Pick one of the posts below related to this week's tomfoolery and hijinks and post a thoughtful comment. (Posts in question: Sources of [Mis]Information, Celebrity Culture, Definition of Myth, Cult of Personality, Part I: Oprah, Cult of Personality, Part II: James Frey)
Then move on to your own blog. You can address specific things from this week's class or turn your attention to your own 21CC preoccupations. I want you to include a link, especially because we've been talking about sources a lot this week.
Think about where you're getting your information. Run your sources through the Logos-Pathos-Ethos wringer. Buzzword: BALANCE! They should have a little bit of all three.
Also think about the journalistic "best practice" of getting MULTIPLE SOURCES. Here's an idea: how's about two links in the same post -- either corroborating or refuting each other. Then you analyze it and decide where you stand.
That's not just how you write a good blog post. It's how you navigate your little raft of inquiry on the raging flood of information that is the 21C.
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When you consider mythology, and you consider America, you have to consider America's mythology. We don't have mythology in the traditional sense--gods living on Olympus or in Valhalla or whereever. We do, however, have mythology--it surrounds us and takes the form of television, advertising, this collective unconscious that has been battered into being by Carl Jung and Blake Lively and all those people who we see on that screen in out living rooms. It has become fairly common place for most families to have television, and television has, over the years, started to take up more time in people's lives. But while it hasn't always been there, ever since it first showed up people have been obsessing over it, watching it religiously, idolizing the celebrities they see there, worshipping them. I use the words religiously, idolizing and worshipping on purpose here. In a way we have found a new golden calf--will we be forced to wander the desert? Some might say we already are, but I'm not sure about all that. What I do know is that even when you don't watch TV, you know of its importance, and, in a world where the only real gods in America are amusement parks and TV actors, it's not surprising to think that TV is mythology. But I don't want to get into a religious discussion--that's not why I'm here.
ReplyDeleteJon Stewart. He's been one of my heroes for a long time now, and I appreciate what he does. He doesn’t really report the news, only parodies it, makes fun of anyone and everyone, including himself. But he’s not dumb. His comedy is always well informed and smart, which is important, I think. But when he makes a comment off of his show, you know he’s serious. That’s why what happened with him and Cramer got so hyped up, because he was completely serious about what was going on. He wanted to talk about what was happening in the financial market, not even necessarily with this guy. Or at least that’s how I see it. Maybe I bought the snake oil he was trying to sell me. Who knows.
Man, I meant to post that to the one about Jon Stewart...
ReplyDeleteHere's what I'll say about Jon Stewart, Ramsey. Like you, I admire him and find him entertaining. I also agree with him more (way more) often than not.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, he doesn't just wash his hands of real, substantive issues. He has actual political figures and other "movers and shakers" on his show. He frames the debate -- the REAL debate, not just some fake "snake oil" debate -- maybe more than he cares to admit.
In regards to "Framing the debate", Jon Stewart seems to push his own agenda during the interview segments. He gets so worked up about his own ideas, we rarely lets his guests speak.
ReplyDelete