joy to the world

Merry Christmas from my home to yours!

Education Unbound

Below is my first post for the American Enterprise Institute's blog, The Enterprise. 

In an interview with Washington Post education columnist Jay Matthews, New York City Public Schools Chancellor Joel Klein sensibly notes, “systems don’t change because you charm them. Systems change because you have levers that enable the system to move. And it’ll be noisy because the people who are there often like the status quo.”

Successful reforms and new practices have failed to change education on a grand scale because of the barriers that lie within our current system. 

In a similar spirit, AEI’s Rick Hess takes an in-depth look at such barriers in his upcoming book, Education Unbound: The Promise and Practice of Greenfield Schooling. Using examples of vibrant organizations and individuals who are finding promising ways to address our nation’s education needs, he offers, as Klein puts it, “a well-thought-through analysis of how to enable entrepreneurialism and innovation to flourish in a way that will drive truly dynamic school reform.”

Greenfield schooling eliminates obstacles to problem solving; outfits districts and providers to assess achievement on a multifaceted scale; creates policies that attract, retain, and respect teacher talent; and frees up capital for new ventures that are willing to shake the status quo. Enacting such levers will allow for sustainable, effective approaches to address our nation’s education needs.

returning. again.

After two years of absence from my most beloved place on earth, I will be returning to Paarl, South Africa tomorrow for two weeks!

What I'm most looking forward to:

• Holding precious Yonda, the daughter of my dear friend Andiswe (both picture here), and speaking to her in English for the first time
• Sunday mornings (and afternoons) at Harvest Church
  
• Relearning Xhosa with Luba
• Orange sunsets in the township
• Hearing Kathleen's "baaei lekker" when I surprise her with me visit
• Lots and lots of Rooibos tea!

• Attempting to cook an American Thanksgiving with South Africa ingredients 
• Causing a ruckus with Joey, Sammy & Luba 
• Hiking Table Mountain in Cape Town

Hope for an education

After spending time teaching in South Africa schools, I can say this NY Times article paints a beautiful and genuine picture of South Africa's schoolchildren. And after five months of working in education policy, I'm forever convinced that our systems of education need to be fundamentally restructured before we can tout the promise of the education.

Subsidized media: a plausible option?

Five, ten, twenty years from now, I anticipate my morning routine to parallel that of today’s: finally jumping in the shower after 30 minutes of snooze, rummaging through my closet for anything to wear that doesn’t require ironing, bolting downstairs to grab my keys, purse, coat and whatever extra baggage I deem necessary for the day, & running out the door to the bus, hoping someone behind me will set the alarm. All seems normal, but in this future life, instead of enjoying my morning Express on the metro, I’m suddenly frantically fact-checking every story on my Blackberry.  Instead of reading one or two news sources each morning, I spend my first hour at work trying to determine which stories I read were indeed true.

Why the extra hassle? Because the newsrooms were never able to pull themselves out of the crisis they face today. Because newsrooms now are lacking in resources necessary to present the news. Because now it’s become a game of who can be the loudest, not the truest.  

The thought of a nation without balanced (albeit “balanced” is likely not the right adjective for our current media, but it’s close) and accurate news coverage is beyond a nightmare. It will usher in the decay of any healthy democracy—as demonstrated in many countries around the world.

SaveTheNews.org is a pivotal campaign striving to develop a public policy focus on the journalism crisis. The organization has managed to capture my attention (and my Twitter feed) time and time again. They suggest five policy priorities for lifting journalism out of its current crisis: new ownership structures, new incentives, journalism jobs program, research and development, & new public media. 

After assisting in the production of my boss’ upcoming book, Education Unbound, (ASCD, February 2010—be on the lookout!) I think I can buy in to SaveTheNews’ suggestions with a few cautions. While my boss’ book focuses strictly on the education sector, the same intuitions apply. Markets left to their own will often fail. The key in a market-based approach to problem solving is to create constructive guidelines. As stated in SaveTheNews’ report, “A true Fourth Estate should be neither dependent on the whims of the market nor subject to shifting political landscapes.” While the comparison of the newsroom to the classroom isn’t completely parallel, I think it can make the point. Like the newsroom, the classroom is a longstanding institution, which serves the public good. Like the newsroom, the classroom has been unable to adapt to meet the needs of a changing world.  The solution here, I believe, is to lift the barriers to innovation and make room for those able to problem solve.

SaveTheNews’ suggestions are brilliant examples of appropriate government involvement. New ownership structures  (i.e. the creation of nonprofit and low-profit newsrooms) and new tax incentives would allow news organizations to realistically thrive. R&D can foster new ideas and show us what works (or more likely what doesn’t work). The importance of research and development is consistently undervalued in just about every field but science. The opportunities for R&D in the realm of media are endless.

The only policy suggestions I take issue with are those that involve heavy government funding in either the training of journalists or operations of a newsroom. When government money is so directly involved in non-government functions, you risk bias. However, ironically, the news source I trust most—the BBC—is funded by government. The SaveTheNews’ report challenges fears of government sponsorship by providing compelling research which shows that subsidized media is just as critical of government action as private media. Further research of my own (after all, I am a journalist at heart) may convince me that subsidies aren’t as problematic if we can indeed build safeguards that buffer newsrooms from the political pendulum.  Stay tuned.

22.

I was so grateful to have had my dear friend Kimi come ring in my 22nd birthday with me. We've now celebrated 19 birthdays together. Here's to being a twenty-something!

social media is here to stay

"Social media isn't a fad, it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate."
 


A good friend of mine, and fellow media nerd, passed along this video to me. Quite compelling. I was grabbed by the quote, "We no longer search for news, the news finds us..." Often, I find myself using Twitter as my own search engine. Twitter is my personal news feed. One click and I have a constant access to the worlds dearest to me.


Since moving to DC, I've been constantly intrigued by the intertwining of media, politics, and civic life. Social media, I believe, is ushering in a new era of just about everything--shopping, learning, relationships, citizenship, career, politics, activism, faith. And undoubtedly, this is no fad. Social media is here to stay, and to revolutionize our world. The possibilities are thrilling.

They haven't gotten it right in the past, either.

In light of Friday's events, I've done a bit of research in regards to the Nobel Peace Prize. Stalin and Hitler were nominated, as was Gandhi. Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela have received the prize, as has Yasser Arafat. So maybe the seemingly haphazard decision to award Obama shouldn't be such a surprise.

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were both nominated for the award. (Although the nomination for Hitler was later withdrawn.) Gandhi--one of the most poignant symbols of peace in the 20th century--was nominated five times, and was never awarded the prize. And

in 1948, the Nobel committee decided not to give an award because there was "no suitable living candidate." This year, there were 205 nominees for the award--a record in the history of the prize. And while, we don't know officially who those nominated were (the names of the nominees will not be released for another 50 year, in compliance with Nobel policy), the rumored list is quite impressive, ranging from Afghan women's rights activists to American philanthropies to Chinese revolutionaries. So clearly, this isn't the first time well-deserving individuals have been passed up. (See previous post)

However, it would've been noble to see President Obama join a much smaller number within the Nobel Peace world--the number of people to decline the prize. The only person to ever decline was Vietnamese politician Le Doc Tho was was awarded the prize in 1973 along with US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. They were both awarded the prize for their negotiation of the Vietnam peace accord. However, Le Doc Tho did not accept because he felt that because of the current situation in Vietnam, he was not yet deserving of such a prize. A very honorable gesture. And one that would've likely been very politically favorable for President Obama, had he done the same.

And while it is still quite disturbing that he was nominated for such a prize just eleven or so days into the job, my research has revealed that the committee of given Norwegian elected officials haven't always got it right in the last 109 years. So, it's yet another mishap in this crazy world.

And I'll end with another interesting research tidbit: a poll on the Nobel Peace Prize website that asks "Did you know about Barack Obama's efforts for a nuclear weapon free world? 54% answered no.

Huh?

This morning, I was running late as always. I set the alarm, locked the front door, then the security gate, and I was off. With my purse & heels in one hand, dry cleaning & breakfast in the other, I sprinted the two blocks to the bus stop--all while trying to wrestle my coat over both arms. I spent the rest of my commute trying to jam my shoes and dry cleaning in my purse, and thus, forwent my morning paper.

When I arrived at my desk, the first headline in my morning news search caught me off guard. In a panic, I browsed the other headlines. Clearly, I had missed something in the between the end of yesterday's 13 hour work today and this morning's sprint to work. I looked to CNN for some sort of answer: Did we wipe out Al Qaeda? Did we find a way to provide clean water to millions in Africa & Asia? Did our 10% unemployment rate drop to 4%? Are American 3rd graders now reading?

There was no answer to be found. And I as logged into Twitter, I was relieved. I was not the only one confused as to why our president, Barack Obama, was the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

In an attempt to make sense of this all, like any good journalist, I wanted to check out the other nominees. Unfortunately, a quick perusal of the rumored nominees left me with only more questions. Here's a sample of those nominated for the prestigious international aware:

Morgan Tsvangirai is an influential opposition leader in Zimbabwe. Last year he ran for president against Zimbabwe's president since 1980, Robert Mugabe. In the midst of the campaign, Tsvangirai was imprisoned and beaten by Mugabe's government. Since then, as the first elected prime minister he has successfully transitioned Zimbabwe from a violent dictatorship via democratic reform.

Several Chinese activists were also over looked, including Hu Jia, who was imprisoned for campaigning for human rights in the PRC, and Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China's communist system.

American mountain climber Greg Mortenson is the founder of the Central Asia Institute has built nearly 80 schools, especially for girls, in remote areas of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past 15 years. (I highly recommend his book, Three Cups of Tea)

Also passed up was Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, a philosophy professor in Jordan who risks his life by advocating interfaith dialogue between Jews and Muslims.

Afghan human rights activist Sima Samar currently leads the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and serves as the U.N. special envoy to Darfur. Again, deserving, but no luck.

So what does it take to win a Nobel? I'm not quite sure. Yes, our president has become a symbol of hope to many Americans and to those around the world. But does being an icon warrant such an honor? I'm not sure it does.

In his last will and testament, Alfred Nobel created the award, which was to be given to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".

As violence continues to rise in Afghanistan and Iraq, and as Secretary Clinton continues a schoolgirl exchange of unpleasantries with North Korea and as Jews and Muslims continue to assault each other, I find myself lacking any examples of increased peace in the last nine month.

To quote the lyrics of Gary Jules, "It's a very, very mad world."

my new adventure

So lately, I've found myself envying friends that are living in far away places--Morocco, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, the list goes on. The freedom outside a nine to five job (or in my case, an eight-thirty to six-thirty job) is invigorating. While my friends are learning Arabic, attending culinary school, climbing mountains, feeding mouths and teaching students, I'm writing book proposals, researching teacher equity and editing chapters on budget cuts--all fascinating tasks, but within the confines of four walls on domestic soil. However, while walking to my neighborhood farmer's market on this crisp fall morning, a pleasant thought occurred: my quest for freedom may look differently these days, but I have indeed found freedom. I've found it in the hustle of the city.

There something about DC that ignites a fire within me that burns so rapidly I find myself gasping for air. Whether I find the city deserving or not, my new home is the epicenter of the world--or at least for now. And I embrace this new adventure, which has promise to be as exotic as Morocco. As I tune my ear to the voices around me, I hear French, Swahili and Mandarin. I hear a Southern twang and Bostonian grunt.

Some of my most mundane tasks of daily life are constantly intersecting with the grandour of history and present civic life. On my way to the grocery store, I drive past the Capitol. On my way home from dinners with coworkers, I walk past the White House. My favorite walking loop takes me past the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. My morning commute funnels me right through Union Station, a hub that has welcomed many presidents and world leaders. An ordinary day on the job can include following my boss to testify before Congress or running into former vice president Cheney in the elevator.

And, just like in places abroad, the chance for adventure abounds. I'm surrounded by bigness--which is occasionally translated into greatness. In the midst of “bigness” you find small treasures. Like, the quaint little coffee shop with organic cream and Italian espresso, from where I write now. And the corner window on the third floor of the National Portrait Gallery which humbly boasts the carved initials of a Civil War soldier. Or the whole in the wall cafe with the best Ethiopian food in town.

So while my new playground may not be the Sahara desert or the German countryside, I'm learning my concrete jungle is exactly that--a jungle with plenty of adventure.

Influence trumps truth: the rise of the post-journalistic world

"The honest, disinterested voice of a true journalist carries an authority that no self-branded liberal or conservative can have."

In the October issue of The Atlantic journalist and editor Mark Bowden writes a beautiful piece on the tragic swap of thoughtful reporting for quick, "ammunition" journalism. He revisits the media's treatment of Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. Large news outfits were drawing their clips from political operatives--including bloggers--not professional journalists. And this is not unique to the Sotomayor story. Bowden calls this the post-journalist world. This world is no longer about facts.

Bloggers' intentions are to highlight their side, to build a case for their opinion. On most occasions, blogs are our personal op-ed pages. Words, facts, quotes, even video clips can be manipulated to our liking and disseminated with little fear of harsh consequences. And here, in the blogosphere the value is placed on winning, not accuracy. Influence trumps truth. What a loaded shift that is.

Throughout my journalism education, we were overwhelmed with the importance of reporting true facts, with the virtuous purpose of equiping citizens to sovereignly govern themselves. Journalism had the power to temper fear-mongering and deception often coupled with politics. The rise and maturation of the newspaper provided an invaluable public service. It was the fourth branch of government--the ultimate check. Bowden notes, "Without journalism, the public good is viewed only through a partisan lens, and politics becomes blood sport."

The game of politics has unlikely changed over time. Persuasion has always been a necessary tool and power is always the aim. But there was a healthy caution to the game--provided by the journalist. Now, as hard reporting gives way to the quest for influential banter, truth becomes irrelevant.

The collapse of journalism seems to be a final victory for relativists. But can society truly rest happy in an environment where truth is undecipherable? I'm a strong believer in the power of truth. And therefore, I cannot accept that journalism has seen its best days. One day, truth will rise again.

As Bowden poignantly writes, "Journalism, done right, is enormously powerful precisely because it does not seek power. It seeks truth."

Deja vu?

Recent political slander has been awfully redundant. It seems as if political pundits--and the average American mudslinger--have forgotten parallel events in our recent political history. We're so quick to anger over events that we've defended in the past.

Last week, parents, politicians, activists, and scholars were up in arms over President Obama's plan to address our nation's schoolchildren on Tuesday. (I found some validity to the frustrations, but for reasons beyond the simple address. See last week's post)

This week, Representative Joe Wilson's disrespectful outburst during President Obama's health care address has raised quite a stink--and over a million dollars, too--among liberals of all walks, and moderate or level-headed conservatives.



Likewise, when President George H. W. Bush gave a similar speech to school children in 1991, Democratic lawmakers ordered an investigation and The Washington Post wrote, "The White House turned a Northwest Washington junior high classroom into a television studio and its students into props."

In other similar bout of deja vu, President George W. Bush was booed by Democrats during his State of the Union speech in 2005.



Today, mud slinging is the name of the game--even in prime time media. I certainly don't seek to silence the dissension, that is what makes America so great. And, I happen to agree that our elected officials should respect each other in all arenas, and that any president's address to young and impressionable should be carefully scrutinized. However, let us of be mindful of double standards and think twice before we respond in fury. When we scold a Republican for lashing out against our Democrat president, let's remember that just a few years ago Democrats were booing our Republican president. When we protest our liberal president's address to our children, let's remember we saw a conservative president do the same thing a decade ago.

I think Thomas Paine said it best, "Moderation in temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice."

Coverage beyond Afropessimism: Lessons from New News Out of Africa

The African continent is diversely rich land with dynamic stories beneath its surface, stories beyond that of Afropessimism—the turmoil and hopelessness often displayed in today’s media. I recently re-read Charlayne Hunter-Gault's New News Out of Africa and was as inspired as the first time around. In her book she lays out the role that journalists play in sharing the new and hopeful news of Africa.

 In the first section of her book she recounts her award-winning coverage of South Africa. The second part of New News out of Africa tells a story that’s often overlooked by the foreign media. Hunter-Gault uncovers a renaissance movement that is sweeping across Africa, the new and hopeful news. For decades now, Africa has been portrayed to the rest of the world in the context of the four D’s—death, disease, disaster and despair—which has created an overwhelming “Afropessimistic” attitude towards the continent.  But rising up from the ashes of famine, genocide, poverty and dictatorship is a new generation of African leaders. This continent stands in the shadows, anxiously waiting for the world to see its potential. And it’s up to the journalists to paint hope into picture the world sees.

            In her last section, she discusses the role of the media in this new renaissance. “If there is to be an African renaissance, we, the media, remain a vital part of it,” Namibian editor Gwen Lister said. In the last decade, independent media voices have increased and strengthened, and they are paving the way for new news. Hunter-Gault writes, “the emergence of the African journalist also holds out the promise of influencing the perspective of international journalist, who all too often continue to feed the world distorted pictures of the continent.” She notes that many international journalists perpetuate the four D’s—death, disease, disaster and despair—in their coverage of the continent. Often editors only want the “bleeding” stories, or journalists’ coverage of an issue is shallow because they only “parachute” in long enough to gather some sound bites and facts to report back.

            Hunter-Gault calls the foreign media to be vigilant in their coverage of Africa. When democracies fail and the freedom of the press is restricted within a country, the responsibility falls on “journalists outside the country both to make contact with the beleaguered journalists inside and to keep the country’s story alive in their media.” But again, there is new news here. The African media is progressing, and finding a new independence. They, like government leaders, are taking ownership. “African journalists are now being seen as the first line of defense when it comes to making sure there are checks and balances on their individual governments,” CNN Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange said.

            As Hunter-Gault ends her book, she asserts that African journalists will best tell the new news out of Africa.  We need to encourage Africans to tell their stories, the stories they live, the stories that will “give rise to a new generation of Africans and also to a new generation of the world’s people who will understand the continent in a way that will them to embrace is as the mother of us all.”

Madame Pelosi's jet

"Madame Pelosi wasn't happy with the small private jet that comes with the Speaker's job...no, Madame Pelosi was aggravated that this little jet had to stop to refuel, so she ordered a Big Fat 200 seat jet that could get her back to California without stopping!"

I’ve heard about this rumor quite a bit over the last 3 years—and it’s infuriated me, of course. So like any good journalism graduate, I decided to look into the details. For many, this is old news. But I was tired of receiving forwarded emails regarding the topic, so I wanted to create a simple hyperlink that could relay truth.

After Sept. 11, 2001 President Bush decided for security reasons (because the speaker of the House is next in line after the v.p. for presidential succession) that the speaker should travel via military planes. According to the Andrews Air Force Base spokesperson, Pelosi almost always flew the same Air Force C-20B, a 12-seater plane, as her predecessor Dennis Hastert. When Pelosi became speaker, House Sergeant at Arms Bill Livingood (according to his own account) worried that the small craft would be unable to travel to her home district of San Francisco without stopping to refuel. Livingood, (who was first elected by a Newt Gingrich-led House in ’95), asked the Air Force and the Department of Defense about getting a bigger plane. However, according to the articles I looked up, Pelosi didn’t actually request a larger plane, just one that would allow for nonstop flights (still a little high maintenance, I’ll contend). White House spokesman Tony Snow even denied rumors that Pelosi wasn’t asking for a larger plane. Anyway, just thought I’d pass this along, as I was surprised (but comforted) to hear the truth.

graduated.

Yesterday, I graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a Bachelor's of Arts in political science & journalism.


In two weeks I'll be moving to Washington, DC to work as a research assistant in education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. And off I go!

published

An article I wrote this past summer while interning at American Enterprise Institute was published today on The American, a magazine focused on political and entrepreneurial ideas in the marketplace.

The article is about two recent college graduates who are blending their business minds with their caring hearts. It's part commerce, part philanthropy. As the organization's executive director says, it's an "I'll meet you in the middle" approach.

There is much to be harvested on this middle ground. I find much hope for the impoverished world through social enterprise--a blend of economic competition and humanitarian compassion. Such a combination has a promising future, and one that seems to appease this rising generation of business and political leaders.