Mr.Brooks will be speaking tonight at 7:30 at Berry College Chapel for any in the Rome community who wish to come.
Thoughts about the session:
Mr. Brooks struck me as a very open, honest speaker. He seems to be quite an optimist about our moral and ethical health as a nation, and through his stories, he is also very knowledgable about the inner-workings of White House politics. One point that struck me, and Dr. Brian Carroll, as surprising was how close Brooks ties are with McCain. The fact that McCain is so open with a NYT's columnist, who is at liberty to print what he wants, says a lot about McCain's honesty and transparency.
Questions, as you can read, were all very interesting but also very different. I apologize if my writing became confusing or lacked structure.
I would invite all of you who are interested in online journalism, blogging, and the question of ethics to visit our Dig Comm blogg, WanderingRocks, and participate in our ongoing discussion!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Q&A part 4
Q: Could you comment on the negativity apparent in journalism?
A: Journalists want to prove that they're smarter than the people/things they're covering. People also tend to believe the negative/cynical coverage must be smarter than the positive converage. He finds this to be an unfortunate fact. He's slightly amazed at the negativity of the US in general (80% of the country thinks we're going in the wrong direction).
sidenote to the conversation: Mr. Brooks calls himself a "Mr. Pollyanna", about the state of our society especially.
Q: Why does the far right hate Hillary Clinton with such a deathly passion?
A: He think it's recently diminished. The deeper issue goes back to the 60s, the idea that she's a feminist liberal (which Brooks doesnt think is true), and she sees politics as war. After 2000 she made an attempt to reach out to republicans. He finds that republicans respect Clinton, but fear Obama.
A: Journalists want to prove that they're smarter than the people/things they're covering. People also tend to believe the negative/cynical coverage must be smarter than the positive converage. He finds this to be an unfortunate fact. He's slightly amazed at the negativity of the US in general (80% of the country thinks we're going in the wrong direction).
sidenote to the conversation: Mr. Brooks calls himself a "Mr. Pollyanna", about the state of our society especially.
Q: Why does the far right hate Hillary Clinton with such a deathly passion?
A: He think it's recently diminished. The deeper issue goes back to the 60s, the idea that she's a feminist liberal (which Brooks doesnt think is true), and she sees politics as war. After 2000 she made an attempt to reach out to republicans. He finds that republicans respect Clinton, but fear Obama.
Q&A part 3
Q: How do you deal with criticism as a columnist?
A: After first 6 months at the NYT, he has thousands of emails telling him he sucks. It was hard to be hated on a mass scale. But you just get used to it. "It's part of the sport of discussion".
Q: What were the inner-workings of the Times during the Thompson/McCain article 'scandal'?
A: Forwarning, I can't be 100% honest here. What he can say is that newspapers are very complicated beings. As a columnist, he has freedom. But the journalists must work as a team. With investigative journalism, once they get their teeth into a story, they will never let it go. He thinks they would now admit that they couldn't prove it. The final story didnt please anyone completely. He's not sure if they story is over, but he says that the jounalists who compiled the story are very good at what they do, so he feels torn.
Q: What is some advice you could give to a fledgeling editor?
A: Editing is very different than writing. "You're the nursery school teacher". Have to have people skills to deal with reporter's narcicism. Lots of work without the glory. He did it for a few years, but he prefers writing. Basically, be ready to be a "teacher" and be very patient.
A: After first 6 months at the NYT, he has thousands of emails telling him he sucks. It was hard to be hated on a mass scale. But you just get used to it. "It's part of the sport of discussion".
Q: What were the inner-workings of the Times during the Thompson/McCain article 'scandal'?
A: Forwarning, I can't be 100% honest here. What he can say is that newspapers are very complicated beings. As a columnist, he has freedom. But the journalists must work as a team. With investigative journalism, once they get their teeth into a story, they will never let it go. He thinks they would now admit that they couldn't prove it. The final story didnt please anyone completely. He's not sure if they story is over, but he says that the jounalists who compiled the story are very good at what they do, so he feels torn.
Q: What is some advice you could give to a fledgeling editor?
A: Editing is very different than writing. "You're the nursery school teacher". Have to have people skills to deal with reporter's narcicism. Lots of work without the glory. He did it for a few years, but he prefers writing. Basically, be ready to be a "teacher" and be very patient.
Q&A Continued
Brooks says, "People dont vote on policy, they vote on character", and that's the way they should vote.
Q: What was the message about spirituality of Americans in Paradise Drive?
A: There's a debate about the corruption of America by material wealth. His answer to this debate is that no, we have not been ruined by this. Life in the suburbs is not evil.An example of this is the current low divorce rates in suburbs around atlanta. College students are also a fine example of the moral wealth of our country, i.e community service involvement. He is a "Walt Disney optimist" of American culture.
Q:If someone is rewarded for doing something good, would that change that the act is actually good?(example of scholarships in return for community service)
A: Most things are not done purely out of a desire only to help. But the continued participation of community service by college students, and the lengths they go to to help, i.e help with political campaigns, thereus evidence that there is some level of personal desire to help.
Q: What are your views on the ethics on blogging vs. journalism?
A:The lines are fuzzy. He personally finds that he adopts different roles depending on the medium he is using to communicate. Bloggers used to be their own seperate thing, now they are a part of the national conversation. People online dont always know how to write about the government because, as bloggers, they dont have the ability to see policy workers at worth. (personal note by hannah: This could be a drawback to accuracy! i.e difference between bloggers and journalists is their relative idea of reality and experience they have with the things they write about)
Q: Will magazines survive?
A: Yes, but they won't be profitable.
Q: What was the message about spirituality of Americans in Paradise Drive?
A: There's a debate about the corruption of America by material wealth. His answer to this debate is that no, we have not been ruined by this. Life in the suburbs is not evil.An example of this is the current low divorce rates in suburbs around atlanta. College students are also a fine example of the moral wealth of our country, i.e community service involvement. He is a "Walt Disney optimist" of American culture.
Q:If someone is rewarded for doing something good, would that change that the act is actually good?(example of scholarships in return for community service)
A: Most things are not done purely out of a desire only to help. But the continued participation of community service by college students, and the lengths they go to to help, i.e help with political campaigns, thereus evidence that there is some level of personal desire to help.
Q: What are your views on the ethics on blogging vs. journalism?
A:The lines are fuzzy. He personally finds that he adopts different roles depending on the medium he is using to communicate. Bloggers used to be their own seperate thing, now they are a part of the national conversation. People online dont always know how to write about the government because, as bloggers, they dont have the ability to see policy workers at worth. (personal note by hannah: This could be a drawback to accuracy! i.e difference between bloggers and journalists is their relative idea of reality and experience they have with the things they write about)
Q: Will magazines survive?
A: Yes, but they won't be profitable.
Q&A
Q:Was do you think about the protests against china/olympics controversy?
A:He was in China two months ago. Finds them to be extremly nationalistic and very sensitive about how they are seen in the world. They want to show their rising power by hosting the Olympics. Brooks feels that the protests are serving a good purpose, because they are sending a message to China that, although they are rich and "rising", the world can still see their faults.
Concerning online journalism, he says that he's in the "whaling business", since viewer people are reading news in print format. He believes there is still a future for journalism, but he doesn't know what it will look like. He finds it presents challenges to him as a columnist, since he is competing with the opinions of bloggers who can "print" immediately.
He tries to interview at least three people everyday to increase his stream of information to allow him to compete with the online world.
Q: Do you feel like McCain is the man for the job?
A: "Yeah, I love McCain". Brooks says he's funny, he's open, good guy to be around. Tells a story when McCain called another senator a f'n a-hole, and Brooks appreciates this kind of honesty. He would trust McCain with his life, and believes in his honesty. One drawback he sees inMcCain is that he's a disorganized guy who flies by the seat of his pants. "In raw political terms", McCain has a chance because he's more than the average Republican.
Q: Some people assert that McCain would be a continuation of Bush policy. What do you think his foreign policy would look like, especially in Iraq and the middle east.
A: McCain knows all of the world leaders. He shows respect to world opinion. He recognizes the issue of global warming. He has a broader range of advisors. He did support the war, but if he had been the President and not Bush, the war would have been fought much better. His foreign policy would be somewhat different(not same as Bush, but not as different as, say, Obama's) and much more competant.
A:He was in China two months ago. Finds them to be extremly nationalistic and very sensitive about how they are seen in the world. They want to show their rising power by hosting the Olympics. Brooks feels that the protests are serving a good purpose, because they are sending a message to China that, although they are rich and "rising", the world can still see their faults.
Concerning online journalism, he says that he's in the "whaling business", since viewer people are reading news in print format. He believes there is still a future for journalism, but he doesn't know what it will look like. He finds it presents challenges to him as a columnist, since he is competing with the opinions of bloggers who can "print" immediately.
He tries to interview at least three people everyday to increase his stream of information to allow him to compete with the online world.
Q: Do you feel like McCain is the man for the job?
A: "Yeah, I love McCain". Brooks says he's funny, he's open, good guy to be around. Tells a story when McCain called another senator a f'n a-hole, and Brooks appreciates this kind of honesty. He would trust McCain with his life, and believes in his honesty. One drawback he sees inMcCain is that he's a disorganized guy who flies by the seat of his pants. "In raw political terms", McCain has a chance because he's more than the average Republican.
Q: Some people assert that McCain would be a continuation of Bush policy. What do you think his foreign policy would look like, especially in Iraq and the middle east.
A: McCain knows all of the world leaders. He shows respect to world opinion. He recognizes the issue of global warming. He has a broader range of advisors. He did support the war, but if he had been the President and not Bush, the war would have been fought much better. His foreign policy would be somewhat different(not same as Bush, but not as different as, say, Obama's) and much more competant.
The beginning
Dr. Bob Frank, chair of the communication department, begins the introduction at 4:30, sharing a bit of biographical information about Mr. Brooks. Frank quotes that Mr. Brooks has been described as "every liberal's favorite conservative" by the National Review.
Mr. Brooks was a student at University of Chicago, and worked for student newspaper.
Mr. Brooks begins speaking. He was a self- defined socialist when he was a student, and he tells a couple of anticdotes about the beginng of his career in journalism, causing giggles through out the audience and breaking the ice. Segways into the topic of journalism ethics. Anyone who considers going into journalism, he terms, are "suckers". (Very tongue in cheek)
Opens with questions.
Mr. Brooks was a student at University of Chicago, and worked for student newspaper.
Mr. Brooks begins speaking. He was a self- defined socialist when he was a student, and he tells a couple of anticdotes about the beginng of his career in journalism, causing giggles through out the audience and breaking the ice. Segways into the topic of journalism ethics. Anyone who considers going into journalism, he terms, are "suckers". (Very tongue in cheek)
Opens with questions.
Waiting....
As of right now, there are about 22 students and three communication Professors mulling about in the room, all waiting for Mr. Brooks to arrive. About 8 of the students are typing away on their laptops, preparing to also begin their first attempt at live blogging. More students just came in... the numbers are in the thirties now. All we need now is the guest of honor and we can get this thing rolling...
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