Good Night and Good Luck



The film Good Night and Good Luck is a must see film for emerging journalists. George Clooney, Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, and Robert Downey, Jr., and David Staithairn wonderfully portrayed a team of broadcasters who fought a brave and tireless battle against Senator Joseph McCarthy’s unproven accusations of treason against American citizens. The main character, broadcasting legend Edward Murrow, was played by Strathairn who beautifully captured Murrow’s timeless voice and look that Americans trusted. It was the weapon that ultimately brought McCarthy to his knees and freed Americans from unproven accusations. The verbal battle between McCarthy and Murrow happened on television for the world to see and hear. It was a battle that was won in the arena of public opinion. And it won Murrow the respect of the American public and a place in the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

The film powerfully illustrates how journalism in a box, better known as television, can cause major positive changes in society when the media acts responsibly, and in the spirit of good journalism. There is much to be learned by watching this film and by reading about the historical political struggle between the CBS newsroom and Senator McCarthy. The credibility of the station and the staff were clearly at risk, but the staff all took risks with their own careers to do the right thing. For me, the film reinforced my growing respect for the craft of journalism, when done in the best interest of the public.

How Rena Occupies

According to Rena Patty, the occupiers of Zucotti Park are “committed to a non-hierarchical structure” as they move forward to make change and grow in numbers. While some occupiers “step into leadership roles”, the structure remains fluid says Patty. Ever since the world learned about Occupy Wall Street, there has been speculation about what occupiers want and who’s in charge. I guess that’s why the professor of my journalism class decided to go there as a class, and talk to occupiers. I had the pleasure interviewing Rena with my classmates, Lia and Jacob. Jacob’s video footage of the conversation with Rena probably won’t help you identify a specific goal or leader. But you will come to a better understanding of what this movement and the occupiers are all about.

Like the structure and mission of the occupiers, Rena’s role wasn’t crystal clear to me at first. And it shouldn’t be. She brought her expertise as a "certified trainer" in the field of "non-violent communication", and she cares about people deeply. Even though she doesn’t sleep in the park like other occupiers, she been a presence there since she arrived from the state of Washington about a week ago. Rena spoke a lot about helping the community of occupiers make “peaceful connections” with each other and the community around them. 

I listened to her talk in the terms that are relevant in her field of work. From her description of the world’s “sense of despair” to her words about making “peaceable connections”, it was all starting to make sense to me. Rena came to Zucotti Park as a doctor in the field of communication, of peace. Like a doctor would respond to a medical emergency, Rena responded to Occupy Wall St. She saw a need in a cause that meant something to her and she met the need.

Rena spoke a great deal about making sure everyone “has a voice” in the process. But who’s everyone? She talked about the importance of people “naming needs” in order to get along. Whose needs? And when she spoke about how to communicate to someone who isn’t communicating with you, she offered the example of “you’re not hearing me”. And then it occurred to me, that the largest mission of the occupiers is just being heard. Who? All of us! Here in the midst of an age of social media and a chance to communicate with the world, the people have the rare opportunity to simply be heard. So for now, the mission seems to be to make sure everyone has a voice! Therefore, you will only understand the message of occupiers if you listen very carefully.

Abolition

For me, Chapter 2 of the book Mightier than the Sword, was a very important reminder of what freedom, community organizing, and social movement is all about. As author Rodger Streitmatter points out ", it was the abolitionists editors who first built the national momentum against slavery in the 1830's and 1840's". Since blacks had no voice in society, and slavery was such a polarizing issue, it was necessary to reach out to people and change their minds about where they stood on the issue. Streitmatter’s statement depicts the important part journalism plays in fueling social movements. The freedom to have a voice in society was, and still is so deeply valued by Americans, that people such as Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy were willing to give their lives to protect it. The First Amendment, Freedom of the Press, is what ensures that our voices can be heard.

In today’s world, the battles that Lovejoy and others fought are still significant. They paved the way for occupiers to get their word out about the Occupy Wall St. movement. Likewise, occupiers have the task to change minds about where people stand on the rights of the poor and middle class. Then, like now, people are banded together against tyranny.

Also in this chapter, the author used editor William Lloyd Garrison’s story to highlight the exhilaration that comes with freely reaching out to change minds, and succeeding. Steitmatter stated that “slaves hoisted the editor onto their shoulders and carried him to a platform in Zion’s Church, surrounded by thousands of African-American men and women who understood what he had done for them”. That sounds powerful. But what did he do for them? As the chapter illustrates, Garrison tirelessly and fearlessly continued to people speak out for those who didn’t have a voice amidst tyranny. In today’s world, it’s the voice of the poor that need to be amplified until occupiers are carried into Garrision’s world of exhilaration.

NYT Slideshow as an Organizing Tool

                An old but popular quote “pictures speak louder than words” never grows old. And when you’re talking about comparisons, photojournalism is a wonderful tool. The New York Times publication, “Rallies Across the Globe Protest Economic Policies” appears online as a slideshow.  It depicts protests that were held around the world on Saturday October 15, 2011 in support of New York City Occupy Wall Street protestors. Together, the photos show that a social movement is rippling throughout the world, but when comparing them, the photos show that the core and strength of the movement is presently located in New York City. A photo taken at Washington Square Park clearly tells readers that a crowd too big to fit in the photo capture, was present. Other slideshow photos, such as the one taken in Los Angeles, show passionate but smaller protests. And this is why the photos are so important.

                For protest organizers around the world, this is very useful information. The photos allow readers to see and feel the growing power and diversity of the movement in a way that words can’t. And organizers can draw on the visuals and gather a true sense of who is part of the movement.  We can note that the movement is becoming more diverse, while we observe where more outreach is needed. Thanks to the slideshow, the public was provided with a quick and understandable analysis and comparison of the protests. Hopefully by the time the next slideshow appears in the New York Times, we will see thousands gathered in the places where only hundreds were photographed before.

New York Times Needs to Take Its Pulse

Today's edition of the New York Times online included Michael Kimmerman's article "In Protest, the Power of Place" along with Cara Buckley and Rachel Donadio's article "Buoyed by Wall St. Protests, Rallies Sweep the Globe" . Both articles were about the growing social movement that’s been growing out of Zuccotti Park. Occupy Wall Street has turned into an important international movement that is touching all aspects of United States politics, as shown in Nicholas Confessore and Griff Palmer’s article “Romney beating Obama, in a fight for Wall St. Cash”. Yet, the New York Times as a whole doesn't seem to have its finger on the pulse of what's really going on right here in New York City. When I visited the New York Times online, I was stunned to read little about the massive march that began in Washington Square Park and thundered on its way to Times Square. The march in and of itself was worthy of headlines. For sure, if the details are in the New York Times, they’re well hidden from interested readers.

Yesterday I took part in what organizers are calling the first New York City All-City Student Assembly held in Washington Square Park. The hundreds of students that convened here, marched to LaGuardia Place to support the 23 people who were arrested during their political action against banks. We returned to the park to be met by thousands of protestors, who we joined in a march to Times Square. I haven’t seen any articles that truly describe the power harnessed in this protest in opposition to the social injustice of corporate greed and our government’s part in it.

The march itself was spectacular and spoke to the bravery of the people who began this movement. Nearly shoulder to shoulder on some blocks, police officers lined each of the streets where protestors marched. The military style presence of the officers created an atmosphere of antagonism which I’m sure was the cause of confrontations between police and protesters at Times Square. It was my hope that the New York Times would capture the aura of the protest march and the depth of this movement which is truly a revolution.

At some point the people of this city, including officers, are going to have choices to make. The presence of the 99% is growing into a population that officers won’t be able to intimidate and the New York Times won’t be able to take lightly. The 99% isn’t made up of just young people anymore. There are people of all kinds coming to the front lines. It’s a blend of race, ethnicity, religion, age, and so on. The New York Times better get its finger on the pulse of Occupied Wall St.

               

We the people!

Today's New York Times article boldly, states that "police, too, release videos of arrests on bridge". The intent of this article seems to be to be for city agencies to validate the actions of the New York City Police Department thus far, against “Occupy Wall St.” protesters. Included in the article are two videos in which officers are shown announcing the intent to arrest citizens. They do this with hand held mega phones. Given the numerous online videos showing police abuse of protesters, I think the attempt to validate the actions of the NYPD is laughable. The NYPD’s use of mega phones and a video camera seems like a weak attempt to save face. Nice try. But it won’t work! The world is watching.

The activities on Wall St. are seemingly being suppressed by television media and city government.  Few televisions stories have been shown about this huge historic event and moment in social movement history. Even so, protesters have come together with no city resources and equipment available to them. They are using their own voices as human mega phones. People are holding signs up to make their peaceful, although firm intentions clear. They are making their messages crystal clear to the NYPD and city government while the police do not make their intentions clear to protesters. We the people are not foolish. We will not believe a weak story such as this one. There’s too much evidence otherwise.

A Dash of Pepper, and a Recipe for More Action

    

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/80-arrested-as-financial-district-protest-moves-north/?scp=3&sq=chelsea%20elliott&st=cse

            On September 24, 2011 the New York Times published an article about how the New York City Police Department declared war on innocent citizens. This occurred while peaceful protesters marched on Wall St. to make their voices heard about the injustices and abuse of power by our government and by the wealthy. For some unknown reason, the police corralled and beat protesters. But the last straw was when they pepper sprayed a group of innocent, young people who they corralled. These young people were only calling out words of protest and injustice. When the police pepper sprayed this group of protesters, their actions were caught on video and their dash of pepper turned out to be the secret ingredient for more political action. As we’ve seen so many times before, in the history of social movement, it takes a good portion of anger to stir the nation into a winning recipe of change. And I do think change is coming.

            Since the first day of the protests and of the NYPD’s attack of citizens, more and more citizen video footage is emerging. The evidence is damning and the silence of the New York City Police Department is deafening to all of us waiting to hear their explanation. But good reason is surely not probable given the video evidence. It is my hope that we are now witnesses and participants in a point in history when citizens will reclaim the city and then America. Enough is enough. We’ve had enough of the abuses of power and wealth. It’s time to fight back and reclaim our rights.

Maybe there's hope yet!

                On September 15, 2011, the New York Times published an article that gave me hope about our world today.  In recent years, much of the media coverage on abortion has been one sided. Therefore, being pro-abortion has been presented as being hip and cool. And prolife has been written about as being oppressively “onerous” toward woman as opposed to being a movement to save lives. Even though the article, “Virginia Health Bard Tightens Rules on Abortion Clinics” leaned toward that view, it provided stand out facts and important opinions from both pro-abortion and pro-life activists.  This was  fairer and clearer than I’ve seen in a while. Perhaps there’s hope that the media is beginning to open its eyes to the true amount of people in the nation that are opposed to increasing abortions in our country.

Ultimately, it was also great to read that pro-life advocates in Virginia are gaining traction and are fighting their way through the barrage of one sided media attacks and are holding their own against an army of victims the media is helping to create, the people who are being made to believe in justified killing. I find it to be a confusing world in which the population of Vegans is increasing alongside a growing number of “pro-choice” advocates.  So people are increasingly against say, eating an egg, but not against disposing of a human embryo. For me, a pro-lifer, this was the article that most interested me in the day’s paper.  I hope I start my day to many more like it.

Public Opinion

    Our class discussion showed just how unpredictable public opinion is. Professor Rosa had brought out quite a point when he stated that “Bill Clinton’s presidency was saved by public opinion”. How true! Many Americans, including me, may have been disappointed by Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. But when considering the leadership of our country, Americans seemed to agree that his personal life, didn’t affect his ability to roll with the punches and do his job. It was public opinion that forced his critics to back off.

I would compare how journalism and public opinion roll, with a waterway. When the art of journalism is used wisely, it can be a genuine tool of democracy that taps into the “interlocking public’s” free flowing rush of public opinion and humanity. Like a huge rush of water, public opinion can be used to generate the power of citizens. Or like other power sources, public opinion can also produce unexpected surges which can be quite surprising to the operators of democracy. Water and public opinion don’t always end up where you expect it to.

Journalism's Elements and Reasons

     The introduction and first chapter of the book, The Elements of Journalism puts forth important concepts about the craft of journalism which was intensely examined for two years by the Committee of Concerned Journalists. Perhaps the most significant statement agreed on by this group of professionals is that “the primary purpose of journalism is to provide people with the information they need to be free and self-governing”. That statement offers some hope to readers of this book who may have abandoned faith in this profession of journalism. But given the amount of time it’s taken the press to want to recover that faith it may not be likely.

        As authors, Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel point out, “people crave news out of basic instinct”, perhaps a survival instinct. In what’s referred to as the “Awareness Instinct”, humans have a thirst for knowledge. That thirst has seemingly caused us to become self-aware of the impending danger of government and corporate power infiltrating journalism and the truthfulness in verified information.

        The pages of this chapter speak to the beliefs of scores of people who believe that the boom of technology and information has created an era in which no one controls the dissemination of that information anymore. Now that people have power, it may take a great deal of convincing for the public to place their trust in journalism. It’s the survival of verification that is the true issue of this chapter.

        For me, the second most significant statement is that if “the journalism of verification is to survive in the new Information Age, then it must become a force in empowering citizens to shape their own communities based on verified information”. This statement clearly points to another survival instinct, which is that of the press as we know it. And it leaves me with several questions. Is the public incapable of creating and taking ownership of verified information? Is this something only journalism as we know it, can provide?

         

 

Welcome, but don't trip on my thoughts about 911

    Hello and welcome to my class assignment, my "Classroom Journalist" blog. On this blog I will be writing about things that haven't yet been assigned. I find that pretty exciting. For me, attending LaGuardia Community College has been an amazing experience. Therefore, this assignment to maintain a blog, to write about the unexpected topic and having the opportunity to introduce myself to you isn't a chore. It's a privilege. It's yet another way to explore myself as well as the people and community around me.
I came to the college in 2009 hoping that my mild Lupus symptoms wouldn't interfere with my plans to obtain a degree or hold me back from pursuing community work on a higher level. I'd been a community activist for most of my adult life and was hopeful that I might be able to transform my work into a career. I never expected to be an honors student. And I certainly didn't expect each of my classes to personally connect to my life and my community work the way they have. Some of the class material has been so fine tuned to the details of my life that it feels like divine intervention. Even at 53 years old, this college experience has truly changed the very way I view myself and the way I view others. But my core beliefs and convictions are stronger than ever. Therefore, I can't wait to see what this journalism class has in store for me and how it will also connect to my life. Once I have a degree in my hand, I intend to pursue community work on a higher level, and I'm curious about the person I'll be when that time comes.
That brings me to my second writing assignment which is my thoughts about our class discussion of the events of 9/11. Professor Rosa expressed that 9/11 was the "Pearl Harbor" of today. That it's the story we'll never forget, "like the shooting of President Robert F. Kennedy or Doctor Martin Luther King". It's the story and the event that will always stay with those who experienced it, who felt it. And Professor Rosa spoke about how things like this might change a person. How might it change the people who saw the planes hit the twin towers, or the ones that dug through the rubble, or reported about it? And then I read the article that the professor assigned. It's with a prayer that I recall 9/11, because I know it changed me. I cherish every moment I have with my family, because I thought I'd lose some of them that day.
This article talked about Byron Pitts. He's a reporter that I'll never forget. I remember standing in front of my television set for moments, trembling as I watched his report. My husband and I had watched the second plane hit the tower from our roof. We knew immediately that we were being attacked and that our children were at risk. And we watched both towers crumble in horror. Afterwards, we were busy collecting and accounting for our six children who were scattered in jobs and schools throughout New York City. When my husband and I went our separate ways to collect all of our children, we kissed each other like it was our last.
Pitts was at ground zero in horror. Yet he was calm. While his eyes began to water, he reported. He did his job professionally as first responders do. He was a first responder of information that would help many people. For me, many parts of that day were blurred into the frenzy. But at some point in the day, I was touched by Pitts. In the few passing moments that I was able to watch Pitt's report, he had given me some much needed information and support. I thought about where he was and how bravely he continued to do what he had to do. He inspired. The article about Pitts, spoke to how the reporter took that experience with him on his journey as a first responder of public information. It feels odd that today in the year 2011, I'm still carrying Pitts along on my journey through life. Humans are more interconnected than we realize. It’s amazing how even through a television report, we make connections.  And only now through this exercise and recalling Pitt's report did I realize that my husband and I were first responders for our children. As parents our job was to be our children's security, emotional support and protectors. Despite what was going on around us, my husband and I went to do our job. Like Pitts, we did what we had to do. Thank you for helping me to realize that.