Rhetorica Update
You’ll notice that I’ve changed the description of this web site under the Rhetorica banner and changed the name of the blog from Press-Politics Journal to Media Ethics and Rhetoric Journal. I’ve also begun making some changes to the blogroll to reflect the changing emphasis of Rhetorica.
Yes, it’s time for a change.
Basically, I’m getting out of the political rhetoric game and getting deeper into the media ethics game with special attention paid to the rhetoric of media ethics.
My reasons are these:
1. This change reflects a much closer fit with my academic research as it has evolved since I arrived at Missouri State University.
2. I’m getting sick and tired of political punditry and reporting.
To put a finer point on #2: I think the coverage of politics by the mainstream news media in the United States is hopelessly broken.
You might be saying to yourself: Hey, wait a minute! What about the primary purpose of journalism, which is an ethic? How can you cover media ethics and not deal with politics?
I will continue to critique the news media using the primary purpose as one of my guides. What I will not be doing is trying to find ways for the news media to do a better job of covering politics in terms of craft.
I’m still working through how this is going to play out on Rhetorica. The most immediate thing you’ll notice is that I will no longer be commenting on political rhetoric or journalism’s coverage of it.
And, yes, my timing is really terrible considering the Palin resignation speech 
