Week 1 post 1

Gt els 

2nd semester 2020

Storytelling and journalism
For social change

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Notes

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Storytelling for social change week 1-

Empathy and belief systems

Source Umichicgan Professor Anita Gonzalez

• create empathy through stories
• Stories can change people
• Craft stories for impact
• People polarize
• Tell a story rather than an argument because stories draw you in and make you feel perspective rather than feel attacked
• A story is not a lie
• Unique interpretation of each event depending on the character
• Different ideas of good or bad
• Can change belief systems
• Non combating belief systems
• Intersections of the human experience

Discussion # 1 introduce myself

Hey everybody! My name is Lizzie Hahn and I am a junior in high school from des moines iowa. I personally find a lot of joy in hearing others stories, reading, writing, and sharing. I feel that this medium is one of the most important ones to exist because it is able to connect and share feelings with people who otherwise might not understand. I feel that it is a very culminating tool that the world can use to communicate with each other better. I am interested in this because I am particularly passionate about politics and people. I love to create and take photos and I feel that this class will allow me to combine all things i love to make a positive impact :)

Priscilla Lindsay Interview

• I think storytelling is the relating of an event, true or not true,

to someone else and it's supposed to convey information,

talk about an event or something that's happened.

• Has to have an element of truth to it 
• It helps to exhibit feelings or emotions
• Helps promote the state of human condition and change if it is necessary
• It opens up an opportunity for interaction and evoking change within people
• If you inspire one person you can inspire others
• Storytelling must happen with at least 2 people 
• Storytelling helping evoke the emotions helps grow empathy, which from previous research I know is extremely important
• Storytelling can also be in the body itself
• Needing to retell history, HISTORY MATTERS
• Interpreting history for new generations 
• What's the buy in, do we want it to be true.
• How much do you want to believe what you hear, dreamers
• Stories can intervene with the belief systems people are so tightly attached to 
• Making the roots human, so that its more universal and out reaching
• Whos the ‘other’ and who isn't and how do you make people feel equally invested
• The generation of immigrants who lost roots in the depression is not so different to the immigrants now

Priscilla Lindsay Performance - SO PRETTY!

We ain't gonna die out, people is going on, the idea that women just keep going, women see how life will go on.

Belief systems

• Storytelling is not just prehistoric around the campfire, storytelling is with us each moment in our daily lives
• Stories carry histories of generations of people
• Ancient african griot is a respected storyteller who travels from village to village communicating news as well as histories of those who occupied the land before his or her generation 
• Other story tellers include people like  homer
• Today stories come to us through books, internet, the news
• It is not necessarily from person to person now but however the story comes across the two MOST IMPORTANT elements are the SPEAKER and the AUDIENCE
• Protagonist and antagonist
• When we learn more about one of them we learn to empathize with one or the other
• Stories ground us in imaginations of who we are, where we come from, and why we exist.
• One way to promote social change is to listen

Why facts dont change our minds

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds 

By elizabeth kolbert in the New Yorker

• In 1975, researchers at Stanford invited a group of undergraduates to take part in a study about suicide. They were presented with pairs of suicide notes. In each pair, one note had been composed by a random individual, the other by a person who had subsequently taken his own life. The students were then asked to distinguish between the genuine notes and the fake ones.
•  Out of twenty-five pairs of notes, they correctly identified the real one twenty-four times. Others discovered that they were hopeless. They identified the real note in only ten instances.
• Though half the notes were indeed genuine—they’d been obtained from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office—the scores were fictitious. The students who’d been told they were almost always right were, on average, no more discerning than those who had been told they were mostly wrong.
• The students were told that the real point of the experiment was to gauge their responses to thinking they were right or wrong. (This, it turned out, was also a deception.) Finally, the students were asked to estimate how many suicide notes they had actually categorized correctly, and how many they thought an average student would get right. At this point, something curious happened. The students in the high-score group said that they thought they had, in fact, done quite well—significantly better than the average student—even though, as they’d just been told, they had zero grounds for believing this. Conversely, those who’d been assigned to the low-score group said that they thought they had done significantly worse than the average student—a conclusion that was equally unfounded.
• new book, “The Enigma of Reason” (Harvard), the cognitive scientists Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber take a stab at answering this question. Mercier, who works at a French research institute in Lyon, and Sperber, now based at the Central European University, in Budapest, point out that reason is an evolved trait, like bipedalism or three-color vision. It emerged on the savannas of Africa, and has to be understood in that context.
• Humans’ biggest advantage over other species is our ability to coöperate. Coöperation is difficult to establish and almost as difficult to sustain. For any individual, freeloading is always the best course of action. Reason developed not to enable us to solve abstract, logical problems or even to help us draw conclusions from unfamiliar data; rather, it developed to resolve the problems posed by living in collaborative groups.
• Consider what’s become known as “confirmation bias,” the tendency people have to embrace information that supports their beliefs and reject information that contradicts them. 
•  There was little advantage in reasoning clearly, while much was to be gained from winning arguments.
• believe sociability is the key to how the human mind functions or, perhaps more pertinently, malfunctions. They begin their book, “The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone” (Riverhead), with a look at toilets.
• In a study conducted at Yale, graduate students were asked to rate their understanding of everyday devices, including toilets, zippers, and cylinder locks. They were then asked to write detailed, step-by-step explanations of how the devices work, and to rate their understanding again. Apparently, the effort revealed to the students their own ignorance, because their self-assessments dropped. (Toilets, it turns out, are more complicated than they appear.)
• Sloman and Fernbach see this effect, which they call the “illusion of explanatory depth,” just about everywhere. People believe that they know way more than they actually do. What allows us to persist in this belief is other people. In the case of my toilet, someone else designed it so that I can operate it easily. This is something humans are very good at. We’ve been relying on one another’s expertise ever since we figured out how to hunt together, which was probably a key development in our evolutionary history. So well do we collaborate, Sloman and Fernbach argue, that we can hardly tell where our own understanding ends and others’ begins.
• Sloman and Fernbach see this effect, which they call the “illusion of explanatory depth,” just about everywhere. People believe that they know way more than they actually do. What allows us to persist in this belief is other people. In the case of my toilet, someone else designed it so that I can operate it easily. This is something humans are very good at. We’ve been relying on one another’s expertise ever since we figured out how to hunt together, which was probably a key development in our evolutionary history. So well do we collaborate, Sloman and Fernbach argue, that we can hardly tell where our own understanding ends and others’ begins.
• In “Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore the Facts That Will Save Us” (Oxford), Jack Gorman, a psychiatrist, and his daughter, Sara Gorman, a public-health specialist, probe the gap between what science tells us and what we tell ourselves. Their concern is with those persistent beliefs which are not just demonstrably false but also potentially deadly, like the conviction that vaccines are hazardous. Of course, what’s hazardous is not being vaccinated; that’s why vaccines were created in the first place. “Immunization is one of the triumphs of modern medicine,” the Gormans note. But no matter how many scientific studies conclude that vaccines are safe, and that there’s no link between immunizations and autism, anti-vaxxers remain unmoved. (They can now count on their side—sort of—Donald Trump, who has said that, although he and his wife had their son, Barron, vaccinated, they refused to do so on the timetable recommended by pediatricians.)
• self-destructive must at some point have been adaptive

Journalism for social change week 1-

Solution based journalism

Discussion introduction

Hey there everybody, my name is lizzie Hahn and I am a Junior in high school however I have taken many higher level classes such as the one I am using this class for which allows me to do independent research. I am a full time student athlete who is in many clubs. I chose to take this course because I am extremely passionate about writing, the power of writing, and what public policy can help change. I see a lot of things that upset me in this world and my goal in life is to eventually change what I believe needs to change. I am very interested in women's rights, Black lives matter, climate change, and educational rights in k-12. 

Daniel Heimpel Lecture Video

• Solution based journalism, one of the most valuable tools in the world because it is the ability to describe solutions to complex problems is arguably the most important thing to know
• Typical new coverage focuses on pathologies which tends to focus on problems alone
• the responsibility of journalism is not to report on the degradation of the planet, the degradation of the world, but rather to be an active force in making it better.
• Is match severe and complex problems with solutions, it is hard work but important work.
• In reporting do not propagate your own ideas rather talk to all the experts, the policy leaders, the advocates who are finding all the answers
• This class focuses on vulnerable children
• Want stories that inspire others to follow you 
• Solutions should be part of public discourse

• Dyer, John. (June, 2015). Is Solutions Journalism the Solution? Nieman Reports. Retrieved from: http://niemanreports.org/articles/is-solutions-journalism-the-solution/
• Reporters and editors at the Times’ Education Lab team felt their audience was desensitized to the laundry list of challenges facing schools in Washington State. Unruly teenagers, poor performance among low-income students, and high dropout rates weren’t news to anybody anymore.
• set out to find the schools that were improving and ask how their educators and students excelled despite poverty, crime, and other challenges. Instead of reporting on the problems in the schools, they would cover the solutions. 
• David Bornstein, a co-founder of the Network and coauthor of the Fixes blog in the Opinionator section of The New York Times, cites three trends that illustrate why solutions journalism has come of age: the proliferation of businesses, nonprofits, and other institutions alleviating social ills; the explosion of online information that allows people tired of negative news to avoid the mainstream media; and journalists’ desire to cover positive social change and reach more readers.
• When reading typical sad news stories people start reading it and it is too depressing to continue reading
•  hardcore investigative reporting is still central to journalism’s role as a watchdog
• that journalists must obtain data that shows how a solution is working. Data inoculates reporters against charges they’re giving favorable coverage to a group because of its political affiliation, for instance. The only bias in solutions journalism should be toward evidence
• The Huffington Post, editors are keen for stories that readers share on Facebook and elsewhere. They view sharing as the best measure of impact. “Sharing is you thinking about what other people should know about it, so much so you want to brand yourself with it on social media,”
• constructive journalism!!!
• “They believe from nuance. The idea is not to change minds; it’s to show possibilities.”
• McCann, Samantha. (Nov. 28, 2016). Solutions Journalism is Biased! (And Other Myths). Solutions Journalism Network. Retrieved from: https://thewholestory.solutionsjournalism.org/solutions-journalism-is-biased-and-other-myths-4b8f2beb69bf
• MYTH #1: Solutions journalism is biased. It asks journalists to suggest or advocate for solutions to problems.
• solutions journalism stories, in contrast, are about programs and policies that are already being implemented, and rely heavily on evidence to show how effective the program/policy has been
• MYTH #2: It’s either solutions journalism or more traditional watchdog reporting; you can’t have both.
• Solutions journalism is one tool in a journalist’s toolkit, and it should be used when there is a significant gap in the public consciousness about what is being done to address a problem. The trick is to ask: “What’s missing from the public conversation?” 
•  A solutions angle can be integrated into almost any story or series, even a problem-oriented one. Within a single story, for example, you can first hone in on the problem (briefly, if the problem is well-known) and then spend the rest of the story focusing on how people or organizations are responding to it.
• MYTH #3: What you’re reporting on has to be The Solution.
• Solutions journalism pieces are well-researched, in-depth investigative pieces about responses to social problems. They look at the nitty-gritty details of how and why a policy or program is working in a certain area. But sometimes the response isn’t actually working.
• Good solutions reporting will point out limitations, and never overclaim about the effectiveness of a solution.

The Spear Tip of Child Maltreatment Prevention

By Daniel Heimpel

Discussion

Solution journalism engages the reader to explore and form opinions of the present solution be it efficient or not. 

I have read "The Spear Tip of Child Maltreatment Prevention" by Daniel Heimpel. This article observes the connection between history of abuse and its impact on the next generation. The solution he is exploring is a call "to increase child care for pregnant and parenting foster youth." The article uses stats and research material to support the view of Amy Lemley. I would add more info to the opposing view, for example it says, "while Martha Matthews of Public Counsel questioned whether expanding eligibility for extended care was the right approach". I would really like to know why?

Hot tip 1)

You are talking to your neighbor, a psychiatrist who has worked with foster youth for 30 years. You get to talking about something you have heard: that children in foster care often take psychotropic drugs.

"I cannot count the number of times I have seen children on multiple medications who are really suffering from a broken heart," the psychiatrist says. "And the treatment for a broken heart is not another medication."

My writing- 

“The treatment for a broken heart is not another medication,'' says a local psychiatrist of 30 years. These words perfectly encapsulate what is wrong with a destructive tendency within the foster care system. Rather than finding a genuine solution, medications are used as an easy way out of fixing a broken child's heart. This is a wound which exists within the child's mind not quite literally. The problem with this is that the medication can only do so much to help them and over prescribing them medication to provide a pseudo fix is detrimental to the betterment of these children. These children need psychological care and support, not a handful of pills that they swallow hopelessly desiring something real. Despite the ineffectiveness of these medications, Foster care children are 5 times more likely to be given psychotropic drugs, and are 3.5 times more likely to be medicated than the average child. Despite this issue these children are not seeing results. This signifies that another approach could be more effective. In studies done by the university of berkley giving foster children emotional support and care from both children their age and adults leads to much higher success rates. Each child is unique and has different needs which needs to be met but in general the use of actual emotional aid rather than psychotropic drugs could lead to much more livelihood and success among the children. 

Edward Wasserman Video

• The journalism that has changed the world wasn't accepted or wanted at the time 
• People in power a lot of the time want the news there
• It's important to illuminate when the powerful are wrong
• Muckrakers, progressive movement, watergate
• The media isn't always the reason for social change, but rather a place to develop social discourse
• Media is part of government, checks and balances
• Its harder to be heard even though there is really good journalist work out there
• Nobody is really listening
• Congress used to listen to the news and hold meetings about it to help do what the people want, the congress isn't reacting to journalism or reading it
• The eloquence of the channels of effective stories
• In some ways the now is more conducive to great reporting than ever before but in some ways it is harder to get community engagement

https://ewasserman.com/2014/05/19/has-u-s-journalism-lost-its-nerve/ has journalims lost its nerve by Edward wasserman

• Political leaders continue to denounce Snowden as a spy, but the public isn’t convinced. One of the few surveys of broad opinion on the matter, a Quinnipiac University poll last year, found that by a huge 55-34 percent margin voters regard Snowden as a whistleblower, not a traitor, and that by 45-40 percent people believe official anti-terrorism efforts go too far in restricting civil liberties.
• “Overall, this trend toward a more ‘gentle’ journalism in the United states might be a reflection of the growing commercial pressures the U.S. media have faced during the past two decades.”

Journalism in the "Best Interests" of Children

• Journalists don't want to cause more damage by coverage than good they do
• Hurt versus help
• Is it necessary to use his full name
• Moving public policy to help children
• DO NOT identify any children by full name for the purposes of this class
• IF the person is over 18 you can be guard the person's best interests
• Fishbowl effect, the people in smaller countries no everybody so detail can easily allude to the identity of a young person
• Protect confidentiality
• Reasonably asses the community, do not disclose their identity
• Learning to produce my own journalism

Edward wasserman video:

HOT button issues in digital journalism

• Relations with sources
• Being associated w public news can hurt people
• Tell people to think about what they are saying 
• Haste
• Doing things quickly, a new form a ethos 
• Comporting with facts as we know it 
• Publishing before editing… this means a lot of falsehoods are published 
• Incorrect information has a half life of forever
• You should confirm information before you confirm it
• Sometimes for natural disaster it is okay
• People want them going to them first
• Conflict of interest,  Journalists have to do a lotttt just to make a living
• Lists of potential stakeholders
• Compromising corruption
• Commercial vending influence
• Lack of critical thinking in the education in our country
• Markers of conflicts of interest
• Commercial engagement 
• People don't tell you the damage that there perspective on the story is. For example a person who owns shares in a company and they interview the CEO, that's going to greatly change the outlook of this story. 
• Adoring interview
• Where else is this reporting compromised
• The rules are stacked against the reader
• Be wary of reporting where you are getting a warning, now you cannot always catch the conflicts of interest
• Impact of this on nonprofit journalism
• Problem that hasn't been addressed
• Commercial had a more wide array of options and flexibility
• Nonprofit care alot about journalism, they care about specific things.
• They are not indifferent to coverage, this issue is that some of the nonprofits already know what they are gonna say with or without facts. 

Fact checking in the digital age…

By Aaron Kasinitzn from AJR

• Politifacts
• API fact checking
• Nearly 3 in every four falsehoods tweeded out go uncorrected
• Hundreds of millions of people just saw this false fact and are sharing it and it becomes a chain impact of falsehood
• 80 percent of fact-checking sites use rating systems.
• Always be questioning if what is said really adds up

Research paper by Gareth Price, Opportunities and challenges for journalism in the DIgital Age

• traditional models are rapidly being made redundant. In particular, newspapers are no longer ‘gatekeepers’ of access to news.
• performed poorly at monetizing readership in the digital age. Instead, many revenue streams have been diverted from newspapers to IT companies and news aggregators.
• Usage of social media as a source of news is increasing. However, in divided societies the dissemination of false ‘news’ through social media can threaten community cohesion.
• there is potential for greater engagement between journalists in Europe and Asia. Already, many Asian newspapers run articles by European newspapers. On the other hand, the rising international prominence of Asian powers such as China means that European newspapers are also likely to devote more attention to Asia.
• the traditional method whereby a journalist gets a scoop for an individual newspaper is likely to be replaced by institutionalized collaboration between different news outfits with input from ‘citizen journalists’.