Another theme that came up during the Memory and Representation session at the recent Popular Culture Association convention in Atlanta was how using different names for things can shape our memory of events. For instance, labeling people as "heroes" may shift attention away from inquiries as to whether their deaths…
Speaking about the lack of hard factual international news reporting by our nation’s major news outlets, Ted Koppell stated the following as part of his speech to the Overseas Press Club (where he received the President's Award): They have almost surrendered even the pretense of civic responsibility. That is not just…
See: http://www.cagle.com/politicalcartoons/PCcartoons/boligan.asp Angel Boligan of the El Universal newspaper in Mexico City just won the World Press Cartoon contest with this cartoon. Wonderful commentary on one of my favorite topics.
Congress is now pushing a law that would abandon Network Neutrality, the Internet’s First Amendment. Network neutrality prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work the best — based on who pays them the most. Your local library shouldn’t have to outbid Barnes & Noble…
A quick question, please. Why does each local TV newscast have almost five minutes of weather? I’m not talking about those days when a big snowstorm is about to hit. I’m talking about a typical weather day. Who makes the decision to beat mediocre weather into the ground each night, and why?
I’ve discussed this with quite a few people I respect and no one knows. Is it because of the stiff price the station has paid for all those expensive machines that generate the fancy weather graphics? Is it because weather people are usually such wholesome-looking people (translated: a bit too wholesome)? Are they trying to encourage us to be squeaky clean like that? I can’t be that person, damn it.
Here’s what I want. For those increasingly rare times when I can tolerate the local new-less newscast, all I want from the weather segment is the five-day forecast, something that can be accomplished in ten seconds:
Tonight: low in the 40’s and dry. Tomorrow: low of 45, rainy, temp rising to 55. The next three days – fair weather, temp gradually warming into the 60’s.
There. I know what to expect. I’m quite happy, even if it’s not exactly on target. When they get it wrong, it’s rarely terribly wrong and it really doesn’t matter anyway. The weather will be what it will be.
