Don't Juneau? Link to a link to an Alaska blog

Actually, links to a couple of blogs ... over the holiday weekend, I've been chasing the Sarah Palin story. Two or three reasons, not necesarily in order of importance: (1) I'm a political junkie at the best of times; (2) I've been fascinated with Alaska politics ever since I started tagging along several years ago when my wife was invited to speak at human services conferences in Anchorage; and (3) I think Palin's selection as this year's Republican vice presidential candidate illustrates some important points we're studying in COMM 386 (media and government) and other courses.

So I've been checking the blogs in addition to more sober-sided news sources like The Washington Post, The New York Times and BBC.co.uk.

The first one is The Swamp, put out by The Chicago Tribune's Washington Bureau. It's probably my favorite source of political chit-chat, including this colloquy by corresponents Jim Oliphant, who is following the Obama campaign, and Jim Tankersley, who is covering the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn. (Full disclosure: The awful pun in my headline, I stole from Oliphant and Tankersley, whose two-way piece was headlined "Doubletake: Juneau what I mean?"

And the second blog, called Mudflats: Tiptoeing Through the Muck of Alaskan Politics. The subtitle says it all, although I am also impressed by the very attractive photo of the mudflats along Cook Inlet near Anchorage. The Trib's review of Mudflats says, with more alliteration than I might choose to use, "Palin pick makes Alaska blog a must-read." Here's the Trib's take:

Now that Sen. John McCain has decided to turn his presidential campaign into a sequel of "Northern Exposure," the all-things-Alaska hit 1990s TV series, an essential guide is needed to Gov. Sarah Palin's Alaska and can be found on the Mudflats blog.

Written by an East Coast transplant to Alaska who goes by the moniker AK Muckraker, the blog gives an Alaskan eye view of Palin's political career and the state's rather colorful politics.

One warning. Mudflats is biased. "AK Muckraker," the author, is one of Alaska's few Democrats. He flat doesn't like Palin. He doesn't like any of the Alaska Republicans. But he writes well. And he seems to know the state's "rather colorful" political flora and fauna. If you know where he's coming from, you can sift through the partisan rhetoric and get an interesting take on things.

Alaska papers: Nuanced picture of Palin

Over the weekend, newspapers in Alaska have continued to offer perspective on Gov. Sarah Palin, now tapped as Republican John McCain's vice-presidential candidate and the beneficiary of breathlessly superficial reporting in the national media of what Alaskans call the "lower 48" (states) or, perhaps more tellingly, "Outside." Since it's second nature in the news business to consult with local reporters for background on a story, the trade magazine Editor & Publisher has been running excerpts from the papers in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Among the most interesting stories are these:

• Tom Kizzia of for The Anchorage Daily News, has a balanced assessment of Palin's fiscal record as governor and mayor of Wasilla (pop. 9,000), the other elective she has held.
  
• The Juneau Empire in Alaska's state capital interviewed legislative leaders in both parties about her "sometimes rocky relationship with the Legislature" and got decidedly mixed reviews.

The upshot: Reporters from Alaska so far have been able to give a more nuanced, balanced picture of their governor. That's hardly surprising, since they know who to talk to. And they've hardly even mentioned Hillary Clinton!

(Kizzia, whose stories in the ADN I've been linking to the last couple of days, wrote a book on Alaska Natives based on his reporting for a series on rural Alaska and Native villages in 1990. He has been reporting for the ADN since 1982. His stuff is a model of good journalistic writing.)

COMM 337, 386: Sarah Palin bio in Anchorage paper

When Republican presidential candidate John McCain announced his selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate today, The Anchorage Daily News
linked a two-part series from her gubernatorial campaign in 2006.

Written by senior reporter Tom Kizzia, it gets into such details as why she earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" as a high school basketball player at the same time she was named "Miss Congeniality" in a beauty contest in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. A good reporter with an expert eye for detail, Kizzia also explains her success in overthrowing established Republican officeholders that has earned her a reputation as a GOP maverick.

Upshot: There's more to her than you'd think, and Kizzia's series explains where it came from.

I'm linking here because the ADN has taken off the links from its front page. The first part ran Oct. 23, 2006; and the second part ran a day later.

More 'prepared remarks' before a political speech

Posted to a blog on The Denver Post's website an advance copy of Democratic nominee Barack Obama's acceptance speech. I'll cross my fingers, give you the link and hope they're still archiving the speech when class meets tomorrow.

But I'll copy and paste the heading and the first few grafs, too. Here's the header:

Excerpts of the Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
"The American Promise"
Democratic National Convention
August 28, 2008
Denver, Colorado
As prepared for delivery

Compare the tag in the AP pre-story on vice presidential candidate Joe Bidens' speech that I posted last night -- "Biden said in excerpts of his prepared remarks." It's basically the same formula as the one used here -- "As prepared for delivery." Whenever you see something about "prepared remarks," it means an advance copy of the speech that likely will be changed, at least a little, as the speaker ad libs during delivery.

Obama's speech, the one he'll give tonight, was posted to the Post's blog at 4:54 p.m. Mountain time (which was 5:54 our time), and Obama isn't scheduled to speak till 8 MDT (or 9 our time). Here's his opening:

"Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

"It is that promise that has always set this country apart that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

"It is why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

"We meet at one of those defining moments a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

"Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay and tuition that is beyond your reach.

"These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed presidency of George W. Bush.

"America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this."

The rest, I guess, is history. Or will be. But in the meantime, the guys who have to write something intelligent about the speech can get a running head start on it.

And that in a nutshell is why public officials give the media pre-written copies of their speeches, or "prepared remarks," before they give the speeches.

Sharp-eyed readers will no doubt notice Obama's speechwriters -- or the candidate himself, since he typically drafts his own speeches -- weren't using AP style when they mentioned the 232 years of American history. (You did notice that, didn't you? Right. Of course you did.) But when you're writing a speech, you write it to be read aloud. It's like broadcast writing, and you write out the numbers.

COMM 207: The 'Six Reading Myths' I mentioned in class (won't hurt other COMM students to know it too)

This is worth the price of this semester's tuition --

It's a handout from the Academic Skills Center at Dartmouth College titled "Six Reading Myths." It makes the point that we read most effectively if we take it in two stages:

• Skim once as rapidly as possible to determine the main idea and to identify those parts that need careful reading.
  
• Reread more carefully to plug the gaps in your knowledge.

If I had to boil it down to one word, that one word would be: "Skim!" You're playing a sucker's game if you read every word. Here, in MYTH 5: IF I SKIM OR READ TOO RAPIDLY MY COMPREHENSION WILL DROP, is the money graf:

Many people refuse to push themselves faster in reading for fear that they will lose comprehension. However, research shows that there is little relationship between rate and comprehension. Some students read rapidly and comprehend well, others read slowly and comprehend poorly. Whether you have good comprehension depends on whether you can extract and retain the important ideas from your reading, not on how fast you read. If you can do this, you can also increase your speed. If you "clutch up" when trying to read fast or skim and worry about your comprehension, it will drop because your mind is occupied with your fears and you are not paying attention to the ideas that you are reading.

If you concentrate on your purpose for reading -- e.g. locating main ideas and details, and forcing yourself to stick to the task of finding them quickly -- both your speed and comprehension could increase. Your concern should be not with how fast you can get through a chapter, but with how quickly you can locate the facts and ideas that you need.

Well, OK, two grafs. Calling something a "money graf," by the way, is another way of saying it's the key paragraph, the point that sums up all the rest of it.

A note for COMM 207 students (and a refresher for everybody else): Follow the link above and go back to the Dartmouth College handout. You'll note that they typed in two spaces after each period. Just like Miss Thistlebottom told you in high school English class, right? Well, I don't want you to ever do that! In an age of computerized typesetting, obeying Miss Thistlebottom's rule will only mess up the justification. It took me a couple of years before I trained my thumb to not hit the space bar, but you'll have to do it sooner or later if you're going to be a professional writer. Might as well start now!

COMM 207, 337, 386: Prepared speeches

In class (I forget which) the other day, a student asked how reporters get the text of a public official's speech -- or a candidate's speech (the techniques are the same in both cases). My answer, which wasn't backed up with good examples, was that usually a prepared text is given to the media shortly before the speech actually takes place. It will have a heading like "Prepared for delivery at _______ (whatever the event is)". Lately it's been political speeches. But the process is the same for the State of the State, the budget address or other political speeches with high news value.

That gives us a chance to write a story based on the prepared text and file it as soon as the speechmaker starts speechifying. During the speech, we'd follow it in the text and note ad libs as we heard them. Often the ad libs, for a variety of good reasons, would be the most newsworthy part of the speech.

Now, a couple of days later, here's an excellent example.

It's in an Associated Press story on Sen. Joe Biden's speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention. Here's the lede, by Walter Mears, who has covered presidential politics for AP for years and is one of the best reporters around. I'll quote several grafs, since I doubt it will be archived for long and it's worth coming back to and studying:

DENVER – Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday night that the challenges America faces require "more than a good soldier" in the White House and called Barack Obama a wise leader who can deliver the change the nation needs.

In a single sentence, Obama's new running mate complimented John McCain's years of military service and slapped his claim on the presidency.

The Delaware senator told the Democratic National Convention he'd learned a lot about Obama by campaigning against him for his party's presidential nomination. Biden was an early dropout in that campaign, quitting after he managed only 1 percent of the vote in Iowa's opening caucuses.

Biden said that in debating Obama, watching him react under pressure, he learned about the strength of the Democratic presidential candidate's mind and his ability to touch and inspire people.

"And I realized he has tapped into the oldest American belief of all: We don't have to accept a situation we cannot bear. We have the power to change it," Biden said in excerpts of his prepared remarks. He was poised to receive his party's nomination for vice president Wednesday night.

"The choice in this election is clear," he said. "These times require more than a good soldier, they require a wise leader. A leader who can deliver ... the change everybody knows we need. Barack Obama will deliver that change."

There's a lot to admire in this lede. Mears works in a lot of background without bogging us down in details. But what I want you to notice is the reference to "excerpts of his prepared remarks." For those of us who know how to read the signs -- and that's a category that should include all of us as professional writers -- that tells us Mears was working from an advance copy of the prepared remarks.

Why do that? Let's look at the numbers. In this case, the numbers on the clock. According to the notation on the Yahoo! news page where I found it at 9:30 p.m. Central time, the story moved "24 minutes ago." By my calculation, Biden would have still been speaking when it hit the AP wire. But 9:30 our time is 10:30 on the East Coast, and a lot of smaller papers -- who tend to rely on AP for national news coverage -- are on deadline at that time of the night, i.e. filling their last few pages before they go to press. Filing the Biden speech story based on the prepared text would allow these AP clients to consider it for tomorrow morning's paper.

COMM 337, 386, 207 / READ!

A very good column by a senior reporter with Fox News, about how he got a story wrong -- and one of the worst ways an old-fashioned beat reporter can do it -- by reporting a person's death prematurely. I'm not always a big fan of Fox News, at least not when they blur the line between reporting and commentary, but this guy clearly knows the ethics of the craft.

COMM 207: Some "AP Stylebook" things to know

Here's a list of earth-shaking revelations you'll find in the "AP Stylebook." It won't be the last I give you, but it'll get you started. We'll add others later.

I've tried to pick out the points of AP style that cause the most trouble -- in other words, the ones that are most different from the standard English style we learn in school. You're not going to want to sell the Stylebook back to the bookstore anyway, so I'd circle the keywords at the beginning of each entry and paperclip the pages together. I circle the page numbers too.

For several years, I kept an extra copy of the AP Stylebook in my bathroom ... for those moments -- we all have them -- when we'd like to read something but don't have enough time to read a whole article. I don't expect you to learn all of this stuff at one sitting, but I do encourage you to pick up AP style over time ... almost by osmosis ... because it's the most noticeable thing that demonstrates the stuff you write is by a professional.

So let's get started. I added my helpful hints to some, just listed others. Here they are:

abbreviations and acronyms. Doesn't have a page number in my book, so I didn't circle it. But it's important. And tricky. Oops! It goes on to a second page. That's page 4 in my edition. Circle it, clip it or whatever. And keep coming back to it.

addresses. Are you beginning to notice we're not dealing with deep philosophical issues here? Every publication has its own local style. When I was at The Rock Island Argus, we went to Duffy's 4th Avenue Tap after work. And we abbreviated it that way, with the numeral followed by "-th." But in Springfield we'd write it out -- like this: "Fourth Avenue" -- because that's local style at the J-R. Luckily, we don't have such a street in Springfield. But if we did, the local paper would write it out.

capitalization.

cents. See also dollars and percent. They're related. Write it like this: $4 without the zeroes if it's a round number, $4.15 of whatever if it isn't. Cents like this: 15 cents. Percents like this: 30 percent. Got that? Try writing it that way a few times and you will.

composition titles. Basically you put titles in quotes for a newspaper that you would ordinarily underline or put in italics for college papers.

directions and regions. It's all about when to capitalize something like "central Illinois" and when not to.

fewer, less You'll make fewer mistakes if you know this, and you'll be less likely to get it wrong, too.

governmental bodies. Newspapers are full of government news. I know, I know. That's why they're losing readers. But till the last dying newspaper goes out of business, you'll be writing about governmental bodies. This item tells you how.

it's, its It's essential for you to put apostrophe in its proper place.

midnight. Also see noon. The only times of the day you don't use "a.m." or "p.m." with. You don't use numbers, either. The Stylebook explains why.

millions, billions.

more than. Also see over. Use "more than" with numbers of things, "over" with heights.

numerals This is probably the one that's hardest -- and most important -- to learn in the whole book. Keep it in the bathroom so you'll have it whenever you're looking for a few minutes of light reading matter.

plurals. Did I say numerals was the hardest? Maybe it's plurals. What's worse, numerals and plurals come up all the time. You'll never run out of fun stuff to read in the AP Stylebook!

possessives. AP's rules regarding defy logic. So you'd better learn them. More reading for the bathroom.

state names. The tricky part is the abbreviations, which are not the same ones the Postal Service uses. Learn a few you're likely to use, like "Ill." and "Mo." Look up the rest. I guess you could memorize them, but do you really think you'll be writing that much about Casper, Wyo.?

time element, time of dayand times. Picky, picky. But the rules make sense once you get used to them.

titles. Don't try to learn them all. Just know this section is there when you need to know how to abbreviate the lieutenant governor's title. And you'll need it often.

trademark.

COMM 386: 'Capitol Fax' blog w/ Obama story

Link here to the story on Barack Obama's event Saturday in downtown Springfield. Rich Miller, who writes the blog, is one of the best political reporters in the business. The State Journal-Register also has a pre-story (or -stories) by J-R political columnist Bernie Schoenberg. He is also a very good reporter. We'll be keeping up with both this semester, especially when the state Legislature comes back for the "veto session" in November.

I will be assigning you to compare the coverage of Obama's campaign event in local, state (in other words Chicago) and national news media. Details to follow. If your schedule permits you to attend the rally, tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Old State Capitol, I strongly encourage you to do so.

COMM 386: Basics on polling / PLS READ!

Here's an op-ed piece on polls by Steve Kircher, longtime research manager at the St. Petersburg Times, in yesterday's Seattle Post-Intelligencer. It includes this evaluation of the polls so far in the presidential race:

Why conduct surveys so far in advance of the election? Cynics will say it helps fill the cable news channels and political columns of newspapers. While that's a likely factor, more important is that polls generally are accurate, and even this far out they are helping to track the dynamics of the presidential race, even if the dynamics today are quite a bit different from what they will be in November.

There's an interesting paradox here: We usually compare poll data to election results in order to evaluate a poll's acccuracy, but there's a down side to that because it tends to emphasize "horse-race" reporting. That's one of the issues we'll be looking at this semester.

COMM 386: 'Thumbsucker' by Brownstein

Here's a term you won't find defined in the AP Stylebook. It's what is known in newspapering as a "thumbsucker" or a "think piece." It's an analytical, thoughtful article that really explains a current issue. Think of a deep thinker sucking his thumb while he tries to think deep thoughts and you'll get the metaphor behind it.

I think it's a word that was used by hard-news guys who didn't necessarily appreciate the ivory-tower types who wrote for the edit page.

But I digress ...

The article is titled "Reconcilable Differences," and it's by Ronald Brownstein in the current issue of The Atlantic at http://www.theatlantic.com/ ...I'm linking you to the magazine's home page because I want us all to be familiar with the publications that run quality public affairs journalism by the end of the semester. The Atlantic has been one of the best magazines in America for more than 150 years, and Brownstein is one of the best political reporters in the business. His take on this year's presidential election is the best I've seen so far.

Light at end of tunnel

Seen in "The Vent" today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's daily collection of wit, wisdom, wisecracks and -- oh, you read it and fill in the blanks -- this gem:

Due to the recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Nothing further to add.

Link: National Journal and Hotline

A must for political junkies (belatedly acknowledged by a political junkie who surfed into it today) is The National Journal which includes not only commentary by Ronald Brownstein, formerly of The Los Angeles Times and one of the best White House reporters in the business, and longtime consultant Charlie Cook, but also a link to The Hotline, the daily newsletter. Here's the blurb on the "About Us" page:

National Journal Group is the leading source of nonpartisan reporting on the current political environment and emerging policy trends. Our print, online and broadcast properties include National Journal, CongressDaily, The Hotline, NationalJournal.com,The Capital Source, The Almanac of American Politics, Convention Daily, "National Journal On Air" and "Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal ."

With 110 editors and reporters focused solely on Washington, National Journal Group's publications provide unmatched insight and set the editorial bar in political reporting. As a result, National Journal Group enjoys unparalleled readership loyalty from decision makers and policy influencers across the nation. National Journal Group's publications have become trusted professional resources for Members of Congress and their senior staffs, the Executive branch, federal agency executives, government affairs professionals, corporate and association leaders, and the political news media.

(Italics omitted.)

ABC bias? A comment and a mea culpa

Well, now I've up and done it. I've posted to the comments "forum" on an online political column. It's by Jake Tapper of ABC News, and it chronicles another "pastor disaster" in Barack Obama's campaign. Except it turns out to be the same "disaster" that had been reported before. In today's column, Tapper linked to a second YouTube snippet from Fr. Michael Pfleger's May 25 sermon "from the pulpit of Sen. Barack Obama's now former church."

Here's the timing. Sunday, May 25. Fr. Pfleger, of St. Sabina Church on the South Side of Chicago, preached at Trinity United Church of Christ. At week's end the first YouTube snippet, in which the visiting priest mocked Obama's opponent Sen. Hillary Clinton, started rocketing around the Internet -- and the mainstream media. Saturday afternoon, May 30, at a campaign stop in South Dakota, Obama announced he had submitted a letter of resignation from the church. (Protestants often join a specific parish by signing a membership book and transfer membership by letter, so the procedure isn't uncommon.) Then on Sunday, May 31 (today) at 10:46 p.m. (Eastern time), Tapper published the new snippet under the headline "Rev. Pfleger: "America is the Greatest Sin Against God." I don't question the accuracy of the snippet. Fr. Pfleger is a well-known firebrand, and, well, YouTube is what it is. Nor did I question Tapper's license to editorialize. His column, a blog, really, is called "Political Punch: Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper." It carries his picture, and that, too, identifies it as an opinion piece.

But I did question Tapper's timing. So I wrote in the comments field:

How, exactly, does this qualify as news since Obama already resigned from the church during yesterday's news cycle?

Why, exactly, did you not mention his resignation till the fifth graf?

Where are your journalistic ethics?

How, exactly, can I explain this to my students?

Posted by: journalism t\Teacher | Jun 1, 2008 11:42:27 PM

Here's the mea culpa: When I read Tapper's 45-word-long lede, I didn't notice he'd tucked away a reference to "Obama's now former church" in the middle of all the verbiage. So when I wrote my comment, I thought he didn't spell that out till the fifth graf.

Another reason, I'd say, why we really ought to keep our ledes down to 20 or 25 words.

Obama pix in Alaska Democrat's ezine?

Reading up on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's resignation from Trinity United Church in Chicago, I noticed a picture of Uncle Sam in The Alaska Report that looked a little different ... yet somehow familiar.

Take a look for yourself! See if it doesn't look like Obama.

The Alaska Report, an online magazine available at http://alaskareport.com/index.htm is published in Palmer, a town in the Mat-Su valley just north of Anchorage. It covers Alaska news, especially fisheries, and tracks the "Corrupt Bastards Club," the ongoing fraud investigations of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and other Alaska wildlife from a gleefully unabashed Democrat persepctive.

Central Illinois PRSA blog

Useful link: The central Illinois chapter of the Public Relations Society of America has a blog with links and promotional material about PRSA. Liz Kerns, who teaches public relations at Benedictine, is webmaster. (logmaster?) Good resource for students. Or anyone else who wants to keep up with the state of public relations in downstate Illinois.

I'll just post Liz' Who is PRSA Central Illinois? blurb in its entirety.

Chartered in 1979, the Central Illinois Chapter brings together people who are involved in public relations through professional development and advances the profession through public education, service and high standards of conduct.

The Central Illinois Chapter is part of the Public Relations Society of America, the world's largest organization for public relations professionals.

PRSA represents a great value to its members who represent business and industry, counseling firms, government, associations, hospitals and other professional services. PRSA stands behind its new code of ethics, which was approved at the Fall World Congress in Chicago in October 2000.

We have developed strong ties with PRSSA chapters in Bloomington-Normal, Charleston, Peoria and Macomb which depend on us for professional guidance and upon which we depend for fresh new ideas and youthful vigor. Illinois State University, Eastern Illinois University, Western Illinois University and Bradley University maintain active student chapters which contribute to the strength of our region and other universities throughout the region offer students strong PR education. Regardless of a student's affiliation with PRSSA, we welcome all communication students to our meetings from throughout the region. Other universities who have had students participate in our PRSA meetings but without a PRSSA chapter include Millikin University, Springfield College in Illinois/Benedictine University, Eureka College, and Illinois College.

Please look through our web site to learn more about the Central Illinois Chapter and all that we have to offer.

Marketplace of ideas in Post-Dispatch column

One of the better discussion of the marketplace of ideas I've seen lately doesn't even use the term "marketplace of ideas." It's in today's column by Bill McClellan in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch on anti-feminist firebrand Phyllis Schafly, who is about to get an honorary degree from Washington University at this year's commencement. Students and faculty are outraged at what they see as the school's honoring her "polarizing, anti-intellectual positions."

McClellan made it clear he doesn't agree with Shafly very often. But he doesn't agree with the outraged students and faculty, either.

"As a latte-sipping, tree-hugging, peace sign-flashing, gay rights-supporting liberal, I just hate it when my comrades play to stereotype," he said. "You know the stereotype. Conservatives are mean. Liberals are whiny. And right now a very audible whine is emanating from the campus of Washington University."

Schafly, 83, is an alum, and a highly successful one at that, so honoring her makes sense. "I think she honors the university by accepting an honorary degree," McClellan added. He explained:

That is not to suggest I approve of her ideas. I disagree with most of them. Nor do I like the way she expresses herself. She, too, sometimes plays to stereotype. She can be mean. She can get down in the mud. But like it or not, that is the way of things in the Great Debate that defines this country. Voices rise and tempers flare, but in the end, the ideas rise or fall on their own.

Some of the loudest criticism for awarding Schlafly an honorary degree is coming from the law school. Fourteen members of the law school faculty signed a letter to the chancellor: "We are fully committed to the principle of free speech, and we believe the University should encourage a discussion of diverse viewpoints. Commencement, however, is first and foremost a time of celebration of the intellectual accomplishments of our students. It is, we believe, a disservice to those whom we honor to inject into the proceedings a person who has devoted her life to staking out and promoting polarizing, anti-intellectual positions."

On most ideological issues, I'd be aligned with those professors, staking out a position somewhere left of center. But I think they're missing the point on this issue. The real disservice to the students would be to act like the university sanctions one set of ideas over another. Students should be exposed to all sorts of ideas — even polarizing, anti-intellectual ones. If the education has taken hold at all, the students will reject those ideas.

Tongue planted firmly in his cheek, McClellan concluded by quoting the "Great Helmsman" (Mao Zedong), "Let a thousand flowers bloom!" He added, "Personally, I raise my vanilla-flavored, low-fat, no-foam latte to Schlafly. She is a remarkable woman and a splendid opponent."

Work(s) Cited
McClellan, Bill. "Thought you'd never hear me praise Phyllis Schlafly?" St. Louis Post-Dispatch 14 May 2008. 14 May 2008. .

Communications 317: Media Law

Benedictine University at Springfield

Spring Semester 2008

"So as grave and learned men may doubt, without any imputation to them; for the most learned doubteth most, and the more ignorant for the most part are the more bold and peremptory." -- Sir Edward Coke, Institutes of the Lawes of England (1628) Sect 338a.
Final Exam – May 8, 2008

FINAL EXAM -- May 8, 2008

Below are one 50-point essay question and two 25-point short essay questions. Please write at least four pages (1,000 words) on the 50-point essay and two pages (500 words) on each of the 25-point essays. Due at the regularly scheduled time for our exam, 1:30 p.m., Thursday, May 8.

1. Essay (50 points). In his dissenting opinion in Abrams v. U.S. (1919), Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. defined the “marketplace of ideas” under the First Amendment as a realization that “the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas ... [and] the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out.” guarantees a free market of ideas. What is the ethical responsibility to the marketplace of: (a) political candidates; (b) the news media; and (c) professional advocates working for campaigns. How well, in your opinion, have this year’s presidential primary elections functioned as a marketplace of ideas? Do professionals, both working for the media and in the campaigns, have a greater ethical burden under the respective codes of ethics for journalists and public relations people than the candidates? Be specific!

2a. Self-reflective essay (25 points). What do you consider the most important thing you have you learned in COMM 317 that you didn’t know before? Why do you say it is the most important? Be specific in your discussion of how it might fit into your career plans, or your plans for further study. Consider it in the context of what you knew at the beginning of the course and what you know now. In grading this essay, I will evaluate the relevance of your discussion to the main goals and objectives of the course; the specific detail you cite to support or illustrate your points; and the specific connections you make.

2b. Short essay (25 points). As the newly appointed travel editor for The Prairie Clarion in Clarey’s Prairie, Ill., you receive the offer of an all-expenses-paid weekend visit to Anthracite Acres, a tourist resort built on top of a reclaimed strip mine in beautiful Hogscour, W.Va. Ever mindful of the SPJ Code of Ethics, you’re a little nervous about conflicts of interest, but the PR guy for the resort says you’re free to write anything you want about your visit, even if you discover the mountaintop was improperly reclaimed. After deadline, you are sharing a pitcher of the beverage of your choice with Aristotle, Jeremy Bentham and Immanuel Kant (hey, this is a hypothetical case). What does the Code of Ethics say about situations like this? What would Aristotle, Kant and Bentham say? How would they explain their reasoning? What principles would they cite, and why?

COMM 387: Literature and Journalism

Benedictine University at Springfield

Spring Semester 2008

FINAL EXAM – Monday, May 5, 2008

Please answer all three questions below. While I will not grade on the length of your answers, you should write at least two to three pages on the 50-point question and a page to a page and a half on each of the 25-point questions. Your exam paper is due at the regularly scheduled time for our class, at 1:30 p.m., Monday, May 5.

1. Essay (50 points). In 2002 John Carroll, then editor of The Los Angeles Times and a member of the Pulitizer Prize selection board, said all 21 of that year’s winners shared “a moral vision … an ardently held view of what constitutes right in this world and what constitutes wrong.” In much the same vein, BBC news presenter Fergal Keane in 2005 said the best reporters “had in common an ability to use words in a manner that brought the listener into the picture, and they were engaged, not as partisans, but with a clear sense of astonishment at the wrongs they were witnessing.” Evaluate Ernest Hemingway, Tom Wolfe and one other journalist of your choice in terms of his/her ability to (a) use language that puts readers on the scene, and (b) express a moral vision that aims to right, or at least expose, the wrongs of society. How important, in your opinion (backed up, of course, by evidence), is that moral vision to a journalist’s overall quality?

2a. Self-reflective essay (25 points). What have you learned in Communications 387 that surprised you the most? How, specifically, did it surprise you? What was your overall impression of the journalistic writing -- as writing -- before you took the course? How has that changed as a result of your reading, class discussion and research for the course? Consider it in the context of what you knew at the beginning of the semester and what you know now. In grading this essay, I will evaluate the relevance of your discussion to the main goals and objectives of the course; the detail you cite to support or illustrate your points; and the connections you make. Be specific.

2b. Short essay (25 points). According to conservative opinion writer P.J. O’Rourke, “Satire is technically comic writing with a moral point of view, and I think that that it is hard to do because not many people have the confidence in their moral point of view anymore.” Considering the satire on the newspaper business in the movie “His Girl Friday” and Carl Hiaasen’s novel “Lucky You,” do you find a clearly expressed moral point of view expressed in the satire? Does one stand out more than the other? What is the point of view regarding the newspaper business in each? Do you find one better than the other? If so, does your enjoyment have anything to do with moral point(s) or view, or is it just based on the comedy?

COMM 317: Making the marketplace work

Evening up the balance, giving credit to the media where credit is due ...

After shooting rockets at the media Tuesday for superficial "horserace" coverage of this year's presidential campaigns, I went home and read Newsweek. On the last page was something that made me stop and think a little harder about what I'd been saying.

It was a set of questions for Democratic front-runner Barack Obama in George Will's opinion column. They were solid, substantive, detailed questions ... althought they did have a partisan edge to them. Fair sample: The last two questions:

• You denounce President Bush for arrogance toward other nations. Yet you vow to use a metaphorical "hammer" to force revisions of trade agreements unless certain weaker nations adjust their labor, environmental and other domestic policies to suit you. Can you define cognitive dissonance?

• You want "to reduce money in politics." In February and March you raised $95 million. See prior question.

But coming next, questions for John McCain.

Now George Will is a partisan Republican who delights in showing off his vocabulary. Unless he's writing about the Chicago Cubs (he grew up in Illinois, and he's a diehard fan), his column usually gives me heartburn. I don't even think his promise to take on Republican nominee-to-be McCain shows much objectivity -- McCain isn't conservative enough for him. Sometimes I think Will is the last of the 18th-century Whigs, born 200 years too late. But he does write about issues. And he's an important voice for the old-line right wing. Since he's writing an opinion column, he's allowed to do that. In fact, the system wouldn't work if guys like that didn't do that.

So ... score one for the marketplace of ideas. George Will is out there selling his product.

On the liberal or progressive side of the political spectrum, one of my favorite columnists is E.J. Dionne Jr., who writes for The Washington Post and Commonweal (he's a liberal Catholic). On Tuesday, his column in The Post lamented the trivial tone of recent election coverage. Dionne said:

Before the battle for Pennsylvania, the 2008 presidential contest looked as big as elections get. The country's deep disillusionment with Bush, akin to the disillusionment with Jimmy Carter in 1980, portends a wish by voters to move in a different direction, albeit one quite unlike the path chosen 28 years ago. The issues discussed in debates and on the stump were the important ones: an Iraq war in which victory is elusive, an economy falling into disarray, a health-care system failing employees and employers alike.

No one benefited more than Barack Obama from this sense of historic moment. Change, not experience, was the order of the day. Sweep, not a mastery of detail, was the virtue most valued in campaign oratory. A clean break with the past, not merely a return to better days, was the promise most prized.

Then something happened. Specifically, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. And he keeps happening ...

Dionne's premise, which is very partisan, is that a "big" election oriented to big ideas will help the Democrats this year. He concluded:

Contrary to those who are cynical about democracy, voters themselves are rarely manipulated into thinking that big elections are actually small ones. But the candidates and the media, with some help from Jeremiah Wright, are doing all they can to run this election through an Incredible Shrinking Machine. Obama and Clinton should not make it harder for Americans to have the election they want.

Agree with him or disagree with him, Dionne is out there in the marketplace of ideas. In fact, it may be the only free market he really approves of!

There's no lack of substantive stories in the papers, either. They don't all make the front page, but they're there. I just looked at the Google news page, and it displayed stories on an airstrike in Somalia, a car bombing in Baghdad, the disputed election in Zimbabwe, developments in Pakistan, Exxon profits and, yes, the election (two headlines tell that story: "Obama says public tired of hearing about his former pastor" and "[Hillary] Clinton Talks to Fox TV about Obama and Wright"). If we have time left after reading the stories on incest in Austria, "American Idol" and a TV actress who posed nude for a magazine spread, there are plenty of what Dionne would call "big" stories to choose among.

One particularly courageous effort by a newspaper, and one that takes maximum advantage of "new" media, is a forum on race and racial attitudes moderated by columnist Dawn Turner Trice of The Chicago Tribune. When Obama delivered his March 18 speech on Rev. Rice and race, Trice, who is black, wrote:

Barack Obama'srecent speech about race touched on a number of important themes: The fact that in America there is still so much about race simmering below the surface; that we have for years chosen to go into our respective corners rather than really deal with what lies beneath; and the fear that where race and opportunity intersect, the tide will lift one group, but only at the expense of another.

Over the last several months, Obama's campaign has revealed a side of the race picture I never thought I'd see during my lifetime. (I'm 42.) A man of color with a real shot at becoming the president of the United States? This still blows me away. Some folks younger than 35 seem to be less shocked by this. That in itself is interesting.

So I wonder: Where exactly are we with race relations in America? Is it possible that what we see of racial matters highlighted in the media is a distorted picture?

Let's start a discussion. ...

That forum is called "Exploring Race." It's still running on The Trib's website, and it's well worth checking out.