Jarvis vs. Sullivan

I feel that it is relatively difficult to compare and contrast the opinions of Jeff Jarvis and Andrew Sullivan. Jarvis’ article contains virtually no opinions, whereas Sullivan’s article is almost completely opinionated. I believe that at the root of it all, both Jarvis and Sullivan share some similar opinions, but they also have some differences.

Jarvis and Sullivan are similar in that they both realize the fact that the Internet seems to be taking over the newspaper industry. However, Sullivan seems to see this fact in a positive light while Jarvis only cites the negative aspects. Jarvis claims that the many forms of news that the Internet provides ultimately distorts the original story. Sullivan sees the Internet as a gateway for searching for and extracting information, mainly through the form of blogging.

I feel that both authors have very good points, but I think I agree more with Sullivan. I feel that the Internet provides us with many opportunities, and we should take advantage of what we have. I have never been a big on reading the newspaper rather, I have always used the Internet for many things. This is most likely the reason why I feel the way I do.

"The Press Sphere"

Jeff Jarvis describes today’s news in his model of the “Press Sphere.” This model is characterized by many different factors that in the end seemingly distort the original news story. Whereas the old method of obtaining news by print was very direct and the reader was obtaining the news through only one filter, which was the press. Today, there seem to be many different issues that cause the news story that the person hears to be less reputable. Online, there is a system of links that cause the reader to in turn become the editor and the synthesizer of the information. The news story also usually has to pass through the government, companies, witnesses, and aspects of such nature before reaching the average person. I find it interesting when Jarvis claims:

“Stories and topics become molecules that attract atoms: reporters, editors, witnesses, archives, commenters, and so on, all adding different elements to a greater understanding. Who brings that together? It’s not always the reporter or editor anymore. It can just as easily be the reader(s) now.”

I actually was very interested in what Jarvis was saying in this article. His points seem to make sense, and it is interesting to think about whether the internet is actually causing more harm than good. I personally believe that the internet is helping more than it is hurting, but reading this article has definitely tempted me to sway my opinions. I admit that whenever I am reading something that uses links, I tend to ignore them even if they may hold great importance. I guess this is just my laziness at work. I had never thought about the importance of these small pieces of information until I read this article.

New York Times Observations

Recently I have been reading stories in the New York Times. So far, I have mostly just been sticking to the stories on front homepage, but I hope to venture further in depth throughout the newspaper. Most of the stories that I have been reading are mostly political, such as what is going on overseas, healthcare, and vaccinations for the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus. As I said before, I have been reading these stories because they are the first stories that I see when I enter the website. It is not that they really catch my interest, but they are obviously important, so I read them.

As I keep reading the New York Times, I hope to get into more of a variety of stories. I hope to use the sub-categories to find things that interest me more. Typical categories that I may eventually search through would be science, technology, music, and sports. At the same time, I hope to still read about political issues that are important in our world, because I realize that they are important but they do not catch my interest.

I have not been reading the New York Times quite long enough to say that my attitudes or views have changed, but I feel that if I can make it a habit of staying updated, I will gain more intelligence and will be able to relate more clearly with other people. It will allow me to interact with people in a way where we can both talk about something that we have heard, and be able to discuss it thoroughly.

Coming to Terms with My Blogs

The two blogs that I chose to follow are Andrew Sullivan’s “Daily Dish” and “Xtreme Music” (various authors). I will be honest, I only chose the Daily Dish because I had to choose a blog off of the list. I chose the Daily Dish because we read some of his stuff earlier in the semester, and it seemed interesting, so this is why I chose to read more of his posts. I chose Xtreme Music because I am very interested in music, and I would like to find a new way of obtaining information about music.

When it comes to the Daily Dish, the author is obviously Andrew Sullivan. His audience would be the general public, and he provides his opinions and responses to current events. I believe that the purpose of his blog is to inform the public of what is going on, while offering Sullivan’s take on the issues themselves. I think that the reason that Sullivan’s blog is so successful because his posts are not too long and they are not too short, so the reader’s interest is captured. He is also very intelligent and relays his thoughts very well, which also makes him have more readers.

When it comes to Xtreme Music, there are many different authors. The audience, again, is obviously the general public because anyone can read it. However, it most likely favors people who are into rock music and enjoy following professional musicians. The purpose of the blog is to inform people news about musicians and what is going on in their musical careers. There do not seem to be any special methods used to gain viewers. It just comes down to if someone likes music, they may like this blog. If someone does not like music, they may not like this blog.

The Blogs I Will Follow

I will follow the following Blogs:

The Daily Dish
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/
I chose this one because we read an article from Andrew Sullivan, and it was interesting, so I chose the Daily Dish so I could read more of his material.

Xtreme Music
http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/xtreme-music-rock-music-news
I chose this one because I am really interested in music, particularly rock, so I would like to learn a new way of obtaining information about it.

Are We All the Same?

After reading through my fellow classmates’ blogs about their news habits, I have come to the conclusion that most of us do not read up and familiarize with the news as much as we would like. First of all, it seems to nearly be unanimous that the use of the newspaper is being phased out of our choices as a method of obtaining news. The newspaper is just too time-consuming of a process for us to handle because we have been spoiled by the luxury of the internet. There are still a few people, however, that enjoy sitting and reading the paper on a regular basis. It seems as if the majority of my peers obtain most of their news from a combination of word-of-mouth and the use of the internet. Most of us hear about different situations from other people, and then later will go to the internet to get the rest of the story. Few of us listen to the radio or watch television for news on a regular basis, but there are still some that appreciate this way of being informed.

Someone may then say that based on the personal accounts of my peers and I about the way we obtain news is proof of decrease in civic literacy. It may seem to be true, but I think differently. I just think that we are at a certain point in our lives where we have too many things going on to concentrate on the news. We are around friends, we have studying for classes, as well as other responsibilities of living without parents, etc. I believe that this is why many of us wish that we were more up-to-date with the news, but we still do not search very frantically for it.

I am sure that Hedges and Carr would look at all of this negatively like they always do. Sullivan would probably be sympathetic and understanding toward our situation.

Obtaining News

Normally, I am not particularly outgoing when it comes to obtaining news. I don’t really find news, news finds me. There are a variety of ways that news will find me. I could come across it while surfing the web, listening to the radio, watching tv, or through other people.

When it comes to which of these is most prominent, I would probably say that through surfing the web is the way that I obtain most of my news. I do not usually directly go to a news website to learn about the news. When I come across something interesting whether through yahoo, facebook, youtube, or whatever, I may search to get more details. I also learn a lot of my news from other people. When someone tells me something that happened, I may either get the rest of the story from that person or someone else, or I may go use the internet to get the rest of the story. Considering that I do not watch very much tv at all, that is a very slim piece of the pie chart. Now that I am in college and I do not have normal access to a car, I do not listen to the radio much anymore either. When I lived at home, I would listen to the radio nearly every time I would be in the car. That was one way that I heard about different things going on. So I would say that the majority of my news is from either the internet or through other people.

I will admit that I should look into the news more often. It is definitely beneficial to be in touch with the rest of the world, and that is something that I am generally left out of. Hopefully, through the course of the second half of this semester, I will be able to get into the habit of finding news myself, rather than having news find me.

Is the Internet Good, Bad, or Both?---Final Draft

Here is the final draft of my paper.


http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ATMvchvxrOF0ZGQ2dGs0YzVfMWZ3cWR0ZmQ1&hl=en