Politifact.com, a fact-checking site run by the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly magazine, goes through statements by politicians and figures in the Presidential race to sift through what they say in order to find how much truth is there. It rates the amount of truth and truthiness is in each statement and grades it. The site is very well done and has a fun style that makes it very good all-around.
Factcheck.org is a very good at showing how truthful political statements and ads are, and their articles are extremely thorough in this aspect. They are also slightly faster than Politifact. However, Factcheck covers far fewer statements than Politifact, usually just going over ads made by the campaigns or affiliated groups, while Politifact goes over ads, statements, and attacks anyone who injects themselves into the debate. Expanding their range would help greatly.
The Congress Votes Database, run by the Washington Post, is exactly what it says: a database of votes made by the House of Representatives and Senate, and their reasoning for the votes and statements about the votes. It is an extremely valuable resource for researching the history of the legislators, but that's all it is - good for research. It doesn't really talk about ongoing events, and there is no information on the front page. A suggestion would be to take an issue on people minds today, like say the bailout, document what the politicians are saying about it, and put this information on the front page, so people know where they stand without having to sift through pages of votes.
Lastly, Project Vote Smart, is similar to the Congress Votes Database as it goes over decisions and votes made by politicians and stores them in a database. However, while the Congress database limits itself to only reporting on the national Congress, Project Vote Smart is much broader in scope, going over Congressmen, governors, state legislators and state office holders, and allows readers to find their representatives just by searching their zip code. It also goes over not just votes, but it also keeps track of public stances and speeches given by the figure. I still would like to see something on today's issues on the front page, but Vote Smart is still a very well done site.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Reminding the media to do its research
Knoll's Law of Media Accuracy - Everything you read in the newspapers is absolutely true except for that rare story of which you happen to have firsthand knowledge.
It's not a really closely guarded secret that the mainstream media just doesn't understand nerds. Since nerds and geek chic are one of those odd subcultures that lies just outside of the media's comfort zone, any attempts to report about them often seem like their reporting from bizarre overseas country, where they've just finished talking to the locals and more or less learned the customs. It's not really their fault, since no one in the mainstream culture really cares about it, and since the arrival of the internet, it's no problem at all, since there are now sites run by nerds for nerds about stories they understand. So while the mainstream media doesn't provide up-to-date accounts in the latest Star Wars news, it's all right, because there are at least 15 websites dutifully dedicated to stalking George Lucas's every move, run by people who actually understand what the words Alderaan and Sarlacc mean. (Note to the uninitiated: Wikipedia is your friend.)
But every now and then, someone in the mainstream media gets an adventurous feeling and decides to head into the depths of Nerditania to assess the landscape over there in a way that most people can understand. This usually comes as great amusement to the locals, who relish in watching others struggle to grasp their customs and learn the trms. Which brings us to the topic of this post, a sex column on MSNBC.com about sexually explicit anime and manga. Through the course of this column, he tries to explain the inner dealing and fetishes of "otaku" (a recent Japanese term for nerds that has somewhat gained acceptance in Japan and the US subcultures), and had almost did a good job of it. Almost, though comes into the fact that a number of oversights and misstatements which make it obvious to anypne who knows anything about anime that this reporters has little idea of what e's talking about, if any at all.
The main line that gets nerds laughing is this beauty:
Now, for the uninitiated, there might not seem to be any problem here. But any anime fan who reads that line is likely laughing themselves senseless right now, and here's why: Gurren Lagann is not, in any way, a "sexually-sugesstive and explicit" anime. Gurren Lagann (short for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) is a recent - and highly critically aclaimed - anime about giant robots fighting in a dystopian future. With no sex. Maybe a couple dirty jokes and fanservice, but nothing in the realm of the pornographic. Not only is this oversight by the reporter embarassing, but it is impossibly easy to correct - just look up the show on a anime news source like Anime News Network, or even look it up on Wikipedia. It's a simple mistake, but a massive one that kills any credibility with anime fans that the reporter has done any research at all.
While no other mistake is as damning as that one, other lesser missteps don't help the reporters cause. For Instance, he writes a good five paragraphs about adult anime and otaku and naghuty tentacles before mentioning that, oh yes, "...not all anime and manga is overtly sexual — a lot of it is meant for children". Two problems here: One, "A lot" should be replaced by "the vast majority of", as adult anime comprises, at best, 10% of the total anime library. And two, not all the rest are aimed at young children, but that doesn't make them porn. Seriously, you'd think 10 years of South Park and 4000 seasons of The Simpsons would teach people that just because its animated doesn't mean it's for kids.
The other point is that he never distinguishes between the clean anime and the adult ones, Possibly because the reporter never bothered to look into it. The actual accepted term for adult anime and manga - hentai - is mentioned all of once in the entire piece about adult anime. This can only be understandable if we assume that the reporter believed that the two terms were interchangeable, which is just not the case. Yes, Gurren Lagann and Legend of the Overfiend are both examples of anime, but in the same way that The Matrix and Debbie Does Dallas are both examples of film. They just happen to be in vastly different genres, and unless that is explained, then the audience won't understand or will get an inaccurate image of the subject - something journalism is supposed to prevent, not create.
Really, the bad part about this article is that so much could have been improved with simple research. Talk to the editor of Anime News Network or one of the sources you used to make sure that what you are writing is accurate. Maybe talk to a few industry insiders to get a better picture. Or really, if it comes down to it, always remember - Wikipedia is your friend.
It's not a really closely guarded secret that the mainstream media just doesn't understand nerds. Since nerds and geek chic are one of those odd subcultures that lies just outside of the media's comfort zone, any attempts to report about them often seem like their reporting from bizarre overseas country, where they've just finished talking to the locals and more or less learned the customs. It's not really their fault, since no one in the mainstream culture really cares about it, and since the arrival of the internet, it's no problem at all, since there are now sites run by nerds for nerds about stories they understand. So while the mainstream media doesn't provide up-to-date accounts in the latest Star Wars news, it's all right, because there are at least 15 websites dutifully dedicated to stalking George Lucas's every move, run by people who actually understand what the words Alderaan and Sarlacc mean. (Note to the uninitiated: Wikipedia is your friend.)
But every now and then, someone in the mainstream media gets an adventurous feeling and decides to head into the depths of Nerditania to assess the landscape over there in a way that most people can understand. This usually comes as great amusement to the locals, who relish in watching others struggle to grasp their customs and learn the trms. Which brings us to the topic of this post, a sex column on MSNBC.com about sexually explicit anime and manga. Through the course of this column, he tries to explain the inner dealing and fetishes of "otaku" (a recent Japanese term for nerds that has somewhat gained acceptance in Japan and the US subcultures), and had almost did a good job of it. Almost, though comes into the fact that a number of oversights and misstatements which make it obvious to anypne who knows anything about anime that this reporters has little idea of what e's talking about, if any at all.
The main line that gets nerds laughing is this beauty:
But sexually-suggestive and explicit anime like "Gurren Lagann" and "Legend of the Overfiend," is finding an eager audience of adult Americans who are drawn to the post-modern, almost post-human mash-up of playful, blurry morality found in the genre.
Now, for the uninitiated, there might not seem to be any problem here. But any anime fan who reads that line is likely laughing themselves senseless right now, and here's why: Gurren Lagann is not, in any way, a "sexually-sugesstive and explicit" anime. Gurren Lagann (short for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) is a recent - and highly critically aclaimed - anime about giant robots fighting in a dystopian future. With no sex. Maybe a couple dirty jokes and fanservice, but nothing in the realm of the pornographic. Not only is this oversight by the reporter embarassing, but it is impossibly easy to correct - just look up the show on a anime news source like Anime News Network, or even look it up on Wikipedia. It's a simple mistake, but a massive one that kills any credibility with anime fans that the reporter has done any research at all.
While no other mistake is as damning as that one, other lesser missteps don't help the reporters cause. For Instance, he writes a good five paragraphs about adult anime and otaku and naghuty tentacles before mentioning that, oh yes, "...not all anime and manga is overtly sexual — a lot of it is meant for children". Two problems here: One, "A lot" should be replaced by "the vast majority of", as adult anime comprises, at best, 10% of the total anime library. And two, not all the rest are aimed at young children, but that doesn't make them porn. Seriously, you'd think 10 years of South Park and 4000 seasons of The Simpsons would teach people that just because its animated doesn't mean it's for kids.
The other point is that he never distinguishes between the clean anime and the adult ones, Possibly because the reporter never bothered to look into it. The actual accepted term for adult anime and manga - hentai - is mentioned all of once in the entire piece about adult anime. This can only be understandable if we assume that the reporter believed that the two terms were interchangeable, which is just not the case. Yes, Gurren Lagann and Legend of the Overfiend are both examples of anime, but in the same way that The Matrix and Debbie Does Dallas are both examples of film. They just happen to be in vastly different genres, and unless that is explained, then the audience won't understand or will get an inaccurate image of the subject - something journalism is supposed to prevent, not create.
Really, the bad part about this article is that so much could have been improved with simple research. Talk to the editor of Anime News Network or one of the sources you used to make sure that what you are writing is accurate. Maybe talk to a few industry insiders to get a better picture. Or really, if it comes down to it, always remember - Wikipedia is your friend.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
A Trip Around Blogville
We have been asked to showcase three of our favorite blogs from the many corners of the Internet. Seeing as my interests are varied, I've chosen three very different blogs that appeal to me. Each one comes from a different subculture on the Internet.
Of course, some of the more well known blogs are political blogs, discussing the news of the day and how it affects you and those in power. There are thousands of these across the net, but one that does things very differently, and thus deservedly gets attention for it, is the political gossip blog Wonkette. Armed with a sharp wit and sarcastic style, Wonkette joyfully mocks the inner workings of today's politics, jokes about the major stories of theday, and revels in the occasional Washington sex scandal. The site takes little seriously, a rarity in the political realm, as can bee seen in their coverage of the recent bank failures:
GO GET YOUR MONEY PEOPLE: Collapsing investment banks are yesterday’s news, trendsetters! Now we can turn our attention to the biggest possible commercial banks failing miserably, like, say, Washington Mutual. And when that collapses on Sunday, probably, it will likely drain up what’s left of the FDIC’s insurance fund. The FDIC can always get more money from the Treasury, or we can just have a BANK RUN!!! EVERYONE RUN TO THE BANK!!! PANIC! CHAOS FIRE OBAMA BURN!!
Moving along, we go too a completely different corner of the Internet to another interest of mine: anime. My favorite blog within the anime community is Random Curiosity, a running diary of shows out in Japan. The editor, Omni, follows a number of shows as they come out each week, writing reviews and discussing the series with other fans. Omni also puts out a preview at the beginning of each season of anime, walking through the upcoming shows and giving fans an ideaof what to watch for.
And lastly, we move on to video games, anime's cousin in geek culture. One of the rising names in online gaming culture is Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, creator of the "Zero Punctuation" series of video reviews at The Escapist, an online gaming magazine. Yahtzee's reviews have been lauded for thier brilliant writing and engaging style. His personal blog, Fully Ramblomatic, has links to all these videos as well as an archive of his older work, including freeware video games which he wrote and designed. It's a good read for those who wish to keep up to date on Yahtzee's recent and past work.
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