Media Research Project

The latest assignment for my CMM101 class was a media research project. We had to chose a topic that was somehow related to media, research it, and give an oral presentation on it. I decided to do my project on military photographers. When I was still in the Marine Corps, there was a military photographer that was attached to my platoon every now and then. Prior to meeting him, I never really gave much thought to these photographers. Once I actually worked with one, I became curious, and this assignment give me the opportunity to learn a little bit more about them.

When it came time to start researching for the project, I was immediately surprised at the lack of information on this subject's history. There was a decent number of sources describing the job today, but I couldn't find much on the origins of military photographers. Compared to the rest of the jobs in the military, photographers really haven't been around that long, so I suppose that explains this lack of information. As I found out, pictures of the military and its actions started appearing during the Mexican-American War. The photographers that took these photos weren't members of the military, however. Rather, they were civilians who followed the military. This continued until the late 19th century. Starting in the 1880s, the U.S. Army's Signal Corps had soldiers assigned as photographers within it. By the end of WWII, military photographers were well established. Since our presentation was supposed to be between 5 and 10 minutes, I didn't go too in depth on this history. Instead, I talked about the mission of military photographers and some of the things they do.

Overall, this wasn't too bad of an assignment, and I was able to learn more about a topic I really didn't know much about.

Hellhound on His Trail Review

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently finished reading Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin by Hampton Sides. This was definitely a good book. It begins with James Earl Ray's escape from the Missouri State Penitentiary at Jefferson City and follows his movements prior to and after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It ends with Ray's arrest.

One thing that set this book apart for me was its voice. Even though it is a non-fiction book, Sides presents it in such a way that it appears like a mystery novel or some type of thriller. It isn't dry or boring at all, traits that are sometimes present in non-fiction works. The book's suspenseful nature is especially impressive since everyone is aware that King was assassinated. Yet, during the pages leading up to that infamous gunshot, I found myself hoping he might somehow survive.

In addition to its excellent voice, Hellhound on His Trail is full of details. Prior to writing the book, Side's did painstaking research and traveled to the same destinations Ray went to during his flight. Side's hard work is readily apparent in his presentation. The settings and actions of the book are all vividly described, making it even harder to set down. This is a must read for anyone that is a fan of true-crime, mystery, suspense, or history. Indeed, Side's has masterfully inserted the best traits of each genre in this book.

Wikipedia Article

It's official, I'm now a Wikipedia contributor. Actually, this isn't my first time adding to Wikipedia, but it is the first major effort. In the past I've corrected an article that I noticed was wrong, but it only amounted to a single phrase. This time around I significantly expanded the "Early Life" section of the James Earl Ray article.

When I first received this CMM101 assignment, I was a apprehensive. I had absolutely no idea what subject I could possibly know enough about to either write an article about or contribute to an existing one. Fortunately, an assignment from another class would push me in the right direction. Not too long ago, I had to write a cause and effect essay for my English 101 class. We could either pick from a list of provided topics or submit one of our own for approval. I wasn't crazy about any of the provided topics so I decided I would write about the effects of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. I'm still not sure what made me think of that topic, but it proved to be interesting in my opinion. As part of my research for this essay, I checked out and read Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin by Hampton Sides. It follows Ray's movements before and after the assassination. I also browsed the Wikipedia article for Ray. From the start, Ray's article seemed very small to me. This surprised me since he is so notorious. I immediately decided this would be the article I would try to add to. Not only did the book peek my interest,  but it also became a great source for me to use in this endeavor.

My next step was to decide what I would ad to the article. The "Early Life" immediately jumped out at me. This is what it contained prior to my addition:

James Earl Ray came from a poor family in Alton, Illinois, and left school at age fifteen. He joined the US Army at the close of World War II and served in Germany. He was convicted of his first crime, a burglary in California, in 1949. 

In 1952 he served two years for armed robbery of a taxi driver in Illinois. In 1955, he was convicted of mail fraud. After an armed robbery in Missouri in 1959, Ray was sentenced to twenty years in prison for repeated offenses. He escaped from prison in 1967 by hiding in a truck transporting bread from the prison bakery.

As you can see, there just wasn't a lot here. It jumped straight from his prison escape to his arrest for the assassination of Dr. King.  I wanted to know what he did in between those two events, and I figured others would be interested in this as well. Once I finished Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin, I had plenty of newly acquired knowledge on this subject. Finally, I was ready to start typing.

Or at least that's what I thought. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be that easy. The Ray article is in a semi-protected status. This basically means that in order to edit it, you have to be a registered user of Wikipedia and be in a confirmed status. This is done for articles that have experienced a high level of tampering in an effort to maintain the article's integrity.  You can gain confirmed status two ways: once you've been registered for four days and have edited ten posts, you are confirmed automatically; the other option is to request confirmation from a Wikipedia administer. I chose the latter route since I didn't foresee myself making ten different edits in the near future. I put the request in and was confirmed later that same day.

This time, I really was ready to go. My main contribution was the following to the "Early Life" section:

Following his escape, Ray stayed on the move, going first to St. Louis and then on to Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, and Birmingham. When he got to Alabama, Ray stayed long enough to buy a 1966 Ford Mustang and get an Alabama driver’s license. He then drove to Mexico, stopping in Acapulco before settling down in Puerto Vallarta on October 19, 1967.^[3] While in Mexico, Ray, using the alias Eric Starvo Galt, attempted to establish himself as a porn director. Using mail-ordered equipment, he filmed and photographed local prostitutes.^[4] Frustrated with his results and jilted by the prostitute he had formed a relationship with, Ray left Mexico around November 16, 1967.^[5] 

Ray arrived in Los Angeles on November 19. While in L.A., Ray attended a local bar tending school and took dance lessons.^[6] His chief interest, however, would be the George Wallace presidential campaign. Ray harbored a strong prejudice towards African Americans and was quickly drawn to Wallace’s segregationist platform. He would spend much of his time in Los Angeles volunteering at the Wallace campaign headquarters in North Hollywood.^[7] He also developed an interest in Rhodesia, where Ian Smith’s white supremacist regime was in power. He even wrote to the American-Southern Africa Council on December 28, 1967. In this letter, Ray stated, 'My reason for writing is that I am considering immigrating to Rhodesia.'^[8] The idea of living in Rhodesia stayed with Ray, and it would be his intended destination when he went on the run after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. One of his last acts in Los Angeles would be on March 5, 1968, when he had a rhinoplasty performed by Dr. Russell Hadley.^[9] On March 18, 1968 Ray began a cross-country drive to Atlanta, Georgia.^[10]

Arriving in Atlanta on March 24, Ray checked into a rooming house.^[11] He eventually bought a map of the city. FBI Agents would later find this map when they searched the room he was staying at in Atlanta. On the map, the locations of the church and residence of Martin Luther King Jr. were circled.^[12] Ray was soon on the road again and drove his Mustang to Birmingham, Alabama. There, on March 30, 1968, he bought a Remington Gamemaster 760 .30-06-caliber rifle and a box of 20 bullets from the Aeromarine Supply Company. He also bought a Redfield 2x7 scope, which he had mounted to the rifle. He told the store clerks that he was going on a hunting trip with his brother. Ray had continued using the Galt alias after Mexico, but when he made this purchase, he gave his name as Harvey Lowmeyer.^[13]

After buying the rifle and accessories, Ray drove back to Atlanta. An avid newspaper reader, Ray passed his time reading the Atlanta Constitution. The paper reported King’s planned return trip to Memphis, Tennessee, which was scheduled for April 1, 1968. On April 2, 1968, Ray packed a bag and drove to Memphis.^[14]

Once I finished writing this, I went back and added links to to things people might want to find out more about. You can see these in my article above. My next step was adding in citations. These boxes are also present in the article above. Finally, I added the "Notes" section to the article and made the "References" section more uniformed in style. Both of these sections are viewable on the Wikipedia page.

After I got the hang of the code you have to use for Wikipedia, the work went pretty smoothly, and the assignment wasn't as hard as I first thought it might be.

My List

Recently, my professor for my CMM101 class asked us to post an influential picture, one of our favorite movies, and an interesting TV advertisement. The picture was somewhat difficult for me since there are so many good ones at there. Ultimately, I decided on this picture, Ground Zero Spirit:

The attacks of September 11, 2001 impacted me greatly and largely shaped my choices in life sense then. As soon as I graduated from high school I enlisted into the United States Marine Corps. While I was always interested in the military and it remained an option in my mind, the terrorist attacks removed any doubt that the Marine Corps would be in my immediate future. One thing I particular like about this photo is it's similarity to the flag raising on Iwo Jima. This is an extremely iconic photo in American history and in Marine Corps culture specifically, so Ground Zero Spirit's similarity to it makes the photo even more influential on me. Another thing I like about the photo is everything it represents. In one of our nation's darkest hours, we were united as one. I think this photo does a great job of capturing that.

I also found the movie choice difficult. Once again, I've seen so many great movies. I finally narrowed it down to two,  Schindler's List and It's A Wonderful Life. These are both truly great movies, but undeniably different. This difference is what helped me with my choice. There's already so much sadness and misery in the world, I figured a glimpse of hope and goodness would be much more needed, and so I went with It's A Wonderful Life. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend it.

The TV advertisement was quite a bit easier to decide. As soon as I remembered it, I knew what my choice would be. The John West Salmon "Bear Fight" commercial is funny every time I see it. The bear's fancy foot work and kicking John West in the shin are great, but the best part has to be the line, "Look! An eagle!" followed by a swift kick to the bear's...well, I'll let you watch the commercial for yourself.

New Media Presentation

One of the assignments for my CMM101 class was doing a short presentation on a type of media that I found interesting and using. I gave mine over the website Fandango. With the price of movies these days, plus my busy schedule, it's not often that I go see a movie at the theater. Consequently, I rarely know what is out. When I was  a kid, the entertainment section of the local newspaper would list movies and the times they were playing; however, it didn't really go into too much depth as far as what each movie was about. Regardless, these days I don't even subscribe to any newspapers. In my opinion, Fandango is a better choice, anyway. Like the newspaper, it shows what is playing at the theaters in my area. In addition to this, it also offers details as to what the movies are about, who is in them, and what other people thought of the movie. If you like actual film critic reviews, it has those as well. These are the features I find most useful, although it also has many that I don't use. For example, Fandango provides news on up and coming movies, box office rankings, and the ability to pay tickets online. The last feature could be useful if you want to avoid long lines at the ticket booth, but it is a little bit extra so I don't use it myself. I definitely think it is a useful website and a good resource for knowing what is playing in theaters.

The Lost Battalion Review

I just recently watched the movie The Lost Battalion. It stars Rick Schroder and is directed by Russel Mulcahy. The movie is based on the true story of the 308th Infantry Battalion during World War One. It was a made-for-TV movie that originally aired on A&E in 2001, although, it is now available on DVD. Schroeder plays Major Charles Whittlesey, who is the commanding officer for the 308th. At the beginning of the film, the unit is ordered to make what Whittlesey considers a reckless attack. However, the attack goes forward and the 308th soon finds itself deep in German lines surrounded by the enemy. The rest of the movie follows the Germans' repeated attacks on the unit in an effort to restore their lines. The 308th holds on despite overwhelming odds and is rescued by American units at the movie's end.

While there are some minor historical errors, the film is very good. Most people would never notice these errors anyway, and despite them, the film is pretty accurate overall, in my opinion. The story flows smoothly, and I found all of the acting very believable. There are also some great camera angles that reminded me of Saving Private Ryan. For example, it is easy to compare the beginning of The Lost Battalion, when the soldiers charge out of the trenches, to the beginning of Saving Private Ryan, when the landings at Omaha Beach take place. The special effects are also fairly good, though you can tell it was done with a TV budget in some places. This is most notable when an artillery shell kills the character, Sgt. Gaedeke. The explosion from it came across as very fake to me. This does not detract from the rest of the film, however, and many of the other special effects are done very well. In fact, when writing this review, it was the only one that stood out bad enough for me to remember.

For fans of war movies or history in general, this is definitely worth watching. It is also nice to see another WWI movie, that are now rare with the renewed interest in WWII lately.

Social Bookmarking

Prior to my Introduction to Electronic Media class, I had never heard of social bookmarking. For me, bookmarks were simply a part of your browser and that was about it. The class required us to create an account with a social bookmarking website and upload several bookmarks. After using the website, I must admit the idea behind it is intriguing. Having my bookmarks accessible from any computer is definitely a good idea. Currently, I always use my laptop, so I don't know how much use I'll actually get out of my account. I will try to keep it up to date, however. Who knows, maybe I'll need it sometime.

Here's a link to my page: www.delicious.com/dlturner0311.