Birds On a Wire

How is the media like birds on a wire?

Brooke Gladstone compares the press to blackbirds perched on a wire, saying, “one bird will fly to another wire, and when it doesn’t get electrocuted, all the birds will fly to that other wire.” 

Senator Eugene McCarthy came up with that;  but what does it mean?

If 'courage and caution' are the 'yin and yang' of journalism,  when can a little bit of caution a good thing?

How are tracking polls often a ‘snare and delusion?

Take the TRUTHINESS Poll

How to identify good and bad survey questions.

Make your own poll

Truthiness

Take the TV News 'Truthiness' Poll

1) Does one TV News Network have more 'Truthiness'  than the others?  

2) How do our poll results compare to the national poll?

3) Which network does the rest of America trust the most for their news? Why? 

4) Where do most young people your age get the news?

5) How should we choose our news?

6) Why is it the more news outlets there are, the less we seem to trust them?

Canis Journalisticus

If journalists really are like dogs, 'barking at anything that moves', then Helen Thomas agrees.

Reporters are celebrated not because of the truth of their story, but according to whether their story fits the public's mood.

Without a free press doing its job as a journalistic watchdog, citizens are left to guess if their elected officials are doing their jobs, or if the people they have entrusted have earned that trust.

Does Secrecy Make Us Safer?

When NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked details of massive government surveillance programs in 2013, he ignited a raging debate over digital privacy and security. That debate came to a head this year, when Apple refused an FBI court order to access the iPhone of alleged San Bernardino Terrorist Syed Farook. Meanwhile, journalists and activists are under increasing attack from foreign agents. To find out the government's real capabilities, and whether any of us can truly protect our sensitive information, VICE founder Shane Smith heads to Moscow to meet the man who started the conversation, Edward Snowden.  Watch the episode.

Described by WIRED as “the most wanted man in the world,” Edward Snowden is being sought for leaking top-secret documents that unveiled widespread surveillance programs overseen by the federal government. He currently is hiding out in an undisclosed community in Russia, where he says he goes mostly unrecognized.

1) Is Edward Snowden a 'traitor & a coward' or a 'patriotic hero?  You decide.

2) What does Tulsi Gabbard, our new Director of National Intelligence, think?

3) Should we have secrets from our Government? Explain.

4) Should our Government have secrets from us? Explain.

5) Where does our right to 'privacy' end and the Government's right to 'know' begin? 

6) Who plays Snowden in the Hollywood movie?  Watch the Trailer.

7) Do you agree or disagree with this decision?  Is it biased?

8) If you were directing the movie who would you choose?  Why?


Watch an Oscar nominated documentary about Snowden .

Watch the pivotal moments in 'Citizen Four' and learn how they came to life on the screen.

Should Edward Snowden be 'pardoned?'

What has happened to Edward Snowden in the decade since his exile?

Existential Angst: Pentagon Papers

 

Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst whose release of the so-called Pentagon Papers in 1971 blew the whistle on American decision-making during the Vietnam War, has died aged 92. Ellsberg was employed as an analyst at the RAND Corporation when he made the decision to leak over 7,000 documents covering US policy in Vietnam to papers including The New York Times and The Washington Post. The revelations contained within what became known as the Pentagon Papers showed how successive inhabitants of the Oval Office had deceived the public on the war's progress and the prospects of American victory. The government of President Richard M Nixon charged Ellsberg with federal crimes including theft, conspiracy, and espionage on the basis that his leaking of information compromised national security.

Video Clip #1

1) Who had commissioned the study of American entry into the Vietnam War? Why was the study commissioned?

2) Why did Daniel Ellsberg copy the report? Why did journalist Neil Sheehan feel it was necessary to publish the study?

3) What do you think is the more important issue, that government documents were leaked or that the US government hadn’t been totally honest in its assessment of the Vietnam War?

4) What was President Nixon’s original thought about the publication of the study? Why did he eventually change his mind?

Video Clip #2

5) Why do you think Nixon was so vigorous about trying to stop publication of the Pentagon Papers? In your view, is this a violation of the newspapers’ First Amendment freedom? Why or why not?

6) Why do you think the Nixon administration planned to go to such extremes to discredit Ellsberg (breaking into his psychiatrist’s office, leaking personal information about him)? 

7) Could there have been a justifiable reason for Nixon’s conduct in this matter? What would it be?

8) Were Ellsberg or Nixon justified in their behavior, or did they both cross the line of responsible behavior by government officials? Explain why you think the way you do.

Freedom of the Press

A press that is free to investigate and criticize the government is absolutely essential in a nation that practices self-government and is therefore dependent on an educated and enlightened citizenry.

Who said this?      Why is The Press Important?

 

On the other hand, newspapers too often take advantage of their freedom and publish lies and scurrilous gossip that could only deceive and mislead the people. Jefferson himself suffered greatly under the latter kind of press during his presidency. But he was a great believer in the ultimate triumph of truth in the free marketplace of ideas, and looked to that for his final vindication.

1) How is our Freedom of Press essential to our Democracy?

2) What does the 1st amendment say about Freeodom of Press?

3) In what ways is our Freedom of Press unique?

4) In what ways has the Press been limited throughout our History?

5) What were the 'Pentagon Papers' and how did they challenge the 1st Amendment?

Is the Smithsonian Too Woke?

  

He’s renamed a body of water and a mountain. He put himself at the top of the Kennedy Center. Now, President Donald Trump wants to put his stamp on the Smithsonian Institution and make its museums less “woke.”

"The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been," Trump said in a recent social media post.

The Smithsonian oversees 21 museums and libraries, the National Zoo as well as research and education centers around the country.

NPR's Steve Inskeep visits the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History ahead of what the Trump administration says will be a systematic review of "divisive or partisan narratives."

1) What institution did President Trump describe as "out of control" and why?Who is Peniel Joseph, and what is his background?

2) How does Joseph argue that the fight over history in museums is part of a struggle that goes back generations?

3) What argument are people making to defend slavery, according to host Amna Nawaz?

Why does Joseph compare this current moment to the McCarthy era?

4) How do you think the exhibits in the Smithsonian should be chosen and displayed? Who should have a say?

5) Do you think changing museum displays could or would have an impact?  How?  Why?