Journalism: September 2006 Archive Page

"It was then decided that a tactical solution needed to be done in an effort to save the two hostages," the sheriff said, his voice breaking. "Entry was made. The suspect shot one of the hostages, then shot himself." --Chase Squires --Colo. Gunman Shoots Hostage, Kills Self (ABC News)

Fascinating example of the usefulness of the passive voice and nominalization. The sheriff is distancing himself from the action.

The suspect is an active, immediate threat, who "shot" a hostage and "shot" himself.

The authorities in charge of the operation are in the background... the "solution needed to be done" and the course of action was "decided on". Rather than saying the "Police officers stormed the building, waving guns and screaming for the suspect to come out," the sherrif simply says "Entry was made."

I don't mean to say the sheriff was doing anything wrong... it just struck me how effectively he was using language. The most powerful verb in his whole speech was "save [the two hostages]" -- the intention that motivated the action.

The detail about the breaking voice shows that this cop was talking his professionally abstract passive rhetoric in an effort to keep his emotions under control.

Good reporting -- painting a compelling picture with a few telling details.

The words "global warming" provoke a sharp retort from Colorado State University meteorology professor emeritus William Gray: "It's a big scam."

And the name of climate researcher Kevin Trenberth elicits a sputtered "opportunist."

At the National Center for Atmospheric Research, where Trenberth works, Gray's name prompts dismay. "Bill Gray is completely unreasonable," Trenberth says. "He has a mind block on this."

Only 55 miles separate NCAR's headquarters, nestled in the Front Range foothills, from CSU in Fort Collins. But when it comes to climate change, the gap is as big as any in the scientific community. --Mark Jaffe --Global warming? (Denver Post)

Dissent and personal attacks make compelling stories, so I'm a bit leery about a science article that makes the issue so personal. Nevertheless, it's rare to see journalism cover a scientific controversy with such depth, so this article is worth adding to my list of related global warming entries.

I am the editor in chief of the Setonian. During production week, I live, breathe and worship all that is QuarkXpress, Adobe Photoshop, copyeditor's marks and the Associated Press Style manual. People don't really see me that much, that is, if you don't count the back of my head, which is turned in the direction of the glowing Mac in front of me. The same is true of the entire staff, as well. We immerse ourselves in interviews and photo ops. --Amanda Cochran --Top ten ways you know it's Setonian production week (Girl Meets World)

A great blog entry, capturing the enthusiasm and zaniness of the wonderful bunch of students whom I advise.

The quotation that caused all the furor involves a 14th-century dialogue between a Byzantine emperor and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam. The pope quotes the emperor, who says: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by sword the faith he preached." Fighting words to be sure, but the pope does not quote them favorably. Rather, Benedict uses the quote to illustrate his deeper point. For Christians, it is always wrong to spread the faith through violence, precisely because of what the Christian faith claims about God. The pope says that "violence is incompatible with the nature of God" because acting against reason is contrary to God's nature. God is reasonable, not willful or arbitrary.

This may seem like an abstract theological point, but much of our common life hangs on it. By analogy, what if the people who ruled our country were willful and arbitrary? What if they said they were above reason or even acted contrary to it? If they made no pretension to being reasonable, there would be no reason for them to shirk away from threats and violence. --Thomas W. Smith --Pope's focus: Reason -- Its relationship to the divine was the subject of a recent speech that upset some Muslims. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

In my Media Lab class yesterday, I said that I thought journalism wasn't doing a very good job of covering the reaction in parts of the Islamic world to Pope Benedict's use of a quotation that contained statements highly critical of Muhammad.

This article, which includes a link to the full text of Benedict's speech, offers much-needed context and balance. The content of this article is far less striking than photos of livid Muslims burning effigies, but it's far more important to our understanding of the nature of the issue at hand.

A man with a black trench coat whose shooting rampage in a Montreal college killed one person and wounded 19 others before he was slain by police said on a blog in his name that he liked to play a role-playing Internet game about the Columbine shootings. --Montreal gunman liked 'Columbine' game (Yahoo! | AP)

Of course it must have been the video game that caused this horrible tragedy. And to think -- he blogged about it, too!

The mainstream media coverage of Columbine was only reporting and reflecting on something that was there already, right? Only video games and things people write in their online profiles can cause people to snap like that.

Damn those games! Damn those blogs! They're ruining society!

Kimveer Gill's vampirefreaks gallery also includes a shot of his favorite movie poster (The Corpse Bride), and alcohol; his profile (what the mainstream media seem to be calling a blog) includes the following shout-out to Quentin Tarantino: "Keep making those kick ass movies man, you rock."

--live bloopers (YouTube)

The 75-year-old actor said: "I'm interested in man's march into the unknown but to vomit in space is not my idea of a good time. Neither is a fiery crash with the vomit hovering over me."

Onboard the Starship Enterprise, sci-fi fans saw Shatner freely 'explore the final frontier, seeking out new life and strange new worlds' in 79 episodes of the 40-year-old TV series . --Captain Kirk reveals he won't go boldly into space (Daily Mail)

Sounds like a great PR idea that backfired -- though the article also says that Sigourney Weaver (of the Alien movies) has signed up.

It might be cheaper to take along a Yoda puppet, or a thumbdrive running the program that simulates Jar-Jar Binks.

And come on, Daily Mail. That should be "to explore strange, new worlds... to seek out new life, and new civilizations."

A squirrel scampered into the bicycle wheel of an unlucky Finnish opera singer, causing him to fall, knock himself out and break his nose just ahead of the world premiere of a new opera. --Squirrel in spokes floors cycling opera singer (Yahoo!)

Hm.... I don't think the word "floors" is good for this headline, since "squirrel in spokes" makes so little sense that I had to wonder whether "spokes floors" was some kind of a thing, though I suppose the presence of both "spokes" and "cycling" should have suggested a bicycle.

This item refers to an event that took place "last month," so its only news value is its oddity.

Western civilization did not exactly end last night as Katie took to the anchor chair. But the changing of the guard did represent another kind of cultural change.

As of yesterday, network TV has proven it no longer feels the need to pretend that its nightly news broadcast is sober stuff, populated by earnest men and women with serious reporting backgrounds and working blow-dryers.

It was not just Katie's legs. Or her clothes. Or her unnervingly high-pitched and overmodulated voice, more appropriate for a weather girl in Tampa than a national broadcaster. It was all these things together - and more. --Andrea Peyser --She Looked Like a Little Girl Who Had to Go Potty (New York Post)

Ouch. I'm far too impatient to watch TV news, especially now that I have DSL at home. But blogging this catty critique was irresistable.

--Wired News: Star Trek Submissions (Flickr)

What a cool idea! Wired News has created a Flikr account, and invited readers to sumit their Star Trek memorabilia photos, in preparation for Star Trek's 40th anniversary.