Reading Response #4

Kelsey Hyde
Lapoe
MC4095
11 May 2012
                         Rex Reed- LSU Journalism School Alumni Entertainment Critic and Author

Not only is he a witty, world-renowned entertainment critic and author, but Rex Reed is an alum of the Journalism school at Louisiana State University. His speech to the students and professors of the Manship school of Mass Communication on Friday, April 20 had a reoccurring theme of “Being true to yourself.” Reed encourages the audience to bring our own personality to our writing. A Hall of Famer at the Manship school, former editor of the Daily Reveille (where type writers were prevalent) and an ex-boyfriend of the Homecoming queen Elizabeth Ashley, Reed credits much of his success to LSU. Reed currently writes for the New York Observer. His journey to get to this dream career to write anything and not have it be critiqued or edited is a long one with wild experiences along the way. What is even crazier is how Reed got his foot in the door in New York to establish the start of his career.

It started with a trip to Europe where Reed toured the Alps in a red Volkswagen with a few friends. After running out of money and questioning how to get home, Reed spotted a sign for the Venice Film Festival. He blames it on the Southern pride and guts, but for some reason Reed had it in him to walk right up to Buster Keaton and his wife to ask them for an interview. One hour later, Reed found a broken Italian typewriter and typed out a story about Keaton on a few sheets of stolen stationery from the Festival. On a whim, he mailed it to two top newspapers in New York guessing their addresses. A check was sent to Reed in Venice with payment from the New York Times and the New York Magazine of Herald Tribune for his stories. Reed admitted that his stories may have been a little fabricated through the translation of a thick Italian accent, broken English and a broken Italian typewriter. He laughs about it now, “It is okay to be true to yourself because telling a little white lie never hurt anybody.”

I am not sure how serious professors at LSU want their students to take Reed’s advice, “Forget your AP Style Writing book. You will never get a job doing that!” However, how can an audience full of eager and naïve college students ignore Reed when he has sung with Judy Garland, has been painted by Andy Warhol, has gotten drunk with Betty Davis and has been insulted on stage by Frank Sinatra? The other half of the audience doubts these experiences because Reed started his career by stretching the truth, thus losing credibility. Over the course of history, many different mediums of the press have been criticized for not being objective in their writing. Alongside with truthfulness, objectivity is the most important characteristic that journalists have to stick to. I do not think that Sloan, the author of our textbook, would be very pleased with Reed for bragging about his professional start with ethical errors. From the Colonial Press when colonists tried to get others to join their colony to the Black Press today when African Americans will choose mainstream press over Black Press, objectivity has been compromised throughout history. Sloane did not once condone this journalistic behavior. No matter how Reed got his start, no one can deny that he is still to this day the only critic to have his movie review read aloud in both Houses of Congress. The piece was about the Vietnam War called “Hearts and Minds.” Reed has even been told that the movie received an Academy Award based on the review that he had written about it. Other major accomplishments for Reed include publishing nine books, writing a best seller and having the honor of being a guest on the Johnny Carson show. “I had ambitions,” said Reed.

The mood in the room changed when Reed continued on to compare the art of cinema and writing back then to now in today’s society. It is ironic that Reed admitted his great fear of what is going to happen to journalism in the future because he preached the entire time about “being fearless.” Reed shrugged off the question asking if he still conducts celebrity interviews today. After shaking his head, Reed said “Celebrity interviews are not the same. People are not interesting anymore and movies today are just lousy.” Even iconic artists like Lady Gaga do not appeal to Reed. The speech really took a turn when Reed chastised the students’ future workforce saying, “The art of conversation is gone already.”

As Reed finished his speech on this note, the audience had lots of questions for him. Students walked away with an array of emotions from inspired to disturbed. At least Rex Reed had only good things to say about LSU and the Manship school. Reed still credits LSU and Baton Rouge for his education, his ambitions and his fond memories throughout college.

Reading Response #3

Kelsey Hyde
Lapoe
MC 4095
10 May 2012

Ethnic Press Organs

            Press organs like the African American press were crucial to society in the past. It is arguable if they are still needed today. In my opinion, the United States is a combination between cultural pluralism and assimilation because cultures have mixed to become one, but individual customs and beliefs are not lost. If no one stands up for their right to be represented, then beliefs and ideas will be lost about individuals. This cultural pluralism has taken off ever since Freedom’s Journal, the first Black newspaper in the country, was started. They developed very specific requirements to run a Black newspaper, which included appeal to an African American audience, to be owned and managed by an African American and to speak and fight for the African American community.

            W.E.B. Du Bois coined the term “dual conscience” meaning that blacks are American and they are African American. They have a place in our society. The first African American press was started using the Penny Press as a blueprint. Two men wanted to start the African American press but disagreed on how to do it. No matter how it got its start, it was successful. However, readership of the African American press has declined since the Civil Rights movement. It was mainly used to correct misrepresentations that were made in the mainstream press and to fight for African American sovereignty. Some people would agree that African Americans are still fighting for rights or to reverse a stereotype. What will it take for them?

            The theory of Hegelian Dialect revolves around the ideas and cultures transforming over time. It starts with a thesis, or common and popular idea. Then, it is argued by an antithesis, which is the opposite of the thesis. These two points intersect to become a synthesis where a compromise is reached by using Aristotle’s Golden Mean. This series of stages repeats over and over again.

The African American culture was transformed over time catalyzed by the African American press during the Antebellum Press time period. It caused the birth of leaders like Frederick Douglass and Garrison to emerge. Our society needed this then, but I don’t think it is still necessary today. By keeping ethnic media, America will not be able to bridge the gap among diverse groups in the nation. It furthers the division of America by insinuating that we need to read different presses. This implies that America is not united, which contrasts from our beautiful name United States. The natural generalizations called stereotypes that are mostly negative will likely get worse with time since the mass communication professionals are not trying to defy stereotypes, but make them more distinct by maintaining different presses for every ethnicity. The fact of the matter is, neither form of media are strong or beneficial. If minorities started to work for the mainstream press, then they could correct the misrepresentations that they state is the reason why they keep their individual ethnic presses. By joining the mainstream press, ethnic presses (mainly American Indians and Latinos) will gain credibility because they currently lack historical background, socioeconomic and political context in their own press. However, in order for this to all work out, ethnic presses have to be open to the idea of joining mainstream press and the mainstream press have to be accepting and welcoming of ethnic writers and reporters. Is this a likely solution though? People should really care about this issue because it marks the start of our future. 

Reading Response #2

Kelsey  Hyde
Lapoe
MC 4095
7 May 2012

The Role of Radio Throughout History

            Radio first came about as a news medium by various driving forces. The progression of radio from electric telegraphy to wires to wireless communication was in large part due to different inventors who took ideas from others and expanded on it due to the lack of patents. Known as the pioneers of electronic technology, Faraday and Morse were the main figures associated with the development of telegraphy. “Whereas printing was hampered by the requirement that it can be carried physically from place to place, the telegraph allowed information to be transmitted instantaneously by wire” (Sloan, 2011, p. 349).

            The real kicker was how Titanic contributed to the passing of the Wireless and Radio Acts of 1912. This event catapulted radio technology into national prominence. The Titanic sent out an emergency transmission over the wires after colliding with an iceberg. The Carpathia, roughly 58 miles from the scene, received the message. They arrived too late though. Why didn’t other ships receive the Titanic’s cry for help? This caused the realization that every boat should carry radio capability. Sloan recognized “the role that radio could play in ship safety on the high seas and to the need for laws governing emergency transmissions” (Sloan, 2011, p. 351). It is weird to think about when radio technology would have surfaced if the disastrous collision of the Titanic had not occurred. Would it have slowed down the process for technological advancement so much that the Nixon and Kennedy debates would not have been televised? Therefore, Nixon would have had a greater chance of winning the election since he was perceived as a better candidate on the radio than on television according to the majority of voters. This event in time is so important because without the attention it drew to the importance of radio and advancement of technology, who knows where we would be right now.

            Another ground breaking reveal of the necessity for radio involved the sci-fi book “War of the Worlds” being told on the radio. Oren Wells told the story on broadcast radio. Some listeners tuned in late and believed that this phenomenon was actually occurring in real life. This is when society realized the magnum and the significance of the radio to which they have the potential to reach millions of people. This is important because it showed potential of world power media effects. This is when the media really started making a name for itself worldwide and inspired others to not only take advantage of it, but to expand on it.

            In conclusion, radio took off as a critical news medium soon after these events and served as a source of political information (Roosevelt’s fireside chats) and a source of entertainment when sporting events, etc. were broadcasted. Radio was a cheap form of advertisement and communication too. It is interesting how the vital role of radio from the past has changed to today’s society tuning in to talk radio morning shows on the way to work. Even though it is overlooked at times today when compared to social media giants and the advancement of television technology, people must not forget radio’s impact on America. History would be so different without Stubblefield’s invention of the radio. 

Reading Response #1

Kelsey Hyde
Lapoe
MC 4095
6 May 2012

Why do we Study Media History?

             Why are we forced to take history classes in school? Well, for starters, the main point of studying history revolves around the statement that we cannot know where we are going unless we know where we came from. By studying events, leaders, politicians, etc. of the past, society can learn from mistakes, ideas, inventions and wars. By doing so, mankind can grow to serve and better our world. History is just like the study of art or music because people continually search for knowledge about it. Society’s reasons for studying history vary, but “the primary goal of historians is to explain the past truthfully” (Sloan, 2011, p. xi).

            Specifically, man can gain insight from the three values of the study of history. First, civic value expounds on the individual. It mainly provides information significantly for identity and background. Because it helps us get to know ourselves individually and collectively, it contributes to our professionalism. This is because we have the power to connect with members of the field of mass communication who have gone before us. Secondly, intellectual value regards the desire and necessity of expanding the mind. “Because historical understanding requires the full range of rigor, critical thinking, mature judgment, analytical ability and imagination, it is unsurpassed among scholarly disciple in exercising the mind” (Sloan, 2011, p. xii). Thirdly, moral value is the last value that one can gain from studying history. It involves the test of man’s morals and beliefs that help shape decisions. The moral value also provides models for standards of behavior and serves as a way to help us understand people. Without these three values, society would fail to learn from studying history.

            Primary and secondary sources serve as evidence to help tell a story. Primary sources are the best form of studying history because zero bias occurs and no one has to decipher importance or interpret them. Obviously, we do not have time travel machines to physically get us to a point in history to examine the events or people who lived during that time, but we can examine the records that people have left behind. However, limitations do occur with primary sources. In which case, you would use physical sources to evaluate and learn from the past.

            With the absence of present-mindedness, historians can gain an exponential amount of insight from performing well-done research. Is there a distinct difference between studying media history and history? According to Sloan (2011), the “study of media history is important for the same reasons that the study of any kind of history is” (p. xi). Even though media history is just one branch of historical study, does not mean that people take different values away from it. Civic, intellectual and moral values are all still prevalent in all forms of history, along with the use of primary and secondary sources. People have learned about the use of various mediums through history just like people have learned about effective war tactics by studying war history. From the period of time with propaganda to the first debate on television to the media exposing the Watergate Scandal, society (especially mass communication professionals) can learn the strengths, weaknesses, do’s and don’ts of covering monumental moments throughout American history. “Historical study provides the opportunity to inform later generations about the nature of humankind and historical truth; it offers an explanation for the complexity of past thinking and behavior; it contributes to the authentic record of human experience” (Sloan, 2011, p. xi). We study media history and all types of history to learn about the past in order to figure out where we are going.