Questions on Incivility in Contemporary Politics and Culture

By Dr. Steve Goldzwig

On May 1, 2010 President Barack Obama delivered a commencement address at the University of Michigan. In the address, Obama delivered a rather elegant treatise on incivility. The president noted:

“Sometimes all you hear in Washington is the clamor of politics. And all that noise can drown out the voices of the people who sent you there. So when I took office, I decided that each night I would read 10 letters out of the tens of thousands that are sent to us by ordinary Americans every day— this is my modest effort to remind myself of why I ran in the first place.

Some of the letters make you think — like the one that I received last month from a kindergarten class in Virginia. Now, the teacher of this class instructed the students to ask me any question they wanted. So one asked, “How do you do your job?” Another asked, “Do you work a lot?” (Laughter.) Somebody wanted to know if I wear a black jacket or if I have a beard —(laughter)—so clearly they were getting me mixed up with the other tall guy from Illinois. (Laughter.) And one of my favorites was from a kid who wanted to know if I lived next to a volcano. (Laughter.) I’m still trying to piece the thought process on this one. (Laughter.) Loved this letter.

But it was the last question from the last student in the letter that gave me pause. The student asked, “Are people being nice?” Are people being nice?

The Text Messaging Gender Divide in India

By Robert Shuter

I’m traveling to Boston this week to present my research at the ICA (International Communication Association) on the gender text messaging divide in India. This study follows up last year’s ICA paper and, now published article (with colleague Sumana Chattopadhyay) on “textiquettes” in India and the U.S.

Although text messaging has exploded in popularity worldwide, there is scant research on the social and interpersonal norms guiding its use, particularly when communicators send or read texts while conversing with others. In our recent published cross-cultural study of text messaging, it was found that culturally different “textiquettes” – emerging interpersonal norms of text messaging –were quickly developing in India and the U.S. and appeared to be linked to indigenous cultural values in each society. While different textiquettes were identified for both countries, one question remained: Why did women in India engage in text messaging patterns that were significantly different than their female and male counterparts in both countries?

My ICA paper explores this question, identifying socio-cultural forces that influence text messaging of women in India and fuel the gender text messaging divide.

Robert Shuter is a Professor of Communication Studies in the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University.

Journalism and the Ethics of Photoshop

By Jennifer Janviere

The original Situation Room photograph. (Pete Souza/The White House)

The fields of both journalism and photography have undergone rapid and profound changes in recent years, and one of the biggest issues impacting both industries is the advent of digital editing and publishing software.

In the case of photojournalists, the range of digital retouching software such as Photoshop has in many ways made their jobs easier, allowing for rapid edits to lighting, cropping and the powerful ability to repair flaws. Results that once may have taken a combination of skill and painstaking effort to accomplish are now achievable with a few clicks of a mouse. And while this statement oversimplifies the skill and effort still required to produce a quality photo, any photographer will tell you that digital darkroom software is one of the most powerful tools in his or her arsenal.

These same photo editing tools have an alternate side, though. The ability to fix flaws or remove unwanted objects from an image also allows the photo editor to change the reality being presented to viewers. A talented Photoshop artist can dramatically and believably change the information that a photo conveys, swapping out  locations, things or even people present in the original. Because of this, photos, which were once taken as a factual record of an event, can no longer be accepted purely at face value.

This is harmless enough for photography intended for personal or fine art use, but what about images intended to be presented to the public as photojournalism? Where is the line drawn between removing things that detract from a composition and attempting the change the reality of what the viewer sees?