Obama slams Fox

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/28/obama-fox-news-is-destructive-to-america/?iref=obnetwork

U.S. soldier faces murder charges from Afghan War

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39375104

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/27/afghanistan.coverup.case/index.html

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/04/army-says-soldier-charged-murder-afghan-civilian-deaths/

I looked at the story of a US soldier, Jeremy Morlock, who is being charged with killing three Afghan civilians and attempting to cover up their murders.  I first found the story on MSNBC, then found it on CNN, and on Fox.  MSNBC gave the reader the most information about the gruesome details of the crime, Fox informed its viewers most about what punishment Morlock would likely face, while CNN touched on both topics. The biggest difference in the stories is that MSNBC and CNN both put out updates of the story because Morlock’s military tribunal is this Monday.  To find the story on Fox I had to use an article they wrote in June.  Fox’s article definitely omitted the certain details of Morlock’s crimes, for example, that there were pictures and body parts taken as souvenirs.  MSNBC drew parallels between these “trophies” and Abu Ghraib.  MSNBC and CNN both make it clear that a total of 12 soldiers are being charged with varying degrees of crimes in this investigation, while Fox estimates the number to be around 10 (again, the story was just breaking so the information might not have been available).  Overall, we should definitely know and be concerned about this story.  Its hard to claim that the soldiers at Abu Graib were “just bad apples” if similar actions are taking place throughout our army.  The United States is being watched by the world and these acts, which are terrible in and of themselves, undermine support for our army abroad, at home, and especially in Afghanistan

Free Blog

            Hey everyone, for my free post I’ve decided to talk about one of my favorite shows, Entourage.  As I watched an episode last night it struck me that the show takes a very relaxed stance towards legal issues, especially involving drugs.  For example, while marijuana is still an illegal drug, the show features its main characters using it regularly and rarely with any fear of repercussions.  This got me thinking; do tv shows such as Entourage reflect society’s feelings towards something, do they shape them, or is the relationship transactional?  I know that when I see tv shows embracing marijuana, I feel vindicated in my belief that its socially acceptable and should be legalized.  It seems to me that when the network shows find out that most people have accepted something, they feel safe showing it on tv, creating a cycle of something becoming more and more acceptable.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that even though mass media has a huge impact on us and influences what we believe; we ultimately have just as much power to shape them.  Questions for you the reader to think/respond to:  Should the mass media have a role in trying to influence public opinion about various policies?  Is mass media actually trying to influence us, or am I reading too far into what television chooses to show and not show?

Highway Serial Killers

http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/highway-serial-killer-responsible-for-ariz-womans-homicide/19622797

This article details the recent finding of the body of a missing woman, Patricia Peterson, who could be representative of a host of murders committed along highways.  The article focuses more on the cases of dead bodies found alongside of the road because no specific killer was identified.  However, the current theory is that long-distance truckers pick up women at truck stops (probably hitchhikers), sexually assault them, and then kill them.  The statistic the story relies on is that 500 murders have occurred near highways.  The FBI are in charge of the investigation, and it was a local analyst that first noticed a pattern of women being targeted along highways.  Despite the high number of possible victims, only Patricia Peterson is mentioned by name in the article.  Patricia was found along the Interstate 40, where other women have been found dead.  I'm surprised that I've never read anything about this before because this actually sounds pretty scary.  For one thing, the FBI have already arrested 10 people as possible suspects which means there might be multiple serial killers roaming the country in non-descript tractor trailers.

American Hiker Freed, 3 viewpoints

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/09/14/iran.detained.american/index.html?hpt=T1

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/09/14/iran-state-tv-says-woman-freed-year-prison/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11299867

            The story I covered was the release of American Hiker Sarah Shourd from her year long captivity in Iran after allegedly crossing the border into Iran from northern Iraq with two other hikers (who remain detained).  Ms. Shourd was finally released this week due to a pre-existing health condition that had grown worse in prison.

            Between the three news sources, there is a great disparity in the amount of detail and analysis given.  Fox news covered the story briefly, not even mentioning Sarah’s medical condition, or that the US presumes them to be innocent, in fact the entire story is four sentences long with the final one being “They have been accused of spying.”  The BBC edition covers more details of the release and delves into how this situation came about (“they crossed the poorly-demarcated border by mistake…”).  The BBC also stir the readers’ pathos with a description of the prisoners’ current condition, “the three friends were all said to be undernourished and depressed after more than a year in virtual solitary confinement.”  Finally, CNN gives the most in-depth report and off a distinctly American anti-Iranian vibe by suggesting that Sarah’s release is just a ploy by Ahmadinejad to gain brownie points with the international community before the upcoming UN meeting.

            All three sources of news reported the same basic story with the same facts.  The closest to distortion of the truth was Fox news omitting the probability of the hikers’ innocence and Sarah’s medical condition as a strong reason for her release.  Overall, I think the BBC report was the best for giving enough information without showing an obvious bias.  CNN spelled out too much while Fox did too little.  One common link between the stories was that they all had the same picture of Sarah Shourd in a head cloth and glasses, although that may be because there are very few pictures of her.

            As I was writing this blog I suddenly realized I really should have used an Iranian news source.  So I looked one up.

http://www.iran-daily.com/1389/6/22/MainPaper/3774/Page/3/Index.htm

It was a lot more interesting.  They claimed that the three hikers were near a sensitive military zone and bring up the fact that American has several Iranian nationals in custody.  Iran Daily accuses the US of treating its prisoners harshly while claiming that “the three Americans have been treated well, despite the fact that they are facing very serious charges.”  Wow.  I guess the source really does matter.

If you're interested in the fate of the hikers after the media stops covering them, visit http://freethehikers.org/

Social Deviance

http://www.vitanuda.com/

            The deviance this site deals with is public nudity.  According to the site, “Nudists are people who enjoy being nude in appropriate settings.”  The site itself provides information about nudists, links to other groups of nudists to help them network, and a list of upcoming nude events.  In my opinion I don’t think nudity should be considered a deviant activity.  I say this being an occasional nudist myself.  While I would find it strange/unpleasant if everyone suddenly abandoned his or her clothes, the extent to which the US cracks down on nudity is ridiculous.  In one case a man was charged with a year of jail time for being seen naked inside his house.  Perhaps Americans have low body image because we’re taught from such a young age that our bodies are indecent and need to be covered up.  Its high time for America to leave its puritan roots behind and allow nude beaches and naked sunbathing.  

Teens, the Media, and Sex

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-family/teen-ya/2010-09-06-sex-education_N.htm

I read an article detailing how kids today are being exposed to an unhealthy amount of sexuality through television, music, and the Internet.  While several media outlets were mentioned, the main culprit was made to be television, possibly because this article was published on the web.  The criticism is essentially that our media highlights sexuality without responsibility, correlating with our high rates of teen pregnancy and STDs.  The critique seems pretty spot on since I’ve never seen tv sex involve a condom pause or a serious discussion about the risks of unprotected sex with strangers, some of the researchers suggestions seem a little absurd.  For example, “the authors of the statement ideally would like ads for erectile dysfunction drugs to not be shown on TV until after 10 p.m.”  Their hearts are in the right place, but regulating male enhancement commercials seems petty and dictatorial.  Many of the researchers’ other ideas for improvement, such as “responsible programming,” were more vague and hard to evaluate.  Finally, they believe we should stop the practice of using sex in advertising.  That’s un-American and I do not agree with it.

Media Fast

I choose to do my media fast on Thursday September 2^nd, because I wanted to be able to use media all weekend.  Instead of using media I went for a run, played ping-pong, read for classes, read for fun, visited new people on the floors above, and eventually broke down.  When I went over to my friend’s house the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was on.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of my favorite shows.  I told myself I would only watch for a minute, but I ended up watching the whole episode.  The hardest form of media to give up was the Internet.  I really missed not just facebook, but the power to look up information on any obscure topic that came to mind.   The e-fast made me sad because I realized how dependent I am on these forms of media and how much socializing revolves around them.  At the same time, I‘ve done weeklong hiking trips without access even to cell phones and not missed media at all. Leading me to believe it’s harder to go without something when it’s literally within a hand’s reach. 

Media Log

Media!

Tuesday, August 31st:

7:15-7:30 am:  Internet

11:00-12:00 am:  Internet

4:30-5:30 pm: Internet

7:30-8:30 pm: Video game- Mario Kart for N64

11:10-11:30 pm: Internet

Cell phone usage- Throughout the day I texted 5 people at least once and called two people.

TV- None.

Radio- None.

Music- Occasionally I listened to music while at my computer, but for a majority of the time I didn’t.