Newspeak and the 21st Century

In the novel 1984, Syme explains to Winston that the purpose of Newspeak in the novel is to "narrow the range of thought." Syme becomes excited when he explains to Winston how "we're destroying words-- scores of them, hundreds of them, every day."  After viewing the TED talk on "Texting is Killing Language" by John McWhorter, write a response to the following question:

Is texting the Newspeak of the 21st century?  Is using this texting language harmful for society's ability to communicate (written/oral)?  Does it affect students in a negative way?  Or, is texting just a new form of language used today separate from formal written/oral expression?  Think about the presentation you just viewed from the TED talk with McWhorter.

What is Newsworthy? Intro to Mass Comm

What news stories are important in your life? Do you think there is a difference between information and news?  What about news makes it different from plain old information? (Response should be 100 words).

MEDIA ETHICS SCENARIO #5

One of your best friends says she saw the new basketball coach smoking marijuana at a rock concert. You tell the newspaper adviser that someone told you about seeing him and that you plan to report it in your concert review. The coach tells you he wasn’t even at the concert. Do you report the allegation?

MEDIA ETHICS SCENARIO #4

The daughter of the principal at your rival high school has been arrested on drunken driving charges. Do you report it?

MEDIA ETHICS SCENARIO #3

The owner of a local business has refused to buy an advertisement in your newspaper. He graduated from your school, so you are really ticked that he won’t support his alma mater. Later that day, as you look at the sports spread, you notice that the photo of the cross country track event that the sports editor plans to use has a billboard in the background with the local business’s name prominently displayed. It would be easy to remove the billboard with photo-editing software. Do you alter the photograph?

MEDIA ETHICS SCENARIO #2

A well-known musician is filming an anti-smoking PSA (public service announcement) at your school. The school newspaper photographer gets pictures of him smoking a cigarette during a break. Your photo editor wants to run the photograph with the cutline “Rock Star Filmed AntiSmoking PSA on Tuesday.” Do you reword the caption?

MEDIA ETHICS SCENARIO #1

A student at your school is highlighted on the local TV news. A reporter for the school newspaper uses information from the TV newscast without giving credit to the station. It turns out that several facts from the news report are wrong. Do you admit the mistake? Do you tell how you got the incorrect information?