Category Archives: ethics

Poor Sods with a Keyboard

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Journalism practices have changed dramatically since the days I worked as a reporter and today any poor sod with a keyboard can wax moronically just by pushing a button marked “send.” Bile erupted in response to an editorial I wrote … Continue reading →

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Plain drab wrapper

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

This has been a stellar week for tobacco news and media effects. The week began with a story that a federal judge ruled in favor of tobacco companies who whined that placing disgusting images on cigarette packets would harm their … Continue reading →

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Sustainability: the New Buzz Word

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Today the buzz-word is sustainability. The word has caught fire in academic circles with the most recent converts a group of scientists that examines risk. The SRA folks—Society for Risk Analysis—sent an email announcing the 2012 conference will focus on, … Continue reading →

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Exploitation and Scientific Discovery

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

One of my graduate students is at the tail-end of her thesis on science communication: a look at how folks talk about a best-selling book in online conversations. She defends her thesis this week. The book, The Immortal Life of … Continue reading →

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Appropriation vs. Reclamation

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Jolene Rickard (Tuscarora) presented us with images that invited us to think about Indian artifacts—when are they appropriated and when they are merely reclaimed? Her talk, sponsored by the Newberry Library’s D’Arcy McNickle Center in Chicago, focused on the edges … Continue reading →

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Ethics in Indian Country

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

The Newberry Library’s D’Arcy McNickle Center in Chicago sponsored a talk this week on indigenous views of ethics, and I was delighted to attend with first daughter Wak-o-apa (Megan). The four presenters discussed perspectives about art, appropriation and sharing from … Continue reading →

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Homoerotica

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

It’s the summer of 1989 and my best pal Michelle Courtney Berry is dragging me to an art exhibit in Washington DC. We’re both students at Cornell, and the graduate faculty convinced us to attend an academic conference in DC … Continue reading →

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The Balance Imperative and Native Concerns

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

In journalism classes we teach the balance imperative. Get both sides of the story. But as journalism critics we acknowledge that being balanced doesn’t mean the story always gets told.

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Contagion

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

I’ve delayed reading the reviews for the new film Contagion until I sort though my feelings. When I worked at the CDC my colleagues didn’t suit up in the Day-Glo orange hazard gear but they did venture to outbreaks to … Continue reading →

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When the Ball Changes in Mid-Air

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

The trouble with mental catch, Adam Gopnik writes, is that the ball you throw changes in mid-air into another. Gopnik is speaking metaphorically in his short story The Rookie. He’s telling his son a bedtime tale and the intent gets … Continue reading →

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