Word #4

1. obloquy

2. Near v. Minnesota  283 U.S. 697 (1931)

3. "While reckless assaults upon public men, and efforts to bring obloquy upon those who are endeavoring faithfully to discharge official duties, exert a baleful influence and deserve the severest condemnation in public opinion, it cannot be said that this abuse is greater, and it is believed to be less, than that which characterized the period in which our institutions took shape."

4. abusive language; noun

5. I wanted to bring obloquy against my accuser, but instead held my tongue.

Comparing Media

Mitt Romney released his 2011 tax returns after much criticism for his previous refusal to do so.

The Mercury News posted an online article the day of the release that presented an almost fair and balanced report.

The story is 10 graphs long and includes a link to the front page of the Romney's tax return.

Sources included Romney "campaign officials," a paraphrased statement from Brad Malt, the Romney's trustee, and the newspaper's own interpretation of the tax form.

They also noted President Obama as one of his critics, but failed to include direct quotes from anyone.

I mentioned that the article was an almost balanced report because they did not delve into comparing Romney's tax rate to that of the average American.

Other media sources made this comparison and it seemed to be inserted for the purpose of swaying people rather than informing them.

The Mercury News used the most named sources compared to the other media outlets I visited.

The story was written much like the usual print story and didn't really differ in many ways other than the ability to update it quickly.

NPR ran a two minute 58 second story regarding the release.

Their story consisted of the two radio personalities discussing the story, along with a short sound bite of Romney talking about his taxes one month ago.

The radio program managed to go into a bit of a backstory in the short segment, and spoke about how Romney essentially overpaid in 2011 so that he would have a higher tax rate.

They hinted that this was done purposefully in order for the taxes to match what Romney had previously told the media he thought he would pay.

They explained that he claimed less of his charitable donations than permitted so that he would  pay a higher rate.

According to NPR, the average American pays about 18 percent on their income taxes.

Local ABC affiliate, KGO-TV, provided coverage similar to the radio broadcast in regard to the sources used.

They used a clip of Romney speaking about his income taxes prior to the release of his 2011 returns and attributed information they had to his spokespersons. 

The whole story ran for approximately two minutes and began with a tie-in to Romney's previous comments about the 47 percent at the beginning of the week.

This was certainly used to grab the attention of the viewer.

The voice-over reporter explained that Romney can legally pay a low rate because there are perks to capital gains and investment income.

The strange thing about this story, and the thing that set it apart as perhaps the worst coverage, was that KGO-TV reported the average American's tax rate to be around 35 percent.

I am not exactly sure how they got that number but it seems pretty far from the 18 or 20 percent that other sources reported.

While I do enjoy the added enhancements that are possible with television or radio news broadcasts, a good old fashioned article reigned supreme for this story.

Neither KGO-TV nor NPR was able to add any soundbites from Romney that we haven't seen or heard before.

Both also seemed to add their own twist by using the comparison between Romney and the average Joe.

It's as if they are trying to hint that he is "out of touch" with the American people, a sentiment that has become tiresome even though I agree.

The Mercury News provided a straightforward presentation and allowed the criticism by Mr. Obama and others to say what they didn't and shouldn't.

USA Today Looks Into the Future

Media outlets are an ever-changing aspect of people's lives, and in USA Today's 30-year anniversary edition, they focused in part on what news, T.V., movie and music may look like in another 30 years.

USA Today believes that with a digital world shaping the expectations of readers, the reader will play the biggest role in the news of the future. 

A Pretty Interesting Feature

The readers are making their  demands louder and clearer each day, and seem to be shouting, "We want more and we want it faster."

Some are screaming, "We want to be part of it too."

I agree with USA Today and the notion that contributions from readers will reshape news as we know it--it already has.

However, I don't agree that should be the way.

Maybe, I should tweet about it.

I also thought that USA Today's writer took sort of a vague perspective, that may have been pandering to the audience a bit too much.

They might as well have come out with and said, "We need you. Don't leave us, please." 

The newspaper also interviewed Gina Centrello of Random House Publishing in regard to the future of books.

I found her to be a bit too optimistic.

No one wants to say that her job title may be gone in a few decades, but the notion that it won't change very much at all seems ridiculous.

I believe that paper books will always have a place, but as a book-lover, I am concerned with their fate.

Digital books are considerably cheaper and you can have them at your finger tips in just moments.

These are two qualities that people my age and younger find to be very important.

Filmmaker James Cameron seemed to be more on target with his projection of the movie industry's future.

Perhaps that is the nature of his own mindset though.

He believes that people will start thinking out of the box, or rectangle, rather.

He envisions a future of glasses you put on and 3-D images come to you.

While that is pretty cool, it is not for me. 

If I want to put on glasses and see 3-D objects, I'll slip on my old Dollar General shades and go to the park.

Antonio Reid, music mogul, said he foresees that the music industry will only get better and that songwriters and musicians  will always be important.

I sure hope so because I am not very pleased with what we have now.

He also said that he thinks one of the bigger changes will be that an industry standard for method of delivery will be adopted.

He is definitely right on with that thought.

Everyone would probably be using only MP3s if it weren't for people like me who have no idea how to download them onto a device.

I like CDs and records because I can hold them, but eventually they will be gone.

As a whole, I thought this feature was very well put together.

I enjoyed hearing the views from top dogs of each media outlet.

Now, to put this paper in a box and see who was right in 30 years.

word count:522

Word #3

1. cavil

2. New York Times v. United States  403 U.S. 713 (1971)

3. "Of course it is beyond cavil that the President has broad powers by virtue of his primary responsibility for the conduct of our foreign affairs and his position as Commander in Chief."

4.  a trivial or annoying objection; noun

5. My kids engage in cavil at any chance, even when I offer a cupcake.

Word #2

1. ubiquitous

2. http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019100453_apuslasvegashandbillers.html

3. "Others stare, zombie-like, into the Las Vegas Strip's ubiquitous video screens and light displays in an effort to ignore the pushy handbill distributors."

4.  existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered; adjective

5. Starting even before Thanksgiving, the ubiquitous holiday decor makes me queasy.

My Favorite Writing

If you crawl into the mind of a gay man from the Deep South with an outstanding lisp, you are going to find some twisted and hilarious thoughts.

Even if you have already read the book twice, you will not put it down so that you can take a pee break.

That's how uproariously funny it is.

David Sedaris' "Me Talk Pretty One Day" captivates the reader with sardonic humor and anecdotes from his life.

He is a master at constructing comparisons between his own life and vivid descriptions of well-known media.

The reader is drawn in by this and is able to fill in the blanks with their own mind's eye.

Sedaris' outlook on the big and small of a child's life are described in such a dark way that you can't stop reading.

He keeps that same childish point of view when he describes his adult life, too.

This collection of short stories begins with him being singled out for his lisp.

He recounts the tortures of speech therapy and relents that he would have rather have lost a limb than have a speech impediment.

It's almost as if you are there witnessing his smart-ass banter with the speech therapist.

He tells of his strange home life with his newly emigrated Greek family in the Carolinas.

The reader gets to learn of Sedaris' hopes and dreams, and how he attempts to achieve them.

Feeling different and misunderstood, he believed that he should be an artist.

When he fails at that, he joins a group of modern misfits who get high on cocaine and put on grotesque live art shows.

Sedaris recounts coming out to his family and the string of torrid love affairs that followed.

The book winds down in France, where he once again finds himself in the role as a student of language.

Sedaris has an uncanny ability to make a connection between himself, the reader, the important and the minutia.

In the end, it all seems relevant.

word count: 332