Klein Blog 1

During our class discussion of Mesopotamia, we talked about Bi Sheng and Gutenberg and how the printing press evolved through the centuries. I was most interested in the impacts the printing press had on societies. Learning the impacts something has on a society always interests me because you have to scratch the surface of the topic to figure them out and the way populations react to a new phenomenon is often surprising. Things that you would never think about often happen.  I think it is most important to acknowledge that the printing press brought about shared, consistent knowledge among people because it led to so many other things. For example, because of the shared knowledge people had, they were able to make new scientific discoveries, have better health and medicine, and create new inventions. Now that media and communication is so common and easy to access we never recognize the strength it has and how it pulls us together. I appreciated this lesson because it brought m...

During the class discussion on mass media, the things that crossed my mind and left me thinking were ironically the same things that absorbed KC's attention. She said that while we were talking about the steps to produce mass media, she thought of all the stimuli that have never been followed through on, and how many ideas have come to her that she will never fulfill. This thought, of all the ideas that come to me and I know I will never fulfill or at least wont for a long time, crosses my brain often. There are so many projects I want to do and things I want to learn but there seems to be so little time.  KC also mentioned when Mr. Miller said that we are constantly receiving radio waves and internet signals. For me, this statement made mass communication through technology feel suddenly much more real and prominent. As KC said, "I did not realize that waves from the radio flow through time and space in that manner. Of course then I have to realize, to be mass media, they ...

    Today, September16th, the Courier Journal posted an article about a Wyoming guide killed by a grizzly bear while looking for an elk in the Teton Wilderness. Click here to read the article. The report violated the element of good journalism newsworthiness.      In order to determine if something is newsworthy, the question, "Does it effect a lot of people for a long time?" must be answered. Without even reading the article, the answer to that question is clear. No, a random guide from Wyoming getting killed does not effect a lot of people for a long time. It was one occurrence that would only effect locals and close family. In general, this story was not deserving of publishing at all however, if it were more thematic it would possibly be relevant enough for publication. For example, if the report talked about a trend of grizzly bears attacking people very often in specific environments, that would effect a much larger group of people. It would make peopl...

In John's blog he discussed the conversation we had in class on Ancient printing, how it evolved and effected societies. John's insight and perspective gave me a new look into the topic. Admittedly, during class I felt this topic was the least interesting we had hit so far. Although I find history very interesting, a decent amount of our conversation in class simply covered how things were printed, whereas I find the effects things have on society more interesting. Inferentially, you may guess I was most captivated by the section of the discussion where we talked about how higher levels of society rejected the metal printing type press made by Gutenberg. John went a further step as to relate this to how those in power today take advantage of printing press to tell us what they want us to hear but how we can still reply on good journalists to tell us what we need to hear. This thought pushes me to think more in depth of the pros and cons of freedom of press.  

    In class, there were multiple stories people had heard to as to how a white police officer allegedly accidentally walked into an apartment not her own, saw a black man and shot him dead. The first story was that Amber Guyger, 4 year member of the Dallas police force, simply parked on the wrong floor after her shift, walked into the wrong apartment thinking it was hers, suspected Mr. Jean was a burglar, and shot him. This is the story most people know, the story that news organizations are telling. Another scenario being that Guyer and Jean were formerly in a relationship and the police officer was looking for revenge. This story is the less popular and most unlikely one. Before it was said in class, I hadn't heard anything about the two knowing each other prior to the shooting. Additionally, what is the likelihood that you and your ex live in the same building, you cant recognize their living space, and their family knew nothing of you? Somebody also heard that the police ...

     To say the least, I loved listening to this lecture. To open the year talking about something so basic yet so important oriented me to the class. Hearing what such highly trained, long standing journalists think are the most important elements of journalism was so interesting because my love for writing urges me to want to know these standards so I can both use them as guidelines for myself as well as be a good critic of others. During our class discussion, the element of making the important interesting felt the most familiar. I believe this is because when writing, I always strive to capture interest and I know what it feels like to read a book or article you never want to put down. The common goal through my writing in to educate, however, reading something that just spits facts at you can be boring and feel like a burden rather than a thought provoking lesson. Personally, writing poetry particularly has taught me how to articulate my words in a way that is grabbi...

     Until it appeared on our first current events quiz, I was unaware that the possibility of arming teachers with guns was truly being looked into. Although it is still just being researched and not actually happening right now, Mr. Miller believes it eventually will, even though the concept is very flawed. He explained that as a teacher he would not be comfortable in possession of a gun nor having students in close proximity to them. The class discussed the possible issues with having guns in schools; a misfiring, a student taking one for his or her own use, poor personal judgement for when it is appropriate to use, the list goes on. I believe this class discussion was crucial to have. Every student should be aware of something that has the potential to effect us so dramatically. We also should have the space to freely discuss how we feel about it. The discussion we had was brought to our class in the right proportion and gave all of us the base information we need but...