State of the Union

Obama's State of the Union address isn't technically journalism. However, it's a hot topic, and it still deals with giving people information, which is what journalism is all about. As a high school girl with little interest in politics, the State of the Union address has never really interested me. This year, however, I took the time to watch (partially because I was instructed to do so for school) and I found myself quite interested.

I had heard that the SOTU was going to be different this year-- less of a laundry list of tasks and more of a broad address with less focus on very specific goals. I feel as though Obama's speech was crafted in a way that it could appeal to many Americans ranging in age, political leanings, and political knowledge. As I mentioned earlier, my political knowledge and interest are limited. However, I found myself engaged by Obama's speech and able to keep up (for the most part) with what he was referring to. I think this says a lot about how information is presented: it's much more manageable when set up and placed in context. When Obama made big (and, I must admit, wholly unrealistic) goals of doubling exports by 2014 and running the country on 80% clean energy by 2035, it stood out because he didn't throw out all his assertions and numbers at once; rather, he provided more general information to which he could connect his more specific strategic claims.

Again, the SOTU address isn't journalistic by any stretch. However, some of the concepts that made Obama's speech so easy to listen to could be applied to good journalism. Just as I illustrated in this post, it helps for information to be presented with background information. That is, it helps when the writer doesn't assume that the reader (or listener) knows everything.

Conveying information is no easy task, no matter what the medium is. Obama demonstrated that it is possible to reach a large and diverse group of people without sacrificing information. It's true that Obama didn't include as many hard facts as perhaps have been given in past years, but he still showed the possibility of giving information in a listenable context, just as it is possible to give news in a readable context (journalists should use facts to write stories). Whether I agreed with Obama's ideas or not, I cannot deny that he did a great job connecting to Americans in a meaningful way.

Book Review: Come Back

How does an L.A. honor student from a loving home end up shooting speedballs in rural Indiana?

What does a desperate mother do when she learns that her runaway daughter has been living a secret live for more than a year?

Come Back, a joint effort and true story told by Claire Fontaine and her daughter, Mia, chronicles Mia's journey from being molested by her father as a young child and battling severe drug addictions as a teen. The story is told in sections alternating between mother and daughter, as Claire tries to help her daughter in every way she can and Mia suffers in rehabilitation.

Both authors do a great job of integrating straightforward narration along with artful reflection. The book is very raw-- the first person narration from both mother and daughter create a very intense mood and make the book extremely difficult to put down.

The memoir tackles some difficult issues-- sexual abuse, drug abuse, rehabilitation, and familial strife. I don't think these topics could have been captured more effectively in any other mode of narration. The juxtaposition of the teenager's personal journey and her mother's reactions and desperate need to help paint a very complete picture of the issues. The book is an excellent representation of drug abusers as more than just screw-ups-- Come Back shows that there is a whole host of factors that can turn a happy child into someone under the spell of hard drugs.

I was introduced to this book by one of the authors, Mia Fontaine, who spoke at a leadership seminar I attended. It was all the more interesting to read Come Back after having seen the main character in blue jeans and a plain back sweater, a normal woman who attended Georgetown University and wrote for National Geographic and the New York Times. To find out that such a successful woman lived a good portion of her life living in a van or in rehab really preached that you never have an idea of what someone is going through or has gone through.

Come Back is an excellent, quick read for anyone interested in learning about rehab or drug abuse, or just for someone who wants a captivating story. While the writing is not Nobel prize worthy, it's still extremely good and works very well for the story being told. I'd give Come Back 4/5 stars.