Musings. Teachings. Ing-ings.
Posts tagged journalism
I cannot escape this issue.
3980 days
by Chris
in Commentary
…and it absolutely enrages me. Time to settle this whole mosque “issue” right here.
First of all, the entire argument has been instigated by a media obsessed with non-issues in a time of great struggle in America. Soldiers are still dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy is still looking poor and the job market is below abysmal. Let’s not forget the sorry state of education in our area of America and our country at large.
Yet what is on the television? What dominates our media?
This. This issue. It is backed up by apparently 61% of people in this nation. Good to know 61% of the people living in America are either ignorant of the facts or Islamophobic. Think that is harsh or intolerant? Feel free, you are entitled to your own opinion — however I refuse to tolerate hate or ignorance and this entire “controversy” stinks of both.
First of all, let’s get this out of the way:
There is no legal case against the “ground zero mosque” whatsoever. Nada. Zilch. The right to own and develop property is a constitutional right. In addition, the government shall make no law supporting or opposing any religion according to the First Amendment. Simply put, any action taken against the mosque (past support for the proprietor’s constitutional rights) would be unconstitutional.
So then, it is an issue of taste. Of morality.
Or, let’s call it what it is: Political pandering bullshit designed to create an “us versus them” atmosphere. An issue manufactured to feed on the ignorant emotional feelings of people who do not understand those who are different from them. It is a new era of such tension in America, a tactic that has been used since our countries very founding. Blacks, Catholics, Irish and Italians have all felt this alienation in the past and arguably some of those groups still do. Worse yet? Some of those same groups have joined in in welcoming whoever the “new guy” is in a truly American way, handing them an unlit torch and pushing them out into the darkened neighborhood of America. Good luck, maybe we will abstain from spitting on you for a few weeks.
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt though. Maybe you really think it is about taste. If that is the case then the belief you subscribe to is that a mosque built near ground zero is somehow offensive.
So I ask you this.
Why?
What is offensive about it? The immediate answer seems to be because the attackers on 9/11 were all Muslim, or at least they claimed to be. What we must remember however is that Islam has over a billion followers. The actions of a minority should not damn a majority. Not only that but we must not forget that many Muslims died on 9/11 — and many of their lives were changed because of it. Not to mention those that were attacked due to hate crimes following the terrorist attacks.
That isn’t it, you say. The reason has to do with prominent Muslim leaders not damning extremists — not only that, but they tolerate hate for the US! You growl and sneer… and ignore that the man in charge of the whole project has been trying to mend relations between faiths and nations all the while damning extremists.
You shake your head and roll your eyes, “Muslim’s expect us to be tolerant and yet look at how much they hate us! How much they hate everyone else!”
While I won’t get into the socio-political elements of this debate that might just say that they have a good reason to not like us, I will say that this is possibly the silliest argument of them all. The golden image of America has always been the melting pot. The land of opportunity, where a guy with green skin can come and make a fortune selling beans. The land where all cultures mix and mesh together, the best parts of all of them becoming part of our national pride.
We are a country that is supposed to set the tone for the rest of the world when it comes to tolerance. We are a place that people come to in order to escape hate, not to bathe in it.
The logic of “Well, they don’t tolerate X so we shouldn’t Y!” is absolutely absurd as is the logic of NIMBY when applied to the issue.
On top of all of this? It isn’t even a mosque. It is a community center. While it is offensive to me that “being a mosque” makes it horrible in the first place, the fact is it isn’t one. It might have a place for prayer, but so did the World Trade Center. Hell, even the Pentagon has a place for non-denominational worship. Why is this such a bad thing? Do we only allow followers of religions we like to pray?
At the heart of it, that is exactly the issue. Americans are afraid of Islam. After all, they’ve been told over the years that anyone wearing (or associated with) a funny hat is bad!
You know, this was made such a big issue right before 9/11′s anniversary and that makes me absolutely disgusted. The idea that the memories of the dead are being used in a crusade for hate is sickening. I cried yesterday watching video someone had taken of the towers falling. It isn’t enough that thousands had to lose their lives, but now they are being used to spread misinformation and hate. It makes me physically ill. The link that spawned this whole article (this one) made me fume. Fox News, you are beyond scum to me.
I think I’ve covered all of the “issues” here. If there are any other ones please tell me so I can debunk them, I’d like to link everyone to this article that I can so this hate can be snuffed out.
Also I apologize if this article seems to be filled with an exceptional amount of bile, but after a month of this I am fairly irate.
Don’t have news? Manufacture your own.
61009 days
by Chris
in Commentary
I’m a little behind on both of these “stories” as really they were news last week, though I think they will continue to be issues for a few months, unfortunately.
So, the stories in question:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/13/obama.islamic.center.support/index.html?hpt=T2#fbid=Grj1eAqv16X&wom=true
http://gawker.com/5611846/anderson-cooper-gets-testy-over-crazy-representatives-terror-babies-theory
I know these aren’t links to the original “stories” but they should get you caught up to what I am talking about. So, onward.
Let’s start with the “issue” of building a mosque near ground zero. First of all, why is this an issue? Second of all, why in the hell is this even an issue? To say that it makes me almost foam at the mouth is putting it lightly. The audacity of anyone manufacturing such a psuedo-controversy absolutely drives me up the wall. It’s offensive, hateful and downright disgusting.
How can the same people that claim that September 11th was an attack on our freedom make such a blatant attack on the religious freedoms of others?
Anyone parroting claims that this is “offensive” to the victims is downright silly and blind. Saying a mosque shouldn’t be built near ground zero because the terrorists were of the Islamic faith is like saying you shouldn’t build a church in Pensacola because it might offend the victims of the abortion clinic that was bombed by Christians “as a gift to Jesus.” The logic is irrational. The actions of one small group of fundamentalists do not dictate an entire religion nor do they give anyone an excuse to spread ignorant hate.
Even worse is the logic some are using to defend this “protest.”
This is a direct quote from my local paper’s editorial section:
“Those who support building a mosque near Ground Zero should try building a church near mecca.”
My head slammed into the table so hard I probably left a small crater. I guess we should mirror our religious freedoms off of Saudi Arabia?
But, alas. All of this is irrelevant discussion… because they don’t want to even build a mosque. They want to build a Muslim community center, sort of like a YMCA. Sure, a small center akin to a mosque will exist for praying, but that’s it. Who has the authority to prevent anyone from praying to whom they please? Certainly not a group of bigots who claim to be patriotic as they stomp on the very fabric the country was built on.
Let’s be serious here — strip joints are closer to this “holy ground” than this “mosque” will be. We all know that the only reason this is an issue to begin with is because Americans (specifically Christian ones) are afraid of Muslims. End the issue there and let it die. Of course though, fake controversy brews unstoppable traffic and attention, so the show will go on.
The second story follows another non-issue. According to a few Texas representatives a plot is currently in motion by terrorists to bring pregnant women into the country and then have babies who would become US citizens. The children would then be raised outside of America and trained as terrorists. Eventually they would return to the United States to bomb us or otherwise attack us.
Now, if you frequent conspiracy theories and believe that Rube Goldberg machines are the best way to accomplish just about anything, then perhaps this seems quite plausible.
For the rest of us though, it isn’t. Luckily Anderson Cooper is one of those “sound of mind” people that believe evidence is, you know, necessary for this sort of thing. Alas, none was provided. Still, according to these representatives we should be overtaken by terror.
There is one glaring hole in this whole theory though… it’s pointless. Why would terrorists bother waiting 15-20 years for a terrorist-kid to mature enough to be trained and used against us? They’ve had no problems getting people past our borders before and they’ve also had no problem convincing current American citizens to join their fight.
But alas, election time is coming and NATIONAL SECURITY is a pretty huge flag to wave when you need to pick up votes. Not to mention certain networks enjoy running stories like this.
Always be on the look-out for manufactured stories that are passed off as critical bits of information. Chances are if the words “panic” or “fear” are involved… it might be suspicious.
(Also linking this because it seems funny and relevant.)
The Googocolypse? Not quite…
01013 days
by Chris
in Commentary
I hate to touch on this again, but I felt I really needed to stick my opinion on Google’s latest statement regarding their policy on net neutrality up on here. It seems like some misinformation and panic is being spread around simply because… well, it’s the internet.
Before reading this post you might want to go back a bit and read this one.
Anyway, a friend of mine on Facebook posted this link from a blog. It is a panic piece about how Google’s latest decision is essentially decimating net neutrality. It goes on about how Google is going back on all of their older policies, all the while showing non-related images that aren’t really labeled as such. It’s full of misinformation and tries to skew a lot of facts. I know this will probably become a hot topic not just with my friends but around the internet in general, so I thought it was worth “replying” to this blog.
First of all…
Imagine a world where you can’t use your electric stove because stoves are placed in a tier that is 50% more than the standard rate, to the point where cooking every day becomes cost-prohibitive. Tiers for your stove, your microwave, your dishwasher, your electric toothbrush, your alarm clock, your plug-in vehicle, and more. Your bill becomes increasingly frustrating, and increasingly expensive.
Google & Verizon would like to do this to your Internet.
Nowhere in the proposed legislation nor in Google’s public policy is anything mentioned about this, nor is any of it even hinting at it. In fact, it specifically speaks against it:
A broadband Internet access service provider would be prohibited from
preventing users of its broadband Internet access service from–
(1) sending and receiving lawful content of their choice;
(2) running lawful applications and using lawful services of their choice; and
(3) connecting their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network or
service, facilitate theft of service, or harm other users of the service.
While singling out “lawful applications” might cause some to panic this is no different from the terms of service you sign with your ISP. Obviously a corporation wants to protect themselves from getting sued for something you are doing. This isn’t anything new and is their legal right — I doubt anyone will really argue against this.
The article continues to go on, saying that Google and Verizon are bringing us to a brave new world (briefly linking to an Ars Technica article that parrots the same points).
Where the article goes horribly wrong is its take on a certain part of the legislative plan. It quotes a bit about “additional online services” and makes a judgment on it. The rest of the article has to do with this little quote, and admittedly the bit that they do quote looks quite foreboding:
Additional Online Services: A provider that offers a broadband Internet access service complying with the above principles could offer any other additional or differentiated services. Such other services would have to be distinguishable in scope and purpose from broadband Internet access service, but could make use of or access Internet content, applications or services and could include traffic prioritization.
There’s only one slight problem here. They carefully admit the last part of this little snippet. Unsurprisingly, this bit changes everything and nullifies most of the argument that takes up the rest of the blog:
The FCC would publish an annual report on the effect of these additional services, and immediately report if it finds at any time that these services threaten the meaningful availability of broadband Internet access services or have been devised or promoted in a manner designed to evade these consumer protections.
Suddenly, things don’t look too terrible. Google (and Verizon) are basically saying that they would like for the ability to prioritize traffic for some specific applications to be developed in the future (Google mentions innovations and the idea of a health network), but that they are willing to be transparent about them. People are terrified that this is a huge loophole… except that the last part of the quoted document specifically mentions that if this is used as a loophole then the FCC will take action “immediately.” Not to mention it is hard to be evil when you have to be quite public about it.
Now, am I saying that we shouldn’t be keeping a close eye on Google and Verizon and that we shouldn’t be skeptical of this legislation? No. I’m just saying that this panic is absolutely silly. Google didn’t take a 180 here and net neutrality is not currently being assaulted by them. Put down the pitchforks and make sure you read the material for yourself — just don’t take what a blog says to be true! Do your own research.
For reference:
The proposed legislation: http://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.google.com/googleblogs/pdfs/verizon_google_legislative_framework_proposal_081010.pdf
Google’s public policy blog: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/
Also this isn’t today’s article. It is just something I wanted to briefly touch on. Today’s stuff will probably come later today. I promise it won’t be about Google. 
Sensationalism: The Real Mind Killer
31018 days
Sensationalism is nothing new. It has existed since the dawn of news and has thrived simply because it often sells. Nothing gets people paying attention like fear, tragedy and the fall of the “big guy.” For those reasons we are often barraged by local and national news about things that are likely to kill us, maim us, poison us, steal our jobs, hate our country, ruin our way of life or generally just anger us. In between stories about murders, rapes and Paris Hilton (or Chelsea Clinton, if you prefer) we are barraged with advertising that we often have no choice but to pay attention to, and thus the cycle repeats.
Yet while sensationalism typically sits in the isle of entertainment, sometimes it crosses over to the serious side, attempting to secretly jettison dangerous “facts” into the territory of legitimacy. Fear is an easy motivator and when used to political ends it can be devastating to the truth, despite who it tramples in the process. Take the recent case of Shirley Sherrod.
I’ll save you a deep explanation, but here is the short version: Sherrod was the Georgia state director for the US Department of Agriculture. She was forced to resign after clips of an address she gave at an NAACP event made her to look “racist” in the eyes of conservative bloggers. This information was parroted by smaller news organizations until major ones started picking it up and running with it. It was a golden goose — everyone was suddenly paying attention to it and simply saying the name brought in plenty of traffic (or viewers, if you prefer). The only problem? It was all bogus. The video was edited to show a certain point of view. Despite this, the circus ran for weeks.
Still — mistakes sometime happen, right? No big deal?
The problem here lies with the fact that no one decided to sit down and check the source, something that every journalism student learns to do in a 101 class. Not doing such things and taking things for granted simply blows all ethics out of the water — as well as all trust for the “journalists” for running such a story without doing the research for themselves. Don’t be fooled, though — the motivation here wasn’t simply laziness — it was advertising dollars. In order to keep viewers glued to their televisions networks (and their journalists) had to run the same story as their peers as fast as possible, as to not look “slow” in this age of instant journalism. Not only that, but the story had to be sensationalized in order to sell — it was tagged with words like racism, hate and hypocrisy. There was no accountability. There was no “fact checking.” There was only the dollar and the possibility of losing it, so everyone looked the other way.
Truth be damned. The story of nothing was lit on fire and paraded through the streets — and a new generation got a front row seat to yellow journalism in its purest form.
The story isn’t always political, though. Sometimes it is just a love for the big guy to fall. It’s some secret human desire we all seem to have — we all love to see the big -whatever- fall and crumble at our feet. It doesn’t matter if it is a Hollywood star, a major corporation or any sort of public figure whatsoever. We are aware that everyone makes mistakes and everyone is human — but when someone who isn’t us trips up, we can’t wait to sit and feast like vultures. Enter Google.
This morning the giant was picked at by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and others.
Google, with their motto of “don’t be evil” have always been a favorite of internet and technology geeks everywhere. We love their search engine, their browser, their phone OS and pretty much everything that they put out. They seem to be a legitimate company who is honest, something rare in today’s age. In addition, they stand behind one of the biggest pillars of the internet generation — net neutrality. They have always been an adamant supporter of the concept. They aren’t exactly secret about it either — they have a whole category for it right on their blog!
Yet according to the previous articles by the NYT and WSJ, everything crumbled this morning. The hero was in contract with the corporate villain of Verizon! They were in talks to apparently push net neutrality to the side, to sign a contract ignoring their own principles. Or… were they?
Google immediately issued a tweet against the NYT:
@NYTimes is wrong. We’ve not had any convos with VZN about paying for carriage of our traffic. We remain committed to an open internet.
Gizmodo, the technology blog, also managed to receive communication from VZW stating that the articles released by the NYT and WSJ were false. So where is the truth here? Apparently the story was so flimsy that Gizmodo removed their own article on the subject after only a few hours. Now tech news sites such as PC Mag are questioning the validity of the root articles. How is it that technology magazines and their readership — arguably the ones who brought in (and embraced) digital, fast news — are the ones being patient and picking stories apart rather than their major news counterparts who are supposed to be the experts at this sort of thing?
Did the NYT or WSJ even consider the impact of their articles? Or did they just know how much traffic and interest they would pull in and knew that they weren’t reporting the facts 100%?
Even though the Google news “slip” is far cry from the media circus caused by Shirley Sharrod, they certainty have some things in common. The focus on “breaking the story” for the sake of traffic, readership and viewer-ship is for sure a dangerous one — and as consumers of news, we all need to be aware of it, or else we will fall for the sensationalism and have our minds melt into the proverbial soup of junk journalism.
Still, this sort of thing really isn’t anything new — it is just becoming more obvious now-a-days. Luckily enough for us we live in a digital age were information is everywhere. While the truth is sometimes buried deep within that information, scattered about and covered in muck, it is apparent that we stand a much better chance of finding it with our own hands instead of waiting on the news conglomerate to find it for us.
edit:
The Gizmodo article is back up (http://gizmodo.com/5605310/google-just-killed-net-neutrality) and seems to have another couple comments. With more details coming out the story seems less nefarious, as I anticipated. It seems like the NYT and WSJ are also updating their articles as well — which is great, except it is hours after the rebuttal. Wouldn’t have been smarter to report the story as “talks” between both companies and then expand on that later?
Oh, of course. That isn’t interesting enough.
Gag yourself and pay attention…
1Isn’t it amazing what gets media attention and what doesn’t — and when?
You might have noticed that the terrible, terrible “Ground Zero Mosque” is no longer in the news. I guess all of that stirred up intolerance and hate is no longer necessary after an election passes… but I digress.
You see, I noticed that another really big story has completely evaded the major news networks recently.
Considering I saw a story yesterday on the local news about turkeys crossing the road, it is sort of surprising to me that this isn’t deemed important enough to reach the general public. The internet is currently the biggest source of free, unchained information on the planet. It is possible to find everything from literary research to recipes and absolutely everything in between. One of the reasons for this is that anyone can upload to the internet and no one can claim control over it. Everything exists on the internet because it is allowed to. There is no censorship here, at least not at the mechanical level.
For that, the internet is great. While it has only been around in its modern form for two decades now, it has impacted our culture immensely. It gives freedom to anyone who has a connection to it. This vast global network has even aided in political elections and revolutions. Would the green revolution in Iran have been noticed if the internet wasn’t there? Would we be informed about what our military is doing in the middle east?
So then, how does a small bill to prevent copyright infringement threaten that?
Imagine for a second that a blog with political content, such as mine, posts a video of the government doing something wrong. It doesn’t matter what really, use your imagination — the point is that it upsets someone with power. Theoretically, it would be possible (using the powers within this bill) to completely shut my site down if any unchecked “copyrighted content” was anywhere on my site. It may seem illogical for me to have such things on my site in the first place, but consider that technically a song used in the background of a YouTube video is copyrighted content. It can only exist in the movies due to technical loopholes in the law. With enough legal fire-power, an argument against specific content could be made in court.
We don’t even have to go that far to see the possible impact of the bill, however.
YouTube, Soundcloud, Vimeo, Dropbox, Mediafire, Rapidshare and any other content sharing sites would either be shut down or censored strongly. Given the main proponents behind the bill, any websites dealing with torrents or file sharing in general would be completely decimated. What gives the United States government the authority to censor the internet — a global thing that connects hundreds of millions outside the US? What about the many legitimate uses for these services?
Let’s face it: Legislature like this is terrifying. Regardless of the wording, it forces ISPs to comply with the government in censorship. There is no sugar coating it.
The ACLU, Center for Democracy & Technology, EFF, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders have all expressed serious concern over this piece of legislation. Is it not telling to anyone else that this bill is being pushed through under our noses? Or that the original bill was supposed to sneak through in just 10 days?
Get the word out.
If this passes, we all lose.
Read more here.