Media Critique: Montana Rape Case

     Three articles were written about the Montana teacher rape case by well-known news sources. Two articles provided all the information a person would need to know, one news agency, however, failed to impress. The article was written to the bare minimum, it lacked context and explanation.

     The two well written articles included quotes given by the mother of the teen girl who was raped and committed suicide, Auliea Hanlon. One article even went far enough to quote her from an interview by another news agency. They both also quoted the controversial comments made by Judge Baugh. The poorly written article had one quote given by the Montana Supreme Court. The other two had quotes from everyone directly involved in the case including: mother Auliea Hanlon, Judge Todd Baugh, and rapist Stacey Rambold. The article that had the most details was the one that cited their sources most often. The badly written article stood out a lot more due to the lack of facts. 

     The best two articles also gave lengthy explanation. They both said why this case was unjust and how it could be a pivotal case in Montana's history. They both explained that the rapist was given a 31 day prison sentence, when the minimum by Montana state law is 2 years. The bad article only focused on the 31 day sentence and failed to give attention as to what the future of this case may be. It also focused on the fact of the teen's suicide. In contrast the other two articles talked about the future of Judge Baugh's court career, Auliea Hanlon's life without her daughter, and the future of Stacey Rambold. All articles did talk about how Stacey Rambold broke his probation and Judge Baugh saying it wasn't worthy enough to go to jail. All the articles also talked about how the Supreme Court of Montana will get involved. One of the superior articles also stated that the case could take 6-18 months to get through the system. 

     The difference between all 3 articles really showed in the level of context and explanation. The two articles just couldn't be compare to the third because of the attention to detail they both possessed. They made the third article look sloppy and hastily written because they had so much context directly from those involved. They also gave explanation about why this case matters, and addressed controversial issues like women's rights. The third article was like reading a plain, dull version of the story. This goes to show that the principles of journalism should always be followed if writers want to be seen as respected journalists.

A+, Seyda!!

I was looking around at some more classmates' blogs when I came across Seyda's incredible blog post about the crowning of the Indian-descent Miss America. Seyda wrote a heartfelt review of what you really must be to be considered American. She  talked about how recent your family immigrated to America doesn't matter because she is still American. The truth is that the new Miss America was born and raised in America and this is the only lifestyle she's ever known. She is 100% American and that is what should count. Plus this is beauty pageant, who can honestly say they matter anyway... The only thing I would have liked was for Seyda to have continued her rant because it seemed like she had a lot of interesting things to say. (And maybe fix a few typos. It's okay, Seyda, we all make them!) If you'd like to check out Seyda's super cool post, you can read it here: http://seydamuratova.blogspot.com/2013/09/miss-america.html

Good Job, Morgan!!

I was checking out some of my classmates' blogs and stumbled across this awesome post by Morgan about the power of libel. I totally forgot what libel was about, but after reading Morgan's post I was now aware of the importance of libel. Libel is when you publish lies about someone, and have no proof to back up your statements. Unlike slander, libel is punishable in court, and does have serious consequences. The general punishments of being charged with libel is paying civil damages to the person defamed by your words. If you want to know more about the power of libel read Morgan's blog pots here: http://morgansjohnsons.blogspot.com/2013/09/response-1-libels-brief-appearance.html

Freedom of the Press

     I thought it was interesting to learn about the first American newspaper and the creation of freedom of the press. John Zenger published the American newspaper the New York Weekly Journal. In one publication he criticized the British governor for giving his friends and family high-paying and powerful jobs. The governor obviously got mad and put him in jail for slander. Zenger asked for a trial and proved that it wasn't slander, he was telling the truth. The court let him go saying that the truth is a journalists ultimate defense. This case would go on to be the foundation of the idea of freedom of the press. This idea of truth being a journalists ultimate defense was first started in America. The ideal has now been adopted by several other nations. Unfortunately, not all countries believe in this. Many journalists are put in jail or persecuted for publishing truthful things about people in power. Maybe one day there will be freedom of the press in every nation... Of course if Zenger would have lied he would have stayed in jail. Slander is still a big deal today, and press can be taken to court for it. The point being always telling the truth will be your main defense.

 

All About Books...

     Mr. Miller recently gave us a looong lecture on the reason why books are so fantastic. I agree with him that books are an awesome invention, but we seemed to only talk about what books did in the past. I would have liked to talk about what we think the future of books will be. Will the soon only be digitally published? How have items like Nooks and eReaders affected the book industry? These questions and more are some ideas I would have liked to hear about. It seemed like in the newspapers discussion we talked a lot about the future of newspapers. I would liked to have talk about that with books. Books are now available digitally and printing houses are being deeply affected by this. I think the topic of the future of books would have been a cool idea to discuss. I think their future is hazier than that of newspapers.
    I did enjoy learning about all the things Gutenberg's printing press gave us. I thought it was cool that so many useful things came from one invention. The printing press helped boost literacy rates, books were more affordable, the Protestant Reformative happened, spread ideas of democracy, published invention blueprints, dictionaries, and gave us maps. All from one little machine. It is pretty cool that all this came from one machine that came from centuries of perfecting.

Demassification of Magazines

     Way back when, magazines used to be one whole family thing. They had mom's recipes, dad's sports, and the kids' stories all rolled up in one. Today we have so many different magazines geared towards different audiences. For instance Home and Garden, for the gardeners, Seventeen, for the teenage girls, and ESPN Magazine, for your average guy. According to Mr. Miller not too long ago these magazines were one. Could you imagine a world in which make up tips were on the page opposite Dwayne Wade's basketball Q and A. That is not a magazine I would want. I like our modern magazines. There is a magazine for everyone. I like knowing what I am getting when I subscribe to magazines. If I subscribed to Cooking Light (I don't), I would expect to see healthy, family friendly recipes. I don't subscribe to Cooking Lite for a reason! I don't care about learning recipes, I wanna read about Kanye's latest media freak out. With past magazines we would get this as a total package deal. I am also assuming that the massified magazines would not have as much same topic content as today's modern magazines.

     Miller also said that the family would just pass around the magazine after one person was done. I don't know about  y'all, but when I read a magazine it is trashed by the end. I guess I am just not buying into this whole one-for-all ideal. It seems weird to think reading a magazine was a family event. Case and point: I am glad magazines demassified. It seems like people can subscribe to what they want and get that in return. 

 

Will Newspapers Go Away?

     In class Mr. Miller explained to us why he believed that newspapers will never go away. This made me wonder if they same can be said about radio. I decided to compare the two mediums and see if they both have the possibilities of staying around forever. One point Miller made was that newspapers are full of diverse content. This is true, and I would also say that radio has that too. Radios have stations for everyone. The AM dial tends to have all news and talk shows. Radio also follows one of the Nine Principles of Journalism by having a forum for public discussion on talk shows, just like newspapers. The FM dial also offers music and fun things to listen to, giving us entertainment.They are also a cold medium and don't command your whole attention which I think is really convenient.
     Another point Miller made was that newspapers are low tech and require nothing but literacy. This is most definitely true. It's totally supported in countries like America, but what about in third world countries, where literacy rates are low. It is more prevalent in countries like these to use radios. Nowadays radios are pretty cheap and require only an understanding of the language being spoken. It is also hard to censor radios due to the fact that they can broadcast from anywhere. They can also get news out quickly and efficiently.
     Radios, like newspapers, are also a physical object and can be taken anywhere. They now can come in small sizes that can fit on your arm and broadcast both AM and FM. Radios also have a sense of tradition like newspapers. Plus they are nonlinear in the idea that you can choose what you want to listen to.
     I think that radios are like newspapers and will never go away. You can now access radio stations on your cell phones, so radio stations still get advertisers and listeners. Radios continue to bring in profit and are a popular medium.