If only I had Tammy Wynette’s hair!

Sometimes I wear my hair in an up-do with a clip like Sarah Palin but it never gets to the height of the teased-and-sprayed poofs of the early 1960s. A little back combing and hairspray might have helped my rendition of “Stand by Your Man” in Reporting class. I hesitated before I warbled but then thought, “What the heck.” It was brief and off key, but remarkably, an undergraduate broke out in song along with me. I’ve been trying to practice the notion of “authenticity” in class — the idea that students respond better to professors as people, not authority figures.

Anyway, what precipitated this miscarriage of juke-ness was my playing of a video of the 1992 interview that then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton had with correspondent Steve Croft of CBS News 60 Minutes. At the time, Clinton admitted causing pain in his marriage in response to allegations by Arkansas mini-celebrity Gennifer Flowers that she had had a 12-year affair with Clinton. This occurred prior to the New Hampshire primary.

I use this video when talking about interviewing, specifically the best way to ask a “bomb” question. The bomb is the question that is uncomfortable to ask and can make long-held enemies for reporters. It’s one of the things that differentiates a journalistic interview from a casual conversation.

I tell the class to watch Croft’s body language, and particularly his eyes. They’re like lasers that bore into your soul.

For nine minutes, he is relentless. Some excerpts, in order:

“I’m assuming … that you’re categorically denying that you ever had an affair with Gennifer Flowers.”

“You’ve said that your marriage has had problems, that you’ve had difficulties. What do you mean by that? What does that mean? Is that some kind of, help us break the code. Does that mean you were separated … does it mean adultery?”

“You’ve been saying all week that you’ve got to put this issue behind you. Are you prepared tonight to say that you’ve never had an extramarital affair?”

“You’re trying to put this issue behind you and the problem with the answer is it’s not a denial, and people are sitting out there, voters, and they’re saying, ‘Look, it’s really pretty simple. If he’s never had an extramarital affair, why doesn’t he just say so?’”

And, then the journalistic payoff heard round the world.

Clinton: “You’re looking at two people who love each other. This is not an arrangement or an understanding. This is a marriage. That’s a very different thing.”

Hillary: “You know, I’m not sittin’ here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette.  I’m sittin’ here because I love him and I respect him and I honor what he’s been through and what we’ve been through together. And, you know, if that’s not enough for people, then heck, don’t vote for him.”

The students are riveted by this act of journalistic chutzpah. They’re also taken by Hillary’s pronounced Southern accent. They laugh knowingly at the irony of Clinton’s response considering what followed after he became president. That’s one part of presidential history they all know about, even if only one of them could conjure the most famous words from Tammy’s ode from 40 years ago: “Stand by Your Man.”

Sarah Palin’s frames (and I’m not talking about eyeglasses)

Sarah Palin's frames

A vast amount of communication research exists on news “frames.” News frames are the ways that the news media construct stories so that they fall within certain cultural touchstones or create narratives that we can relate to. They can also be a device that newsmakers or stakeholders use to try to shape narratives.

George Lakoff is a name known to virtually every communication researcher even though he is a linguistics professor, not a communication academician. He is called the father of framing because of his ideas about the way we make political decisions based on how candidates fit into our notions of family and other long-held beliefs or internal narratives. Lakoff says that cognitive science shows that we respond to the stories buried in our unconscious, trying to match those stories with the facts and events we encounter in the outside world. We interpret the facts and events according to our frames, not necessarily the truth of the situation.

Media fit into this idea because reporters and editors, as storytellers dealing with complex issues and events, work in frames as a way to relate to readers — not necessarily consciously, mind you. But news stories often fit frames we’re all familiar with — the good guy always wins, the underdog comes out on top, the beauty and the beast, power corrupts, etc. Stereotypes and prejudices can be reinforced through frames, which is why reporters today get a lot of training in diversity issues and why they are sometimes accused of being elitist. The mainstream media are dominated by white, well-educated, middle-class men, so that is often the perspective that seeps through.

Anything considered a “media uproar” is usually a battle over framing. An event occurs and then journalists, newsmakers, news commentators, now bloggers, etc., start throwing things on the wall to see if they stick. What sticks are usually the frames that end up becoming “fact” — or the-way-we-view-that-development-from-here-to-eternity.

For example: The Camelot of the Kennedy administration, Gerald Ford’s clumsiness, Al Gore’s wonkiness, the liberal media, regulation is bad, anti-abortion equals right-to-life, etc.

I was trying to explain the notion of framing to undergraduates in my Understanding Media class at American University, and I asked the students what frames fit President Bush and the United States as a whole. They agreed that Bush is seen as “a tough guy,” a Texan, a man’s man, and interestingly, his frames coincided a lot with those of the nation. One student summed it up by describing Bush’s stand on many issues as a “bad ass” frame, meaning that he — and by inference, the United States — doesn’t take any guff from anyone.

Then the discussion went rather naturally to the topic of the GOP vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. I was a bit surprised to learn that many in the class of 40 thought she had been pretty severely mistreated by the media.

“How is she being framed?” I asked.  They saw only one frame of Sarah Palin — that of an unfortunate citizen being ground alive in the media machine.

I was surprised because of all the positive press Palin was getting and because she had given the McCain campaign a huge boost.

I said to the class, “Let’s look at the frames that might fit.”

Playing Sarah Palin (and not nearly as well as Tina Fey), I drew a frame around myself in the air and then pretended to step through it. “I’m an unknown person thrust into the media spotlight,” I said, looking like a deer in headlights.

Then, I drew another frame and took another step. “I’m a babe.” (That was a stretch.)

Another frame and another step: “I’m a Mom.”

Another frame: “I’m a strong woman who is breaking through the glass ceiling, but not one of those feminists.”

Another: “Like TV women everywhere, I’m slightly ditzy but cute when I get mad.”

Another: “I’m a bad ass (who shoots wild animals).

Perhaps Sarah Palin fits them all. And, that might be one answer to the question of why she is a compelling figure to the public and to the media. Maybe it boils down to a kind of framing formula for media frenzy:

– 1 frame equals perhaps one reporter milling around

– 2 frames means numerous reporters are meandering about, with a possible stakeout

– 3 frames means a live shot

– 4 frames – breaking news crawl

– 5 frames – full-force frenzy

Sarah Palin fits more frames than a good war. May the best frame win.

A freestyle cruise in class

Matt, the slightly crazy cruise director

I didn’t wear an angel costume like Matt did, but he did give me a little gift from heaven…

It takes a certain amount of courage to do something in class that you’ve never done before, especially if it’s a large class and it involves a game that the whole class will play. Probably like a lot of teachers of undergraduates, I’m always hoping to get the class engaged and enthused. I can remember fondly the times that this has occurred the way I imagine it does in the perfect classroom. Sort of like spontaneous combustion, the class will erupt in meaningful discussion.  When I realize that I can step back and say nothing and the class will continue apace, I have hit pedagogical pay dirt.

So, I guess this is my goal for each class. Suddenly, I know why teaching sometimes drives me crazy. I guess I have pretty high expectations.

Whenever I attend a “big group” activity — a seminar, panel discussion, lecture, or even a play or stand-up routine, I’m always trying to analyze what makes audiences pay attention.  When I first started teaching a few years ago, I thought it was all about me, and that made me nervous. But now I have the theory that unless the material being presented is of intense personal interest, the person talking is enormously famous or attractive, or there is non-stop action on stage, a lot of people are engaged when they can talk and contribute.

Just reading that last paragraph helps me realize how tough it can be for a regular old person to hold a class’ gaze and lead it to a fruitful learning outcome.

Over the summer I found myself in a situation comparable to one my students might face in my class, though at first thought it seems an unlikely comparison.  I was on a cruise to the Bahamas, attending an event on board called “Qwest” with other participants who were of my general demographic group but about whom I knew little. I also didn’t know what “Qwest” meant and I had a few reservations about the “teacher” — or cruise director. He was a stocky, Welsh fellow with a spiky crew cut, square black glasses, and a party-boy demeanor who liked to break into a weird smile and talk like Austin Powers.  (A little like me, perhaps, when I do my Tom Brokaw imitation in Understanding Media class.) Sitting, waiting for Qwest to begin, I knew something was going to be required of me and I wasn’t sure I could trust him — a situation a lot of students may find themselves in on the first day of class.

My first instinct was to make myself as invisible as possible and hope that no one called on me. Hmmm. This is more insightful than I first imagined.

Anyway, Matt, the slightly wacky cruise director, had everything under control. His idea was to have a type of scavenger hunt right there as everyone sat in the audience. “Ok, this makes sense,” I said to myself. “This might be fun,” I continued thinking. And, then he assigned us into groups. Sound familiar? (Groups are a big thing in teaching right now. Millennials, the generation now in undergraduate classrooms, are big on groups.)

This being a pleasure cruise, some of the items Matt asked for would not be appropriate for class, of course. But I was actually shocked at how enthusiastic the crowd was about competing to find the items he requested and race them to the stage so he could award points.  The way it worked was that Matt would call out an item or direction — a holographic bank credit card, a man wearing women’s shoes, two men holding hands (Many of the requests involved men wearing women’s clothing or otherwise doing something against gender type — an interesting study in its own right, perhaps.), etc. The first five or so people who got to Matt’s side with the item or request would earn a point for each of their teams. It got a little chaotic at times but in a good way.

Eight weeks later and two weeks into the semester, I’m “Matt” and my students in Understanding Media are the cruise goers.  Most educators in communication departments around the country know this class — the introductory, undergraduate, usually large-size class that introduces students to the field. It’s a media literacy class, and in the first few weeks we are looking at the new media-saturated world we live in and the ways in which we all use media.

Here is my in-class scavenger hunt list (compiled by my TA, my husband and myself) with the approximate number of how many were found in the class of 40: (The numbers are not at all definitive because if you were too late to show what you had, you missed out, or some people might have been too shy to participate.)

electric blue cell phone (2)
iPhone (7)
non-iPod MP-3 player (2)
Gameboy (0)
Fountain pen (0)
Phone with a ringtone of Rolling Stones, Led Zepelin, the Who or the Beatles (Several)Cell phone with a waiting e-mail alert (Many)
Text message in in-box from mother/father or guardian (Several)
Wooden pencil (4)
Music CD (0)
Music cassette (0)
Vinyl (0) (by chance, someone in class had some in a previous class)
Any hard copy section of The Washington Post (2)
A novel (3)
Photos of friends from previous weekend on phone (many)
Text message from someone in class (frantic text messaging produced lots)
GPS device not on phone (0)
Apple laptop with your photo on it (more than 4)
Same with Windows laptop (more than 4)
iPod with earphones that aren’t white (many)
iPod loaded with MJ’s greatest hits! (3)
Tupac and Biggie on the same iPod (2+) (from TA)
M.I.A.’s music video of ‘Jimmy’ on YouTube (frantic downloading)
Text without looking at your phone (5+)
Red cell phone (lots)
Pay-as-you-go phone (0 would admit it)
Verizon as a provider (many)
graphing calculator (2)
Discman (0)
“non-bic” pen. (AKA this pen didn’t come in a pack of 20)
Digital tape recorder (0)
Headphones that aren’t white (several)
Blackberry with school schedule on it (5)
book on tape on I-pod. (0)

Among the things the class said it learned:

–Media are converging on cell phones (many of the individual items could be found on them)

–Media that were “new” just a short time ago are now “old”

–Hardly anyone had a print newspaper

–College students are packing a lot of media in their pockets that would have filled entire buildings decades ago

–College students are packing a lot of media that costs a lot of money, and some people are left out of that privilege

Five bonus points went to the group that could make up the best rap about media.

Here was the rap:

When we need some info we turn to da media

Some dawgs like to look stuff up on Wikipedia

Goin’ on the Internet and lookin’ up some vids

Of the other night, regarding what we all did

The crowd wasn’t as raucus as on the cruise. But, it was still pretty shagadelic, yo.