What I'm doing here

I have to come up with a presentation for my paper at the conference next week (I'll be presenting at 10am Saturday, Aug. 9), so to kick off the process I'll write here about what got me started down the road of graduate studies.

A couple of years ago when I was a copy editor at a large-ish newspaper in Texas, a story came across my desk with a turn of phrase that struck me as out of place. As I recall, it was a profile of a young woman who had gained recognition for her work in church groups. The phrase that jumped out at me was something like "when she was 14 she accepted Jesus as her personal savior".

Now, that's a perfectly normal things to say if you're a born-again or evangelical Christian, or if you're writing for a publication aimed at such folks. This newspaper, however, was at least nominally secular. The matter-of-fact adoption of sectarian language in a city full of not only born-agains but also Catholics, Mainline Protestants, Episcopalians, Muslims, Jews, and agnostics and atheists seemed to be taking a side, if you will, in the religious discussion that happens every day in the public sphere.

I wanted to discuss it with the city desk and maybe the reporter, but I realized I didn't even know how to start the discussion. Most working journalists can talk with ease about representing points of view and "balance" and so forth, but that sort of subtle framing isn't usually discussed in the newsroom. We lacked a common vocabulary for the questions the story raised.

So I decided to go back to school to learn more. I'm focusing my study on frames; a frame is the guiding idea or concept or structure behind most of the stories in the news, both in print and on TV as well as online. One example is "horse race" coverage of politics: How does (say) Obama's big speech help his chances to get elected? That's a different question from, What does his speech evoke in his listeners, what does it promise in policy terms, what does it suggest about how he would govern if elected? Those are all different ways to frame a political story.

A lot of framing happens unconsciously; working journalists tend to apply "default" frames that they carry around with them. A reporter who's on the cops or the City Hall beat for years may start unwittingly identifying with the people he or she covers, and frame stories from their point of view. A middle-aged white reporter will make different assumptions than a young black one will. Over time, the journalistic product will tend toward a certain sort of uniformity, as certain values of the news organization assert themselves.

This all requires not only journalistic but also sociological study to comprehend and bring together. I'm still in the early stages.

My conference paper is an early stab at collating and classifying the frames in common use, from the cultural and mythological (the "hero", the "good mother", etc.) to the specific. It is a beginning, not an end. I expect I'll be at this endeavor for some time yet.

Comments welcome, as always.

Catching up

I apologize for the nonexistent pace of posts lately. I'll try to get caught up this week.

This past weekend my good friend and former co-worker Nora from Fort Worth came to visit. We took a dip in the 68-degree waters of Barton Springs Pool, rented a kayak and paddled around Lady Bird Lake, saw a movie, and just hung out and caught up on things. I have sore shoulders from the kayaking expedition, but it was well worth it.

In a week I leave for the AEJMC convention in Chicago. I'll spend this week working on the presentation of my paper.

Things are going to hell, sign # 483

A storefront down the street, last year:


The same storefront, now:

Oh, GREAT

The last thing I need on the way to the bus stop:

Last week's hailstorm

Last Wednesday night around midnight an impressive hailstorm blew through Austin from the west. It also had lightning, thunder, and high winds. I'm lucky not to have west windows, but the sideways hail did a lot of damage elsewhere. I found several hailstones that measured 2 inches across.

According to the newspaper, trees were down all over town; some landed on houses. The state Capitol grounds lost eight big old trees. I saw some of that damage from the bus today; if I get over there with my camera before it's all cleaned up I'll post a pic or two.

My neighborhood seems to have escaped the worst of it. A lot of branches came down, and one landed on the car in the picture at right. Nearly every west-facing window lost some glass. Two-inch hail does a lot of damage when it's being driven by tree-felling winds.

The impressive fallen tree below blocked a busy street for hours Thursday before the city crews could get the offending branches cut away and cleared. Removing the rest of it will be quite a chore for whoever owns that house.

I got in!

My paper, "Toward a Taxonomy of Frames", was accepted to the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. I will be making a presentation of some sort at some point in the convention, which is Aug. 6-9, 2008, in Chicago. I haven't received the details yet.

Mainly because the airlines and the government are working hard to make air travel more and more difficult and oppressive, and partly because I can, I'll be going there on Amtrak. The main down side is that the terrain doesn't change -- it's prairie pretty much the whole way from Austin to Chicago. But, hey, the train!

UPDATED: Utah Phillips, 1935-2008

UPDATE: Utah Phillips died Friday night, May 23, at his home. He was a genuine folk hero, and like so many others, he left before his work was all done. Now it's up to the rest of us.

Obit and some remembrances here and here. Amy Goodman pays tribute at DemocracyNow. Labor Beat has a video tribute. (Thanks to Majikthise for the last set of links.)

Original post:

I just got back from a benefit concert for Utah Phillips, a folk singer, organizer, historian, humorist, raconteur and agitator who's been a personal hero of mine for a number of years now. Utah has had congestive heart failure for some time, but it took a turn for the worse in February, and he can no longer leave his home in Nevada City, California, to perform and earn a living.

A lot of folks have organized similar benefits across the country. If there's one in your area, go. You'll likely hear some good music and meet some fine folks.

The one here in Austin was organized by Veterans for Peace and my ability to , which appears to be a good group of people. Utah, himself, is a veteran of the Korean War, and his experience there was enough to turn him off of violence forever. Quoth he: "I will never again, in my life, abdicate my right and my ability to decide who the enemy is."

Utah recently said, via the Utah Phillips blog maintained by his son: "My body is weak but my will is strong, and I keep my disposition as sunny and humorous as I’m able. It’s hard enough being disabled without being cranky as well."

Donations can also be sent directly to Utah at P.O. Box 1235, Nevada City, CA 95959.

The photo above was taken from Utah's Web site, linked above. Photographer not named. The site itself is © 2000-2008 by Christopher Dunn.