamas must recognize Israel and disarm. Reform in Saudi Arabia. Democracies in Middle East will be different from ours. Liberty for all humanity. Iran -- repressed by clerical elite. Supporting terror in other countries. No nukes for Iran.

Nuk-u-lar -- drink up!

Iran -- we respect you. We want to be your friend. (Your government we don't like).

Isolationism. Compassion and help abroad. HIV. Malaria. genocide. (Sexual) slavery. Drug trade. Can't shortchange these ideas.

Terrorism at home. Superb professionals (police, Homeland Security (!)). Support and Thanks! Reauthorize the Patriot Act. (brief applause). To prevent another 9/11 --terrorist surveillance programs (drink up). Other presidents did it. Consultations. TSP (drink up!) We won't wait to be hit again.

Need support from friends and allies. It's American leadership, or a more dangerous world.

Reject isolationism and retreat. Freedom on the march. Everybody on their feet -- I'm not sure why.

Prosperity at home -- economy is good. Wait for it. . . 4.6 million new jobs (over how long?). More than Japan and EU combined. Can't be complacent. China, India. Wait for it. . . Protectionists. Government control. Immigrants needed. Couldn't function without them (Small applause). Economic retreat. A better path. Wait for it. . . More of our own money. here it comes. . . tax relief. 4 years of economic growth. Facing a massive tax increase. Act responsdibly, and make the tax cuts permanent. (There it is!) Good stewards of tax dollars. Cut spending. Save 14billion. Cut deficit in half by 2009. (Oh, c'mon! Somebody check that out.) Earmark reform. Line item veto. (I thought we had that.)

Entitlements. National challenge. Baby boomers retiring. 60% medicaid, medicare, Social security. Congress did not act to save SS last year. (Huge Cheers!) Not going away. (Cheers from other side.) Let's have a comission -- both parties, bipartisan solutions. (Will it be a secret committee? Cheers from both sides, I think.

Opening new markets. Level playing field. Nobody can outproduce us. Immigration system reform. (dead quiet). Border protection. Rational, humane guest worker program. No amnesty.

Affordable health care. (National?) We are providing for poor and elderly. Health savings account. Small business protected like Big Business. Portable coverage. Lawsuits -- medical liability reform (no the problem).

Energy. Addicted to oil. TECHNOLGY! We're on the threshhold. 0 emission coal plants, wind, nuclear. Cars. Electric. Hydrogen. Ethanol from wood chips and grass clippings. With six years. Replace 75% of imports form Middle East by 2020. dependance on ME oil to be a thing of the past (right, when the oil's gone).

Education. American Competetiveness Initative. More math and science! Double funding for research. Research and development tax credit. (How much of this comes to pass?) Kids -- take more math and science. And harder. NCLB. Scores up. More AP classes in high schools. 30,000 new professionals (?)

Crime down since 1970 (Freakonomics!) Drug use down. Abortions down, teen mothers down. Government has made our character better. (Welfare reform, for one).

Culture wars. Unethical politicians. Activist courts. (Drink up!) Disaster victims. "Not legislate from the bench". (Drink up.) Shout out for Sandra Day O'Connor. Medical ethics. No human-animal hybrids! (Dr. Moreau, are you listening?)

Ethics of politicians. Reform is on the way (right). Laura in pink -- mentoring programs. $85 billion to Gulf Coast (?) Schools, job skills, home ownership. (cut to three black guys in the audeince. HIV AIDS. Half among African-Americans. End the waiting list for AIDS drugs. Faith based testing.

Headed toward an unknown shore. Point of choosing. Courage. Finish well. Moral comittments. God bless America!

10:03

Framing the Issue: "Domestic Spying" Part II

When I can, I will try to post all classroom materials here.

January 31, 2006

http://www.lostremote.com/

Debate Over News Use of Term 'Domestic Spying'

The often obnoxious Newsbusters raise an interesting question over the media's use of the term "domestic spying," referring to the administration's surveillance of certain people and places within the U.S. What do you think? Should the media use the term "domestic spying" or something like "intelligence gathering," "covert domestic anti-terror practices" or the like? No political screeds here - let's discuss the term. by Steve Safran

posted on 01/26 | link | discuss (13)

Lost Remote is an excellent blog which consolidates stories about the media -- particularly New Media. One of the guys behind it, Steve Saffron, works up at New England Cable News. As internet sources go, they are politcally fairly middle of the road and reasonable unbiased. (For example, they seem to think that Newsbusters can go too far to the right, but that this particular claim has some merit to it.)

This is one site you should bookmark and check every day. (I do!)

http://newsbusters.org/

Early Show Still Up In Arms Over "Domestic Spying"

I know how hard it is to write a headline that's accurate and short and grabbing. But we really should shoot for all three -- accurate, short and grabbing. I don't think 'domestic spying' makes it.
General Michael Hayden, former NSA director, speaking to the National Press Club on January 23

On CBS, The Early Show opened this morning with a discussion of the NSA's electronic surveillance program on Al-Qaeda suspects that it continues to call "domestic spying." It was the first item teased at the open. Rene Syler:

Using the National Security Agency as a backdrop, President Bush today will once again defend his domestic spying program as vital to the war on terror.

Less than a minute later, as they introduced the various stories they'd be covering, it was mentioned again. Julie Chen:

As we noted, President Bush has been defending his covert program to spy on Americans, and we'll have the latest on that in just a moment.

Again, it was less than a minute later when they got into the news, and here we go again. Harry Smith:

Let's get right to our top story. Domestic spying, the President's surveillance program has ignited a national debate on civil liberties vs. national security.

They then went to a report from Bill Plante, who told us that

The White House issued another of its rebuttals titled Setting the Record Straight. This one challenges those who call the program domestic spying.

That challenge obviously hasn't work yet. In fact, CBS is actually showing a fair degree of contempt for the White House by acknowledging that and continuing to call it "domestic spying."

The attorney general repeated the administration argument that the surveillance is authorized by the congressional War Powers act of 2001.

Plante acknowledges that the White House is arguing that this program is legal, constitutional, and authorized by congress. And then finished with this:

The President's case comes down to this. The assertion that the spying helps prevent terrorist
attacks.

Well, no, Bill, the President's case, as you just noted, is that the program is legal.

Finally, we get to the story. And here's Rene Syler again:

Does the government have the right to monitor your phone calls or e-mails without a warrant? President Bush believes the answer is yes, if it means stopping terrorist attacks against the U.S. The domestic spying program has inspired a great debate.

This is the fourth mention of the program. In one of them, briefly, has it been mentioned that the wiretaps are on "international calls to and from the US." Here again, it's ignored. "Domestic spying" is an obviously inaccurate term that CBS continues to insist on using. (To their credit, they did have Bay Buchanan on this morning, and she called them on it - "I want to go back to how you introduced this segment. What you said is inaccurate. You suggested it was domestic spying. It is not.")

If CBS had been paying attention at the National Press Club on Monday when General Hayden spoke, they might have been able to figure it out. As I noted at the top, he made it clear that "domestic spying" did not work as an accurate headline for what's going on. He also made another great point in that speech that even CBS should have been able to understand.

I've taken literally hundreds of domestic flights. I have never boarded a domestic flight in the United States of America and landed in Waziristan.

Posted by Lyford Beverage on January 25, 2006 - 08:20.

COMMENTS to the NEWSBUSTERS Site

bigtimer (January 25, 2006 - 11:52) Says:

If I were giving advice to the Conservative side, I would advise to stop going on all these shows and let them argue with theirselves. They are getting nowhere and it is getting old. They are the enemy within this country. Their day is coming soon to who leaked what to the enemy along with alot of other depts in the govt. and members of the Congress. War Power Act passed by Congress in '01 means nothing to them, you can repeat it over and over and they still eat the pages. Pathetic little critters.

I am sick of defending let alone listening to these traitorous cowards who are in slathering desperation to regain power by 2006...not I repeat not going to happen. I wish we could put them all on an island somewhere on the Aluetians and let them fend for theirselves and let the enemy rescue them...al Qaeda to the rescue!

These varmits need to be banished from the good population....ever heard of a controlled hunt?

RJ (January 25, 2006 - 12:03) Says:

I am sick of defending let alone listening to these traitorous cowards who are in slathering desperation

Hear, hear, BT. The liberal elite are hollow ideologues, undeserving of respect.

For Democrats, it's not about truth, it's about the agenda...and the agenda is to "get" President Bush, even if it harms the United States...

Okay. To me these comments are a little severe. But this is a good way to make a judgment about what kind of a blog Newsbusters is. I'd call them "right wing", which goes a little past conservative on the left-to-right politcal spectrum.

Next, we have comments from readers of LostRemote, and their thoughts on the Newbusters piece. Not as strident as Bigtimer.

COMMENTS from LOST REMOTE: Debate Over News Use of Term 'Domestic Spying'

1) Posted by Brad at January 26, 2006 06:15 AM

There may not be a good term. The "Domestic Spying" issue doesn't really qualify as such b/c we are talking about someone in the U.S. talking to someone across the globe. Maybe "intel gathering involving U.S. citizens."

By the way, would a legal wiretap done by the FBI be considered "domestic spying"?

2 Posted by Kev at January 26, 2006 07:01 AM

I believe the term "domestic spying" does apply because the government is doing just that: spying on U.S. citizens within our borders. It does not matter if the alleged terrorist is communicating with someone on the other side of the globe; they are still in the U.S. and they are the ones under surveillance. "Intel gathering involving U.S. citizens" sounds like U.S. citizens are actually participating in the intelligence gathering.

And yes, I believe a legal wirtap by the FBI would be considered "domestic spying". The legality of the act may not be morally wrong, but I believe the term still applies.

3 Posted by Rik at January 26, 2006 09:15 AM

I would propose that the term "domestic spying" is far too broad in scope and has a decidedly negative connotation. I think a more specific term would be appropriate for this discussion. I am a little surprised that there isn’t an official term…perhaps because it is difficult to read on a prompter (something like “domestic trans-national surveillance”).

In addition, can anyone confirmed that US Citizens are the primary or “significant” targets of this surveillance? Wouldn’t much of the monitored traffic be from resident non-citizens in the US?

Finally, there is a larger issue here…is the importing/exporting information (via phone or email) subject to search as would be physical items that are shipped internationally?

4 Posted by Rocker at January 26, 2006 10:11 AM

The word "spy" is inherently pejorative, if you are honest. Calling it "domestic spying" is also misleading IMHO, if not inaccurate, if in fact the taps are triggered by overseas-initiated calls (as opposed to monitoring people domestically). We don't know that yet...perhaps we should wait to find out.

5 Posted by at January 26, 2006 11:35 AM

I think it is too vague.

Anyone know where the news divisions fall on this? Is CNN using the term, but fox or MSNBC not.

6 Posted by at January 26, 2006 01:15 PM

The White House is insisting on the term "international" rather than "domestic." Of course, "international" does not necessarily include any activity inside the US, which is the controversial part the news is referring to. And since it is the domestic part of the equation that is newsworthy, I think it's reasonable to talk about warantless domestic spying. It's also important to include "warantless," since domestic spying is fine as long as there's a warrant, and no member of Congress has suggested otherwise. It's the fact that the WH chose not to get the warrants that makes this an issue, because now there's no independent party who knows who really was spied on and what the evidence was that, um, warranted them being spied on.

7 Posted by Rico at January 26, 2006 01:19 PM

The White House is also spinning it as "Terrorist Surveillance Program," or something like that. Because if it's against the terrorists, it must not be illegal.

8 Posted by Jonathan at January 26, 2006 02:34 PM

"Domestic spying" is misleading because it implies that the government is spying on domestic calls, when it's actually going after international ones. Of course, "international spying" is too vague...

We need something that makes it clear that they're tapping calls between the US and suspected terrorists. Can't think of a good term at the moment, but "domestic spying" is clearly a bad one.

9 Posted by Elizabeth at January 26, 2006 02:59 PM

The issue here is that people in the U.S. are under surveillance, so I think the term "domestic" needs to stay. It's the "spying" that's controversial. I agree something more specific is needed. Perhaps "surveillance" or "wiretapping" would be better.

10 Posted by A Concerned and Utterly Stupefied Citizen at January 26, 2006 04:22 PM

How about, now here's an idea... they follow the tenets of the fourth amendment and not spy on anyone in the US without reasonable cause AND a court approved warrant.

Hey, maybe that's what they should do -- obey the laws of our constitution!

Nah, just put semantic lipstick on the pig and ram it down our throats under the guise of "terrorism!"

Yeah, that's their ticket. And boy are they punching it!

The fact remains that this was started well before 911 and was so wide in scope that it tapped upwards of MILLIONS of US citizens. Terrorism? How bout "Domestic Politically Biased Spying."

11 Posted by aidian at January 26, 2006 04:42 PM

Domestic spying is justified because it is "spying" ... covert intelligence gathering for national security purposed.

warantless domestic wiretaps is my more precise, but not more acurate, and it's an akward phrase.

12 Posted by Chris at January 26, 2006 07:58 PM

I stopped myself from typing that term just a few days ago. It strikes me as too inflammatory in much the same way that "refugees" bothered people after Katrina. I think it may be applicable, but its use distracts from the rest of the story.

13 Posted by Alyssa at January 27, 2006 05:40 AM

If the government is spying on people IN this country, by definition that is 'domestic' spying. I'm open to using 'surveillance' instead of 'spying'.

By and large a fair discussion of the issue (except for the Stupified Citizen, who's coming from farther to the left).

It's an important issue, though. It's okay for blogs to want to spin things one way or the other. But from the MSM (main stream media) we have come to expect things to be unbiased.

Framing the Issue: "Domestic Spying"

We listened to a piece in class today from All Things Considered, the evening news program on program on National Public Radio . Instead of having us think about the NSA's practice of listening in on any calls they want to, without a court's supervision, as "domestic spying", or a "warrantless wiretap", Karl Rove and the President prefer that we think of it as a "terrorist surveillance program".

They are trying to "frame the issue" or "frame the debate". We certainly don't want our government spying on us, not without good cause (it's happened before). But then again we don't want the terrorists calling people here in America, setting up the next September 11! Whoever wins the war of words likely wins the battle.

Listen to how the media handles this story. Is it Bush's "domestic spying program," or his "terrorist surveillance program"?


Now Don Gonyea told us that Bush spoke for nearly two hours, and answered some questions -- notably one about Brokeback Mountain, that movie about two gay cowboys. But as far as we know from ATC, that was it.

Well, of course there was some more. One of the things that we're interested here in ComMedia is about what's NOT in the news (but maybe oughta be). This next item was brought to my attention by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show (a standing homework assignment: 11 p.m. on Comedy Central, repeated the next night at 8 p.m. Oh, and stay tuned for The Colbert Report right after.)

One of the students at Kansas State had a question about a recent 12.7 billion dollar cut in student loan money available [this link plays in Quicktime]. Bush thought she had it wrong, but he didn't seem too sure of his facts. NPR didn't cover it. Comedy Central did.

Now, our other big lesson for the day -- in fact the #1 Lesson for the Entire Course -- is

"Consider the Source".

The source in this case is something called "The Daily Kos". It's a blog, and it's a liberal blog. We'll talk in more depth about each of these in the next weeks and months, but here's the short version: blogs can be just about anything (this is a blog, so that ought to tell you something right there). Some bloggers are really knowledgable, and sometimes blogs can provide you with items not be covered by the MSM ("Main Stream Media"). But they are also for the most part amateur, usually biased, and not subject to the checks and balances of the MSM (and even so, those sometimes break down.


Liberals tend to be Democrats (if they belong to a political party), pro-choice and anti-death penalty, would rather spend money on social programs (even if that means increasing taxes) than on war. Liberals tend to see what Bush is doing as "domestic spying" (they remember the FBI doing it to Martin Luther King). Conservatives see it as "terrorist surveillance" (they remember 9/11). Some conservatives, called Libertarians, detest this spying/surveillance program. (They remember Thomas Jefferson, who said "the government is best which governs least" and Henry David Thoreau, who said : "the government is best which governs not at all."

Area of Media Specialty

Choosing Your “Area of Media Specialty”

Your “media specialty” will be an area of more intense scrutiny in your media studies. Be especially alert for events occurring in your area. The class will be looking for you to bring these items “to the table”.

Try to choose an area of interest. In some cases there may be overlap. Michael Jackson, for example, falls under “Legal & Trials” as well as “Music” and “Celebrity Watch” (not to mention “Realm of the Bizarre”).

Some topics will undoubtedly be more popular than others. Ties will be broken by random chance (coin flip, die roll, etc.). Please indicate your top four choices, by number (1 – 4).

(You can reserve your AMS in advance by logging onto the "Comments" section at the bottom of this blog entry.)

_____ “AT THE MOVIES” Oscar nominations came out this morning (January 31^st). Have you seen any of them? Do you think any of those were any good? Brokeback Mountain won the Golden Globe for Best Picture. Will it take the Oscar? What will that do to America if it does? Is liberal Hollywood out to destroy good ol’ Main Street America? (Actually, a lot of people found the love story in King Kong to be much more moving.)

_____ “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING” Not the reality tv show, but George Orwell’s Big Brother from the novel 1984, closely monitoring what the public was allowed or not allowed to see and know. “Domestic Spying” or “Terrorist Surveillance”? Should the government be able to take a look at where you’ve been on the internet lately? Does the American public have the right to know who was on Vice President Cheney's panel setting American oil policy (well before 9/11 or the Iraq invasion)? If you know why Howard Stern is off the air in 2006, or why we probably won’t be seeing any commercials for GoDaddy.com at the Super Bowl – this may be the specialty for you.

_____ “BUSINESS & ECONOMICS” Guess who’s retiring today? Alan Greenspan!! Never heard of him? He’s arguably been the most important man in the United States since he got his present job as head of the Federal Reserve Board in 1987. Will Ben Bernanke do half as well? The world exconomy is a lot more global than it used to be? If your dream is to sometime become a bigtime CEO, this is the AMS for you.

_____ “CELEBRITY WATCH” So what’s the latest with Brad and Angelina? I heard she may be pregnant. How about Jessica & Nick – any hope of a reconciliation. What’s the over/under on Britney Spears marriage lasting the year? And what’s that Paris Hilton up to now? This AMS will focus on our fixation with the famous.

_____ “DEATH & DISMEMBERMENT” The famous headline in the New York Daily News screamed “HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR”. How about the Entwistle case, from nearby Hopkinton, Mass. A man’s wife and child are murdered in their home, the husband’s is away in England (he’s a Brit), and he’s not sure if he’ll come home for the funeral!(Police say he’s not a suspect, by the way.) If you like the gory details, this one is all yours. (And there will never be any shortage of material, believe you me.)

_____ “EARTHWATCH” The polar icecaps are melting, last year set an all-time record for number of hurricanes, and species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. And nobody seems to care! (And if you do, you’re written off as some tree-hugging, New Age wack-job!) Maybe that’s because nobody is bothering to tell us about it. Somebody needs to keep us informed.

_____ “EDUCATION” So, how’s “No Child Left Behind” working out for you? The Attorney General of the state of Connecticut is suing the federal government over it, and other states are joining in. Are more standardized tests the answer? But if they aren't the answer, how else are we going to bring schools in Hartford and Bridgeport more in lines with those in Tolland and Farmington? Are charter schools the answer? School vouchers?

_____ “FEMINISM ON THE MARCH” It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Presidential election in 2008 may be Hillary Clinton v. Condoleezza Rice. And yet somehow I wouldn’t be betting the house on it. Hillary is at once one of the most admired and hated people in America. (Too bad Oprah won’t run). Some women are getting very powerful, but look at Congress, look at the boards of major corporations and what do you see – middle-aged white men!

_____ “HEALTH & MEDICINE” Bird flu? Prescription drugs from Canada? Is malpractice insurance way too high, or is it a way to protect the people? (Ask your grandmother how that new Medicare prescription plan is working out for her?) How many Cialis commercials will we see at the Super Bowl?

_____ “IN THE COURTROOM” The Ken Lay Trial (Enron) began yesterday. Meanwhile on Court TV “Cody Posey says his parents abused him mercilessly much of his life until he snapped and killed them, and witnesses supported his claims. But his uncle told jurors Friday he never saw any signs of abuse.” This AMS is not only trials, but laws made by Congress, the state.

_____ “IRAQ (& IRAN)” It’s been nearly three years (and 2,000 dead) since President Bush landed on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln and assured us that major combat operation had ended. Obviously that’s not over yet, but how’ s it going over there? Should we stay or should we go? And what will happen if we do. Meanwhile, next door in Iran, the government is trying to build nuclear power plants (and nuclear weapons. Can we let this happen? Can we do anything to stop it? I don’t mean to be dramatic, but your future depends on the outcome.

_____ “LOCAL NEWS” If you can find any. “Nothing ever happens in this town” kids tell me, and according to the Hartford Courant, it’s true. (The Courant, owned by the Tribune Company, a media conglomerate out of Chicago, recently axed 54 positions at the paper.) But we also have the JI, and the Rockville Reminder (of which I am a former coverboy, I might add). Do you think Denise D’Ascenzo could find Tolland on a map? What’s being reported in Tolland? More importantly, what’s not? Maybe it’s time for some Citizen Journalist to come to the fore.

_____ “MADISON AVENUE” That’s a street in New York where the bid ad agencies used to be, and it’s shorthand for the whole advertising industry. Of course, we’ll all be watching the Super Bowl. The game usually stinks, but the commercials can be great. Of course, who remembers what they’re selling, but they’re good none-the-less. What do you think of product placement? For an estimated $200 million, Volkswagen will get “the chance to place its cars in movies released by Universal Studios or television programs that appear on NBC or sibling networks like Bravo, SciFi and USA.” Shouldn’t we at least know when we’re being sold?

_____ “MEDIA PERSONALITIES” Edward R. Murrow. Eric Sevareid. Walter Cronkite. In those days giants walked the earth. Those were trusted voices (all male) who brought us the news. Things are changing now. Brokaw – retired. Rather – an early retirement. Jennings – deceased. Ted Koppel – retired. What’s next at CBS? Katie Couric? What about Wolf Blitzer? Geraldo? Did you catch Anderson Cooper in New Orleans? And then there are all the talking heads and bloviators – Chris Mathews, Bill O’Reilly, Keith Olbermann. Rush! But it’s not just news. Oprah, goes here, for sure, and Dr. Phil.

_____ “MEDIAWATCH” The media watches the politicians for us. Who watches the media? Well, there are people who do this for a living. Some can't stand the New York Times, and some can’t stand Bill O’Reilly and Fox News, and there might even be one of two who are neutral! I can give you some good sites if you’re interested in this AMS.

_____ “MIDDLE EAST” Of course, that’s where Iran and Iraq are, but there’s a lot more where they came from. Israel. What will happen there now that Ariel Sharon is incapacitated? Right next store, Hamas won the democratic elections in the Palestinian Territories. (They deny the right of Israel to exist, and they do recruit suicide bombers – but they are democratically elected.) And then there’s Lebanon, to the North of Israel, whose Prime Minister was assassinated last year by the Syrians. And don’t forget Packistan (an ally of ours, with nuclear weapons, but who weren’t too pleased with our rocket attack that killed 18 Pakastanis when we were trying to get – and missed – Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two man in al-Qaida). It’s a happening spot. According to the Bible, the world ends here!

_____ “MINORITY REPORT” Arabs are the new Russians. If terrorists on “24” last year were Arab, was that bigoted, or just realistic? And whichever it is, what is the overall impact? Then of course, we have racial issues to contend with. Is Omar Minaya really trying to field an all-Latin team at Shea Stadium this year? This AMS will look on all sorts of stereotyping in the media: race, nationality, sex, sexual preference, age, etc., etc.

_____ “MUSIC” I’m telling you, music was so much better in my day. And you’re too young to remember, but MTV used to show videos – all day long! The Grammies will be awarded on February 8 this year. This how lame the Grammies are: do you know who some of the nominees are? Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young. (What, has Frank Sinatra been dead too long?) Even the “new groups” – Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab for Cutie, Foo Fighters – I’ve heard of. (Well, not Gorillaz.) Is this the best we can do? What I want to know it who shot who? (I’d ask my neighbor, 50¢, but I haven’t seen him at the Highland Park recently). This can be your beat. Plus, you get to cover all the downloading/copying controversy.

_____ “NEW MEDIA” When I was a kid, things made sense. There were 3½ channels and you always knew what was on TV which night. Then came cable, then video, DVD’s; now you can get Family Guy on your PSP, and this is just the beginning. But that’s just entertainment. Journalism is undergoing a sea-change, with Blogs, and video-journalists. This is cutting edge stuff right here, so we need somebody who’s going to keep us up to date.

_____ “POLITICS IN THE CAPITOLS” That would be Hartford, and Washington, D.C. Will Samuel Alito be confirmed to the Supreme Court today, or will the Democrats filibuster? What’s going to happen to Social Security? Do you care? You better. What role is the media going to play? Will Alberto Gonzales make a good Attorney General. It’s either a great story of a poor minority reaching a powerful position (only in America!), or of a man who condones torture (in America?). Depends on who’s doing the describing.

_____ “POLITICS – FROM THE LEFT” If you think George Bush is maybe the worst President ever, you’re not alone. There are a lot of people out there who agree with you. Certainly out there on the fringes, but you know a lot of people think that the media in general is overly liberal. Fight back!

_____ “POLITICS – FROM THE RIGHT” If you think Fox News is “fair and balanced”; that W. is maybe even greater than Ronald Reagan; that Rush Limbaugh really does have “talent on loan from God”, then maybe this is your AMS. If you do think that the media is full of liberals who hate America (are you listening, Ann Colter?), here you go.

_____ “REALM OF THE BIZARRE” For instance: Boy is accused of cooking and serving pet store animals . The 16-year-old boy allegedly purchased a rabbit and guinea pig from a pet store, killed them at some point, and brought them into the class, where they were cooked and eaten. (Willoughby, OH Herald-News). You don’t have to go around making up stories about Bigfoot and the Batboy – weird is all around.

_____ “RELIGION AND MORALS” Last spring in ComMedia we followed the selection of a new Pope (Josef Ratzinger, a.k.a. Joey Ratz, a.k.a. the Panzer Cardinal). His first encyclical as Pope Benedict XVI is all about the various types of love. (Some are better than others.) This is a hot topic right now – Intelligent Design, abortion, gay marriage, torture, megachurches.

____ “SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY” Just last week they found the smallest vertebrate (a fish in a swamp in Indonesia), and a rocky, kind of earthlike planet about 22,000 light years away. Every time I turn around there’s a new feature on cellphones. They just did heart surgery on a fetus. I guess it’s true: The only constant in life is change.

_____ “SPORTS” ‘Bout time. The Super Bowl! The Winter Olympics! Truck Day! The World Baseball Classic. March Madness! Dodgeball? Steroids? Greenies? Huge contracts (for players and for TV). Athletes as role models? What’s wrong with this picture?

_____ “TV – PROGRAMMING” I don’t watch that much TV, outside of sports and news. I tried watching “24”, but I missed hour #5, so now what’s the point. I don’t watch Desperate Housewives, though, or any of those reality shows, but I know they’re out there. February is a sweeps month, so we ought to expect some especially trashy tv then. We need somebody to keep us in the know.

_____ “THE WAR ON TERRORISM” That’s not just Iraq, you know. It’s going on here at home, too (see “Big Brother is Watching”, above). Say, who’s the Director of Homeland Security, anyway. And does anybody know what color it is today?

_____ “YOUTH ISSUES” Well, from what I see on MTV, kids these days are just promiscuous drunks who can’t say two #%$*ing sentences without saying &#^$#@ half a dozen times. But maybe there’s more to what we see in the media, or more to the media than MTV.

______ “YOUR CHOICE” I can’t believe it. All those choices and you can’t find one that interests you? I suppose you can come up with something better?! (See me if you can.)

Notebook Guidelines

ComMedia – Notebook Guidelines

1. At the top a of a new page, make a heading “Week of. . . “

2. Below that (I would prefer the top right, but you may individualize according to your tastes – whoo-hoo!), put that day’s date.

3. Enter into your notebook the information from that day’s class that you deem significant or important, including the things that I tell you to write down. You will probably want to mark those items in some particular fashion.

4. Repeat the process throughout the week.

5. Drop off the journals on Friday.

6. It looks like the blog [http://thscommedia.blogspot.com/] may keep going. I would like you to check in at least once a week. You can leave evidence of this by either leaving a “comment” in the blog, or by writing a brief response in your notebook.

ComMedia Course Guidelines -- Spring 2006

CommunicationMedia® – Course Guidelines

ComMedia casts a critical eye at the workings of the media in our world. Much of the curriculum will be based on events of the past twenty-four hours, or events coming up in the immediate future. We will look at what the media covers (and doesn’t), but more particularly we will look at how the story was told.

STUDENTS WILL NEED FOR CLASS

• a “composition-style” notebook for daily, in-class notes.
• a loose-leaf notebook, binder, or folder for archiving class handouts.
• out-of-class access to electronic media sources, particularly television and the internet

STUDENTS WILL BE EXPECTED TO

• take responsibility for a particular “Area of Media Specialty”, and follow it throughout the semester
• present to the class at least one story per week from your AMS
• actively participate in classroom discussions, both by speaking and listening
• read and respond to articles distributed by the teacher
• check in and comment at least once a week with the ComMedia Blog (http://thscommedia.blogspot.com/)

GRADES WILL BE TALLIED FROM

• assessments by the teacher of the in-class notebook
  
• assessment by the teacher of class participationgrades achieved on AMS reports
• grades achieved on reading assignments
• grades achieved on Final Examination

MR. MacARTHUR MAY BE CONTACTED AT

jmacarthur@tolland.k12.ct.us, or mrmac@operamail.com

(860) 870-6860 (ex. 173)