Second Library Research

THE WAR

January 1^st, 1968 brought forth a new year that was filled with hope for economic prosperity and faith in America’s mission to soon emerge victorious in the overdrawn Vietnam War. This hope and faith was only heightened by the blatant nationalism and push toward military support through the majority of the January 1^st edition of Newsweek Magazine. Even the cover depicted military men abroad walking through a Vietnam forest with the caption “How goes the war?” The publication’s clear bias agenda was both refreshing and disheartening.

As an American, I appreciated the nationalism and support for the troops. As a citizen of 2011 America, I am frustrated by the ignorance of “expert” and media personnel, like Pentagon correspondent Lloyd H. Norman, who declared, “The crushing glacial weight of U.S. military power, I am confident, will bring the Viet Cong to defeat,” (1).  Further, as an African American, I am disappointed that there were no remarks about the Civil Rights Movement (which was still raging at the time). It seemed as if, this trying time in America did not exist to the media or if the media was working harder to hide/ cover up the disease of hatred that plagued our nation instead of honestly reporting the grotesque events that happened in segregated America.

What continued to strike me about the Media’s pursuance of the Vietnam War was the reasoning behind constantly addressing the war throughout the article. Halfway through the magazine, a subheading stated, “Because Americans find it hard to be dispassionate about Vietnam, Newsweek recently sought an analysis of the current state of the war from four eminent foreightners,” (29). This statement shows that the constant reporting of the Vietnam War was not about seeking and reporting the truth and the other tenants of journalism. Instead Newsweek’s focus on the war was rather a means to appease audiences, gain popularity, and maintain that readership. This sort of “journalism” wouldn’t survive in today’s media, for the standards are much more reliant on code of ethics and reporting the whole truth.

ADVERTISING

The advertising in January 1^st’s issue of Newsweek was also shocking because of both content and form. Never have I seen such eclectic advertising and well thought out advertising, than in this issue of Newsweek. The first ad that struck me was the advertising council’s advertisement calling people to action in order to help individuals who are mentally retarded. The argument for supporting The President’s Committee on Mental Retardation was that providing lifetime care for a person with a mental disability cost taxpayers more money -- $150,000 more – to help educate that person, because 85 percent of mentally retarded men and women have the ability to become functional beings in society. The advertisement seemed very New Deal in its method. The impetus for the advertisement was the economic downturn brought by the Vietnam war, like FAP advertisements used the Great Depression as a facilitator for advertising during the New Deal Era. The tagline “advertising contributed for the public good” even seemed reminiscent of Roosevelt’s vision to help people have a more abundant life.

The advertisements further shocked me, because they were disguised as news articles. I often found myself reading “news stories” and realized half way through that the “news story” in question was in fact an advertisement in disguise. Even advertisements that were clearly not a part of Newsweek’s journalistic content took on the format of a front page news article. This is ridiculous to me, for we are taught in the Schieffer School that any advertisement that resemble news content, or could easily be confused as such, is unethical because it misleads the targeted audience. This stark contrast really fascinated me and made me wonder when the standard of clearly distinguishing advertisements from news content came to be in the media.

HOLIDAY REFERENCES

Although this issue of Newsweek came out on New Year’s Day and less than a week after Christmas, there were very few references to these holidays present throughout the magazine. This was really surprising, because now everything is coupled with a holiday or seasonal special. Because of their rarity, the few religious references really caught my eye. The first reference was in relation to the Vietnam War and described how America’s Christmas a part of the war was celebrated by a 24-hour armistice used to honor Jesus. I don’t know how common this is; however, this flabbergasted me. It’s amazing how powerful religion is. It can stop the most violent of wars as well as start them.

The only other reference to the holiday season was the National Safety Council’s annual prediction of automobile accidents. According to the council, New Year’s weekend as well as Christmas’ weekend will be accompanied by 1,000 deaths and 55,000 serious injuries to Americans by automobile accidents (40). The fact that this was the only mention of Christmas seemed almost disheartening to the holiday spirit. Newsweek virtually said, “Merry Christmas. 1,000 more people died!” I was highly expecting information about different celebrations and festivities, so the lack of holiday cheer was disappointing.

Conversation #1

When I walked into the Brown Lupton University Union, I did not know what to expect. The only contact that I had previously had with Adel Abdullah Aldosari, my conversation partner, was e-mail and listening to his voicemail messages. Mistakes with grammar, syntax and word choice were splattered throughout his emails like bugs on a windshield, and phonetic errors marched to the frailness of his voice in the detailed message he gave me. His voice was not only frail but soft. These factors coupled with the fact that he was an ESL student made me weary of my conversation experience. I expected to enjoy the conversation, but I thought the speech barrier could make it difficult. I was afraid that the service-learning would be very one sided and that I would not really gain as much from the conversation as I hoped.
My fear was absolved within the first couple of seconds of meeting Adel. As soon as I met him, he stood quickly and extended his hand. Mine met his, and a firm handshake was born. He greeted me with a simple introduction, yet he spoke with much more confidence in person than on the phone. The conversation began smoothly.
After discovering that I was a journalism major, Adel had a slew of questions about the media and my opinions on free speech. We discussed lots of different facets of media and how, in America, the media serves as a tool to help us continually define, clarify, and strengthen our rights. I think what fascinated him about the media in America was that it governed itself and functioned independently from government control. He was so used to the media his hometown of Medina, Saudi Arabia, where the government dictates every message released by news organizations and heard by. Saudi Arabia’s bar on free speech and free press really puts members of that nation and nations with similar philosophies on speech at a major disadvantage, he said. they are disadvantaged is that they don’t know the truth. They only know Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud’s truth or the next kings truth. Further, their perceptions of reality is warped because people aren’t able to make opinions from analyzing a wealth of unbiased information like in America. Saudi Arabian citizens instead are only fed one source that only produces nationalist propaganda for content.
The conversation bounced like a pinball from topic to topic. It started out being about the media, then it drifted towards the study of language, then to pros and cons of life in America, and the topics kept surging. It finally concluded with more information about Adel. Adel is 31 and lives with his wife, daughter Yara (5), and son Abdullah (2). He is currently working towards his masters in Linguistics at TCU. He came to the United States with a bachelors in Arabic Language. He then pursued a masters degree in business marketing when he first arrived in New York. This degree, however, is obsolete because he wishes to become a teacher in Saudi Arabia. There, he would need a PHD, a masters degree, and a BA all on the same track to teach at a university. This is why he “backtracked” through his education.
I really appreciated my hour with Adel. His questions about the media forced me to analyze my own feelings and perceptions about the media. Also, his view on language and family truly touched me. I hope to delve deeper into these two topics for our next discussion.