Lou Dobbs a part of the system

Finally I come across a section in the reading that doesn’t explain how America is being brainwashed and lied to by the government and other large bodies of media in the public sphere. Rather, Manjoo explores a great example of the dynamic in the public sphere, where news outlets must change their focus in order to satisfy audiences in a culture of niches. As an example of this, he presented news anchor Lou Dobbs. Dobbs primetime news reports exemplify the change that occurred following the attacks on September 11^th. He was able to veer the point of focus of his show from the cold rationality of markets, to the topic of the United States’ loss for national sovereignty. Considering the status of the economy before and after 9/11, both topics captured the majority of businessmen at each time. That’s why he became one of the CNN’s highest-rated anchors, and attracted viewers up to eight hundred thousand a night.

            “But Lou Dobbs is not a raving idiot. He just plays one on TV. Given the circumstances, he’d be a fool not to”, Manjoo wrote about Dobb’s performances (148). I think the message here is that Dobb’s is less of a famous figure, than he is a character of the system that’s objective is to attract viewers.

When in Doubt, Scream “Fake”

“The pictures show how fakery- or, really, the mere possibility of fakery, the ever-present suspicion of digitally abetted fraud- will weaken all images and sounds supporting stories that many would prefer not to know” (80).

            Manjoo makes a good point here when highlighting his overall theme of the story concerning the controversial Iraqi children/US marine picture. If this picture had stood alone in the media without fakes to diminish its validity, there would have been seriously consequences to the U.S. – Iraqi relationship. But because the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was able to intervene with the situation before it blew up, the severity of the images were weakened. This shows me that the selective perspective Manjoo describes applies in this case. The public expects the government to tell the whole truth, so when the service raised skeptics the tensions are rested.

            On the other hand for some people that post controversial pictures that don’t have a government body supporting them, like Anthony Weiner per say. When he claimed his nude picture was fake, it was only a matter of time until pressure breached that lie. A blatant lie to the public can only withstand so much time before the truth is uncovered. The same could apply for me, or anyone that doesn’t have an affiliation with a bigger body (aka the government).

First chapter of True Enough

I enjoyed reading the first chapter of “True Enough” because it covers and explains areas of the media that I am particularly curious about. What I found interesting in the text was Farhad Manjoo’s breakdown of “media fragmentation”. He mentions the infosphere where this force exists and how people can skillfully manipulate it. In his references to the John Kerry controversy, Manjoo shows how the media landscape can distort, exaggerate and even lie to the public. This makes me wonder how much of the news I’m informed about is actually the full truth. The presidential candidacy is one of the most publicized topics in the media, I can only imagine what other truths are stretched in areas of lesser importance.

 This book also opened my eyes to the polar opposite perspectives between Democrats and Republicans. I don’t consider myself too politically knowledgeable but I am aware of the political bias’ that exist between news stations.What I didn’t realize until now was the different realities that exist between Democrats and Republicans. “Sixty-two percent of Democrats said it was difficult to find a job in their communities, but only 38 percent of Republicans thought so” (25), Manjoo wrote. It’s interesting to see these statistics define the different social classes amongst the two political parties 

Shame of College Sports post

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/8643/2/

As the college sports ambassador, the article Professor Papoulis posted a few days ago pertaining to “The Shame of College Sports" was directly related.

“The tragedy at the heart of college sports is not that some college athletes are getting paid, but that more of them are not”, Taylor Branch wrote. Between the NCAA and the Knight Foundation, (a nonprofit that deals with civic concerns in the NCAA) a great deal of debate is circling around the question whether college athletes under scholarship should make money.

In support of the Knight Foundation, Branch wrote, “Don Curtis, a UNC trustee, told me that impoverished football players cannot afford movie tickets or bus fare home. Curtis is a rarity among those in higher education today, in that he dares to violate the signal taboo: “I think we should pay these guys something.”” I not only agree with Curtis’ statement but also think it is only fair that they make at least a small amount of money to get by. Especially considering the hundreds of millions of dollars that many big time college sports teams profit each year because of their unpaid labor.

The Knight foundation has worked for 20 years to reform the NCAA’s noble principles of “amateurism” and “student-athlete” but only minute changes have taken place. They expect a major overhaul to come after they take the issue to congress.

Ipad competitor

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/technology/amazon-unveils-tablet-that-undercuts-ipads-price.html?_r=1&ref=technology

I found this article by Jenna Wortham interesting because while it tells you about Amazons new “Kindle Fire” color touch-screen tablet, much of the article is about its dominant competitor Apple.

Just as our generation has seen the evolution of computers and Internet, we have also seen the industry become a monopoly for Apple products. That’s why I’m wondering if anyone will bother buying this product even if it’s half the cost of the Ipad, with more perks.

“We’re building premium products at non-premium prices,” said Mr. Bezos (Amazon’s founder and chief executive). “We are determined to do that.” Bezos also comments in spite of Apple, saying, “That model that you are responsible for backing up your own content is a broken model.” This comment is in reference to the cloud computing that allows you to save information digitally, or without the need to sync with cords.

Despite the Kindle Fire being more financially friendly in this bad economy, I still don’t think it stands a chance against the Ipad that’s sold 29 million in the last 15 months. I think the mindset amongst consumers strictly sticks to Apple products.

1984 Reflection

The War within Winston

In my eyes, the closing of this novel illustrates a battle between Winston and himself, as his obsession with the past and rebellion becomes the root of his internal destruction.

Midway through the book, we see Winston happily engaged in a loving relationship with Julia, but he appears to be more obsessed with gaining knowledge of the past. At this time, Winston is involuntarily sucked in by the waves of information that O’Brien shares with him. All the answers that Winston longed to find more than anything else were finally being answered through O’Brien. This led Winston to trust O’Brien. My first reaction to this new relationship was skeptical. I didn’t think it was possible for Winston to find another loyal companion after the author made it sound crazy enough that Winston found one in Julia. Sure enough, Winston is caught and betrayed by O’Brien. Although his perception of Big Brother before entering jail remains true to his previous beliefs when he says, "They can’t get inside you. If you can feel that staying human is worth while, even when it can’t have any result whatever, you’ve beaten them” (170). Despite Winston’s strong will to resist, he quickly found out that when he was held prisoner and faced limits of his own body, Big Brother controlled everything.

            After reading about the way Winston was abused and transformed, I felt that Orwell was trying to make the point that even the strongest willed people are susceptible to conform. Winston tells the reader himself when O’Brien asks him, “How does one man assert his power over another, Winston?” Winston replies, “By making him suffer”(276).  It was apparent here that physical pain, or the sense of physical danger could make one obedient. This is evident when Winston betrays the last loyalty of his past, his love for Julia, which wasn’t strong enough to beat his fear for rats. In my mind, that’s what this book is about. The creation of a world with people that know only truths through the government was probably the easy part for agents of the oppressive party, Big Brother. The goal to eliminate the few non-believers made it necessary to build a network of telescreens to monitor every citizen like a bug under a magnifying glass.

Through Winston’s eyes, we saw how the brutal torture was too much for his conscious to endure. "But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother” (308).

The Hammer Falls Down on Boise St.

The Hammer Falls Down On Boise St.

            As the Ambassador of collegiate athletics, I’ve been closely following recent investigations involving NCAA violations. The latest story out deals with big name athletics school, Boise State University. The Associated Press reports that Boise State will be placed on probation for the next three years, due to major violations committed by the football program and other sports regarding impermissible housing, transportation, and benefits to student-athletes. The penalties include scholarship reductions in football, women’s tennis, and men and women’s track and field. In addition to that, the NCAA limited the amounts of official visits each of the sports were allowed.

            In the NCAA preliminary statement, they said, “The University failed to provide adequate rules, education, and training to staff members to ensure compliance”.  While reading this I wonder, is Boise St. really at fault for lacking knowledge of NCAA rules? If that’s the case then why are numerous collegiate athletic programs also being punished for identical accusations? In my perspective, the NCAA is being over restrictive of programs such as Boise St. whose coaches clearly have a misinterpretation of what is allowed and what’s not. Either that, or most collegiate athletic programs simply don’t follow the rules which is less likely in my mind.

Andrea Adelson from ESPN reported that these violations were in fact secondary in nature. The “Lack of institutional control” that the NCAA indicted Boise St. for involved incoming players spending the night on couches or floors of current players on the team. All that and a lunch later on at McDonalds, sounds like one hell of a welcoming for those recruits.

Above all, accusations like these against Boise St. are destroying the nature of the game and are merely creating distractions that were never a issue in the past.