Does society need weed?

Breaking social norms may be the only way to combat social norms. Many by now have heard of the Alaskan news anchor who suddenly quit her job, live on air using the F bomb. If you haven’t, take a look below.

The reporter later shares the reason why she quit. She’s wondering how long we’ll let social norms control what we think about weed. We have let the below idea control the way in which we see and stigmatize weed. However, many experts have expressed this will be a victory for state rights.

The reporter says quitting the way she did forced members to pay attention to the issue. As the bill to legalize was losing ground.

We will in the next few months really learn about the consequences of these actions.

ALS?

I'm sure over the last few weeks we've all seen the ALS Ice Bucket challenge, mostly because the story has become the latest infotainment news. I'm covering this story because it caused great deal of diverting from the status quo. Social norms became under attack as both the politically right and left attacked the practice. Generally we like hearing about health pieces and we love infotainment. It along with other forms of soft news “[makes up] half of the print and broadcast news.” (Garber p. 116) Yet, the claws came a blazing.  Right Wisconsin fired a shot right to the heart of the fundraiser. 

What bothers me most about the Ice Bucket Challenge is the "look at me" aspect of the entire phenomena. In an age when every single banal and nauseating detail of everyone's lives is now the subject of a Tweet or Facebook post - it should not surprise me that philanthropy has found a way to capitalize on this age of internet narcissism.

But I'm left wondering if there is nothing left sacred? Can we no longer expect charity to be private matter? In the Book of Matthew Chapter 6, Jesus warns:

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven...But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

 - Right Wisconsin

It would seem the practice of the Ice Bucket challenge had confronted another social norm. However, dissent on the left came from another angle. One of likely the most interesting articles I’ve ever read dissenting to the Ice Bucket challenged talked more about its timing. 

I don’t have a problem with funding for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), popularly known as Lou Gehrigs’s disease. It is terrible and more research should be done to eradicate it and increase the quality of life for those who have it. However, it ain’t going nowhere. It’s not about to bring the United States down to its proverbial knees. Even more, rates are higher in Caucasian populations striking mostly middle-aged men. So statistically speaking, it is a rare old white man’s disease.

All the while, we have some urgent states of domestic and global affairs. People are talking about Ferguson, and the multiple victims of police brutality: Michael Brown, Ferguson, Eric Garner, John Crawford III, Ezell Ford, and Donte Parker. People are talking about Israel and Palestine, as Israel continues to pummel Gaza. People are talking about mental illness and suicide, at the news of my childhood favorite, Robin Williams. Earlier this summer, people were talking about the epic child refugee crisis at the U.S – Mexico border. Despite the fact that the news is heavy on the heart, we are having some critical conversations.

-Tea & Breakfast 

The author was expressing discontent with how easily infotainment can overtake hard news.The blogger is confronting another prevalent social norm, avoidance of race issue.   It doesn’t seem these voices went unheard. Many news stories shifted the conversation to the effeteness of disease treatment. This sparked an even bigger conversation about the high cost of administrative budget. 

Hands up, Don't -

The recent news on the issue of race relations requires examination. We can examine the issues of Ferguson, Missouri. It would seem the idea of crisis has the ability to break the normative structure of society. Despite the ongoing blatant racism occurring within our society, the media went dark on such issues since the death of Travon Martian. However, the issue of Ferguson, Missouri went further than any event before. Even when we talk about the issue of previous riots we don’t get the blockade and arrest of media personalities.

Coverage of the crisis played out almost exactly like an example of text book crisis reporting. A few hours after the initial shooting The New York Times had already framed the anger and disaster on the streets. Griefand Protests Follow Shooting of a Teenager. Such is very consistent with the description provided by Graber, “Reporters, officials, and onlookers rush to the scene. Radio and Television stations interrupt regularly scheduled programs with uncoordinated bulletins announcing the extraordinary event.” (Mass Media and American Politics, 2014, p. 127)

A little under two days after the event Huffington, Black Voices pushed a story to correct information earlier given by the media. StarkRacial Disparities In Ferguson, Missouri, The Town Where Michael Brown Was Shot. This logically followed the second stage of crisis reporting in which, “the media tries to connect past errors and place things into prospective.” (Graber, p.129) However, such would soon shake and break the chain of crisis reporting. Many refused to connect the issue happening in Ferguson, Missouri with “larger, long-range prospective” (Graber, p.130)

Returning from vacation, Bill O’Reilly returned from vacation upset about the way in which the media was reporting issues.

 O’Rilly failed to talk about issues that had already been discovered to this point, but failed to link the issue to the shooting Walmart death in Ohio (John Crawford), the murder of Jordan Davis over loud music, and the shooting death of Travon Martin. All of these murders involved black men being murdered. As Mr. O’Reilly points out the liberal media attempts to connect the dots, but he has problems about that.

 Like all crisis coverage this coverage has consequences. As O’Reilly mentions several people migrated to Ferguson, Missouri after the shooting was reported on television. Furthermore, the said people staring rioting and looting. There is one event in this that could have never been predicted.

The arresting for reporters and the establishment of news zones soon shifted the conversation. Soon the story focused on the arrest of reports, leaving the reason of their arrest behind. 

Shutting down the Conversation

This week I actually turn to our local paper The KSU Sentinel. I highlight them not only because I will likely attempt to write an opinion of my own – for the sentinel- , but also because the story has received international – people from Canada and United Kingdom have commented on the articles – attention. I will analyze this week The Problem with the Men’s Right Movement , published September 16th and article which appeared in the opinion section.

 The article started of quoting from a conference in Michigan. Ms. Howell comments on the bad advertising and marketing of KSU Mens as a non-feminist group. More over social norms in our society create an interesting rule. In the media we see a tendency to protect social norms by attacking ideas and vies we oppose. Phrasing them as the extreme compared to normative view. This very idea in fact confronts the liberal bias we’ve been told exist, as state in the purpose of this blog the media conforms to social norms because it needs the public and the fears the government. Ms. Howell preforms the classic method of avoidance. She states the problems surrounding KSU Mens, but provides no real solutions for solving the problems. While we understand the problems surrounded with this normative societal approach to different things.

However, this approach also has consequences. This only seeks to provoke a started reaction placing KSU Mens and Ms. Howell as polarized opposites. This is one time where “He Said, She Said” journalism would have been helpful. Such would have provided Ms. Howell a position for her critics, which aren’t in anyway off point. However, she failed to paint the picture that patriarchy actually harms men, not because it restricts, but because it promotes a view of dominance that doesn’t actually exist. While speaking out against the shock value of KSU Mens advertising, this article has done nothing more than add to the shock value.

Defining A Purpose

It seems almost important no imperative for me to explain exactly what I plan to do. I’ve stated my goal, but what exactly does, “observing when the media has upheld or broken normative social rules and the consequences that exist” Really mean? Garber informs us that “societies use, legal normative, structural, and economic mean to control news media within their countries… the press generally heeds [these rules] because it craves public approval and fears government or private sector retaliation” (p. 22). What are the normative rules of our society? Even more important what are the consequences for upholding or breaking these rules? Do these rules and consequences protect or harm the gatekeeping duty of the media? I will seek to provide the answers to these riveting questions over the course of this semester.