Five myths about hunger
This article is amazing. It's informative, it's interesting, and it's incredibly well written.
The reason why I think it is interesting is because of the subject. It has been well known that America has a problem with obesity. But this article isn't just about obesity, it covers a wide variety of issues in America involving food consumption. And there is human interest all over the place in this story. For instance, the part about food being wasted in America, that's food that could be used to feed people who are starving.
One of the things that makes this article so great is that it doesn't just approach the topic from just one angel. There are five different angels all in the same story. I think this makes the article more through and interesting. Plus, it was easy to read. The writer said what they wanted to say and got to the point fast. And they gave a lot of good information in the process.
Articles like this are important for Americans. It opens peoples eyes to very serious problems with our society concerning food. Things like this make people more aware and I believe open the door for change.
It is fairly common knowledge that fast food is bad for you. People hear that all the time. There are tons of articles with statistics and facts about how fast food effects people. There have been countless articles about obesity and things like that in America. Many people are probably aware that America wastes a lot of food as well. But this article takes all these issues and really puts them in perspective really well. It shows how these things are effecting our society, how it is effecting us as a country, and how it is effecting our impact on the world and the worlds view on us.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Associate Producer and mentor of young journalists, Jerry McCormick
Michael Fritz
Pacific Tribune - Staff Writer
“I pride myself as a journalist and like to know a little bit about everything,” said Jerry McCormick, Associate Producer at KNSD 7/39.
McCormick is passionate about journalism. He is a member of several different journalistic organizations, National Gay & Lesbians Association and National Association of Black Journalists, just to name a couple.
“I believe in supporting diversity, that’s why I’m apart of all these groups,” said McCormick.
McCormick said that being a member of so many clubs does cost money, but he does it because he chooses to support good journalism.
McCormick has also been teaching journalism at Southwestern College for three years and estimates that he has taught over 250 students. He says that he likes to pass on everything he knows and when he sees a student he has taught succeed, “to me that means more to me than any paycheck.”
Although he is now in broadcast journalism McCormick described print media as his first love. But now that he works in broadcast he says that he is not going back because he no longer believes that a job in print media is safe due to him being laid off from the UT with 192 other people in May of 2009.
“Driving from [SWC] to Mission Valley was one of the longest drives I’ve ever had to do,” said McCormick. “Because I had to convince myself that I wasn’t going to get laid off. But when I got to the parking lot and saw all the people that were crying, I knew.”
He was given six weeks severance after being laid off and found a job at NBC 7/39 the day after his severance ran out, July 8, 2009. McCormick said that is why he believes you should always have your resume ready.
“Once you’ve been laid off and you survived you can survive anything. Somehow I’ve always known I’m going to be okay,” said McCormick
Pacific Tribune - Staff Writer
“I pride myself as a journalist and like to know a little bit about everything,” said Jerry McCormick, Associate Producer at KNSD 7/39.
McCormick is passionate about journalism. He is a member of several different journalistic organizations, National Gay & Lesbians Association and National Association of Black Journalists, just to name a couple.
“I believe in supporting diversity, that’s why I’m apart of all these groups,” said McCormick.
McCormick said that being a member of so many clubs does cost money, but he does it because he chooses to support good journalism.
McCormick has also been teaching journalism at Southwestern College for three years and estimates that he has taught over 250 students. He says that he likes to pass on everything he knows and when he sees a student he has taught succeed, “to me that means more to me than any paycheck.”
Although he is now in broadcast journalism McCormick described print media as his first love. But now that he works in broadcast he says that he is not going back because he no longer believes that a job in print media is safe due to him being laid off from the UT with 192 other people in May of 2009.
“Driving from [SWC] to Mission Valley was one of the longest drives I’ve ever had to do,” said McCormick. “Because I had to convince myself that I wasn’t going to get laid off. But when I got to the parking lot and saw all the people that were crying, I knew.”
He was given six weeks severance after being laid off and found a job at NBC 7/39 the day after his severance ran out, July 8, 2009. McCormick said that is why he believes you should always have your resume ready.
“Once you’ve been laid off and you survived you can survive anything. Somehow I’ve always known I’m going to be okay,” said McCormick
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Wiki Links
WikiLeaks website publishes classified military documents from Iraq
This story raises a debate on boundaries of free speech. This is a website who's owners believe that all information about the war in the Middle East should be publicized. He believes that everyone has the right to know everything going on concerning the war. That is the only logical reason I can see behind this sort of information being published.
But as the article points out the information posted is classified and could endanger the lives of American soldiers and allies, as well as Iraqi civilians. It's my personal opinion that this information should not be posted on the internet, and whoever is posting it is an ignorant moronic asshole.
One thing I think is missing is who is publishing this information and how are they getting it? That's huge. Why did the reporter not delve deeper into that aspect of the story? This is classified information and it's ending up on the internet? Seriously, how? Who's leaking it? Even if it is not known who is leaking it there could have been at least one sentence. "The Pentagon does not know who is leaking the information to Wikileaks but..."
The creators of this website probably think they are doing a good service exercising their right to free speech informing people of the gruesome facts of this war. But in retrospect they're doing the American people a great disservice. There are real lives at steak and posting information like this is not helping end the war. Lives and tax dollars are being wasted due to this website.
War is hell. The American people should know this already. Everyone should know this. Posting classified information like this is not the way to prove to everyone that war is hell.
This story raises a debate on boundaries of free speech. This is a website who's owners believe that all information about the war in the Middle East should be publicized. He believes that everyone has the right to know everything going on concerning the war. That is the only logical reason I can see behind this sort of information being published.
But as the article points out the information posted is classified and could endanger the lives of American soldiers and allies, as well as Iraqi civilians. It's my personal opinion that this information should not be posted on the internet, and whoever is posting it is an ignorant moronic asshole.
One thing I think is missing is who is publishing this information and how are they getting it? That's huge. Why did the reporter not delve deeper into that aspect of the story? This is classified information and it's ending up on the internet? Seriously, how? Who's leaking it? Even if it is not known who is leaking it there could have been at least one sentence. "The Pentagon does not know who is leaking the information to Wikileaks but..."
The creators of this website probably think they are doing a good service exercising their right to free speech informing people of the gruesome facts of this war. But in retrospect they're doing the American people a great disservice. There are real lives at steak and posting information like this is not helping end the war. Lives and tax dollars are being wasted due to this website.
War is hell. The American people should know this already. Everyone should know this. Posting classified information like this is not the way to prove to everyone that war is hell.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Mosque Vandalized
Florence mosque defaced with bacon
This story is relevant and newsworthy due to the recent hysteria in our country involving the Islamic faith. Unfortunately due to the wars in the middle east and terror threats of the past all Islamics are being profiled by a portion of America's population.
It is an interesting story because of the controversy. It is against the Muslim faith to eat or even touch pork and someone went and put pieces of that forbidden thing all over their place of worship. The act is very disrespectful.
As long as cruel acts like this keep happening they should keep being reported about. Articles like this are a testimony that we are far from perfect as a society and have work to do in stamping out ignorance and promoting respect for other beliefs.
So I think the story contains mostly watchdog elements because it's addressing a serious offence done by one person or group of people to intentionally mock another.
This story is relevant and newsworthy due to the recent hysteria in our country involving the Islamic faith. Unfortunately due to the wars in the middle east and terror threats of the past all Islamics are being profiled by a portion of America's population.
It is an interesting story because of the controversy. It is against the Muslim faith to eat or even touch pork and someone went and put pieces of that forbidden thing all over their place of worship. The act is very disrespectful.
As long as cruel acts like this keep happening they should keep being reported about. Articles like this are a testimony that we are far from perfect as a society and have work to do in stamping out ignorance and promoting respect for other beliefs.
So I think the story contains mostly watchdog elements because it's addressing a serious offence done by one person or group of people to intentionally mock another.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Greg Dawson's Path Through The News Media
Michael Fritz
Pacific Tribune
"Great story telling is about detail, and it's about the little things," said Greg Dawson, 48, vice president of news at KNSD.
Dawson was never sure about what he wanted to do as a career until he took a communications class at Cal State East Bay, then called Hayward. His professor spoke about a project that a cable company in Columbus, Ohio was working on. They were working on interactive cable that you could pause and rewind and even record. Dawson said he thought the idea was really cool and that was what drew him into a career in communications.
He decided to transfer to the University of Southern California because he felt it was a better school for his interests. It was there that he received a bachelors degree in broadcast in 1985. Now he is vice president of news at KNSD.
Dawson started his career as a part time writer at KBCS in Los Angeles. Due to contract issues he decided to pack up and find another job in the bay area. He got a job at Medford, Ore. as a producer. Previously the news anchors had produced their own shows, so he was the first producer to be hired there. He said moving from the 2nd largest media market to the 152nd was a culture shock for him.
"What you realize when you leave [LA] is that rest of the country hates LA and thinks that the television there is terrible," said Dawdson.
Dawson said that he went from a market that thought big to a smaller one that focused locally.
"So seeing the contrast between the two was so valuable for where they were because they're both different dynamics. I didn't even learn that until I left Medford," said Dawson.
He spent a year in Medford and then went on to do newscasts at Tuscon for eight months. The news director who hired him there later got a job in San Diego and hired him there to do a sports show called "Sports Wrap." He worked his way up the latter there and reach his current position.
Dawson said he does not have any regrets with his career.
"I've been really lucky, lived in good places to live. Oregon, Arizona, I've loved everywhere I've lived. . ." said Dawson, ". . .I'm the kind of person to always look at 'what did I learn from it.' So even if it was not the greatest experience, I got a lot out of it."
Dawson said that being a news director was never something that he set out to be from the start, the opportunity just came up and he took it.
"I was at an opportunity in my life where I was like, 'might as well try it, got nothing to loose'," said Dawson. "My predecessor had left our station to go on and take over another station up in the bay area and the general manager at the time offered me the job."
Dawson has won fourteen emmy awards for his work at KNSD. But he says that he should not be the one getting all of the credit. It is based off of the effort of everyone who works under him.
"My job is to make sure other people can do their jobs. When we do something good it's not because of me it's because of everybody else, but I get credit," said Dawson.
Dawson says that even though he's not a writer anymore he can still be creative with his work.
"My job these days is outwardly pretty boring. . ." said Dawson. "Now I get to be creative in 'how do we do this project' or 'how do we grow our ratings' or 'how do we make this show better'"
Dawson says that one of his biggest challenges is having to let employees go as the media adjusts to changes.
"That's really hard to go through. Going through layoffs where I had to tell people who worked hard that they didn't have a job anymore," said Dawdson.
"I think we've gone through the worst of it and things are getting better," said Dawson. "But it's [the news media industry] still really competitive and I think the key is you have to really want to do it. It has to be a calling and if it is you'll figure out the right path and you'll make it. We need people with the passion and the desire to do it. The public needs it. Because really we're here to serve the public."
Pacific Tribune
"Great story telling is about detail, and it's about the little things," said Greg Dawson, 48, vice president of news at KNSD.
Dawson was never sure about what he wanted to do as a career until he took a communications class at Cal State East Bay, then called Hayward. His professor spoke about a project that a cable company in Columbus, Ohio was working on. They were working on interactive cable that you could pause and rewind and even record. Dawson said he thought the idea was really cool and that was what drew him into a career in communications.
He decided to transfer to the University of Southern California because he felt it was a better school for his interests. It was there that he received a bachelors degree in broadcast in 1985. Now he is vice president of news at KNSD.
Dawson started his career as a part time writer at KBCS in Los Angeles. Due to contract issues he decided to pack up and find another job in the bay area. He got a job at Medford, Ore. as a producer. Previously the news anchors had produced their own shows, so he was the first producer to be hired there. He said moving from the 2nd largest media market to the 152nd was a culture shock for him.
"What you realize when you leave [LA] is that rest of the country hates LA and thinks that the television there is terrible," said Dawdson.
Dawson said that he went from a market that thought big to a smaller one that focused locally.
"So seeing the contrast between the two was so valuable for where they were because they're both different dynamics. I didn't even learn that until I left Medford," said Dawson.
He spent a year in Medford and then went on to do newscasts at Tuscon for eight months. The news director who hired him there later got a job in San Diego and hired him there to do a sports show called "Sports Wrap." He worked his way up the latter there and reach his current position.
Dawson said he does not have any regrets with his career.
"I've been really lucky, lived in good places to live. Oregon, Arizona, I've loved everywhere I've lived. . ." said Dawson, ". . .I'm the kind of person to always look at 'what did I learn from it.' So even if it was not the greatest experience, I got a lot out of it."
Dawson said that being a news director was never something that he set out to be from the start, the opportunity just came up and he took it.
"I was at an opportunity in my life where I was like, 'might as well try it, got nothing to loose'," said Dawson. "My predecessor had left our station to go on and take over another station up in the bay area and the general manager at the time offered me the job."
Dawson has won fourteen emmy awards for his work at KNSD. But he says that he should not be the one getting all of the credit. It is based off of the effort of everyone who works under him.
"My job is to make sure other people can do their jobs. When we do something good it's not because of me it's because of everybody else, but I get credit," said Dawson.
Dawson says that even though he's not a writer anymore he can still be creative with his work.
"My job these days is outwardly pretty boring. . ." said Dawson. "Now I get to be creative in 'how do we do this project' or 'how do we grow our ratings' or 'how do we make this show better'"
Dawson says that one of his biggest challenges is having to let employees go as the media adjusts to changes.
"That's really hard to go through. Going through layoffs where I had to tell people who worked hard that they didn't have a job anymore," said Dawdson.
"I think we've gone through the worst of it and things are getting better," said Dawson. "But it's [the news media industry] still really competitive and I think the key is you have to really want to do it. It has to be a calling and if it is you'll figure out the right path and you'll make it. We need people with the passion and the desire to do it. The public needs it. Because really we're here to serve the public."
Friday, October 8, 2010
Amber Alert
Amber Alert issued for two boys
Amber Alert stories are always important. Their important for the community because they raise awareness. People in the same community will be watching the news and will see these faces. If they see the children or the suspected kidnappers or they van they may recognize them from the news and call police.
So these stories help bring children back to their homes and break kidnappers to justice. They also bring hope to the parents of these children that they're kids can be found. Because the more people in the community that knows their faces the more likely they can be found.
This is a nationwide alert though, not just local. Which is also important for situations where the kidnappers could be anywhere. Which in this case, I guess there's no way of knowing. Which is why it's national news, these guys could be anywhere.
I don't really know how many kidnappings happen in the US. But I wonder if news stations would be able to fit them all in their budget. They probably have to choose between the biggest ones, like this, the guys could be anywhere. Because they don't want to choose the ones where the kid could have just wandered across the street.
Amber Alert stories are always important. Their important for the community because they raise awareness. People in the same community will be watching the news and will see these faces. If they see the children or the suspected kidnappers or they van they may recognize them from the news and call police.
So these stories help bring children back to their homes and break kidnappers to justice. They also bring hope to the parents of these children that they're kids can be found. Because the more people in the community that knows their faces the more likely they can be found.
This is a nationwide alert though, not just local. Which is also important for situations where the kidnappers could be anywhere. Which in this case, I guess there's no way of knowing. Which is why it's national news, these guys could be anywhere.
I don't really know how many kidnappings happen in the US. But I wonder if news stations would be able to fit them all in their budget. They probably have to choose between the biggest ones, like this, the guys could be anywhere. Because they don't want to choose the ones where the kid could have just wandered across the street.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Poverty In DC
D.C., suburbs show disturbing increases in childhood poverty
This story addresses a problem that is occurring in our nations capital. It is important and relevant for two main reasons. The location is number one. This is going on in the city where congress meets, where the US Senate meets and the President resides. So because of this, the story has a watchdog element to it as well as general interest. Because this is not just happening anywhere, it is our nations capitol. And you can assume that if it's happening in the capitol it could be happening all throughout the nation.
The story may also cause individuals to be critical of their government. Because if this is happening right under our leaders noses, right in their back yard, and they're not doing anything about it, how can we expect any progress elsewhere.
The other main reason I think this is newsworthy is the sociological aspect to it. If you have ever taken a sociology class you know that it is an unfortunate fact that when children are raised in poverty they are more likely to remain that way or resort to a life of crime. So, when the poverty level rises you can assume that crime will also rise a few years later. So if nothing is done about it soon D.C.'s prestige could really decline. (In other words the city will become sort of a "shit hole". And when your nations capitol is a shit hole it's sort of shame full.)
If this continues to get worse it will make our government look really bad, especially to other nations. And America is already not exactly at the top of the list of the worlds most respected nations.
So that's why this story is important. It addresses a pretty legitimate concern about something serious that's happening in our country right now. I'm not happy about it and I'm sure there's a lot of other Americans who arn't. Change needs to happen and I think the article makes that pretty clear.
This story addresses a problem that is occurring in our nations capital. It is important and relevant for two main reasons. The location is number one. This is going on in the city where congress meets, where the US Senate meets and the President resides. So because of this, the story has a watchdog element to it as well as general interest. Because this is not just happening anywhere, it is our nations capitol. And you can assume that if it's happening in the capitol it could be happening all throughout the nation.
The story may also cause individuals to be critical of their government. Because if this is happening right under our leaders noses, right in their back yard, and they're not doing anything about it, how can we expect any progress elsewhere.
The other main reason I think this is newsworthy is the sociological aspect to it. If you have ever taken a sociology class you know that it is an unfortunate fact that when children are raised in poverty they are more likely to remain that way or resort to a life of crime. So, when the poverty level rises you can assume that crime will also rise a few years later. So if nothing is done about it soon D.C.'s prestige could really decline. (In other words the city will become sort of a "shit hole". And when your nations capitol is a shit hole it's sort of shame full.)
If this continues to get worse it will make our government look really bad, especially to other nations. And America is already not exactly at the top of the list of the worlds most respected nations.
So that's why this story is important. It addresses a pretty legitimate concern about something serious that's happening in our country right now. I'm not happy about it and I'm sure there's a lot of other Americans who arn't. Change needs to happen and I think the article makes that pretty clear.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Once a sports junkie, now one of NBC's top dogs
By Michael Fritz
PACIFIC TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
"When a big news story comes up I have an opportunity to perform and get people moved where they need to be so I can beat the competition, to me that's number one," said Jesse Garcia, 33, Assignment Editor and Internship Coordinator at NBC. "Getting info out accurately, getting there first, being on the spot first, and having it covered first is what drives me."
Garcia has over ten years of experience as a journalist, seven at an ABC affiliate and three at NBC. He started as a sports intern at ABC during college in 1999.
Garcia says that sports has always been a big part of his life. Sports helped him stay out of trouble growing up in Logan Heights. It also helped as a "drive to become something" he said.
Even today, despite his busy schedule at NBC, Garcia is still involved in sports activities in his pass time. He plays in an adult league on Sundays.
"As a die hard fan of sports, working in sports kind of took away from being a fan," said Garcia.
He said that since he is a Raiders fan, "having to sit through the Chargers games was painful" for him.
While interning at ABC he began asking what others did around the station. He gained an interest in the jobs at the assignment desk, where information is gathered for developing stories and assignments were given to reporters. Next semester he became an assignment desk intern. He took the first opportunity he found to apply for a position as assignment editor. He received the job but only if he could stay overnight on Dec. 31, 1999, the night that the world was rumored to fall into chaos due to the millennium bug. He accepted, sacrificing all the partying with his friends that he originally planned. But he said that it
was what started his career in media.
"They're [his friends] still doing what they do and I've been in the business for ten years so, it was worth it," said Garcia.
Being in the news business for ten years Garcia has witnessed many changes that the news industry has been going through. One of the biggest challenges he faced early in his career was fear of being laid off.
"I've seen a lot of turn around in the business, just at NBC we had about three waves of lay offs. People tend to bounce around between stations too. . ." said Garcia, ". . . it's a cut throat business really. The person who hired me is no longer there so it's like wow, my boss got laid off, so why am I still here?"
While he was at ABC he said the management started trying to turn everyone into a "one man band." He said that although a newsroom works fine that way, he does not necessarily think it works if everyone is doing it because the quality of the work goes down. Which is a reason why he decided to switch over to NBC. He said that they have people with multiple titles there, but still have a lot of "experts" too.
"Photographers are experts in photography, video shooting. Editors are experts in editing they get creative with it, writers are experts in writing, I think that's why they have everyone in each position and I think that's what the majority should be."
But he also said that the media has maintained stability by keeping up with the trends like social media and switching over to HD TV.
"We're kind of following the wave of the future with all of the new technology that's being thrown out there," said Garcia.
With all of the layoffs many news stations have had to share video. Garcia was recently put in charge of the Local News Service (LNS) which is a partnership between NBC and CBS where they share video between stations for the same story. Garcia said it saves them from having two guys at one press conference, you can just have one shooting it for both stations.
"For those press conferences and things like that where all stations are going to be at anyway it's more beneficial to have one person shooting it for both," said Garcia.
Garcia's goal was to reach a management position at NBC. But the position he wanted was taken out. He says that now he is unsure about where he wants to go from his current position but is leaning towards something in Public Relations.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
"When a big news story comes up I have an opportunity to perform and get people moved where they need to be so I can beat the competition, to me that's number one," said Jesse Garcia, 33, Assignment Editor and Internship Coordinator at NBC. "Getting info out accurately, getting there first, being on the spot first, and having it covered first is what drives me."
Garcia has over ten years of experience as a journalist, seven at an ABC affiliate and three at NBC. He started as a sports intern at ABC during college in 1999.
Garcia says that sports has always been a big part of his life. Sports helped him stay out of trouble growing up in Logan Heights. It also helped as a "drive to become something" he said.
Even today, despite his busy schedule at NBC, Garcia is still involved in sports activities in his pass time. He plays in an adult league on Sundays.
"As a die hard fan of sports, working in sports kind of took away from being a fan," said Garcia.
He said that since he is a Raiders fan, "having to sit through the Chargers games was painful" for him.
While interning at ABC he began asking what others did around the station. He gained an interest in the jobs at the assignment desk, where information is gathered for developing stories and assignments were given to reporters. Next semester he became an assignment desk intern. He took the first opportunity he found to apply for a position as assignment editor. He received the job but only if he could stay overnight on Dec. 31, 1999, the night that the world was rumored to fall into chaos due to the millennium bug. He accepted, sacrificing all the partying with his friends that he originally planned. But he said that it
was what started his career in media.
"They're [his friends] still doing what they do and I've been in the business for ten years so, it was worth it," said Garcia.
Being in the news business for ten years Garcia has witnessed many changes that the news industry has been going through. One of the biggest challenges he faced early in his career was fear of being laid off.
"I've seen a lot of turn around in the business, just at NBC we had about three waves of lay offs. People tend to bounce around between stations too. . ." said Garcia, ". . . it's a cut throat business really. The person who hired me is no longer there so it's like wow, my boss got laid off, so why am I still here?"
While he was at ABC he said the management started trying to turn everyone into a "one man band." He said that although a newsroom works fine that way, he does not necessarily think it works if everyone is doing it because the quality of the work goes down. Which is a reason why he decided to switch over to NBC. He said that they have people with multiple titles there, but still have a lot of "experts" too.
"Photographers are experts in photography, video shooting. Editors are experts in editing they get creative with it, writers are experts in writing, I think that's why they have everyone in each position and I think that's what the majority should be."
But he also said that the media has maintained stability by keeping up with the trends like social media and switching over to HD TV.
"We're kind of following the wave of the future with all of the new technology that's being thrown out there," said Garcia.
With all of the layoffs many news stations have had to share video. Garcia was recently put in charge of the Local News Service (LNS) which is a partnership between NBC and CBS where they share video between stations for the same story. Garcia said it saves them from having two guys at one press conference, you can just have one shooting it for both stations.
"For those press conferences and things like that where all stations are going to be at anyway it's more beneficial to have one person shooting it for both," said Garcia.
Garcia's goal was to reach a management position at NBC. But the position he wanted was taken out. He says that now he is unsure about where he wants to go from his current position but is leaning towards something in Public Relations.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
J&J Motrin RECALL
FDA: Motrin maker played us over recall
This is a drug company trying to quietly remove a defective product they produced off of the shelves. And this is exactly why the world needs journalists. I give my kudos to the reporter that uncovered this story. It is news worthy for a lot of reasons.
First of all, I think the first sentence of this post says it all. Let me sum it up for you with a few key words, "drug company" "quietly remove" "defective product". This is very unethical behavior that should be taken seriously. They are quite obviously trying to avoid the public eye with this. They're trying to classify what they're doing as a "retrieval" or "soft market withdraw" because it sounds better than recall. The bottom line is, they put a product on the shelves that could potentially harm others and no one really knows how. Sounds like it needs to be called a recall to me.
When companies try to do sneaky things like this it angers me, and I am a part of the general public, so if it angers me I'm sure it angers other people too. It makes me angry because Johnson & Johnson does not have the integrity to tell consumers that there is a bad product on the shelves. Instead they "hired contractors out to buy it off the shelves." But while they're doing that someone else could have purchased it and consumed it not knowing it was defective because J&J neglected to tell anyone!
So that's the public interest. There are health risks involved and the company that produced the product tried to cover it up. People deserve to know this information. Because, after reading this story, I for one am not planning on buying anything from J&J ever again. It's a principle. They lied, so I as a consumer cannot trust them. As I said before, if I feel this way it's likely others do.
Another element of the story that I think could peak some public interest is finding out how the FDA handled the matter. I think people like to see justice served. The article mentioned that J&J was being investigated by "lawmakers and regulators" so I guess there will be a follow up story as the investigation progresses. Which is good, because it keeps the public informed and helps readership.
This is a drug company trying to quietly remove a defective product they produced off of the shelves. And this is exactly why the world needs journalists. I give my kudos to the reporter that uncovered this story. It is news worthy for a lot of reasons.
First of all, I think the first sentence of this post says it all. Let me sum it up for you with a few key words, "drug company" "quietly remove" "defective product". This is very unethical behavior that should be taken seriously. They are quite obviously trying to avoid the public eye with this. They're trying to classify what they're doing as a "retrieval" or "soft market withdraw" because it sounds better than recall. The bottom line is, they put a product on the shelves that could potentially harm others and no one really knows how. Sounds like it needs to be called a recall to me.
When companies try to do sneaky things like this it angers me, and I am a part of the general public, so if it angers me I'm sure it angers other people too. It makes me angry because Johnson & Johnson does not have the integrity to tell consumers that there is a bad product on the shelves. Instead they "hired contractors out to buy it off the shelves." But while they're doing that someone else could have purchased it and consumed it not knowing it was defective because J&J neglected to tell anyone!
So that's the public interest. There are health risks involved and the company that produced the product tried to cover it up. People deserve to know this information. Because, after reading this story, I for one am not planning on buying anything from J&J ever again. It's a principle. They lied, so I as a consumer cannot trust them. As I said before, if I feel this way it's likely others do.
Another element of the story that I think could peak some public interest is finding out how the FDA handled the matter. I think people like to see justice served. The article mentioned that J&J was being investigated by "lawmakers and regulators" so I guess there will be a follow up story as the investigation progresses. Which is good, because it keeps the public informed and helps readership.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Rape In Congo
U.N. puts Congo sex attacks at more than 500
This story reveals a terrible issue that the people of Congo are having to face. Many of us, at least in America, will probably never know the fear in the hearts of the women in that region right now. That is why I think this story is news realivant. It awakens people to a very real issue that is going on in another part of the world.
In the past I may have said that stories like this can make no difference to be read when you live no where near Congo. I am just a normal citizen of the US after all have no control of the UN and how they deal with these rapes. I can only hope that they do a good job and then critize them if they don't. In the past I don't think I really understood the importance of stories like these. But now I think I have changed my mind.
These stories are important to make the world aware of what is going on, and it is important for the world to know for a number of reason. First of all, the people of Congo deserve some reconition or justice and they are not going to get that justice if no one is paying attention to them. The UN is there and lending all they aid they can (argueably), but the people of Congo still deserve more then that. They deserve some reconition for the trials that they are going through right now. Certain events in history need to be written down and not forgotten about. This is one of them, and journalists have to be the ones to document them. Because if no one reports on the terrible sex crimes that are taking place in Congo than who will? We cannot turn a blind eye to this kind of behavior no matter where in the world it is happening. Just because I do not live there does not mean I should turn a blind eye.
Which brings me to my next point. This story is important for the rest of the world to hear so that perhaps someone with the heart to do so will rise up and find a way to help. If nothing is said of the injustices in the world than no one will no about them and no one will try to change them. Stories like these need to be told to inspire people to help change the world. Most people, I believe only hate the world more, or become more negative when they read these stories unfortunatly. But there are still a good few who stand up and find a way to help.
When someone reads a story like this it hopefully causes them to ask questions. Questions like, "is the UN doing enough to stop this, and how can I help?" Now, in some situations it may be too dangerous for just anyone to help. Obviously no individual is going to be able to buy a plane ticket to Congo and single handedly stop hundreds of rapes. Of course not, but people can still come up with other creative ways to help. Start a chairity perhaps, get groups togeather or something. I don't how I would help... I don't have the answer. But if enough people read this story, maybe someone will. Or maybe someone will start a group to get more people togeather and find a way to stop these things or find a way to help the UN.
Point is, these stories are important to make people aware what is going on in the world. And maybe, while doing that, someone will be inspired to do what they can to help.
This story reveals a terrible issue that the people of Congo are having to face. Many of us, at least in America, will probably never know the fear in the hearts of the women in that region right now. That is why I think this story is news realivant. It awakens people to a very real issue that is going on in another part of the world.
In the past I may have said that stories like this can make no difference to be read when you live no where near Congo. I am just a normal citizen of the US after all have no control of the UN and how they deal with these rapes. I can only hope that they do a good job and then critize them if they don't. In the past I don't think I really understood the importance of stories like these. But now I think I have changed my mind.
These stories are important to make the world aware of what is going on, and it is important for the world to know for a number of reason. First of all, the people of Congo deserve some reconition or justice and they are not going to get that justice if no one is paying attention to them. The UN is there and lending all they aid they can (argueably), but the people of Congo still deserve more then that. They deserve some reconition for the trials that they are going through right now. Certain events in history need to be written down and not forgotten about. This is one of them, and journalists have to be the ones to document them. Because if no one reports on the terrible sex crimes that are taking place in Congo than who will? We cannot turn a blind eye to this kind of behavior no matter where in the world it is happening. Just because I do not live there does not mean I should turn a blind eye.
Which brings me to my next point. This story is important for the rest of the world to hear so that perhaps someone with the heart to do so will rise up and find a way to help. If nothing is said of the injustices in the world than no one will no about them and no one will try to change them. Stories like these need to be told to inspire people to help change the world. Most people, I believe only hate the world more, or become more negative when they read these stories unfortunatly. But there are still a good few who stand up and find a way to help.
When someone reads a story like this it hopefully causes them to ask questions. Questions like, "is the UN doing enough to stop this, and how can I help?" Now, in some situations it may be too dangerous for just anyone to help. Obviously no individual is going to be able to buy a plane ticket to Congo and single handedly stop hundreds of rapes. Of course not, but people can still come up with other creative ways to help. Start a chairity perhaps, get groups togeather or something. I don't how I would help... I don't have the answer. But if enough people read this story, maybe someone will. Or maybe someone will start a group to get more people togeather and find a way to stop these things or find a way to help the UN.
Point is, these stories are important to make people aware what is going on in the world. And maybe, while doing that, someone will be inspired to do what they can to help.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
James J. Lee Discovery TV Hostages
Man holds hostages in Discovery building
This story is newsworthy for many reasons. First, there is public intrest. Discovery TV is a station that many people are already familiar with. If you have cable you have the Discovery channel, or at least one of the channels own by Discovery. So when people read this story they'll look at the headline and already see something familiar to them! That's usually all it takes for a headline to attract someones attention besides violence, but this story had both of those things.
Which brings me to my second point, violence. People love to hear about violence for some reason. It's probably all the movies we watch as a society. This story has violence so there is more public inttrest. Also, the people in the neighborhood where this happened deserve to know what's been going on in their backyard.
People like reading about other people, and James J Lee is a person that all of us can laugh at. The more we read about Lee the more we are convinced he is crazy. There were the police reports about him paying homeless people to protest with him outside of the Discovery Building two years earlier. Then there was the quote from his blog where he criticised Discovery TV for not being "green" enough! Then he walks into the Discovery Headquarters with a gun and takes hostages. Something obviously threw him off his rocker... but he was obviously crazy to begin with. I mean, come on, who has the balls to say that Discovery channel isn't "green" enough?! It seems to me they couldn't be greener! They do shows about nature and about how human behings keep screwing up the planet! How much greener could they get?! I'm just not entirely sure what exactly he wanted them to improve on! What the hell did he mean when he said that Discovery's show, Planet Green, is just another show about "more products to make money"? I understand the quote may have been taken out of context but still, the man has obvously been mislead. If he really had a problem with Discovery's programing maybe he should of went to college and majored in Buisness/Telemedia and then started up his own media company devoted to saving the enviroment. But no, that was obviously too hard for him. . . This guy has really thrown me into a rant, but that proves my point. Lee is someone that we can read about and then reflect on our lives and say to ourselves, "I'm really glad I'm not that guy."
Another thing it does is stir up controversy. I am sure that there is a conservative out there somewhere who read this story, and I am sure that after reading it his paranoia towards liberals and environmentalists was strengthened. And I am also sure that there were a few environmentalists that read this story, viewed Lee's actions and shook their head in shame. "Another asshole who has tainted the image of enviromentalsist everywhere," they might have said.
But Lee's points of view is what makes this story relevant to us. (That and the fact that he threatened peoples lives because of them.) He is concerned about the environment, something that people have been arguing the importance of for decades.
This story is newsworthy for many reasons. First, there is public intrest. Discovery TV is a station that many people are already familiar with. If you have cable you have the Discovery channel, or at least one of the channels own by Discovery. So when people read this story they'll look at the headline and already see something familiar to them! That's usually all it takes for a headline to attract someones attention besides violence, but this story had both of those things.
Which brings me to my second point, violence. People love to hear about violence for some reason. It's probably all the movies we watch as a society. This story has violence so there is more public inttrest. Also, the people in the neighborhood where this happened deserve to know what's been going on in their backyard.
People like reading about other people, and James J Lee is a person that all of us can laugh at. The more we read about Lee the more we are convinced he is crazy. There were the police reports about him paying homeless people to protest with him outside of the Discovery Building two years earlier. Then there was the quote from his blog where he criticised Discovery TV for not being "green" enough! Then he walks into the Discovery Headquarters with a gun and takes hostages. Something obviously threw him off his rocker... but he was obviously crazy to begin with. I mean, come on, who has the balls to say that Discovery channel isn't "green" enough?! It seems to me they couldn't be greener! They do shows about nature and about how human behings keep screwing up the planet! How much greener could they get?! I'm just not entirely sure what exactly he wanted them to improve on! What the hell did he mean when he said that Discovery's show, Planet Green, is just another show about "more products to make money"? I understand the quote may have been taken out of context but still, the man has obvously been mislead. If he really had a problem with Discovery's programing maybe he should of went to college and majored in Buisness/Telemedia and then started up his own media company devoted to saving the enviroment. But no, that was obviously too hard for him. . . This guy has really thrown me into a rant, but that proves my point. Lee is someone that we can read about and then reflect on our lives and say to ourselves, "I'm really glad I'm not that guy."
Another thing it does is stir up controversy. I am sure that there is a conservative out there somewhere who read this story, and I am sure that after reading it his paranoia towards liberals and environmentalists was strengthened. And I am also sure that there were a few environmentalists that read this story, viewed Lee's actions and shook their head in shame. "Another asshole who has tainted the image of enviromentalsist everywhere," they might have said.
But Lee's points of view is what makes this story relevant to us. (That and the fact that he threatened peoples lives because of them.) He is concerned about the environment, something that people have been arguing the importance of for decades.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Egg Recall Story
By Michael Fritz
PACIFIC TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
After heath concerns break out in America the reaction of the public can vary. Here at Southwestern College none seem too concerned.
"I've eaten recalled food before and nothing happened," said Benjamin Jo, 21, biology major. "I've been sicker from food I've cooked wrong."
Some feel that people get too scared about food recalls.
"Truthfully, I'm not too worried." said Hami Arshad, 19, biology major. "I feel like things like this just get hyped up by the media."
Others are meerly upset at the government.
"I'm just mad that whenever something like this happens the government doesn't want to release the name of the retailer," said Mike Giryotas, 41, public affairs major.
PACIFIC TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
After heath concerns break out in America the reaction of the public can vary. Here at Southwestern College none seem too concerned.
"I've eaten recalled food before and nothing happened," said Benjamin Jo, 21, biology major. "I've been sicker from food I've cooked wrong."
Some feel that people get too scared about food recalls.
"Truthfully, I'm not too worried." said Hami Arshad, 19, biology major. "I feel like things like this just get hyped up by the media."
Others are meerly upset at the government.
"I'm just mad that whenever something like this happens the government doesn't want to release the name of the retailer," said Mike Giryotas, 41, public affairs major.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)