Charming the Reporters

With a 64 percent disapproval rating on how President Bush is handling his job as president (American Research Group, Inc.), it is rare to find an enthusiastic Bush supporter nowadays especially in the liberal loving city of San Francisco. But in Journeys with George, a 2002 documentary about Bush and his gang of reporters on the campaign trail, it is hard not to find President Bush (Governor, at the time)…as hard as it is to admit…likable.

Pushing all bad Bush politics aside, I found myself laughing at the boloney loving Bush, and thinking he’d be a fun guy to throw a beer back with. Throughout the documentary it is clear that the filmmaker, Alexandra Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, likes Bush too, as she falls under the charming spell of the relaxed cowboy from time to time. But in the end, despite Bush’s best rhetoric, Pelosi still ends up voting democratically (good girl). Pelosi didn’t allow her vote to sway from politics to personality, but it makes me wonder, how much a good joke or a friendly smile figures at the ballot box? According to Max Brantley, editor of the Arkansas Times, the charm factor is dishearteningly significant as a slew of national journalists find it more relevant to report on personality rather than policies.

“I’ve really been surprised at the utter absence of reporting that’s been done on Mike Huckabee,” said Brantley in an On the Media interview last week. “There are very legitimate issues on the national stage, whether it’s his fair tax proposal or his stance on some social issues, that deserve some examination, but they’re been put to the side to focus on his jokes and his charming manner and his pardoning of a Rolling Stones guitar player.”

Brantley has reason to be concerned, as he feels that his former Arkansas Governor and current red-hot Republican Presidential candidate is unfairly avoiding national criticism due to his likability factor. In the interview with Brantley, Bob Garfield host of On the Media, summed up Brantley’s complaint by saying, “Huckabee, he says (Brantley), has become the newest darling of the National media without any due diligence. He (Brantley) cites, for instance, a laundry list of Huckabee’s brushes with the Arkansas Ethics Commission, something he wishes those national columnists would take the time to learn about.”

These national columnists include the New York Time’s David Brooks who called Huckabee “funny and engaging,” while New Yorker magazine’s Hendrick Hertzberg finds Huckabee’s rhetoric, “almost impossible not to like.” Brantley finds the lack of actual reporting on Huckabee, a politician he is all too familiar with, to be a disservice to the public. After all, shouldn’t we, as the potential voters, be more concerned with Huckabee’s past mishaps (i.e. using his mansion operating account as a personal expense account when he first become Governor) rather than if he is funny or not? “I think the Bush record didn’t get fully and completely reported until his second term,” said Brantley, who is hoping that history doesn't repeat itself. The last thing the United States needs is to vote for another “funny” president who would be fun to have a beer with…look how well that turned out.

Are Bloggers Journalists?

If you are a part of the conversation in the new web 2.0 world sooner or later you will journey into what is becoming a classic debate (at least in the study of journalism)- should bloggers be considered journalists?

The debate crept its way into my Journalism Ethics class this Wednesday as we began the discussion with Rebecca Blood’s guidelines for bloggers:
1. Publish as fact only that which you believe to be true.
2. If material exists online, link to it when you reference it.
3. Publicly correct any misinformation.
4. Write each entry as if it could not be changed; add to, but do not rewrite or delete, any entry.
5. Disclose any conflict of interest.
6. Note questionable and biased sources.
Blood believes that these six standards are the “sufficient” means to which blogging should be conducted and considered credible. A particularly nice point that Blood makes on the difference between blogger and journalist is, “rights have associated responsibilities; in the end it is an individual’s professionalism and meticulous observance of recognized ethical standards that determines her status in the eyes of society and the law.”

In other words, if you are going to fancy yourself a journalist than you better conduct yourself in an ethical and professional capacity (in which you can be held responsible) by not only Blood’s standards of “believing” what you write to be true, but by knowing what you’re writing is true through a systematic approach of researching your topic and gathering sources and opinions just as any other print journalist would.

Furthermore, I find it outlandish for someone to completely dismiss the idea of bloggers being considered journalists when there is no clear distinction of what constitutes a journalist. There is no journalism license as there is for lawyers or doctors there is no bar to pass or MCATS to Ace, so why discount citizens who are responsibly reporting relevant and provocative information via a blog?

Ultimately, you cannot label all bloggers as journalists or all bloggers as non journalists. It should be viewed only on a case-by-case blog by blog distinction. You can label Joshua Marshall of Talking Points Memo a journalist, but I would be hesitant to say that my friend’s anonymous blog about their weekly routine is up to journalism’s standards.

The Ethics of Privacy

Privacy…an aspect of life that us “ordinary folk” often take for granted. Typical America isn’t plagued by fears of someone rummaging through our garbage and analyzing our latest Safeway purchases. Nor are we in a constant state of worry over what people are saying about us, thinking about us, and seeing of us. But this isn’t America. This is Hollywood, where nothing is typical. It is where celebrities are flocked by herds of ferocious photographers and reporters, as the aspect of privacy goes straight out the door. But how far is too far? What are the ethics of invading the privacy of the rich and famous?

Perez Hilton, a blogger who has become famous for blogging, would say they are fair game. He happily flaunts the flaws and misfortunes of celebrities by showing the latest panty-less party of Britney Spears and the naked naughtiness of Vanessa Hudgens. Hilton isn’t the only one, as the industry of celebrity obsessing has grown to an obscene degree with the Usweeklys, Peoples, and In touchs of today’s newsstands. Last March, the celebrity news blog Gawker.com began taking advantage of the Google Maps tool to show exactly where and when a star was spotted just moments after a sighting.

But for celebrities, the industry of obsessing over their everyday routines is invasive and often dangerous. Earlier this month, video obtained by tmz.com showed George Clooney scolding paparazzi for driving recklessly while following him on his motorcycle. "What they're doing is illegal," said Clooney in an interview on Entertainment Tonight. "It's high-speed chases and they're competing with each other. They're not trying to catch me doing something stupid, they're trying to create me doing something stupid. You don't get to break all these laws and then say, 'I'm just doing my job.'" And although some would argue that they asked for this, because they are in the spotlight, it is the degree to which it has been taken, that has gone to far. "You can drive all you want, you can take my picture all you want, but what you cannot do is put people in danger," said Clooney.

I admit, that the consumption of these magazines can be a guilty pleasure (only People for me!), in which the average girl can phase out the stresses of their daily lives and contemplate that of others. However, I fundamentally disagree with the lengths to which it has been taken and believe that the youth of today’s generation should be concerning themselves with issues of true importance (like the Iraq war, our upcoming election) in which the invasion of privacy is a necessity in furthering our social education.

A New Semester = A New Class Blog

To find out what is happening in Professor Robertson's American Journalism Ethics at USF check out the class blog.

It's Finals-Have a Laugh

In case you haven't already seen it-or if you can watch it multiple times without it ever getting old (like myself) here is The Landlord. Featuring Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's (director and co-write of Anchorman and Talladega Nights) two year old daughter, Pearl.

Conan Comes to SF

Would you be herded like sheep into a caged claustrophobic line for at least five hours on bustling Market Street? Would you be forced into a chaotic stampede within the famous walls of the elegant Orpheum Theatre? And would you do all of this for a lanky redheaded man who enjoys horny manatees? I would- And I did. But this wasn’t for any man-it was for Conan O’Brien.

For one week only Conan O’Brien moved his famous string controlled hips out west to San Francisco to tape his show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The NBC show, which airs from 12:35am to 1:30am, attracted 3,000people (who emailed for the free tickets months in advanced) a day to the Orpheum Theatre to see celebrity guests, which ranged from the raunchy Robin Williams and Snoop Dogg to the creative genius of George Lucas. I was lucky enough to attend Monday’s show, which featured actor Dana Carvey, comedian Jasper Redd, and musical guest the Arctic Monkeys.

When the Emmy award winning O’Brien made his way to the set, which featured an elaborate replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, he easily joked, “we had a replica of the bay bridge but it collapsed,” the audience erupted into a roaring frenzy. “I can’t explain the energy that was going through the room,” said 2nd row fan, Jason Palone. “I lost my voice by the end.” The ecstatic cheers reached deafening levels for a video short of O’Brien sightseeing in China Town, pretending to be a tour guide at the “penis tower (Coit Tower),” and loudest of all, was when O’Brien went to the Full House house in Alamo Square and was greeted by Danny Tanner himself (Bob Saget).

The rowdy and reactive crowd was so loud that O’Brien was quoted later that night by NBC11 saying, “tomorrow we are going to encourage the crowd to start drinking two hours before, so by the time they get here they are in nap mode.” But the cheers could not be subsided even with O’Brien’s signature “simmer down my babies,” when O’Brien and Marin County resident and Saturday Night Live Alum, Dana Carvey, who wasn’t promoting any project, burst into the songs “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)” by Scott McKenzie and “Lights” by Journey.

A Transgender Transamerica Building driving a Trans Am, the endorsement of Sam Wong’s restaurant in China Town, traffic insights on “Late Night Talk,” and trips to the winery bliss of Napa County, made Late Night with Conan O’Brien an unforgettable San Francisco treat. The tailor-made San Francisco pokes and jokes could only be heard on the shows during April 30th to May 4th but it’s never to late for insomniacs, night owls, and camera happy tourists visiting the Big Apple (where O’Brien is based), to catch the charismatic Conan for some late night laughs.

Butter and Egg Days Parade

Mouths watering, taste buds buzzing with delight, and stomachs brimming over our jeans to the point of unbuttoning. What sinful combination always hits these marks? Butter and Eggs. The quaint town of Petaluma, California understands the capability of butter and eggs and relishes in it every year as strollers and straw hats cluttered Petaluma Boulevard for their Butter and Egg Days Parade.

Situated in the winery bliss of Sonoma County, Petaluma, has been celebrating their agricultural heritage and close-knit community with the Butter and Egg Days Parade for the past 26 years. This year on a sticky 80 something Saturday, the theme of the parade was “Super Town, Super Heroes,” with the fire department, who is celebrating their 150th anniversary, as the grand marshal. Other parade floats and participants included Boy Scout troops, Churches, Banks, High School cheerleading squads, Vietnam vets, and a group of mothers who were representing their soldier sons that are serving in Iraq.

But before the two hour parade got under way there was cow chip throwing contests, a multitude of arts and crafts for the kids, and the Cutest Chick Contest, where parents were given the guilt free pleasure of dressing their toddlers up in fluffy feathered frocks. Despite the cuteness of these kids the highlight of the parade was celebrating the Petaluma Fire Department, which is the third oldest Fire Department in California. Because of this landmark year for the Fire Department, 20 firefighting vehicles which ranged from modern to historic, paraded throughout town as firemen traded their hoses for squirt guns to relieve the fiery heat. And as the sun began to set behind the Petaluma hills, hotspots like McNears changed the atmosphere from parade to party as Petalumans spilled out onto the streets with red cups in hand.

Awwwing at the ‘cutest chick,’ sucking down some cold brewskys, and leisurely viewing float after float makes for the community warmth only found in small towns and at the Butter and Egg Days Parade in Petaluma.

Don't Make a Promise You Can't Keep

And be these juggling fiends no more believed,
That palter with us in a double sense,
That keep the word of promise to our ear,
And break it to our hope.
-Shakespeare in Macbeth

Decoding Shakespeare’s famous words is always a daunting task. Yet from this excerpt I reason that Shakespeare meant, promises are serious-and when broken the results can be devastating. President Bush’s recent promise of combating HIV/AIDS through a five-year plan and $15 billion dollar budget is one promise that we all hope he can keep.

The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was announced by President Bush at the State of the Union address in 2003 and was to occur over the following five years. The plan is the largest commitment ever by a single nation toward an international health initiative with the goal of support for treatment for 2 million HIV infected people, support for prevention of 7 million new infections, and support for care for 10 million people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS (according to PEPFAR). Last Thursday, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Mark Dybul and Executive Director of the AIDS Support Organization (TASO), Dr. Alex Coutinho came to the University of San Francisco to discuss PEPFAR amongst Nursing students, African Studies students, and students with a global perspective and concern.

PEPFAR is a plan that incorporates many strategies and partnerships in its fight against HIV/AIDS. One strategy is the ABC (Abstain, Be faithful, and the correct and consistent use of Condoms) approach. Ambassador Dybul said that this approach specifically aids children, as they are able to remember a simple acronym that is often accompanied with a song and dance. “With sensitive topics, especially dealing with sexuality we use music, dance, and drama to make topics non threatening,” said Dr. Coutinho. Methods like ABC are teaching preventative measures in the 150 countries that PEPFAR is associated with. However, PEPFAR specifically focuses in 15 countries, which is where half of the world’s HIV/AIDS disease is: Botswana, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanada, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zambia.

And although results are occurring, “if PEPFAR hits the target, my estimate is that it will avert eight million orphans,” said Dr. Coutinho, there is still much to do. What can we do now? “What’s most important is your compassion,” said Dr. Coutinho who suggested raising money to send over soccer balls which helps children who are infected with HIV/AIDS to rise from the stigma of the disease and enjoy the simple pleasures of childhood. “We need more innovative approaches,” said Ambassador Dybul. “This isn’t just a medical problem, it affects every aspect of life.”

Lets hope Bush and company deliver on their promise. And, we need to take it upon ourselves to do more to help the more than 39 million people currently living with HIV worldwide.

I don’t believe those evil creatures anymore.
They tricked me with their wordgames, raising my hopes
And then destroying them.
-Translated version of Shakespeare's excerpt from Macbeth

Go Dad!

According to Hands on Greater Portland:

Carlos Perez,
Individual Volunteer Award

As Washington County experiences unprecedented growth and change, Carlos Perez, Deputy Superintendent of Hillsboro Public Schools, is helping to ensure that this transition will result in unifying experiences for its residents. In response to an article released by the Oregonian in November of 2003 entitled “Experts: Findings On Latinos No Surprise: Experts say anti-Latino views expressed in a survey reflect Hillsboro’s growing diversity and economic stress”, Carlos formed “Hillsboro For All”, a group that included leaders from across the community (including the chief of police, CEO of the community hospital, and many others) in an effort to combat the potentially negative impact on the community’s Latino residents. As a board member of Vision Action Network, a catalyst for new initiatives that meet emerging community needs, Carlos also provides leadership for VAN’s Diversity and Human Rights initiative. During his tenure, Carlos has helped create the first-ever Human Rights Council of Washington County. He is currently serving as the Council’s initial chair.

Happy Earth Day!

Dread heads, deadheads, hippies, and more…Families, fairies, ganja galore, converged together to form an eclectic crowd, that San Francisco is synonymous for. Unlike 4/20, this time it was for a cause, as the Green Apple Music and Arts Festival hosted a celebration for Earth Day, April 22nd, in Golden Gate Park.

The second annual Green Apple Music and Arts Festival, presented by JP Morgan Chase, was held on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Speedway Meadows of Golden Gate Park. The festival, accommodated over 30 booths that included the San Francisco Green Party, Greenopia, a massage parlor, and a global mourning-global awakening area by Creative Community Catalysts, where artists work to inspire more ecologically sustainable and socially connected communities. The main attraction to the event, however, was the free musical line up that brought San Franciscans out in throngs, to hear Bob Weir and Rat Dog, Stephen and Damian “Jr Gong” Marley, The Greyboy Allstars, Martin Sexton, and Jonah Smith all in the name of mother earth. Earth Day, was created as a result of the conscious awakening by Rachel Carson’s bestselling novel, Silent Spring. Silent Spring, among other things, inspired United States Senator Gaylord Nelson, to speak out on a need for an environmental teach-in. Thus, Earth Day was created and began on April 22, 1970 with the participation of more than 20 million people. Today, the once grassroots rally, has turned into a celebration by more than 500 million people in 175 countries.

The Green Apple festival held in San Francisco was also held in New York and Chicago, and celebrated by 15,000 people in each city, said the MC for the event (event staff declined interview). For one of the 15,000 in attendance, Brandon Redman, a student at the University of San Francisco, Sunday turned into Funday as he described the celebration as “a well organized event that did a good job of bringing all different types of people together to celebrate Earth Day.” Emily Stetson, a young adult festival goer, said “I’ve never seen this at a festival before,” in response to the overwhelming large attendance as she waited for her garlic fries.

As bubbles and smoke hovered above the crowd, San Franciscans enjoyed free music and good food as the need for global environmental awareness grows stronger with every passing gas guzzling Hummer. Which begs the question, shouldn’t Earth Day be everyday?

In Remembrance

On Sunday, April 22nd, at 9:00 p.m. in Xavier Chapel/Fromm Hall, a special mass will be held for all affected by the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

USF will join numerous colleges in gathering books of prayers that will be sent to the Virginia Tech ecumenical/interfaith campus ministry group. These condolence books will be placed in Koret, the Outtakes Café on Lone Mountain, and the Market in University Center.

Surviving Reality Television

Dropped in the middle of nowhere. Secluded and scared you nervously scour this unknown territory for food and water. Overpowered by your stomach’s undying growl you result to eating bugs and drinking dirty water. All the while the scorching sun is beating upon your hot, tired, and neglected body. Bad dream? No, because a Pontiac Aztec SUV is just around the corner, and a million dollars is up for the taking. This is reality… or at least, reality television. Hotter than ever, reality television (like the overwhelming popular show Survivor) is creating cause for concern. As promotional plugs for reality shows consume their affiliated news program, as advertisements are no longer subliminal, and as the importance and visibility of the public sphere model continues to dissipate.

The public sphere model focuses on informing the public strictly on the issues, and allowing for the viewer to make their own informed opinion. The best example of this model is seen with Britain’s BBC. The United States, however, has adopted the commercial or business model, which is “based on attracting audiences to be ‘sold’ to advertisers,” explains John Sinclair, in his essay, Contemporary World Television. This approach along with other factors has lead to the creation of reality shows.

In Matthew McAllister’s essay, Selling Survivor, The Use of TV News to Promote Commercial Entertainment, he evaluates Survivor, a ‘backstabbing survival of the fittest’ show that bombards viewers with advertisements. An example of this is seen in an episode of Survivor. Before the show began, a commercial for the Pontiac Aztec SUV popped up on the screen as the shows sponsor, then a contestant won a challenge, his reward? A Pontiac Aztec. The contestant then continued to plug the “coolness” of the Aztec until commercial break, which just happened to be a commercial for the Aztec.

McAllister finds that this type of advertisement, which is becoming more prevalent in reality television, disheartening, “blatant blurring of commercial and program raises concerns about the control over programming decisions that may be relinquished to marketers and promoters.” McAllister finds the promotion of these content-less shows even more alarming, “the mixing of the commercial and the promotional with news programming is more problematic and has been an enduring concern in the field of media studies.” McAllister, then goes on to discuss the Early Show, the morning news program on CBS, which features the newest contestant to be kicked off from the Survivor the night before.

This mergence of lines between promotion, advertisement, and reality shows isn’t seen only on the CBS network. When it was wildly popular, the Apprentice contestants seemed to be guaranteed a spot on the morning news program, the Today Show, to let us in on the Donald and other juicy gossip that the American people just can’t seem to get enough of. McAllister believes that these shows, “represent many disturbing trends in modern commercial and promotional culture: the power of commercial sponsorship to influence content; the invasion of entertainment texts by product placement; the increased media life of promotional messages through the Internet and, the most significantly for this essay, the use of news to promote corporate holdings.”

The role that network news has taken to promote their television shows, or other products (ex. Oscar gowns for less by this brand…) takes the information out of the program and puts the commercial in. The American people who still watch the news should care that they are now learning less about political and social issues and more about how to “outwit and outlast” on Survivor. “Ultimately CBS’s use of news to publicize Survivor sets the promotional bar higher than it has been before for television news and paints one particularly disturbing picture of the role of news in commercial culture. Although this role may be beneficial to corporate owners and advertisers, it also undermines the needs of a democratic society,” said McAllister.

A Distracting Obsession

There is something taking over the lives of college students across the United States. It never sleeps, it never eats, and it’s often changing its appearance. Some might call it a monster, invading the land of Cyberspace and taking over helpless mouse pads. Others might say it has god like qualities, able to create anything and see everything. Others however, simply call it, Facebook.

Regardless of how you feel about Facebook.com, a popular social networking site, there is one common description that Facebook believers and objectors can agree upon, Facebook is a distraction. And since its creation in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook now has over 19 million registered users, spanning over 47,000 regional, work-relate, and collegiate and high school networks. One of which, is the University of San Francisco, where out of 264 students surveyed by a USF journalism 2 class, 42 percent said they log on to Facebook multiple times a day. Nearly 30 percent of those students, also admitted to logging on to Facebook during their valuable and pricey class time. Through an email exchange, Assistant Professor of Media Studies at USF, David Silver explained that a reason for the popularity of Facebook is because it is, “an example of customizable or personalized media,” said Silver.

Sophomore Amanda Niello, Media Studies Major, agrees with Silver and says, “Facebook is very distracting. I’ll be on the computer writing a paper and I will suddenly get the urge to see if there are any new pictures tagged of my friends from home or if I have gotten a new wall post about the past weekend.”

Regardless of whether you find yourself as a friend or foe to the overwhelming popular Facebook, which according to comScore, is the sixth-most trafficked site in the United States and is the number one photo-sharing site, it is undeniable that the social networking site serves as a both an obsession and distraction for countless college students across the country. “College students, like so many other contemporary Americans, love thinking about, talking about, and hearing about themselves,” said Silver. “This may explain the root of the obsession.”