Primary Sources, and other
things…
Political Speeches –
example
SOTU
What is a primary source?
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The speech is the primary source.
Who delivers the speech?
Who writes the speech?
Who is the audience for the speech?
What is the subject of the speech?
What is a secondary source?
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Commentary and analysis of the primary
source, and any further commentary and
analysis on the previous commentary and
analysis…
There is a RANGE – informal, citizens,
academic, official/unofficial news, pundits,
lampoon/satire, liberal/conservative…so
consider rhetorical triangle.
Part of “public discourse”
Examples of News analysis:
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According to Will Rahn, a reporter for
The Daily Caller, Several liberal
commentators, including Nobel Prizewinning economist Paul Krugman,
criticized President Obama’s State of
the Union speech for lacking a clear
message:
Rahn, quoting Krugman…
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“We’re going to invest in the future — but
we’re also going to freeze domestic
spending. So mixed signals — and although
there were no numbers, given the further
assurance that the freeze won’t affect
anything important, this has to mean that the
investment plans are small change,”
Krugman wrote in the New York Times. “I
have no idea what the vision here was. We
care about the future! But we don’t want to
spend! Meh.”
More from Will Rahn
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CNN’s David Gergen, who has advised
both Republican and Democratic
presidents during his long career, told
CNN’s Anderson Cooper that the
speech “wasn’t a serious effort to come
to grips with what is a towering
problem. He’s holding back. I don’t
know why.”
More from Will Rahn
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The reliably liberal Washington Post editorial board
was similarly underwhelmed. “President Obama
entered office promising to be a different kind of
politician — one who would speak honestly with the
American people about the hard choices they face
and would help make those hard calls,” they wrote.
“Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address would
have been the moment to make good on that
promise. He disappointed.” The Post’s Ezra Klein
didn’t care for it either, saying that “[T]here weren’t
enough specifics to really know where the president
is going.”
More from Will Rahn
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“[I]t’s hard to say what the president really means
when he talks about investment, because we don’t
know how much investment he’s proposing that we
do — nor where the money will come from,” he
continued.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/26/liberalpundits-knock-obamas-state-of-the-unionaddress/#ixzz1DOB2N3YR
Who is Will Rahn?
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What is The Daily Caller?
Is it conservative/liberal/other?
How does Rahn show bias? What statement
does he make by pulling together several
LIBERAL commentators (pundits?) who
criticize the SOTU?
Bloggers love to analyze
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What is a blogger? From Web Log = blog
Who is the blogger?
Why are they blogging?
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For whom are they blogging?
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“Mommy bloggers,” school blogs, special interest, etc.
(Reliable sources have bloggers, too!)
Is this person reliable, and how do you know?
Q: Even if someone isn’t “reliable,” can their
commentary still be worthwhile? A: Well, it’s part of
that “public discourse,” but define “worthwhile.” (This
was actually an AP question once!!)
Don’t forget about satire!
Satire is funny!!
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Sometime humor is subtle, so not everyone
“gets” it. Unfortunately, this can also make it
offensive to some, especially if it’s taken
literally.
“Making fun of” CAN be hurtful…
Humor is used to make a point.
What makes something funny? Sarcasm,
exaggeration/overstatement, incongruity, etc.
Analysis can include DATA
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What kind of DATA can you gather from a speech?
It is driven and made possible by technology.
Why would anyone do this??? Maybe, just because
they can!!
What might that data reveal?
See: Three examples - Internet
Note that I demonstrate tech-savvy by
inserting hyperlinks into my
PowerPoint.
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Charting word frequency, and comparing it to
other speeches...to draw what kind of
conclusions?
Word frequency - "word cloud?
Instant Polling
And then came Twitter…
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140 characters or less
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Good: precision of language necessary, instant, global,
Bad: splng, pnct, = casualties , TMI, not ENOUGH info,
sometimes…
Raise your hand if you tweet…
People multi-task - they watch the SOTU and tweet
@ the same time: Watch this, from ABC News
Tweetbeat – gathering more info, more data…
Now, onto a different question…
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To what degree is inflammatory political
rhetoric* to blame for the shooting in
Arizona?
What would Orwell say??
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Language  thoughts. Do thoughts  actions?
*not necessarily from primary sources
Finding the correct answer…
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Is it a matter of opinion?
Do you have to have support, if it is “just”
your opinion?
Why not just Google it?
Let’s see what
happens…http://www.google.com/
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Some good, some bad, some unsure…
The fact that all of this junk comes up is an
indicator that it is a PART of the “public
discourse,” whether it is reliable or not.
You have to know what to make of it – this is
where your ability to “synthesize” information and
draw rational conclusions is important.