Navasky believes that big media is replacing "Big Brother" as the biggest danger to limit open public dialogue that makes democracy. He believes that there are 50 or so companies that control all parts of the media ( Music, Movies, Entertainment etc. etc.) He also thinks that with due time that the number of companies will go from around 50 down to about six.
Navasky thinks that because of the corporate ownership of most of the media it will end up keeping us from speaking our minds and expressing ourselves. This just goes to show that a lot of the things we see on T.V. now are not always real and somethings are strung out just so that it can get more viewers and give the channel and owning company higher ratings.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
11/22 Eng 107 : Reporters and Rhetoric
In this essay Cowan seems to agree with a lot of the things that Orwell said. He knows it is true how politicians use metaphors and other tricky things like that to say something that they want you to believe but in reality it is something else completely. The example he uses is about CNN saying "Civil War" and how there is no real definition of democracy.
They just tells me more about how a lot of politics try and hide their true intent or meaning in order to get something done. This reminds me of when Bush said in his speech that we were going to war againt "terrorism" which could mean any type of force that opposes us. Which is what I believe they we're trying to do from the start anyways.
They just tells me more about how a lot of politics try and hide their true intent or meaning in order to get something done. This reminds me of when Bush said in his speech that we were going to war againt "terrorism" which could mean any type of force that opposes us. Which is what I believe they we're trying to do from the start anyways.
11/15 Eng 107 : "Welcome to the Infotainment Freak Show"
Martin Kaplan the author of "Welcome to the Infotainment Freak Show" says that the news has changed from giving out real news to a show that is all about ratings and making money. He talks about the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in 2006, and how it was put out to be the start of WWIII and would become a huge oil war...but instead it was just "crisis porn" which was probably the reason for the escalation of the problem. He believes that the major goal for most is to make money and not to report the news and that's what they care about the most.
I think a lot of what Kaplan is talking about is true. It shows a lot when say a child goes missing or someone that has an abnormal case goes missing. A lot of the time news stations will over cover a certain story and keep saying things like "Breaking News" just so they can hold viewers and obtain higher ratings which in the end will lead to more money.
I think a lot of what Kaplan is talking about is true. It shows a lot when say a child goes missing or someone that has an abnormal case goes missing. A lot of the time news stations will over cover a certain story and keep saying things like "Breaking News" just so they can hold viewers and obtain higher ratings which in the end will lead to more money.
Monday, November 9, 2009
11/8 Eng 107 :Orwell's Politics and the English Language
We were supposed to read this essay last week, it is about Orwell and how he believes that the english language is hurt because of the way we write. He gives us five rules to go by which are :
I also thought it was pretty cool when he said we don't always have to use big words and simple ones will do. That just reminded me of when I was still getting ready for SAT's and the teacher telling us that if we can use a simple word instead of a big one, then do it. So I thought that was pretty cool :]
(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
(ii) Never us a long word where a short one will do.
(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.
(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
(vi) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
He goes about this essay explaining these rules and examples of them and how and why we should follow them, he also tells us what we should try to avoid such as being cliche, using big words when little ones are fine, and don't use dead phrases. The essay was pretty hard to read because of the way he writes, it can be confusing if you're not used to reading texts like that. It was also a pretty lengthy essay but overall it was good and well written and a lot of the things he says and the rules he has are good ones to go by.I also thought it was pretty cool when he said we don't always have to use big words and simple ones will do. That just reminded me of when I was still getting ready for SAT's and the teacher telling us that if we can use a simple word instead of a big one, then do it. So I thought that was pretty cool :]
Sunday, October 11, 2009
10/11 Eng 107 : Typhoon Parma
Typhoon Parma has been plaguing the Philippines with landslides and flooding. With 186 killed, 93 injured, and 40 still missing this can be considered as quite a disaster. There has been 36 inches of rain already and it is on top up the remnants of another earlier typhoon. (typhoon Ketsana) Flooding has affected 32 towns and 2 cities, and some 35,000 people have been forced to go to evacuation centers. Because of the severe flooding many rescue trucks can't reach houses that are in the more flooded areas of the country.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/weather/10/10/philippines.floods/index.html
It is pretty sad that this is going on in a place like the Philippines because it is a third world country and is troubled by a lot of problems already. It is a tragedy because of the amount of damage it has done and there have been almost 200 deaths which is really sad. But, it always seems like there is a really bad tropical storm almost every year in the part of the world. I would say that there is no bias in the story because it is just reporting about the weather and how much damage it has done so far. Some things I'm still wondering is what is going on now and what kind of air and relief is being provided by other countries.
alright back to finishing up my essay :]!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/weather/10/10/philippines.floods/index.html
It is pretty sad that this is going on in a place like the Philippines because it is a third world country and is troubled by a lot of problems already. It is a tragedy because of the amount of damage it has done and there have been almost 200 deaths which is really sad. But, it always seems like there is a really bad tropical storm almost every year in the part of the world. I would say that there is no bias in the story because it is just reporting about the weather and how much damage it has done so far. Some things I'm still wondering is what is going on now and what kind of air and relief is being provided by other countries.
alright back to finishing up my essay :]!
Monday, October 5, 2009
10/4 Eng 107 : Sheep Fires..
Soooooo...
I was driving yesterday when I saw a red glow from the mountains over in the Mt. Baldy area. Then when I get home I go on Facebook, and see the status of a family friend of mine Don Kurth who is the mayor of the City of Rancho Cucamonga. He is talking about how the firefighters from the city are providing aid to stop the fire. It made me wonder more about the fire and what was really going on, so I decided to do some research and this is what I found. The fire started on Saturday around 2 p.m. and were being supported by winds that were going up to 60 mph. The fire is beginning to come closer to the city of Wrightwood, which is in the San Gabriel Mountains. This morning the fire had already burned 7,500 acres and was only 20% consumed, but because of the change in weather and chance of rain there will be relief for the firefighters.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sheep-fire5-2009oct05,0,6147766.story?track=rss
This fire reminded me about the fires a few years ago that were really close to us in the Rancho Cucamonga area and it was actually kind of pretty to see from far away, but all the problems that come from this fire probably are not that funny. I would say that the story isn't biased in anyway because it's just giving facts about the fire and how it is affecting neighboring cities. The only question I have about the story is what started the fire and what the current status of it is.
:]
I was driving yesterday when I saw a red glow from the mountains over in the Mt. Baldy area. Then when I get home I go on Facebook, and see the status of a family friend of mine Don Kurth who is the mayor of the City of Rancho Cucamonga. He is talking about how the firefighters from the city are providing aid to stop the fire. It made me wonder more about the fire and what was really going on, so I decided to do some research and this is what I found. The fire started on Saturday around 2 p.m. and were being supported by winds that were going up to 60 mph. The fire is beginning to come closer to the city of Wrightwood, which is in the San Gabriel Mountains. This morning the fire had already burned 7,500 acres and was only 20% consumed, but because of the change in weather and chance of rain there will be relief for the firefighters.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sheep-fire5-2009oct05,0,6147766.story?track=rss
This fire reminded me about the fires a few years ago that were really close to us in the Rancho Cucamonga area and it was actually kind of pretty to see from far away, but all the problems that come from this fire probably are not that funny. I would say that the story isn't biased in anyway because it's just giving facts about the fire and how it is affecting neighboring cities. The only question I have about the story is what started the fire and what the current status of it is.
:]
Monday, September 28, 2009
9/27 Eng 107 : Walkouts..
Soooooo...
A few days ago I was browsing around on facebook, haha. when I see a status updates from one of my friends about a "UC WALKOUT." Intrigued, I continued to do some research on the topic. Turns out that on the 24th of September all of the UC schools had a planned walkout to protest the increased in student fees, no layoffs, no furloughs, and a variety of other things. Then planned to do this by having supporting UC faculty sign up to support the walkouts, also there were walkouts throughout all the UC schools where students and faculty alike were picketing and protesting in order to save their university.
http://ucfacultywalkout.com/
While reading the above link it was pretty obvious to me that this site was going to be extremely biased towards the side of those participating in the walkout. But after reading about it and seeing the amount of signatures I can see what they're complaining about and why they have a right to. The only thing I'm questioning about all this is if it will actually do anything to change the way UC administration has gone about doing things. But, I think it was a really cool thing that happened. I hope that these walkouts and protests will do something to stop the UC administration from continuing talk of even increasing the tuition for fall 2010 by 30%.
"On September 11 the LA Times and the SF Chronicle reported the UC President’s proposal to increase tuition by 30% by the fall of 2010. That is an unprecedented and absolutely unacceptable fee increase."
http://ucfacultywalkout.com/blog/
Here are some pics of the walkout from Berkeley :
http://i34.tinypic.com/wv4xp5.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/2ut18uw.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/2a6qwwl.jpg
Well that's just my 2 cents about all this.
A few days ago I was browsing around on facebook, haha. when I see a status updates from one of my friends about a "UC WALKOUT." Intrigued, I continued to do some research on the topic. Turns out that on the 24th of September all of the UC schools had a planned walkout to protest the increased in student fees, no layoffs, no furloughs, and a variety of other things. Then planned to do this by having supporting UC faculty sign up to support the walkouts, also there were walkouts throughout all the UC schools where students and faculty alike were picketing and protesting in order to save their university.
http://ucfacultywalkout.com/
While reading the above link it was pretty obvious to me that this site was going to be extremely biased towards the side of those participating in the walkout. But after reading about it and seeing the amount of signatures I can see what they're complaining about and why they have a right to. The only thing I'm questioning about all this is if it will actually do anything to change the way UC administration has gone about doing things. But, I think it was a really cool thing that happened. I hope that these walkouts and protests will do something to stop the UC administration from continuing talk of even increasing the tuition for fall 2010 by 30%.
"On September 11 the LA Times and the SF Chronicle reported the UC President’s proposal to increase tuition by 30% by the fall of 2010. That is an unprecedented and absolutely unacceptable fee increase."
http://ucfacultywalkout.com/blog/
Here are some pics of the walkout from Berkeley :
http://i34.tinypic.com/wv4xp5.jpg
http://i35.tinypic.com/2ut18uw.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/2a6qwwl.jpg
Well that's just my 2 cents about all this.
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