Washington Post - Introduction

In some contrast to the Tehran Times is the Washington Post. Both are daily city papers located in their respective country's capital. The similarities largely end there.
The Washington Post is a traditional American-style newspaper, with an emphasis on objectivity and international, national, and local scope. Perhaps the definitive Post story was the investigation into the Watergate burglary in 1972 by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. This story, which attacked American conceptions about President Nixon's character and ultimately contributed to his resignation, is an example of media "freedom" - the Post's ability to print a story that confronted the President and institutions of this country.
The Post's commitment to objective journalism begins in 1935, when then-owner Eugene Meyer printed his principles of journalism on the front page:

• The newspaper shall tell ALL the truth so far as it can learn it, concerning the important affairs of America and the world.
• As a disseminator of news, the paper shall observe the decencies that are obligatory upon a private gentleman.
• What it prints shall be fit reading for the young as well as the old.
• The newspaper's duty is to its readers and to the public at large, and not to the private interests of its owners.
• In the pursuit of truth, the newspaper shall be prepared to make sacrifices of its material fortunes, if such a course be necessary for the public good.
• The newspaper shall not be the ally of any special interest, but shall be fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men.

So, a western, liberal newspaper that claims to abide by journalistic standards, contrasted with a newspaper that is at best a rumor-monger and at worst part of a governmental propaganda machine. From now on I'll be putting the two head to head. Should be fun.

Today's Headline: White House Tape Recycling May Have Erased E-Mails

Tehran Times - Introduction

Tehran Times, "Iran's Leading International Daily" was founded in 1979 after the revolution, when "there was a need for an international media outlet to export the ideas of the revolution." It claims an online circulation of over 10,000 visitors per day, and publishes a 16-page English language newspaper daily, available throughout the capital city of Iran.
There are seven news sections (Politics, International, Social, Sports, Science, Economy, Culture) and an opinion page. Notable controversial positions taken by the Tehran Times opinion staff include that Al-Jazeera is a Zionist propaganda machine and that the Holocaust is a "religion of Zionism for gentiles."

It's fair to say that on the "ridiculous bias" scale, this state-run newspaper ranks somewhere just above advertisements and PETA. It's going to be fun keeping tabs on them.

Today's Headline: Bush throws tantrum after failing to hoodwink Arabs: Hosseini

Oil is to Blame for... the Recession

President Bush pleaded with Saudi leaders today for an increase in OPEC production, claiming that high oil prices might cause a U.S. economic slowdown (International Herald Tribune).

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that the falling price of a barrel of oil indicates a future recession.

So which is it? High oil prices will cause a recession, or dropping oil prices are the canary in the recession mine?
"Big Oil" is today's handlebar mustachioed villain, today's robber baron. Although recessions and wars have been pinned on it, oil is not a sufficiency - oil alone does not explain the 2003 invasion of Iraq, nor any other social, political, or economic crisis. One of the issues I'll be charting in this journal is the scapegoating of the oil industry, as well as instances when oil truly is a necessary factor.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI)/Light Crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX): $91.71

Jello, Fist

Summary:
Discussion in class today centered around the power and limitations of the three models of media discussed last Wednesday. To refresh:

1. The hypodermic model - unadulterated from sender to receiver. Straight shot.
2. The two-step model - information packaged as a message travels to the receiver through a trusted Opinion Leader (OL). Note: receivers may internalize the OL.
   
3. The spaghetti/Los Angeles Freeway model - anticipates an environment in which everyone is influencing and being influenced. Note: this model reduces the importance placed on traditional demographics. Catholics don't all get their opinions from the Pope.
   

Agenda/Framing:
The media cannot tell you what to think, but they can tell you what to think about. This is agenda-setting, and it is terribly common. An issue can also be framed, or presented in such a way as to influence opinion.

Necessary/Sufficient:
An example exercise in the difference between necessary (a factor) and sufficient (the "true cause").
Question: Why don't I feel well?
Necessary Answers: You don't exercise. You have bad genes. You eat poorly. You don't sleep enough. You don't wash your hands. You work with kids. You have a tapeworm.
Sufficient Answer: Voodoo.


What I'm wondering:

1. Who has the power in the spaghetti model? Can anyone truly set an agenda?
2. What is the obligation of media during a human rights crisis? (ie, Tiananmen Square)

To answer the first, it seems that despite the fractured appearance, there may be more cohesion in the spaghetti model than the name implies. Opinion leaders are not isolated entities - the model tells us that. It seems logical that opinion leaders sharing some ideological concern may form networks. These networks can then, by the power of volume, set agendas. Considering blogs, briefly, a story posted to an influential news aggregate site like Slashdot may echo around the web for days afterwards, following established pathways through other blogs (Jason Kottke has an interesting post on the effects of being "slashdotted" and the implications of the information pathways here).

Course to Date (CtD): 98.6 degrees. Let's go. I'm ready.