Burns

One quote that I found from Ken Burns' 'The War' hits home Sunday on PBS" says "It's also, like war, about that ultimate event, one's death, which we avoid mightily in our normal lives ... and love to see in our movies to be distracted by, as if by witnessing a great deal of death, we are somehow cheating it." I've never really thought about it this way, but it has some truth in it. War movies are made so that people can understand (or at least witness) the pain, hardwork and sacrifices that these men took upon themselves. And I think in some way when we watch these movies it makes us realize how good we really have it. I can't quite explain it, but this quote is very powerful. It says alot about our country and what we have been taught to believe. Why does death interest us so much? Is it because its somthing we have no control over? I'm unsure, but that's probably why its in so many movies. As far as being forced to include Latino images in the movie, I think that things should be portrayed accuratley so that the public will understand how things really went. We have no way of knowing, we weren't there, we need a little help with the facts.

Jena 6

The Jena 6 issue is a difficult one. The only news broadcast that I watched about it was on the "Free the Jena 6" website. They have a video of a news broadcast from their channel 8. One thing that I noticed about this clip was the comments from the black families. They said that the blacks had no chance in that trial because the jury was all white. It's really hard for me to believe that this is true, but then again I try to believe that we have gotten over the whole black vs. white thing. I know it's still out there, but it seems like we as a society should have grown out of that by now. I think that the jury did make a mistake by making the jury all white. If they had put blacks and whites in there, then maybe the families would have accepted the ruling more freely. I believe that all people, reguardless of color, should recieve the same ruling for the same crimes. If there was only a way to hold a trial without reveiling the race, gender or any characteristics of the person, things might run more smoothly and fairly. I would like to think as a judge in the United Stated of America, that the judge in this case made a educated and unbiased decision in his ruling. Many people said that the whites who hung the nooses in the tree should have recieved the same punishment as the blacks who beat up the boy. I understand that the nooses could have been seen as a threat and hurt their feelings, but actually commiting the crime is a different case to handle. I hope that that things turn out fairly.

Disabilities in the media

When I read articles in the newspaper about buildings that need to be brought up to code because it's not accessible to the handicaped, I've noticed that the quotes usually come from people who arent' handicaped. Until I started taking journalism classes I never quesitoned this. Now, it is completley clear that these sources aren't all valid. I can understand asking the person responsible for the building questions, but we should also see how the handicaped would respond. They probably have some great ideas for store owners as to how they could make their establishment more handicap friendly.
In this blog I have said the word handicaped many times. I'm not sure if this is the proper label to give them, so this in another subject that needs to be researched before writing and publishing an article.
As for as the media, I think they do use steretypes for these people simply because they have not done their research. I realize there are deadlines, but when it comes to being fair to all of your readers there are certain things that need to be done.

News Habits

Generally I get my news by watching it on television or the AOL homepage. I normally watch the news in the evening around five or six and I see the AOL news reports every time I log onto the Internet (which is often). I never really seek out news, honestly I try to avoid it.....it's hardly ever good news. News is kinda like advertising, it has to catch my attention in order for me to read it. I think this opinion might be true for a lot of people, even if they don't want to admit it. I understand that I need to be more informed about the world around me, especially in advertising, so I'm working on this. I would have to say that I probably only spend about two hours a week listening to or reading the news. Sad... yes I know. Like I said, I'm working on it. When it comes to news media I think they cover sensitive topics such as disabilities and race with as much care as they can. Someone is always going to be offended, all we can do is try our best to represent everyone equally.