WRSU-FM News

Where Have the DEBATES Gone?

2008-10-09T14:55:00.004-04:00

After all the hype and fanfare about these "historic" Presidential debates, I have one question:

Where is the DEBATING?

So far, all we've heard in the two Presidential debates and the completely laughable Vice-Presidential debate are small snippets of the candidates' convention acceptance speeches.

John McCain can just repeat his talking points, not having to even make eye contact with his opponent, and even refer to Obama as "that one" without much repercussion.

Barack Obama can bore the nation with long-winded answers that do everything but directly answer the question posed.

No candidate has yet to be truly challenged or put in the hot seat for any inordinate length of time. Contestants on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" have to endure more pressure than either Presidential candidate.

Worse of all, no moderator had the guts to stand up to the candidates and force them to answer the questions. Gwen Ifill, Tom Brokaw, and Jim Lehrer are great backup players for Larry King's softball interview team.

Honestly, I don't even know if I'll waste my time watching the third and final "debate". We'll learn nothing about the candidates during those 90 minutes of scripted banter-- except that the level of American political discourse has yet again fallen to a shamefully low level.

Gaslight Anthem Review

2008-09-26T09:41:00.003-04:00

“They can take our lives, but they can never take… our FREEDOM!” This wasn’t a Braveheart reenaction, but words chanted by The Gaslight Anthem’s front man Brian Fallon in the Cook Campus Center on Friday, September 12th. And when Brian Fallon starts a chant, you can bet the crowd will answer accordingly.
The New Brunswick-based band has only been together for about two and-a-half years, but already have a following that can fist-pump with the best of them and just released their second solid album, ‘The ’59 Sound’. After touring throughout Europe for the past few months, they returned to the old stomping grounds of Central Jersey after being contacted by 90.3 The Core radio station. “We played in New York in August, so I guess that was the last time we played in the area.” said drummer Benny Horowitz. “Before that was a fun secret show at a friend’s house a few months ago, but that’s it.” So the band, as well as the loyal local fans, was due for an update.
The Core’s booked opening acts Let Me Run and The King Left, and would have included Polar Bear Club if it weren’t for a faulty tour bus. In rightful punk-rock fashion, they got the crowd moving and pumped for as the lead singer of the King Left said, “a band that needs no introduction.” Starting off Friday’s set with the haunting anthem “Red in the Morning” off of their first album ‘Sink or Swim’ was a fitting introduction. When asked if the Wyckoff Street rockers prepare the set list ahead of time, Horowitz said “about a half an hour beforehand.” But there is really no need to choose too carefully from the band’s selection of songs, since out of their 27 released songs they played a straight 20. “Old White Lincoln is probably my favorite to play live,” remarked Horowitz, “it sounds like you’re at an 80s dance party and it really gets the crowd moving.”
The band takes many cues from the crowd when performing, whether it is by shouting Mel Gibson quotes or taking requests. Would they play Kelly Clarkson if asked? “I won’t name names… but some members of the band have a thing for Kelly Clarkson. So yeah.” No Kelly Clarkson was in fact played, but the band did cover Arthur Conley’s ‘Sweet Soul Music’ giving the crowd a sneak-peak at some sources of influence.
Just from listening to a few tracks off of ’59 Sound one can tell Gaslight does not limit themselves to one genre of influence- their sampling is in fact uniquely diverse as the state they hail from. The Bruce Springsteen parallel is rightly deserved, from Fallon’s raspy-soulful voice down to the lyrics for the working man (Were the things that we wanted when we were still sixteen/ Only passing and fleeting or just too far out of reach? Were you hard up or broken man? I woulda’ helped you out). But with a spattering of the New Jersey rebellious punk spirit that lives on in brother bands such as Against Me! (which TGA is going on tour with this year) and The Bouncing Souls.
And the band certainly does know their roots. “I have a fat sandwich named after me,” ‘Fat Benny’ Horowitz said, “I guess that makes us a true New Brunswick band!” Whether getting an obligatory sandwich solidifies a band’s stature or not, The Gaslight Anthem is well on their way to solidifying their place as another great New Jersey export with New Brunswick to thank.

2008-07-31T10:52:00.004-04:00

I'll warn you beforehand that this picture isn't very pretty, so you'll have to click the link below to see it. It's of a dog who was thrown over an overpass on the Atlantic City Expressway. Obviously, tt's rather disturbing...

http://media.philly.com/images/on-jdog29.jpg

I use this image as another example of what's wrong with today's profiteering media.

While this picture of a lifeless puppy is naturally sad and downright disgusting, think for a second about the emotions it evokes:

Disgust. Anger. Contempt. Vengeance.

Keeping those emotions in mind, think about this: when the last time you saw a picture of a killed or wounded American soldier in Iraq?

Most likely, your answer is— never.

This is a key example of the media's priorities: a shot of an abused dog gets front page billing, while at the same time, you've probably haven't seen a single image of the thousands of wounded and killed soldiers during the entire five-year stretch of the Iraq war.

Those graphic images of death and destruction are downright painful to look at. But thus is war. Hiding the grim realities of combat behind family-friendly stories of heroism and sacrifice erode the purpose of news reporting.

Shameful.

Another Media Conundrum

2008-07-28T11:52:00.003-04:00

That's a pretty interesting image from Pollster.com. According to their figures, Barack Obama will win the presidency without even breaking a sweat over battleground states like Florida and Ohio.

Yet, broadcast media seem to be unusually harsh towards Obama lately. Why?

Well, if you were a station manager looking to pull in big ratings from 2008 election coverage, would you want viewers to think that one candidate is comfortably ahead of another?

Of course not. Americans love drama. So, broadcast networks try to influence viewers' (and consequently, voters') perceptions of this 2008 race by putting Obama under an especially powerful microscope, in an effort to narrow his lead.

This is the equivalent of a referee calling a ridiculous pass interference call against a winning team in the final minutes of a football game. It allows the trailing team an opportunity to mount a comeback and make the game more exciting.

The funny thing is, all of these poll numbers and colored maps and broadcast media pundits have no direct relation to the true purpose of the 2008 election: for voters to independently choose the best candidate to lead the nation.

Yet, in an effort to grab big ratings and pull in huge advertising dollars for the upcoming sweeps period, networks have no problem skewing the race to favor chaos and controversy. Remember, these same networks are supposed to "serve the public interest."

Instead, networks serve their own interests (money) first; gladly providing disinformation to voters for a few Nielsen points.

So much for democracy. After all, it doesn't make for a very exciting television show.

O'Reilly Ambush

2008-05-12T23:18:00.004-04:00

Fox News really needs to cool it with the ambush interviews. Credible news organizations do not have reporters hide behind a corner and disturb public figures while they're walking back from lunch hour.

It's one thing to ambush a public official like a Senator or agency head; they are expected to deal with criticism and scorn on a daily basis. Although ambush interviews in this context may not be the most desirable; they are at least consistent with some iota of journalistic ethos.

However, on tonight's show, O'Reilly's crew ambushed Syracuse University chancellor Nancy Cantor. Yes, while Cantor is somewhat of a public figure due to her status as the head of a major university, the content of the "ambush" was completely uncalled for.

Cantor was being questioned for racially insensitive remarks made by a professor at the university. Mind you, a lower-level professor in a small department, an person that Cantor would probably never directly interact with on purpose in her entire tenure as chancellor. Cantor responded with one line, "it was one man speaking for himself." Yet, the "reporter" kept prodding her with different variations of the same question. Again, Cantor responded with the same line, "it was one man speaking for himself."

Remember that one of the basic ideas of a university is to promote a free exchange of ideas. It's not Nancy Cantor's job to be the speech police. And, especially, it's not Fox's job to harass Cantor on her way to lunch break. Ambush interviews are nothing but cheap ratings spectacles.

Prediction for Tomorrow's WV Primary Coverage

2008-05-12T23:05:00.003-04:00

Since Obama's cakewalk in North Carolina and Hillary's bare survival in Indiana, the media have written off Hillary and prematurely declared Obama the Democratic nominee.

That's until tomorrow night.

Yes, Hillary is expected to win West Virginia by abour 25 to 30 percentage points over Obama. Is it too little too late? Absolutely, if you're being rational and looking at the hard facts. However, chances are you don't have 6 hours of news time to fill until Larry King comes on at midnight.

So, be prepared for Chris Matthews to commend a "phenomenal" comeback by Hillary clinton, for Wolf Blitzer to report a "massive" win that puts her right back in the Democratic race alongside Barack, and for Brit Hume to discuss the potential for Hillary to sway a hoard of Superdelegates with her "amazing" win tomorrow night.

And, i'm sure MSNBC and CNN will whip out the cattle prod on all their commentators like Rachel Maddow, Pat Buchanan, David Gergen, and Jeffrey Toobin-- although I'm sure they know full well that the race is over and Obama has an insurmountable lead, they will still play the "what if" game. It's just what naturally happens when the phenonemon of groupthink and the misery of overblown cable news coverage combine.

After all, it's no fun giving Obama a coronation ceremony for 6 hours. Viewers are looking for drama, suspense, and action. And that's exactly what cable news will give them tomorrow night; even though the legend presented by the network talking heads couldn't be further from reality.

Cable Primary Coverage

2008-05-08T20:47:00.003-04:00

Well, I have to say Daily Show nailed it on this one:

My thoughts exactly! As for other analysis of Tuesday night's primary coverage, let me rank the networks in order:

#1 MSNBC-- The only network who treats the primary elections as "presidentiaL", not a sporting event or a potential communist overthrow of American government. Their analysis from knowledgable and objective political reporters instead of annoying talking heads advocating for one candidate or the other made their coverage the most enlightening and entertaining to watch.

(By the way, while we're talking about MSNBC, ya gotta love Chris Matthews' new hair!...)

#2 CNN-- Well, CNN was just this side of bearable. I feel like CNN is trying to bring some young, powerful, fresh approach to political coverage, but it just doesn't work. Their election theme music consists of the same 3-second repetition of drums and cymbals over and over and over again. The screen is overloaded with cheesy graphics; the set is packed with too many charts and graphs to comprehend anything at all. Sometimes I feel like CNN is a math class rather than election coverage. Oh, and John King really needs to chill out with his magical map, a TV technological innovation that'll go down alongside the NHL on FOX glowing puck for useless and irritating technology.

#3 Fox News- Well, this one wasn't so hard. It was really depressing to watch Fox News. Their dreary, red, pulsating set makes you feel like you're watching a pending nuclear launch rather than incoming election results. While the other networks featured a broad range of commentators, from all walks of life, Fox News just used their own in-house stereotypical stuffy old white guys-- Hume, Rove, Hannity, Colmes, Smith-- to report. I felt like I was being punished for the 10 minutes I watched Fox's coverage. It was too much to bear.

Ah, the Joys of Brower!

2008-05-04T12:31:00.004-04:00

I've never seen such a mass conglomeration of confused, lost, helpless-looking people than today at Brower Commons- where about 1,000 parents of incoming freshmen were herded like cattle into the worst dining hall on campus, while their loving children got their first session of brainwashing from the RU faculty.

I mean, you would think that half of these parents were stuck in the middle of the Gobi Desert, desperately searching for an oasis or a stray dramadary by looking at their facial expressions! Walking around with a tray in their hands for the first time since they were in high school, they took terse and hesitant steps; their eyes either squinted in confusion, or plastered wide open due to a combination of panic and torment. Their heads constantly shifted around, analyzing the environment, and perhaps looking for another person over 45 to latch onto. Some try especially hard to not make eye contact with anyone else, for no one can be trusted in the dark and dreary dungeon that is Brower Commons. Others do the opposite- analyzing current Rutgers students like a CIA operative, scanning for potential future threats to their daughter's dignity.

Quite an entertaining experience to say the least. If you missed it today, there is still another Parents' Day on Saturday May 10th. Take a seat, grab a cup of coffee, and laugh along as mature intelligent human beings turn into Neanderthals for an hour. (By the way, what a day for the Psychology department! How can they not be doing experiments on this?)

And, as a side note: brilliant job by the Rutgers Orientation Committee to have all 1,000 parents herded up and prodded over to Brower Commons at the same time, creating lines that literally ended up outside the main entrance (if you don't show up at Brower by 11:45 AM like I did, then forget about it. I just beat the mob by a minute). Ever heard of a staggered schedule, Rutgers Orientation people?

Hillary on O'Reilly Factor

2008-04-30T23:10:00.003-04:00

While I'm at it, I just watched the first 10 minutes of Hillary's interview with Bill O'Reilly. All I have to say is-- man did Democrats screw up big time in voting for Obama. Even though O'Reilly is peppering Hillary with hostile questions, she is still as poised, confident, and sensible as ever. She actually looks like she's kind of enjoying it!

Meanwhile, Barack seemed like he was caught completely off-guard by the softer questions of Chris Wallace on Sunday, not to mention his complete destruction by Reverend Wright in the succeeding days.

Please Superdelegates!! Switch to Hillary!! NOW!!

Media Ethics?

2008-04-30T22:38:00.002-04:00

I stumbled upon this clip while perusing YouTube today, and was completely enraged. As journalists, we're taught both through our practical experiences and in journalism classes to be objective, unbiased, and unemotionally attached to stories. However, consider the situation presented in the following clip- and see if you agree with Mike Wallace's interpretation of media ethics...

Personally, I believe that hiding behind the guise of "I'm a reporter" is utterly disgraceful. The fact that you're a "reporter" doesn't give you a license to violate basic standards of humanity in the name of "journalistic ethics". Any "reporter" who believes that it is their duty to refuse to take actions that could potentially save someone's life in order to "get the story" is an embarassment to society. You might be a "reporter", but you're still foremost a human being and American citizen. But, perhaps I'm forgetting that some "reporters" are all too anxious to relay death and destruction to boost their own reputations (after all- if it bleeds it leads).

Other reporters may disagree with my position, and say that I'm a disgrace to the profession since I'm not following the prescribed journalistic standards-- and guess what? I really don't care. Go ahead and kick me out of the press club. Delete my name from the AP roster. I'd rather save someone's life than get my story on the front page.

34th Annual NJ Folk Fest

2008-04-28T16:26:00.004-04:00

Banjos playing, bratwursts sizzling, and braided yarn being woven into cloth. All of these ingredients came together on the Cook/Douglass campus on this past Saturday. Despite cloudy weather, the normally sleepy Eagleton institute was transformed into the successful 34th annual New Jersey Folk Festival. Each year a culture is chosen to theme the festival, and this year German-American Traditions was picked. In addition to traditional folk tunes being translated into German, festival goers were inundated with a host of other musical fare, including bluegrass, traditional Irish music, bagpipers, strolling fiddlers and a range of contest-winning singer-songwriters.
While many attendees may have enjoyed the day , they may not have been aware of how the event all came together. The New Jersey Folk Festival is actually one of only a handful of folk festivals in the U.S. managed by undergraduate students. Andy Glaser is one of fourteen students in a three-credit seminar class who are the planning committee of the festival. “In the first half of the semester we learn about folk culture, and the second half is planning the Folk Fest”, Glaser said. As an avid fan of folk music himself, Glaser was recruited to the class by the director of the class and founder of the folk fest Dr. Angus Gillespie. “The class is a lot of work, it’s like an internship," for Andy Glaser, "but, I just like doing it." The students, who earn credits towards an American Studies major, are each responsible for an aspect of the festival, earning titles such as “Festival Manager”, “Finance Coordinator”, or “Pinelands Stage Manager”.
One performer of the day on the Pinelands Stage, Joe “Zookey” Petraitis, got involved simply by playing open mic nights in the area and connecting with other like-minded folk music players. He happened to meet another festival performer, Spook Handy, on the circuit and they have been playing together since in many different venues. “The folk community is a family,” Zookey (which the singer prefers to go by) remarked. “We are all connected, like a web.” After retiring 8 years ago to focus on his songwriting, Zookey plays at four or five festivals a year, but the New Jersey native says this one here at Rutgers is his favorite.

Obama = Disaster for Dems (at least for now)

2008-04-28T13:49:00.008-04:00

Based on current polls, if an Obama vs. McCain election were to take place tomorrow, here's what the national map would look like (click to enlarge):

McCain wins. The nation is engulfed in red. Pay special attention to the states of Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Now, let's see what happens in a Hillary vs. McCain matchup:

Hillary wins. Still lots of red, but there's blue in the most important spots. Again, pay special attention to Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

So, contrary to what we might have thought a few months ago, Obama is the unelectable one, at least for now. The only way the Democratic party can dump Obama is for a large number of Superdelegates to back Hillary.

This should be a very interesting convention in August...

From My Mind to Yours!

2008-04-28T01:37:00.004-04:00

Greetings and salutations to the world of bloggers! My name's Alex Cole. For this particular post, I will not be stating anything interesting, informative, or amusing. This is only to serve as an introduction.

I am one of the station's more unusual characters. Thus whenever I feel it necessary to make an addition to this blog it will most likely not be related to the news (note the "most" likely). Nor is it likely to do with politics, gossip, or other things handled by most journalists. My posts, 88.7% of the time, will just be giving you, the reader, an insight into life as a journalism student, a radio personality, and a rather eccentric person. For instance, I may explain my feelings on the college system as a whole in regards to what one must accomplish, what one gets in return, and how little that means in today's day and age where even the most simple of jobs requires a associates degree in some ridiculously unrelated field (I'm speaking in generalities, of course). Maybe one day I'll provide commentary on a novel I've read, although admittedly I've never been much good at reviews. Who knows? Maybe I'll even go as far as to dabble in adventure journalism under the title "Double 'e Troubles."

I apologize for that last example. I tend to get on a roll once given a public medium. I will leave you with that for now.

And remember: just when you think you know something, change the perspective and you'll see you never truly knew anything at all.

Get Ready for 5 Months of This....

2008-04-27T13:51:00.005-04:00

If anyone needs empirical evidence as to why Hillary and Barack need to end the soap opera of the 2008 Democratic Primary ASAP, see below:

Indeed, desperate times call for desperate measures, and this ad is a pretty low blow. Since there is no Democratic winner, all the Democratic National Committee can do is plaster McCain for the next 5 months with fear-mongering attacks like this. Hillary and Barack seriously need to consider the Cuomo Plan and agree to run on the same ticket for November. Then, the DNC can run positive ads saying "Vote for Barack and Hillary" rather than trying to scare off potential voters by showing McCain next to pictures of flaming debris.

McGovern's Revenge

2008-04-23T22:38:00.007-04:00

Well, just when we had a sliver of hope that it might be over, get ready to settle in for another 5 months of Democratic drama! Although Hillary gets a decisive win in Pennsylvania, Barack is still plenty ahead in the delegate count.

Which begs the question: should Dems just support Barack and get it over with? Shouldn't the party just name their nominee instead of letting John McCain bask in the sunshine while their two candidates continue an endless mudslinging tour? Is it time for Hillary to take one for the team?

I'll admit that up until last night, I was on the Obama bandwagon. But then, all of a sudden, while my mind was in Presidential election mode, I remembered a lesson from the past. I'm a big believer that history repeats itself, and those who fail to recognize the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them (cliche, I know-- sue me). Therefore, I've suddenly changed my support over to Hillary Clinton. Why?

May I present to you Mr. George McGovern.

I'm guessing that about 75% of the people who read this blog have little to no idea who George McGovern is. In that case, it will behoove you to read the synopsis I've provided below. But, if you are familiar with the story of George McGovern, feel free to skip ahead.

---start of dull history lesson---

George McGovern was the Democratic candidate in the 1972 election. His main opponent in the primary was a man named Edmund Muskie, who had been a Vice-Presidential candidate in 1968. Muskie had a huge lead in early polls and was expected to easily sweep the nomination (Sound familiar? Perhaps like a certain female candidate in 2008?).

However, Senator McGovern put up a valiant fight, winning a few early primaries and getting his name on the map. McGovern's main allure was his highly-progressive platform: including ending the Vietnam War, supporting abortion, and other highly liberal stances. Due to these sentiments of hope, change, and progress, he became extremely popular with young, college-age voters, and developed a highly passionate following (Sound familiar? Perhaps like a certain African-American candidate in 2008?)

Riding this wave of momentum, McGovern was named the Democratic nominee and faced incumbent president Richard Nixon in the 1972 general election. The result?....

One of the most embarrassing defeats in electoral history.

McGovern only managed to win one state (Massachusetts) and D.C. He got only 17 electoral votes compared to Nixon's 520. The popular vote went Nixon 60%, McGovern 38%. I think you get the idea by now.

---end of dull history lesson---

To sum it up, McGovern had an extremely loyal following of young, enthusiastic, progressive followers who pushed him through the primaries, but he crashed and burned in the general election for a few reasons. One, he was just too liberal for the average citizen, and his extreme stances on issues just wouldn't fly among the average middle-aged/elderly voter. As Robert Novak so eloquently put it, his campaign revolved around "amnesty, abortion, and acid."

But not only was McGovern too liberal, his campaign promises were also just too much show, not enough substance. He had an extremely difficult time trying to court blue-collar voters, who might not even have been aware what they were voting for, but were just taken away by the hype and majestic aura of the Senator's campaign.

I don't know about you, but doesn't this sound just too eerily similar to be mere coincidence? We all know that Barack Obama can trigger good feelings in discouraged citizens by using buzzwords like "hope", "change", "future", and the like-- but can he actually deliver? Are these lofty promises a bit much to ask from a first-term junior Senator?

Also, can we be assured that Barack Obama will be able to reel in the typical moderate, politically inexperienced voters come November? First off, his comments about "bitter" middle-class Americans surely aren't helping his cause. Lower income citizens who are passionate about their religion, or their firearms, or getting illegal immigrants out of the country will probably vote for a candidate who supports their views (John McCain) rather than a candidate who seemingly mocks the middle class due to their heartfelt passions.

Plus, consider this-- and this is not a point to be taken lightly for Democrats. Obama couldn't even top the "despised" Hillary Clinton in the extremely important battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio (Florida is still up in the air as their primary was a sham). Can Democrats count on him to deliver the goods in November? Even in Pennsylvania, where he was walloped by 10 percentage points?

I'm sorry, but I've officially jumped the Obama bandwagon. Obama intoxicates voters with feelings of hope, change, and progress, making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside for a little while. But, once you sober up from this inebriation, you realize the truth: that Barack's campaign is as thin as a playing card and can't stand the pressure of John McCain. Then, you've got to deal with the painful, excruciating hangover: How the hell do we change our minds now? Barack has got too much of a lead!

Well, it appears the only way for Hillary to save the Democrats' chances of winning in November is to close the delegate gap by winning decisively in Indiana and North Carolina, then convincing a large number of Superdelegates at the Democratic National Convention in September that she is the candidate of choice.

Oh, by the way, Superdelegates are prominent party figures (like Governors, Senators, and Congressmen) who are free to vote for whatever candidate they choose. Republicans do not use the Superdelegate system, all of their delegates are chosen by voters in the primaries. Only the Democratic party requires the final approval of party officials to officially nominate a candidate.

And why do we have Superdelegates in the first place? Ironically, after 1972, the Democratic party decided that they wanted to have the final say on Presidential candidates, so that the public couldn't nominate an overly liberal, un-electable candidate like George McGovern. So, they put the Superdelgate system in place, just in case the public would become so infatuated with a candidate who couldn't feasibly be elected, the party could invoke some rationality.

Mere coincidence? Or is it McGovern's revenge?

KnightBeat Post-Show, 4/22

2008-04-23T00:17:00.000-04:00

One of our best shows ever tonight! Lots of interesting topics, and some heated discussion. My closing thoughts:

It's really pathetic that Rutgers students have to deal with insect-infected dorm rooms when umpteen-million dollars are being poured into the stadium renovation and other cute aesthetic improvements. No student should have to put up with that.
The Yale artist's "project" may be art, but it's still egregiously disgusting no matter what you call it. But, maybe that was exactly her point.
Juicy Campus is not an evil parasite ruining everyone's lives-- it's a stupid gossip message board, and students who take anything they read on the site seriously are either dumb or insane.
And NO, I'm NOT anti-environment!! Recycle! Buy eco-friendly plastic bottles!

The Inaugural Post

2008-04-23T00:12:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the shiny new WRSU-FM News Blog! Want to know what's on our mind after the show? Want to hear our opinions on all the latest stories and issues? You've come to the right place! All members of the News team are free to post their views, opinions, insight, and whatever else they'd like, right here for all to see. Enjoy, and don't forget to listen to WRSU News!