Off the Grid

Even after narrowing my scope to two programs and realizing my project had been done before, I still persevered. I asked myself: what is missing from Julia Fox’s article? Her approach focuses on the substance of content delivered, but I realized it didn’t actually take into account how much of that content is retained. With the biggest differentiating factor between John Oliver and Anderson Cooper being humor, I began to hypothesize about how humor might affect information retention. For example, John Oliver discussed in a Net Neutrality segment that it doesn’t seem fair for the FCC Chairman role to be currently held by a former cable industry lobbyist due to a clear conflict of interest. I didn’t have to just google that fact to remember it. Why? Because Oliver compared this appointment to hiring a dingo as a babysitter. And he used this image:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And thus, I finally found my way: my project would measure retention. I decided to use net netrality, government torture, and the Scottish secession as my three case study topics, as they had all been covered by Oliver and Cooper in 2015. So here was my plan:

 

1. Compile a list of facts and opinions presented on each case study topic by John Oliver and Anderson Cooper

2. Divide my six roommates into two groups, and force each group to watch coverage from Oliver or Cooper

3. Wait two weeks, and then deviously surprise each roommate with an ‘exam’ to figure out the percentage of actual content retained

4. Compile results, and then reevaluate my news diet once-and-for-all

 

For the sake of dramatization, assume that I found a way to include ABC News and The Daily Show in this experiment. This is the chart I fantasized about creating [with randomly generated dummy data]:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As with most fantasies, this chart never came to fruition. I completed steps 1 and 2, but my step 3 waiting period was interrupted by a pretty rough case of what my doctor thinks was bronchitis. This conveniently gave me two weeks to reflect on my project at home. I did my best to practice responsible time management, as such:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This might not seem like a lot of time devoted to writing this project, but keep in mind that 2% of two weeks is roughly 7 hours. Although I didn't actually write any words over this two-week staycation, I spent a lot of time thinking. In regards to this reflecion, I experienced an inverse writers block. Instead of struggling to generate content, I couldn't stop thinking of different flaws in my production plan. Maybe I was pessimistically influenced by my poor physical health, or maybe the clogging of my sinuses actually unclogged my inner cynicism. In any case, it slowly dawned on me that my framework—for a lack of a better phrase—sort of sucked.