I think around 3:30 of this video I discover in the most fundamental way why I question and care about the implications of the Iraq war on our generation. Here’s a rare look at the unraveling mind of a starving citizen journalist. :) Ok, you can cut the starving part.
4:13 A young deserter becomes a lobbyist
4:40 A civil affairs officer returns with his truth
5:26 What do the people on the ground, our front lines, really want and need?
On April 24th, Helen Thomas wrote in her weekly column, “if history repeats itself, the loser of this year’s presidential election will blame the news media.” [SEE FULL ARTICLE, "The Loser Always Blame the Media"]
With the recent case of Hillary versus Barack, Helen’s assessment was spot on.
Last Saturday I had a unexpected, and even scary, confrontation. I was interviewing demonstrators at the DNC Rules meeting and had spoken to about seven people on camera. All of them supported Senator Clinton and wanted the votes in Michigan and Florida to count.
After the interviews, I was getting b-roll when I saw a guy wearing an Obama sign. I hadn’t talked to any Obama supporters so I thought this would help round my story out. He said he would talk to me, so with that, we moved away from the crowd to a quiet area. And I started to roll the camera.
I didn’t know it, but this exchange, between me, “the media” and him “the Obama fan” would come to sum up the hostility Clinton fans have felt towards the media in this primary season.
Within a minute, Clinton fans spotted me talking to the lone Obama guy and lids started to flip. I was trying to focus on the interview but I couldn’t. Loud, confrontational slurs were being directed at me. I looked over and saw two aggressive Hillary fans only an arm length away from my camera. They started yelling into the lens “This is all your fault! You’re to blame! You and the media!”
To my silent and even confused look, they went on.
“Why are you interviewing this fool?…It’s always like the media to support Obama!”
I could hardly believe it. I mean, me? This is my fault? A million thoughts ran through my head. My heart raced. This was the second time during my MTV tenure as a one-man-band that my safety felt in jeopardy. Never during, but always after, I kind of love it. It really puts me in touch with how people feel.
Within a few seconds, two cordial Clinton supporters came over and walked them away. I turned back around and went on with the interview.
The story came back to me as the North Carolina Street Teamer, Carla Babb, wrote an article about whether or not the media had favored Obama over Clinton.
With that experience fresh in my mind, here’s what I think.
To Helen’s point, the loser (and the campaign supporters) might always blame the media. But as I experienced, the assertion that my work somehow reduced (or on the flip, improved) a candidate’s political standing, while quite complimentary, is not at all true. At least I don’t think it is.
But to the Democrats as a whole — hostility, especially directed at each other, is retro active in securing the November election. It would behoove Senator Clinton to make that known to her supporters. The finger-pointing, not always aimed in the right direction, digresses party unity.
And oh yeah, one more thing. I’m not the mainstream media. I’m a citizen journalist. SNAP.
Today the Wall Street Journal’s William McGurn wrote an Opinion piece called “Why Harvard Harasses the Military.”
I read it, but I admit I was turned off.
I paused and absorbed. Then my fingers started. I hate when it happens, but it’s not like I can help it. I wrote a reponse. Direct. Clean. And short. I decided last minute, instead of addressing it to the friend who forwarded it, I would send it directly to the Wall Street Journal.
After I hit send, it took ten minutes for the writer to respond. Here is the transaction.
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WHY HARVARD HARASSES THE MILITARY
William McGurn, Wall Street Journal, May 20, 2008
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
MY RESPONSE
I don’t know the back story to Harvard and ROTC other than what this piece offered. But, coming from my perspective, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is a highly discriminatory policy. The problem is, some of my peers do not understand why.
Here is why what Harvard did matters. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is the tip of the ice berg. If our world class military can discriminate, how can our legislators grant gay people equal rights and protection from discrimination and hate crimes? Take these for example.
>10,000. Estimated number of gays and lesbians expelled from the military since under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy
> 30. The number of states it is legal to fire an employee based on sexual orientation
> Gays and lesbians are not protected under the federal non-discrimination laws (Employment Non Discrimination Act)
> Gays and lesbians are not covered under federal hate crime laws, even though FBI statistics show gays are disproportionately targets of attacks
To my interpretation, Harvard’s actions have nothing to do with dishonoring the service of our military. Quite the contrary, they seem to make the point that one of the greatest institutions in our country - our military - should be subject to look past sexual orientation to achieve the goals in the best interest of the entire nation — the goal of protecting our physical freedoms and our civil liberties. We should hold the highest standard in all that we do.
With Respect to All Views,
Erica Anderson
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MCGURN’S RESPONSE:
It’s a fair argument. And Harvard is a good place to debate it. I just think there are plenty of other fora, other than the day these officers get their bars.
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IN CONCLUSION
Folks, this is just the tip of the ice berg. I always ask myself, Why Should I Care? Why Should You Care? Because in 30 states, four branches of the military and millions of offices, we are unknowingly enabled to discriminate against a minority. That’s why.
Sorry guys, I didn’t actually get to watch this one. Either way, I wanted to post McCain’s May 7th appearance on The Daily Show.
Speaking of McCain, his daughter, the McCainBloggette, is still at the blogging which seems to have taken off. In her March 9th YouTube report, she told more than 75,000 viewers that during a party at her family’s ranch in Sedona, reporters from the Politico brought her mom flowers.
Check out her recent video from a weekend at the family ranch. Is this what Crawford looks like?
And now back to her Dad.
Hey Everyone. Just as a quick update, this week MTV will start airing “Best of Street Team” packages. To see it online, click here. Or, if you’re around a TV, I included the times it will run below. I’m anxious to see what my colleagues are up to, so I’ll be tuning in too.
Also, a few of you have asked how to view our work, and I wanted to let you all know MTV links to us from their drop down menu of “Reporters” on the MTV News homepage. Just click on the vertical bar where it says “News” and you see Headlines, Video Updates, MTV Reporters and Street Team ‘08.
MTV
Sat 3/29- 7:50am
Mon 3.31- 6:50am, 7:50am
MTV2
Sat 3/29- 5:30am, 10:30pm
Sun 3/30- 10:30pm
Mon 3/31- 4:30am, 6:30am
MTVU
Fri 3/28- 7:45pm, 11:45pm
Sat 3/29- 3:45am, 7:45am, 11:45am, 3:45pm, 7:45pm, 11:45pm
Sun 3/30- 3:45am, 7:45am, 11:45am, 3:45pm, 7:45pm, 11:45pm
Mon 3/31- 3:45am, 7:45am, 11:45am, 3:45pm
“Under the gun! Can’t talk. Call next week.”
That’s the voice of Helen Thomas. No, it’s not 1973, and no, Helen’s not in a bustling newsroom. Still, there’s something so retro and iconic about the way she tells me she is under the gun. It reminds me of a time when newsrooms were filled with smoke, not women, and fingers typed as fast as possible to break the next big story.
Something I’ve learned about Helen, and is evident in this quote, is every article she works on is breaking. She writes only about what she thinks you should know. And for a person who absorbs as much intelligence — and harnesses decades of unprecedented access to power– that’s an impossibly complicated task. Yet somehow she sifts through it all — the gaggles, the memos, the talking points and the distractions.
I’m going to start something new and post her weekly columns. Though Hearst distributes it, and they own over a dozen papers (San Francisco Chornicle, San Antonio Express, Albany Times Union) it’s rare that anything but the Falls Church News Press, a small paper south of DC, runs it. And now, because what Helen knows, I think we all should, Erica-America does.
Helen Thomas: War Is Not The People’s Business
WASHINGTON — Back in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s worst days when he was grappling with the Vietnam quagmire and raucous anti-war protests at home, he said that in the big decisions about war and peace: “The people should be in on the take offs as well as the landings.”
Tell that to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, who apparently could care less what Americans think — except every four years at election time.
Cheney made that clear in an intriguing interview with ABC News on his recent Middle East trip. Despite the difficulties surrounding the unprovoked U.S. invasion of Iraq five years ago, Cheney insisted, “It was the right thing to do.”
When the interviewer told him that two-thirds of Americans say the war in Iraq is not worth fighting, Cheney scoffed.
The administration would not be “blown off course by the fluctuations in public opinion polls,” he vowed.
Cheney went on to claim that Abraham Lincoln would never have succeeded in the Civil War if he had paid attention to polls.
White House press secretary Dana Perino later indicated that Bush was on the same page.
Asked about Cheney’s remarks to ABC, Perino said the Bush administration realizes its popularity polls are very low (30 percent) “but largely that’s because of people being unhappy about the war, about the fact that it has gone on five years. . .and we’re aware of that.”
She added that both Bush and Cheney have long believed the reason they are leaders is because they do “not chase popularity polls but. . . hold themselves to a standard that requires people not to like them.”
She went on to explain that the administration would like people to support the president’s decisions but that such a hope is “unrealistic” in time of war.
“And while we’re not able to change public opinion, we have to follow a principle,” she said, “and stand on principle.”
Reminded that she was saying, in effect, that the people had no say about the war, Perino replied that they have “input” every four years, adding: “And that’s the way our system is set up.”
As long as Congress cowers sheep-like and does not retrieve its constitutional power to declare war, an imperial Bush-style presidency will prevail.
The war against Iraq was built on falsehoods — weapons of mass destruction that did not exist and ties to al-Qaida that were a fantasy. The administration used these phony rationales to scare the American people into fearing a threat from a third-world country.
Since the administration’s original propaganda has now been revealed to be bogus, Bush has resumed his claim that it was necessary to rid the world of a tyrant, Saddam Hussein — a friend of the U.S., incidentally, in earlier times.
His aides remain loyal to their chant that Iraq is “the central front in the war on terrorism.”
Any port in a storm seems to be the strategy of White House spin-masters.
Determined to ignore the reality that the war is a debacle and the killing will go on, Bush last year came up with the “surge” theory of dispatching 30,000 more troops to Iraq in hopes of bringing Iraqi submission.
There has been a lessening of violence in Iraq. Could it be that there are fewer attacks on American troops because we are paying huge sums of money to Sunni Iraqis to persuade them to stop attacking Americans and instead go after al-Qaida?
Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will leave Baghdad in May to report to Bush and Congress on the status of the war and talk about a timetable for a drawdown of more troops — or even propose a pause in withdrawals.
Next November, the American voters will decide on a new president. Before then, reporters will be remiss if they fail to nail the candidates on whether the views of the people on questions of war and peace will count with them.
Last week I received an e-mail from an Indiana University School of Journalism grad student, Abby Tonsing. She was assigned a story — a story on me and two MTV Street Team colleagues, Sia Nyorker (NJ) and Whitney Allen (IN), also Hoosier grads.
So last weekend I etched out some time between sleep and, well more sleep, to do an interview. It’s just killer having two jobs. But after a story like this, how can I complain?
There have been times when I’m literally running, twisting through bodies and assembling equipment on the matted mud of the National Mall to swing a story. Then there was last Monday, at American University, where I chased one that I didn’t think I could possibly get.
It was almost 12:15 and I had no more than a half hour to get some footage and maybe an interview before returning to the full-time job. But I hit a road block: I couldn’t get in the rally where Sen. Ted Kennedy would be endorsing Obama. Fuck, I thought to myself… how am I going to tell the story now?
I paused. Composed myself — and headed around the corner to where a congregation of people stood. Now that’s my story.
I heard the echo of a chant which had been captured by the underpass tunnel and I immersed myself. I had my camera attached to my tripod so I lifted it up as high as I could in the air. It was shaky and a little dark, but at this point, I thought, I had no choice. This would be unpredictably raw — and rare.
They congregated. They chanted. They all just stared as if Barack Obama would actually walk out the front door. It was a phenomenon to watch. Some were curious, others inspired, some just drawn with no other apparent reason but pulled by some kind of silent force.
Can this really be the type of movement that only has happened in the ’60s? Will the momentum continue? His campaign has been one of resilience and persistence, and up to this point — has passed expectation and barrier.
Towards the end of orientation, my colleague, Sara Benincasa (NY), raised her hand. We were in a Q&A session with a MTV techie–drilling him with technical questions and suggestions for improving THINK.MTV.COM. Finally, Sara was called on.
“Um, yeah, Santa, I have a question too…”
Before he could even smile the whole room erupted in laughter. Sara hit on something we all related to, at least I did. For the last 48 hours, being at MTV studios made me feel like I was having the best Christmas morning of my life. Street Team’s organizers had arranged speakers so open and insightful — that I didn’t mind sitting in the boardroom for eight hours at end. We had presentations that encouraged us to imagine and innovate the concepts of technology and journalism. It was pure candy for my brain.
The next day, after a late night wrap party and probably three hours of sleep, I packed up and went back to DC. I couldn’t wait to get home and unload everything.
The backpack was heavy, and I’m sure meant for carrying survival tools in the Alps. Instead, it holds my equipment – a video camera, laptop, camera, tripod and microphone. Per the request of my most famous friend Lindsay, (my ‘04 ballot bandit) I uploaded some photos. It’s one hell of a sexy photo shoot. Check it out.
Yes, Santa had delivered – and I didn’t even know Christmas was coming.
So I survived MTV’s journalism boot camp which was a few very compressed and intense days in New York City. Here’s a recap of what I wrote to my family and friends.
…Life in DC has been busy since I got back from MTV’s Street Team orientation. It was one hell of a trip, with a visit to the NY Times, a hotel room in Time Square and enough multimedia presents to make a Gen Y blogger cry tears of joy.
Now back in DC, I’m responsible for submitting one story each Tuesday and learning what it means to be a “one man band,” writing, editing and producing all my own work. I have a half dozen manuals to read, software to install and gadgets to learn. But it’s coming along and I’m so stoked to finally start.
Orientation was great because I met the other 50 selected citizen journalists, all of who had a different story to tell. TX is the daughter of illegal immigrants, MA is a Harvard drop out, NY is a comedian and CA owns his own production company. We also had back-to-back industry speakers — AP, Gannett — a NYU Journalism Professor, leaders from the Knight Foundation and MTV VJs John Norris and Sway.
It truly was a boot camp experience but it a inspiring way, leaving each of us charged with telling the untold stories of the Presidential race and bringing together ideas, information and opinions. It wasn’t shocking to learn MTV is the largest youth brand in the world, but it is slightly intimidating. With MTV’s reach, AP’s credibility and the Knight Foundation’s instinct, this could present a huge possibility for a young political movement. We can only hope.
In the meantime, I wanted to pass along a story MTV is running on our time in NYC. Don’t blink or you’ll miss me! ”
MTV
1/14 11:50AM
MTV2
1/13 5:50PM, 6:30PM
1/14 6:30AM
MTVU
1/13 11:45PM
1/14 4:45AM, 9:45PM, 2:45PM
Hey friends. I want to share what I’ll be doing for the next eleven months.
I work at a communications firm, Spectrum Science Communications, in Washington, D.C. Part of my job is to follow health care policy and report it to our clients. We work across the field (but always in health care) for advocacy groups, non-profits, pharma and biotech companies. It has been a great first job and, fortunately, brought me to the District where I feel at home.
In my heart, I’m a student of journalism and passionate about civic engagement, especially with my peers. It took two years for my best friend in college to tell me she didn’t vote in the ‘04 election — because she knew how distraught I would be. She was right, but how could I hold it against her? I knew she was like so many of our friends, and instead of being frustrated, I asked, “what can I do to convince her and others, that it is worth the time?”
So here I am, staring the ‘08 election in the face, asking myself what I can do to get my generation of multi-taskers to ask questions and get to the polls. Here is where MTV comes in.
A fellow TriDelta sent me a link last August and said “Erica, you have to apply for this.” So I read about how MTV and the Knight Foundation were pairing up to create a team of 51 citizen journalists, hand-picked to cover the ‘08 election from a local level. I knew in order to be considered I needed a web site, so I applied some of the techniques I learned at Spectrum and started Erica-America. I also submitted three essays, called up a few references and hit submit.
One reason I am so enthusiastic about MTV and their THINK campaign, is because I believe in it. I think we share common goals in the desire to harness the power of social networking and multimedia and direct it towards civic action. Can it be done? I’m optimistic and my answer is yes. But the road to get there will be long and not without challenge.
In the next month, I will update everyone on how to receive the Street Team reports. Until then, take care and keep asking questions.
MTV, along with the Knight Foundation and Associated Press will be sponsoring 51 citizen Journalists, one in each state and one in the District, to cover the ‘08 Election. I’ll be holding down the fort in DC for MTV while submitting (hopefully) some kick ass stories.
For more information about the program, the sponsors and MTV’s ultimate goal, check out this press release. If you want to sign up for an account on Think.MTV.com (and you should…) follow this link. Or, just watch this short video I put together last night. I can’t help but grin. It’s a great moment to enjoy while realizing there’s a lot of work ahead.
EricaAmerica: [er-i-kuh uh-mer-kuh], noun. Display case. Retro clip-art, primary colors. Anti-drug. Blog number 093571168953281965. Place of potential.
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Welcome to my website. I decided a month ago after a series of gentle nudges it was time to add a .COM to my life.
I’m fortunate to have people who dismissed my early dissent of blogs and helped me to make one of my own, either by verbal inspiration or technical guidance. I see this as an evolving portfolio. It will also be a central focus as I evolve my idea of reporting by using video and audio.
I’ve been in D.C. for 13 months and have learned to do a lot of listening, which encouraged me in many ways to pursue this. EricaAmerica, and more basically my desire to report, was initiated by a drive to moderate the political conversation between powerful governments and average citizens. I grew up in Indiana and took trips to India, where I was exposed early on to the dichotomy of the world and the unbalance of power and privilege. There were also teachers and bullies, blue ribbons and C+’s, which humbled me, helped me to grow, and added clarity to what I wanted to achieve.
I hope you’ll join me as I let this project bloom.
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Acknowledgments
For naming me EricaAmerica, thanks Scott Talan.
Jason Novak, thank you for inviting me to write for LifeinTheDistrict.com and for teaching me the fundamentals of Word Press.
Leigh Ann Cairns, for making me feel like I was getting a haircut when you asked what I wanted in a website design. Outstanding creativity.
Tonight I was on the red line to Silver Spring, Maryland. It was about 6:00 and the car was fairly empty.
Suddenly, without reservation, a young woman handed me piece of photo paper. It read something like this:
“We just arrived to this country and my husband is sick…we do not have money to buy food…we do not have a job…please help…and please return card.”
I looked back at the photo and for a second felt my heart tug. Then the questions followed. “What do you mean, “we just arrived?” Where from, and how did you get in? Of course I don’t want you to suffer, but am I responsible?”
I pulled out a $5 bill. I’ve read that being charitable triggers natural endorphins, and after a weekend of gluttony, I thought this would be appropriate.
In the aftermath of the exchange, after she took the photo and money, I really began to wonder how pure her intentions were. Is this part of an organized effort to scam people? Or, is she really struggling, lost in this world and ridden with disadvantages?
There is no way I’ll every know. But as the nation debates immigration, it’s important to make eye contact with these people. We so casually think of the group without wondering about the individual. Langauge is just one small thing we don’t have in common, but we all have families, basic needs and dreams. We also share humility, passion and drive. Oh, and a metro system.