Media

A documentary look at the Representative Journalism (RepJ) Project, a pioneering citizen journalism initiative in Northfield, Minnesota. Funded by the Harnisch Family Foundation, the RepJ project is a joint initiative of Leonard Witt, a professor of journalism at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, and LocallyGrownNorthfield.org, a citizen journalism blog in Northfield, Minnesota.

MORE »

Tweets — the 140-character mini-blog posts sent via Twitter — are very much of-the-moment and therefore often have a fairly short shelf-life. But in reviewing these brief dispatches sent by our reporters during the Republican National Convention, we found that, despite the 140-character restraint and the inevitable typos that result from punching in text on a cellphone while ducking teargas canisters, an RNC-only best-of list was a fitting way to capture the humor, excitement and surreal nature of last summer’s event. Here’s the top ten: MORE »

On Monday, Senator Amy Klobuchar held a hearing at the Minnesota State Capital on access to high-speed data networks (referred to as broadband) yesterday. It was standing room only in one of the smaller hearing rooms. The audience included representatives from a number of industry groups, a couple members of the Minnesota Ultra High-Speed Broadband Taskforce, at least one librarian and a few people who work on the Blandin Foundation Rural Broadband Initiative. MORE »

by Ann Treacy

The BK “Whopper Virgin” ad campaign is “as real as Borat” wrote one reader, and “no innocents are actually being exploited except by the concept that Whoppers are good for all, the idea of Burger King as a missionary/ sexual encounter.” Many readers had strong feelings about the Burger King “Whopper Virgin” ad campaign and protests against it. Some comments dismissed Minnesotan Seng Vang’s criticism of the campaign — “This person complaining is being to foolish…. Its a commercial and has nothing to do with Hmong people. I am Hmong and quite proud with this exposure of our people.” Just as vehemently, others agreed that the campaign demeans Hmong people — “I agree 120% not just a commercial..you fool wake up.” The lively dialogue included attacks on Seng Vang, with one commenter lamenting “this is exactly what it means to be Hmong, one person speaks or leads and other pull down … It’s sad already how Hmong being viewed in the mainstream cultures…but, it’s even sadder for Hmong to bash and hurt each other.”

Another comment said that most Hmong people in Thailand would not eat burgers because they eat healthier food, and that BK burgers are “mainly there for tourists and expat locals.” Still another Chiang Mai resident pointed out that the BK is “not cheap by Thai standards. I have quite a few Thai friends in town and they have never eaten there.”

By the end of the week, Seng Vang had responded with more detailed critique of the BK ads, and Sun Yung Shin weighed in with additional analysis (both reprinted below the jump.) Read the original article here, followed by all of the comments, and a second article with Tou Saiko Lee’s blog post from Thailand here. MORE »

by Jay Gabler

A few weeks ago I was at my parents’ house in St. Paul, and my father was watching Driving Miss Daisy on Comcast digital cable. Summoning the onscreen program description, he was disgusted to read a capsule review that gave the movie—winner of the 1989 Academy Award for Best Picture—three out of four stars. “Come on!” he exclaimed.

by Ann Treacy

by Ann Treacy