Category Archives: Sociology/culture

The drive to “do something”

I love initiative. I love drive. Especially when it comes from journalism students. And, recently, there seems to be a lot of it, because, as we all know, the current media industry mandates that students must have drive to get jobs.

Some of these students are finding their experience by creating their own media.

But what if they’re work is making the world worse? Continue reading

Weatherman as Hero?

The New York Times had an interesting story this week about weather forecasters as heroes. Predicting dangerous weather patterns and warning viewers of impending doom puts the weatherman right in harms way: He shouts from your living room TV to go to the basement. With his jacket off, he tells you about the trouble of whipping winds licking your windows. And, if you listen to him, he may save your life. Continue reading

Why do we cut journalism apart?

“Why do you hate journalism?”

It’s a question I get sometimes from journalists – and students – who read my blog and papers or who listen to my lectures that ask cultural questions about journalism and news. It’s odd, these people say, that a journalist, a journalism instructor, and a researcher would write “bad things” about journalism. Continue reading