Pauline Kael

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Pauline Keal the women behind the Legend.

                                                                            

Pauline Keal 

By: Samantha Weiss

Criticism was a formal affair and then Pauline Kael was born. 

Before Pauline critics wore detachment like it was a badge of honor. They handed down movie reviews from a professional distance. 

Then on June 19, 1919, in Petaluma, California the daughter of a Polish immigrant farmer

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Pauline Keal's biography photo

threw all we knew about movie reviews out the window. 

Pauline did not just analyze movies she experienced them, when she wrote about her experience, she had such an emotional honesty that no one from America had when they wrote about film. 

Her path in this industry was anything but straight. She went to UC Berkeley where she studied philosophy and tried to become a playwriter but ultimately failed. After this she spent years in New York writing for tiny journals, and she even broadcasted for a San Francisco radio. She never got a large audience to pay attention. 

Until... She did and when they did 

Her 1965 collection of "I Lost It at the Movies" became a bestseller and by 1968 she was at The New Yorker where she stayed for 23 years. 

hollywood
"Bonnie and Clyde" Keal's review

The moment that made her a legend in this field was her movie critic of Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde. When she was writing this, she sat down and wrote over seven thousand words calling this movie the most exciting American film in years. 

This review single handily saved this film at the box office and even helped it earn ten Academy Award nominations. 

What made her so popular?

Well, Keal had a method, she had no rubric, no star system, no theory to apply. She brought everything she was to every single screening. She honestly just trusted her gut and went with it. She could write an amazing review on Bonnie and Clyde and the with the same voice and conviction take down West Side Story. 

Both felt true

Both felt alive

She retired in 1991 and unfortunately died on September 3, 2001, in Massachusetts at the young age of 82. 

Even though she has passed her legacy continues on. 

Two huge movie critics A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis say that Keal is the reason that they write about film. 

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The art of Pauline Kael

She even won the National Book Award in 1974 which was the first time it went to a book about movies. This was a couple years prior to her death. She went on to publish 13 of them.

Pauline Kael gave us a way to be passionate, personal, and completely unafraid. In a world that never stops arguing about movies. 

That is a legacy that is worth more than any award.  

Claude AI was used for research and my speech for the presentation.

 

Shock and Awe

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Shock and Awe movie poster

 

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Shock and Awe's DVD cover

In a world that news spreads fast and everyone has opinions and values on what the world needs. The Knight Ridder journalist stand out for doing something pretty simple but in today's world hard. 

These writers didn't just go along with everyone else's opinion, or values they stayed strong in the face of adversity. That is why they are seen as "heroes" in the script and honestly in the true story of life and how journalist should be seen.  

While a lot of the major news outlets were repeating claims about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, these writers at Knight Ridder slowed down, asked questions, and actually checked the information to make sure it was solid and true. This is the kind of honesty and independence that makes them so important even and especially today. 

Journalist today should be reminded of this story and how their job isn't to be first but to be right and truthful. It's very easy to follow the crowd, especially when big organizations or even the government are pushing a narrative. 

However, the Knight Ridder reporters showed what real journalism looks like, which means that they were willing to stand alone to find the truth.

Today, with all the social media, clickbait headlines, and the pressure journalist feel to get stories out fast. Their example pushes journalist to think.

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Part of the movie Shock and Awe

Are we reporting what's true?

or 

Are we just reporting what's popular?

For the general public these journalists matter because they looked out for the truth when it really matters. Most of the people on this earth rely on the news to understand what is happening especially when it comes to something serious like war. 

The Knight Ridder reporters were trying to give people accurate information even if it wasn't what the media outlets were trying to sell. This story that they were telling also called out the public. We can see how their reporting was also out there, but it never got as much attention as the bigger, more dramatic headlines.

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Movie poster of the movie Shock and Awe

This comes to show how people ignore quieter and more careful journalism in favor of what is louder or even sometimes more emotional. It's not just on journalist to do better but the audience that is willing to pay attention to what is being read or watched. 

In the end, the Knight Ridder journalist are heroes because they stuck to the truth, even when it wasn't easy or popular. Sure, they may have not had the biggest platform, and they may not have gotten immediate recognition, but they did their job the right way.

Journalism isn't just about the hype but it's about honesty and persistence and having the courage
to question what everyone else accepts. 

EOTO #2 Reflection on others EOTO'S

 

19thcentury.us

The 19th century journalism  

Reflections on others EOTO'S

By: Samantha Weiss

Arts and Entertainment Journalism

Starting around the 17th century this type of journalism was kind of revolutionary due to the fact that before entertainment there were just harsh realities of life.

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Arts and Entertainment journalism

Entertainments and Arts journalism gave us a break from politics and let us dive into the fun of this world. 

This era of journalism started during the Penny Press era where the goal of journalism was to just sell papers no matter the cost. 

A good thing that this era of entertainment brought was during the Hollywood Era, around the 1920s. 

Fan Magazines came out with the behind the scenes of actors. 

We also had professional critics, and even rotten tomatoes. 

Rotten tomatoes gave an outlet for people to share their opinions on what they liked and didn't like about a movie or even a newspaper. 

I liked this topic that was talked about, because sometimes I forget that journalism can be more than politics. I also love that Rotten Tomatoes came out of this era of journalism. 

Fashion Journalism

Glam Observer

Fashion Magazine.

This era of journalism came out of the Renaissance in Europe. 

It originally started to give women an outlet so they could share their ideas of what fashion looks like and how it makes them feel. 

They had what was called a fashion plate this was engravings of fashion that showed what was in at that time. 

1794-1803 was the gallery of fashion which helped show what was new in the fashion world.

Fashion also started to include men as well with the Gentlemen's magazine fashion newsletter. This gave the idea and the feeling that fashion is for everyone. 

I also loved this topic because like I said sometimes journalism can be bleak but then you look and see that fun topics are also part of the journalism world. 

'Five Star Final'

 

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Five Star Final movie poster.



Five Star Final
By: Samantha Weiss

Penny Press, Yellow Journalism, Press Barons. 

The Penny Press era. 

It established the idea that newspapers needed to chase the mass audience. "Five Star Final" shows how this was still alive and well a century later. The publisher pressures the newspaper to cut the coverage of the League of Nations and play up "shopgirls in trouble" on the front page. 

'Five Star Final'

A scene from 'Five Star Final'

I believe this was a direct echo of the Penny Press Era, because it shows how when people drop serious news and the newspapers catch wind of it, they rush to sell more papers. "Five Star Final" stands on this premise throughout the entirety of the film. For example, digging up a 20-year-old murder. As we see this, we can see that this is rooted in the Penny Press era and how crime, tragedy and even sex can sell more copies.

Yellow Journalism era.

This is the primary target; in this movie because of how much tabloid newspapers are seen. This connection is not just theatric, it's also real. In this movie we see people dig up this twenty-year-old murder, manipulation of grieving people, and taking photos of dead bodies.

These were the tactics that many people used in yellow journalism that were never abandoned. Many people still cut corners to be the headline in the paper. 

'Five Star Final'

A scene from 'Five Star Final'

Press Barons

The publisher is the film's press baron figure; the dynamic between him and the editor is the moral engine of the whole story. Randel is seen having a battle in his mind of integrity and wanting to capture more readers. 

Throughout the movie you truly see how much he feels guilty about everything, shown through the series of shots of him washing his hands. Showing this continues to prove the point that even though they feel guilty about everything it isn’t enough to stop them. 

For press barons it takes less effort and integrity than honest human centered journalism, but it is more profitable.

'Five Star Final'

A scene from 'Five Star Final'

All throughout we see the moral principle and the pushing and pulling of not knowing whether or not selling papers of a twenty-year-old murder is right or not. The breaking and entering of a house to take a picture of a dead body, and even the manipulation of grieving people.

We can take these concepts and think on how all together they are seen. 

Penny Press created mass markets

Yellow Journalism exploited moral limits 

The Press Baron shows the power in the hands of men who answer to no one. 

'Five Star Final' truly reminds me of how cruel journalism can be. Some people want to sell papers to get money but at what cost? Journalists also have the question who they write about versus the ones they have to write for. 

Well, this answer is clearly shown in this movie. 

Two innocent people are dead.

A young women's wedding is destroyed

and what does the paper call it still? 

A great story? 

EOTO #2

NBCUniversal

NBC Broadcasting in the early years of news

Early Years of National Broadcasting

By: Samantha Weiss

Before all of the technology we have today people had the radio. 

KDKA

The pioneer of Broadcasting  

November 2nd, 1920, a station from Pittsburgh the KDKA did something that no one had done before. Broadcasting a live presidential election American’s got to hear about in real time. 

After that people became obsessed, so obsessed that over 500 radio stations had launched worldwide. However, a problem had occurred since there were no set rules. Radio stations would broadcast over each other which caused the frequencies to overlap. Leading to a total disaster. 

With the overlap of frequencies radio stations also couldn't reach very far. Pittsburgh couldn't even reach New York. 

The solution?

Connecting telephone lines so one program could air everywhere at once. 

Now in 1926, GE, Westinghouse and RCA launched the Nation

al Broadcasting Company or as we all refer to it NBC. 

At the time NBC had two networks, The Red network for entertainment and The Blue network for news. This was the first time Americans could hear the same program at the same time. Which made broadcasting go National. 

NBC had a competitor CBS but luckily for NBC it was failing. 

NBC

The early starts of NBC news

Until...

William Paley bought it in 1928. NBC charged affiliates stations for programming, Paley saw this and
flipped this model around, CBS started to give their programming away in exchange for guaranteed ad time. What William Paley did become the blueprint for commercial broadcasting in America.

During this time the Radio Act of 1927 came into play, however in 1934 this was replaced by the FCC. Which established rules that govern broadcasting today.  These rules were to help serve "the public interest." In the 1930s the radio truly was the internet of its time. For example, FDR and his fireside chats. 

By 1941 the FCC decided that you can't own two networks because it was too much power, so NBC had to sell one of their networks. Which one did they choose?

The Blue Network 

In 1943 NBC sold their Blue Network for $8 million dollars, by 1945 it would become ABC. Just like that the big three were born. 

NBC, CBS, ABC 

Primetime

The triple threat of broadcasting

Even as the trio were dominating America, media television was waiting. NBC launched a TV broadcast in 1939 at the World's Fair. After WWII, both NBC and CBS raced to get themselves on the big screen. During this time a fourth network, DuMont would try and compete but ultimately fail in 1956. Which left the big three all over again. 

American Broadcasting as we know was set from then on. 

Broadcasting still is so important from every streaming platform, podcast, even cable channels are in the shadows of what was built in 1920 through 1951. The Advertising Blueprint, FCC licensing system, even the idea that media should serve public interest came from this time period. 

As American's we have so much technology to know what is happening at any point at any time. It's crazy that what we have now came from a presidential election and a bunch of static. 

Disclaimer: I used Claude Ai for help in research and the script for my speech.

EOTO #1

 

Photo:Histotyofinformation.com

A photograph of the first half tone in the "Daily Graphic."

The Half Tone

By Samantha Weiss

Picture a world where your newspaper couldn't show you what actually happened. The images you saw were made by skilled wood engravers; however, these looked like art rather than reality.

That is what many people had to live with until the 1880s when the Halftone was invented.

Half tone is varying sizes of dots that trick your eye into seeing shades of grey. By changing the size of the dot, you actually changed the saturation. Large dots created darker parts, and tiny dots created lighter tones. When you stand close to an old newspaper photograph, you will see grids; however, when you stand farther back, the dots blend into a seamless image.

Who was the creator of the Half Tone?

Photo: Britannica

A photograph of Fredrick Eugene Ives.

Fredrick Eugene Ives. Was the inventor of the crossline screen. This invention consisted of two glass plates that were put together at right angles. When you shot through this screen, it would break the
image into thousands of tiny dots that could be taken and put onto paper.

You wouldn't think this would have such a lasting impact, but it sure did.

March 4, 1880, the New York Daily Graphic published the first halftone photograph in an American newspaper. By the 1890s, half-tone became the standard in journalism. People finally could see what they were reading about. Half-tone gave credibility to the writers, which got their readers to trust them.

With this could come a consequence.

Though this was so transformative, it also came with a consequence. Since the production accelerated, the images could be produced quickly and cheaply for daily news cycles. However, the photographers who created these images were denied the proper credit and compensation.

The era?

Photo:Teacherspayteachers

Photo of yellow journalism.

The Penny Press era ran from the 1830s to the 1880s, so half-tone was at the very end; the halftone truly belongs to the Yellow Press era.

Hearst and Pulitzer fully exploited this technology. These types of newspapers would use sensational headlines and extensive photographs to attract the masses. 

Today...

Newspapers, magazines, books, and so much more still rely on a variation of the invention that Fredrick Eugene Ives came up with. The printing technology that we have now and have had for the past half a century would not have been possible without this original invention of the crossline screen.

Photo:Alchetron

A photograph of the original crossline. 

Digital printing has refined the technique, but the principle remains: by breaking an image into dots and
then reproducing it over and over.

To say the half-tone made photographic imagery accessible for mass audiences for the first time. It transformed journalism from just text-based to a visually rich experience. Many times, people take for granted the experience we so easily get to have.

Halftone photography bridged the penny press era and yellow journalism era. Which fundamentally changed how people consumed information and experienced the world. It gave us photojournalism, visual storytelling, and the image saturated media landscape we know today.   

To plainly say it, the half-tone was as transformative for visual communication as the printing press was for text.

Disclaimer: I used Claude Ai for research(links), my script format.

Me in 500 words

Photo: Tacey Miles

Samantha with her mom and dad during fall break at Luis Ginter.

Superheroes

By Samantha Weiss

Superman, Wonder Women, Batman, the Incredible Hulk. 

What or who are these people? Now if you said superheroes, you would be correct! 

However not all superheroes wear capes and for me that is very true. My favorite superheroes also happen to be my parents. 

Strength, love, fearlessness and faith are all qualities of the greatest superheroes or in my case the qualities of my mom and dad.  

My dad grew up in Yonkers, New York with a father who left him, abused him and treated his family badly. He had to work hard, because he grew up not having the financial freedom that he has given to me. Despite, some bad decisions he made, he got his life back together. 

My mom grew up in Virginia with a mom and dad that loved her and was fortunate to have enough to not have to fear when she would eat next. She still had hardships in her life; she had to prove herself in the eyes of people who looked down on her.

Photo: Betty Rouse

Samantha, her brothers, and her parents at her graduation.

Even through all of this hardness of life, it didn't stop them from providing me and my three brothers a life full of love. 

These people have taught me to become my own superhero. 

Throughout my life the lessons they learned and instilled in me gave me insight into how to be a great superhero. 

Without these lessons of being faithful, I would have never made it out of high school being the person I am today.                 

Without these lessons of love, I would be a bitter person and to be frank, a person no one would want to be friends with. 

Without the lessons of strength, I would have let my mental health issues, my headache disorder, and my skin disorder get the best of me. 

Last but not least without the lesson of fearlessness, I would have given up on trying out for things both in college and back in high school and I would have let my anxiety overcome me.  

All of these superhero qualities are things I have acquired and happen to be the qualities my mom and dad have shown me time and time again.

My parents are my superheroes because even when I wanted to give up, they showed me that life was so much more than the hardships. They are the people I run to when sometimes life becomes too much to bear. 

I am now not only a college student, but I am a woman who will pave the way for others out there. My life hasn't been easy but because of the people in my corner I have been able to overcome so much. 

Photo: Taylor Bell

Samantha doing worship for a bible adventure camp in Belize.

My advice to you is even when your cape gets stuck continue to fly because not all superheroes need capes to be one. 

This is who I am, an only daughter of three boys, a hard worker, a dreamer, a confident and faith filled person. 

But no matter what others think, I am a SUPERHERO.