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.