After reading a list of oxymorons, beginning with George Carlin’s famous “jumbo shrimp” and “military intelligence, I got a minor laugh in my college course on writing for public communication by introducing as the next oxymoron, Media Ethics. It introduced a section on the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics and I suggested the following list of ten ways the national media could restore its reputation.
1. Accuracy: Attention to detail; accuracy at all costs.
2. Thoroughness: Emphasize thoroughness over speed; getting the story right is more important than getting it first.
3. Humility: demonstrate humility through preparation, broad and vigorous research, and by seeking out experts.
4. Real Affirmative Action in news operations: ideological, religious, regional, and socio-economic, as well as racial and ethnic.
5. Journalism not Opposition: Reaffirm journalists as reporters of news, not the opposition party.
6. Historic Values: Reflect traditional values of the nation—ethics, historic teachings of faith groups.
7. Thinking: Recover the serious and critical mind—beyond the sound bite.
8. Rediscover Shame: wrongdoers should not be honored, they should be dishonored.
9. Self Cleansing: Restore credibility by cleaning up your own house so that journalists are trusted to present news fairly and professionally.
10. Leave NYC: Build national media competence and presence outside New York City and Washington, D.C. It would be good if the major networks moved to Des Moines, or Kansas City, or perhaps Indianapolis.
These were my thoughts for one group of future journalists.
-- Jim Jewell
29 Kasım 2006 Çarşamba
27 Kasım 2006 Pazartesi
Mocking Christian Conviction, Happy Feet is Not a Friendly Little Film
I can't remember coming out of movie theater more furious than I did this Thanksgiving holiday after watching the animated and PG-rated Happy Feet. With relatives visiting from around the country, how could we go wrong taking both kids and adults to a cute little penguin story with lots of singing and dancing, with warm and fuzzy animal themes?
I'm not a movie prude; we check out many kinds of movies. And I expect most anything coming out of Hollywood, with any rating, to include something contrary to my values. I let most of it roll off my back. But with Happy Feet, I didn't expect my conservative Christian family to be assaulted with what we all recognized as a anti-Christian screed, with open mockery of traditional Christian preaching against values and lifestyles contrary to church teachings. It was abundantly clear that Happy Feet substituted homosexuality with dancing as the "different" lifestyle that was the unfair target of an Inquisition on ice. It was Dirty Dancing and Footloose all over again, but with the rhetoric and situation developed to make religious criticism of homosexuality counter to everything good and pleasing.
Did they think Christians wouldn’t notice? I suppose the creators just didn’t care. We had four families attending Happy Feet, with children of all ages. Independently, parents concluded during the film that they would walk out if it wouldn’t be a disruption to others in the large group of family members who had come to the movies together.
Clearly, we should have all left together.
The creators of Happy Feet should have taken less time mocking Christians and more time making sense out of the wild leaps at the end of the film, when the dancing penguin so impresses crowds in the aquarium that they release him back into the wild. And when the community of penguins gets happy feet, the commentators of the world decide its time to stop disrupting their food supply. (Of course the humans are to blame for all the animal woes; a long movie-making tradition that goes back to Bambi).
Wild leaps, even with happy feet.
For Christians who have not seen Happy Feet and are considering it as a friendly, family film—make another choice. This film is not good for children or families, and it is another Hollywood example of open mockery of Christian traditions.
-- Jim Jewell
I can't remember coming out of movie theater more furious than I did this Thanksgiving holiday after watching the animated and PG-rated Happy Feet. With relatives visiting from around the country, how could we go wrong taking both kids and adults to a cute little penguin story with lots of singing and dancing, with warm and fuzzy animal themes?
I'm not a movie prude; we check out many kinds of movies. And I expect most anything coming out of Hollywood, with any rating, to include something contrary to my values. I let most of it roll off my back. But with Happy Feet, I didn't expect my conservative Christian family to be assaulted with what we all recognized as a anti-Christian screed, with open mockery of traditional Christian preaching against values and lifestyles contrary to church teachings. It was abundantly clear that Happy Feet substituted homosexuality with dancing as the "different" lifestyle that was the unfair target of an Inquisition on ice. It was Dirty Dancing and Footloose all over again, but with the rhetoric and situation developed to make religious criticism of homosexuality counter to everything good and pleasing.
Did they think Christians wouldn’t notice? I suppose the creators just didn’t care. We had four families attending Happy Feet, with children of all ages. Independently, parents concluded during the film that they would walk out if it wouldn’t be a disruption to others in the large group of family members who had come to the movies together.
Clearly, we should have all left together.
The creators of Happy Feet should have taken less time mocking Christians and more time making sense out of the wild leaps at the end of the film, when the dancing penguin so impresses crowds in the aquarium that they release him back into the wild. And when the community of penguins gets happy feet, the commentators of the world decide its time to stop disrupting their food supply. (Of course the humans are to blame for all the animal woes; a long movie-making tradition that goes back to Bambi).
Wild leaps, even with happy feet.
For Christians who have not seen Happy Feet and are considering it as a friendly, family film—make another choice. This film is not good for children or families, and it is another Hollywood example of open mockery of Christian traditions.
-- Jim Jewell
20 Kasım 2006 Pazartesi
Getting Personal About Global Warming
I've been at the heart of the evangelical initiatives to engage the Christian community in an effort to combat human-induced global warming. For my conservative friends who still believe that all climate change we're seeing is simply cyclical, keep reading, because I'm not writing to argue that point (you wouldn't be convinced anyway, although the huge majority of scientists are). For my fundamentalist friends who belive there is no global warming, I'm not sure what world you're living in, but I hope you are enjoying it there.
I've found that most evangelical Christians have come to believe that effective care of God's creation is a moral and spiritual obligation. Not because nature is above human beings, or that the created are above the Creator, but because the earth and all that is within it is the Lord's and we, his children, have been given it as a temporary home, and we've been given the responsibility to care for it.
And if you believe that climate change is impacting the most vulnerable people in the world, as I do, and that it will be deadly for many of these people who live on the margins in the years ahead--then Christians have a deep moral responsibility to stem global warming.
You may not see the solution as government taking responsibility. That's fine, but it is a personal reponsiblity.
As evangelicals we are all about getting personal. We believe in a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We believe in personal transformation and personal responsibility. We can also address problems such as environmental degradation and dependence on foreign oil not only through government action but through personal responsibility.
This personal responsibility can include reducing our own use of fossil fuels.
Choose to do this for a variety of reasons. You may be keenly concerned about global warming. Others of you may see environmental conservation as a driving force. Still others of us believe that reducing our personal use of energy is a commitment to national security because it will reduce our reliance on oil from often-hostile sources.
Regardless of your reasons, I encourage you to consider using a tool created by the Evangelical Climate Initiative to participate in a program called Cooling Creation, which will show you the steps to reducing your global warming pollution to zero. Because few of us in the West want to live in grass huts and grow our own food and walk everywhere, we can reduce but not eliminate this personal pollution.
The Cooling Creation program offers an annual offset investment in alternative energies.
Check it out. Forget the arguments about the role of government and the threats to the economy. Is there a good reason why you should not take this personal responsiblity?
I've found that most evangelical Christians have come to believe that effective care of God's creation is a moral and spiritual obligation. Not because nature is above human beings, or that the created are above the Creator, but because the earth and all that is within it is the Lord's and we, his children, have been given it as a temporary home, and we've been given the responsibility to care for it.
And if you believe that climate change is impacting the most vulnerable people in the world, as I do, and that it will be deadly for many of these people who live on the margins in the years ahead--then Christians have a deep moral responsibility to stem global warming.
You may not see the solution as government taking responsibility. That's fine, but it is a personal reponsiblity.
As evangelicals we are all about getting personal. We believe in a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We believe in personal transformation and personal responsibility. We can also address problems such as environmental degradation and dependence on foreign oil not only through government action but through personal responsibility.
This personal responsibility can include reducing our own use of fossil fuels.
Choose to do this for a variety of reasons. You may be keenly concerned about global warming. Others of you may see environmental conservation as a driving force. Still others of us believe that reducing our personal use of energy is a commitment to national security because it will reduce our reliance on oil from often-hostile sources.
Regardless of your reasons, I encourage you to consider using a tool created by the Evangelical Climate Initiative to participate in a program called Cooling Creation, which will show you the steps to reducing your global warming pollution to zero. Because few of us in the West want to live in grass huts and grow our own food and walk everywhere, we can reduce but not eliminate this personal pollution.
The Cooling Creation program offers an annual offset investment in alternative energies.
Check it out. Forget the arguments about the role of government and the threats to the economy. Is there a good reason why you should not take this personal responsiblity?
10 Kasım 2006 Cuma
New Bloggers on the Election
In addition to my work as a public relations consultant, I am an adjunct professor of communications at Kennesaw State University, the third largest university in Georgia, in suburban Atlanta.
In two of my Writing for Public Communication classes on Tuesday, Election Day, I used a session on Writing for the Web to guide the approximately 40 students in using Blogger to set up personal blogs. It was my attempt to teach about blogs and to add a number of new voices to the blogosphere.
The assignment for students this week was to write and post an article on their reactions to the election (the assignment was made before we knew it was going to be a bloodbath). I’m using this post to introduce these new blogs and students’ analyses of the election.
For my students reading this, links to the blogs from the 3:30 and 5 p.m. classes are combined here.
Danielle at Dani B. Fly doesn’t expect much from the change in Congressional leadership.
Ken at Random Cactus says the Democrats won because they dressed themselves up like conservatives.
Laura called her blog For Com 1135 and writes that she doesn’t like all the arguing.
Holly at Poof U fears that the Democrats are going to use their new power to create the embarrassments of Vietnam.
Kori at a blog she called Communications 1135 is nervous about the many voting problems she still hears about.
Kathy writes at Kute Kathy about evidences of election fever.
Jonathan at Elbows wants political reform but doesn’t see it happening in his lifetime.
Adam at What’s On Peace’s Mind? is going to get more involved in the political process.
Victoria at Victoria’s Blog says that without the Republicans in control of Congress, the job in Iraq will never be completed.
Paul Stippich at Vote for the Man celebrates the right we have as citizens to vote.
Danielle at Faerie's Journey into Public Communication muses about the impact of split government.
Erin at The Story of the Year bemoans the impact of Democratic control of Congress.
Curtis at Me and My Blog is hoping for a new direction in Iraq.
Jennifer at Sobes 1st calls for a big hallelujah.
The negative advertising turned Catlin at Merry Belle Loves You against the election.
Monique at Fairie’s Thoughts sees the political landscape changing.
Jeff at Elections sees supeona power taking over the Washington atmosphere.
Matt at My Thoughts 4 U sees America as the perfect working democracy, but he doesn’t vote.
Jeffrey at The Wonderful World of Life is disenchanted
Dustin at Budz Blog is leaving politics to the politicians
Danielle at TFC for Life blames the war.
Rebecca talks in Comm Class about the President’s use of the word “thumpin” in his press conference.
Rachel at Ramblings of RKL has a rare agreement with the President: The people have spoken and its time to move on.
Endia at Endia’s Blog is excited about a new direction
Bunmi at Express Yourself likes the idea of a female Speaker
Jennifer at J.P. Blog analyzes the Sonny Perdue victory over Mark Taylor in the Georgia gubernatorial race.
Tiffanie at some days you feel like a bug, some days you feel like the windshield says the war has been a windshield to the American bug.
Casey at Voting celebrates the the right to vote.
The title of Nate's blog, Long Live the new Flesh, vividly describes his reaction to the election.
Rania at Nia's Thoughts hopes the sea change will bring more attention to domestic problems.
-- Jim Jewell
In two of my Writing for Public Communication classes on Tuesday, Election Day, I used a session on Writing for the Web to guide the approximately 40 students in using Blogger to set up personal blogs. It was my attempt to teach about blogs and to add a number of new voices to the blogosphere.
The assignment for students this week was to write and post an article on their reactions to the election (the assignment was made before we knew it was going to be a bloodbath). I’m using this post to introduce these new blogs and students’ analyses of the election.
For my students reading this, links to the blogs from the 3:30 and 5 p.m. classes are combined here.
Danielle at Dani B. Fly doesn’t expect much from the change in Congressional leadership.
Ken at Random Cactus says the Democrats won because they dressed themselves up like conservatives.
Laura called her blog For Com 1135 and writes that she doesn’t like all the arguing.
Holly at Poof U fears that the Democrats are going to use their new power to create the embarrassments of Vietnam.
Kori at a blog she called Communications 1135 is nervous about the many voting problems she still hears about.
Kathy writes at Kute Kathy about evidences of election fever.
Jonathan at Elbows wants political reform but doesn’t see it happening in his lifetime.
Adam at What’s On Peace’s Mind? is going to get more involved in the political process.
Victoria at Victoria’s Blog says that without the Republicans in control of Congress, the job in Iraq will never be completed.
Paul Stippich at Vote for the Man celebrates the right we have as citizens to vote.
Danielle at Faerie's Journey into Public Communication muses about the impact of split government.
Erin at The Story of the Year bemoans the impact of Democratic control of Congress.
Curtis at Me and My Blog is hoping for a new direction in Iraq.
Jennifer at Sobes 1st calls for a big hallelujah.
The negative advertising turned Catlin at Merry Belle Loves You against the election.
Monique at Fairie’s Thoughts sees the political landscape changing.
Jeff at Elections sees supeona power taking over the Washington atmosphere.
Matt at My Thoughts 4 U sees America as the perfect working democracy, but he doesn’t vote.
Jeffrey at The Wonderful World of Life is disenchanted
Dustin at Budz Blog is leaving politics to the politicians
Danielle at TFC for Life blames the war.
Rebecca talks in Comm Class about the President’s use of the word “thumpin” in his press conference.
Rachel at Ramblings of RKL has a rare agreement with the President: The people have spoken and its time to move on.
Endia at Endia’s Blog is excited about a new direction
Bunmi at Express Yourself likes the idea of a female Speaker
Jennifer at J.P. Blog analyzes the Sonny Perdue victory over Mark Taylor in the Georgia gubernatorial race.
Tiffanie at some days you feel like a bug, some days you feel like the windshield says the war has been a windshield to the American bug.
Casey at Voting celebrates the the right to vote.
The title of Nate's blog, Long Live the new Flesh, vividly describes his reaction to the election.
Rania at Nia's Thoughts hopes the sea change will bring more attention to domestic problems.
-- Jim Jewell
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