CNN vs. Fox News

I spent this afternoon flipping between CNN and Fox news to investigate the difference between how they relay information to the public. Immediately it is seen that CNN is obviously much more liberal in their stances, and that Fox has a right-wing, conservative slant on how they transmit their news. Upon watching several stories from both channels, I have found that they basically convey the same exact news stories, just in different ways. CNN puts a liberal spin on their news, and Fox leans the opposite way; however, they are communicating the same basic news stories to their audiences.

For example, both channels discussed the recent announcement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter to retire after the Court’s current term is over. The CNN news commentators who were discussing this topic seemed rather pleased that Souter decided to retire at a time when there was a Democrat president and Democrat-majority Senate. They maintained that there is no possible way we will get a Republican justice appointed to the court with conservative view points on controversial issues such as abortion. Fox news, on the other hand, reported this news in a negative fashion. The news reporter announced that Republicans are worried that there is too much Democrat power in the Senate, yet they are ready to put up a fight. CNN counter-acted this type of statement by stating that the President has the right to nominate whomever he likes to the bench.

Also, a topic of the news that was presented on both channels this afternoon was the issue of global warming. CNN had a small segment on ways to help contribute to the hault of global warming. Their suggestions included ideas such as using fluorescent light bulbs, inflating your car tires appropriately, changing the filter on your air conditioners, buying hybrid cars, insulating your water filter, along with several other ideas. Fox news, however, spent a few minutes announcing that a recent study has found that 33.3% of children fear that the earth will cease to exist, and a whopping 56% believe that the earth will be unpleasant for human existence within their lifetime. Fox news blamed Al Gore for this hysteria, and accused him of scaring the children with his bogus documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.”

President Obama’s job in the White House thus far was also a topic discussed on both channels. CNN commented how he is doing so many things so quick, and has a big agenda already compared with past presidents. The news reporter described this facet as “breath taking” and “stunning.” Fox news, as could be expected, completely had the opposite view on this. They maintained that the President is taking on way too many different tasks at once, or at least he says he is, and that it is absolutely ludicrous for him to think he will get everything done. The news reporter said that he should stop misleading the American people and pick one or two big issues to cover in his agenda, and just maybe he will be able to address those.

Over the years I have found that I like CNN’s coverage better than that of Fox news. At least now with a Democrat president in office, it feels like Fox news is bellyaching and complaining about the current state of affairs, instead of just impartially reporting the facts. There is no news channel more conservative than Fox, however there is a channel more liberal than CNN—MSNBC. This reason also leads me to believe that CNN is the more unbiased, fair and balanced news channel of the two, and is probably why I prefer objective over partisan coverage.

Response to a Classmate's blog post

A classmate of mine recently posted a blog about the controversial issue of gun control. Christy points out how Jersey City created an ordinance in 2006 limiting the number of guns an individual could buy to one per month; however, an appeals court overturned this law. The Supreme Court will soon hear the case and decide whether or not it is constitutional for a city to create such laws, since states already monitor the sale of handguns. Currently, New York is the only city with a limit on how many handguns one can purchase, limiting it to one every 90 days. If the Supreme Court sides with Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Jersey City will be the second city in the United States to have laws restricting the number of guns sold to an individual.

I agree with Christy when she poses the question, “how many handguns does one really need?” If someone is buying several guns every single month, I see that as a reason to be alarmed. As Christy said, if handguns are being distributed for their original purpose of self defense, it seems ludicrous that someone would need countless different handguns to protect themselves. People who are buying numerous handguns every month raise sheer suspicion in my eyes, as they are most likely illegally selling and distributing them to those who are not able to purchase them, especially in urban cities where crime rates are high, such as Jersey City where the debate is taking place. The Jersey City mayor even stated himself that people with clean records are buying guns for gang members, and that this law is necessary to limit the amount of guns a single person can purchase each month.

Opponents of the law maintain that such a law is an infringement on the Second Amendment, a right to bear arms. I see it differently, though. The law is not stopping the amount of guns that can be sold, it is merely limiting it per month. If you want to buy handgun for protection and self-defense, go buy one. The law is not stopping you. However, if you want to buy ten more of the same gun just a week later, that is where the law steps in. Opponents in urban cities should realize that this law is only helping to keep them safe. I agree wholeheartedly with them that every single person in the United States who is legally able, should be allowed to purchase a handgun for self defense, there is no question about that. However, I feel that cities—especially those of high-crime and violence—should be able to set their own laws limiting the number of guns sold per capita, per month. Who else knows the best way to protect a city more than its own mayor and council?

Christy ends her blogpost with a quote from Republican state senator Marcia Karrow who tried to legitimize her stance on how it is wrong to limit the sale of handguns by stating, “You can’t wear more than one pair of shoes at a time but lots of women have them,” she said.” I agree with Christy when she responded by saying it is completely inappropriate to compare lethal weapons to fashion accessories. This is like comparing apples to oranges. A wide array of shoes is totally normal, as there are specific shoes that go with specific settings—running, hiking, professional, formal. There are not, however, a wide array of settings that are appropriate for specific genres of handguns. You load the bullet, pull the trigger, and a shot is fired… every time. I believe that Karrow completely ruined her defense on this issue by making such a ridiculous comparison. In the end, I feel that it is appropriate for governments of high-crime and violence-prone urban cities to set their own standards for gun sales, as ultimately the law is keeping their cities much safer in the long-run.

Response to the Rush Limbaugh Radio Show

Yesterday I listened to the Rush Limbaugh radio show for the first time. I found his commentary to be more conservative than what I am used to listening to; however he did have some solid points that I could agree with. One part of the show that I found to be quite interesting and a little absurd was when a listener called in describing a press conference with President Obama that he had watched on tv and Limbaugh’s response to the caller. The caller described how a representative of the television channel BET asked the president how he was going to remedy the problem of the 50% unemployment rate among African American males in New York and the sky-high drop out rate with his new stimulus package. He went on to explain how the President completely dodged the question and instead talked about health care and energy. Rush Limbaugh’s response to this statement is what surprised me the most.

Limbaugh replied to the caller by saying that the reason Obama ditched the answer to the question is because he has no answer at all…because he isn’t even working on the unemployment problem. Rush maintained that the American education system is designed to educate Americans and not have anyone drop out. He explained that the education system is a mess, and unemployment rates are high, and that it is going to stay that way until a capable Republican president enters office who is willing to work on the problems. Limbaugh went on to say that they have been claiming to be trying to fix the unemployment and drop out rates for as long as he has been alive, but instead they keep going up. He remarked that they aren’t really doing anything to fix the problem and Obama is just another Democrat sweeping the problems under the rug.

This, Limbaugh explained, is why Obama dodged the question on education and unemployment, and instead talked about health care and energy. He demanded that the problems have only gotten worse in the last three months and that the reason is because the Americans who are being affected by unemployment are voting Democrat, and that they have been all their lives in hopes of an actual change taking place one day. These people are making a big mistake, Limbaugh insisted, and nothing will get better for them until they elect a Republican to fix their problems, especially people in urban areas such as New York City. Rush Limbaugh ended his argument by asserting that the reason these problems are not getting fixed is either because President Obama does not know how to fix it, or he just doesn’t want to.

I cannot say that I agreed with this portion of his radio show. It seems a little ignorant on Limbaugh’s part to be making such bold claims about an entire ideology of Presidents. I believe that Obama IS trying to fix the unemployment and drop out problems in America, but this is by no means an easy task. Perhaps Rush Limbaugh should try walking in the president’s shoes for a day and try to remedy the problem himself before making such radical claims about his true agenda on these very difficult issues.

Comparing the Daily Show with the 6:30 network news

Last night I watched the encore episode of the Daily Show from Obama’s 100th day in office. The half-hour long episode consisted of three main discussion topics: Arlen Specter dropping the GOP, a spoof of a “senior black correspondent” evaluating Obama’s progress thus far, and an interview with Doris Kearns Goodwin, a presidential historian.

The discussion of Arlen Specter switching from the Republican side to join the Democrats was covered in just as much detail as was seen on the 6:30 network news. Both programs explained how this means that the Democrats will gain the majority of control over the House and Senate, most likely making the party filibuster-proof. One thing that Jon Stewart said that I hadn’t seen on the network news, however, was his belief that Arlen Specter switched parties merely to get re-elected. He noted how Arlen told reports he switched sides “out of principle,” but Stewart doesn’t buy this and denounced the notion by maintaining that he switched only so that the Democrats would elect him to serve again. Besides that tidbit, the information that was presented on both the Daily Show and the network news seemed to be equal in their content and degree of factual information.

The second segment of the episode featured a satire of a “senior black correspondent” evaluating President’s Obama’s success so far on a scale made up of slang vernacular. He maintained that the stimulus bill is “off the heazy fo sheazy”. The comedian also noted that the closing of Guantanamo Bay was “aight” because it stands for everything America has done wrong in this war on terror. This type of discussion certainly would never appear on the 6:30 network news; however that obviously wasn’t Daily Show writers’ intentions. This type of dialogue is purely for comedy-sake and to get a laugh out of viewers, however the issues that that were discussed are of the same genre of issues that are discussed on standard network news programs.

The last part of the Daily Show included an interview with presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Goodwin discussed the status of President Obama thus far on his 100th day in office. She stated that Obama is doing a good job so far, and described him as being calm, steady, and thick-skinned. She went on to say that he doesn’t get rattled very easily and has more confidence than most of the presidents who have led our nation. This type of commentary also appears on the standard network news, although it would have a different spin depending on if you’re watching CNN or Fox news. Goodwin also mentioned that President Obama is trying to maintain some sense of normalcy in his life, and that he still gets freaked out when everyone stands up for him upon walking into a room.

Upon comparing the news presented in the Daily Show with that of the 6:30 network news, it appears that both programs cover basically the same exact news, just in different ways. While the network news tends to do so in a more traditional manner, it is clear that John Stewart purposely puts a humorous tilt on all of his information, thus making it more entertaining and enjoyable to viewers. As an avid viewer of CNN, I always find it refreshing to watch the Daily Show and get a little humor with my news. I wouldn’t say that the network news covers stories in any more detail than the Daily Show does, as they both offer basically the same length and depth of information in their news coverage.

5:00 Local News on NBC

I have just finished watching the 5:00 local news on NBC. Out of the several short stories that were covered, very few were actually political (political in the sense of referencing government leaders, Congress, etc.) However, just because the majority of the stories weren’t political per say, it doesn’t mean that they lacked the element of politics all together, as there are policies and public procedures built into the framework of several of the stories that were covered. The stories, as they were presented in order, are as follows:

-Swine flu coverage: confirmed cases of the disease have been reported in New Jersey. Joe Biden made a comment about how he wouldn’t advise his own family to travel in confined spaces, such as on airplanes or subways; and Bloomberg counteracted his remark, as he has been urging people to still use public transportation. Also, it was noted that there is no evidence that dogs or cats can contract the swine flu.

-Ailing auto industry: Obama’s new plan for Chrysler to file bankruptcy was announced, as he believes this will produce roughly 30,000 new jobs for American workers as Chrysler will merge with Italian car industry, Fiat.

-Wall street news on stock market reports of the Dow and Nasdeq daily results.

-Bernie Madoff’s business sale was analyzed today, and it was found that he obviously overstated his personal income on purpose by several million dollars.

-Four people were killed in the Netherlands today after an attempted attack was made on the Queen and royal family.

-Brady Green of Georgia was found guilty on charges of stalking Tyra Banks.

-Reports have been made that Alex Rodriguez, a.k.a. “A-Rod,” also used steroids during high school while playing for his school’s team.

-A serious tornado took place in Kansas, causing major destruction.

-Several horses were rescued after a flood in Texas, and none of them died.

-(Weather Report # 1)

-The Department of Transportation took down an old bridge in Stony Point today that was unsafe.

-Red Bank Medical Center is stressing the notion that early detection for breast cancer is key; and in an attempt to draw attention to the issue, they have painted various parts of the town pink and have renamed it “Pink Bank” for the week.

-There was a partial building collapse in Tribeca today. Facts of the building, including the failure to maintain it, and the citizens’ reactions to it were discussed.
-A 64 year old woman was arrested for adopting 10 children and abusing/starving them.

-Lacey Peterson (a woman who was murdered along with her unborn son Connor, by her husband Scott)’s parents decided to drop the case today in which her husband would receive the death penalty. The Supreme Court will review her request.

-In Cape May, a ship sunk and only one out of the seven crew members survived. Investigations are underway to figure out the cause of the tragedy.

-Rescued captain of the ship “Alabama” is calling for the U.S. Congress to create a legislative plan to protect ships from pirates.

-The Swiss made a huge donation to New York City’s September 11th memorial fund.

-Many people have been fraudulently bending US metro card in order to scam the scanning-machine and get free rides. One main was just sentenced to two years in jail for extensively tampering with metro cards.

-How to avoid germs at the gym was discussed. It was stated that merely wiping down machines after use isn’t enough.

-Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd was interviewed today about Vice President Joe Biden’s comments about the dangers of traveling in confined spaces. He stated that the White House had to backtrack and work to explain Biden’s comments and define what he meant to actually say.

-Actress Christina Applegate recently underwent reconstructive surgery after undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She will appear on the front cover of People magazine.

-New York’s Botanical Garden now had dozens of different types of tulips in bloom, driving photographers and tulip fanatics crazy. The recent Dutch tulip craze in Holland was also discussed.

-(Weather Report # 2)

-A dog and a goat, named Thelma and Louise, have become the best of friends at an animal shelter in New York. Shelter employees are hoping that the two are adopted together.

-Betty Gordon, who has written the movies “Variety” and “Handsome Harry” for the Tribeca Film Festival was discussed, as well as her inspiration for the movies.

Again, it is evident that the majority of these stories aren’t really politically-based, however in several of the stories, there are underlying elements of public policy that were discussed. For the most part though, most of these stories lacked serious political content.

White House Apologizes for Airplane Photo Shoot that Scared New Yorkers Today

A daunting White House photo shoot took place today… only it was in the sky. An extremely low-flying Boeing 747, which functions as Air Force One when the president is on board, was seen flying above the Manhattan skyline, accompanied by two F-16 planes fluttering nearby. The scene instilled panic and fear in many New Yorkers, as it closely resembled the low-flying planes that panned the sky during September 11th. This unannounced sighting terrified people so much, that many offices in New York and New Jersey began evacuating their buildings. Witnesses called up 9-1-1, exclaiming that the 747 plane was circling over the Upper New York Bay and the Statue of Liberty before flying up the Hudson River.

Director of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera, apologized to citizens today, explaining that he had approved the photo shoot over New York, and took complete responsibility for his lack of poor judgment in his decision. He maintained that government officials took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey of the photo shoot, however he acknowledged that it is apparent that the scene caused major confusion and disruption in the public. President Obama responded by stating that he was furious when learning about the flight over the tri-state area, and that he was never told about the photo shoot. He called the situation ridiculous, and full of poor judgment on the officials’ parts who were responsible for it. Government officials commented that Obama was indeed overcome with anger that the incident took place and unnecessarily scared so many New Yorkers.

So why did the Aviation Department think it was a good idea to have a publicly-unannounced low-flying photo shoot right over Ground Zero? I wish I had an answer for you. This just shows the complete lack of judgment that even the most well-educated and top-tier officials of the most powerful nation in the world can possess. I hope the public’s reaction has taught the government an important lesson and that they never let another slipup like this take place again. The terror and panic that Americans feel when seeing a plane that low flying overhead is something that should never have to be felt for a second time in this nation.

Collection of Benjamin Franklin's Letters Found

A collection of letters written by, to, and about Benjamin Franklin has been discovered by an American professor doing research in London, and has just been shared with a large audience for the first time. Alan Houston is a professor at the University of California at San Diego, and he stumbled upon the series of letters on his very last day of his very last research trip, at the very last hours before the library closed. Lucky? I’d say he hit the jackpot with this one.

These letters offer solid information into the early days of U.S. history, over 250 years ago, that were previously unnoted by historians. The 47 letters that were found deal with Benjamin Franklin’s success in dealing with a British army general named Edward Braddock, during the time that he lived in London. The newly-discovered letters were hand-written copies that were filed under the copyist’s name instead of Franklin’s, which is why they have been overlooked by historians for hundreds of years. When interviewed about his astonishing discovery, Houston stated, “I swear, I just about shot through the ceiling I was so excited. It's like finding a treasure chest.” A great big job-well-done goes out to Professor Houston.

The letters deal with Franklin’s interactions with General Braddock, who was sent to Pennsylvania in 1755 to fight and defeat the French at Fort Duquesne, which is now modern-day Pittsburgh. This specific fight was part of the French and British battle for power over the western lands during the colonial period in America. When Franklin was sent to London in 1757, he brought this collection of letters with him as a type of resume-booster and proof of his political value to Great Britain. Benjamin Franklin has referred to this collection of letters in his autobiography as his “quire book” and despite heavy searching, it was never found, until now.

The fact that the letters were filed under a copyist’s name for all these years raises the question in many historians’ minds as to whether or not there are more undiscovered letters of early historical figures laying around on a shelf somewhere just waiting to be found. This miraculous discovery has set the movement for larger research to take place in examining old documents written by copyists, to see if they too offer insight into previously unknown historical events. Who knows, maybe there are some secrets to the early days of America’s success just sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust.