Raven-Symone: The saga continues

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Elayna Paulk

By ELAYNA PAULK

To follow up my earlier blog regarding the coverage of of Raven-Symone and the series of unfortunate events that came with it.

Raven Symone has struck a chord with us all — again, but this time it’s not without serious consequences. After her statement on the young girl in South Carolina that got brutally assaulted by a police offer, which blamed the young girl for being “on her phone” during class, there has been a petition to remove Raven Symone from “The View.”

The Washington Times, Huffington Post, NBC, as well as many other news outlets, have since reported on the petition, on Change.org that addresses the petition to Barbara Walters, that says:

“Raven Symone has been spouting her ignorant and self hating spiel on the view for long enough, from stating that she wouldn’t hire somebody for having a ghetto name, to openly complaining about reverse racism, the final straw was her comment about the recent viral video of the school police officer assaulting the student, where Raven Symone said “get off your phone in school then.” African Americans and black people around the diaspora need a voice representative of their views and not a voice representative of what white people want us to say. We need strong black role models in prominent positions on television an Raven Symone cannot provide that. That is why I ask that we petition to remove her from The View.”

The news media coverage has played a major role in the success of this petition, which currently has 106,185 out of the 150,000 signature goal. The coverage of issues, such as these, and the persistent conversations on social media outlets can finally put an end to the disaster that is Raven-Symone.

Wake injury leaves Miami fans empty

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Colin Davis

By COLIN DAVIS

Cameron Wake is an NFL success story.

After playing his college ball at Penn State, he was overlooked by every team in the NFL. Going undrafted, he decided to continue pursuing his athletic career in the Canadian Football League, always hoping to one-day break in to the NFL.

In 2009, the Dolphins finally gave him a chance and he took full advantage. According NFL statistics, Cam racked up five and a half sacks his rookie season, solidifying his position on the team. Cameron Wake had finally made it to the NFL.

Now in his seventh season with Miami, Wake is a part of the most talented Dolphins team in the last decade. But on Thursday night, when the eyes of the nation were tuned in to watch the Dolphins play the Patriots, Cameron Wake tore his Achilles.

As a 33-year-old speed rusher, the injury is devastating to Cameron Wake as well as the Dolphins. Cameron Wake’s most important physical asset is his speed. After tearing his Achilles and having to sit out the rest of the year, a sad thought creeps into the minds of Dolphins fans everywhere: Have we already seen Wake’s last sack celebration?

The media are playing the injury off as just another unfortunate consequence of playing such a violent game, discussing the injury as a season-ending one and not a potential career ender. It is hard for the national media to understand what an impact Wake has had on the Dolphins and the ray of hope, albeit fairly dim, that he has provided fans with, that maybe things will start to turn around.

As Wake was helped off the field in last night’s 36-7 beating the Dolphins suffered at the hands of the Patriots, as Tom Brady celebrated with teammates over another dominant performance, as the commentators discussed whether or not Brady could play another 10 years, a familiar feeling came over me — a feeling that only lifelong Dolphins fans could understand.

To inappropriately quote the late President Gerald Ford, “The light has gone out of my life.”

Chaotic GOP debate causes concern

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Briana Scott

By BRIANA SCOTT

This past Wednesday night, I gathered with a group of students inside the faculty master apartment at Mahoney Residential College to watch the Republican presidential candidates debate.

Personally, I had several expectations for the debate based off of the previous Republican debate hosted by Fox. However, what myself and millions of people watched Wednesday night, was truly unexpected.

First off, there were 10 candidates on the stage. With so many candidates, it is hard to keep track of everyone’s stance on serious matters, such as reforming the tax code, to less relevant issues, such as the regulation of fantasy sports gambling.

But, what further complicated the already difficult matter of keeping track of all of the candidates’ viewpoints were the moderators. It became apparent very quickly that the moderators were not in control of the debate as candidates not only cut each other off, but also interrupted, talked over and even challenged the moderators.

The debate was two hours of utter chaos and the Republican candidates are not happy about it. Their discontent has been broadcast and shared on various networks and social media sites, with new reports of the candidates coming together to protest the RNC and demand control over who moderates the upcoming debates as well as what questions are asked.

While I understand, that the candidates are upset, I think it would not be a true or fair debate if candidates had the ability to control virtually all aspects of the debate. While Ben Carson believes that debates should not be a game of “gotcha” questions, I disagree. Yes, a debate’s main purpose is to allow candidates to share and explain their platform on several issues and policies affecting the country, but it is also an opportunity for their ideals to be tested and challenged in front of the public.

A debate should not be a time where candidates walk on stage and present their ideals unchallenged and unquestioned–that is the whole point of a debate. While I agree with the candidates that Wednesday’s debate was chaotic, it should not serve as the catalyst to grant candidates full reign over all aspects of a debate.

Joe Biden and CBS’ ’60 Minutes’

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Xiao Lyu

By XIAO LYU

Vice President Joe Biden made an announcement last week that he will not seek the 2016 nomination of the Democratic Party for president. Although it ended the subject about whether he will step back or not, the speculation of the reason came as follow.

On Sunday, Vice President Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, appeared on CBS “60 Minutes,” telling about the reason he decided not to seek the nomination: the impact of the loss of his son, Beau, and his views on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

The vice president said in the interview that he knew he couldn’t win because he thought he and his staff couldn’t put together the campaign that their supporters deserved and contributors deserved. He also explained the reason — “the single most important thing in deciding not to run” is the loss of his son, Beau. The loss overturned the schedules.

Beau Biden supported Joe Biden to run for the president and thought he could win, while Maureen Dowd in The New York Times wrote about it and described Beau on his death bed said to his father, ”Dad, you’ve got to run.” This description was proved false in the interview.

Biden also discussed his comments reported by The New York Times last week that he didn’t mean to aim at Hillary Clinton herself and that they are friends.

“Go back and find anybody who says, for the four years we worked together, Hillary and I weren’t friends,” Biden said.

Moreover, Biden addressed his disappointment with Donald Trump directly and called him a showman. He wanted Trump to reconsider his remarks on immigrants.

CNN, NBC, The New York Times and many mainstream media covered this interview and they put particular emphasis on a different aspect of the story. CNN mostly covered “no Hollywood Moment” and the headline from NBC referred to Biden’s comment that he couldn’t win. The New York Times, which was mentioned twice in the interview, tells more about his family concerns. However, none of them made a comment about Biden’s disappointment with Trump.

Lego versus Ai Weiwei

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Lingyue Zheng

By LINGYUE ZHENG

Artist Ai Weiwei accused Lego of “censorship and discrimination” because the latter refused to sell its bricks to him because his new artistic work may convey a political statement.

According to Ai, Lego rejected Ai’s bulk order of bricks, saying that its bricks could not be used for any artworks that may of “any political, religious, racist, obscene or defaming statements.”

In response to Lego’s refusal, many fans and artists demonstrate their supports for Ai. Many of them donated their bricks to Ai, hoping that their donations could adding the amount of bricks to the degree that Ai can accomplish his Melbourne show. Some people also expressed their opinions on their social website such as Instagram or Twitter. One used Lego’s toy bricks to spell out the word “I support Ai Weiwei” and added a cutline that “we won’t be buying anymore.”

Ai wrote on his Instagram that “Lego will tell us what to do, or not to do. That is awesome!” to make an irony here because Lego has a slogan “everything is awesome”.

Ai was an artist known for his fierce criticism of Chinese government. Last year, Ai used Lego bricks in his art show at the former Alcatraz prison, near San Francisco, to create portraits of 175 dissidents who had been jailed or exiled, from Nelson Mandela to Edward Snowden. He intended to hold a similar art display in Melbourne.

Ai has changed the theme of his upcoming artistic show to defend freedom of speech and “political art,” due to Lego’s rejection of selling its bricks.

From where I stand, I consider that Lego’s behavior is for the sake of its future cooperation with the Chinese government. Lego plans to build a new Legoland in Shanghai. For Lego, building a theme park is apparently more profitable than selling bricks to an artist. Given that Chinese government is not welcoming Ai, Lego would absolutely not offend and annoy its future cooperator, Chinese government, by selling Ai bricks and indirectly assist Ai to demonstrate unpleasant arts to Chinese government.

Essentially, it is another story about people who stand on the tip pyramid of money and power win the game, or rather, make the rule.

His iPhone is on fire (literally)

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Keyanna Harris

By KEYANNA HARRIS

Phillip Lechter says his iPhone 6 bent so much in his pocket that it punctured the battery, which can cause a fire. Lecture said that he was with his family riding on a rickshaw (pedicab) when the pedicab hit a trolley track in the road. Lechter said the impact caused him to hit the side of the metal rickshaw. He said his iPhone 6 was in his front pocket on the same side he hit the wall with. His iPhone bent in a 90 degree position, which had to puncture the battery and made it catch on fire.

Lechter said he noticed that his leg was on fire. He said someone jumped into action and threw a cup of water on his leg to put out the fire. Once the fire was out, he was able to get his phone out of his pocket and throw it out of the cab without burning himself, though he said he said he was left behind with burn on his leg.

The burn was described as an 11.5 cm x 10.5 cm burn area on his right leg and the burn was classified as second-degree with first-degree burns surrounding the area.

Lechter’s blog can be read at https://philliplechter.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/my-apple-iphone-6-bent-and-caught-on-fire-in-my-front-pocket/

First gay rugby team turns 20

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Elayna Paulk

By ELAYNA PAULK

There has always been the idea of hyper masculinity in contact sports, such as football and rugby. The first rugby team originated from England in the first half of the 19th century and was composed of all men and now, the first gay rugby team celebrates its 20th year as an organization and discusses the homophobia they’ve experienced.

CNN reports that the fear of contracting AIDS in the 1990s was a limitation on the all-gay team playing non-gay teams, since AIDS was often associated with death.

According to CNN, Mark Bithell, the capital of the rugby team, says that the fear of contracting AIDS and homophobia limited who they played with.

“A lot of teams just didn’t want to play us,” he recalls. “And you can never be sure why they declined.

“But I certainly experienced it as a player in particular when there was a blood injury. They would react in a completely hysterical way and start screaming ‘Blood! Blood!’ and screaming at the referee to get us off the pitch because they were afraid.”

But now, with a more informed society, we praise teams such as this one, who are brave and proud enough to organize as a team, regardless of their individual sexual orientation.

What do we know about Bin Laden?

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Isabella Mesquita

By ISABELLA MESQUITA

This week’s New York Times Magazine caused quite a stir among renown contemporary journalists. Jonathan Mahler’s cover “What do we really know about Osama Bin Laden” raised many questions about the circumstances involved in bin Laden’s death and the veracity of the “stories” told at that time by the CIA and the American Government.

In Mahler’s story, not only did he retell the story of bin Laden’s death from a different perspective, he also added Seymour Hersh’s point of view on what truly happened.

Mahler begins his article by narrating the series of events that took place at the The White House the day Obama announced bin Laden’s death. Within the first few paragraphs of his article, Mahler boldly contradicted the story told by the CIA regarding bin Laden’s whereabouts and addressed the story told by the White House as “another example of American mythmaking.”

“It’s not that the truth about bin Laden’s death is unknowable,” stated Mahler. “It’s that we don’t know it. We don’t know what happened more than a half-century ago, much less in 2011.”

According to Mahler, the CIA’s years of painstaking intelligence-gathering to find bin Laden’s hideaway was only a polished and flattering version of the truth. Based on Hersh’s previous publications mentioned in Mahler’s article, bin Laden’s location was revealed by a retired member of the Pakistani intelligence who received a $25 million reward for the information. Thus, in Mahler’s view, bin Laden was never actually “hiding,” and the false story told by the media successfully fooled the majority of not only Americans but anyone around the world who followed this noteworthy “event.”

Minutes after the article’s publication, journalists from The Washington Post, The Times and other newspapers fired up social media with criticism and their opinion about this controversial cover story.

While The Times‘ national security reporter Eric Schmitt believed the article “struck a nerve among national security and foreign policy reporters like a few he saw in his three-plus decades at the paper,” others like Jim O’Donnell of Tempe stated that “its the strangest article (he) has ever read in The Times; an extreme case of the story that asserts a wholly indefensible proposition by covering the heck out of a marginalized figure.”

Whether factually, morally or socially accurate, The New York Times must have had substantial reason and motive to bring back to life such delicate issue and to approach it with a rather radical and “conspiracy-based” theory that would naturally cause controversy.

As a matter of fact I believe The Times boldly refuted conformities and proved independence from any sort of institutional and/or governmental control through this article – an aspect of journalism that has been greatly questioned and debated in the 20th century.

Another campus shooting in the U.S.

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Colin Davis

By COLIN DAVIS

On Thursday, Oct. 22, a dice game being played on the outskirts of Tennessee State University resulted in one death, and three injured. As the dust settles from another campus shooting in the United States, it seems as if this article has been written before. President Obama will make his remarks about how the event was a tragedy and that no family should be put through such a traumatizing event.

According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, the shooting was the result of a dice game dispute, right outside Tennessee State University. The two individuals involved in the shooting were not enrolled at the university.

USA Today reports that a 19-year-old male student has died and three 18-year-old female students were injured by stray bullets. Gun control is such a highly debated topic and, as shootings like these continue to occur, those who are pro gun find their defense resting on constantly weakening ground.

One of the most depressing aspects of the shootings is that they are so frequent it is almost impossible to treat them with the respect and delicacy that such a situation requires. Instead, reports come through after a shooting and the common response is a defeated head shake and an understanding that the gun laws in the country must be changed.

According to the United Nations, out of the 11 countries in the world with a per capita GDP of more than $30,000 and a population of 20 million or more, the USA has more homicides by firearm per 100,000 population than the rest of the countries combined. With a rate of 3.2, the United States has more homicides by firearm than Italy (.7), Taiwan (.6), Canada (.5), Spain (.2), Germany (.2), Australia (.1), U.K. (.1), France (.1), South Korea (.03), and Japan (.01) put together.

The call has been made before and it will be made again, but changes are needed in this country, and the situation can only be ignored for so long.

Canada gets a ‘good-looking PM’

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Xiao Lyu

By XIAO LYU

Justin Trudeau, 43-year-old political leader, makes his way to the stage at Liberal party headquarters in Montreal on Monday, Oct. 19, after winning the 42nd Canadian general election. As the elder son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Justin Trudeau has a handsome looking and great enthusiasm is sports. He is called by foreign media as the “sexiest leader in the world.”

“Canada’s Good Looking PM” has become a heated discussion, and Justin Trudeau and his government even built a Chinese micro blog account for Chinese Internet users. It is one of the most searched topic in micro blogs and has more than 60.000 followers.

Justin Trudeau and his government updated their campaign and their election platform such as Justin Trudeau promised to respond to Canada’s economic slowdown by running modest deficits and building infrastructure. He has refused to raise Canada’s corporate tax rate. He has been noncommittal on the new trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and he has promised, vaguely, that Canada will have a more progressive climate change policy.

According to CBC News, messages of congratulations to Justin Trudeau are coming in from world leaders. Reuters reported Tuesday that The White House congratulated Trudeau on his win.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi offered a warm welcome on Twitter, “Looking forward to seeing you at G20,” and other welcoming tweets came from India, Mexican Malaysia and The Maldives.

Although the Canadian media coverage says that the liberal win trends worldwide, many U.S. coverage may prefer to conclude that the winning of Justin Trudeau is “low expectation and high relief.” The victory denied a fourth term to Harper and his Conservative party, and people would like to see him clean up the mess at this term.

Chafee’s campaign comes to end

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Charlotte MacKinnon

By CHARLOTTE MACKINNON

When I was going through the news this morning, I noticed that among the headlines regarding the primary race for the upcoming 2016 election was Lincoln Chafee’s announcement that he was ending his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Being that Chafee is the former governor of Rhode Island, my home state, I had been keeping up with his campaign since he announced his participation this past June. Since then, he hasn’t had an overwhelming amount of support behind him – Hillary Clinton has surely been stealing the spotlight lately, especially this past week where she did well in the debates and her competition, Virginia Senator Jim Webb as well as Vice President Joe Biden, both dropped out. The fact that he followed suit isn’t exactly groundbreaking news to many.

Regardless, seeing the announcement brought back a few memories of when he was actively governing my home state that made me think about all the pressures that politicians face when they constantly have the media watching their every move.

Chafee’s son, Caleb, was actually a high school classmate of mine when I attended Portsmouth Abbey School. He was in the graduating class above mine and we were good friends, as we both boarded on campus and it was a close-knit community. The week of his graduation, all the seniors ended their classes earlier than the rest of the students, and we had final exams while they were celebrating “grad week” – an annual week notorious for off-campus parties.

Caleb threw a party at his house while his parents were out of town and one girl who attended it ended up being hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. Everyone there was obviously under age, and the police inevitably got involved. Suffice to say, it stirred up a lot of publicity seeing as the party took place at the governor’s house and Rhode Island has a strict social host law which left Gov. Chafee responsible for the events that took place there. It was a bit of a local scandal in the weeks surrounding the incident.

Obviously what had happened was innocent enough, and there wasn’t that much damage done by the news media to Chafee’s reputation in the aftermath, but it did leave an impact on Caleb’s personal life (he ended up having to defer a year from Brown to do community service abroad in order to restore the University’s confidence in him as a freshman admit).

At the time, I didn’t really know much about the news media’s role in politics, but now that I’m a journalism major, it makes me more fully understand how critical that role is. Had the incident happened this past spring, Chafee may never have decided to even enter the race at all, considering it would have occurred in entirely different circumstances.

The incident would have been magnified under the lens of the news media and entire nation would have known about it — and it would have been used as a weapon against him by his competitors. The things that occur to a person have an entirely different meaning when that person is a potential presidential candidate and it is the media that is single-handedly responsible for this fact.

Although the incident happened years ago and is water under the bridge at this point in time, especially since Chafee is no longer campaigning, it’s very interesting to me how I can look at the things that have happened in the past now with the eyes of a journalist, rather than just another on-looker.

Hillary emerges as victorious at hearing

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Briana Scott

By BRIANA SCOTT

If you checked major news networks online today, most of them displayed the following headlines:

ABC: “The ‘get Hillary’ committee did not get Hillary”

Politico: “Clinton Survives 11-hour Benghazi grilling”

Tribune: “11-hour grilling of Clinton reveals little new on Benghazi attacks”

USA Today: “No clear wins for GOP at Benghazi hearing”

Over the course of the past few months, Hillary Clinton has been questioned — and most people would say attacked — regarding the use of her personal email service in relation to the Benghazi attacks that took place in 2012 killing four people.

It seems as though Hillary Clinton has been questioned about the use of her private email server since the beginning of her campaign.

Hillary was questioned and provided testimony for more 11 hours yesterday, being questioned by a House Select Committee on Benghazi. Nearly all news organizations provided extensive and in-depth coverage of the meetings, with CNN providing hourly updates on their website and on live news.

Based on what I have seen, what is happening to Hillary Clinton is the political equivalent of a witch hunt during the Salem trials. Hillary Clinton has been questioned beyond the point of acceptability regarding this issue and each time, her response is the same and clear. The fact that the media has still continued to cover this issue in regards to Hillary Clinton is unbelievable, as well as the fact that this special committee was even created.

Comparatively, the news has covered Donald Trump in a similar fashion, but the coverage has only seemed to benefit him. However, with Hillary Clinton, the coverage of this issue is affecting her campaign.

Her numbers have gone down in the polls and her trustworthiness has been damaged and questioned by a large majority of the American public. However, there is hope for Hillary with this situation. As indicated by the news/article titles above, it is clear that most news networks believe that Hillary not only survived the 11-hour meeting, but that she has gained an ability to turn the tide and direction of the Benghazi story and her private email server.

As a young voter, I did question Hillary’s trustworthiness because of the coverage of the Benghazi “email scandal.” After completing my own research on the topic, my views have changed and I am proud that Hillary was able to not only successfully survive yesterday’s meeting, but that she may now be able to gain control over the situation and thus her campaign.

Why the Chinese visit to UK matters?

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Lingyue Zheng

By LINGYUE ZHENG

Chinese President Xi Jinping, arrived on Monday for his first state to the United Kingdom.

In the following days, he will address the members of the Houses of Parliament, visit Imperial College London, meet with the Britain’s prime minister and, probably kick a football in Manchester.

From Xi’s visiting schedule, it is apparent to conclude that China is seeking to build, or strengthen its cooperation with UK on technology and business. On Wednesday, Xi will visit UK-China Business Summit at Mansion House, companied with David Cameron. Then he will also visit Chinese telecommunication company Huawei Technologies. On Thursday, Xi is scheduling to participate in a global satellite communication.

China is also interested in British infrastructure projects. British government would offer a $3 trillion guarantee to secure the new Hinkley Point nuclear plant and Chinese investment towards it. China is also hopes to get involved in the HS2 high-speed rail project.

From my personal understanding, Xi’s sought for cooperation on business and technology with the Britain can be seen as a method to adjust Chinese economy, for the growth speed and the drive.

For ages, China is devoted to shift from an export-led economy to consumer and service-led one. Since China’s economic growth drops to 6.9 percent in the third quarter, the weakest rate since the global financial crisis, which is below the government’s 7 percent target, Chinese are faced with restructuring pressure because it is not easy to transfer from a world-manufacture to a technological leader.

In the past years, Xi imposed more restrictions on industries that produce pollution and enacted several polices to combat bureaucratic corruption, reshaping Chinese economic landscape by decreasing industry investment and reducing government manipulation.

The reform will take long time to upgrade Chinese economy structure and rebound it economic growth.

NBA champ Odom deserves respect

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Colin Davis

By COLIN DAVIS

Lamar Odom is a two-time NBA champion. He was the sixth man of the year just four years ago. Currently, he is fighting for his life in a Nevada hospital and, although he is showing some positive signs, his outlook is not good.

There have been many reports on the Lamar Odom story by members from all walks of the media due to his relationship with Khloe Kardashian. Yet instead of referring to Lamar as an NBA champion, he is simply referred to as a reality television star as if he has only earned his celebrity through his interactions with the Kardashian family.

There have been very few media members that have given Lamar Odom the respect he has earned, and even less have done it as succinctly as Scott Van Pelt. After recently returning to SportsCenter, Scott Van Pelt did his minute and a half long segment, “One Big Thing” and assessed the situation through the lens of a sports fan.

While Scott Van Pelt makes a few jokes during his monologue, he makes a serious and simple point. Lamar Odom is more than just a plot line in a sad story; he has earned more respect than to be referred to as a Kardashian reality star, in such troubling times for Lamar Odom it is important to remember he was a star before he ever met Khloe.

Coverage of debate may sway voters

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Briana Scott

By BRIANA SCOTT

The first Democratic Debate took place this past Tuesday, hosted by CNN and sponsored by Facebook. The debate featured Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Jim Webb, Martin O’Malley, and Lincoln Chafee. According to Fortune.com, more people watched NCIS (a popular TV Show on CBS) as opposed to the Democratic Debate Tuesday night, with 15.3 million total viewers.

Before, during, and after the debate, people took to various social media outlets to voice their thoughts and opinions of the debate. One of the dormitories on the University of Miami campus, Mahoney Residential College, held a watch party for the debate in the one of the faculty masters’ apartment. Therefore, I did not have to turn to social media in order to receive live commentary from my peers.

We all watched the debate, laughed at its funny moments, clapped when were all in agreement with what one of the candidates had said, and groaned when in disagreement. In between commercial breaks we held quick discussions about our thoughts on the candidates so far.

At the end, we all had our own opinions of who to vote for as the democratic candidate. However, at no point during our discussion did we declare “winners” and “losers.” We all took what the candidates had to say at face value and decided whether or not we agreed with their values.

But the next day, I was bombarded by all major news networks declaring who they thought were the “winners” and “losers” of the debate. Of course in my mind (as well as most people), I had already determined who I thought best represented what I sought in a presidential candidate, but I was interested to see and hear what the news networks had to say.

As I read and watched several news stories from various news networks, it became clear that the person I thought did the “best” or “won” was not what the news thought. As I watched more coverage of the debate, I began to question my choice: Did I pick the best candidate? I began to second guess my decision wondering if I had made the right decision.

After speaking with several of my friends, a majority of them expressed the same sentiments. After watching the debate, they had an idea of who they wanted to potentially vote for. But after watching several news networks declare the same person as the “winner,” they began to doubt their choice as it was not in agreement with the majority of news organizations.

While I think that news organizations should report on the debates, I think they should do it objectively. Declaring “winners” and “losers” of a debate that was not designed to have a winner, can confuse and sway the public. Instead of selecting winners and losers, the news should highlight each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses during the debate, providing the public with unbiased information and enabling voters to make well-informed decisions.

The Democratic Debate did not have any winners or losers. Instead, the Democratic Debate showcased the strengths, weaknesses, values, and opinions of each candidate, and coverage of the debate should reflect that.

The age of tragic selfie

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Lingyue Zheng

By LINGYUE ZHENG

Accompanied by the popularity of the social media, selfie photography is the most common way of showing one’s life to the world. People may see loads of them posted on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms.

Recently, many people have become concerned about the safety issues involved in taking a selfie because there is a rising number of selfie-related fatalities. It was reported that two men in the Ural Mountains, Russia died of posing for a photo while pulled the pin from a hand grenade. Also in Russia, a university graduate fell to death after trying to take a selfie while hanging from a bridge.

A handful of other selfie-related death incidents have been reported from elsewhere in the world. In the U.S., recently a man died after shooting himself in the neck while taking a selfie.

According to a BBC news report, at least 12 people have died this year while taking pictures of themselves, making the practice more deadly than shark attacks, of which there recorded eight deaths in 2015.

It sounds striking to me that people would risk their lives of taking some pictures, in order to obtain a three-digit likes?

“The more extreme it is, the more likely you are to stand out and get lots of likes and comments”, said Jesse Fox, a researcher at Ohio State University. “The pictures that people post on social media can tell an interesting story about their personality.”

I think the ultimate goal of life is to living in reality and connect with real human beings. One may utilize internet to make up for some fulfillment that reality cannot provide. The fulfillment includes ideally living in a world free of anxiety and presenting an ideal self. People who put their lives on risk to take a selfies in order to woo their virtual friends apparently confuse which world should take priorities. Likes is not the measure in real life.

DIGITAL NEWS REPORTING

Journalism and Media Management Department, School of Communication, University of Miami

Monthly Archives: October 2015

Wake injury leaves Miami fans empty

Chaotic GOP debate causes concern

Joe Biden and CBS’ ’60 Minutes’

Lego versus Ai Weiwei

His iPhone is on fire (literally)

First gay rugby team turns 20

What do we know about Bin Laden?

Canada gets a ‘good-looking PM’

Chafee’s campaign comes to end

Hillary emerges as victorious at hearing

Why the Chinese visit to UK matters?

NBA champ Odom deserves respect

Coverage of debate may sway voters