Comments on: What Are You Missing: November 7-14, 2009

By: Jeffrey Jones

Jeffrey Jones — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:49:58 +0000

In conversations of late, I have found myself referring more to this segment where he takes on the fear-mongering of Hannity and predetermined narrative of Fox than I have the fact checking one. As what amounts to a media watchdog “group,” TDS is well-known for its fact checking. What I have become increasingly impressed by is the ways in which it goes about trying to tackle the cable news nets’ “affectivity” (something I’m beginning to write about). Colbert, of course, has captured that from his particular parodic undertaking, but I like how Stewart goes about it as well. I can try to put it into words, but ain’t nothing like hanging a teddy bear to make the point perfectly (and humorously).

By: Lindsay H. Garrison

Lindsay H. Garrison — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:28:25 +0000

Nice round up, Jonathan! Glad to see you included Jason’s post about the Middlebury job. Definitely interesting to see him write about the process. One thing I might add is Chris Becker’s new blog for undergrad TV majors: http://newsfortvmajors.blogspot.com/ Great to share with students.

By: Kyra Glass

Kyra Glass — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:47:58 +0000

I like the attempt, however minor, in Timothy Burke’s work to redeem power point. I still maintain it can be fantastic for teaching in media especially. I have seen many people it effectively to embed clips for viewing. I think power point could be particularly useful when discussing any aesthetic topic, comparing changes in animation, the visual look of a character over the length of a franchise, or even a detailed discussion of how the set of a program like All In the Family affected the way the show functioned. When dealing with visual media a dislike of powerpoint seems odd. Even teaching a topic that is not as related to aesthetics, which I am now, I find myself frequently making old-fashioned transparencies, because I do not have access to a projector for a computer, to make group project questions or in class worksheets, visible for students to refer to during our discussion. When discussing writing style or outline forms, it saves tons of time that would be wasted writing sentences on the board. Whenever I want to reinforce lecture/discussion with activities I wish I had power point. No technology’s reputation should be based on its worst use, as appears to be the case in much of the rhetoric surrounding power point and teaching.