Afghanistan Chopper Crash

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/09/21/nato-service-members-killed-chopper-crash/

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39282298/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/09/22/afghanistan.helicopter.deaths/

            I found news stories on the Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN websites on the recent deaths of nine NATO soldiers from America.  Although all three sources covered the same story, there were glaring differences. 

            The Fox News report includes the wounding of an Afghan national security force member during the crash.  According to the article, the Taliban claims to have shot down the helicopter, although NATO asserted that there was no hostile fire at the time of the crash.  The Taliban are apparently prone to exaggeration.  Additionally, Fox News points out that this is the deadliest year for international forces in Afghanistan since 2001.  There is a definite slant within the article toward the idea that mechanical problems caused the crash since maintenance difficulties and dust have often been responsible for helicopter crashes in the past.  The article goes into depth about the severity of certain past crashes before discussing a missile strike that occurred on the same day along with brief mentions of roadside bombs and the recent election.  It appears as though Fox News is trying to provide a comprehensive look at recent violence in Afghanistan as compared to past acts.  Although the focus is on the September 21st chopper crash, the report is used mainly to show the escalation of violence.

            The MSNBC article is much like the Fox News report.  It too reveals that the death of the nine NATO soldiers brings the annual death count of NATO forces to the highest number since 2001.  It also leans toward the NATO claims concerning the cause of the crash, asserting that the Taliban often claims responsibility when not involved.  After discussing other NATO injuries and deaths for that day, the article appears to try to make a connection between the escalation of violence and the recent elections in Afghanistan.  The article also mentions details about the missile strike and the increase in foreign and United States troops in the country.  MSNBC also seems to be providing a comprehensive look at recent violence in Afghanistan and trying to attribute this escalation of death and injury to the election. 

            The CNN article, written a few days later, takes a different approach.  It focuses solely on the revelation of the identities of the soldiers killed and the flying of the bodies to Dover, Delaware.  There is no comprehensive discussion of violence in Afghanistan.  Neither is there mention of the election.  The purpose of the article is to compile the deaths of the NATO soldiers.

            The deaths of the nine soldiers are definitely something we should be concerned about.  Even though their deaths are most likely attributable to maintenance issues rather than attacks from the Taliban, the escalation of injuries and deaths of foreign troops points to an overall rise of violence in the country.  This increase in causalities is a concern we should be aware of, but I know I haven’t been paying attention for a while.  News on the economy and our own elections seem to eclipse Afghanistan in the news.  I have certainly been focused on those issues instead, but reading such articles will hopefully make me aware and willing to keep track of our military pursuits in Afghanistan.  

"CULT" Comparison

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/09/20/missing_sect_members_found_safe_in_calif/

http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/09/20/cult-like-group-found-alive-no-plans-of-group-suicide/

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/cult-leader-held-for-mental-evaluation/story-e6frf7jx-1225926615351

Since we have been talking so much about cults and satanic behavior, I decided to compare three articles about the recent cult scare in California using the sources: The Boston Globe, Time, and The Herald Sun. 

When comparing all three sources offering information about the 13 recently found members of a so-called religious sect, the accounts were noticeably different. 

The title of The Boston Globe article proclaimed that the missing “sect members” were found safe.  Details about the leader, Reyna Marisol Chicas, made her sound mentally unstable.  She gave a fake name and apparently rambled during questioning.  Sheriff officials described the group as “cult-like.”  Additionally, the article emphasized the leaving behind of cellphones and letters that indicated that the 13 members were awaiting the Rapture. 

The Time’s article, on the other hand, called the group “cult-like” in the title.  The article began with the account that the husbands of two of the women claimed that they were “cult-like” and “brainwashed” without any mention of the police asserting these descriptions.  Descriptions of the actual search were very detailed.  The article seemed to implicate the worried husbands as knowing that their wives were actually going somewhere to pray.  It even claimed that the women had asserted that they had left to pray often, implying that the husbands had knowingly created a false scare. 

The Herald Sun again uses the label of “cult” within its title.  Initially, the article offered some details about the search.  It also discussed Chicas’s mental state.  Here, the police used the label “cult-like” instead of the husbands using this description.  A new detail came to light: the word “suicide” was never used within the letters.  So, here the writer is perhaps skeptical of the husbands’ motivations.  Also, the article revealed that the group had been spotted by police before their disappearance and disregarded. 

It was interesting to see differences between reports on the same story once again, especially in the context of topics we discussed last class. 

Potential Serial Killer Captured!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082605949.html

I read about the suspected serial murderer, Elias Abuelazam, who is suspected of attacking 18 men, killing five of them. 

The article seems to pay equal attention to both the serial killer’s background and the cases he is suspected of perpetrating.  However, his background encompasses most of the beginning of the article while the case descriptions take up the majority of the end.  Some impatient readers may only learn about the suspected killer’s arrest, which is worded to appear un-slanted, but it actually makes his guilt seem likely.

Regarding his background, the article reports that Abuelazam is a 33-year-old Israeli citizen.  It also reports the date he moved to Leesburg, Virginia, a state where he is suspected of carrying out several attacks.  He has been charged with one stabbing in Michigan, and authorities believe he has committed many other attacks in Michigan and one in Ohio.  Much of the other information pertaining to his whereabouts is based on the assumption that he is the killer and attacker, speculating on his motivations and targets. 

There is no mention of other serial killer cases.  Neither are there statistics.  The article deals solely with Abuelazam and the evidence against him. 

Additionally, there is no mention of the FBI.  Leesburg authorities and a Genesee County, Michigan prosecuting attorney are the only law enforcement entities mentioned. 

There is, however, a great deal of description on the victims themselves.  Allegations concern a racial motivation.  Sixteen out of the eighteen victims were black, while one was a dark-skinned Hispanic and one was white.  In Michigan, the victims associated with the suspect were always alone.  Their attacker often asked them for directions or assistance with a broken car before attacking them.  There is more detail with the Virginia assaults, probably because my source is The Washington Post.  One teenager was stabbed in the back, a 67-year-old man was stabbed while sitting on his porch, and another man was helping the attacker repair his vehicle when he was stuck on the head with a hammer.  There are no names, just descriptions. 

The suspected serial killer operated in Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia.  The explanation for the move to Virginia was that Abuelazam had once worked with troubled children in Leesburg and he has family in the vicinity.  They do not mention if he had a job at the times of the attacks. 

It could be noteworthy that there is not a mention of the possibility of Abuelazam’s innocence.  Every quote and mention of evidence points to his guilt.  Readers are supposed to believe he is guilty. 

Obama's Education Speech

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/14/obama.back.to.school/?hpt=T2

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/09/obama-gets-personal-in-school-speech/1

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jETZSUicKxSQ_0IFsD2cOY9J_FSQD9I7QTQG1

When looking to compare three news stories covering the same event, I found articles about Obama’s back-to-school speech on the websites of CNN, USA Today, and the Associated Press. After examining these articles, it became apparent that although all of them report facts, their selective focus reveals glaring favoritism of different angles of the story.  All of the articles give the basic setting: Obama delivering a speech to back-to-school students, but that is where the similarities end.

CNN’s article details the speech from a retrospective point of view.  The staff writers make sure to point out conservative criticism of Obama’s planned speech the previous year.  Snippets of Obama’s current speech are included sporadically within the article, including a short reference to a recollection about the President’s mother.  Otherwise, the article focuses on comparisons between the political controversy of last year’s speech and the lack of a political agenda in this year’s speech. 

The USA Today write-up is markedly shorter.  It raises no comparisons between this speech and the one last year.  Instead, it highlights the personal statements Obama made about his family and his upbringing as the bi-racial child of divorced parents. 

The Associated Press article seems to combine and condense the previous two stories.  There are quotes detailing Obama’s encouragement of the students along with some of the President’s personal stories.  It also mentions the lack of controversy in this year’s speech, although the reference comes in the middle of the article, while it appears in the very first paragraph in the CNN article. 

  

After reading all the articles, it seems to me that the differences are rather glaring.  Emphasis on certain facts makes the portrayals of the story completely distinctive.  In one, Obama has risen above the previous criticism from the right.  On another, that criticism is ignored entirely in favor of Obama’s personal victories in school.  The last account offers a balance of the two angles. 

These articles provide a clear indication of the media’s ability to construct reality by providing some facts and excluding others.  It is evident that the media can present undistorted facts but still filter them.

STREAKING!!!!

http://www.streaking.org/

Streaking.org is a site dedicated to the promotion of streakers and streaking. Luckily, it comes with a disclaimer asserting the absence of sexually explicit pictures on the website.

The website is obviously intended to benefit users as a forum to share their streaking exploits and post pictures and videos that aim for humor. Links lead visitors to a discussion board boasting posts of streaking stories and descriptions, along with the occasional picture or video. There is also a connection to a yahoo group along with a social network that has apparently been taken offline.

Streaking.org promotes streaking as non-sexual act, something to do for fun or rebellion. Personally, I can see why people would want to avoid it, but it does not make sense to me for streaking to be illegal. People who streak do so for the shock factor. At my high school, a group of streakers ran across the football field in order to protest the strict rules in place (such as a ban on water bottles). Unfortunately, the rules became even more encompassing after that, but the statement remained.

At the same time, streaking can be damaging if done in front of young children and others who might be disturbed by the image. If plagued by poor timing, it could cause accidents and inadvertent death.

Even with those cons, I do not see streaking as deviant enough to warrant harsh punishment. Perhaps it should be discouraged. But perhaps the threat of being caught adds to the fun. In the end, streaking is a humorous form of expression…just one that has the potential of being unpleasant for witnesses.

Glenn Beck Article

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/opn/2010/09/03-24/Plain-Speaking-Beck-rally-brings-out-media-bias.html

An article in a local newspaper, The Capital, based in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Maryland, gives a new take on the recent concurrent rallies in Washington D.C., which were held during the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous, “I Have a Dream” speech.

Bob McWilliams, the writer of the article, expresses disappointment in the reporting of news provided by The Associated Press, MSNBC, and NPR. These media organizations emphasized the skin color and political affiliation of the people attending Glenn Beck’s event, but they mentioned nothing regarding the same information in relation to Al Sharpton’s supporters. Beck was also identified as a conservative commentator, while Sharpton’s liberal slant was ignored by the three reports. Additionally, the news reports vastly underestimated the number of people attending Beck’s rally by hundreds of thousands in order to make the considerably fewer number in attendance for Sharpton seem comparable.

McWilliams goes on to contend that only twenty-five percent of Americans have confidence in the news media in general, and he calls for a reversal of that trend via political diversity throughout their own ranks.

The critique raises excellent points, even though the article clearly favors the conservatives, at least in this specific instance. It might have been beneficial to point out instances where liberals experience some form of unfair media coverage in order to cover both sides equally.

McWilliams does suggest an interesting remedy in requiring political diversity throughout the ranks of the media. It could work. At the same time, forcing news stations to change the way they cover the news could seriously violate free speech. The media needs the freedom to cover the news in whatever way they want without government interference. Their check must emanate from the viewers. McWilliams asserts that the Internet is beginning to prevent the media from hoodwinking the public completely, and that is partially true. Hopefully, it will be enough to receive truthful, less biased news coverage without resorting to government influence.

AGONY!

On Thursday, September 2nd, I decided to suck it up and resigned myself to the inevitable.


After I recorded all media usage throughout Tuesday, I decided it would be most beneficial to do my fast on the most comparable day of the week. Since Thursday is also the day that I have the most classes, I figured I would have the most distractions from media.

So, instead of waking up to music, I ate breakfast in silence. I found that it was a little more difficult to look over the notes for my Literature quiz that morning due to the clamor of students around me, but I managed.

Walking to class was a bit more trying than usual. Living in Skyline, hills going to and from class are a given, but with music it is usually easier to ignore the burn in my legs. The journey seemed more trying than usual without the distraction of media, but again, I persevered.

I left my phone off, which could have been the most excruciating experience of all, but since I had made plans with my friends for meeting times, lunches, etc., the day before, it turned out to be surprisingly painless.

When I arrived back at the dorm, I immediately hauled my homework to the study room where I would not be tempted by our television. I also managed to hide my iPod and cell phone in a drawer out of my sight in a rare moment of strength.

As time went on, it became increasingly more difficult to concentrate. I found myself wondering about Facebook, itching to turn on my iPod, and longing to check my messages. Abstaining from media grew into something more than just irritating…it became agonizing. More than anything in the world, I wanted to turn on my iPod. I had never studied without it, and not having it seemed to distract me rather than help me. I typically use music to block out the outside noise of my peers when I desperately need to concentrate. Every single sound seemed magnified without my music, but luckily, I found other ways to distract myself.

I visited with friends after I finished the homework I had to do. I avoided my room at all costs…there were too many temptations. To my surprise, abstaining became easier and easier. Homework put my fast on the forefront of my mind, but doing something where I would not normally use media made things less stressful.

I went to bed early, something I rarely do when I have the enticement of media to distract me, but it was definitely refreshing to wake up the next morning without exhaustion.

The only time media was unavoidable for me was in the bathroom where we have a radio. With girls crowded around the sink fixing their hair, cowardice blocked me from turning off the music. That was the only time I cheated, and it was only because I could find no way around it.

I was also much more aware of how prevalent media usage is in our culture. My jealous eyes spied multitudes of earbuds and phones throughout the day. People gossiped about happenings on Facebook, texts they had received, and music they hated. Most conversations I heard at least mentioned some form of media usage. Although I felt jealousy and admittedly like I was experiencing some withdrawal symptoms, the ordeal was definitely eye opening.

Overall, fasting from media usage is certainly not something I want to ever repeat, but it allowed me a brief outsider’s view of what has become the foremost addiction in our country. For that, I am grateful, just not grateful enough to repeat the experience.

Media Galore

I decided to keep track of my media usage on Tuesday, August 31st. Although I have never really considered myself an avid media enthusiast, I was aware that I took advantage of technical goodies often enough.


This assignment certainly opened my eyes.

When I woke up at 9:30, the first thing I did was brush my teeth. In my dorm bathroom, we have a radio, so I listened to music in there for around five minutes. Later, I listened to my iPod as I ate breakfast and as I walked to class. Before, after, and in between each of my three classes I used my iPod to listen to music. I would also check my phone for messages during these times.

Once classes were over at 3:15 and after I trekked through the blistering heat from Memorial Hall back to my dorm in Skyline, I immediately went to my computer and checked my email. This, of course, lead to a perusal of the Internet for about the next hour before I managed to begin attempting homework.

Living in a dorm, I usually need music to concentrate because of the noise, so my earbuds found their way back into my ears. I also found myself checking my phone at regular intervals, whether for the time or for received messages.

 Aside from a break during dinner, I ended up with some form of media usage for the rest of day. Either my roommate or I played music while we did homework, and the radio was still on while I took a shower.

I guess I use media tons more than I thought!