Emily Wang
APLANG
DODD
29 Sept 2009
Media Journal #1
1. “Hostages of a Hermit Kingdom” by Laura Ling and Euna Lee
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-oe-lingleeweb2-2009sep02,0,6204216.story
“Hostages of a Hermit Kingdom,” written by Laura Ling and Euna Lee is an article that not only brought me through a step by step process of what they went through in North Korea, but also opened the world’s eyes to what horrendous occurrences are still happening today in 2009. Many Americans hear about the strict policies and horrendous things that occur in the foreign Communist country, but do not care until one of our own is affected, and in this case, Laura and Euna’s hostage situation was followed world wide as petitions were made to release them from captivity. This article shares the story they wanted to tell through their television broadcast on the Current TV station, but instead they became the subjects of North Korea’s notorious systems. This story made headline news, forcing millions of Americans to understand what was going on in the country as Laura and Euna would soon elude their terrible twelve year sentence of hard labor. By following their story from the first day they were held captive, I became more alert and interested in North Korean affairs and even joined facebook groups that wanted to free Laura and Euna along with millions of others doing the same. This article is incredibly personal with moments of fear, angst and relief, and allows the American people to realize the cruelties North Koreans have to face on a daily basis, pushing us to make a change.
2. “Would getting the Olympics be good or bad for chicago?” by Erik Heinrich
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1926505,00.html
Heinrich makes many good points in this article as he explains why Chicago receiving the responsibilities of the 2016 Olympics would be either beneficial or devastating to the city. Having the honor to host the Olympics is a great accomplishment for any city in the world and would draw billions around the world into viewing the event, bringing in certain revenues, but he counterpoints this argument by providing examples of cities that haven’t had any benefits from the games after the events have left the city. He raises the question of whether or not having the honor and great recognition of hosting the Olympic Games is worth going into decades of debt for. His argument is effective because he uses worst and best case scenarios, such as our own city of Atlanta that hosted the 1996 games and greatly prospered around the city area after the games, but also the 1976 Olympics in Montreal that gave the city 30 years of debt to pay off. his statistics give me further understanding how elaborately expensive the Olympic Games actually are, and that countries go over their budget by millions in hopes to satisfy the audiences of the world.
3. “The Washington Post Slaps the Twitter Handcuffs on Its Staff” by James Poniewozik
http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/09/29/the-washington-post-slaps-the-twitter-handcuffs-on-its-staff/
Poniewozik makes an interesting point as he argues that being a journalist is more than just recording facts and writing about world events that occur without implications of opinion. He expresses that everyone has a right to their own voice, and because of a new policy at Washington Post, journalists are not allowed to tweet/facebook anything that may trigger an outburst from different “kinds” of people, even if it’s just a simple opinionated statement. I agree with Poniewozik when he thinks that journalists don’t become more trustworthy or credible if they don’t express their opinion, because when I read articles, I like to see different arguments driven by different opinions, beliefs and thoughts instead of plain facts that are written with no direct approach. Poniewozik also makes this article effective by stating that he may not agree with different journalists, but his respect for them does not diminish, but instead the implementation of the new policy at the Post implies that they believe the audience of their articles cannot handle the publication of anything besides a plain story with no personal outlook. This article opens my eyes to the availability of information through social networking where everyone and anyone can express their thoughts, so being regulated to contain opinions seems blatantly absurd.
4. “Peering at the Future” by Bob Herbert
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/opinion/29herbert.html?scp=5&sq=op%20ed&st=cse
Though America is known for its educational system with schools scattered nationwide, many kids may be taking the privilege of having an education for granted. Herbert talks about how the Gateses have been traveling around into different classrooms observing what really goes on in the rooms full with America’s next generation of workers. They say that the educational system now teaches students about poverty and racism, but many don’t actually learn because they don’t experience it. Our generation has gotten lazy, with accessible information on the internet, portable electronics that share data and other inventions that kids begin to be accustomed to at an early age. This article is effective because it looks into the fact that America’s innovative success may be slowing down our progression for years to come because kids don’t work as hard compared to those who built these products for us to use. The last line of the article is particularly effective when the girl says that “people think it’s cool to be stupid,” and because I am a high school student, I have peers that tend to not care for what they’re doing in school because they feel it is something they have to do, instead of something that will eventually help them in the future. I think if our generation and also generations to come follow these habits, the speed of America’s progression may be slowing down.
