Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address

The screenshot above depicts the headline story, centered on the topic of childrearing and housekeeping, featured on the home page of the New York Times website. After processing what I had just viewed, I was completely baffled! –How had President Obama’s State of the Union Address not captured the spotlight of the featured headline on the home page? But after some further investigation, all was restored when I found my way to “The Times in Print” section and saw that the President’s Address had been covered in the headlines under the story “Obama Providing Bipartisan Effort to Win the Future.” (Phew! That was close...)

An important word I want to highlight in the title of this article is “Bipartisan,” which undisputedly played a key role in the atmosphere of last night’s event. Breaking the traditional seating arrangements during the State of the Union Address, Republicans and Democrats sat side-by-side last night in an effort to go beyond partisanship. Although it was an interesting idea, it seemed to create an “awkward” atmosphere as one news reporter claimed on air after the address. To prep for my own personal viewing, I decided to watch a few Addresses from years past, and I must say that I have to agree with another news reporter when he remarks the audience’s response as subdued. The fervor and protest seemed to really be lacking, making for an almost muted audience, which I think could be linked to the seating arrangement. Whether or not bipartisanship was successfully executed during last night’s address is unclear; however, the attempt at such an idea undoubtedly induced a change in environment. 

Also, it is important to suggest that the integrated seating was not the only possible cause of the somewhat dull tone in the room where President Obama gave his State of the Union Address. In fact, I think the tragic shooting involving Gabby Giffords also played a large role in the stillness during yesterday’s speech. Obama respectfully mentioned Giffords’s state of stability in the hospital in addition to the others also involved in the Tucson Shooting.  

False Truths

Last Thursday when my English class took an informative trip to the Addison Gallery here on our campus at Andover, a fellow classmate accidentally coined the ironic term “False Truths.” On initial reaction, it was used when observing one of the photos, entitled “The Soiling of Old Glory,” most easily identified with the Desegregation of Boston Busing. 

To any normal on-looker, the white male in the photo looks as though he is pointing the American flag in the direction of the black male, intending in some way to harm him. It also appears as though another white man is holding the black man in place, as to give the flag bearer a steady target. However, this photo is the perfect example of a false truth because in reality, almost nothing in this photo is what it seems. I say “almost nothing” because it is true that the flag bearer is holding the all-American symbol in anger, but his aim was actually at a window, not the man. Also, the black male in the photo had just tripped prior to the photo and the other white man who appears to be holding him back, was in truth helping him up to his feet. The problem, as presented by the false truth, comes in the way the media presented this image. Not only did the press scale down the photo to put the focus on these three men, but most papers also ran a caption stating something similar to “Desegregation of busing in Boston leads to violence.” The media took the photo and created a different story for the image, a false truth if you will, much different from the actuality of what happened at the event.   The more my class started thinking about this phrase as well as the situation created by the editors in the media, we started to realize just how often this sort of fabrication can occur in the media. Yet, most of us would not even think to question the facts, especially if it came from an authoritative figure or elite source. With this in mind, you have to question what you see and read in the media because everything is not always what it seems. 

What is Newsworthy?

Just recently, I was acquainted with Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent for the first time, and I have to admit that I was very intrigued by his theories and musings. In his first chapter, Chomsky introduces the idea of a Propaganda Model, describing in detail the five filters our news articles must go through until they are ready for print. These filters include:

1. The size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the dominant mass media firms

2. Advertising as the primary income source of the mass-media

3. The reliance of the media on info provided by government business, and “experts” funded by these primary sources and agents of power

4. Flak as means of disciplining the media

5. Antiterrorism as a national religion and control mechanism. 

Once a story successively advances past all of the filters described above, the cleansed residue that is considered newsworthy is finally ready for print.

                                                                       http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/world/asia/20dinner.html?hp

With that idea in mind, I took a routine look at both the New York Times and MSNBC online, and noticed the headlines to be almost exactly the same. One of the three main articles at both tops of the pages included the story on Obama’s “Jazzy” State Dinner held for President Hu Jintao of China. While one article focused on the importance of and reasoning for President Hu’s attendance as well as the esteemed guest list, which included a vast number of business leaders in America, the other was centered primarily on the glamour and grandeur of the event itself. Clearly, the two different sources have conflicting views on what they consider “newsworthy” pieces and stories. However, I can see how the two articles can be equally as important as the other.

In the Times article, the focus is centered around the premier guest list of business, political, and world leaders, influencing the reader to focus more intently on the importance and commercial value of President Hu’s attendance. This sort of scope tells us, the readers, that the business aspect mentioned above is what is most important right now. However, the MSNBC article saw things quite differently as the news source seemed mostly concerned by the “American” venue itself, expanding on the décor, seating arrangements, entertainment, and even the menu. Unlike the content of the afore-mentioned article, the MSNBC source seemed to be deemed “newsworthy” in order to enhance publicity around the event by drawing on something close to home for most readers: the idea of a dinner party.  

Beauty in Photography

By the most common definition, beauty is considered to be a quality or combination of qualities that gives pleasure to the senses, most notably sight. To most, the word describes positive physical attributes such as attractiveness and allure, but to the artist, beauty has a much different meaning. Back to Susan Sontag’s On Photography, the writer demonstrates the dissimilarity through words. She says, “Except for those situations in which the camera is used to document, or to mark social rites, what moves people to take photographs is finding something beautiful. Nobody exclaims, “Isn’t that ugly! I must take a photograph of it.” Even if someone did say that, all it would mean is: “I find that ugly thing… beautiful.””(Sontag, 85). What Sontag seems to be is saying is that the word beauty in an artistic sense translates to something being of a virtuous, moral, or intellectual quality. Therefore, when a photographer captures a tragedy or major disaster on film, it is the reality and truth in the image that adds to its beauty.

In The New York Times’ photojournalism piece “2010: The Year in Pictures,” the majority of the images selected are of natural disasters, fatal tragedies, and wars around the world. Less than ten photos depict images that bring forth positive memories. With that idea in mind, it is likely, then, that the editor of the piece thought in congruency to Sontag’s artistic theory on beauty- that it does not necessarily have to be something attractive or delightful. Below, I have chosen a few photos from the afore-mentioned piece in order to illustrate my point.

It is obvious that pictures above each portray horrific tragedy and disaster, but it is the truth in the events’ actual existences that make the images beautiful.

The Power of Photography in the Media

             In Sonia Sontag's Chapter The Heroism of Vision in her novel On Photography, numerous theories, as well as a generalizations, are mentioned on the broad subject of photography. In one instance, Sontag dedicated an entire paragraph to the idea of the looking at oneself through rose-colored glasses- that is the want to see oneself in a glorified light. For example, Sontag writes, “People want the idealized image: a photograph of themselves looking their best”(Sontag, 85). Sontag’s theory really resonated with me as it is typically true for all people when it comes to having their photo taken, which lead to me think about a photo recently discussed in my Media Studies class. The photo presented Jared Lee Loughner, the major suspect of a mass shooting that occurred at a political meeting in the supermarket parking lot near Tuscan, Arizona. Different from the norm of expressionless mug shots, the image ran in both national and local news sources depicted Loughner with uncanny grin and sparkling, bright eyes as seen below.

Applying Sontag’s afore-mentioned theory, it would only seem natural for Loughner to intentionally smile when having his picture taken, especially if that is the way in which he believes he will look his best. However, his eerie image also works in conjunction with the perspective of the media, which in most cases has presented Loughner with characteristics linked to insanity.

            Additionally, another theory introduced in Sontag’s chapter includes the question of the role in which a photograph plays in portraying reality. On page 87, Sontag argues, “Instead of just recording reality, photographs have become the norm for the way things appear to us, thereby changing the very idea of reality, and of realism.” In terms of the media, I definitely think that many of us readers fall into the very trap mentioned above. Once we view a certain photograph presented to us in a news source, we tend take what we see as the truth and the reality of the moment captured in that image, which is not always accurate. For example, in the image taken of an American flag placed atop the tumbling statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003, the reader will most likely view the metaphorical action as an end to the war in Iraq for Americans. However, the reality is that the war was far from over at this point in 2003, but it was the power of the image that led us to see and believe a false reality. Ah, the power of photography…

photo source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/jared-loughner-alleged-tucson-shooting-gunman-appears-court/story?id=12580344

Photography in my Life

Photography has been amongst my special interests for almost as long as I can remember. Looking back now, that interest was most likely influenced by father's own involvement and enjoyment in photography. The camera was practically glued to his right hand on all occasions, anticipating my next move: Ashley's first swimming lesson, Ashley's first (pulled) tooth, Ashley's first day of school, etc. As irritating as it may have seemed at times, his picture taking is now something that I'm most thankful for, as he has provided my family with a thousand memories. The way a camera is able to capture a single moment, where faces, body language, and setting are all revealed, is something that still amazes me every time a shutter button is pressed and released. 

Photographs are exceptionally important to my family. My mother seems to believe that pictures are completely necessary in order to remember a specific moment, important or not. She has hung pictures all over our house, and judging by the unequal amount of photos we have posed to candid, I believe she prefers posed pictures, but I know there are few candid ones that steal her heart. For example, the photo below is one of her favorites as well as mine:

It so perfectly captures a moment representative of my youth with my twin sister, Katie. Of course, I was too young to remember, but my Mom always tells me that the natural, giggly grin on both of our faces was consistently present throughout day-to-day life. I love when my Mom gives me insight to how I was as a child in this moment or that, inspired by pictures. I admire photography’s time travel mechanism, allowing one to visit any moment, person, or place captured in an image. Family photography usually inspires memories for me, thus giving me knowledge about my past that I would have otherwise forgotten.