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?

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

This expression has been attributed to everyone from Voltaire to Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man comic book; but what does it mean?  

The phrase “Great powers bring great responsibilities” is said by Peter’s foster father and uncle, “Uncle Ben”, in the form of advice or warning. Ignoring what would be the last words he would hear from his uncle, Peter decides to employ his new superpowers to win money in a wrestling tournament. He wins the fight, but ends up being deceived by the event's promoter. When a thief steals the promoter’s money, Peter takes revenge by omission: he chooses to let the thief escape. He later learns that his uncle had been shot to death. He starts looking for the killer. When he finally finds him, the hero-in-the-making finds out that it was the same thief that he had let go. The fact naturally awakens a heavy sense of guilt and an acute sense of responsibility and heroism.  It is later repeated by Aunt Mae in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

What is the true origin of the saying?

What power does the media have?

What responsibility do we have to check it?

Lesson: Creating Healthy News Habits

The Influencing Machine

LISTEN TO THE STORY

What is the Influencing Machine?

Introduction Questions

Does the media really control people's minds?

What techniques do advertisers use?

What Is News?

Is this News?

How about these stories?

What makes one thing worth reporting, while another thing is not? We offer a test for news which can work in all societies. We consider what makes some news stories stronger than others. Finally, we look at how news comes to journalists, and the areas of life where we most often find it.

Look at today's Front Pages and Complete 'Where does news come from?'

This course looks at the role of the media on international, national, state, local, and school-wide levels. Although the content is constantly changing there are recurrent themes including domestic and foreign policy, the economy, war, crime, and the environment.  Let's look back at the stories that made the headlines the past year and, make some predictions about what we may study this year.

What do you think was the biggest story of the Summer?  What predictions do you make about this Fall?

Will AI Wipe Out Mainstream Media?

 

Available in over 30 languages and able to transmit bespoke news stories faster than ever, its threat to the mainstream media is clear. But can we trust it? And would anybody actually watch a channel that lacks the human touch? The Guardian visited the channel’s creators in Los Angeles to find out more - and to audition for a role.

Emerging artificial intelligence technology is making it even more difficult to discern what's real and what's not, worrying some about the potential impacts on politics. ABC News senior reporter Emmanuelle Saliba has more on the risks the emerging technology presents for misinformation, and how to spot fake images.

1) What is an AI news channel?

2) Who is the audience?

3) How real is it? How can you tell?

4) Is this what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the 1st Amendment? What dangers does it pose?

5) Do you think AI will wipe out mainstream media? Why/ not?

I Robot, I Media

Q. How can we ensure that our development as moral and social animals keeps pace with our rapidly evolving communications technology?

A. By playing an active role in our media consumption, trusting reporters who demonstrate fairness and reliability over time, offering corrections when they get something wrong, and when we care enough--reading the original documents they worked from.

What is the ‘Singularity?’

Has Mark Zuckerberg already started to create it? Would you want to live there? Why/not?

Don't Panic

So long and thanks for all the fish...

Mere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, journeyman Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, an alien researcher penning a new edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."  Do movie trailers appeal to our 'deep' or 'hyper' attention?

Douglas Adams cult classic may have been the stuff of Science Fiction in the 1970s, but one can't help compare his fictitious guide to existing modern-day technology.  Never before have we had access to so much information at our fingertips.  So why is it we seem to know so little?  

Isn't now the time to panic?

Chapter 11: Influencing Machine

Remember Jimmy Jet and his TV set?

How does TV affect our brain chemistry?

How has the Corona Pandemic affected recommendations on 'screen time?'  What are the 3 C's?

Can you put each of these innovations in the correct chronological order by numbering them from 1-18?

1) Which had the most impact on the way we get the news? The least? Explain.

2) Where do you get most of your news from? Why?

3) What new technologies have changed media in your lifetime?  The future?

Radio Free Europe

 

R.E.M. had a hit song in 1983 named after "Radio Free Europe," inspired by the federally funded news service that helped spread American ideals abroad. Now, the struggling organization, which says the Trump administration is withholding millions in funding that Congress had appropriated, is hoping a little bit of rock and roll can help keep them afloat.

The iconic rock band answered their call: They're now giving their 45-year-old smash a remix, sharing all of the proceeds from it directly to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. It's being issued on digital and on vinyl, with four other R.E.M. rarities. 

1) What is 'Radio Free Europe?'

2) How was it important, especially during the Cold War?

3) Why is it ironic that President Trump wants to shut it down?

4) How are law firms targeted by Trump responding to White House pressure?

5) Was it brave or stupid of 60 Minutes to run this story after the resignation of their own Chief Editor? Explain why?

The Matrix In Me

You can see it when you look out your window...  when you turn on your television... when you go to work.  It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.  The truth that like everyone else you were born into a prison that you can not smell or taste or touch.  A prison for your mind.  More precisely the prison OF your mind.  

We think we know the difference between when we are being rational and when we are being impulsive, but what does research show? 

Implicit.harvard.edu


How do the outcomes of this test compare to similar tests on racial bias?

1) Which of these dolls is the 'good' one?  Why?

2) Which of these dolls is the bad one?  Why?

3) Which of these dolls looks most like you?

Can we learn to be less biased?

60 Minutes

CBS News’ ‘“60 Minutes” addressed the surprise exit of its longtime executive producer Bill Owens on Sunday’s program, with anchor Scott Pelley saying that “no one is happy” about his departure.

In an extraordinarily blunt final segment of the news magazine show, Pelley revealed that CBS’ parent company Paramount “began to supervise our content in new ways” as it tries to complete a merger with Skydance Media, with Pelley adding that Owens “felt he had lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”

Owens announced last week he was leaving “60 Minutes” after 24 years with the program and 37 years at CBS News. No replacement was immediately named.

Pelley said that topics the show has pursued in its roughly 60-year history are “often controversial,” noting recent stories have included Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza and the Trump administration.

“Bill made sure they were accurate and fair,” Pelley said. “He was tough that way, but our parent company Paramount is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it.”

Pelley said Owens’ resignation last Tuesday “was hard on him and hard on us, but he did it for us and you.”

“No one here is happy about it, but in resigning, Bill proved one thing: He was the right person to lead ’60 Minutes’ all along,” Pelley concluded.

The segment was also shared on various “60 Minutes” social media accounts with many of its correspondents reposting it, including Cecilia Vargas, Jon Wertheim, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

CBS News and Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In Owens’ resignation letter, he said that in the the last few months it was made it clear that he “would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it” or make “independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes.”


Owens’ decision to step down comes as Americans’ trust in media outlets has hit a low and as outlets find themselves under attack — including frequent jabs from the White House. In November, President Donald Trump slapped CBS News and its parent company, Paramount Global, with a $10 billion lawsuit that claims a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris was grossly mis-edited by CBS at the Harris campaign’s direction.

Since then, Trump has repeatedly called for the network to lose its license and urged the Federal Communications Commission to punish the broadcaster. Ultimately, “60 Minutes” handed over the full transcript and video of the contested interview to the FCC, and Trump and Paramount this month agreed on a mediator in the lawsuit.

Shortly after reports of Owens’ resignation emerged, two “60 Minutes” producers spoke anonymously with CNN’s Jake Tapper. One source called Trump’s lawsuit “baseless” and stressed Owens’ refusal to apologize or bend while noting the top producer “fought for the broadcast and for independent journalism and that cost him his job.”

A second source was blunter.

“It‘s like a guy who has been battling for months against an attack,” this person said. “He sacrificed himself hoping it might make our corporate overlords wake up and realize they risk destroying what makes 60 Minutes great.”

1) Why did Bill Owen resign?

2) What was President Trump's lawsuit against CBS?

3) What is the bigger implication of Owen's resignation and the impact on the 1st Amendment and Freedom of the Press?

4) What other news agencies has the Trump Presidency targeted? Why?

5) Which news agencies has he favored?  Explain.

Full Disclosure

In Chapter 9 Brooke proposed that reporters aren't supposed to make the world better.

Their job is to tell us what is going on, so WE can make it better...

Would you trust them more if you knew more about them?

Video conferencing is pulling back the curtain on our private lives, as our friends  & colleagues finally get a peek into our homes. Correspondent Mo Rocca talks with designer Jonathan Adler, fashion commentator Simon Doonan, and New York Times critic-at-large Amanda Hess about what Zoom is divulging about us.

1) What can we learn about our reporters and celebrities by 'peeking' into their living rooms and offices?

2) Do you trust them more or less? Why?

3) What is in your 'Zoom' background and what does it 'disclose' about you?

And Thats the Way It Was...

A pioneer broadcast journalist who began his distinguished career as a wire service reporter, Cronkite was a longtime champion of journalism values who was often referred to as the most trusted man in America.

By the mid-1950s more than half the nation's living rooms have a TV set, which serves as a kind of national mirror.  It reflects a populace that is white, Christian, and middle-class.  It has no accent.  It defines normal. It defines America.

When Walter Cronkite ends his CBS newscast with his rock-solid assertion, 'And that's the way it is,' it's a sweet finish to his nightly suppertime slice of reality.  Facts, unseasoned and served deadpan. (Gladstone, pg. 103)

Watch the interview and then answer these questions:

1) What event that Walter Cronkite reported do you think was the most significant? Why?

2) After listening to 'Uncle Walt' why do you think America found him so trustworthy?

3) How has reporting changed since the 'Golden Age of Objectivity?'

4) Do you think there will ever be a reporter as trusted as Walter Cronkite? If so who? If not why?

5) Cronkite's famous tagline: 'and that's the way it is' was legendary. If you were a national news anchor what would your tagline be? Explain.

The Golden Age of Objectivity

 If the highest law of journalism is 'to the tell the Truth  and shame the devil'  then the  Golden Age of Objectivity was the 1950s.  The 1951 government film 'Duck and Cover' advised on what to do if the see the flash of a nuclear bomb.  Fear of Communism and the threat of atomic war moved us into the 'donut hole' of consensus.

Historian Daniel Hallin uses donuts as a metaphor for the news. (Hallin, 2010) The donut hole is the ‘sphere of consensus;’ unquestionable values and unchallengeable truths. The donut itself is ‘legitimate controversy.’ This is the literal ‘sweet spot’ where undecided issues can be debated and discussed. Outside the donut is the ‘sphere of deviance’ reserved for opinions outside the mainstream of society.

Objectivity pt. 1

Objectivity emerged as a selling point in American Journalism when the price of a newspaper dropped to a penny.  In 1833 The New York Sun slashed the price of their paper to multiply readership and increase advertising.  Profits soared.

Yet all around their was a grinding, dehumanizing poverty reflected in the eyes of these 'newsies' selling papers on city streets.  Before WWI people viewed the world as being cruel but rich with opportunity.  Horatio Alger novels told stories of how the humblest orphans could ascend into the middle class through hard work.

This view changed following the war.  As damaged soldiers returned home with stories and the hideous and meaningless death of millions of young men a deep cynicism sets in and 'Dadaism' is born.  Its basic philosophy:  everything is meaningless.

WAR! Ernie Pyle & GI Joe

Many journalists were 'embedded' with the troops in WWII.  The legendary Ernie Pyle from western Indiana wrote columns on their grinding ordeal and uncomplicated courage.  Armed only with a typewriter, Pyle personalized war reporting, creating a bridge between the everyday soldier, whom he dubbed GI Joe, and the American populace.

As a roving correspondent for the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, he earned wide acclaim for his accounts of ordinary people in rural America, and later, of ordinary American soldiers during World War II. His syndicated column ran in more than 300 newspapers nationwide.

At the time of his death he was among the best-known American war correspondents. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for his spare, poignant accounts of "dogface" infantry soldiers from a first-person perspective. "No man in this war has so well told the story of the American fighting man as American fighting men wanted it told", wrote Harry Truman. "He deserves the gratitude of all his countrymen."

Who are the reporters who have followed in Ernie Pyle's footsteps?  What have they risked?

Is it worth it?

Listen to Jon Voigt read Ernie Pyle

How did John Hersey differ from Ernie Pyle?

Why is the book Hiroshima still so important today?

Why was it so controversial then?

Read the book for yourself...

How to Spot Bias in the Media and Fight It

(What is the real secret of Soylent Green?

Bias is hard to avoid, but it can be really damaging - leading us to make poor choices without fairly weighing up the facts. 

As human beings, we all bring a point of view into the world, and that point of view colors how we learn about and interact with it. This is built up from the moment we are born and will continue to evolve until we die. With that in mind, we should always be aware that we cannot react to anything in a completely objective manner.

That same logic holds true for media. All news outlets are organizations and made up of people. This means that editors, reporters, commentators, and researchers that work in journalism bring their point of view to work with them every day, and it is borderline impossible for them to completely separate themselves from the stories they report. It is therefore logical to assume that even the hardest news will be colored, to a certain extent, by the person reporting it. At a microlevel, when looking at a story, this point of view can manifest itself in a variety of ways that we should be on the lookout for:

Value as fact: In softer news, the presenter might attempt to pass off their beliefs as fact. This is especially true of punditry and opinion sections (think Tucker Carlson, Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, or Stephen Colbert) where the presenter is often attempting to confirm their own worldview and make that worldview more presentable to the consumer. If a worldview or set of values is stated, we should automatically be on the lookout for bias in how the story is presented.

Presentation of the facts: In hard news, it’s important to keep an eye on how the facts are presented. Were questions left unanswered? Was information omitted that could have been vital to building a clear picture of events?

Credibility and accuracy of sourcing: Did the story source a diverse array of credible viewpoints and make the effort to flesh out who or what they are and put the information gleaned from them in context? The less you notice this in a story, the more on guard you should be for bias.

Cherry-picking: How are sources represented in the story? Are they analyzed in depth or just at a glance?

Sensationalism: Does the language in the headline or body provoke an emotional response? If it does, it’s likely that you’re consuming something intentionally biased and seeking to elicit that reaction to further the agenda of its author.

Commentary: Does the story draw a specific conclusion? Do they tell you in the presentation of facts whether they judge a source to be credible or portray them in a positive or negative light? In general, we should be skeptical of any reporting that attempts to pass judgement on a source. It may be accurate, but further research will be needed on the part of the consumers to independently confirm this judgement for themselves.

Fighting BIAS can be even harder than detecting it, especially when we already have strong preconceived opinions... 

You're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you!

Mascot-Ology

From now until the NCAA basketball championship in April, experts and prognosticators, along with millions of amateurs competing in office pools, will attempt to predict the outcomes of all 67 of the tournament’s games.

People have all sorts of reasons to pick one team over another. Some break down game footage; others look at advanced statistics; and still others give preference to schools they or their friends attended.

But what if we took a different approach and picked teams based on the strength of their mascots?

1)  Who would win?

2)  Whose Mascot is the toughest? Whose is the weakest? Why?

3)  Which mascot is the most common?  The most unique?  Explain.

4)  Why do schools choose the mascots they do?  What do mascots say about a school?

5) Why aren't their any 'Indian' mascots in the March Madness Tournament?


The "Brave," an American Indian warrior, became the symbol of the Talawanda Schools in the 1950s.

But who was Talawanda?

Do Indian Mascots honor insult Native American Groups?

Should Talawanda have changed its mascot? If so what to?

How did Miami University decide on a new logo?

The Great Refusal

Few reporters proclaim their convictions.  Fewer still act on them to serve what they believe to be the greater good.  In times of profound moral crisis, most reporters make the 'Great Refusal.'  The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity.

In his poem 'Inferno'  Dante tours the underworld and sees a swarm of anguished souls barred from heaven and hell doomed to limbo.  They are the neutrals, whose lives meant nothing because they refused to commit themselves.  They have all made what Dante calls the 'Great Refusal.'

Read the summary and then answer these Dantes's Inferno Questions.

Take the Inferno Test to see which level of Hell you would be banished to.  Do you agree?  Share your comments in our Google Class comments.

Happy St. Patrick's Day?

“The Most Recently Discovered Wild Beast” (1881) is one of a series of nineteenth-century images portraying the Irish as violent and subhuman. Native-born Americans criticized Irish immigrants for their poverty and manners, their supposed laziness and lack of discipline, their public drinking style, their catholic religion, and their capacity for criminality and collective violence. In both words and pictures, critics of the Irish measured character by perceived physical appearance.

Political cartoons such as the “Wild Beast” offered an exaggerated version of these complaints. The Irish-American “Dynamite Skunk,” clad in patriotic stars and stripes, has diabolical ears and feet and he sports an extraordinary tail. around his waist he is wearing an “infernal machine,” a terrorist bomb that was usually disguised as a harmless everyday object, in this case a book. in the cage next to him, sketched in outline, is a second beast.

This year though, I think St. Patrick’s Day deserves a little bit more attention and respect for what the history of Ireland and Irish culture represents, especially the Irish diaspora in the U.S. I am, of course, talking about the current battle taking place in the U.S. regarding immigration.

In many ways, the events of today are similar to those that took place from the mid-19th century through the early 20th century, with an increasing number of Irish citizens traveling to the U.S. They came to escape starvation during the potato famine, to find work or to escape the tyranny rule of imperial Great Britain. But what many who came soon discovered is they weren’t necessarily welcome here.

That sounds a lot like what’s happening to immigrants coming from Mexico and refugees coming from the Middle East. Though the phrases used to describe modern immigrants are different and it’s now illegal, to some extent, to hire based solely on ethnicity, the same sentiment still seems clear from many Americans: “We don’t want you here.”

The lesson to be learned here is where the Irish population in the U.S. is today. Descendants of the Irish who were once denigrated for their heritage are now some of the most influential people in America. Many of us are mayors, senators, presidents and CEOs.

For the first time in a while, those who control our government have displayed the same intolerance toward modern immigrants that those in the 19th and 20th centuries displayed to the Irish.

Just be forewarned: If you are anti-immigrant, history will likely frown upon you. For more than a hundred years now, Americans have been fighting back against newly arrived cultures. You know what happens just about every time? The immigrants end up becoming a major backbone of our country.

It will be particularly ironic when those who are anti-immigrant have their grandchildren and future generations celebrating holidays associated with those groups, the same way we now celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

MAY THE ROAD RISE TO MEET THEM...

1) What is the message of the political cartoon?

2) Describe two or three specific details of the cartoon that support that message.

3) How were Irish Immigrants often criticized by native-born Americans?  Why?

4) What similarities are there between the events of today and the events of the past?

5) What lessons can we learn from the popularity of St. Patrick's Day?

Rosebud

Citizen Kane was a brutal portrait of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. When Hearst learned through Hopper of Welles' film, he set out to protect his reputation by shutting the film down. Hollywood executives, led by Louis B. Mayer, rallied around Hearst, attempting to buy Citizen Kane in order to burn the negative. At the same time, Hearst's defenders moved to intimidate exhibitors into refusing to show the movie. Threats of blackmail, smears in the newspapers, and FBI investigations were used in the effort.

 

Was it the greatest movie ever made?

What was all the controversy about?

How did Hearst run his newspaper business?

What do you think 'Rosebud' means?

Answer these questions and then write your own movie review.

Did your movie make this list?

 

Fear Mongering

Be afraid.  Be very afraid!

A "fnord" is a pop-culture term used to describe something in the news media that subconsciously generates a feeling of uneasiness and confusion, preventing rationality, and creating fear. The term originally comes from conspiracy theorists who claim we are surrounded by 'fnords' every day and that the governments of the world are using them to control us.

Use these tips to find the 'fnords?!'

The Science of Fear-Mongering: How to Protect Your Mind

How do we avoid a news-driven anxiety spiral?

Do you see the 'fnords?!'

Read More

Goldilocks Number

Once upon a time---  November 2005--- someone said a very SCARY number...

What was it? Read Chapter 5 in the book (pgs. 49- 55) to find out.

Then answer these questions.

What is fear mongering and how/ why does the media lie?

I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

Roll out the red carpet!  Last night was a big night for Hollywood.  The Academy Awards, or "Oscars", is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence in cinematic achievements.

After watching these memorable Oscar Speeches, imagine you have just won an Oscar! What will you say? Who will you thank? Will you laugh? Cry? Will you have an inspirational or political message? Write and record your speech using your phone or think pad and share the link on Google Classroom.

How To Write an Acceptance Speech

Have the Oscars/ Hollywood become too political?

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

Make your own poll

Superbowl Commercials

At more than $8 million for a 30 second spot, Superbowl commercials are 8x more expensive than what it cost to broadcast the original game in 1967. Why are companies willing to spend so much?

What techniques do advertisers use to get what they want?

What commercial did you think was the best?  Worst? Why?

What In the World?

In more than half the world’s countries, banning, confiscation and censorship of publications are everyday occurrences. Even today, nearly two billion men and women live under governments which restrict their right to know the truth. More than 1 billion of those people live in China.

How does Chinese censorship work?

A Mountain By Any Other Name...

 

President Donald J. Trump’s plan to return Denali, the Alaska Native name for North America’s tallest peak, to its earlier name, Mount McKinley, has run into opposition from Alaska lawmakers.

Shortly after taking the oath of office on Monday, Mr. Trump surprised many in the state when he announced “we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley where it should be and where it belongs.”

But Alaska’s two senators, Lisa Murkowsi and Dan Sullivan, both Republicans, said they wanted to keep Denali National Park and Preserve as is, calling Denali the rightful name of the awe-inspiring white peaks, 20,310 feet above sea level in the home of the Koyukon people and other Alaska Native groups.

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1) Why does President Trump want to make the change?

2) Why are the Alaska's Senators opposed?

3) Who ultimately gets to make the decision?

4) Which name do you prefer?  Why?

5) What geographic landmark (river, ocean, mountain) would you name for yourself? Why?

Executive Order

President Trump promised a record number of executive orders on his first day in office. As of Monday, he has already signed several executive orders and issued several pardons.

For a closer look at the power of these orders and their limits, watch the following story and then answer these questions:

1) What is an 'Executive Order?'

2) How does it work?

3) How is it different than a 'Bill?'

4) Which of Trump's executive orders do you most agree with? Least?

5) If you were President what 'executive orders' would you sign on the first day?

Year In Review

1) What were the BIG headlines in 2024 (name at least 3)?

2) What made these events Headlines?

3) What similarities or differences did these events share?

4) Which do you think is the most important? Least? Why?

5) What predictions can you make up about the events we will study this year?