News Articles

It’s hard to ignore the slaying of Trayvon Martin. It’s all over the news in every city in America. That the internet and the 24 hour news cycle has made the world smaller is a good thing. It won’t bring this child back, but perhaps it will spare others.

There was this perfect storm of gun laws and racism that conspired to kill Trayvon and as both a parent and a handgun owner I am disturbed. Florida allows citizens to use deadly force if they reasonably believe they face harm. My understanding is that in California you can use deadly force inside your home. I can’t shoot you on my front lawn… even if… even if… I might be wrong, I’m not a lawyer and I’m also not planning on shooting anyone on front lawn. In Los Angeles you cannot walk down the street armed without a permit. This is a good thing. We don’t have to fend off hungry bears here.

When I learned to drive my parents taught me the rules of the road and my father taught me the rules of getting pulled over. “Keep your hands on the wheel.” He said, “Don’t be cute and don’t be clever. Take your ticket and say, ‘yes sir, no sir’.” He reminded me that because we were white kids we could drive through places like Beverly Hills and told us about people who were routinely incarcerated during traffic stops, their blackness scared the police. This was all during the reign of Daryl F. Gates, not our city’s finest years.

When we were teens my brother drove a Dodge Dart. He loved that car, it had three on the tree and not much of a starter. It leaked oil onto the cobblestone streets of my mother’s gated community and I’m pretty sure that leak made him love it just a little more. My brother also has black hair and like everyone in the family drives a little too fast. He was late for school one morning and got pulled over on PCH. After issuing the ticket and noting the Bel Air address the officer told my teenage brother that if he didn’t want to get pulled over he should stop looking like a Cholo.

A ticket is nothing. Really.

Something has to change and I suspect it will. I’m an optimist about this because I don’t believe that I live in a country where we go around shooting kids. I won’t believe that.

Worldwide there’s an epidemic of hate and there’s been a massacre in Toulouse. A woman has lost her husband and her two sons to a madman’s bullets. There’s always the sense that “they’d” like to get the Jews. I don’t know who “they” is but they’re always shooting at our kids and our husbands. I wish they’d stop.

I think we’re all culpable though. We talk about bullies and fairness and toss around buzzwords that make you feel like you’ve done something. I’m not seeing people really stand up and say, “It’s never okay to dehumanize another group.”

There’s nothing inherently threatening about a 17 year old black person. Not unless someone told you there is.

There are many good journalists in America. There are talented documentarians too. Great journalists and biographers aren’t typically found in social media. Sure there are some, but not the majority.

This weekend This American Life will spend a full hour unwinding a previously aired story “Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory”. In this episode Mike Daisey chronicles mistreatment of workers in factories that make components for Apple products. In a particularly ironic turn this episode became the most popular of all downloads in the iTunes store. A petition was started and national media picked up the story… I know… another petition. But this time Apple responded by hiring a third party to audit working conditions in the factories in China.

Something good happened. Maybe.

Concurrently a video went viral. It’s about a man named Joseph Kony. Kony is the head of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and has abused tens of thousands of children in Uganda turning them into sex slaves and killers. It is absolutely indisputable that Joseph Kony is evil personified. What is in dispute is whether or not this video is helpful for the people of Uganda. Further, Jason Russell, cofounder of Invisible Children (the non profit behind the video), has had some sort of emotional break. Among other things he was seen naked and agitated on a street corner midday. The police got involved and he is currently hospitalized on a 72 hour hold.

None of this makes Joseph Kony less evil. None of this makes children (many of whom are now adult) less harmed.

As Mike Daisey astutely points out there is a difference between entertainment and journalism. Sometimes we as consumers of content get confused, and this is where we can take some power back. We can use critical thinking to determine if we are consuming journalism, activism or storytelling. The days of passively reading a newspaper and trusting all sources are over.

We need to understand that activism isn’t balanced and doesn’t purport to be. The video that Invisible Children put out doesn’t have to be 100% factual it’s meant only to make us uncomfortable. It’s meant to provoke activism or at the very least slacktivism (sharing the video on your Facebook page and signing a virtual petition). The video isn’t meant to enlighten the people in Uganda nor is it meant to be a comprehensive documentary. It’s like a blog in that it’s meant to plant a seed, it never meant to be the tree.

Is it a bunch of rich white Southern California men trying to affect change in Africa? Yep, it sure is. Does that make their message less palatable? Yes, for some it rings of colonialism, narcissism and the great white savior. Others see it as white privilege and a fabulous use of the gifts bestowed upon men. I think I see it as both with the caveat that I assign no value good or bad.

Mike Daisey clearly  saw human rights abuses in China. Does his embellished storytelling make Foxconn less culpable? Kai MacMahon wisely points out that 17 workers at Foxconn killed themselves last year. When This American Life apologizes for getting a story wrong do these people, these young humans, magically come back to life?

There’s a blurry line these days and sometimes it’s hard to tell if you’re looking at propaganda, storytelling, journalism or advertising. Sometimes you’re looking at all three. With fragmented media and the birth of online news the onus will be on the consumer for the foreseeable future.

Ask yourself if it matters that Mike Daisey embellishes a story. He isn’t a journalist, but he is reporting something to us that needs to be heard. If every word isn’t true we can’t dismiss the fact that our yearning for cheap electronics is paid for in both health and sanity by factory workers half a world away.

Does it matter that Joseph Kony’s reign of terror is winding down? Is it a story that still needs telling? Does the US need to be the world’s police force? Yes. Yes. I hope not. Was the video manipulative? Of course it was. Is manipulative a bad thing? Not always.

The problem we are seeing with social media and ridiculous amounts of transparency is that we are placing too much value on the messenger and not enough on the message. People can get an awful lot of stuff wrong and still be very right.

This morning on the Howard Stern Show Elle MacPherson gave a few million listeners a lesson on cultural sensitivity. I missed the beginning of the interview but I was taken aback when Howard started asking her questions about how her 14 year old son felt about her having naked photos of herself around the house. Elle MacPherson avoided the question as well as any guest can and then in frustration she said, “You sound like a Jewish psychiatrist”.

In looking at the words it doesn’t sound particularly offensive, but in the context of the conversation and the fact that it was clearly meant as an insult. I’m unsure which is worse in Elle MacPherson’s mind, being Jewish or being a psychiatrist. Since I’m not one to look inward much it’s a question I’d rather she answer.

There was a bit of discussion about the Jewish men she’d dated and how “wonderful” they are. It’s that awkward moment after I’ve made a disparaging remark about black people and then I name my African American friends… I’ve always appreciated that y’all have silently nodded while I’ve dug my own grave and I think that Howard was giving Elle that same courtesy. She did in fact kiss a Jewish boy when she was just 13.

When she felt like she was being nagged Elle MacPherson told Howard that he was sounding like a Jewish Mother and again when she wanted to insult his looks she said he was “so Jewish”. As she continued insulting the host and talking about how ugly he was the interview abruptly ended. I’d enjoy seeing that video.

Elle MacPherson never came out and said, “Jews are annoying and ugly”… instead she sort of intimated it. I won’t come right out and say that the Elle MacPherson is ugly on the inside and annoying, I’ll just intimate it.

Photo credit: HowardStern.com

Almost two week ago you might have seen this on my facebook timeline.

And to be fair it wasn’t Oprah that called or I might have actually been nice when I answered.

It began like this:

ME: This is Jessica

OWN NETWORK: Hi this is [a really nice lady] from OWN the Oprah Winfrey Network.

ME: [still not interested, sure that it’s going to be another craptastic pitch] How are you doing?

OWN NETWORK: Great. I’m calling because of Oprah’s Lifeclass.

She went on to explain the Lifeclass for this year and how it’s going to be in St. Louis and in New York City and she would be on the road with Bishop T.D. Jakes, Iyanla Vanzant, Deepak Chopra and Tony Robbins. I continued not paying attention because I get these phone calls all the time and I don’t really cover events that I’m not at.

And then she said, “And we’d like you to travel with us.”

And she kept talking and I tried to not scream and I hadn’t written down her name, number email address or anything but I was able to stutter out, “I need to check with my husband but I really want to go.”

All the while I’m thinking, “I don’t care WHO takes care of the kids, it’s a total of nine non consecutive days, I’m not missing this!”

And then we didn’t talk again so I thought maybe I’d hallucinated.

And then we did talk again and I realized I was the luckiest woman in the world. When we talked more I saw that a handful of other bloggers would be on the tour. I made a twitter list of everyone involved (but of course you can’t add yourself to your own twitter lists) and I used a dormant twitter ID that you don’t need to follow.

So I’ll be in St. Louis and New York with Oprah and her traveling band of celebrities and overachievers. For now I’m panicking about what to wear, which should prove to you that I haven’t an ounce of common sense because what I should be doing is researching the incredible talent that is going to be taking this adventure with me.

Tickets are available this week only. It’s a lottery system so be sure to go to Oprah.com and get your tickets. I’d love to see some friendly faces. Here are some details from the site:

- The taping at Peabody Opera House in St. Louis will take place on Monday, March 26, 2012.
- The taping at Radio City Music Hall in New York City will take place on Monday, April 2, 2012.
- The time commitment for the afternoon taping in St. Louis is from 12:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. CT, featuring Bishop T.D. Jakes as the guest teacher.
- The time commitment for the evening taping in St. Louis is from 5:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. CT, featuring Iyanla Vanzant as the guest teacher.
- The time commitment for the afternoon taping in New York is from 12:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. ET, featuring Deepak Chopra as the guest teacher.
- The time commitment for the evening taping in New York is from 6:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. ET, featuring Tony Robbins as the guest teacher.

Last night I saw a story on the KPCC Website entitled No fun: L.A. county beaches to levy $1,000 fine for throwing footballs and Frisbees. Because KPCC is my local NPR affiliate and a trusted news source I assumed this was true. KCAL which is a less trusted, but trusted site nonetheless ran a similar story.

I trusted these news sources and became agitated. Los Angeles does NOT need to lose any of it’s tourism dollars. We cannot afford this sort of debacle. So I picked up the phone.

Tony Bell who is with the LA County Board of Supervisors assures me that county is not banning football or Frisbee playing on the beach. The real story is that there was an existing law in place that banned all sorts of play on public beaches and that it was recently revised. Essentially this is a modification to an existing law wherein IF you are playing ball or frisbee on the beach and the ball is repeatedly hitting people on the head or presenting danger the Lifeguard can issue you a warning — and then, if you don’t stop, you could receive a fine of up to $100. — NOT $1000!

A local news outlet ran the story without fact checking and the public was led to believe that there would be a thousand dollar fine for kids playing football.

I called the County Offices, less as a blogger and more as a ticked off citizen, starting with “I’m pissed.” and I got the above explanation. Further there will be motions on Tuesday that will eliminate some of the poorly worded language so the public can be assured that the beaches are, in fact, for families.

In reality someone presenting that sort of hazard could probably also be arrested for battery.

It seems that this is much ado about not that nothing, and in the future I will be sure to fact check even when reputable journalists break the story. I cannot over emphasize how disappointing it is to have been the first person to call the city and ask for details.

On Tuesday there will be a motion to reword some of this.

The following is the text of the ordinances that seem to be confusing are below. Out of context they appear to be rather Draconian. In context they appear to be written in legalese, which as we know is not meant to be easily deciphered.

UPDATE: Here’s another blogger who gets it.

Susan G. Komen Foundation reverses decision to end grants to Planned Parenthood

This is the Yahoo Headline. It’s followed by few words, because really the headline IS the story. I don’t like the pinkification of a disease that ravages women, it ravages more than their breasts, though the breasts are what people love to discuss.

The question remains: is the damage done? Is it just too late to get everyone back?

I think it is.

There was never any controversy about the Walther P-22 handgun that benefitted the Susan G Komen marketing machine. Why? Well, because like abortions handguns are legal.

The question I’d like to ask of all of you is how you’ll spend that time. You see the Susan G Komen Foundation didn’t just steal your money and spend it suing other non profits who are actively seeking cures for cancer, they stole your time.

All that time spent walking, training and fundraising. My question to you is this:

How will you use that time to benefit women in your own backyard? It could prove to be quite valuable.

UPDATE: Folks keep asking if this is a real gun. Yes, it is… you know the saying, “Some comedy writes itself.”

UPDATE: The Susan G Komen foundation also stopped funding embryonic stem cell research centers. If you think for a single solitary second that SGK cares about the health of women you are wrong.