Obama, you're still no Reagan

Obama versus Regan's Legacy


President Reagan has a soft spot in my heart because I grew up hearing from my family that he was motivated to keep government small and effective. His role in the Cold War was a strong stance that earned the Soviet Leader Gorbachev's respect. Reagan supported Republican Barry Goldwater in a powerful way as to raise $1M in funding (of course Goldwater lost, but Reagan was respected). His birthday is February 6th, the day I went into the Missionary Training Center to serve a church mission in Tahiti. Also, my husband's name is Regan so I explain his name by "spell it like the comedian (Brian Regan), pronounce it like the president". Known as "the Great Communicator", Reagan inspired trust and appreciation in many American citizens.

Almost 25 years after he left office, Ronald Reagan is still considered one of the most effective, respected presidents in US History. He's a standard of success against which successive presidents have been measured.

This article discusses the most memorable parts of Reagan's and Obama's presidency.

Transformational presidents change the conversation. Transformational presidents deliver great lines. Transformational presidents poach followers from the enemy's camp. Transformational presidents become beloved figures. 

Reagan is nicknamed the "Teflon" president because nothing bad ever stuck to him. 

"What Obamacare proves is that governments can't do big projects well," Nichols says. "Had the rollout gone smoothly, had they been more honest about how many were going to be losing coverage, he might have moved the ball."

"Reagan was a master at persuading people who didn't normally vote Republican to vote for him in such great numbers that a new term was invented: Reagan Democrats."

"The Obama legacy will be less about government and politics, and more about the fact that he was the first African-American president, proving the American Dream is alive and well," says Ed Uravic, a former Washington lobbyist.

Be informed. 

Change of Pace

Ok, all posts prior to this one were mandatorily (not a word but who cares) written for a class and had the unfortunate result of being very rushed, predictable and boring.

FROM NOW ON: I'm going to post opinions and responses to news articles from various news sources. There will be occasional appearances of "There's a Story There" which is a new idea where I read in between the lines on news stories and see if I can found out information to missing parts of the story.

Let's see how this goes!

xoxo Court

Relevance in Journalism

Relevance in journalism is a concept that refers to the audience’s level of interest in a story. The role of a journalist is to select stories that will matter to people. The journalist usually works on the assumption that truth matters to people, which is what separates a news station from magazines. The journalist has a responsibility to inform citizens about what is happening but must be selective about which events are the most important. The journalist must have a strong ability to write stories in ways that grab the audience’s attention. According to the Nieman Report, http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102547/Journalists-Must-Make-the-Significant-Interesting-and-Relevant.aspx journalists have a responsibility to make their stories relevant. Reporters also face this dilemma “With news organizations convinced that ever-shortening attention spans require ever-shorter stories, it is difficult for a reporter to get the space and time necessary to tell a story right....” that we must fight against the remote (changing the channel). That is why it is important for journalists to make a connection with the audience, so that the audience feels appreciated and will form a loyalty with the news station that reports what they want to hear. This article also agrees that journalists must be relevant. http://allafrica.com/stories/201105230214.html The Parliamentary Assembly has a Code of Ethics that also submits that journalists must be relevant in their stories.

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Comprehensive and Proportional Journalism

Comprehensive journalism can be defined as journalism that includes all perspective and sides of a story. Proportional journalism can be defined as journalism that is researched according to its news importance. Comprehensive journalism is a type of journalism that uses thorough research methods that incorporate different angles of the same story. Building a comprehensive type of journalism is central to reporting according to the National Press Photographers Association, http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html and states in the Code of Ethics that it is one of the primary responsibilities of a journalist. In order to report the “truth” a journalist must gather enough facts to present a realistic story, it must be comprehensive. The news must be kept proportional according to http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles in order to protect the truth. Keeping the news proportional means that all events must be portrayed as they are and specific elements should not be exaggerated to emphasize certain points. If facts are not represented as they exist in real life then it will give the story bias and will not be as credible. This blogspot author Everett http://everettshell.blogspot.com/2010/04/comprehensive-and-proportional.html says that readers want an emotional story, not an emotional journalist. Journalists have a duty to the truth and in order to be truthful they must have two elements in their reporting: comprehensive material and proportional events.

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Journalism and Faith

Every journalist is responsible to the ethics of the news company and their own personal belief system. A large part of my personal belief system is my religious beliefs. Much of the way I think is influenced by the teachings of my religion, as may be true for many other reporters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KGdPbd5wRI It is important to understand the boundary between church and state though so that religion is addressed appropriately. Religion is a personal preference and has a lot of emotional attachment for many people. These two factors demand that religious topics are discussed with discretion and with constructive points, supported by research. Religion is a “hot topic” in the public forum and a journalist must exercise extreme caution and tact when writing stories of a religious nature. Some articles address ways that religious topics should be handled in different types of reporting like this article http://www.religionwriters.com/tools-resources/reporting-on-religion-a-primer-on-journalisms-best-beat and state that there is no “right” approach to religious subjects, but rather is a matter of expressing different opinions in a tasteful way. The Witherspoon Institute addresses the ability to report on religion as a fundamental constitutional right http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2010/09/1717 and states “The kind of journalism that tracks our religious life is so important because journalism is the profession where two of our defining freedoms meet.” 

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Ethics in Broadcasting

Journalism reporting is a very personal style choice of the reporter and/or the station manager. There are many different rules of journalism that seek to address basic guidelines for journalists to follow so that they don't cross any ethical boundaries or infringe on anyone's personal rights. The ethical decisions that journalists make on a daily basis are often in accordance with personal beliefs but that framework may not be suitable for another journalist. The differences in personal morals and values among journalists is a very common and occasionally distressing dilemma. Who determines what is ethical: individual journalists, the company, or those involved in the story? Or are all three components of equal value? The work of journalism is constantly adapting to the media environment and the mood of the citizens so therefore the moral code of journalists must also accommodate these changes. According to this article http://www.current.org/ethics/ethics0401guide.shtml , the authors are Alan G. Stavitsky and Jeffrey Dvorkin wrote a code of ethics specifically directed to public radio stations which attempted to incorporate the opinions of various sources to make it more credible and accurate. This website http://www.journalism.org/resources/ethics_codes is another piece of evidence regarding the numerous versions and opinions of different ethics codes which lends itself to discrepancy in journalism reporting styles. The Nevada Broadcasters Association Ethics Code http://www.nevadabroadcasters.org/about-nba/code-of-ethics.php includes the phrase “Responsibly exercised artistic freedom” which is a broad but structured principle which journalists can apply to every moral dilemma in order to retain their code of ethics.

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Weaving Around Fine Lines

Independence in Journalism Thoughts

The remark that “comment is free, but facts are sacred” is a very crucial element to authentic journalism reporting. The danger arises when credit is not given where it is due because sources are not properly cited or opinion is not correctly credited. There is a fine line between an eyewitness report and scientific evidence, but sometimes the different sources are not credited properly. A common mistake among reporters is the reporting of material that has a personal connection that could filter information so that one side is clearly represented. An important concept to grasp is the independence in journalism, the ability of journalists to relay information to a large audience with relatively little censorship beyond the ethics framework of themselves and their company. It is crucial to understand ethical dilemmas as they arise, such as having a conflict of interest. As evidenced by George Will’s actions, it is easy to use the press to boost a certain idea or person based on personal beliefs. Most of the time, this is not a problem unless the repercussions of swaying public opinion have a “big” effect. The problem with journalism is that many things are based on personal judgment and private ethics so that information is presented in a professional way, and as a journalist we must know what the boundaries are.

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Links:

1.       http://www.kcnn.org/principles/independence_in_journalism

2.       http://www.fair.org/media-beat/010308.html

3.       http://www.informationdissemination.net/2008/10/bias-balance-and-independence-of.html