Censoring Journalism

This story really made me upset in some ways, and cautiously optimistic about the state of journalism in others. I've realized since my freshman year of college that journalism probably isn't the right career path for me, but I still remain very invested in its future.

Very few things make me as mad as when journalism is censored, especially here in the United States. Not allowing bloggers to go to executive sessions is comparable to censoring them.

I think that this is such an important to me because in high school my journalistic work was censored a lot. My senior year I served as editor of the school paper. I did some investigative work and discovered that my high school was locking the restrooms during the class periods, which is illegal according to New York health codes. I tried to get my story published in my school paper, but the principal and superintendent wouldn't let it be printed. So, I sent the story to The Buffalo News, who did print it. (I tried to find the whole text of the article, but you have to pay to access it. You can see a part of it here. Or just search www.buffalonews.com for Christine Pearl)

This situation worked out in my favor, because not only did way more people have access to my work in The Buffalo News than would have seen it in my school paper, but I also got paid for my work. It did give me a taste of what hate mail was like, however. But despite the scary letters I received and the way some teachers treated me for giving my school a "bad reputation," I realized that it was absolutely worth it to get my message out there.

Now, back to the Oregon story, I applaud SPJ for standing up for the rights of bloggers. It takes brave people to stand up for people who otherwise wouldn't have a voice.

True Fan

I sat down to think of who I'm a true fan of. It took me about 2 seconds to come to a conclusion. Then, I asked my roommates who they thought I was a true fan of. We all agreed... I'm definitely singer, songwriter, guitar player John Mayer's true fan.... with comic Kathy Griffin being a close second.

Both of these performers are pretty mainstream, so I doubt that my dedication as a fan has little to do with their overall success. However, I do help boost their ratings and numbers. I now have realized how much money and time I have dedicated to being their fan. For John Mayer, I've been to two of his concerts (with tickets costing about $60 a piece), bought every single cd the day it came out (he released his fifth album, Battle Studies, in November. I may have skipped class to go buy it...) and own both of his dvds. I also make sure to dvr most of his television performances and I follow him on twitter (and I HATE twitter). As far as Kathy Griffin, I legally purchased both of her cds on itunes (as opposed to illegally downloading them) and bought her book the day it came out. I own one of her comedy specials on dvd and went to go see her perform at RIT in February. Looking at all of this in writing makes me seem a little obsessive, I think, but I find both performers to be extremely entertaining in their own right.

So the next logical question is why?

As far as John Mayer's concerned, I love his music. Love it. It always cheers me up when I'm upset and I find his lyrics to be very relatable. One of my best friends is also one of Mayer's true fans and has said the exact same thing on multiple occasions. There is a John Mayer song to go with nearly every situation one finds themselves in.

As for Kathy Griffin, the stories she tells in her comedy routines also make her seem like a normal person, complete with flaws. She tells her stories in a way that makes her relatable too (as well as very vulgar, but that's a different issue). She does stupid and embarrassing things, just like everyone else.

So, as a consumer of entertainment, I think that I tend to appreciate reliability and realness in my favorite performers, whether they're comics or musicians.

Mark Finkelstein's Lecture

Mark Finkelstein's visit made me think (beside the political philosophy thing). Before I got to Park, I never even considered that being a professional blogger could be considered a practical career choice.

As a college student slated to graduate in May 2011, the economic recession is incredibly scary. What am I going to do when I graduate? Should I try to find a job? If so, as what? Should I sink more into debt and go to grad school? If so, what should I study? As a journalism and politics double major, I have quite a few options to me, and I've probably considered almost all of them (media lawyer, journalist, press secretary, working for the government, and then there is the random maritime law career that my uncles adamantly suggest... all of the time).

The one career choice that I have for sure eliminated is journalist, at least in the traditional sense. I worked for The Buffalo News in high school and know for sure that it is not something that I ever want to do again. For whatever reason, I continue to watch CNN every morning, despite the fact that it is almost physically painful. So, maybe blogger is something that I should consider adding to my list of career options.

My Political Philosophy

I found Mark Finkelstein's challenge to the class to write 2 paragraphs about our political philosophy to be extremely interesting, particularly since I am a politics and journalism double major. So, considering I've spent most of my time at IC taking politics classes, I should be able to do this, right? Wrong.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I am pretty set on my beliefs on the core issues, universal health care, abortion, gay and lesbian rights and marriage, etc. However, my time at Ithaca has made me question some of my political beliefs and how I view them. For example, when I graduated from high school, I thought that I was very, very liberal. I had a very conservative Republican U.S. Government teacher that I would constantly argue with. This made me assume that because I didn't agree with almost everything that he said, that I must be very liberal. Then I got to IC and realized that this wasn't the case.

I remember in my Ideas and Ideologies of Politics class, we had to take a political compass test and share the answers with the class. I was the most moderately placed person in the class. I still leaned to the left, but I discovered that I was more socially liberal and economically moderate.

Mr. Finkelstein's class today really got me thinking. I think that the way I define my political beliefs is by what I don't agree with. I objected to everything Mark said about health care reform. Both of my uncles are extremely conservative Republicans. I think more about my political beliefs after I talk to them than in almost any other situation. I need to think about this more in other situations so that eventually I'll be able to write my 2 paragraphs.

Vietnam

I think that I have a unique perspective on the Vietnam War. My parents are older than most people my age so my dad is actually a Vietnam veteran. He served in the Navy during Vietnam. While he was never deployed to Vietnam, I still grew up listening to his stories about the political climate in the United States during this era.

I didn't learn a lot about the Vietnam War in high school (It wasn't on the AP US History exam, so it wasn't covered in class) but I always had the unique perspective of being the daughter of a Vietnam vet. My dad joined the Navy to avoid being drafted into the Army. He explained how tumultuous the debate on the draft was and how scary it was growing up during the time of the Vietnam War. He told me that there was a lot of tension between the young men who "manned up" and served their time in the military and those who were draft dodgers (which is why he HATES Bill Clinton). He always says that although the reasons that the war was fought to begin with were not honest, it was important to serve because it was required of the men in his age group.

There was a quote in the Streitmatter chapter about Vietnam that I thought to be especially interesting. "The first real step toward peace would be a realistic acceptance of the fact that our political ideals are perhaps to a great extent illusions and fictions to which we cling out of motives that are not entirely honest." I think this goes along with what my dad has always said. The United States had no business in Vietnam and it took people way too long to realize that.

Gay and Lesbian Rights... and the Mafia?

I thought that the gay and lesbian rights chapter in the Streitmatter text was extremely interesting. I think that this is because I can relate to it the most. I'm straight, but I have a lot of gay friends. Also, my family is Italian American and I have a few distant family members who were hit men for the Mafia. Therefore, I thought the relationship between the gay and lesbian community and the Mafia was an interesting tie-in that I would never have considered until I read this chapter.

This chapter also introduced me to and gave me a lot of respect for the editors of Gay, Jack Nichols and Lige Clarke. I think that they had the right idea in promoting non-violence and supporting political reforms. What I particularly liked was that they did not support the gay county in California. I am all for gay rights, but I do not understand the logic in a minority group further isolating itself from the mainstream society. I am glad that the editors and staff of Gay were practical enough to realize that concrete political reforms were a more practical solution that a gay county.

I think the whole gay rights movement in the United States (stemming from the 70's until now) can be summarized in the quote by Martha Shelley, "We didn't agree a lot, but we always gave each other respect." I know that a lot of people believe that homosexuality is morally wrong, but they should at least respect their fellow human-being, regardless of sexuality. If you don't support gay marriage, then don't have one. But respect what the gay community has worked for and what they stand for.

Sexual Freedom in the Victorian Era

I thought that Chapter 4, "Promoting 'Free Love' in the Victorian Age" in the Streitmatter text was very, very interesting. I think this is because before I read this chapter, I had no idea that it existed.

I was also very torn when I read this chapter. I agree with the core belief of the movement that a woman should be able to leave her husband if she is unhappy or in danger in her marriage. I applaud the people who fought to make divorce possible for American women.

One of the most poignant stories in this chapter is in the one about a woman whose husband forced her to have sex with him after she experienced injuries in her groin from giving birth. The forced intercourse severely injured her and ripped her stitches from child birth. To me, this is absolutely disgusting and brings up an issue that is still hotly debated today. Is it rape if a woman knows her attacker and has been intimate with him in the past? To me, that answer is yes. "No" means "no." Always. Unfortunately, even now, a woman's sexual past is often deeply scrutinized during rape cases. I find this to be irrelevant.

However, the part of this that really upset me was the actions of Victoria Woodhull. Her promiscuous actions and her using her sex appeal to gain success helps give successful women the same stereotype. Obviously, this is not always the case and it has a negative impact on other women's careers who don't sleep their way to the top.

We Need More George Seldeses in the World

After studying some of George Seldes in History of Mass Media and now Indy Media, it has become more and more clear to me that journalism needs more people like Seldes.

Every morning before I go to class, I watch CNN as I'm getting ready for about an hour. The stories that pass as news on CNN at times honestly astounds me. Just the other day, I watched as a story about an elderly woman crashing into a DMV during her road test was repeated twice in an hour. While it was an entertaining story, it had no news relevance to anyone outside of that town. No one was hurt. It led to no social chance. It was simply sadly funny and ironic. Why isn't CNN covering things that are more socially relevant? The sad answer to that is obviously viewer ship. Fluff stories that are funny attract more viewers. Also, fluff stories are often easier and faster to produce. Honestly, I think the work is worth it to spread news that has importance to the world.

Maybe news outlets should listen more to Seldes' many different words of wisdom... one of my favorites being that "uphill battles were intrinsic to doing good journalistic work."

"A Woman Should Have the Right to Control her Own Body"- Margaret Sanger

After reading all of the assigned chapters in "Voices of Revolution" by Rodger Streitmatter, the one that stuck out to me the most was Margaret Sanger's quest to bring birth control options to American women, especially those living in poverty. I found this chapter to be interesting for a few reasons. First, Sanger had a comfortable life with her husband and children. She sacrificed a lot to bring birth control to the poor women in New York City. She even left her children for a year when she was exiled to Europe. Secondly, I feel like she had the most tangible results out of any of the dissident reporters we've studied so far. While all of them were truly great people who made an impact in the world, Sanger set up the groundwork for Planned Parenthood, an organization that continues to help women with family planning issues.
Another reason that I respect Sanger so much is her belief that a family should only have the amount of children that they can afford (anyone remember the Octo-mom's financial troubles?). This belief is something that I completely agree with and is part of the reason that I support the use of birth control and am pro-choice. While Sanger was against abortion (and I don't really blame her, conditions then we a lot more unsafe than they are today), I believe that ultimately, we agree on the same idea. Women, not the United States government, should have the right to control their own bodies. I am grateful that someone was willing to fight for the things that my generation often takes for granted.