Editor’s note: The Daily runs a media literacy column by Sarah Cavanah, interim executive director of Oklahoma Scholastic Media and former Daily staff writer, every Tuesday to give readers a behind-the-scenes look at The Daily and media coverage in general.
Because it’s Thanksgiving, and because there are only four or five people left on campus today anyway, I decided to make my list of things I’m thankful for in the media.
I’m thankful that despite the fact that National Public Radio made a supremely bone-headed decision to fire “news analyst” Juan Williams for saying that people in traditional Muslim clothes on planes made him nervous, the lame duck Congress voted against stripping NPR of government funding. Yes, firing someone you pay to provide analysis for giving an opinion is pretty dumb. But so is taking away the little amount of money our country is willing to shell out for international coverage that goes beyond how Prince William proposed to Kate. I’m thankful that I still believe the day is coming where we won’t all go into vicious knee-jerk liberal/conservative reactions over every little thing. But that day is obviously not today. (Although I will admit that someone needs to rein in those “Car Talk” brothers; they seem bent on bringing hardcore communism and low-cost timing belt repair to our blessed shores.)
I’m thankful for Oklahoma television’s commitment to severe weather coverage. Yes, I do still make the joke every spring to my family that I’m “watching the tornado show again tonight.” But you have to admire the lengths all of the channels are willing to go to keep people informed. You can tell how bad the weather is by whether the channels are pre-empting their shows or their commercials. If it’s the shows, they constantly apologize for making some people miss “The Biggest Loser” or “The Big Bang Theory” so they can provide information that saves lives. If it’s the commercials — they still apologize — but they also take a financial hit. Those commercials are how the channels make money. Advertisers don’t pay for commercials that don’t get shown.
I’m thankful for all the media opportunities available at OU. We have everything from the traditional student newspaper and yearbook to online magazines and a sports show. I don’t personally think the media are dying — transforming, definitely — so I think these opportunities are great. Some complain that they make mistakes, and consumers have a perfect right to raise those complaints every time. But, considering the low or non-existent pay, I think OU should be proud to have so many choices available.
I’m thankful that OU students do consume media critically, whether it’s student-produced or not. I might be old-fashioned, but I do like to think of the mediasphere as a “marketplace of ideas,” where every idea is for sale. Every time someone questions something with a thought-out argument, I feel a little bit better. We need rational disagreement and the balance it provides to survive. We don’t need mindless zombies accepting everything they hear, and we don’t need people who jump on a bandwagon of others’ ideas just because it’s easier than thinking for yourself.
I’m thankful for you, especially if you disagree.
— Sarah Cavanah, professional writing and journalism graduate
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DancingTableLeg 1 year, 6 months ago
"National Public Radio made a supremely bone-headed decision to fire “news analyst” Juan Williams for saying that people in traditional Muslim clothes on planes made him nervous"
So does the writer consider that to be GOOD analysis? If so, then maybe we all ought to lean on stereotypes like Williams did. It might interest people to know that he had a history of half-baked, generalized comments, and that what he said on Fox was just the last straw.
That aside, I mostly agree with this article; the media as a battleground for ideas is important, and we ought to appreciate that by actively participating.