As part of their end-of-term course reflections, students are asked to discuss their experience with the New York Times as our primary reading text. They are encouraged to use Arthur Miller’s quote — “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself” — as a prompt for those reflections. [I have bolded some phrases.]
Reflection on My Experience with the NYT
Reading the New York Times this quarter has been a positive and eye-opening experience. It has made me a more knowledgeable and intellectually aware person by informing me on news I would not otherwise be informed on. I enjoy being mindful and conscious of what is occurring locally, nation-wide, and internationally. I also find it fascinating to see what the editors of the New York Times deem as the most important news articles by their placement of them in the newspaper. As someone who is interested in pursuing a career in Journalism, this experience has allowed me to see firsthand the styles, techniques, and rhetoric of a variety of writers. The New York Times has allowed me to see different types of ledes in stories and how they develop their ideas in the nut graph; on the other hand it has showed me how some writers do not follow this normal structure of writing.
Additionally, the New York Times has permitted me to become a more reflective and thoughtful reader. I have always been an introspective person, but through reading the newspaper I have found myself examining what the article is about, who the audience is, and whether I agree with the writer’s points. Through this constant stream of self-reflection, I have become more conscious of my own values, morals, and thoughts which has consequently caused me to describe myself as a detached writer. I push myself to be truth-seeking, honest, and insightful in my own writing which in effect has shaped my own personality as a whole.
An article that aligned with my personal values was “The Compassion Gap” by Nicholas Kristof. This article described how many people higher up in their socio-economic status are judging people’s character and personality, specifically the poor, on their external appearance. I agree with Kristof’s argument that “to spread opportunities, let’s start by pointing fewer fingers and offering more helping hands.” By being raised in a Christian home, my morals reflect this ideology of helping others and treating others how you would want to be treated.
An article in which caused me to self-reflect was “Goodnight. Sleep Clean.” Author Maria Konnikova brought up some interesting facts in her use of case studies and statistics which in effect made me realize some negative impacts of sleep deprivation that I was not aware of prior to this article.
In the words of Arthur Miller “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.” I believe that Miller is saying that in order to be successful newspapers need to deliver news that the people want and need to hear. A good newspaper delivers objective news articles with the overall goal of attaining a large range of readers. They want their audience to encompass all types of people regardless of their political, religious and cultural affiliation. I believe that the New York Times is a good newspaper due to the extensive and numerous sections that are available to readers on a daily basis. You are bound to find something of interest when you open up the New York Times. The Sunday edition of the Times for example has a little bit of everything with sections such as arts & leisure, book review, travel, sports, styles, Sunday review, business and even a magazine. The Times makes it possible for people with different personalities, styles, backgrounds and views to come together and read a common newspaper.
Why This Class and the NYT Mattered
From this class, I learned just how deeply my world views were impacted by the way in which I grew up. A person’s background determines the lens through which they see the the world and and the way they read and write throughout their lifetimes. I believe this knowledge was offered during WRD 104, and I believe I will be able to take this knowledge with me after I leave the course.
I am aware that my upbringing may not necessarily be typical for a DePaul student. To begin with, I am not from the suburbs of any U.S. city. In fact, my small town of 1,300 is 20 miles away from the nearest city with nothing but farmland and a few houses in between them. I don’t think there is anything particularly wrong or limiting to a person’s lens when they are raised in a more affluent environment, I just think there is a difference. I believe I take many different perspectives into consideration since I spent time living in a rural community, visiting family in the suburbs and spending time in the city for fun.
I also come from a working class background where both of my parents had to work. This left my brother and I home for a few hours a day after school. I used this time to become unknowingly self-sufficient. I did my homework without prompting, I made myself something to eat when I was hungry, and I did chores like the laundry and dishes. This makes me see the world in a sense of self-dependance, where I don’t expect things to be handed to me without any effort put in on my part.
I am a journalist, and I consider that a large part of my background and a factor that shaped the way I see the world. I think journalism is an important tool to share knowledge about the world and the way things work, and I also think it is important to try to check your biases like true journalists do. I like to report, and I like to write about people’s lives, but I don’t like to try to assume where they’re coming from unless I can ask them or find out in some way. To me, assumptions are the number one killer of good writing.
My background shows through in the way I read and the way I vet sources. The New York Times is not my favorite newspaper. I don’t believe they make themselves accessible through their writing, and they don’t target a wide audience. However, I do believe they can be trusted (bar a few exceptions) as a reliable source. In terms of reading, I don’t ofter read long novels or stories. This could be a subconscious act of laziness, but I think it could could also be because there are things I could be doing that might be more productive. None of this is to say I don’t like reading short stories; I feel those fit into my lifestyle better.
This lens also affected the way I write in that I work toward efficiency with a broad array of perspectives (although this does not show through in my Op-Ed per say). With my contextual analysis and many papers I’ve written throughout my career as a student, I follow a five part structure for each paragraph. Start with a transition, set up a reference to an outside work, reference the outside work, phrase in other terms what that means, and then explain why that reference was important to the overall theme of the paper.
Looking through a lens is easy, but determining what shaped that lens isn’t as easy. I believe I learned how to determine what shaped my lens in this class, and I think it is an important lesson. Once you know look at why you are the way you are, you don’t forget, so I won’t.
The New York Times and Me.
My confidence waned as I selected to enroll in WRD 104; a feeling of dread grew in my stomach.
Coming to DePaul University as a first generation student, I was not entirely sure what to expect. I have had my fair share of English courses over the span of the years however, none seemed to detach from the idea that good writing was based on mechanics – those pesky grammar rules I never fully grasped.
Growing up, I was enrolled in a bilingual program. I learned Spanish then English, and now I speak a language all its own in which both languages are forever intertwined. I used to despise what I thought to be incompetence now, I think differently. I still make mistakes but, I will not apologize for, being bilingual is a true blessing.
Nonetheless, former educators have focused so much on this aspect of writing that I feared failure once again, taking away my love for words and replacing it with an uneasiness that left me in a state of self-doubt and confusion.
I was wrong.
WRD 104 was nothing like those classes.
It was a class created for and by students, an open space in which we could talk about any issue that we deemed important at the moment. Our textbook was the world (otherwise known as the New York Times) – real events happening to real people on a daily basis. Rather than write about topics I could generate little interest in, had my grade not depended in, I found myself actively engaged.
Together, we shared the pain that was felt as six people lost their lives in Santa Barbara. We were frustrated by the lack of transparency between post-secondary institutions and records of sexual assault. We observed in terror as hundreds of Nigerian girls were abducted. We became enthralled by the story of a young girl who gave her life trying to reach her parents in the U.S, tying the loose ends of her personal life not by rejoining her family, but by tying a noose around her neck.
I was challenged in ways I had not been challenged before, challenged to open my mind.
For the first time, a professor was willing to negotiate, asking me what I wanted of the class rather than being forced to flip though a textbook that would make me fall into a deep slumber. I felt validated – my opinion, the one of a nineteen-year-old most people took little notice of, mattered. I was suspicious, but I followed along. I grew to fall in love with the discussions we held and although, I was not an avid speaker in class, I was listening. Thinking. Critically Thinking.
Some of those thoughts I internalized.
The empty, “who cares” response I repeated to my mother time and time again as she sat watching the news changed to a humble “I do.”
“A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.”
Although this quote seems somewhat condescending, overlooking the sophistication and intelligence as well as truth-seeking behavior that goes into a newspaper everyday, I agree with it.
We read articles about “How to Love the Cold” to reassure ourselves that some good comes out of this frigid misery. We read “What Faces Can’t Tell Us” to prove to ourselves that we are more complex than we think we are. I also have noticed how many times we talk about success. In articles like “What Drives Success?” as well as “Is Success in our DNA?” to blame something other than ourselves for whether or not we are successful. We can instead blame our ancestors (Your Ancestors, Your Fate).
This is not to say that this is the only purpose of articles like these. Most of these articles New York Times are very passionate about truth-seeking behavior as well as urging us to form our own opinions. David Brooks talks about this in his article “Engaged or Detached?” which our class did our second rhetorical analysis on it. In this article, Brooks claims that “The detached writer also starts with a worldview. If you don’t have a philosophic worldview, your essays won’t even rise to the status of being wrong. They won’t be anything.” This is something the Times feels very strongly about. Your critical thinking matters. It also proves daily that you are not the only one thinking about your problems. By talking to ourselves, we are continuously negotiating ideas between people and texts and issues. This is what makes the Times so powerful.
“A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.”
I have to be honest, when I first heard that we were going to have to read the New York Times for class, I was not too excited. I really don’t like reading and I thought it was going to take so much time that I did not have. Well, this way of thinking made me look like a complete fool. I ended up loving the New York Times and all the stories it had to offer. After reading, I feel that newspapers are under appreciated amongst Americans today.
The New York Times shocked me with their variety. They have so many different categories and a little bit of something for everyone to read which is why it is so special. One quote that I really found interesting is “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a country talking to itself.” I think that the New York Times does just this. Especially because the New York Times offers the opportunity for the readers to contribute their thoughts in the Letter to the Editor section. This allows for the reader to comment on any article and they can share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions witht the rest of the country.
All in all, I am so glad that I was given the opportunity to read the New York Times. It really opened my eyes and I was actually informed and knowledgable about what was going on in our world. I am going to continue reading the newspaper because I thoroughly enjoy knowing what is going on in the world.
“A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself”
– Arthur Miller, 1961
For a newspaper to survive financially, it has to have a consistent and loyal readership. A relationship has to be built between the newspaper and each individual who reads it as well as the nation that supports it. A good newspaper should offer different perspectives to an issue with an aim at sparking productive conversation and debate. To produce effective discussion, a good newspaper should establish stasis in the featured arguments.
A good newspaper should include detached writing, or writing that attempts to search for the truth. Detached writing allows for both the reader and writer to dissect what they know or what they are told to try to discover what they believe in or question why they believe that way.
Before reading David Brooks’ article “Engaged or Detached?”, I thought that a good writer was one who mastered the power of persuation, or those who could charismatically convince readers through the mastery of efficiently using the rhetorical strategies of logos, ethos, and pathos. I was especially impressed if an author was able to get me to consider a new perspective or influence my opinions without coming off forcefully or pushy. I now understand that good writing pushes people to think and consider more than what was presented in the argument. Brooks wrote, “Detached writers generally understand that they are not going to succeed in telling people what to think. It is enough to prod people to think — to provide an idea or piece information that sets readers on a train of thought that takes them far in front of whatever you put down.”
Although gathering a group of qualified professionals who are also talented writers may be difficult and an unrealistic goal, I applaud newspapers that include a diverse palette of authors. I feel that it is important to keep the perspectives diverse and to hear from underrepresented voices. In this way, a good newspaper should not just be about the powerholders controlling the conversation but instead include the representation of marginalized speakers. [For example, the NYT featured an article titled “Can We Learn About Privacy From Porn Stars?” written by a porn star identified as Stoya.] A good newspaper should not just be another platform that the powerful control. I agree with Miller that a good newspaper is one that talks to itself. One that includes and represents everyone.