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fandomhigh2005-10-11 10:47 am
jerusalem-s.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2005-10-11 10:47 am
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Journalism Class - Tuesday October 11
The newsfeeds in the classroom are muted today, although they all have captions running. Spider and his cat are apparently determined to chain-smoke their way through an entire carton of cigarettes this morning and they both look as though they were up just a little too late last night – or too early this morning.
Waiting until most of the class is present, Spider waves a hand for attention. “All right. Last week we discussed four words which occur in everyday reading that tend to provoke a common reaction or idea. This week we’re going to take things just a short step further and examine the concept of ‘slant’ or ‘spin’.”
Spider pointed at the screen at the far end of the classroom, which abruptly split in half to show two different people against a similar background. “In any two news broadcasts, you will note a difference in word-choice and emphasis. In syndicated news, of any variety, you will discover a distinct flavor to the news stories. You can take any two reports of the same event and find differences, some of them extreme… and many of them distinctly slanted to emphasize the agenda of the agency that is producing the story.”
He grinned nastily. “There’s a reason why I’m using the word ‘story’ and not ‘news’ or ‘report’. Some of these slants can be political in nature, some can be deliberately placating or alarmist. The trick to being a successful reporter in most places is to be able to put whatever spin or slant onto a story that your editor wants or will approve. This is particularly important if you’re working free-lance and need to sell a story to get food on the table… if not particularly ethical in some cases.”
There was a brief pause as he lit another cigarette for the cat. “The trouble is that sometimes you’re not allowed to say what really happened… and there the trick is to produce a spin or a slant that causes people to ask the correct questions as to what you’re not saying and prompt them to dig for their own answers. This,” Spider grimaced, “is far more difficult than it sounds. Therefore, today’s class exercise is to take a single event, from your world or someone else’s, and tell me about it. I want you to tell me something purely factual… and then spin or slant the events to show your opinion on the matter without actually deviating from those facts. Word choice is very important here, as well as the need to keep from saying anything either blatantly false or legally actionable.”
Spider crossed his arms and leaned back against the desk. “Manipulate me, students. Today, that’s what I’m here for.”
((OOC: P.S. Interns and Assistant, please check Spider's regular journal. Thank you.))
Waiting until most of the class is present, Spider waves a hand for attention. “All right. Last week we discussed four words which occur in everyday reading that tend to provoke a common reaction or idea. This week we’re going to take things just a short step further and examine the concept of ‘slant’ or ‘spin’.”
Spider pointed at the screen at the far end of the classroom, which abruptly split in half to show two different people against a similar background. “In any two news broadcasts, you will note a difference in word-choice and emphasis. In syndicated news, of any variety, you will discover a distinct flavor to the news stories. You can take any two reports of the same event and find differences, some of them extreme… and many of them distinctly slanted to emphasize the agenda of the agency that is producing the story.”
He grinned nastily. “There’s a reason why I’m using the word ‘story’ and not ‘news’ or ‘report’. Some of these slants can be political in nature, some can be deliberately placating or alarmist. The trick to being a successful reporter in most places is to be able to put whatever spin or slant onto a story that your editor wants or will approve. This is particularly important if you’re working free-lance and need to sell a story to get food on the table… if not particularly ethical in some cases.”
There was a brief pause as he lit another cigarette for the cat. “The trouble is that sometimes you’re not allowed to say what really happened… and there the trick is to produce a spin or a slant that causes people to ask the correct questions as to what you’re not saying and prompt them to dig for their own answers. This,” Spider grimaced, “is far more difficult than it sounds. Therefore, today’s class exercise is to take a single event, from your world or someone else’s, and tell me about it. I want you to tell me something purely factual… and then spin or slant the events to show your opinion on the matter without actually deviating from those facts. Word choice is very important here, as well as the need to keep from saying anything either blatantly false or legally actionable.”
Spider crossed his arms and leaned back against the desk. “Manipulate me, students. Today, that’s what I’m here for.”
((OOC: P.S. Interns and Assistant, please check Spider's regular journal. Thank you.))
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"So do you want us to say what happened once, with the bias?" she asks "Or to tell it twice, once with no bias and once with a slant?"
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Two, a slant or bias. IE, at this date and time, a war took place between the following people and here's why the event that kicked it off was all 'X's' fault.
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She listens to the assignment and opens another notebook to begin writing.
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In 2003, the FTC instituted the Do Not Call list to prevent unnecesary and unwanted solicitation of useless and expensive products via the telephone during hours when the consumer was typically eating, relaxing, or spending time with their family after putting eight hours (or more) in at their place of employment.
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or I guess
Homecoming was a pile of shit that ended up with me gettin pissed on by a few people I well.. I was gettin to like. And I aint allowed to go and get drunk no more, so I cant just forget about it.
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She considers the assignment. "Alright. Statement of fact. In the year 2260, the both the Mars colony and Babylon 5 seceded from the Earth Alliance. One with slant: In 2260, following the egregious implementation of martial law by the Clark government, Babylon 5 declared its independence from the Earth Alliance in order to support Mars colony after its bombing by EA ships."
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"President George Bush nominated Harriet Miers, a White House lawyer, to the Court."
"Bush nominated Harriet Miers, a White House crony who's never been a judge, to the Court."
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***
"In 2000, George W. Bush stole the election from Al Gore by contesting the result of the Florida count. Coincidentally, George's brother, Jeb, was the governor of Florida at the time."
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Once class gets under way, D'anna is relieved that she's photojournalism student. There weren't many, if any in the class who would be interested in Colonial events and she wasn't in the mood to draw attention to herself. She sits quietly, sipping her coffee and listening to the others.
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Slanty: Mayor Richard Wilkins the Third was scheduled to be the guest speaker at the Sunnydale High Class of {cough cough pretend it's this year instead of 1999} graduation assembly, however, shortly after this fact was announced, the school was suddenly closed for emergency renovations, and all students were summarily transferred to schools outside the city of Sunnydale.
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{* In this Xander's backstory, which is the AU that gets him to FH.}
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