All The President's Men

After watching the film, “All the President’s Men” I found that two of the journalists working for the Washington Post in the movie were investigated in the first Watergate break following the scandal. It was the biggest scandal (or one of the biggest) in the United States I believe and it involved wiretapping, burglary, sabotage and a lot of other things, about 40 people were charged with crimes related to the scandal. Surprisingly, I found this movie to be very interesting as I don’t typically watch older movies or biography type movies.

[1 image, 1 links, 1 quotations, 100 words].

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_President%27s_Men_(film)

Fake News in Social Media

As we all know, word spreads very quickly with the help of social media however, that information isn't always 100% true. I came across an article claiming "President Donald Trump ends school shootings by banning schools" now, I can agree that Trump does some outrageous things but I find it hard to believe this is one. The blog claimed that "this was a great step into making our country great again" and even included this picture of Trump signing some unknown documents. This is a perfect example of fake news in social media and it shows the importance to check your news source.

[1 image, 1 links, 2 quotations, 103 words].

https://www.8satire.com/donald-trump-ends-school-shootings-banning-schools/

Construction, construction and more construction

A recent issue in my community is the influx of construction resulting in more car accidents, fewer lanes available and more angry drivers! I asked my neighbor, Anna Martinez, how she felt about the recent influx of construction in Princeton, Tx. She said, “The construction and one lane traffic sucks especially because people are so impatient they honk and get riled up when some of us aren’t in as big a hurry as they are. The detours take me 10-15 extra minutes to get home.” I completely agree with Anna, the construction adds about 15 minutes to my daily drive to and from work because of detours. Furthermore, the construction may be annoying to those in the community but it's just one of those things we have to deal with. [1 image, 1 links, 1 quotation, 130 words].

https://princetontx.gov/departments/public-works/construction-projects-updates/

Bias Fabric

           

Bias Fabric

American speech on "front pages report" the news.  Such as, Muller report formed a twister of words dropping hail on President Trump’s 2016 campaign.  While disturbed hearts of students, fear of wearing a bullet proof backpacks to study at their University.   To point out, was Trump swaddled in an American flag? because he looks like a strip with a star on his chest wearing blue shoulder pads.  While, heartbroken Hilary pushed herself into the history books.  Thus, black and white smudge ink no longer spills over the pages of today’s news.  They are extremely diverse in topics and platforms covering extremist "Newspapers around the world prominently display the death of the al-Qaida leader and 9/11 mastermind who died in a U.S. raid on his compound in Pakistan.", politics, and woman rights, excreta.  The "Archive Front Pages" move colorful people and objects.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/
Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=the+first+new+york+times+newspaper&source=Inms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiWw69p_biAhVFXKwKHV8dDB8Q_AUIESgC&biw=1536&bih=738#imgrc=j6_iJeylOgi6
Source: Archived Front Pages
[1 image, 2 links, 1 quotation, 151 words]

A Canadian Warship

One of the writers of the Taiwan News, Keoni Everington, talks about a Canadian Warship passing through the Taiwan Straight. He mentions the ship being used as a symbol to defy China's boundaries. However, along with the plans of Canada and some other ally countries, he also talks about China's possible plans to use the "principle of "conflict-comprise" to "at least" achieve "navigation notices" and to "blur the median line"(Everington)." With this last line, he uses alliteration to possibly create emphasis on China's plans. This strategy could be used to emphasize the dangers of China's goals involving Taiwan and conflicting state they live in.

Source: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3727436

[1 link, 1 image, 1 quotation, 106 words]

Counterfeiters on Social Media

Social media is something most of us use everyday. Instagram is one of the highest platforms that has many counterfeiters selling products, specifically cosmetic products. They have an ad and reel you in by using your emotions as well as the hype and appeal of the product being posted. In this article it was shown in the chart that "social media users are willing to do more than scroll through pictures - they’re also potential customers". These consumers are seeing something appealing and not even looking into the product to see if it is real. "Counterfeiters are adopting social media marketing at such a high rate since they’re able to tap into a huge potential target market for their fake products." This is super concerning because these people are completely fooling us and taking our money for fake products or products that you pay for and may never even receive. 

Source: https://blog.redpoints.com/en/the-growth-of-fake-products-on-social-media
[2 quotes, 1 image, 1 link, 150 words]

Snapchat vs. Twitter

Social media is a huge part of how people receive and view news. Snapchat has a whole page full of news. But unlike Twitter, most of the news on that app is not actual news but more like celebrity news and sports news. There are a few articles on Snapchat that actually have stories about problems and other things going on around the country. Twitter is more of an actual news source. They have a trending page where you can find the top news stories and you click on one and are able to read all about it. Both have an easy way to access news but they both have a different demographic. Snapchat has a much younger audience compared to Twitter so that is why the "news" is much different than Twitters. In the article I read, Andrew Spelnek spoke about Snapchats interface saying, "Confusion is not a good business model." I agree with this but also disagree. I think it is very easy to find the news page, but to find what exactly you are looking for is quite difficult. I ultimately think that because Twitter has real, raw news it will do much better because more of the population chooses to use it.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-snapchat-redesigns-and-risks-go-hand-in-hand/

[1 image,1 link, 1 quote, 206 words]

Taco Bell "Seasoned Beef"

A while ago a woman filed a lawsuit against the "fast food giant" Taco Bell claiming their beef was not seasoned. Soon after her lawsuit made it online, many other people decided to do the same thing. Taco Bell had been advertising that their beef was of a much higher grade than it actually was. They finally had to come out and tell people that they used oat filler which means that it was not even seasoned beef at all. The geniuses that work for Taco Bell's PR " took the opportunity to poke fun at itself hoping to mitigate the PR disaster." That idea worked so well that " the woman who started all the hullabaloo ultimately dismissed her lawsuit.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/false-advertising-scandals-2011-9#taco-bells-seasoned-beef-2

[1 image, 1 link, 2 quotes, 120 words]

Pope Francis endorses President Trump

People will do anything to get attention on the internet even if it does sometimes cost them their job. I found this article that said when Donald Trump was running for president, Pope Francis spoke out and said that he endorsed Trump. Within the next few days, there were almost a million engagements on Facebook where people were commenting on it. Quickly after the news got out Pope Francis spoke out and said fake news is a "'sickness.'" This stunt proves how quickly false news can get spread and how quickly people believe it not knowing where it came from. Luckily we have the technology now to delete whole websites, which is what happened with this website.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/30/read-all-about-it-the-biggest-fake-news-stories-of-2016.html

[2 images, 1 link, 1 quotation, 117 words]

Canada Dry False Advertising

Canada dry is a carbonated beverage many enjoy. The company Dr. Pepper Snapple were sued due to their false advertisement saying that their beverage was "made with real ginger." According to Karlene Lukovitz, "The suit cites data showing that Canada Dry sales grew by nearly 9% in the six months following the addition of the “Made from Real Ginger” claim to its label..." (Lukovitz). Many people came out and admitted that the reason they purchased the drink was due to the false statements and the perception that "ginger has health benefits." Dr. Pepper Snapple has refused to comment on the litigation as they prepare for their defense.

Source: Canada Dry False Marketing


(1 image, 1 quote, 1 link, 107 words)

Stoping Fake Advertising on Social Media

While a handful of social media influencers are still endorsing the harmful weight loss products, some are trying to end it. Some influencers, like Mykie of Glam and Gore, give their audience the reality of weight loss. Mykie recently took on the challenge of training for a bikini competition and wanted to share the process with her followers. In an Instagram story, Mykie said, "the only way to get the results you want in a healthy way is taking care of your body." She gives her followers resources* on accurate health advice while telling them to research on their own. Instead of profiting off of her journey, she is trying to give people accurate and healthy advice.  Mykie is one of the few influencers trying to bring to light fake advertising in social media. This helps her followers trust her more, which would be utilizing ethos and logos rhetoric strategies. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quote, 150 words.]
*link would be provided, but the instagram story is not saved that contains the videos recommended by Mykie.

Fake News in Social Media

With social media information travels very fast. You can see "news" and it may be very interesting so you retweet it or share it on Facebook, with not even knowing if it is true. We look at social media and the most outrages headlines or the most out there stories to share. Fake news on social media is spreading at a crazy rate. "They found that false news stories were 70 percent more likely to be retweeted than true stories were." 70 percent is a huge number, the people putting out the fake news are using pathos to grab your attention. This article was super interesting to me to read the statistics on twitter and the amount of retweets that fake news gets compared to the truth. "It took the truth about six times as long as falsehood to reach 1,500 people". 

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fake-news-lies-spread-faster-social-media-truth-does-n854896

[1 image, 2 quotations, 1 link, 142 words]

One Story, Different Conclusions

Most people would consider news stories to be fact checked and unbiased but with more and more access to facts, news media has become a target of scrutiny. There are several instances of the news getting the stories wrong or spinning it so that it fits the narrative they choose. In the 2018 mid -term elections three of the biggest news organizations gave a very different tone for the results of the election. Conservative news tended to focus on the wins for the president, “ the former Senator Rick Santorum, a Republican, said Mr. Trump would relish the chance to make a Democratic House into a target, calling it “a huge advantage.”, while liberal news focused on the losses. “Wolf Blitzer, CNN’s host, finally projected that the Democrats would take the House as the 11 o’clock hour began. He called the development “a very significant defeat for Mr. Trump.” This is an example of news organizations using ethos strategies to persuade their target audience.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com

[3 images, 1 link, 2 quotes, 164 words]

Reading Beyond the Headline

In our society, media is easily accessible due to technological advancements, but media is also being distorted. There is bias in the media, and it is important to be able to separate fake news from real news. In order to do so, be sure to read the entire article rather than just looking at the headline. The headline is usually clickbait and is not a good description of the article. I myself, am a victim of the misleading nature of social media, as I get most of my information about the news on my smartphone through apps such as Twitter and Facebook. I notice that the headlines tend to distort the reality of the event in order to spark the reader's interest. For instance, check out the headline from CNN below. At first, you might be appalled, reflecting on all the times you drank hot tea, but once you spend the time to read the article, you realize that they were talking about drinking “something scalding hot in your throat” which will lead to an increased risk of cancer, not the actual tea itself. Headlines are usually an exaggerated version of the story as companies and newscasters use headlines in order to get more views resulting in the newscasters throwing a preposterous claim out into the world that is far from the reality of the event. Be sure to read the whole article before jumping to conclusions. 

Source: http://www.tomliberman.com/tag/misleading-headline

[1 image, 1 link, 1 quote, 237 words]

The Problem with Celebrity Endorsement 

SugarBearHair is a company that sells hair growth vitamin that is endorsed by many influential people on social media. This company is able to use celebrity endorsement to their advantage due to the influence celebrities have over everyday people. Many individuals look up to celebrities, making them more enticed to buy the products they see their favorite celebrities using. This tactic companies use is called ethos in which companies like SugarBearHair utilizes in order to persuade someone to buy a product “with a person's good reputation or trustworthiness" suggested by an online article titled “Rhetoric and Advertising”. As you can see from the image below, Kylie is one of the endorsers of this brand. Followers of Kylie see her post about the product, and they see her long beautiful, thick hair. Not only do they trust Kylie, but they also recognize that they want their hair to look like hers, so they buy the product. However, many people who bought these vitamins claimed that they saw no difference to their hair while some actually saw hair loss. The problem with these brands is that people believe the celebrities when they tell their followers how much they like a certain product, when in reality that may not be the case, causing disappointed consumers and followers.

Sources: twitter.com 

https://sites.google.com/site/rhetoricandadvertising/what-is-rhetoric/ethos-pathos-and-logos

[1 image, 2 links, 1 quote, 214 words]

Why You Shouldn’t Believe Everything You See in the Media

As society, we tend to trust everything we see in the media; however, we should become more conscious about what we trust due to media’s tendency to distort information. For instance, check out the headline from the newspaper below. The World claimed on the front page of its newspaper that "no lives [were] lost" on the Titanic which is a preposterous claim. This is a prime example of how twisted the media can get as we know over 1,500 lives were lost on the Titanic. In order to reduce the consumption or spread of fake news, it is important to check other news sources to see what they are saying. Gathering additional information on a claim from other sources is vital in order to ensure that the information you are getting is valid and reliable.

Source: https://www.ranker.com/list/wrong-newspaper-headlines/brian-gilmore

[1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, 135 words]

Apple and Samsung Slowing Down Phones

In 2018, Apple and Samsung were fined after it was determined that they slowed down consumers phones when a new version came out. according to the AGCM, these were done by installing "software updates that 'significantly reduced' the performance of phones." These updates were proposed to each phone even though the phone did not have the capacity to install them. Both Apple and Samsung were fined roughly 5.7 million dollars after admitting their guilt. Apple was fined an additional 5 million after "failing to provide adequate information on how to maintain and replace phone batteries." (Zhou). Apple made up for their wrong by offering battery replacements for $29 dollars. 

Source: CNET Article on Slowing down phones

(1 image, 1 quote, 1 link 109 words)

Teeth Whitening Scam

One thing I have seen recently a lot is celebrities endorsing teeth whitening product called  Express Smile Atlanta. I have mostly seen it on Instagram with a ton of celebrities endorsing this product. This product is suppose to give you a perfect white smile. These celebrities are 100% using ethos and pathos to get consumers to buy this product. They are using your emotions and insecurities to get you to want teeth as perfect as them, as well as they are someone you may trust or look up to you so believe them. People think "well if they use this it must work and be true", even if that is not the case. . "Each time, my boyfriend and I thought my teeth looked whiter directly after the 15 minutes I spent using it. But the next day, they never seemed much better." Be careful what you buy just because your favorite celebrity is endorsing it on social media. 


Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/laraparker/we-tried-that-teeth-whitener-that-kim-kardashian-endorsed 

[1 image, 1 quotation, 1 links, 159 words]

Harmful Appetite Suppressant Ads

Fit Tea is not one of the only companies advertising a harmful weight loss trick as safe. Flat Tummy Co. has created appetite suppressant lollipops and is advertising them as a harmless way to get the body of your dreams. These companies don't talk about the harmful effects of the drug or the possible side effects. Most of the suppressants today aren't proven to work and these "unregulated suppressants are potentially dangerous." Influencers are also to blame for spreading fake news about these methods because of the mass amounts of followers they have. Frankly, these companies seem to not care about the health of their customers and only about the money. [1 image, 2 links, 1 quote, 111 words.]

The Scam of Fit Tea

If you follow any famous Instagram models, you are bound to see them create a post endorsing Fit Tea. It's a tea that is supposed to "speed up your metabolism, boost your energy, and help you with your weight loss." Recently, many people have realized that this tea is harmful to your health, instead of being a safe alternative, because it is an appetite suppressant and a laxative. Then how are Instagram models getting people to buy it? They may not realize it, but they are utilizing ethos and pathos to get people to order the Fit Tea. These models say that they use the tea, which in turn makes a consumer believe that they will get fit if they use the tea. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quote, and 130 words]