Friday, March 27, 2020

The art of Romanticism Essay Example For Students

The art of Romanticism Essay Romantics often emphasized the beauty, strangeness, and mystery of nature. Romantic writers expressed their intuition of nature that came from within. The key to this inner world was the imagination of the writer; this frequently reflected their expressions of their inner essence and their attitude towards various aspects of nature. It was these attitudes that marked each writer of the Romantic period as a unique being. These attitudes are greatly reflected in the poem When I Heard the Learned Astronomer by Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman reflects this Romantic attitude in the speaker of his poem. He situates the speaker in a lecture about astronomy that the speaker finds very dull and tedious. Thus the speaker looks past the charts, diagrams and the work that is involved with them and starts to imagine the beauty of the stars alone. Being lifted out of the lecture room, the speaker is freed of his stress and boredom and is able to enjoy the peace and true beauty that the stars embrace. Varying degrees of Romantic attitude has affected many areas in our lives today. We will write a custom essay on The art of Romanticism specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now A vast area that Romantic attitude has affected is The Arts. The Arts, composed of many types of genre, are composed and interpreted very different. Some people may look at a painting and imagine extremely different attitudes than the artist who painted it had intended. Another area that the Romantic attitude has drastically affected is fashion. As you glance around youll probably observe that very few people dress similar and each person has developed their own style of dress. Fashion often reflects a persons attitude towards life and may express the mood that the particular person has, this gives each person a unique quality to distinguish them from the rest of society. As you can see, in almost every case, the Romantic greatly expressed their attitude towards the beauty, strangeness, and mystery of nature. This attitude gave each Romantic a distinct characteristic that separated them from other Romantics. The Romantic attitude is portrayed in various aspects of our lives today including fashions and The Arts.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Doing Interviews with Anonymous Sources

Doing Interviews with Anonymous Sources Whenever possible you want your sources to speak â€Å"on the record.† That means their full name and job title (when relevant) can be used in the news story. But sometimes sources have important reasons – beyond simple shyness - for not wanting to speak on the record. They will agree to be interviewed, but only if they aren’t named in your story. This is called an anonymous source, and the information they provide is typically known as â€Å"off the record.† When Are Anonymous Sources Used? Anonymous sources aren’t necessary – and in fact, are inappropriate - for the vast majority of stories reporters do. Let’s say you’re doing a simple person-on-the-street interview story about how local residents feel about high gas prices. If someone you approach doesn’t want to give their name, you should either convince them to speak on the record or simply interview someone else. There’s absolutely no compelling reason to use anonymous sources in these types of stories. Investigations But when reporters do investigative reports about malfeasance, corruption or even criminal activity, the stakes can be much higher. Sources may risk being ostracized in their community or even fired from their job if they say something controversial or accusatory. These types of stories often require the use of anonymous sources. Example Let’s say you’re investigating allegations that the local mayor has been stealing money from the town treasury. You interview one of the mayor’s top aides, who says the allegations are true. But he’s afraid that if you quote him by name, he’ll be fired. He says he’ll spill the beans about the crooked mayor, but only if you keep his name out of it. What Should You Do? Evaluate the information your source has. Does he have solid evidence the mayor is stealing, or merely a hunch? If he’s got good evidence, then you probably need him as a source.Talk to your source. Ask him how likely it is that he’d be fired if he spoke publicly. Point out that he’d be doing the town a public service by helping to expose a corrupt politician. You may still be able to convince him to go on the record.Find other sources to confirm the story, preferably sources who will speak on the record. This is especially important if your source’s evidence is flimsy. Generally, the more independent sources you have to verify a story, the more solid it is.Talk to your editor or to a more experienced reporter. They can probably shed some light on whether you should use an anonymous source in the story you’re working on. After following these steps, you may decide you still need to use an anonymous source. But remember, anonymous sources don’t have the same credibility as named sources. For this reason, many newspapers have banned the use of anonymous sources entirely. And even papers and news outlets that don’t have such a ban will seldom if ever, publish a story based entirely on anonymous sources. So even if you have to use an anonymous source, always try to find other sources who will speak on the record. The Most Famous Anonymous Source Undoubtedly the most famous anonymous source in the history of American journalism was Deep Throat. That was the nickname given to a source who leaked information to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they investigated the Watergate scandal of the Nixon White House. In dramatic, late-night meetings in a Washington, D.C., parking garage, Deep Throat provided Woodward with information on the criminal conspiracy in the government. In exchange, Woodward promised Deep Throat anonymity, and his identity remained a mystery for more than 30 years. Finally, in 2005, Vanity Fair revealed Deep Throat’s identity: Mark Felt, a top FBI official during the Nixon years. But Woodward and Bernstein have pointed out that Deep Throat mostly gave them tips on how to pursue their investigation, or simply confirmed information they had received from other sources. Ben Bradlee, The Washington Posts editor-in-chief during this period, often made a point of forcing Woodward and Bernstein to get multiple sources to confirm their Watergate stories, and, whenever possible, to get those sources to speak on the record. In other words, even the most famous anonymous source in history was no substitute for good, thorough reporting and plenty of on-the-record information.