The post below was well written and thought provoking. I’m glad Mary McNamara wrote it.
My emotion when seeing this video:
Child Abuse–not!
Tag free speech
Speaking of Dietary Guidelines
The New York Times article prompted me to think, why do we need updated food guidelines? There is no good reason. The basics of food have been understood for ages. New products, and new science results seem to merely reinforce what was already assumed. The standard for communicating advice should be—the tried and true. Until, the tried and true are proven false. Read more
Ban Derogatory Words; Don’t Believe The Hype
Activists have begun anew, their long-standing effort to ban derogatory and demeaning words from public airways. In 1985, the Parents’ Music Resource Center wanted to ban Prince’s Purple Rain album. Oddly, in 2007 the NFL accepted Prince as a safe choice to perform before an estimated ninety million Super Bowl viewers. During the spring of 2007, Don Imus kick started the activist when he inappropriately used words associated with many rap songs. The NAACP, with its “The STOP Campaign” and Al Sharpton, who through his National Action Network jointly lead the recent “March for Decency” have joined the traditional media activist. The recent efforts also include Russell Simmons’s Hip Hop Summit Action Network which calls for voluntary guidelines for music played on the public airways. The controversial L Brent Bozell III, Media Research Center founder and president has praised Russell Simmons effort (see his May 3, 2007 column). With these efforts in high gear, it is easy to praise the actions and to forget to question, is the effort worthwhile. Read more
Imus – What I Think
I wanted to stay away, but the media coverage has been overwhelming. Here are my thoughts on the key questions.
Others Use the Terms, So Where is the Line Drawn
Only Don Imus chose to apply the stereotype to the women of the Rutgers Team. This issue is not about the words; it is his conscious decision to apply an unjustified stereotype to the group of young women from Rutgers.
The media wrongly, focuses on the words and talks about demeaning women. They seem to forget (who am I kidding they desire easy ratings), Read more
Old Norms That No Longer Apply
Tim Hardaway broke a cardinal rule for entertainers this week; he spoke in a public forum on his very personal views about a known topic of controversy. Colin Cowherd, spoke best in response to this incident saying something like, everyone has freedom of speech, but you have to be prepared to live with the repercussions of your free speech. Colin has it exactly right, people who earn a living entertaining or otherwise representing others, have a burden to understand that people can and will stop paying them because of their personal views. Read more
