Keeping up with the Kardashians

Younger generations tend to have shorter attention span, and Buzzfeed seems to know this. They stray away from publishing articles that are too long or too boring for millenials to read. “Kim Kardashian has finally responded to the backlash and it looks like she's standing by the name.” Interesting things such as the Kardashians. They know who their main audience is and they make sure to accommodate. Entertainment is their strong suit.  They use bulleted lists, images, quizzes, and intriguing headlines to attract people. Many times they make use of rhetorical questions. These questions have to do with things that they know people have thought about before. 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/remeepatel/what-weird-thing-does-your-body-do-sometimes?origin=web-hf

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Captivating Images

Buzzfeed is very well known for its humorous lists of interesting facts and silly daily quizzes. This news source also includes serious news stories as well, however, their main audience remains being younger generations. Many of the stories Buzzfeed shares include lots of pictures and short description or captions. This is enough to captivate the audience. Keeping things short and sweet makes you want to read more of their articles. “One critic calledKim "tasteless and awful" while another called the name choice "baffling, if not outright culturally offensive".” No use of long quotes only short and direct to the point. 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/remeepatel/what-weird-thing-does-your-body-do-sometimes?origin=web-hf

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Can You Separate the Art from the Artist?

With 3 days ago being the 10 year anniversary of the death of "King of Pop" Michael Jackson, I have been thinking a lot lately about whether society should be able to separate art from the artist that creates it. Many artists have done or been accused of doing terrible things, including Michael Jackson, that I won't get into detail about here. Regardless, I am not ashamed to say that I grew up listening to Michael Jackson and quite enjoy many of his songs. The article I linked says that when judging Michael Jackson everything needs to be "on the table at once." I definitely see the point of this, but I am still conflicted. It is up to every individual person to determine to what extent they want to "support" an artist by enjoying their work in spite of horrendous accusations, but I just wanted to bring up the question as it was something I have been thinking about for some time now.

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-jackson-pop-stars-complicated-legacy-10-years-after-his-death/

Are Hologram Concerts Ethical?

In 2012 Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre performed a concert with a hologram of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. This was quite the success as a few Tupac albums would rise again in sales and many. This would inspire others to attempt the same thing. And now with holograms of Whitney Houston and Buddy Holly it seems that this practice is becoming more popular. But is this practice ethical?
"Holographic performances that create a likeness of an artist led music journalist Simon Reynolds to coin the phrase “ghost slavery.”". Some may see this a a way to reminisce about an earlier time when the artist was alive while others see it a companies taking advantage of dead artists. One thing for sure is that as this phenomenon becomes more common this will be a question that will be heavily debated on.
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Jimmy Carter and the Dangers of Accusations as Fact

Friday, former president Jimmy Carter claimed that Donald Trump was an illegitimate president He said that there is "no doubt Russia interfered in the 2016 election." He uses this as grounds to say that Trump won because of this meddling. Carter is obviously referring to the Mueller Report as his evidence for collusion. The problem with this is that the Mueller Report had largely inconclusive findings and to suggest that these inconclusive findings are evidence of anything is dangerous. The Mueller Report is definitely not fake news, but spreading misinformation the way Carter did is dangerous because people can take his opinions as fact as he is in a place of power. I think a good lesson can be learned through this about making sure your facts are 100 percent accurate before making claims.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/28/politics/jimmy-carter-trump-russia-interference/index.html

Are YouTube Creators Journalists?

YouTube is a place lots of people go to for reviews on products, news, gossip, documentary series, DIYs  and many more. The YouTube creators take time out of there days to create content for there viewers. Shane Dawson is a huge creator in the YouTube community and he considers himself as a journalist. Many people disagree due to maybe not having the same morals, according to TYLT "Some argue YouTube creators and other social media influencers are credibly taking on reporting roles. But critics say YouTubers don't hold a code of journalistic ethics." Shane does the research and puts in the time and effort to report quality work to the public. So I guess it is up to the public to decide whether YouTube creators are journalists or are they just there for our entertainments.  

https://thetylt.com/entertainment/shane-dawson-jake-paul-youtube-journalists

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The Post (2017)

Recently I watched the film The Post, directed by Steven Spielberg (The greatest director of all time). The film is a fascinating retelling of the war between The Washington Post and the US Government "regarding the Pentagon Papers", crucial Vietnam war documents that the government wanted to keep out of the public eye. This film is a very interesting look at what it means to live in a country where free press is so important to the public knowing everything going on, and what can go wrong if this is interrupted in any way. I highly recommend this film to anyone looking to watch some great performances, especially from Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6294822/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

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Showtime's Dexter

Showtime's Dexter

Dexter is an American TV show, that is ironic, humorous, and appealing to almost every audience type. Dexter is the main character played by Michael C. Hall. His character represents an anti- hero, something that we can all relate to in someway.  The show is gory and a little controversial, yet glorified by the many who tune in to watch it. Dexter is a crime investigator who is above the law, enforcing it by his own means of justice; although he is an investigator, his craving to kill is uniquely satisfied and somewhat justified.  We like this new modern Hannibal because our society is attracted to the anti- hero type. We really admire Dexter, even though what he is doing is corrupt. We ask ourselves, given his circumstances, is it really wrong? Is it really considered injustice to kill other killers if you obtain this unfightable murderous behavior? Would it be right to imprison Dexter for doing what was only natural to him? I think the answer is no. Our culture is to favor those who use their better judgment for a greater good, we consider this brave. He represents what we all strive to be.  Although technically speaking, Dexter really is no better than the men he kills. He is just as mentally ill as his victims. However, Dexter is a complex character because he shows such a lack of emotion yet he still very likable. An article from Huffington post says, “Dexter Morgan is superficially charming but lacks emotional depth, after the fashion of other sociopaths.  He lacks the violence, anger and venom of Paul, Rita’s abusive ex-husband for instance. Even so, Dexter meets all of the clinical criteria for an abusive boyfriend and his cold calculating schemes are psychologically abusive.  When we delved into the nitty gritty of this issue, we concluded, to the horror of his admirers, that Dexter is really just as abusive as Paul.” Our culture fantasies about being above the law. We like the fact that he is a completely average white, middle aged family man, there is a sense of morality when you get to know his character, we can connect with him. We were all raised on these values, we have all had aspirations of being a superhero.  Although he is a crime investigator, his craving to kill is uniquely satisfied and somewhat justified. 

DePaulo, Bella, and Bella DePaulo. “Analyzing Dexter: Psychologists and Criminologists Explain Why They Are Smitten.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 25 May 2011, www.huffpost.com/entry/analyzing-dexter-psycholo_b_701490.

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Corruption in Democracy

Corruption in Democracy 

The world's largest democracy with 462 million people is India, except freedom doesn't quite ring the same way for them. Citizens are not allowed the most basic of natural rights: freedom to access the internet whenever. With no sight to an end, India has since upped the frequency of internet blackouts from 2017, a total of 79 internet blackouts, to 2018 with a total of 97 blackouts just by August. If India does not permit its citizens to obtain unleashed access of information via the internet because they are afraid of conspiracists plotting against their government, then India is not a good example of a democracy and there needs to be more trust built between the government and its people. 

To utilize the internet is to be civilized, to be apart of civilization, and to take away that born right at the flip of a switch is hindering the advancement and evolution and of a whole nation. As stated in the article, “ The overall impact is huge: a recent study from 2012 to 2017, internet blackouts have cost the country over $3 billion in lost revenue.” It is affecting the lives of 462 million people who are business owners, researchers, scientists, journalist. They are all feeling detriment from their own elected officials, whom they trusted. 

We have a constitutional right, a natural right as a human being born on this planet, to education, freedom to unrestricted internet should be in harmony. It is so important to keep up with what is going on in the world because no problem will ever be solved if it is ignored, averting heads to the situation. To solve world issues, notice has to be taken. 462 million people, 462 million brains, cannot take notice. 462 million people are uninformed, because access to information and connections around the world are not made available to them.

Rusek, Jacob, and Angad Singh. “India Is the World's Biggest Democracy. It's Also the Worst for Shutting Down the Internet.” Vice, VICE, 26 Aug. 2018, www.vice.com/en_au/article/ev89pn/india-is-the-worlds-biggest-democracy-its-also-the-worst-for-shutting-down-the-internet.   

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NIKE Makes A Change

NIKE Makes A Change 

“Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything” is what reads over a black and white head-shot of Kapernick. However, this situation is not as simple as that. It is not just black and white. Police brutality is not justifiable and evidence proves this is a very, very real issue. However, kneeling for our flag does not pull people together to fight against this issue and join the cause, it pulls us apart. Nike takes a risk making Colin Kaepernick the face of the company, because of the controversy over Kaepernick's protest against police brutality that he demonstrated by kneeling for our national anthem. Although the ad was risky and controversial, it has an audience. Nike is a widely popular brand, and their customer base is primarily younger people. The future of tomorrow is the hands of the youth today, and Nike knows that all too well. There is a saying, “If your not a liberal before the age of 30, you don't have a heart. If your not a republican after the age of 30, you don't have a brain.” Nike is focusing on the next working and voting generation, playing on the heartstrings of liberals. The campaign is catching traction, paving the way for a new future, but we must ask, is that future American?

Burns, Will. “With New Kaepernick Ad, What Does Nike Believe In?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 4 Sept. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/willburns/2018/09/04/with-new-kaepernick-ad-what-does-nike-believe-in/#10f01db10811.

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News

The first place I surfed for news on a social media platform was “LinkedIn: Network & Job Search”.  LinkedIn has six different apps and is specific for peoples searching jobs, companies and educational institutional news. Their cause is to keep people employed or current in career news “when you’re in a conversation, speed and stability matter”.   In comparison to Facebook which is a social media platform for unfiltered news reels such as posting local real time events in progress, personal information, stories, letters, pictures, places, selling etc.  The name Facebook has one social media platform.  The companies’ purpose for Facebook app is to keep friends and family connected sharing news, it could be personal or political news.  keep surfing the net for real information.

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Linkedin

www.linkedin.com/Jobs

They're ALL THE SAME

Front Page News: From what I can see, there are a lot of similarities between News outlets

and their front pages. On almost every single front page of all the newspapers I have

viewed on Newseum has some sort of extremely bold and huge letters with lots of

crazy different fonts that let their audience know which media company they are

reading from. (See newspapers below for reference). I chose “The Anniston Star”,

“The Birmingham News” and “The Huntsville Times” as the papers to show y’all.

Depending on how important a story is, each one will have the title of the article in

either bigger (to show that its bigger news) or smaller (to show its not as important

as the others) fonts depending on the seriousness and traction of the story. There are

lots of pictures for their readers to have a visual of the stories they’re telling. Such as

with “The Birmingham News”’ “Rebuilding after the storm” story, which is meant

to get their readers attention. [1 quote, 3 images,4 links and 175 words]

Courtesy of Newseum

The LEGEND himself

Relevant Film or Book: After looking through a lot of different movie titles, I decided to

settle with All the President's Men (1976). I’m really picky when it comes to movies, so

when I came across this film and it’s plot I was pleasantly surprised. I decided to give it a

go and it was absolutely worth the watch. It surrounds the uncovering of the Watergate scandal

and President Nixon’s involvement and eventual resignation. This is the beginning that kick

started Bob Woodward’s career as one of the most legendary investigative journalists of all

time. I read the book Fear, by (interestingly enough) Bob Woodward as well. Bob

Woodward continues his career in journalism by uncovering the inner workings of Donald

Trump and his campaign. “Trump liked signing. It meant he was doing things, and he had an

up-and-down penmanship that looked authoritative in black Magic Marker.” -Fear, by Bob Woodward. [1 quote, 1 link, 1 image, and 151 words]

https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/5/10/15609718/how-to-watch-all-the-presidents-men-nixon-watergate-movies

MISSING WOMEN

Investigative Journalism: 

I’m currently in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and I’ve come to notice a lot of the local issues here are

wildly different than anything I’m used to back in Dallas, Texas. One big issue they have been

facing here is missing and the murdering of indigenous women. There have been many cases

of women belonging to the First Nation’s people found in the Red River at one of the biggest

tourist attractions in Winnipeg, the Forks. Many people have come out to commemorate these

women and honor their memories as best as they know how. In 'Think about the girls': 100s of

painted rocks placed in Winnipeg to remember MMIWG, a woman named Florence Smith has

been painting rocks with a symbol to honor all the women that have gone missing. “They’re

all out

there,” Smith says, “It’s important that people know about these women.”. [1 image, 1 link, 1

quotation, and 145 words] 

abc

https://www.bing.com/search?q=abc+news+app&form=EDNTHN&mkt=en-us&httpsmsn=1&plvar=0&refig=9d2904827bea4b2de0258ef69903ea1d&PC=HCTS&sp=1&qs=HS&sc=8-0&cvid=9d2904827bea4b2de0258ef69903ea1d&cc=US&setlang=en-US

Surfer

https://www.surfer.com/

"Cool Runnings"

Lie for Facebook Likes

In the short film "Whats on your mind?" published on you tube by HigtonBros, the main character, Scott Thompson, realizes his life isn't as exciting or as happy as his friends from Facebook. He starts comparing his life to others and then starts posting statuses in which he lies about what he's going through in real life. "Presentation went gr8!!!" he posted, and got 13 likes on it, but really during his presentation he was ignored by his workers. One day he goes home to find out his girlfriend is cheating on him and even though he is hurting and upset about it, he posts a status that says "FINALLY SINGLE!!!" along with a picture of himself and a bottle. That post gets 41 likes. As his life continues to get worse for him, Thompson keeps lying on social media and every post he posts, he gets more likes than the previous ones. I definitely think that "likes" are what drives users crazy, making them feel like everyone has their attention and they are being recognized.  


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxVZYiJKl1Y