Professor Alan Lichtman

American University History Professor Alan Lichtman says there are 13 keys to winning the White House. In 2016, he was one of the few prognosticators to predict Donald Trump's victory. Watch here as he walks through his 13 predictors and gives his analysis of who he believes will win the 2020 election.

Video courtesy of New York Times, August 5, 2020

Organizational leadership is perhaps more important now than ever before. That's why I've been spending part of the summer reading a book called Saving Face: How to Preserve Dignity and Build Trust by Maya Hu-Chan. It outlines several ways to increase self esteem, reputation, and status in others, all while reducing shame, fear, vulnerability, and other negative emotions. Being empathetic comes across as one of the most important traits of a good leader. As Hu-Chan says in the book, "Humanity is key, ego is the enemy."

While reading the book, I also came across an article (paywall access may be required) in the Friday, June 19, 2020 edition of the Wall Street Journal written by Jared Diamond. Jared's article is about how the Kansas City Royals were the only Major League Baseball team during the pandemic not to let go of any minor league players, and showcases one of the strongest, best quotes on leadership I've ever seen. Royals General Manager Dayton Moore is quote as saying, “We shouldn’t be applauded for that. That’s just what you’re supposed to do. If you accept the responsibility of a leadership position, it begins with putting others first, and if you can’t do that, you don’t deserve the privilege to lead.”

Now that's empathetic. That's putting humanity above ego. We need a whole lot more of that these days.

The Media Blame Game

An opinion piece by Len Niehoff in the Detroit News articulates much of what I've been thinking the last several years as it relates to blaming journalists for the ills of society. While he uses the arrests and physical harm of journalists in the Black Lives Matter movement to highlight recent events, Len also points out that the United States has slowly become a more hostile place for journalists. In fact, he points out that the organization "Reporters Without Borders" now ranks the United States as 45th out of 180 countries for press freedoms.  This is astonishing, considering the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects several basic freedoms, including freedom of the press. The framers of the amendment understood that the public's right to know what is going on in their world is part of what sustains a democracy. Without it, authoritarian governments or ways of thinking prosper. I encourage you to read Len's piece and dive into the Reporters Without Borders press freedom study. These are also issues we discuss in both Introduction to Mass Communication and Beginning Newswriting, courses I teach at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.

Brother Jerome

The death of Br. Jerome Rademacher saddened me deeply. I didn't know Br. Jerome very well, but I know how much he did for the Saint Mary's University community. I'll think of him every time I go walking or running on the trails at Saint Mary's due to his meticulous care for them, but I'll also remember him as the one who sat by my wife and I at our first Saint Mary's Christmas dinner. We didn't know many people at that time and Br. Jerome made us feel right at home and talked to us like he had known us for years. He was clearly a brilliant man who believed in humility and respect. I treasure having known him and will think of him often.

Improving Writing for Online Reporting

On Friday, January 27 I attended the Minnesota Newspaper Association annual convention. Gayle Golden from the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication gave several helpful strategies and useful resources to improve writing for online audiences. Some of the more important pieces of advice:

• Develop a keyword strategy for all stories.
• Encourage experiments with data visualization using Google Fusion
• Engage readers through social media with two-way conversations

I thought Google Fusion sounded like a great resource for easy-to-make charts and graphs. I also learned about an electronic newsletter service called Mailchimp.

All in all, a great session with helpful, useful advice.

Read Out Loud

For years I have told my students they could improve their writing greatly if they would just read their work aloud before turning it in. I'm pretty sure almost none of them do it. This year I'll have more ammunition thanks to writing guru Ann Wylie's "Benefits of Reading Aloud." She states reading aloud reduces errors, makes your copy more conversational, makes your copy sound better, and cuts through the clutter. She also provides excellent examples or quotes from authors for each. Thanks, Ann! Let's hope my students take heed!

Motivation

 

In doing some research on academic excellence, I came across an article summarizing the main traits college students need in order to do well. Of course IQ is important, but another trait that determines whether a college student will succeed academically is intellectual curiosity. An article in the journal of Psychological Science reports that "a 'hungry mind' is a core determinant of individual differences in academic achievement." The authors of the research project suggest universities should encourage more curiosity in their students.

The problem, of course, is that it's difficult to force someone to want to learn. It's mostly an inherent trait. I think the best thing I can do as an educator is explain the purpose for each learning unit and use teaching methods students relate to that encourage questions and discussion. After that, it's up to each individual student to get out of their education what they put into it.