disability

The SPJ article covering the disability issues says that there are 20 percent of the US population that either have a physical or mental disability. And they are right in their statement that when most people think about diversity we think of race and gender and tend to neglect other things since we are so consumed with those two topics. When i think of disability i think of two types of situations, the tragic tale and the motivational story. But there isn't an in between... and I think that's because that medium isn't really expressed through the media. And that is something that the SPJ article addresses. SPJ also gives various ways to re approach someone with disability and to gain knowledge about disabilities as well. It is time to not show a disability as either a negative or a positive characteristic but simply as a characteristic which shouldn't be judged or exploited by a journalist or anyone else for that matter.

Life in 1968

I was able to uncover the 1969 life magazine titled "the incredible year 1968", basically it is a almanac of what occurred in that year. This was the year of Martin King Jr's and Bobby Kennedy's assassinations, the first manned mission went into space, and Hairspray first appeared on Broadway, and the U.S. was deeply involved in Vietnam. The spreads discuss the wife's of the Apollo 8 crew patiently awaiting for their husbands to return to them, an Anacin ad which targets the housewife, etc, etc.. I was amazed at the amount of stereotypes that were in this magazine, and feel that this would be a great magazine to do my project on.

they call me a junkie

they call me a junkie, a CNN junkie that is. One reason is because current events are very important to me, and two because i watch the news ALL the time. To me being connected and knowing whats happening in the world is not only valuable but also very informative. The first thing i do when i get up in the morning or go to bed at night is to turn on the news channel of my choice, whether it be MSNBC, CNN, or another media outlet, and then i begin to surf the web to locate additional news for the day. Mostly that is how i stay connected with current events, I'm not much of a newspaper fan, i suppose its the time we live in. I normally spend at least 3 to 4 hours a day either online reading the news or watching the news on TV. I suppose from being so involved with the media its easier to spot stereotypes or the coverage certain stories get over others. We hear about race, sex, and all sorts of other topics everyday. Right now on the topic of race " Jena 6 " has been making headlines and now with the recent arrest with OJ Simpson we hear about race and the fact that possible discrimination still exists in this country. When it comes to the topic of sex in the media, its everywhere, and its excessive. News today has somewhat changed as time has progressed, we pay more attention to Paris Hilton in jail than we do to in some ways the things going on at the White House.