Most recent public comments by Bruce Williams https://nowcomment.com/users/1333 https://nowcomment.com/documents/70146?scroll_to=666371 https://nowcomment.com/documents/70146?scroll_to=666371 I think this is a pretty lame point, what the hell does he mean and why on earth do we have to read this!!! SAD!!! Tue, 31 Jan 2017 11:06:18 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/10315?scroll_to=84228 https://nowcomment.com/documents/10315?scroll_to=84228 Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:41:00 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8795?scroll_to=66940 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8795?scroll_to=66940 Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:41:00 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8618?scroll_to=66917 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8618?scroll_to=66917 Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:41:00 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8618?scroll_to=66877 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8618?scroll_to=66877 Good point. Figuring out what is accurate or "true-to-life" is complicated. I agree with what I think is your point that we make a mistake when we seek simple definition of one-to-one connections between a character on a show and a person in "real life." Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:41:00 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8618?scroll_to=66876 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8618?scroll_to=66876 The phrase "clean up" sections of a city is interesting. We all use it and it's a common phrase in media and public discourse, but what does this mean to you? Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:41:00 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8670?scroll_to=63739 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8670?scroll_to=63739 This guy takes video games way too seriously. Isn't this a waste of brain cells? Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:41:00 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8618?scroll_to=63436 https://nowcomment.com/documents/8618?scroll_to=63436 Is David Simon really a journalist? Are those the standards we should use? Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:07:21 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3278?scroll_to=8330 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3278?scroll_to=8330 This is a great comment. You pose what I believe is the fundamental problem we face right now, how to understand and evaluate the different platforms though which information comes to us today. Really good comments this week Aubrey Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:54 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3278?scroll_to=8329 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3278?scroll_to=8329 Interesting point which is, I hope you realize, even more pessimistic than Hedges, who in the end really believes in the possibility of participatory democracy. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:54 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3135?scroll_to=7206 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3135?scroll_to=7206 I think his point is not fighting fire with fire, but that by focusing on media along we are fighting fire with a tiny squirt gun. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3135?scroll_to=7205 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3135?scroll_to=7205 Interesting comment. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3125?scroll_to=7182 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3125?scroll_to=7182 This is a great point. I suspect that the Obama re-election campaign will discover just how significant a difference this may be. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3125?scroll_to=7181 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3125?scroll_to=7181 Fair question. He seems much stronger on presenting problems than offering solutions. But that in no way negates the serious nature of the problems he outlines. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3125?scroll_to=7177 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3125?scroll_to=7177 Interesting question. One issue, perhaps, is that political blogs often have a complex mix of opinion and "facts" often drawn from more mainstream sources. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3120?scroll_to=7150 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3120?scroll_to=7150 Again a good question. I agree that there needs to be some sort of middle ground (which I believe is what Morozov is also advocating) as long as the middle ground isn't just defined as both sides being equally right and wrong. There is no reason to assume that truth must lie in the middle. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3120?scroll_to=7149 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3120?scroll_to=7149 Good question. Isn't the question best understood, however, as being not about communications technologies, but rather about the nature of American democracy itself? Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3083?scroll_to=7053 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3083?scroll_to=7053 This is a good question. We don't mean anything like government regulation or something that heavy-handed. Rather, we mean more of a debate over the responsibilities of the many new sources of political information. Indeed, professional journalism is not policed by government (clearly unconstitutional). Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3083?scroll_to=7052 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3083?scroll_to=7052 A lot depends, I think, on how typical this show was. My sense is that there has always been (maybe more lately, but that's an empirical issue) a kind of uneasy mix in the interview segment between serious ideas and the usual celebrity flogging of their latest project. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3081?scroll_to=7047 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3081?scroll_to=7047 This is a nice question. My own take is that your argument should be part of a broader debate on just how to hold accountable any number of new sources of political information. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3081?scroll_to=7046 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3081?scroll_to=7046 Nice question. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:53 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3077?scroll_to=7040 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3077?scroll_to=7040 Another really great question! You do a fine job of carefully laying out the agreements and disagreements between the two articles. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3077?scroll_to=7039 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3077?scroll_to=7039 This is a really great question. It addresses the need to examine the connection between what we find in the media and what happens in the world of politics and the exercise of power. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3001?scroll_to=6379 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3001?scroll_to=6379 Great example of what we were getting at. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3001?scroll_to=6377 https://nowcomment.com/documents/3001?scroll_to=6377 You get at a key implication of Prior's argument: the differential ways media change affects different citizens and the implications for democracy. This is one of the main issue I hope we can talk about in class. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2985?scroll_to=6326 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2985?scroll_to=6326 Actually, most of the readings argue that there is no inevitable improvement in democratic practices as one media regime follows another. E.G.: participation, at least when it comes to voting, was much higher in late 19th century. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2985?scroll_to=6325 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2985?scroll_to=6325 I'm not sure you fully understand the concept of the floating voter. At any rate, I'm not sure I understand why you think any particular new media technology would affect the increasing number of floating voters. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2985?scroll_to=6324 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2985?scroll_to=6324 This is an intriguing comment. I'd like to hear more about it. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2983?scroll_to=6322 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2983?scroll_to=6322 This is connected, it seems to me, to your previous comment and requires that we know more about the impact that various media types have on political engagement. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2983?scroll_to=6321 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2983?scroll_to=6321 But can't media BOTH entertain and encourage participation? Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2980?scroll_to=6257 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2980?scroll_to=6257 But the flip side is that there are also more citizens who have very little or no political information, but who still vote (hence the increase in "floating voters." Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2980?scroll_to=6256 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2980?scroll_to=6256 This is a really goo question that I hope we have time to discuss in class. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2980?scroll_to=6255 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2980?scroll_to=6255 This is an important question. From my perspective, it is (and has always been)impossible to create a truly objective picture of reality. But the question of the connection between that perspective and the media environment in which we live is far from setled. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2996?scroll_to=6246 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2996?scroll_to=6246 Your specific questions on the readings are interesting. However, in this question it seems as if you've lost the point that Prior thinks that entertainment seekers no longer get news as a by-product because of the greater "efficiency" of the media environment today. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2997?scroll_to=6245 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2997?scroll_to=6245 You use a lot of verbiage here, but it's not clear that you fully understand the concept of hyperreality. I suspect you're not the only one, perhaps we should go over it in class. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2997?scroll_to=6244 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2997?scroll_to=6244 How could they tune out every time something is mentioned that they're not interested in? Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2853?scroll_to=5997 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2853?scroll_to=5997 Isn't the problem that there are so many blogs, social networking sites, etc. that it would be hard to generalize? But an interesting challenge. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2854?scroll_to=5995 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2854?scroll_to=5995 Good question. The difference between correlation and causation is one that has bedeviled much media research. Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2854?scroll_to=5992 https://nowcomment.com/documents/2854?scroll_to=5992 If I understand your question, aren't there many different models of capitalistic systems? Scandinavian sates, for example, which lean towards social democracy? Tue, 02 Aug 2016 00:40:52 -0400