As newspapers fold (tragically), the citizen journalists are stepping up to the plate and covering some of our top current events by interspersing information with insight and opinions.
Some believe that inserting interpretation and opinion into news means that it's not accurate. I find that in comments, dissenters love to open comments with "go do your research." Speaking for myself, I do my due diligence. For example, when I recently ran a piece about Gov Rick Perry of Texas and his threatened block of Federal stimulus money, I contacted Governor Perry's office directly and asked specific questions, including, "What portion will he block, or is he considering blocking, and why?"
I go straight to the horse's mouth. Just because my party's head sent out a press release doesn't mean I buy that (a) it's 100% true or that (b) the spin they put on it is accurate. I do think it's more reliable than, oh, say some talking entertainer on the radio who doesn't bother to intersperse actual fact and information that is verifiable with his conjecture. You know, for example.
However, in that case, it was accurate. Perry was considering threatening to reject some or all of the stimulus money and that would have been financially stupid and simply stupid all the way around, on many, many levels. Despite the so-called "strings" that came attached, rejecting the money would have cost Texas more than accepting it. You have to dig about five steps past the spin.
For example, because Texas doesn't accept Federal SCHIP money as it should, we end up spending 40 cents instead of 28 cents per dollar per uninsured child in the state. It's basic math.
Further, as a result of the money, I know of four school districts that are proceeding with much needed renovations that will enable them to better educate students.
I grant that opinion does mean that an article isn't 100% objective, but to tell the truth, I can't say that too much news is 100% objective. Inherently, the selective process of choosing which news to report, which to report on the front page, and which to report persistently in order to affect public opinion and call to action plus the natural human bias of the human reporting precludes completely objective news reporting.
Readers also affect the subjectivity of the news by reading and accepting or rejecting it with their own bias. I see conservatives frequently refer to news as the "liberal media" and thereby reject much of its reporting, while completely accepting as accurate and factual the opinions uttered by favorite talk show talking heads.
The important thing, I believe is to always listen and read critically, and what I love about citizen journalism is the way it opens up a discussion about current events. In citizen journalism, we don't just talk at people. We tell a story and ask you to reply back. By the end of the discussion, we all walk away with a little more information, a broader perspective, and better comprehension of events.
And to that end, there are some discussions about communication and current events I recommend reading...
1. Rice University communications and rhetoric expert Jeremy Grace is talking about the unique political war of words being waged by conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, the White House and the Republican leadership.
For background on the sparring going on, read these stories:
- Associated Press: GOP chairman apologizes for Limbaugh remarks
- CNN: RNC member asks Steele to resign as chairman
- Washington Times: WH admits Limbaugh attacks unhelpful
We hope to be able to bring more information from Grace about this topic soon.
2. "Turning Japanese? We Could Do a Lot Worse"
In an article at Change.org, Tim Foley examines the Japanese health care system and breaks down the argument that a country like the US could never have quality universal health care.
3. Peter R. Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, signaled Sunday that the administration plans to stand up fiercely to critics of its economic policies despite a deepening recession, said Mike Allen and Jonathan Martin in their article, "Orszag to GOP: 'There they go again'."
4. It is Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's Weekly Round-Up.
jobsanger knows that more money needs to be raised to pay for needed improvements and repairs to America's infrastructure, but he remains convinced that the Mileage Tax Is A Terrible Idea.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson gets readers ready for hte upcoming Voter ID debate, or as the the Texas GOP calls it The single most important issue facing Texas today.
The new video at
Texas Liberal is called Reading About The Panic Of 1873 In Front Of The Enron Building.
Over at McBlogger, Captain Kroc posts an interesting piece about seemingly unrelated issues, Rush Limbaugh and Child Molestation.
The Texas Cloverleaf gives a brief on Equality TX Lobby Day this past Monday.
Off the Kuff looks at the case against voter ID, also known as the single most important issue facing Texas today, as advanced by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
DosCentavos posts about the latest on the Voter ID. Can national Latino political and economic muscle be flexed effectively, as it was for Obama?
Obama sent the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to see what our military can do to stop drug cartel activities.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme thinks John Cornyn is shopping border violence as a theme for his 2012 presidential run.
BossKitty at TruthHugger is frustrated at the regression, into childhood, of those who claim to be Republicans. They are NOT Republicans. They are the Neo-Republicans who have hi-jacked the party name to deceive ordinary conservative Americans. They have stolen the GOP cloak to hide their real agenda.
Op Ed: Neo-Republicans Are Not The Grand Old Party, scattalogical analogies.
Xanthippas at Three Wise Men rounds up opinion on the newly released OLC memos. We knew they'd be bad...but still.
John at Bay Area Houston says the Harris County GOP's "Give a Mexican a Bike" program is probably against federal law and smothered with hypocrisy.
As the head of FreeRepublic.com gets visited by the Secret Service, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs finds several GOP pre-post-mortems on the GOP.
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