ugh.... liberal BS in a required class for UT Austin

[Dameon]

Just in case any of you start thinking UT is a conservative house of thinking, take a look at some of my required brainwash... I mean reading for this course that's required for my Communication degree.

http://www.pineforge.com/Shopping/Detail.asp?id=3555

 

[Amused]

OMFG! There's a handbook for politically correct reporting?

ROFLPIMP!!

 

[daveman]

what a load of BS

 

[Dameon]

I keep chanting to myself...
"I'm burning this off in summer school".
"I will not antagonize the professor by challenging their politically correct bullsh!t. I will merely fill out my complaint form at the end of the semester and work to end their career that way."
"I will not start a race war in class."

Class starts next Monday, and I'm going to have to bring duct tape to keep my mouth shut and having an all out verbal war with the prof and half the class I think.

 

[RossGr]

God forbid you should be exposed to different view points. Might actually expand your horizons. At least try looking at as an opertunity to look inside the mind of something or someone you disagree with.

 

[Thump553]

I think you are jumping to criticize too quickly. Frankly, this seems like a legit book to me from a brief review of its table of contents. To judge a book by its cover, so to speak, but its theme seems to be how to accurately report on other ethnic group's activities without coloring your reporting with your own background.


I see nothing of political correctness here, unless being asked to think outside of your own (subjective ethnic) box is deemed to be politically correct.

It would seem to me that everyone, regardless of political bent, would be in favor of objective reporters and objective reporting. Not a bad goal, and one I would think everyone is in favor of. Course I could be wrong.

 

[Dameon]

ross gr, the problem is that it is not about being "exposed to different view points", it is about being taught that the author is right, period. My problem is that most people ascribing to these policies don't give a sh!t about different view points. THEIR view point is what matters, everyone else is a racist, a homophobe, a nazi, and a hatemonger. There IS no questioning. There is NO thought, only read and recite, accept these teachings or be marked as WRONG.

I am willing to give the prof a chance, but I sure as hell won't hold my breath as to them being open to true discussion and questioning.

 

[TheOverlord]

well...uh...i have to read 1984 and Brave New World...course i already have read both a while back...high school is so easy at times

 

[isildur]

Um, let me see - if this class is anything like it looks, then it won't have anything to do with "expanding horizons" or learning about "other points of view." What it will involve is an antagonistic and elitest academy member (prof, dr, asoc prof, grad ta, whatever) force feeding a group of, mostly, blindly accepting syncophants whatever the academically popular themes are at the moment. Though they will usually only use this term to refer to and malign others and would never use the term in reference to themselves, this is "indoctrination." The systematic enforcement of a particular "point of view" by institutional coersion and hazing.

I feel your pain man - I've been there.

This book itself _may_ not be so bad though - those publishing houses can be so sneaky sometimes.

 

[Phokus]

<< I keep chanting to myself...
&quot;I'm burning this off in summer school&quot;.
&quot;I will not antagonize the professor by challenging their politically correct bullsh!t. I will merely fill out my complaint form at the end of the semester and work to end their career that way.&quot;
&quot;I will not start a race war in class.&quot; >>



Sounds like the problem is more with you and not the course. Professors don't care if you take a completely different viewpoint from them, in fact it's encouraged (as long your intention is to provide different points of view, and not incite a riot). The college environment is about expressing yourself, not conforming to the professor's view or the author's of your textbook. I find it humorous when conservatives attack college as 'liberal brainwash'. Students constantly attack the theories of philosphers in my philosophy class. This isn't high school. You must be an incomming freshman right?

 

[Double Trouble]

I graduated from UT Austin back in '91, and even back then there were some liberal pinkos running certain departments. Fortunately I've been very fortunate -- at the time I just played along with their politically correct BS, and later on in my role as a financial consultant for the university I managed to include several of the pinko classes in the budget cuts.... or at least shed some light on them.

Hang in there bud, play along with the polically correct charade. Don't be fooled into thinking the prof wants any open discussion or actual sharing of ideas. The prof wants you to regurgitate the liberal crap he/she is feeding you - so just do so, get your grades.

 

[Ferocious]

Some of the fantasies I read about on this board are hillarious.

 

[GasX]

This is Dameon reporting on scene at the Watts riots...

&quot;I am standing in a large mob of jigga$%^&amp; here in Watts. The damn nig#$%%$ are yelling racial epithets at the G**k store owners and the lazy greas@#$@# mexicans... Oh wait, I mean the citizenry is expressing outrage! Fight on my brother's!&quot;

 

[Kosugi]

What's wrong with the book?


It seems like it should be required for journalist majors. If you don't like it, then you would probably be better suited for a journalism career at the Enquirer, or the National Review. Those rags don't require morals of any kind.

 

[Rage187]

OOF!!

I hate that PC crap..

If I wanna say beloved patriot, I'm gonna....

 

[notfred]

<< God forbid you should be exposed to different view points. Might actually expand your horizons. At least try looking at as an opertunity to look inside the mind of something or someone you disagree with. >>



So then you wouldn't object to having &quot;The perspectives of the KKK, and the basis of thier arguments&quot; as a REQUIRED class?

 

[rahvin]

The textbook is about teaching you to recognize your own cultural bias. Don't be a dumba$$.

&quot;1. When practical and relevant to the story, ask those involved in the
story how they want to be identified.
2. Identify your own biases. Are they getting in the way of the story?
3. Don?t reinforce cultural assumptions and stereotypes. Avoid omis-sion.
4. Be aware that colloquial expressions may be verbally acceptable
but not acceptable in print unless they are needed in quotations.
5. Go where the people are. Attend cultural awareness workshops.
Volunteer with special groups so you can understand their day-to-day
problems. Go to their meetings. Go to foreign film festivals.
6. Don?t sensationalize a story, using cultural biases (i.e., highlighting
a mixed marriage), unless it is relevant to the story.
7. Although the scoop is desirable, accuracy is more desirable. Don?t
jump to conclusions just to get the story first. Don?t speculate what
might happen because people form opinions from your specula-tions.
8. Don?t always tell the story through the white male perspective. Put
yourself in the shoes of your interviewees. How would you like to
be reported?
9. Always talk with representatives of both sides of the issue. Use
balance in presenting different voices within your story.
10. Be a good storyteller. Put your reader into the story by showing
sensory details: the black armband, the smell of curry, the touch
of the older woman?s cold, wrinkled hand.
11. Develop sources within special groups. They can get you inside
the story.
12. Work on being nonthreatening. Tell your interviewees they are doing
you a favor by talking with you, and they will help the public better
understand their group: religious, racial, ethnic, gender and age.
13. Find and nurture sources among many local and national racial,
ethnic and special interest groups. For example, USA Today has
developed a source book that aids reporters in understanding the
different segments of the population among their readership.
14. Talk with people in their own territory so they feel more comfort-able.
15. Clean up quotes unless the story is about language. Don?t publicly
embarrass innocent interviewees.&quot;

 

[Phokus]

Dameon, one more thing, i suggest you not wear your white hood around campus if you don't want to be beaten up

 

[RossGr]

<< So then you wouldn't object to having &quot;The perspectives of the KKK, and the basis of thier arguments&quot; as a REQUIRED class? >>



Looks like I am getting that course here.

 

[shawnmos]

that sucks man!

 

[bandXtrb]

All I can say is that I would feel weird having this as the required material, but I still don't see what all the fuss is about.

 

[Dameon]

rahvin, her list is nice and pretty, but go deeper into the chapters, where she starts telling you what language should be used for different groups. The author is very judgemental, flat out stating that Title IX issues should ALWAYS be on the front page, etc. She has an agenda which is not unbiased reporting, it is about pushing HER political agenda.

She even contradicts herself:

&quot; For the following story, write a newspaper headline, the lead and
the nut graph (a sentence that states the main focus of the story), using two
different viewpoints: first write the story from an economically well-off,
white male perspective; next write the story from a black female perspec-tive?
a woman who lives in that neighborhood.&quot;

then later says:

&quot;Women?s groups are just as diverse as any others. Don?t let one group
speak for all women.&quot;

But she asks you to do just that earlier. She ENCOURAGES stereotyping of people. How about practicing writing from the unbiased 3rd person perspective??!!

 

[RossGr]

Dameon I do not see the contradiction you are talking about. The exercise it to get you to think about how different people see the same events. Seems a worth while ability for a journelist. Then says that no one group should speak for all. Hummm this again is a valid point. As for her wanting her faviorite issues brought to the front, Well what do you expect? This is where you as a decerning student needs be be able to seperate the wheat from the chafe. You need to be able to do this espcially if you are to be come a journelist.

 

[Aihyah]

college profs generally allow discussion of materials. if you object to something and can support your arguments well.. then theres no problem. if you can't.. well somethings wrong with u

 

[KaBudokan]

<< But she asks you to do just that earlier. She ENCOURAGES stereotyping of people. How about practicing writing from the unbiased 3rd person perspective??!! >>


It sounds like she is trying to do just that. She's giving you tools to help you understand that there are different perspectives so that you can be more aware of the differences. This will help you to write with less cultural bias in the future. It's a writing exercise to help you write from the unbiased 3rd person perspective. If you think that you see things the same as a 15-year-old black girl living in the projects you're wrong. It would help your writing to understand that perspective.

It's called scaffolding - giving you the foundation to reach your end goal.

This book is fine, and it certainly seems like one that you (and any other journalism students) should read. If you want to be an effective writer, you need to understand how to deliver your message effectively.

Mwilding, you beat me to that scenario of Dameon reporting. lol