Journalism Class - Monday November 7

[jerusalem-s.livejournal.com]

Spider is slumped behind his desk looking pissed as hell. There's a button on his jacket that reads 'Do not attempt to converse with me' and one below it that reads 'This means YOU'. The cat is nowhere to be seen.

Once there are several people in the classroom, he snarls, "For today's class assignment, please go to The New York Times website. Find an article with a definite slant or bias. Copy it, explain why it is biased and how and highlight the words or phrases that reveal the bias. Discuss amongst yourselves as to whether you agree or disagree with the original author of the article and/or your classmate's diagnosis."

Comments

Demanding Limits on FBI Power

[krycek-rat.livejournal.com]

Republicans and Democrats in Congress called on Sunday for greater restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's ability to demand business and personal records in terrorism investigations without a judge's approval and to retain the records indefinitely.

...The F.B.I. has long acknowledged that, with new authority granted to it under the antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, it has increasingly turned to national security letters as a way of collecting information on suspects. But it has refused demands from members of Congress to make data on the use of the letters publicly available and has provided figures only in limited form in classified settings.

The national security letters became particularly controversial in August after it was disclosed that the bureau had used one to demand internal records from a library association in Connecticut. The legal tool bars recipients from publicly disclosing that they have received such a demand, and the Connecticut recipient has gone to court in an effort to have the restriction removed. The New York Times first identified the recipient of the letter, based on court records, as the Library Connection, a consortium in Windsor, Conn.

Link to article. (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/07/politics/07fbi.html)

Re: Demanding Limits on FBI Power

[krycek-rat.livejournal.com]

"The slant is most definitely against the Bureau's use of power without any attention given to the possible benefits of their actions." He looks vaguely amused by the topic, not yet evincing any particular bias of his own. "Particularly the use of 'demand', 'demanding' and the focus on the use of the library information without any thought as to the cause for requesting those specific records."