I am dearly sorry for my absence. It has come to my attention through my reading that I have not mentioned the academic side of things here at OX in a while. I shall address this. I am studying British Media and Society this term and loving it. The thing about Oxford is, that it leaves you with more questions than answers. For this reason I will leave you with some questions to debate among your respective groups.
1) Who makes news? If we allow the newscaster to update us on what is "news" isn't that just agenda setting by the networks on the issues they deem important? What are the dangers of being passive instead of active watchers?
2) Why does the average watcher focus more on a newscast that agrees with their political ideology than other countries? In Britain the BBC is a juggernaut and for the most part fairly impartial. In the US, Fox News crushes ratings while CNN, our closest BBC, is constantly slipping. Why do we gravitate toward our believes and what are the consequences of this? I think a great example is the increased negative rhetoric going on between our government officials today. It's politics, not policies in the US and this will be the downfall of us if we don't change our politicians attitude.
The next tutorial I have is History of the EU with a British twist. The British have also had the small end of the deal in this community and are struggling to believe that it is a good idea. The fact is that trying to blend unique countries, cultures, and languages into a supra-nationalistic government is extremely difficult. Think for example of mixing Canada, the US, and Mexico into one common community. Decisions would have the same bearing on all the members and decisions would have to be fair for everyone. This would obviously be disastrous to US power and the British feel the same. Unlike the US though the British have very little power left. There is a common phrase here, but don't say it aloud, that the British have lost an empire, but not yet found a role. The US is on this path though and we need to stop this cycle now.
Well that is my academic side. Hopefully through these questions you can have one more thing to talk about at the dinner table as you all slam down buffalo wings. Lucky. Everything else is going well and starting next week I believe my blog will be linked to the school newspaper. A friend gave it to them and they liked it and want to feature it. I'm really excited about this and I will update more frequently from there. This is not a blank promise for I will be under contract to do so... Until then have a great week my fellow Americans and god bless.
Shout out to my mom she wins first care package award!
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| Hertford Formal Hall |
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| My wine tasting crew and France travel buddies |
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