Article Summaries

BY KATIE QUINONEZ

The New York Times article titled "The Ballad of Big Mike" was written by Michael Lewis in 2006. It was adapted from the book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. The article was a bout a teenage left tackle, Michael Oher at Briarcrest Christian School in Mississippi. The was not a study by any means, but rather an in depth human interest piece. If anything, the significance of this article could be how the education system completely failed Oher and allowed him to be so behind. Also, the social context of the story should be noted. A wealthy white, religious, and conservative family takes in the homeless Oher and help him to get his high school degree and attend the University of Mississippi. This story is a human interest piece because it shows the goodness of people. I genuinely enjoyed reading this piece.

The article titled "Virtual Violence: Gender and Aggression in Video Game Advertisements" was published in Mass Communication & Society in 2004 and was written by Erica Scharrer. The study examined the portrayal of gender and violence in video game advertisements. The major hypotheses of this study were as follows:

H1:Male characters will outnumber female characters.
H2:Female characters will be more attractive than male characters.
H3: Female characters will be more sexualized than male characters.
H4:The number of male characters will be associated with the amount of violence.
H5: There will be more violent content than sexual content.

There were 10 hypotheses total, but I chose the ones that I felt were most relevant to the study. Previous researchers found that video game playing is the most popular form of entertainment for males between the ages of 12 and 25. One  researcher found in a content analysis of video games that only 15% of the games sampled had female heroes and 30% had no female characters at all.  Scharrer conducted a content analysis of 1,054 advertisements in large circulation video game magazines. Scharrer found that on average, 43% of the magazines' pages are devoted to ad content, with an average of 56 ads and 80 pages per issue. A total of 55.8% of the ads contained at least one act of violence. Male characters outnumbered female characters more than 3:1. The significance of this study is the fact that video games are increasing in popularity every year. An entire demographic, females, are being essentially neglected from this medium. We must consider how the portrayal of women in video games affects that particular age group. I agree with Scharrer in regard to the portrayal of females in video games, but I don't feel the violence in video games has that great of an impact on individuals. One could argue that the violence involved in sports such as football or hockey could have an impact on an individual and make them more violent.

The article titled "How Campus Media Cover Sports: The Gender-Equity Issue" was published in Mass Communication & Society in 2004 and was written by Suzanne Huffman, C.A. Tuggle and Dana Scott Rosengard. The study focused on the way media frame coverage of women's athletics. The major research questions of the study were as follows: What is the ratio in campus media of stories featuring women's sports to men's sports? What is the ratio in campus media of women interviewed about sports to men interviewed about sports? What is the ratio in campus media of women reporting about sports to men reporting about sports? What is the ratio in campus newscasts regarding coverage of male and female athletes in specific sports? Previous researchers found there was a "continuing failure sports news shows to adequately cover women's sports." In one instance, researchers found that the ratio in which men's sports were reported women's sports was six to one. One piece of information that particularly angered me was in the 2000 Summer Olympics, women made up 40% of the competitors. Men not only received more coverage but were also given more opportunities to be interviewed. This study involved a content analysis of the media of 66 different colleges. The study found that college newspaper devoted 72.7% of sports coverage to men and television devoted 81.5% to men despite the fact that females made up 41% of the college athletes. Male reporters in both print and broadcast greatly outnumbered women, as well. The significance of this study is the fact that women athletes depend on the media to represent the growing number of female athletes. According to this study, journalists are failing female athletes. While I agree with the study in that female athletes are greatly underrepresented, I think certain factors must be considered. There are not as many female sports as there are male sports and this is not the fault of the journalists but the fault of Title IX. Also, journalists must be aware of the season in which they are reporting sports and whether or not female sports are occurring at that time. Overall, college media does a better job of covering women's sports than mainstream media does due to the reduction of sports coverage by mainstream media. College journalists should seize this opportunity to report on female sports.

The article titled "Spreading Global Consumerism: Effect of Mass Media and Advertising on Consumerist Values in China" was published in Mass Communication & Society in 2004 and was written by Hye-Jin Paek and Zhongdang Pan. The study is about the effect that Western media content related to consumption has on consumerism in China. The major research question in this study is What are the roles of attitudes toward advertising in the relationship between exposure to advertisements via media and the acceptance of the consumerist values? Previous researchers have found that Chinese consumers are acquiring a more positive attitude toward advertisements, a "capitalist message," despite being a communist country. With this trend of consumerism, researchers show that China's consumers are developing not only consumerist values but also increased sophistication in consumption. The study was a an analysis of surveys distributed in 2000 by a marketing research agency in Beijing.

"Sports Model/Sports Mind: The Relationship Between Entertainment and Sports Media Exposure, Sports Participation, and Body Image Distortion in Division I Female Athletes" was written by Kimberly L. Bissell and published in Mass Communication & Society in 2004. This study investigated Division I female athletes' exposure to sports media and entertainment. Bissell looked for possible connections to body image distortion. This study had two primary hypotheses:

H1. Exposure to thin ideal television programming will be positively associated to higher scores on four disordered-eating subscales, independent of participation in sports and independent of interest in
body improvement television.
H2.  Exposure to televised sports will be positively associated with lower scores on four disordered-eating subscales, independent of participation in sports and interest in sports media.

Previous researchers found a positive link between body image distortion and girls and young women and television entertainment. The study involved both surveys of college student athletes and content analyses.
The study found that interest in body-improvement television and magazines was positively and significantly correlated to bulimia and drive for thinness, whereas frequency of participating in a competitive sport was positively and significantly correlated to the drive for thinness scale. The significance of this study is, again, the fact that the media has a great influence on viewers in numerous ways. The study showed the power of the media.

Expired bill brings halt to further development of TTA

BY KATIE QUINONEZ

There are not many new developments on the horizon for the Tristate Transit Authority.

Paul Davis, the general manager and CEO of the TTA, said since the expansion of TTA routes into Lawrence County, Ohio two years ago, there have been no new initiatives. The TTA previously received funding through a transit bill that recently expired. Davis said without the transit bill, there are no opportunities for expansion.

 Davis said the TTA is currently supported by a property tax levy, which has provided steady funding.

Davis said there will be new developments at KineticPark, a commercial area that has not seen business developments since 2009, in Huntington, W. Va. Davis said the TTA will be working to enhance its service in order to provide routes that go to Kineticpark.

Obama encourages Americans to reach for the stars in nation's "Sputnik moment"

BY KATIE QUINONEZ

            President Barack Obama encouraged Americans to reach for the stars Tuesday evening in his anual State of the Union address.

            Obama referred to this era as the nation’s “Sputnik moment,” hinting that this was the nation’s chance to become more competitive internationally in the fields of mathematics and science.  Obama incorporated this theme into both education and job creation.

            “Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the Space Race,” Obama said in his address. “In a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal.”

            Obama said there would be investments in biomedical research, information technology and clean energy technology.  These investments have the potential to not only make the U.S. competitive against countries such as India and China, but also create countless jobs.

            Obama encouraged college graduates to become teachers. This was a smart in his part because job creation methods impact voters strongly.  It also perpetuated his agenda of the nation’s competitiveness in science and mathematics.

            Obama said his ultimate goal is to add 100,000 new teachers to the education system in fields of mathematics and science. This is ironic considering the high amount of school closings and teacher layoffs.

            Obama used clean energy initiatives as a means to bolster the nation’s economy, increase competitiveness and create thousands of new jobs. Some concrete goals the president set were to have one million electric automobiles on the road by 2015 and to have 80% of Americans utilizing clean energy sources such as wind, solar, nuclear and clean coal, by 2035.

“With more research incentives, we can break our dependence on oil biofuels and become the first nation to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015,” the president said. “And to help pay for it, I’m asking Congress to eliminate billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re doing just fine on their own.”

It would be interesting to see how the president plans to make electric cars more affordable for the nation. It might be smart to start another “cash for clunkers” initiative like the Car Allowance Rebate System in 2009. The system was a $3 billion program that provided economic incentives for U.S. citizens to drive more fuel-efficient and ecofriendly automobiles.

An important topic that affected every American was the budget deficit, now totaling well over $1 trillion.  Obama proposed to freeze domestic spending for the next 10 years and cut extra expenditures such as community action programs. This would reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade.

“I’m willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without,” Obama said. “But, let’s make sure that we’re not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens.”

The environment and job creation were not the only themes prevalent in Obama’s address. He encouraged unity between Republicans and Democrats and there was an overall message of bipartisanship. As expected, he credited the tragic shootings in Tucson, Ariz., to a heated political agenda between two opposing parties

            “There’s a reason the tragedy in Tucson gave us pause,” Obama said. “Amid all the noise and passions and rancor of our public debate, Tucson reminded us that no matter where we come from, each of us is a part of something greater- something more consequential than party or political preference.”

            It was wise of the president not to go too deep into the details of the shootings, as to not pinpoint blame on any one particular party. It was also wise, as well as unexpected, of him not to delve into gun control policies. If he did, he could have further divided Republicans and Democrats, as well as propose a solution to a problem in which there simply is not one.  He used the shootings in Tucson to encourage unity, not gun control legislation.
            I predicted that Obama would set a time line for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden said a week ago that troops from Afghanistan would be returning home in July. I expected Obama to address the ones in Iraq and he did.

            Overall, Obama showed sympathy for the working class, the citizens who have been affected by the recession most. He encouraged Americans to better themselves through means of education and technological advances. Obama recognizes that the U.S. needs to take major steps toward clean energy and protecting the environment. He showed a genuine interest in working with Republicans and Democrats alike to improve the nation.

Errors in The Parthenon: Jan. 19, 2011

There were two stories published on the front page of Marshall University's student-ran newspaper, The Parthenon, regarding basketball. One story focused on the men's team, the other women's. The importance of these stories is that both teams played against arch collegiate rival, West Virginia University. There were numerous errors in the latter ranging from inconsistencies in tense and the excessive use of platitudes.

1.  In the lede of the women's basketball story, there is an inconsistency with the noun. The team is later in the lede referred to as "they" and "their."

2. The article is littered with platitudes from players and the coach. The worst of it comes in the paragraph preceding the final one. Professor Morris said an easy way to avoid platitudes is to paraphrase. The author did not paraphrase and because of this, the word "atmosphere" is used four times in the paragraph. The coach used the word three times in a two sentence quote and the reporter used it in a sentence preceding the quote. It's annoying and distracts the reader. 


3. There are numerous instances in the women's basketball story in which information is not accredited to a source. Paragraphs in general are too long, and quotes are broken at awkward places.

Two Articles: The Washington Post

The newspaper I chose to analyze was The Washington Post. The racial group I decided to analyze was Hispanic. All of the articles I analyzed focused on illegal immigration as well as the often offensive terminology used when describing this particular group, "illegal aliens."

The first article I read, "Mexican cartel violence prompts calls for bigger National Guard deployment along the border," 1,200 Arizona National Guardsmen deployed to the border in an attempt to crackdown on illegal immigration and  to give U.S. Customs and Border Protection time to hire more agents. The article pointed out the fact that despite worsened drug cartel violence, illegal immigration and crime have declined. The first person interviewed was Brig. Gen. Jose Salinas of the Arizona National Guard. I think the article sort of winks at the fact that the individual sent to secure the border is in fact Hispanic himself. The article focuses specifically on the drug problem on the border; it doesn't really recognize the number of innocent families who try to make it into the country every year with no affiliation to these cartels. Mexican immigrants in this article  are referred to as "illegal immigrants" or illegal migrants" not "illegal aliens." I feel the story is sort of reinforcing the notion that Mexicans only want to migrate into this country to sell drugs. The article did have a diverse range of sources' a Hispanic National Guardsmen, a republican representative and a democrat, female representative.

"U.S. program to deport criminal illegal immigrants has deported high percentages of noncriminals in some areas" portrayed Hispanics and Latinos very fairly and actually in some cases defended them. The article stated 25% percent of deported immigrants had not in fact been convicted of any sort of crime. There were a wide range of individuals interviewed for the story such as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, whose comments obviously give depth to the story, Gustavo Andrade, organizing director of an immigrant rights group that is active in the county, who provides a defense and sympathetic view of immigrants and a spokesman for the Prince George's County Department of Corrections. This particular county has a deportation rate that is the second highest in the country so interviewing someone from the county's Department of Corrections was necessary. The article does not use derogatory terminology when referring to illegal Hispanic immigrants. There are two sides to every story and both sides were interviewed for this story.    

Obama will address Afghanistan and gun control

President Barack Obama will give his second Sate of the Union Address Tuesday and there are numerous topics he could cover ranging from health care to Afghanistan.

In President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1934 State of the Union address, he said “without regard to party.” This has been a recurring theme with Obama and has been emphasised since the shootings in Tuscon, Ariz. Obama has blamed the shootings on a heated political agenda by two competing parties. FDR used the phrase in an attempt to unite a nation during times of economic hardship and to recognize that everyone was affected by the Depression, regardless of party.

Obama, much like President John F. Kennedy, entered office as a Democrat after eight years of a Republican administration. JFK was also first Catholic president of the U.S. and his loyalties to the country were questioned because of it. Obama's religion has been questioned and greatly factored into many voter's decisions. JFK took office in the middle of a seven-month-long recession. "The present state of our economy is disturbing," JFK said in his first State of the Union address. At the time JFK took office, business bankruptcies had reached their highest levels since the Depression. The economy was in a similar state when Obama took office.


President Richard M. Nixon entered office in the middle of an ongoing war. Much like Obama inherited the war in Iraq, Nixon inherited the Vietnam War from his predecessor. In his first State of the Union address, Nixon said foreign policy would be the nation's top priority. In this particular State of the Unions address, Nixon said that because of the country's military strength, the country had a responsibility to defend newly formed nations or those with weak and vulnerable governments. This is a theme of the war in Iraq. American troops have been in Iraq for about a decade now. Our reasons for staying in Iraq and not fully withdrawing are to ensure the strength of the Iraqi government. Under both presidencies, reasons for remaining in a war were protect the oppressed citizens of distant nations; it was clear in both instances that the war needed to end.

I predict Obama will address the recent and tragic shootings in Tuscon, Ariz. He will most likely attempt to relate it to intense political rivalry. He will encourage the nation to set its political ideologies aside and unite. Like many politicians, Obama will use the shooting to further an agenda. The agenda in this case will be unity in an attempt to alleviate some pressure from the opposing party. His notions of unity will be criticized as they have been in the media by many Republicans recently. He will also address gun control, but not anything in depth. Obviously, there is no clear solution to prevent such atrocities from occurring and no one could have anticipated the shootings in Tuscon. Obama recognizes this.

Obama will undoubtedly address the war in Iraq, as well as the war in Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden recently visited Afghanistan and was confident that the country was capable of stability with the help of NATO and the U.S. government. Biden said he and Obama anticipate a reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan beginning July and Obama will undoubtedly bring this up in his State of the Union address. However, this still leaves the matter of complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.  If Obama were to give approximate dates of the return of U.S. troops, he would win a lot of support from both Republicans and Democrats.

Martin Luther King , Jr. Holiday Assignment: The New York Times

The New York Times published six articles pertaining to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. The dates these the stories were published spanned from Jan. 14, 2011 to Jan. 17, 2011, King's holiday. I had honestly expected more coverage of the holiday, specifically coverage of various events in New York City which I'm sure were numerous.

The overall tone of the coverage was relatively controversial. As expected, a majority of the stories related the tragic murder of Dr. King to the shooting in Tuscon, Ariz. The holiday itself was not criticized, but many officials were criticized for their actions pertaining to holidays and blacks in general.

"Maine: Governor Clears Schedule for Holiday" was about Maine Gov. Paul LePage changing his schedule to attend a breakfast honoring  King after he insulted various N.A.A.C.P. leaders when they questioned why he had failed to attend similar events. LePage said the leaders could "kiss my butt" after he turned down numerous invitations to attend such gatherings. No photo accompanied this article.

"Leaping From 1968 Memphis to 2011 Tucson, and Mind-Reading Dr. King" focused on Brooklyn's 25th annual tribute to King and the overall gloomy mood due to the recent shootings in Tuscon. I feel this was a common theme in coverage of the holiday.  The article mostly consisted of predictions of what King would have said in response to the shootings and gun control in general. Some politicians also said King "would have been appalled by the poverty that envelops millions of Americans" and he "would have wanted more Americans to devote themselves to community service." Another said King would have "tackled the home mortgage crisis, deplored the failures of our schools, rallied against gang warfare and other predations and denounced the widening inequities of wealth distribution in America." This particular article was written as an editorial. The photo that accompanied this article was one of attendees of the tribute at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. 

Again, with the focus on gun violence,  "At Sharpton’s King Day Forum, a Focus on Gun Violence" was about Rev. Al Sharpton hosting a gathering in Harlem to honor King. The majority of the article and the overall focus of the forum, however, was gun control. It was at this point that I realized many politicians are pushing their agendas through the tragedy that occurred in Tuscon. This year, King's holiday was simply a means of furthering gun control legislation. I was unable to decide whether this was insensitive towards the people of Tuscon affected by these shootings or if this tragic issue is receiving top priority. Perhaps this country was long overdue for a review of our gun policies and the shootings in Tuscon opened the eyes of many politicians. State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said, “Sometimes it takes something big and dramatic to get people’s attention.” 

The only hopeful story regarding King was "String Meets Steel to Build Harmony." The story didn't really focus on King or his holiday. It was about the Haven Street Quartet sharing a stage and bill with St. Luke's Steel Band for a tribute to King. 

In the Times' archives, I found countless articles on King. There were several articles published in his lifetime and they didn't cease as much as I expected after his death. Some of the ones published while he was living were about him winning the Nobel Peace Prize and being the youngest to do so, his "I Have a Dream" speech and an article claiming he was the spokesman for blacks. Some published after his death were the student rampage in West Germany prompted by his death, women attempting to bar the showing of a documentary about King's life in 1970 and several editorials both criticizing and praising King. Obviously articles about King during his lifetime were more controversial and he was more likely to receive criticism then from people with differing ideals. Now, coverage of King is limited to remembrance ceremonies. King is highly praised now and is less likely to receive criticism. After 1970 though, the frequency with which articles are published about King dramatically slows.

 

Five Articles

I analyzed five different articles from various publications. The articles focused on different special interest groups I decided whether the following articles portrayed the groups fairly.

The first article I analyzed was "Coal Grove woman gets three years in prison." The story was published in The Herald-Dispatch Jan. 13, 2011. I did not think the article portrayed the woman fairly or dealt with the information appropriately. The article was actually about three different individuals, two men and one woman, being incarcerated for different crimes. The woman had the most negligible of the crimes. She was sentenced for receiving stole property. The men were sentenced for trafficking and failure to comply with sex offender registration.

The second article I examined was "Ex-chair of civil rights group indicted in Ohio." It was published in The Herald-Dispatch  Jan. 12, 2011. The story was about a man from Atlanta being charged with 51 charges of grand theft, forgery, etc. The ex-chair was a black man and the article made no mention of it. The journalist did not use the man's race to stereotype his crimes or involvement with a civil rights group. I think the journalist portrayed the man fairly.

The third article I examined was "Cuban Exile Lied to U.S., Prosecutor Tells Texas Jury." It was published in The New York Times Jan. 12, 2011. The journalist was successful in getting both sides of the story. Luisa Posada Carilles, the Cuban exile, was defended by his lawyer Arturo V. Hernandez in the article. The journalist did mention that most of the jury was Hispanic which I think gave the reader doubt that Carilles was innocent. However, the journalist is responsible for reporting observations.

The fourth article I examined was "Authorities: Woman carried 91 heroin pellets in body." The article was on CNN's website. The Nigerian woman, Sharifat Lamida, swallowed 2 1/2 pounds of heroin ans was caught during a random inspection. Why was she in particular picked out of a security line? The journalist mentioned that her final destination was Detroit. The journalist portrayed the woman fairly; she was smuggling illegal drugs into the U.S. and was caught. Her final destination was Detroit, a city that has been characterized by the amount of illegal drug activity and violence.

The final article I read was also a CNN story, "Rescued Chilean miner goes to Graceland." This is a great, relevant human interest story. It is about a Chilean minor who was trapped for 69 days with his fellow miners. While trapped, he sang many Elvis Costello songs with his fellow miners. The subject of the story was somewhat insulted by the journalists translation of his comments. The journalist included every awkward and unnecessary pause that occurs during a translation. The story was somewhat "Gee Whiz." I would've cleaned up the man's quotes. I would not have changed anythin he said, but I would have eliminated the "ums" and "uhs."

New York Times Blogs Comments

1. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/

I would like to begin by saying that I love the banner for City Room. This blog offers a lot of different information on topics ranging from weather conditions, travel, accidents, etc. The most recent story that received the most comments was New York's mayor fleeing to Bermuda when the "Snow-ocalypse" struck.

2. http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/

The Quad Blog is a sports blog. The panel of bloggers caught my attention because amongst them is Ray Glier, a freelance writer who contributes to numerous major publications and is A West Virginia University graduate.

3. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/

The Lede seems to apply to public affairs the most out of the three blogs. It covers not only national but international current events. Some topics covered are WikiLeaks, Israel's use of tear gas against protesters as well as other Israeli controversy and the Australian flood zone. A majority of the recent posts are about Israel and Pakistan.

Columnist Analysis: Leonard Pitts

The first column I read by Pitts was "Some blacks forgot sting of discrimination." The article was written Nov. 12, 2008, a week after California voters passed an initiative denying recognition to same-sex marriages. I genuinely enjoyed and agreed with almost every point he made. He compared the struggles of African-Americans to those of homosexuals, and he appealed to African-Americans to stop being so hypocritical. He did not understand how African-Americans could disregard the plight of homosexuals even if there were distinct differences between the two.

For the second column I read, I tried to select a different topic to get a more thorough view of his writing style. I read "'Real' American has been here all along." The column was about the nation's outcry against Barack Obama  when he ran for president in 2008. Several "reasons" the public gave as to why Obama shouldn't have been elected were:

- He is Muslim, not Christian.

- He mocks the Bible.

- He is not an American citizen.

- He is in fact the anti-Christ.

Despite the fact that all of the claims were proven incredibly false, they "fester instead." Pitts addressed the notion of the perfect cookie-cutter home and family and America's fear that Obama would simply destroy all of this. Pitts spoke out against the conservative bloggers and such that had spread rumors about Obama simply based on his appearance and name. He points out the disregard of the state in which he was born, the fact that all United States citizens are derived from an immigrant and the fact that race is inherited and religion is not.

My favorite column he wrote was actually about Appalachia, West Virginia specifically, and how 20% of West Virginia voters said race was a major factor in how they voted in the 2008 presidential election. He said he was not angry with Appalachia, but he pitied them. His depiction of West Virginia in this particular article can be construed as insulting, but it's mostly accurate.

Pitts is clearly liberal in his views. There is a consistent theme in his columns in which he defends the rights of all minorities. Pitts, himself, is an African-American man, and I feel like that in some way affects his strong social views. Pitts tackles issues concerning equality, race and politics. 

Women and Minorities in the Media

I defined diversity as an array of characteristics of peoples including, though not limited to, race, ethnicity, religion, ideals, age, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Professor Morris added a key aspect of diversity- the recognition of different people and not holding it against them, so to speak.

I believe journalists should always consider certain elements when covering topics pertaining to diversity such as choosing the correct terms, avoiding stereotypes and omission.