A China moment?...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Presidential politics on 10 3rd, 2006 | No Comments
Stanley Fish says that it’s time for Bush to go to China.
I don’t mean that literally, but metaphorically. It’s time for George Bush to do what Richard Nixon did – perform an act whose effectiveness is a function of the fact that he is the last man anyone would have expected to do it. What...
TIME.com on the NIE...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 09 28th, 2006 | No Comments
TIME.com: Why the Fight Over the NIE Report May Be a Wash:
Mark M. Lowenthal, president of the Intelligence & Security Academy, in Arlington, Va., supervised the preparation of National Intelligence Estimates from 2002 to 2005, when he was vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Lowenthal...
Condi the true believer...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Presidential politics on 09 28th, 2006 | No Comments
Media Matters has a great analysis of the Katie and Condi show that aired recently on US 60 Minutes. The interview was pure Couric and pure 60 Minutes and represents what is best and worst about both those brands. Couric sits with that intense look that somehow manages to convey admiration and slight...
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 09 24th, 2006 | No Comments
Finally what was bleeding obvious is now official. The New York Times reports on a new US Intelligence Estimate that comes to terms with the other effect of the Iraq war:
A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of...
The Greatest Story Ever Sold - By Frank ...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 09 17th, 2006 | No Comments
In a review of NYT Columnist Frank Rich’s new book, The Greatest Story Never Told, writer and now Bard professor Ian Buruma sums up some of the general problems with current journalism - not startlingly original but neatly expressed:
THERE may be one other reason for the fumbling (over WMD...
Bush’s Black and White Ball - he&#...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Presidential politics on 09 17th, 2006 | No Comments
A lot of stuff in the press - news, analysis and opinion - about opposition to Bush’s wiretap and torture plans from leading Republicans like Colin Powell. It is interesting though that even when these pieces seek to address substantive issues they nearly always end up analysing policy as posture...
9/11 in a Movie-Made World...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Film & popular culture on 09 16th, 2006 | No Comments
Tom Englehardt poses a fascinating set of “what ifs” in an article that traces the “movie-made” world of September 11.
So here was my what-if thought. What if the two hijacked planes, American Flight 11 and United 175, had plunged into those north and south towers at 8:46 and 9:03, killing...
Myth and possible stories...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Myth and narrative on 09 15th, 2006 | No Comments
Great quote from a William Doty essay:
Myths die when they are no longer retold and revised. Mackey-Kallis proposes that myths “must change in culturally specific fashions if they are to speak to the changing conditions and concerns of the culture. Myths that do not evolve are no longer useful and...
J Student blogs at NYT...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Blogs and journalism on 09 15th, 2006 | No Comments
In a fascinating experiment NYT columnist Nicholas D. Kristof has selected a J student Casey Parks to travel with him throughout Africa and write about their experiences on a blog. Unfortunately this great little experiment is behind the Times Select barrier and requires paid registration (you can get...
J Student blogs for NYT...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Journalism & blogging on 09 15th, 2006 | No Comments
In a fascinating experiment NYT columnist Nicholas D. Kristof has selected a J student Casey Parks to travel with him throughout Africa and write about their experiences on a blog. Unfortunately this great little experiment is behind the Times Select barrier and requires paid registration (you can get...
The work of mourning and September 11...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 09 14th, 2006 | No Comments
Began reading a very thoughtful article by Adi Drori-Avraham on September 11 this passage in particular struck me:
The photographic image, with its indexical power, its unflinching persistence to freeze time, to capture, to arrest, defies any attempt to deny or forget. As an authentic representation...
OpinionJournal - Jack Bauer Insurance...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 09 13th, 2006 | No Comments
Can CIA agents be sued for protecting America with too much vigor?:
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT
What would Jack Bauer do? If he worked at the CIA in real life today, the anti-terror hero of Fox’s “24” would apparently be buying insurance in case the ACLU or John Kerry decided...
In Latest Push, Bush Cites Risk in Quitt...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 09 1st, 2006 | No Comments
In Latest Push, Bush Cites Risk in Quitting Iraq - New York Times:
“The war we fight today is more than a military conflict,’’ Mr. Bush said in a speech to veterans at an American Legion convention here. ”It is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century.’’…..
At the same...
Retraumatisation...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Environment on 08 29th, 2006 | No Comments
A disturbing but beautifully crafted narrative from the Guardian about Katrina survivors:
Katrina’s winds died a year ago, but they left deep scars. You see them in wrecked streets. You see them in destroyed forests. You see them in tiny white mobile homes that now dot the Deep South. You see...
More on Bush and Katrina...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Environment on 08 28th, 2006 | No Comments
With the one year anniversary of Katrina at hand we will be deluged by a Hurricane of commemoration and analysis over the next few weeks. What strikes me so far is the similarity of all the assessments I have read so far.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg in today’s NYT begins with a focus on that same image...
Blogs on TV...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Blogging on 08 27th, 2006 | No Comments
Interesting post by Donna Bogatin about blogging taking a starring role in a new police investigation series USA networks Psych. What is think is even more interesting is the fact that Gus (played by West Wing’s Dule Hill) the sidekick of the starring psychic baddie catcher Shawn, blogs in character...
Blogs at Sydney Uni take off...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Blogs in higher ed on 08 27th, 2006 | No Comments
Found an interesting article from the Australian’s Higher Education supplement about Sydney University’s embrace of blogging. It’s bizarre that the most traditional of universities would be the first university in Australia to set up a campus wide blogging project. In May the university...
Back with Bush in New Orlean’s...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Environment on 08 27th, 2006 | No Comments
I am back after taking six months leave of absence from this project currently focusing on getting together a stronger structure for my thesis.
In the news everything circles around the same issues. With the first anniversary of Katrina and the fifth anniversary of September 11 both approaching there...
More than craft plus...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Journalism education on 06 12th, 2006 | No Comments
Stumbled across NYU’s Zoned for Debate: section again while buzzing around the web. Lots of good stuff. This from NYU prof Ellen Willis struck a chord:
The first step toward reinventing the journalism curriculum is to recognize that serious journalism–in all its genres and forms–is...
Fundamentally adversarial...
Posted by Marcus O'Donnell in Uncategorized on 04 25th, 2006 | No Comments
Maybe my post yesterday was too pessimistic. Perhaps the controversy over the Pulitzers will round support for a press that is taking itself more seriously. As the NYT reports:
Some observers on the press side saw the awards as a recognition that the split between the government and the press, which...