Poverty is the biggest/best reason for public service

courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

When I see stories like this, I want to thank those who have devoted their lives to public service in general and helping the poor in particular. I am not a great believer in the power of the private sector to solve problems as diverse and complex in their roots and effects as poverty, unemployment, teen pregnancy, public health, and public education. The state (the government) has a unique ability to reach across sectors of society to address these ills. I don't see private sector solutions to the problem of poverty. But I do see an increase in reliance on private-sector-modeled approaches to the problem of poverty in our state because of the results of last month's elections in Wisconsin. The private sector can definitely be (and often is) a force for good in the fight against poverty. I am willing to grant that to my political opponents. But it seems limited in its ultimate effectiveness. How will the private sector support the structural change (a structure that has allowed the private sector to flourish) that will enable a large scale reduction in the poverty numbers across the state?

These people are crazy!

My bike (not in winter)

I think I would regularly ride my bike through the streets of Milwaukee's winter before I would find myself dropping the kind of cash these folks do to saddle up inside a line of riders and sweat among total strangers. I am not the type to hit the gym, although I do work pretty hard keeping my aging body from going completely soft. I would much rather be out on the streets. Long rides in the summer short, intense rides in the winter. It can be done, and is ultimately more rewarding. The view has got to be better than spandex and sweat, that's for sure.

I had a bad year of bike riding this year. I hope to get back in the saddle, so to speak in  very early spring!

Set up a blog

There are a number of free blog creation sites available to anyone with an email address.  Visit some of these sites and determine which hosting service you'd like to use. Then create a blog. The plan will be for you to update your blog on a weekly basis with specific assignments that I give you as well as opportunities to contribute original material and publish it as well.

On a blog there are a number of different types of information. There is the content stream that you (the blogger) produce, and there are the regular static features of a blog. There is also the theme or layout of the blog to consider.  An assignment to work on in class over the next couple of days:

Visit one of these sites:

• Blogger (the service that created this site)
• Wordpress

As part of our consideration of new media, I would like you to work on setting up a blog site. You will be responsible for setting up the site, creating its static features, maintaining its content, moderating the comments, and responding to class assignments.

I would like you to keep in mind that while these blogs are an active part of this class, the content contain therein should remain school appropriate. Anything you create on school time and school equipment is subject to school review.

For now, create a blog containing the following features:

• a content stream that is predominant on the page. 
• include an introductory post
• include two posts that each link to news stories found on reputable news sites and contain a paragraph or two of comment from you.
• a blogroll with links to the blogs of other students in this class and this blog.
• at least two other static features.

** Journalism I students: be sure to produce a new entry on your blog for each of the remaining days in this week (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday)
Have this much completed by Friday, January 28th, 2011.

New media; old debate

The Transportation Safety administration Administration recently put into effect more aggressive airport security measures. It has been catching a lot of press. The coverage might help us to apply the ideas in Eric Alterman's article.

One of The Atlantic Monthly's bloggers have this treatment of the airport security issue.

Mediaite has this treatment of the topic:


And finally, the New York Times has this account of the change in airport security measures rolling out this month.

Read/view all three and be prepared to:

• discuss the inherent differences in the way new media (first two treatments of the story) and old media (last treatment) cover the same story.
• reflect on your analysis of the Alterman article in your paper, and comment on how these stories reflect that article's main ideas.

News leads (ledes) in practice

I would like you to visit and read a major daily online newspaper in class today. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the New York Times, The Washington Post, The LA Times, the Chicago Tribune, etc. Quickly find the one newspaper that you want to and are able to browse (some papers ask you to sign up for free accounts, if you want access to this paper take a brief period of time to do this, otherwise move on) and read through their news section. Read four or five articles in their entirety. Then select one and evaluate the elements of news that apply and its lead. To evaluate something is to identify it and examine its effectiveness. Do that for both the elements of news and the lead in the story you've selected. You will need to post your response as a comment on this blog and link to the story. 

First Amendment Considerations in the news

• read the following two stories: one about a man who thinks Muslims might not deserve first amendment rights, and one by a man in charge of putting together the Cordoba Center, a Muslim community center near ground zero in New York City.
• respond to the two articles in a comment to this post discussing the pertinent first amendment issues raised in the article. Where do you stand on the issue of the Cordoba Center being built? Why?