Sept.+13


 * Summary of class discussion**


 * Comments:**

====With the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center this past weekend, the story about the pastor who wanted to burn the Koran was all over the headlines. From all the articles I read this weekend about it, I think we are a country based on trends. If one person (or news station, in our case) begins to cover the pastor’s story, everyone has to. So when it was announced that the pastor would no longer burn the sacred Muslim text on Sunday, I thought the controversy would die down by the next day. I was struck with awe that we could base our entire class’s discussion off one man’s actions. It sparked quite an array of opinions in the class. The way everyone was able to express their feelings as to how they felt towards the news coverage was eye opening. As far as the uproar from this story this weekend, I believe a news story is only as popular as newspapers and websites make them out to be. The more emphasis placed on them, the more important they seem to the public. If the pastor had just been left alone to burn (or not burn) the Koran without the involvement of the media, this entire hubbub could have been minimized. When we talked about television stations and how they generate their ratings, I completely agree that news stations should not report on topics just to get the better ratings. It lowers the standards of relevant news. Just because a topic is trendy or stylish, does not mean they are as significant as people believe.==== -Andrea Blanco


 * I thought today's class was very insightful on the news and how annoying it can be. Is it or is it not the MEDIAS job to provide us with the news? No matter how outrageous the story of //the burning of qurans// was, overall lit was important enough to make the news. We were all intrigued in how interesting the story was. The Pastor from Florida obviously was trying to get a point across regarding 9-11, but went about it all in the wrong way.**
 * When watching the video segment today in class, many were talking about how the media was covering stories and how they need to do a better job censoring. But what if CNN or FOX News never aired the story in the first place because they were worried it would be considered a publicity stunt? Then Americans would be outraged by being ill informed (news wise). I don't understand those who say, "It was a mistake to air the story, execs should have done a better job censoring". In which ways was it a mistake to air the story though? The media was doing their job by reporting it. In my opinion since the story flopped they were trying to cover there asses from being put under fire.**


 * - Madi Stratton**

I do not believe we are understanding the extent of the situation in the News story. The "Twitter" was out there. He had announced there would be a burning of Qur'an's, and the inforamtion was officially out around the globe. Riots had already begun in other countries before the American Gate Keeper's had begun there news coverage. The reason there were riots is a matter of information which the majority of us are completetly unaware of. The Qur'an is not just the secred text of the Muslim faith. As they understand it to be, it is a form of God himself. the words within, to them anyways, are an entity of Alah, so when they see someone online saying they are going to burn the Qur'an because of something a few people who they do not believe to be part of their faith, this is the message they see. "We, in America want to burn your God, and desicrate his very words." They were not the only ones to become frustrated either.
 * The act this man who claims to be a pastor wanted to carry out breeds hate. It comes from a motive of fear and anger. This is not a correct representation of Jesus Christ. Therefore, this man was upsetting Christians as well.**
 * Around America, there were counter efforts to bring peace to the situation. Right here in Reno, Tommy Bond, a member of Summit Christian Church, got many Christians together and took flowers to the mosques in town to deliver a message of peace. The Media did a poor job of covering the whole story, not just by hardly showing these efforts, but they also failed to show the real story at hand.**
 * The real story is that this man who got so much news coverage was not the only person who had decided they were going to do this. From my understanding, there were rumors of many people around the country who were planning to do these Qur'an burnings. We didn't hear about this. Instead, we got a guy who was hardly educated, publicly and in his own religious beliefs, who invaded tv screens across the country, only to be muffled out and told what was wrong. Regardless what the opinion of the media was, they gave up part of the trust given to their coverage. This was an example of media lacking the coverage of truth: like an infant hiding the candy behind his back while shaking his head, no.**
 * Brady Iubelt**

Class yesterday was very interesting. It really got you thinking a little deeper about the news and media out there. In my personal opinion the discussion about the burning of the koran went on far too long. I will admit that interesting points were made during the discussion though. Is it the medias job to strictly give us the news no matter what the consequences? Or do they have the right and the duty to shield the public from certain information. I feel like i can play both sides of the fence. When it is something as insignificant as a nobody priest or minister "tweeting" that he is going to burn the koran on 9/11 then i personally don't think its necessary to share it. He only had 50 or so followers and most likely wanted attention for tweeting such a thing. Of course it is super offensive to a lot of people, so why bring so much media to it? How does this mans "tweet" affect me and my life? The answer to that is it doesn't. It does however effect my life when the news puts tons of attention on it. The reason is this, because the news gave him so much attention, way more people then necessary heard about this "tweet." Therefore putting our country in danger of attack. When you piss people off bad things could happen and most likely will, especially when it comes to their religion. Although people in other countries apparently new about this tweet before the news brought the story out, doesn't mean that our whole country needs to hear about it. The only thing that came from this story is the fact that it pissed people it off and fired people up, including the man who put out the "tweet."All in all we as Americans have a right to know about what is going on in our country. But, we only need to know about the important things that are going to effect our lives. The news has gotten caught up in making ratings and selling drama.

This a perfect example of how we as journalists sort through the news. Covering the Koran burning story is very helpful in learning how to pick out news stories and use them for what they are. As we go on with our journalism careers we will be faced with this time and time again. Should we cover this story or not. Is it news? It is very hard to decipher if something is really news worthy but on the other hand is it our jobs to keep it from blowing up as did the Koran burning story. To me it is a grey area. We should never leave anything out because it is our job to provide the whole truth. It does not come down to how much you do not agree with the news story; it is our jobs to put the information out there for the general public and let them decide if it is absurd or meaningful. Listening to a few people saying this was a waste of class brings me to believe that they did not see the big picture. If you were faced with this at you newspaper or news company you are working for how would you cover it? Would it be on the last page or the front cover? A lawyer in Australia proved his point by smoking both the Bible and Koran.. FInd news story here [|Lawyer smokes Bible and Koran]

Last class was very interesting and got me thinking if I want to be shielded from the news and media or if that should be my decision to make on what I watch and listen to. I don't think the media shouldn’t choose what they should show and what they should not. They should report the news just so everyone can know what’s going on. I think it should be our choice to decide if we care enough to stay tuned and see what's going on with certain things. I feel that the media is a great thing for us. I understand that they can be biased, but it's our responsibility to dig deeper and get more facts then. We can't have everything handed to us on a silver platter, if we have the desire to know more, then we can search ourselves.

-Marissa Skinner