I'm a journalism graduate of the University of Florida (M.Ed. at Salisbury University where I later taught). For many years I have followed adoption issues in the news because they affect me personally and I would like to make a positive contribution to how adoption is covered by the media.
Beth's articl highlights something that "early adopters" like me need to think about before they expose themselves to yet another invasion of privacy. I will now consult my IT guru about my FB privacy status and post a link to this article on FB!!
Adoption is a social phenomema that does not get critical media attention and it should since it is a largely unregulated industry whose commodity is human children.
It highlights the consequences of over zealous government officials and also the difficulties posed to adopted Americans because of adoption secrecy. NOrth Carolina is a sealed records state.
As an adoptee, I am particularly sensitive to reports of individuals whose citizenship is questioned because they do not have their original birth certificate.
This article explains a fundamental fact of how adoption functions as a vast, lucrative and largely unregulated industry. And this fact is generally overlooked when the media "covers" adoption.
As an adoptee, I have found the process, the desperate need for reform and the media's inadequate coverage of this social phenomena a source of fascination and a cause.
It shows that despite the ubiquitous nature of mainstream media it fails to command the kind of respect journalists might hope. Obama's citizenship has been covered again and again and yet not every American believes it. Oh, Uncle Walter, we miss you!
It is good journalism because it teaches an important lesson about history: those who don't learn history's lessons are condemned to repeat them. Today's news is tomorrow's history but if the unpalatable truths are not reported, we will never learn from our mistakes. This reminds us WHY it is so important for the media to cover ALL the news, even some we might rather not read about.
It serves to remind us that when the representatives of our government get away with criminal behavior that they are emboldened to repeat it. If we ever hope to restore our moral reputation, we have to call to account those who do not uphold our standards.
If only for Hersh's quote about how major newspapes pulled their punches during the Bush-Cheney years the article is well worth your time to read.
It's an important topic that is too often subject to less than balanced reporting, partly due to the hyperbole of proponents of abstinence only sex education and partly due to our pop celebrity culture.
I think it is unrealistic to expect teens to abstain from becoming sexually active before they are mature enough to recognize and deal with the potential consequences. Infant adoption is not the answer but the (market) demand for infant adoption is part of the reason why this "solution" appeals to some.
This is not really news anymore -- by the time a book goes to press the news is a bit stale by definition. Yet, I think it is fair to say that most Americans do not know anything about this, and those who do seem quite willing to overlook it. Even President-elect Obama would seem, by his policy statements thus far, not to know what is really going on. I hope that Joe Biden tells him when he gets back from Afghanistan.
The writer speaks truth to power. He puts the actions of the Bush administration into historica context that makes clear how truly awful their policies have been.
…if the Roberts Court upholds dumping in streams, it will setting a destructive precedent for mountains and for clean water, unless the Obama Administration and ... More »
It's a reminder to American readers that even if you own the bat and ball, you cannot play the game alone.
I'm not sure it is quality journalism. It's a mediocre story, that is little more thn a string of numbers -- potentially interesting numbers but still. The author is apparently a numbers cruncher but, numbers alone lack depth.
I realize that the writer is someone who studies public opinon polling and what it tells us, but by their very nature, polls are snapshots in time and fail to give us a in-depth analysis or real historical perspective.
It's a re-hash of a soft-ball interview (what else might you expect from Fox). But it does give us fair warning that the Bushes want to try for #3.
It brings to to the reader's attention mch about the history ofthe Christian faith that we might not have known. I think it reminds the Pharisees among us that they go stray from the message of their own prophet.
It's an interesting story that provides useful information and insight. I wish I could say that it imparted surprising insight into Republican-think, some suggestion that they grasp why they lost the election. Maybe if the writer had cast his net farther? Maybe not.
What Chait reports as the prevailing attitude of ordinary party faithful sounds depressingly like the opinions expresed in email I receive routinely from those of my acquaintance who have made up their minds and would rather not be confused with he facts.
One of the shortcomings of MSM is that it lacks the interpretive dimension made possible by incorporating the viewpoints of the residents of countries at the recieiving end of U.S. foreign policy. And this does, in spades!
The issues are complex, but Wellington, who has been covering coal minin issues for quite a while, makes them understandable and provides many links to additional source material.
Sometimes it's difficult to remember that there is any issue other than our economy on which to base our choice but energy independence and what we are willing to sacrifice to achieve it are intimately linked to our economic recovery.
The system that has allowed big business to export jobs, rob retired employees of their pensions, rob consumers through usurious interest rates and shady financial instruments and grow so large and unweildy that they leveraged the entire American economy to the point where the government has had to step in to rescue them...well, it's coming to a screeching halt. This is not the first time that unregulated private interests have tried to pile all the gold in the country into a pile ... More »
The value of a blog depens entirely on the credentials of the writer. Cole's credentials are impeccable so I learned something that I didn't know but that seems significant to me since it is further evidence of how far McCain has fallen.
Remember when they said John Kerry flip-flopped! He couldn't hold a candle to McCain's flip-flops. And the sleaze factor of this campaign seems worse in part because it originates with someone presented himself as honorable and had me (at least) believing it.
Insightful analysis of how the stars aligned to produce both a female nominee and a lng overdue opportunity for women in journalism. Lots of cracks in the glass ceiling.
It's a story that may come a a surprise to much of the country although itis probably common knowledge in Missouri. It explains some puzzling McCain positions to some degree.
Having mixed race relatives is not a big deal in the South. Failure to acknolwedge them is rather odd.
Media bias is a subject that should interest all working journalists. We know we are biased, we don't always know when it creeps into our interpretation of the facts.
In addition to being a trained journalist, I am an adult adoptee working for adoption reform and for more objective and in-depth media coverage of adoption issues.