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| RUSH LIMBAUGH http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Rush_limbaugh.jpg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARush_limbaugh.jpg By Dan Correia (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Shock! Awe! He said what? Can you say that on the radio? How dare he! One of the most polarizing "journalists" in the media industry used a loud voice and personal opinions to enter the public's radios, televisions, newspapers, and books to become one of the country's most influential figures and political commentators. Chapter fourteen of Rodger Streitmatter's Mightier Than the Sword illustrates just how much of an impact a loud boisterous voice such as Rush Limbaugh has had on the American public, both pro and against his views and news stories and the way in which he covers them. Limbaugh has used his forum to tap into the anger and frustration among his listeners and raises questions and debates on a variety of various subjects, ranging from political to entertainment to poking fun at certain targets such as homosexuals, women, and racial minorities. With over twenty-five million Americans tuning into HIS radio program each week, Limbaugh revolutionized a new form of news and entertainment show, simply called "infotainment".  Being heard on 660 radio stations, and being seen on 250 television stations, Limbaugh has the ability to make his voice heard to millions of listeners and viewers each night. The public seem to be split between viewing Limbaugh as a reckless rabble rousing bigot, or a hero; a voice to guide the American people to what they feel they deserve but cannot speak up on. The shock and awe value he brings to his broadcasts is what I believe keeps people tuned in and coming back for more, the what will he say next factor plays a key role into keeping listeners and viewers tuned in. Integrating news with opinions and hysteria type debates and arguments can be entertaining, but for an average viewer or listener using Limbaugh as a staple for news and credibility, that's when the image gets blurred and the viewer is not getting news to help them live free and self governing lives, but biased and opinionated views on news subjects, a BIG difference! http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGirl_listening_to_radio.gif By Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Public Domain Photographs [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Comedy_Central_2011_Logo.png http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AComedy_Central_2011_Logo.png By MTV Networks (Viacom) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are "political" commentators with popular "news" shows on Comedy Central (which should tell you right away all you need to know about the programs). Both Stewart and Colbert deal with political issues and debates, integrating the infotainment aspect into their respected programs. It brings for funny comments and takes on serious and influential information that the general public need in order to understand what is going on in the world. If the consensus were watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report after watching a news outlet such as CNN, MSNBC or NPR, the public would already have a preconceived notion of what is happening in the world and the headlines being created. These comedy shows would add an extra punch or kick to the headlines, often taking jabs at political leaders and figures, or mocking events or outcomes. There is a place for infotainment and shows such as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and Rush Limbaugh's various programs. However, when the news gets intertwined with opinions and loud shouting rants of rage and anger, that's when infotainment turns dangerous and can lead people who are watching these programs to not fully apprehend the official "news" story, but more of the personal opinions being shouted out to the audiences worldwide. According to Streitmatter in chapter fourteen of Mightier Than the Sword, Limbaugh's greatest flaw and weakness were his serious problems with his commentaries that were riddled with factual errors and rumors. When Limbaugh presents stories based on "facts, and they come to light as being false or filled with many errors or omissions, that's when the general public is misinformed and denied their right to receive news and news coverage that will help them live free and self governing lives. An example Streitmatter uses in one of many of Limbuagh's errors over the years was when he defended President Ronald Reagan against the Iran-Contra investigation. Limbaugh felt the Democrats were just wasting time and money with the investigation, "We just spent seven years and $40 million looking for any criminal activity on the part of anybody in the Reagan administration, and guess what? We couldn't find any....There is not one indictment. There is not one change." (Streitmatter, p. 233) However, fourteen people were indicted, including Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, eleven ultimately being convicted of criminal charges related to selling weapons to Iran, and not telling Congress about the events.  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Reagan_meets_with_aides_on_Iran-Contra.jpg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AReagan_meets_with_aides_on_Iran-Contra.jpg By White House Photo Office [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons By trying to pass off personal vendettas and opinions as news to a mass audience, Limbaugh's inaccuracies lead to wrong and potentially hurtful information and can be hard to disseminate at times the facts versus the personal points and opinions. If a viewer knew that the information he or she is receiving may not be unbiased going in to these types of shows, then no problem, enjoy the shock jock value that Limbaugh and others such as Don Imus and Howard Stern promote. Even Jon Stewart defends the criticism extremely well, documented on an episode of Crossfire on CNN back in 2004 when Stewart tells both hosts that his show is meant for comedy purposes, not to be misconstrued for a partisan media outlet that's main focus is to deliver balanced and fair news that will help the public live free and self governing lives. Stewart admitting that his is not one of those shows illustrates that he understands the difference between major news outlets and infotainment shows. JON STEWART ON EPISODE OF CROSSFIRE DEFENDING HIS COMEDY SHOW October 15, 2004 CNN Yes, Rush Limbaugh is an import "journalistic" figure in our history of journalism and media. Rodger Streitmatter would not have devoted a hole chapter to him unless he had defined or created new meaning to journalism and the way it is reached and received by the public. However, Streitmatter does go on to mention how Limbaugh's refusal and stubbornness to admit when he errs or spews biased and unsupported information has led to a damaging of the American news media's credibility. It is scary to imagine how even when faced with hard evidence or shown the errors that he made, Limbaugh refuses to admit he was wrong or correct mistakes. Infotainment can be a dangerous form of media, when basing the news received just on these programs on how well to live your life, and to once again live a free and self governing way of life.  RUSH LIMBAUGH CARTOON By Ian Marsden from Montpellier (Rush Limbaugh by Ian Marsden) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Monday, December 19, 2011
Rush Limbaugh: Leading the Republican Revolution
Monday, December 5, 2011
Journalism as Warmonger
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| Yellow Journalism Cartoon http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/PulitzerHearstWarYellowKids.jpg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APulitzerHearstWarYellowKids.jpg By William Barritt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
While media coverage and reporting is essential to individuals to decide how and what choices to make because of it, it can also be misleading and in some cases totally bogus. If the purpose of journalism is to provide citizens the information they need to live free and self governing lives, then I believe that certain journalists and media members need a refresher on this credo. Chapter five of Mightier than the Sword discusses The Spanish-American War, and how two publishing visionaries Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst revolutionized journalism by using a form of sensationalism reporting, known as yellow journalism. The formula for yellow journalism is one part news to one part hype, hype being the key word.
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| Joseph Pulitzer Portrait http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJosephPulitzerPinceNeznpsgov.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/JosephPulitzerPinceNeznpsgov.jpg See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Pulitzer and Hearst both distorted the news coverage, staging events, releasing false and misleading information, and calling for an all out war that never should have taken shape. The frenzy sparked a public outcry that ultimately pushed the president of the United States to abandon his antiwar policy and push America into a war with Spain that could have and should have been avoided altogether.
Hearst and Pulitzer simply wanted to promote their papers and gain circulation throughout, and did so by publishing accounts of battles that never took place and stories of heinous crimes and acts that were pure propaganda. All this to sell newspapers? To gain celebrity? What's more, because Hearts' Journal and Pulitzer's World had such significant circulation figures, hundreds of smaller papers began reprinting their stories as fact, a scary thought considering how much was was purely made up and or intensified by both men to increase their circulation.
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AA_stack_of_newspapers.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/A_stack_of_newspapers.jpg By Daniel R. Blume from Orange County, California, USA (A stack of newspapers) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
This all sounds a bit too familiar. Haven't I seen this before? Hasn't there been news coverage that pushed for war, embellished facts, and brought top ex pro war military officials to the forefront to give their "expert opinion" on why we should be fighting a sensless war? Yes to all the above, Fox News is the culprit to furthering from their motto of "fair and balanced" to more of biased and unreliable. Their pro war stance and push for attack resembles the ideas dating back to 1898 of Pulitzer and Hearst. To raise public intensity and create hysteria, the media can then control and dictate what we read and believe to be true, which can lead to the cry of and carrying out of wars. This YouTube video below illustrates how Fox News uses scare tactics, fear of attacks on our turf, and pure hypothetical and unproven "evidence" to suggest how the United States needs to strike first and set into motion a plan of attack.
YouTube video illustrating the way media can influence the public
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0japj2XWNwc&feature=related
http://foxattacks.com/videos.php
In 1898, American officials had anchored their battleship, the U.S.S Maine in Havana Harbor to send a message that they were monitoring the Cuban conflict due to American interests there. On February 15, the U.S.S. Maine exploded, killing 260 U.S. sailors aboard. Thus pounced Hearst and Pulitzer, creating a frenzy and fear among Americans that the United States must quickly declare war. The cause of the explosion has still to this day never been determined unequivocally, the most logical reason being it blew up accidentally. That did not matter to Hearst, who distorted the news and headlines, ran drawings of the event supposedly explaining what took place, and even releasing a "War with Spain" card game. The sensationalist coverage paid off however, with the Journal becoming the first newspaper to surpass the one million mark, and Pulitzer's the World.
http://foxattacks.com/videos.php
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| William Randolph Hearst Portrait http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWilliam_Randolph_Hearst_cph_3a49373.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/William_Randolph_Hearst_cph_3a49373.jpg By J.E. Purdy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
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| New York Journal U.S.S. Maine Headline http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJournal98.gif http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Journal98.gif By New York Journal (New York Journal) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Sadly the propaganda, fiery headlines, and self promoting agendas have not ceased in today's society. More than ever we continue to be fed lies and distortions of truth, leaving viewers to disseminate what it truth and what is "embellished". Fox News has their own agenda. They are given guidelines and rules to follow to carry out what they believe is news and news worthy. Why is it that their coverage compared to CNN, MSNBC, and other major news outlets varies so greatly? They say their "fair and balanced", are we to be so sure? Why is it then that a 2011 poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University found that Fox viewers all less informed than people who don't watch any news at all? Something just doesn't add up and reveals less and less a "fair and balanced" station and media coverage, but more of a biased and self promoting sensationalistic "journalism". (Link for Poll Findings) Rodger Streitmatter's descriptive and informative chapter on The Spanish-American War is a crucial illustration of just how much power the media and journalism can and still have today. Hearst and Pulitzer sure knew how to rile people up, cause a frenzy and stir emotions, but were they doing their due diligence as journalists? Were they informing the American people news and information they needed to live free and self governing lives? What Hearst and Pulitzer created was more of a radical form of storytelling, tall tales, and epic events that simply did not take place. Fairy tales and embellished stories is not journalism, and in effect can influence and harm a nation. Take this quote from Hearst published in the Journal a month after the war ended: The newspaper is the greatest force in civilization. Under republican government, newspapers form and express public opinion. They suggest and control legislation. They declare wars... The newspapers control the nation. (Mightier than the Sword, Streightmatter, Rodger. Page 92) Scary isn't it? Well ladies and gentleman, Fox News has their own agenda as well, and pushes for the coverage and appearance they want, the news they want to cover, and the personnel they wish to employ and use to voice their "news". This YouTube video documents retired and former workers of Fox News discussing (with many disguising their voice) how they were treated while employed at Fox News, and personal agendas that were pushed for their "news" programs. Fox News Lies YouTube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rqdtZlec0s&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL40B19F17E9CCD410 "Outfoxed" July 13, 2004 The Disinformation Company Produced by, Robert Greenwald |
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Sowing the Seeds of Revolution
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAmerican_flag.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/American_flag.jpg By Frydolin (Prosím v případě využití fotografie mimo projekty WMF o uvedení titulku "Vít Luštinec, Wikipedia" / Please credit as "Vít Luštinec, Wikipedia" in case you use this outside WMF projects.) (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
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| Boston Massacre http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABoston_Massacre_high-res.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Boston_Massacre_high-res.jpg By Engrav'd Printed & Sold by Paul Revere Boston. The print was copied by Revere from a design by Henry Pelham for an engraving eventually published under the title "The Fruits of Arbitrary Power, or the Bloody Massacre," of which only two impressions could be located by Brigham. Revere's print appeared on or about March 28, 1770. (http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.00174) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
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| Occupy Wall Street Sign http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADay_21_Occupy_Wall_Street_October_6_2011_Shankbone_16.JPG http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Day_21_Occupy_Wall_Street_October_6_2011_Shankbone_16.JPG By David Shankbone (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
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| Occupy Wall Street Sign http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADay_21_Occupy_Wall_Street_October_6_2011_Shankbone_9.JPG http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Day_21_Occupy_Wall_Street_October_6_2011_Shankbone_9.JPG By David Shankbone (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
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| Young Protestor Illustrates His Frustrattion http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Day_14_Occupy_Wall_Street_September_30_2011_Shankbone_27.JPG#file User:David Shankbone/Protests/Occupy Wall Street |
Rodger Streitmatter's chapter Sowing the Seeds of Revolution in Mightier than the Sword is an important chapter in distinguishing similar characteristics and traits that ring true in today's society and age. The colonists were ANGRY and FED up with the way the government and higher command were treating them, leaving little to no control and a state of total domination. Streitmatter illustrates beautifully how the rise of the colonists, and the rise of independent journalists and papers helped bring about change and dissension from the rule and unfair taxation by the British government. This chapter I chose specifically due to the obvious links and comparisons with our own present day "revolution", a new dawn if you will that is Occupy Wall Street. Streitmatter highlights how the colonists and particular journalists helped form an idea and spread the talks across the county...just like Occupy Wall Street has done across the country and the world. Occupy Wall Street has now spanned to such places as Denmark, Spain, Texas, Ohio, New Mexico, California, Arizona, Georgia, Maine, and the list goes on!! This IS growing, it NEEDS to continue growing, in order for our voices to be heard and loud enough for our thoughts and ideas to blossom into reality.
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| Thomas Paine Portrait http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AThomas_Paine.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Thomas_Paine.jpg By By Auguste Millière (floruit 1876), after an engraving by William Sharp (died 1824), after a 1792 portrait by George Romney (died 1802) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Spreading the word and allowing the masses of people to hear your voice is critical in order to bring about change. Historians credit essay writer Thomas Paine as a voice of inspiration during the American Revolution. Just as Occupy Wall Street individuals lead to represent the masses of unheard and unanswered voices of the 99% of the country, Paine was a fed up colonist who wrote to inspire and propose change to the colonists against the British. Paine published his pamphlet titled Common Sense to advocate how the men and women of this country deserved and were obligated to demand and want freedom and the ability to fulfill their destinies. In January of 1776, Common Sense was published to the masses and enhanced the concept of independence through his writing style of clarity, directness, and force. Paine wanted to ensure that even those who had trouble reading or comprehending would understand what he was writing and advocating for, and that his message was meant to spark new ideas and change in the colonists. His message resonated throughout, 150,000 copies of Common Sense were sold within three months! Paine sparked the readers attention and got them thinking about their lives and how to better fully live what they rightfully deserved, independence and freedom.
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| Thomas Paine's Common Sense http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACommonsense.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Commonsense.jpg By Scanned by uploader, originally by Thomas Paine. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
The American Revolution is an essential example of how journalists can help spark change and bring about radical ideas and movements across the country. The coverage and constant updating of events and movements is key to ensuring that the public knows of what is happening in their daily lives, and relies on the news coverage in order to decide how to live their lives and what could affect them daily. Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine were two examples during the American Revolution of journalists doing their diligence by alerting the public of the injustice and unfair practices of the British government. We need more Thomas Paine's and Samuel Adams in todays society more than ever, to help spread the word of the unfair and unjust practices in 2011, and need the media to play an even larger role in order to help spread the word of Occupy Wall Street and the hundreds of other protest groups. We need to stay united and not back down from our demands, just as the colonists did in 1776. Change can be scary, change can be great, but change IS necessary in order for the people of this great country to thrive once again and balance out our great nation of free independent people who only want fair and just practices to be upheld and enforced....Sound familiar?
American Revolution Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwWi0zdF7wk
"America the Story of Us"
September 14, 2010
A&E Home Video
http://www.history.com/search?search-field=america+the+story+of+us&asset-type=Videos
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