Three very different stories illustrate the common -- and deepening -- fault line that news, sports, entertainment media and higher education are trying desperately to straddle. Every word, every video clip, every invited speaker, every programming decision is viewed through the hyper-partisan lens of pro-Trump and anti-Trump activists. On this week's episode of Views of the News we discuss Sean Spicer, Chelsea Manning and ESPN's Jemele Hill. Plus a look at the new Ken Burns documentary on the Vietnam War.
Inviting Spicer to the Emmys
“Why did the Emmys help Sean Spicer rebrand?” Brian Stelter, CNN, Sept. 18. 2017.
“Sean Spicer’s yucky cameo at the Emmys,” Aaron Blake, Washington Post, Sept. 18, 2017
“Conway on Spicer’s Emmy Cameo: He Showed the ‘Introspection and Good Humor’ Hollywood Lacks,” Fox New Insider, Sept. 18, 2017.
Disinviting Manning to Harvard
“The uncompromising debate at the heart of the Harvard-Chelsea Manning controversy,” Andrew deGrandpre, Washington Post, Sept. 16, 2017.
“Questions of Prestige and Promise As Harvard Blocks Manning,” Max Larkin, WBUR, Sept. 16, 2017.
“Harvard’s Shame,” Fred Kaplan, Slate, Sept. 15, 2017.
“A university for smart people behaves stupidly,” Michael McGough, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 15, 2017.
Jemele Hill and the Role of Opinion in Sports Journalism
“’Stick to sports’ or stick to reality? Jemele Hill controversy highlights media issues,” Shannon Ryan, Chicago Tribune, Sept. 18, 2017.
“ESPN Flap Shows People Can’t Even Agree On What They’re Arguing Over In Trump Era,” Domenico Montanaro, NPR, Sept. 17, 2017.
“Angst grows at ESPN after new miscues,” John Ourand, Sports Business Journal, Sept. 18, 2017.
“Sports Media’s Trump Problem Is Bigger Than Jemele Hill,” James Warren, Vanity Fair, September 13, 2017.
Are Facebook and Google Doing Enough?
“Facebook Enables Advertisers to Reach ‘Jew Haters’,” Julia Angwin, Madeleine Varner and Ariana Tobin, ProPublica, Sept. 14, 2017.
“Big Tech’s Half-Hearted Response to Fake News and Election Hacking,” Cale Guthrie Weissman, Fast Company, Sept. 15, 2017.
“DC eyes tighter regulations on Facebook and Google as concern grows,” Ben Jacobs, The Guardian, Sept. 17, 2017.
“Should Facebook Ads Be Regulated Like TV Commercials?” Alyza Sebenius, The Atlantic, Sept. 14, 2017.
“Facebook Faces a New World as Officials Rein in the Wild Web,” Paul Mozur, Mark Scott and Mike Isaac, The New York Times, Sept. 17, 2017.
Tips for Debunking Fake News
“How to Fight ‘Fake News’ (Warning: It Isn’t Easy),” Niraj Chokshi, The New York Times, Sept. 18, 2017.
“Debunking: A Meta-Analysis of the Psychological Efficacy of Messages Countering Misinformation,” Man-pui Sally Chan, Christopher R. Jones, Kathleen Hall-Jamieson, Dolores Albarracin, Psychological Science, Sept. 12, 2017.
“Republican governors get into the ‘news’ business,” Bill Barrow, Associated Press, September 19, 2017.
Vietnam War Doc: Most Divisive Time Since Civil War
“Unburying the Vietnam War,” Alyssa Rosenberg, The Washington Post, Sept. 18, 2017.
“Ken Burns goes back to war: Vietnam documentary tells uneasy story from all sides,” Eric Althoff, The Washington Times, Sept. 12, 2017.
“The brilliant, infuriating, boring, hypnotic Ken Burns documentary The Vietnam War,” Todd VanDerWerff, Vox, Sept. 18, 2017.
“Burns’ Vietnam Documentary Promotes Misleading History,” Jeremy Kuzmarov, Huffpost, Sept. 18, 2017.
