Whose Media Is It Anyway?

On the day of his funeral I was walking down Madis...

2009-07-10T21:13:55.369-04:00

On the day of his funeral I was walking down Madison Ave and inside a local bank they had TVs playing CNN which was covering the "Live" motorcade to the Staples center. At thsi point some one on the street said "oh look, is it another OJ?" I wasn't sure if I should laugh or correct them?

Blessed to have met you on your first day of colle...

2009-06-08T22:41:01.531-04:00

Blessed to have met you on your first day of college...ecstatic & proud to see you reach your last!

I believe we weren't even blogging in 1998! Keep t...

2009-05-30T19:18:18.181-04:00

I believe we weren't even blogging in 1998! Keep this one going. Congrats and it was a special and great day!

It is definitely a chicken and egg dilemma. But I ...

2009-05-21T11:02:07.974-04:00

It is definitely a chicken and egg dilemma. But I don't think the public has as much influence or impact on what is covered in traditional media as most people would like to think. Dramatic, narrative stories are in general more interesting to all kind of people--journalists or regular humans, unfortunately the most exciting stories usually are the most sensational, and negative. Overall, I think the members of the media drive the news much more than the public.

Nicole-I am fairly certain it is a political calcu...

2009-05-21T10:57:12.647-04:00

Nicole-I am fairly certain it is a political calculation on the part of the Palins. See my previous comment. Bristol is a reluctant role model to say the least.

I am pretty sure they did cover the Edwards story,...

2009-05-21T10:55:05.446-04:00

I am pretty sure they did cover the Edwards story, I definitely saw a commercial for it on nbc I think. She was even interviewed on NPR. Not sure about the Palin story though, I'd have to look into that. What's strange is that all those morning shows, Today and GMA are part of the news divisions for their network. Seems like a real stretch to me. I agree that that the evening news is not that bad, but if you notice they are all covering mostly the same stories, except at the end when they usually a profile or something original. Also, the demographic for these programs is over 60 (if you can't tell by the commercials) and I'm not sure if those programs will have any viewership in 20 years.

Wow! I can only imagine what it was like with onl...

2009-05-18T16:57:00.000-04:00

Wow! I can only imagine what it was like with only 20 minutes of nightly news. I think the nightly news programs do a pretty good job of keeping only to what is newsworthy and try to catch them when I can. The hard part is not getting sucked into another trashy program after. Do you think any of the big 3 nightly programs covered the Palin or Edwards issue you referenced earlier in your blog?

The Palin's make me so uncomfortable on so many le...

2009-05-18T14:01:00.000-04:00

The Palin's make me so uncomfortable on so many levels. Ultimately, I really don't understand why Bristol is doing this press tour. Money? Publicity? Uggh, the whole thing makes me want to take a shower.

Do you think this will help Sarah for the next ele...

2009-05-13T22:19:00.000-04:00

Do you think this will help Sarah for the next election?

I guess I feel uncomfortable about how much she sh...

2009-05-13T22:13:00.000-04:00

I guess I feel uncomfortable about how much she shares, even though I have to admit, I enjoyed reading (I read it in the New York Times when they covered it) every bit of it. It's an interesting issue to me in terms of how this guy (this champion of the poor) played a lot of people including/ maybe especially his wife. I really stopped liking him before I heard about the affair when I saw a video of him with Elizabeth and his kids on the campaign bus during the primary. I could not stand the way he spoke to his kids.

I think it is an interesting question though why the NYT and others gave her memoir/the interview with Oprah so much press. You say they get bored with the real news. And then again, is it that the public gets bored with it? Or both? I guess I think that it is all newsworthy but that I'd rather hear a lot more positive, success stories. Why do we seem to be so drawn to the negative?

Bristol looked so uncomfortable. Why is she being ...

2009-05-09T09:40:00.000-04:00

Bristol looked so uncomfortable. Why is she being made to do this? I think Matt did his best, b/c how can you really go after a teenager with her dad hovering over?

What gets me is the lack of real discussion about contraception. Demonizing sex isn't the answer! What's wrong w/ sex? And how about supporting teens w/ the idea of loving yourself? How bout parents and adult mentors giving teens what they need to FEEL loved and cared for so they don't want to have sex at a really early age, or w/ multiple partners, or have a baby to undo their pain...

Jill RR

I'm not suggesting anyone ask a 17-year-old girl h...

2009-05-08T16:15:00.000-04:00

I'm not suggesting anyone ask a 17-year-old girl hardball questions. She's not an elected official nor does she want to be. I doubt she wants to be in the spotlight at all. I just don't understand what her mom whoever put her up to this was thinking...well, that's not true, I might know. It's 4 numbers. The first one is 2 and the last one is 2.

As for Matt, I definitely know one day he was banging himself on the head: when he interviewed a woman who watched her house being burglarized on a webcam. Or, the woman who was struck by a car after being chased for miles by a bear. It might be a tie.

Did Matt really do a good job? I don't think he lo...

2009-05-08T10:32:00.000-04:00

Did Matt really do a good job? I don't think he looked like a bully at all. I think he is too afraid of any backlash from Palin Nation to ask hard questions. He fed her the answers to his soft questions. Does he wake up everyday and say I can't believe this is my job?

I agree that this is completely weird. Bristol adm...

2009-05-06T15:41:00.000-04:00

I agree that this is completely weird. Bristol admits it herself in the interview - that she is giving people advice that she herself didn't follow. Her dad says some dumb things - like how hard it is for Bristol to hang out with her friends. Should he be more concerned about her finishing high school? It was like they couldn't get their story straight about whether the baby was a "blessing" or a "mistake." It didn't help that there were so many shots of the baby's cute sleeping face. Who doesn't melt when they see a peaceful sleeping baby?

I don't mean to sound heartless or overly jaded bu...

2009-05-06T15:29:00.000-04:00

I don't mean to sound heartless or overly jaded but I'm pretty indifferent about this kind of news. I'm not really concerned about the personal lives of our politicians. I know it would be great if they demonstrated solid morals but this seems to be so hard to find. In the end, it just sounds like another soap opera that people find more interesting than the actual news.

Elisabeth- I know more than a few people who felt ...

2009-05-06T11:23:00.000-04:00

Elisabeth- I know more than a few people who felt the same sadness/disappointment when the affair story broke. I was pretty shocked myself. I guess I just don't get why it is so newsworthy now. Maureen Dowd has a pretty good column today about it. A bit critical, but worth a read: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/opinion/06dowd.html?ref=opinion
JohnE- I do believe you would rather read about A-Rod, but pirates? ;)

Agreed. I certainly don't care and had forgotten a...

2009-05-06T10:49:00.000-04:00

Agreed. I certainly don't care and had forgotten about these people over a year ago. Believe it or not I would rather read more articles about A-Rod's steroid use in high school or even bring the Pirates back!!

Joe Biden should consider doing stand-up...

2009-05-06T10:31:00.000-04:00

Joe Biden should consider doing stand-up...

This story makes me so sad. I deeply respect Eliz...

2009-05-06T10:29:00.000-04:00

This story makes me so sad. I deeply respect Elizabeth Edwards and I was truly shocked when I first heard the news of her husband's affair. I suppose that was a bit naive of me but I really believed that they were that rare honest, kind and respectful political couple.
I don't really understand the point of this book but I support whatever it is that this courage woman feels she needs the world to know, for herself and for her children.

2009-05-05T22:07:00.000-04:00

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This time, I don't agree. Raccoons infest lots of ...

2009-05-05T21:57:00.000-04:00

This time, I don't agree. Raccoons infest lots of urban areas (I don't know if they're in Prospect Park but it wouldn't surprise me), and are really common in the suburbs. This is a rare disease but the "what if" factor is huge. And who knew? It would help if the Daily News had given us a little description of racooon poop, though.

I hear you ELE! Isn't it crazy making that instea...

2009-05-05T20:31:00.000-04:00

I hear you ELE! Isn't it crazy making that instead of changing the reporting they try to change the name! So not the point!

Yes. There are 76 million cases of foodborne illne...

2009-05-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

Yes. There are 76 million cases of foodborne illness in the U.S. each year and 325,000 hospitalizations. Five thousand people die each year from it, which seems like a lot for a developed country. But of course, it only gets the media's radar when there is an outbreak: tomato, spinach, peanut, pistachio, etc. Sometimes misinformation (swine flu coming from eating hot dogs) can lead to better eating habits (less street meat). We shall see!

I think part of the media's job these days is to m...

2009-05-04T14:52:00.000-04:00

I think part of the media's job these days is to make people irrational. Instead of insisting that the illnesses associated with eating pork in the developed world are food borne illness like trichinosis and listeria, the headlines just say "fear" and "pandemic" The important details about the genetic makeup of this virus are just some of the other important details often left out of the coverage (or given scant attention at the end of a segment) leaving people paranoid at the meat counter, scared to get on the subway and wearing useless surgical masks.

I think if people informed themselves and the medi...

2009-05-02T20:48:00.000-04:00

I think if people informed themselves and the media covered the truths just as much as the dramas of this situation (not just tagging on at the end of the report how you can get the flu and what precautions to take) I think we would still be calling it swine flu. Everyone knows it is from pigs anyways.

One other thing though...even though I am well informed that you can not get it from eating pork...this whole thing has gotten me freaked out to the point that I don't know if I could buy a pork roast right about now...I was in the grocery store the other day and did buy italian sausage (pork) but that was easier because the name pork is not in it. I know it is irrational!