MTV

I can't believe that MTV's formula is still working after all these years. What used to be an iconic symbol of today's youth has turned into this disgusting portrayal man and woman. Content of this calliaber used to be reserved for only Jerry Springer but as it turns out Americans LOVE that stuff. Shows such as the one featuring Flava Flav have become so popular that contestents even have thier own successful reality shows ie "I Love New York". The world would had never known who the odly looking New York was if she hadn't of gotten into a fight with another woman, who goes by the name of Pumkin, over an irelevant image such as Flava Flav. Maybe it's because there's that writers strike going on and I find myself hurting for good entertaining television but there's gotta be something good on tv that can distract us when we aren't watching the Cowboy game.

Jena 6

I officially feel like things don't change all that much in a man's lifetime. Racial tensions always bring that out. The whole event made me see that Americans still have this unbelivable ability to put on blinders and revert back to what they know. People like to think that slavery was a long time ago and events such as Central High in Little Rock and Rosa Parks and the 60s are all history but they aren't. These events JUST HAPPEND. Our country has known slavery longer than it has not known slavery. I am a firm beliver that time heals all wounds and this is no different. The wounds made by slavery are still being felt and will still be felt for a LONG LONG time. But over time, generation after generation, people will slowly move on. We are trying today, but the process is slow. I wish I could see future generations not have to even bring the issue of skin color and race into conversation. Not even as jokes, which is something that has taken a life of its own it seems like over the past years. The Jena 6 was simply a friendly reminder on how much work Father Time still has to do.

Stereotypes of disablilties

I think my perceptions of disabilities are similar to most other people. While I personally know people in my own family with disabilities most of my ideas of people of disabilities come from mass media including television, paper, and movies. I have noticed that there is little coverage of people with disabilities UNLESS their story is inspirational or the subject of a 5K run. There are times when I wish someones disability wouldn't be in the back of my mind and I could just be "normal" but so often I find myself thinking about what I should or should not be doing at that point when the whole time I know I should just be myself because I know they are doing the same for me. For as long as man has been around there have been people with disabilities and while we are a long way away from throwing them to the side and into jails, I'd like to think we still have a ways to go before full equality is met.

Minorites in the Newsroom

After reading the three articles from the September 6 post one feeling came over me. Boredom. I can't help but feel like we've moved past all this statistics about who is getting hired and who isn't. While it is sad to see that 95% of all general managers at newsrooms across the country are white, I don't care about minorities having a target percentage of 16%. Why 16% percent? If the 16% goal was met, would the problems facing minorities and fair hiring go away? Would the newsrooms finally be fair and balanced? I understand that their are major issues that need to be addressed in the newsrooms but simply publishing numbers that already tell me what most everybody knows won't help anyone. Instead, why NOT have a system in place that requires managers to at least met and interview minorities for upper level positions. This was done a few years ago in the National Football League and so far their are more minority coaches than ever before. While this stat is pretty cool, keep in mind there are still only five black head coaches out of 32 NFL teams. It's a start.

week 1 blog

Like all other aspects of my life, my parents had a strong influence on what I watched. Over time I developed the habit of watching local news (WFAA channel 8) followed by World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. Even now I make most efforts to tune in at 5:30. My roommate is an even bigger nerd and watches the News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. While it is the most imformative and the most objective, it is also the most boring hour of the day. Nowadays I get a majoirty of my news from websites such as cnn.com and for a good laugh i'll check out foxnews.com. I found out that newspapers are really cheap so I can now say that i'm a subscriber to the dallas morning news.