France’s soccer team dissolution.

The last world cup was a major event followed by millions of people around the world.This year the tournament was full of surprises as many great teams were eliminated during the group phase. France, the 1998 world champion was among these teams as it failed to win a game. The reason why I am writing about the French team is because its elimination raised an important problem:racism.

Let me remind you that at half-time during the France-Mexico game, one of the French player Nicholas Anelka had an argument with the team coach Raymond Domenech. The player was sent home as he refused to apologize. Following that incident, the french players led by their captain Patrice Evra went on strike: they refused to practice. Their action ignited anger in France at a point that some politicians and news media criticized the players.

New York Times on June 23, 2010 published “Racial Tinge Stains World Cup Exit in France” with such a title one will take a look at the French soccer team which is mostly composed of players of different origins. The New York Times reported the interviews of many politicians who made racial comments on the team. Among those Luc Chatel, the education minister, who said: “A captain of the French team who does not sing ‘The Marseillaise,’ ” the national anthem, “shocks me, there it is. When one wears the jersey, one should be proud to wear the colors, you’re an example.”He was speaking of Patrice Evra, who was born in Senegal and who found himself caught between players and managers as the team refused to practice after another black player, Nicolas Anelka, swore at Mr. Domenech and was removed from the team. (The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/world/europe/24france.html). This newpaper did not take side as it was just reporting what the politicians and other local French reporters said about the problem. It does not give enough information. This may be due to the fact that soccer is not well followed in the U.S and since The New York Times is an American newspaper therefore it may not pay as much attention as much as the French ones.

Moreover USA TODAY reported on July 23,2010 that: France coach Laurent Blanc suspends all World Cup players. (USA TODAY).

Like The New York Times, USA Today covered the topic by reporting what others have said about the French team and also facts as it claimed that: “France's disappointing performance in South Africa came after the team also failed to win a game at the 2008 European Championship, also under Domenech.” (USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/worldcup/2010-07-23-blanc-french-national-team_N.htm). USA TODAY for the same reason as New York Times kept itself away from saying what it thinks of the French soccer team and did not cover the story with direct interviews but rather with third party.

Additionally BBC covered the story with much more details as it reported directly what the players, the coach and the French soccer federation had said about the team’s problem: "They don't want to train. It's unacceptable. As for me, it's over. I'm leaving the federation. I'm sickened and disgusted."FFF managing director Jean-Louis Valentin said immediately after the incident between Evra and Duverne, before driving off in his car.(BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8750302.stm ) BBC exposed the problem more clearly than NY Times and USA Today: BBC used more sources that are directly related to the problem. I believe BBC did a better job on covering this subject than the two previous Newspapers because it is an British news medium and more involve in soccer.

On the other hand the French newspaper Le Monde talked about the French soccer team’s problem with a lot more details. It used direct interviews with the French players and other people involved in this problem as well. On top of that Le Monde gives its own opinion on the subject as it wrote in French: “Si Laurent Blanc avait immédiatement affirmé ne pas vouloir prendre le rôle du "Père Fouettard" et ne pas avoir la responsabilité d'éventuelles sanctions administratives, le nouvel homme fort des Bleus marque néanmoins son début de mandat par une décision d'autorité. Une chose qui a pu manquer en Afrique du Sud.” (Le Monde, http://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2010/07/23/equipe-de-france-laurent-blanc-affirme-son-autorite_1391692_3242.html#ens_id=1245881). Le Monde is basically saying that the new French coach Laurent Blanc took some tough decisions which were missing with the previous coach.

Also Le Figaro another French newspaper used an interview of Evra, the French team captain, to describe the problem. In an article it said: Le capitaine de l'équipe de France a également affirmé que L'Equipe n'était pas dans son rôle en publiant en première page les insultes prêtées à Nicolas Anelka. "Comment cette chose a pu sortir dans la presse?", a-t-il déclaré. "Je me demande comment ce journal a pu publier ces propos (...) Que la presse écrive des trucs comme ça, on est où?". (Le Figaro, http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2010/06/19/97001-20100619FILWWW00437-evra-un-traitre-chez-les-bleus.php) . The Newspaper was covering an interview in which the French captain was accusing L’equipe, a French Newspaper for creating the actual problem as it published what happened in the French team’s locker room where one of the player insulted the coach. The French captain claimed that the article of l’equipe ignited the problem.

Overall, I can say that all this newspapers have different priorities as they cover the same story providing more or less details and sources depending on who is developing it. Priorities are key to the development of the industry of Newspapers. Newspapers talk about subjects that interest their audiences. The priorities change depending on the audience.

Sources:

New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/world/europe/24france.html)

USA Today( http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/worldcup/2010-07-23-blanc-french-national-team_N.htm)

BBC(http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8750302.stm )

Le Figaro ( www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2010/06/19/97001-20100619FILWWW00437-evra-un-traitre-chez-les-bleus.php)

Le Monde ( http://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2010/07/23/equipe-de-france-laurent-blanc-affirme-son-autorite_1391692_3242.html#ens_id=1245881)

Pictures from Google Image.

Shirley Sherrod Controversy

In recent weeks Shirley Sherrod came under fire for some comments she made that some considered racist. The context of her comments was excluded from mainstream public discourse, and the result was being asked over an email to hand in her resignation from her job in the US Department of Agriculture. The public response has been interesting, as many people realize that the video was doctored and shown in the wrong light.

Leading the media frenzy, and attacks on Sherrod was of course, FOX NEWS

Bob Herbert responded to this in his NY Times column.

I think that this story is important because it is a good example of how mainstream news media is increasingly transparent, and unable to sensationalize stories. Consumers are more informed, and the senders and opinion leaders are always changing. As a result, it is harder for any one person to have a monopoly on information.

Media and Dystopian Futures

Image courtesy of recombinantrecords.net

Hey everyone! I recently bought Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World in order to make a comparison of the dystopian future that he presents to the one presented in George Orwell’s 1984. While stumbling last night, I found this really interesting webcomic that compares the different fears that the two books had in regards to media and the way that information is presented to us and also what information is presented to us on a daily basis, as well as the way media changes and shapes our lives as a tool of communication. We already talked in class about some interesting trends on TV news and what is reported in newspapers, such as more crime reports when crime is going down, the reporting of “news” of questionable importance [Tiger Woods] and the preponderance of reports over missing White women as opposed to women of color. With the current debates over net neutrality and copyright vs. fair use issues, it seems like we’re starting to run into some of the issues that Huxley and Orwell wrote about. So I was wondering if you guys could take a look at the comic and tell me whose fears (Orwell’s or Huxley’s) you think are more real today and to what extent? I’m really interested to know what you guys think about the media’s role in shaping not just our present, but our futures as well. Thanks, hopefully I’ll hear from you guys.

Here’s the link to the webcomic again: http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-05-Amusing-Ourselves-to-Death.html

Barack & Cameron

I choose to cover the story about David Cameron's first visit to the White house and his meeting with Barack Obama. In their meeting the two discussed several political subjects and in particular Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi release and the BP oil spill.

Source static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Politics/Pix/pic
Megrahi is a Libyan intelligence agent who had served eight years of a life sentence for his role in December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. About a year ago he was released by the Scottish government, which decided to release him “on compassionate grounds after doctors there testified that Mr. Megrahi was likely to die of advanced prostate cancer within three months” (Cooper 2010).

The sources I used were all accessed on line. The BBC, New York Times, USATODAY, and an additional two sources. The first source is News.scotman which I choose because I wanted to portray a Scottish paper view of the story, since Megrahi was a prisoner in Scotland. I also choose an Israeli paper to get the perspective of a country that is not involved in the story.

The New York Times, although classified as a metropolitan paper, is also widespread nationally and one of the most influential papers (Hanson 2008), and thus their reports cover national issues as well as local ones. The report about Barack’s and Cameron’s meeting summaries the subjects that came up in their meeting, followed by a their views on Megrahi release. According to this report Cameron objected the release however, does not see anyplace for further investigation, an investigation which Obama supports. The reporter adds that Mr. Cameron has “no reason to believe that BP had anything to do with the much criticized decision to release Mr. Megrahi from a Scottish prison last year to win oil concessions from Libya” (Cooper 2010).

Compare to the New York Times that opens with an introduction of the meeting, the BBC’s, worldwide British paper, reports Cameron’s claim “BP should not be blamed for the "completely wrong" decision to release the Lockerbie bomber”. The the reporter’s decision to start the report with this claim, perhaps demonstrate the British perspective of the issue and Cameron confidence in BP’s lack of involvement in Megrahi’s release.
releasehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10691609

USATODAY, U.S.'s national paper, which also provides national Web news (Hanson 20008). Covers the leadrs' meeting in an article that also describes the national leaders’ historical discussion and the future of U.S and Britain "special relationship" (Jackson 2010). With regards to Cameron response to the senators’ demand for investigation, the paper reported, “Cameron resisted the idea of a new investigation, but added that his staff is reviewing documents in the case” (Jackson 2010).
Source. mirror.co.uk
The Israeli paper Ynet, ‘Yediot Aharonot’ one of Israel’s national papers and Web news provider, also covered the meeting between Obama and Cameron. The reporter mentions that the recent tension between both nations it due to BP oil spill and Mr. Megrahi release. The paper adds that Cameron is willing to corporate with any investigation initiated by the American congress regarding the oil spill. However, according to this report, Cameron claims that the decision to release Megrahie was done by the Scottish government and weather or not BP had involvement in the decision is an issue that needs to be questioned (Ben Horin 2010). This report of Cameron's response about BP's involvement is more neutral compared with the reports of the New York Times , the BBC and USTODAY, all of which portrays Cameron as not willing to further investigate the issue.

The Scottish paper presented reports from several U.S.’s news providers, such as: New York Daily Post, ABC News, and the New York Times. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3922684,00.html
The reporter in New.scottman, Howarth, also added that Cameron is willing to view documents about Megrahi release. Howarth (2010) does not mentions the BP apparent involvement. This report of a Scottish paper is meant to inform the public about the U.S media publications regarding the case. Howarth also avoids taking a stand and does not includes the Scottish or the British leanings on the subject.

Overall the reports from different newspaper present the agenda of the paper. U.S's national papers, as well as the New York Times try to provide an introduction first before describing the leaders perspectives, thus maintain the U.S's P.C mode. However, the BBC, British paper, choose to emphasis BP's innocent first before reporting the story, hence illustrating the U.K as blameless. The Israeli’s paper try to maintain an unbiased perspective. Finally, the Scottish paper tried to inform rather than to take a position.

Ben Horin, Yitzhak. Cameron for Obama: "There claims? Ask BP. Ynet News. July 20, 2010. Accessed on line July 22, 2010. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3922684,00.html

Cooper, Helene. Leaders Take Pains to Stress What’s Still Special in the U.S.-Britain
Relationship. The New York Times. July 20, 2010. Accessed on line July 22, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/world/europe/21prexy.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=barak%20obama%20&%20david%20cameron%20lockerbie&st=cse.

Howarth, Angus. Lockerbie bomber: A tabloid Tea Party at Mr Cameron's expense. News.Scotsman. July 22, 2010. Accessed on line July 22, 2010. http://news.scotsman.com/news/Lockerbie-bomber-A-tabloid-Tea.6433214.jp.

Jackson, David. Obama, Cameron, the U.S., and Great Britain -- still special. USATODAY. Accessed on line July 22, 2010. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-07-21-obama21_ST_N.htm

Cameron: Don't blame BP for Lockerbie bomber. BBC. July 21, 2010. Accessed on line July 22, 2010. releasehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10691609

Staten Island Murder Suicide.

Nothing is more horrifying than hearing about a family being murdered by someone slitting their throats, and then having their bodies be burnt to a crisp in their own apartment. What makes this story even worse (if possible) is that police suspect one member in the family of doing such a horrible disaster and than killing him or herself once the suspect killed the family. They are calling it a murder-suicide. Earlier in the week, fire fighters were reported of being called to the flaming house at around 4:15 on Thursday. Little did they know they were about to witness an unforgettable and atrocious crime.

In USA Today, and the BBC, both of their stories sounded similar. Their articles pointed to the 14 year old boy, CJ , of slitting his sisters throats and going after his mother and 2 year old brother. Then they claim the boy set the apt on fire, and killed himself. It has been reported that CJ was a troubled boy, and he was suspended from school because he set a piece of paper on fire. In both of these articles, it was said by a friend of the family that CJ was "a loving boy and she couldn't see him committing such an awful act." Also a note was found in the apt that said "am sorry". Police are trying to figure out who wrote this note. Bodies are being autopsied.

In the New York Times article, it has been reported that the investigation is now being turned to the mother of the 4 children. What was left of the note that was found that read "am sorry", experts say that it matched the mothers hand writing. The mothers journal was discovered in the apt, and experts were able to match the hand writing of the note "am sorry" to her journal entries. Also a neighbor that lived down the street claims that CJ, the 14 year old boy, couldn't have committed these crimes. The neighbor claims that CJ was to skinny and the mother could have easily fought back. Also, Ms. Jones (the mother) had pills in her system which could suggest her trying to commit suicide. Neighbors and relatives both say that CJ was a troubled boy, but was also a care taker of his family and though troubled, he would never sink this low. Investigators are waiting back to hear from autopsy, to see who died last in the fire. That will at least answer a few of the many questions of this horrific crime.

In the WABC news article, and the NY Daily News are very similar. They both point to the 14 year old boy and say that he was found with a razor underneath his body. They also say that the 2 year old boy that was found with his mother's body was alive at the scene, but than died at the hospital of smoke inhalation. The two sisters of the family were in the front room, with slits to their throats and there bodies badly burnt to a crisp. Both articles are waiting to hear back from autopsy to see which of the bodies died last in the fire.

Which ever news article you read, you cant deny that this story puts a knot in your stomach. I believe it is unthinkable and unimaginable for someone that belongs to a family to kill their brother, sisters, and mother. Or it is horrifying to think of a mother killing her children. Either way you look at this story, it is greatly disturbing and whether you find out the mother did it, or the son did it, both end in tragedy. Also you have to keep in mind, that though this story is nation wide, and yes this story is very disturbing, it is a rare occurrence. The news seems to dote upon the tragedies in the world. Not every day you hear about a family member killing it's family... and hopefully we don't hear about something like this happening ever again.

I specifically chose this news story because it is close to home. Living in NYC, and being educated on national news, I hear a lot of news about world trageties and disasters, but when you actually hear a neighboring suburb have something happen like this, it really hits close to home. It makes me want to take action... If the boy did it, what if he actually got the help he needed in school. Or if it was the mom, what if someone tried to help her through the hard times of this economy. This story, though puts a knot in your stomach, it makes me want to take action and have this never happen again. In each of the news articles, they point to CJ having trouble, and the mom struggling to pay the bills... what if someone just helped them. Would it have gotten this bad? It really just makes me wonder.... what if?

Immigration Drama

This Thursday a new law will be implemented in the state of Arizona. It will give the police the authority to check the immigration status of any and all people they suspect are here illegally given they are being questioned for a primary legitimate cause. Needless to say, American left-wingers and civil rights groups are in a panic.
Immigration has been a hot button issue in the States for some time and is a deeply layered problem that the news is constantly covering. Lately major news sources such as the New York Times, USA Today and CNN have been covering the American side to the issue. Meanwhile sources from Universal, an online Mexican news source, and BBC of the United Kingdom offer more of an international viewpoint.

In a recent New York Times article, “Debate Over Arizona Immigration Law Comes to U.S. Court,” by Randal C. Archibold focused on the issues between the State and Federal government in a very sophisticated tongue and dry style. The demographics of the average New York Times subscriber suggest an educated reader with a wide vocabulary and previous understanding of the inner-workings of our country’s government. Archibold jumped right in discussing and quoting officials on the issue. The NYT article discussed whether or not Arizona’s new law was constitutional in regards to its rights to overstep the Federal government’s previously implemented immigration programs. He also discussed whether or not it would be legal for the Arizona officers to allow race to come into play while on the field explaining that the new law allows for it while previous Federal Court rulings say this is illegal.

While the New York Times offered a strictly factual and governmental focus, USA Today seemed to be writing for a different audience.The author of the online version, “Judge Hears Arguments Over Arizona Immigration Law,” not only offered more descriptive language but also a more personal level of information, describing the protest outside the court house this past Thursday during hearings. They were less concerned with the legality of the issue and more focused on the realities of daily life in regards to illegal immigration in Arizona; the history of these issues, the feelings of the citizens and why this law came about. Arizona citizens are tired of the daily consequences of their location and feel the federal government isn’t doing enough to secure the boarder (large billboards stating the boarder is a dangerous territory doesn’t seem to cut it) so they decided to take state action, constitutionally or not. The article offered specific information of the new rights the Arizona police officers now have, “The law requires officers, while enforcing other laws, to check a person's immigration status if there's a reasonable suspicion that the person is here illegally.”On an online broadcast of the “Arizona immigration showdown,” CNN offered a dry, factual and statistical piece on the issue. The new immigration laws in Arizona are only one piece of a very large puzzle. CNN chose to cover a different piece in the immigration saga analyzing boarder patrol and safety and raising questions of just how secure our boarder is. All in all, the previous three articles covered different aspects of a large ongoing issue, but all with a white, American focus and many times from the personal right-wing point of view of various interviewees.

Contrarily, Universal and BBC gave new points of view. BBC offered a political worldview to the issue discussing Mexican Officials’ feelings on the new law. As a “friend of the court,” the Mexican government has offered its opinion on the new law. “‘Mexico has a duty to protect its citizens and ensure that their ethnic origin is not used as a basis for committing discriminatory acts,’ the Mexican foreign ministry said in a statement.”
Mexican news source, Universal, posted an online article titled, “Migrantes a la Deriva por Narco y Racismo” was the only article of the 5 I looked at that offered the Mexican point of view. The unknown author was the only to talk about why Mexican’s are coming to the United States and to mention what would happen to those questioned without paperwork once the law comes into action: jail. The second title to the article translates to, “ Specialists say families escape the violence going to the United States, but return because of the prosecution.”

The Critical Cultural Model suggests that the senders of our media messages only cover what resonates with them based on their perception of culture. This is proven by the diversity of information offered from these 5 news sources. The demographics being reached explains the different subtopics covered in each story however it was only the Mexican news source that seemed to be writing an article not catered to the white people tired of illegal immigrants. All the American based articles tackled Arizona citizens frustration with the issue, the political and legal circus around the new law and boarder security, all of which are important issues, however none had any interest in the welfare of these illegal Mexican immigrants on either side of the boarder. Due to this imbalance, any reader interested in new points of view is going to have to search outside our daily American news sources for fresh points of view or stories with personal depth verses legal and statistical information.

Click here to see the CNN coverage

Click here to read the Universal article

Click here to read the New York Times article

Click here to read the BBC article

Click here to read the USA Today article.

Lady Gaga's Media Coverage

My recent news story of Lady Gaga’s is compared through online newspapers. These five websites are New York Times, USA Today, BBC, People’s Daily, and Xinhuanet. Most recently, the first three coverage focus more on the daily life of Lady Gaga’s whereas the English version of Chinese newspaper mostly compare the media photos of Lady Gaga’s. All sources except BBC focus on the onstage glamour of Lady Gaga’s and BBC, this scientific group, just reports that a newly discovered study on its publication how dogs respond to Lady Gaga’s song Poker Face.

New York Times article "Girl Pop's Lady Gaga's Makeover" focuses on the chain influence of Lady Gaga's thrilling, impressive and powerful performance on those of other celebrities such as Christina Anguilera, Rihanna, Katy Perry, and beyonce. Its slant is relatively objective and democratic. The article is written based on recorded facts, public opinion and performances comparison. The article is two page long on website. It is also understandable that the writer Jon Caramanica has be knowledgeable in the art field in order to complete this article.

USA Today reports that Lady Gaga is “is on track to soon become the first living person to log 10 million facebook fans.” The article focuses on statistical numbers of Facebook fans of Barack Obama, Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson. Its slant is so based on statistics but perhaps biased because one person can have more than one account on Facebook (I even have three). It is rather a pretty short notice than an article on USA Today website. This report shows that how communication tool Facebook can surprisingly become a popularity test for celebrities.

So BBC News is interested more on scientific research on the dogs’ reaction to Lady Gaga’s song Poker Face, there are several interview questions and answered by the producer of That Mitchell and Webb Look. At the top of the article, attached is a short video about the dogs playing poker. The focus is more on the process of getting dogs to play poker but it is very interesting that they use Lady Gaga’s song to test those dogs’ reaction. The result came out was that big dogs preferred it but small ones found it tiring. The entire article is not too long. Formatting is very loose. So far, this piece of news proves that video has come to a point of being essential in our daily life.

People’s Daily Online and Xinhuanet only show the photo images of Lady Gaga. Both photo image have their respective title. In people’s Daily Online, the title is Who Is Most Glamorous Cover Girl and the latter one is called Sketch of Lady Gaga. It is not surprising that most recent Chinese newspaper don’t have too much opinion about Lady Gaga because of the sexual impact of Lady Gaga’s performance is deemed as negative on citizens; nevertheless, Lady Gaga’s photo image is allowed to be shown on art section of both common newspapers for her art contribution to people’s daily life and culture is undeniable. In general, the slant of both types of newspapers is very objective because there are only photo images. Photo image of People’s Daily Online comes from BBS, a magazine website. The first photo image focuses more on the glamorous ornamentation of Lady Gaga’s body. The second photo image focuses more on her personal level since it is only a sketch of her face. These two photo images make a strong, direct impact on readers of newspapers what a glamorous celebrity Lady Gaga is.

Caramanica jon. “Girl Pop’s Lady Gaga Makeover.” New York Times (2010). Page AR1, New York edition. July 25, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/arts/music/25feminism.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=lady%20gaga&st=cse&scp=2&adxnnlx=1280139744-RMR1j/sne3n4Ue0RBl3h1w

Mitchell and Webb. “ Some Answer About Dog Poker. ” BBC. Comedy. Blog. Friday, July 23, 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/comedy/2010/07/dog-poker.shtml

People’s Daily Online. Home; Life & culture. July 20, 2010. http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/7072904.html

Xinhuanet. Home. July 21, 2010. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/2010-07/21/c_13408860.htm

USA Today. July 2, 2010 http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/07/lady-gaga-nears-10-million-facebook-fans/1