FORWARDING

Joseph Harris describes forwarding in the context of 4 main principles. In general, forwarding is a process of writing in which a writer shifts the focus from the author of the forwarded text to his/her own project. A writer forwards a text by directing his/her comments to the public sphere. In this, a writer loses some control of its uses. Forwarding is a process of recirculating another author’s writing using 4 different but often overlapping strategies.  

      1. illustrating

            2. authorizing
            3.  borrowing
            4. extending

Illustrating is often seen as a recount of a particular scene or image from a movie, TV show or advertisement to begin an essay. These visual descriptions are then connected to the author’s main argument. Illustrating can be hard because “quoting nonprint media highlights the central problem of dealing with the texts of others”. In illustrating, writers must ensure their depiction is clear to increase the possibility of their work to be recirculated.

Authorizing is used to implore the expertise or status of another writer to support your thinking. Authorizing uses key words and concepts from other authors to support a different or similar idea.

Borrowing is one of the key moves of intellectual writing. Borrowing other’s ideas and making them into “tag phrases” to understand your ideas is an important skill in writing.

Extending takes place when a writer puts his/her own spin o the terms/concepts he/she borrowed from other writers. Often, the goal of extending is not to criticize but to add to the range of another text’s meaning.

The idea of forwarding is common in blog posts, particularly in Andrew Sullivan’s blog The Dish. He commonly tags links of works he forwards. This Saturday, he forwarded a work from Smithsonian.com and NPR combined. He titled his forward Drunk on Diet Soda. The Smithsonian version presents the evidence of a study that proves a person’s BAC is higher after an alcoholic drink mixed with diet soda than regular soda. The NPR email-interview with the cognitive psychologist who authored the new study, Cecile Marczinski.

In this forwarding, Sullivan doesn’t illustrate borrow or extend but he does authorize. He uses the expert’s quote about why she chose to study this topic and he uses Joseph Stromberg’s (of the Smithsonian) explanation of the results.

Part of Sullivan’s forwarding that Harris would be irked about is that he simply presented the quotes. He did not add his on opinions or ideas or even explanations for that matter.


NPR interview
Andrew Sullivan Blog

✌out

THE PRESS SPHERE

Honestly, I found Jarvis’s article confusing. I wasn’t sure which model ‘me’ or ‘press’ he agreed was a more accurate representation. I’m pretty sure he referred to the ‘press sphere’ as a type of model in which the press controls everything including the news.

When Jarvis referenced links from our peers I related it to Facebook. I find a lot of stories that I read through Facebook. Jarvis states that, “The press may be involved and may create a news story.” He is trying to discredit the press for all of the credit they give themselves. I don’t really agree with Jarvis. If not for the press, what stories would our friends be showing us a “link” to. On the other hand, I guess I can kind of see where Jarvis is coming from. I think he tries to show that it is an effort of many different aspects that creates news – not just the press. I agree with Jarvis in that commentary from observers adds perspective to news. I am always reading comments on anything I look at. I love how interactive it is and how wholesome it makes a story.   

I hope after a class discussion I will have a better understanding of Jarvis and his 'press-sphere'.

✌out

NEWS TO YOU OR NEWS TO ME

Many of my peers agreed with me in that they get most of their news from people. Also, many admitted to not reading (or watching) the news as much as they probably should. It was interesting that some didn’t even consider the ‘news’ of a newborn baby as news. Many though did include the Facebook newsfeed as a source of information. I agreed with David, Lewis and Gina in that the news shows very dramatic stories on a reel but seldom talks about positive aspects of society. I was surprised nobody, myself included, referenced YouTube as a source of news. Nobody would know about “ain’t nobody got time for that” without YouTube.

Maybe it all depends on what are defining as news. Is it personal? Local? Global? How important does it have to be and how do we define what’s important news? Does news even have to be important. I simple define news as any new information but individual people define civic literacy differently.

Hedges would say, to all the people using Facebook as a source of new information, “See, I told you, the media is watering down our intelligence!” I think Sullivan would be insulted that nobody uses his blog (or any blog for that matter) to get his or her news. He posts proudly and constantly about interesting new stories every day.  I think Carr would say that all of our answers are in-line with the time. Technology is what gives us the capability to have the amount of news resources we have today.

✌out

READING THE NEWS ON THE DAILY

Reading the New York Times makes me feel more educated and mature. I always learn something new every time I read it. I do tend to skip around when looking through the paper; hence I don’t read the paper front to back. Sometimes it is a struggle to find a headline that interests me and sometimes it is not.

In the past month, the stories that jump out in my memory are gun-related topics. Whether it has to do with gun control as a result of the Sandy Hook shooting or even additional and new school shootings. I notice these because they are everywhere. They are on the local and national levels. Also, they have a sense of curiosity about them. It’s pretty hard to read a headline about another school shooting and not read about it or about a new gun policy.

I believe what I “miss” while reading these gun related stories are the international news. I tend to focus on the US because it is more relatable. I read headlines about stories of other countries but I cannot relate emotionally so I tend to over look them. For instance, a new gun policy in China isn’t going to affect my life all that much.

I’m not sure that reading the New York Times has influenced any of my other habits but I’m sure it has. Since reading the newspaper has become a habit, and a good one at that, I feel I have created other daily routines, which have become habitual also.

✌out

NEWS SOURCE

Where do I get my news? News is such a broad term. I use my Facebook newsfeed to get news about friends and family. People post life events on Facebook. I found out that my cousin was pregnant with a boy through Facebook. I found out that my other cousin was engaged. I also learn about new information about the TV shows I watch and anything else I ‘subscribe’ to. I use E! to learn new information about celebrities. Like Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy and Michael Jackson’s death. Another source I like to use is Yahoo! It is my homepage and I use it frequently. Some of the ‘breaking news’ can be a bit silly but entertaining nonetheless. I get a lot of my information through word of mouth. After hearing about an event, like a school shooting, I Google it and find out more information. I do not listen to radio though many of my friends listen to NPR. I wish I had the desire to because I’m sure that it’s interesting. On the other hand, I do find out about some things that NPR broadcasts through my friends. Sometimes, very rarely though, I watch the local news. I often avoid the local news because it seems very depressing. There are rarely ‘positive’ news stories being broadcasted. People like drama, so the news gives them drama (for better ratings of course). I get the news about back home (O-H-I-O) through my mom and other family members. I believe I receive most of my information through people, whether a person posted a status, whether a person told me what happened, whether a person is announcing Michael Jackson has just died, or whether a person wrote a news article about pink slime. People are the main facilitators of news.

✌out