Revival

Music, dance and perspective come together in this video of Gregory Porter’s “Revival,” an artist’’s perception of literally rising above oppression to claim a place in society.

COVID coverage offers news gauge

Do you wonder about the ability of your news outlets to deliver quality coverage?
Howard Polskin in Columbia Journalism Review of April of 2020 analyzed right-wing media’s coverage of COVID-19. In the process, I think, Polskin also crafted a series of check points for media in general, using COVID-19 as a measuring stick.
Polskin was then president and chief curator of TheRighting, a web site that aggregated stories from right-wing media outlets on a daily basis with mainstream and liberal audiences in mind.
You may legitimately wonder about the veracity of your news outlet if:
• In February of 2020, writers for the outlet effectively denied the severity of the disease.
• In March, writers predicted the spread of the disease would slow.
• Praise of the U.S. President’s handling of the epidemic dominated coverage.
• China was maligned outright with terms such as “China coronavirus” and “Wuhan virus.”
• Remedies to battle COVID-19 were termed worse than the disease itself.
• Any other media outlet’s reporting was pooh-poohed and sometimes labeled propaganda.
• The opposition’s party (Democrats, in the main) and party leaders were blamed for diverting attention with impeachment proceedings.
Polskin also highlighted the efforts of Tucker Carlson, who in March told the truth about the virus. He said it would get worse and called for the country’s leaders to stop lying about its gravity, visiting the president before delivering the message.
Media coverage of crises is not infallible, but if the media outlet you prefer employed most or all of the strategies listed, I would suggest you make a switch.

Back at it

A seven-week road trip concluded several days ago, and, similar to last summer’s travels, we nearly escaped all rain in five weeks of camping (tenting for Janine and I) in Alaska. Above-average temperatures and dry conditions helped make our visit memorable.

On this trip, I pretty much soaked in all I could without scribbling comments and observations and with few photos. We’ll see which impressions survive as this blog continues.