Category Archives: journalism

Recalled Eggs and America’s Food Problems

By David Xia | Published: August 29, 2010
Tom Ashbrook's "On Point" program on National Public Radio several nights ago discussed the current nation-wide effort to recall half a billion eggs suspected of being tainted with salmonella. I'm usually skeptical of Ashbrook's Chicken Little routine (grab attention by making a situation sound like the sky's falling) but this time I agreed. The US industrial food system is in serious need of reform.

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Also posted in Books, Current Events | Leave a comment

How Can We Monetize Quality Journalism?

By David Xia | Published: August 12, 2010
So the problem we now face is how can we monetize quality journalism? Newspapers should die, but the kind of accountability and investigative journalism that made them great needs to live on. Why should quality journalism survive? I believe newspapers are a public good. In terms of economics, good journalism is a positive externality, something whose benefits are not completely captured in terms of money by the producer. A general solution to positive externalities is government intervention, but many journalists balk as the thought of being funded by the very people they (supposedly) monitor. I have very little faith in circulation revenue providing sufficient funding because people have come to expect free content and also because I myself don't know if I'd buy a subscription to the Times even if they erect an online pay wall.

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Also posted in Technology | Leave a comment

Newspapers Doomed – A Comedy

By David Xia | Published: August 11, 2010
Here's a hilarious fake news article titled "Last Newspaper Reporter Fired." Here's an excerpt to convince you to click the link and read the whole thing:
A DAY IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE — In what Wall Street cheered as a long overdue and welcome cost-cutting measure, the very last newspaper reporter in America was fired yesterday, capping years of newsroom cuts and officially eliminating basic newsgathering as a journalistic function.

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Also posted in Current Events | Leave a comment

Chinese Propaganda vs US Propaganda

By David Xia | Published: July 3, 2010
China's Xinhua News Agency started a 24-hour English-language news channel and is about to open a new office in New York City, according to the Times. The Times is once again critical of China. And they should be. China ranks 168th out of 175 countries in the 2009 Press Freedom Index, a survey compiled by Reporters Without Borders. What I don't like about the Times article is its prejudicial sense of nationalism and simplistic view of East vs West. The Times inflated the article by making it sound as if Xinhua Red Guards wielding hammers and sickles are about to kick down the sacred doors of Western media companies.

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Also posted in Books, China, Current Events, New York City | 1 Comment

Have Grad Students Made a Terrible Life Choice?

By David Xia | Published: June 25, 2010
The article compares the academic system to a giant Ponzi scheme approaching assured self-destruction if it stays the course. A system that recklessly burns through the nation's intellectual capital by taking in suckers of doe-eyed graduate students, chews them up, and spits them out.

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Also posted in Career | 2 Comments

What’s Your Favorite Beverage?

By David Xia | Published: June 2, 2010
"What's your favorite beverage?" my friend asked me one day. We were sitting on a curb outside of a small concert space in hipster-territory Williamsburg, New York. "Water," I replied. "That's such a David Xia answer," he chuckled.

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Also posted in Books | Leave a comment

Most Horrendous Gaffe Ever?

By David Xia | Published: January 11, 2010
The president of a certain female liberal arts college once compared herself to the pope and the act of endorsing a political candidate to Jews devouring Christian babies.

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Also posted in Columbia University, Comedy | 1 Comment

Is CNN Always Like This?

By David Xia | Published: December 23, 2009
You know it's Christmas when the anchor dances in her seat to Christmas jingles, the weatherman shares his personal travel plans, and the correspondents call each other by the wrong names.

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Also posted in Comedy, holidays | 1 Comment