Monthly Archives: February 2016

106-year-old woman meets Obamas

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By SARAH BRANDT

Virginia McLaurin is 106 years old and this past week has met President Obama and the First Lady.

She got invited to meet the president thanks to a friend who contacted the White House and mentioned all the outstanding volunteer work, McLaurin has been doing throughout Washington, D.C.

“I didn’t think that would ever happen in my life,” McLaurin said to People magazine’s Web site.

McLaurin grew up in South Carolina when racial segregation was the law. The fact that it was a black president who invited her to the White House “means there’s been a lot of changes since I was born,” she added.

McLaurin got the chance to meet the president just before the Black History Month reception. She was overwhelmed by how nice the President and the First Lady were. She was very happy that the country has a Black president; something she did not believe would happen for a very long time.

The video of McLaurin, the President and the First Lady encounter and of them dancing, has gone viral. The video is seen on social media websites, such as Facebook, written about it in People magazine, CBS, CNN and even got uploaded on the official White House website. The response to the video was enormous, as everyone was very touched by how McLaurin reacted when meeting the president. The generous welcome by him and his wife is also highly appreciated.

The fact that McLaurin is 106 years old and still so lively and dancing, may also be a strong contributor of the video going viral.

Overall, McLaurin had a great time meeting the President and the First Lady. Her video has gotten a lot of attention by people all over the world in all sorts of media.

Television interviewing with integrity

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By ROBYN SHAPIRO

Recently on “Morning Joe,” co-anchor Mika Brzezinski interviewed Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump. Brzezinski asked questions ranging from “Tell us about yourself” and “how did you fall in love with Donald,” to “How do you feel about your husband’s swearing” and her opinions about people calling him names. While these questions may have satisfied some viewer curiosity, they did yet touch the larger picture.

As the interview progressed, Brzezinski started to ask questions the audience was truly wondering. She asked Melania questions about what she thought of Trump’s rationales. As an immigrant from Slovenia, what was her opinion of her husband’s views on immigration? How did she feel about her husband calling Mexicans rapists?

While Melania answered the questions diplomatically and rationalized her husband’s opinions, she answers were somewhat vague. Though Brzezinski could have further interrogated her with questions, she held her journalistic integrity to let her answer and then move on to another pertinent question.

When presenting information to an audience it is imperative that the person providing the news stays calm and objective in order to deliver a message unbiased. I felt that Brzezinski’s interview was well done, because while she was straightforward in her questioning, she did not interrogate Melania Trump with inquiries after she answered. While she may have been frustrated by Melania’s lack of personal opinion and detail in her responses, Brzezinski held her cool and did not argue.

The news should be objectively delivered at all costs. While it may be difficult not to have opinion intertwined, it is important that viewers develop their own opinion from information that is presented. Getting emotionally involved (especially showing frustration or annoyance) in a topic shows a lack of professionalism and could persuade a viewer.

When information is objectively given it encourages viewers to do more research on the topic in order to develop an opinion. This consequently, encourages the audience to be more educated about the topics at hand.

Kesha’s legal battle causing controversy

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By VICTORIA DE CARDENAS

The hashtag #FreeKesha has captured headlines, but the battle of Kesha and her producer Dr. Luke is more complicated than a hashtag.

In 2014, Kesha filed a civil lawsuit alleging Dr. Luke emotionally abused, drugged and sexually assaulted her during her time with Kemosabe Records. Kesha’s legal team was seeking to break her contract with Kemosabe Records and its parent company, Sony Entertainment, so she could continue her career without the producer’s influence.

After a long legal battle, the New York Supreme Court decided a preliminary injunction, sending the pop star into tears and her supporters into a flurry of anger and activism.

Some of her supporters include celebrities, such as Adele, Lady Gaga and Demi Lovato. Many of these celebrities have taken to Twitter to express their outrage.

Screen Shot 2016-02-25 at 10.33.34 PM Screen Shot 2016-02-25 at 10.33.03 PMBut it’s Demi Lovato’s tweet which really started the controversy. BuzzFeed broke the story and monitored all of Lovato’s tweets.

Her first tweet showed support for the “Tick Tock” singer.

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She then tweeted what seemed to be a jab at Taylor Swift, according to BuzzFeed.

Screen Shot 2016-02-25 at 11.00.24 PMLovato allegedly liked a tweet that referenced Swift’s silence further fueling speculation.

Screen Shot 2016-02-25 at 11.03.25 PMAccording to BuzzFeed, Lovato’s rant was 90-minutes long, and concluding with Lovato sending one last tweet that had the hashtag #equalityforALL.

One day after Lovato’s rant, Taylor Swift made a highly publicized move: donating $250,000 to Kesha.

Lovato had one last thing to say.

Screen Shot 2016-02-25 at 11.31.33 PMMany celebrities have praised the bold donation and the media is praising the America’s sweetheart but it’s upsetting to see that they are not showing the entire story.

Credit should be given to BuzzFeed for bringing this to attention, even if there are more important issues to talk about.

News outlets are supposed to tell the full story and to investigate and they seem to have forgotten to do that. Whether or not Lovato was actually calling out Swift, other news outlets should have caught on to the hour and a half rant on Twitter.

It is completely possible that Swift made the donation after feeling pressured from on-again-off-again friend Lovato. It’s also possible she didn’t do because of Lovato but it’s something the media should have at least mentioned when this story first broke out.

It is possible the media was worried about Kesha’s case and made the executive decision to not talk about Lovato’s side of the story but they cannot deny the events leading up to the donation, especially from two self-proclaimed feminists.

Maybe celebrity rants are nothing to talk about. If that is the case, Kanye West shouldn’t receive any more attention then he does but that’s another story.

Designers support Clinton at NYFW

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By SIDNEY STERLING

As the iconic New York Fashion Week (NYFW) came to a close on the 19th, style gurus, designers and models were buzzing about something other than the latest haute couture.

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Big name designers like Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch and Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow of Public School revealed campaign shirts in support of democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on and off the runways of NYFW.

These shirts are a key part of Clinton’s “Made for History” project and all of the profits go directly to her presidential campaign.

The goal of “Made for History” is to include more upscale merchandise to Clinton’s online store, provide an additional way for supporters to express themselves and help gain traction for Clinton’s campaign.

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Each designer was reportedly given free rein for their personal designs and all three t-shirts are priced at $45 and can be purchased on hillaryclinton.com.

After seeing the shirts all over NYFW, celebrities are sharing their comments about the designs on social media.

Kendall Jenner posed in her Marc Jacobs deigned Hillary shirt and posted on her Instagram saying, “Shirt by @themarcjacobs. History by @hillaryclinton. #MadeforHistory #ImWithHer @voguemagazine.”

The New York Times thought the campaign idea was “brilliant” and stated, “Fashion Week is not normally the first event that comes to mind when one thinks of the perfect time to hold a political fund-raiser.”

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However other fashion blogs like Digiday are criticizing Clinton for an “elitist” move.

Adam Wray, the curator of Fashion ReDef newsletter, told Digiday, “My main issue with the t-shirts is simply that they’re ugly and in addition to other millennial-pandering items like the “Chillary Clinton” beer koozie, is not going to help her flagging standing among young people.”

Like it or hate it, people are still talking about Clinton’s latest fashion statement (no, not a different color pantsuit) and chatter creates momentum for political campaigns, which is the ultimate goal.

Tim Cook fights back in ABC interview

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By MELISSA CABRAL

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Wednesday he’s prepared to take the controversial FBI vs. Apple dispute to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Cook said that it would be “bad for America” if Apple were to accept the FBI’s request and court order of unlocking an encrypted iPhone previously owned by one of the San Bernardino shooters.

Officials have said that they only need Apple’s assistance in unlocking certain security features on the iPhone which would help release information regarding the murders. Cook fought back saying that if they complied with the request it would put Apple’s customers in danger of having their information exposed, as iPhones would become more susceptible to hacking.

“Some things are hard and some things are right, and some things are both. This is one of those things,” Cook said. “I think the safety of the public is incredibly important.”

Cook showed sympathy for the families of the victims of the shooting and said that Apple sent out some of their own engineers to provide technical support to further the case in any way they can without creating the “backdoor” software the FBI is requesting.

Cook added, “If we knew a way to do this that would not expose hundreds of millions of other people to issues, we would obviously do it. But this is not about one phone, this is about the future.”

Although a meeting is not confirmed, Cook said that if he had to, he would make his case directly to President Obama in order to avoid going through with the court’s request.

Hundreds of millions of iPhones would be at risk in the process of creating a software to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone and Cook stated that he will go to great lengths to protect the privacy of the company’s customers.

FBI Director James Comey argued that Apple simply has to unlock only one phone but Cook disagreed.

“If a court can ask us to write this piece of software, think about what else they could ask us to write,” Cook said. “Maybe it’s an operating system for surveillance. Maybe it’s the ability for law enforcement to turn on the camera. I mean I don’t know where this stops.”

Apple has until Friday to respond to the judge’s order.

Facts in ‘The People v. O.J. Simpson’

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By MIA POLLACK

The 10 o’clock time slot Tuesday nights on FX’s hit series “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” instantaneously take you back to the mid-90s, a time when America was spellbound with the proceedings of the “Trial of the Century.”

I’ve been hooked on the anthology series for the past four weeks, consistently looking for more information to understand the events leading up to and following the murders of Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

Much of my understanding has come from multiple media outlets, which every week dissect the series for what the writing staff and production team, lead by Ryan Murphy from “American Horror Story,” got right about the trying time.

The series, which is based on the true events from June 4,1994, through Oct. 3, 1995, also follows suit with the book, “The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson” by Jeffrey Toobin. The author told E! News that the series is by no means a documentary, but gives as true to life insights into each of the characters involved.

If you look up the show’s title on Google, the first five news headlines always have seemed to be, “what is fact and what is fiction,” getting attention from multiple publications including The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair and many more. Khloé Kardashian even took to her own talk show “Kocktails with Khloé” to say she’s never watched it and doesn’t plan to. She also told James Corden on his “The Late Late Show,” that the show has been “sensationalizing” the Kardashian name. She also spoke about a scene in which Simpson, portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr., tries to take his own life in Kim’s childhood room at her father’s house, was actually her room.

It’s interesting in dissecting what the show has chosen to fictionalize and stay true to, and each week the fact checks and the media interest will continue to grow.

‘Devil’s drug’ needs media attention

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By GRACE BERNARD

Since 2014, the designer drug flakka has silently terrorized the streets of South Florida. With the number of users rising throughout the U.S., flakka needs national media attention now more than ever.

Flakka is a highly addictive synthetic drug. According to drugsabuse.gov, side effects include paranoia, hyperstimulation, and hallucinations that can lead to “violent aggression and self-injury. The drug has been linked to deaths by suicide and heart attack.”

Other side effects include super-human strength, a likely result of an adrenaline rush. Also users are known to strip naked due to a massive rise in body temperatures associated with the drugs consumption.

Flakka’s biggest threat is that the U.S. population is under the assumption that the drug’s usage is contained to South Florida, where it is by far the most concentrated. Because of this, news media coverage has been vastly limited to local South Florida news organizations such as The Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post, and The Sun Sentinel.

Flakka usage is spreading quickly and the lack of media coverage leaves many people in danger, particularly young people in poor urban neighborhoods. Flakka is particularly accessible to this group because it’s so cheap. Without any education from the national press, thousands of people are in danger. According to Forbes.com, flakka usage has spread to Chicago, Texas, Kentucky and Ohio. The drug is only growing more popular, especially with the lack of education nationwide.

One example of the grave disparities in flakka’s news media coverage compared to other drugs was in early 2014 when the DEA officially categorized it as a Schedule 1 drug. Despite the importance of this, the news did not make any major national headlines.

Less traditional forms of media have been more prominent in the coverage of the drug. YouTube has a variety of videos about flakka. Some videos were educational, while the majority were recordings of people high on the drug. These videos had thousands of views, with some of them even having millions. The population clearly has an interest in flakka and is seeking out more information.

The need for public education about flakka is evident. While flakka is not a nationwide issue yet, it is already well on its way. The duty is on the news media to provide coverage about this silent killer because they’re the best equipped to handle the potential crisis.

Has Trump sealed the deal?

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By ROXANNE YU

When Donald Trump filed his statement of candidacy a few months ago, no one would have expected him to go very far, much less sustain a significant lead among Republican candidates.

Now that it’s dawning upon the country that Trump actually has a shot at becoming the next president, CNN is already commenting what’s next if Trump takes over the White House.

Trump, who won the Nevada caucuses on Tuesday night, is unsurprisingly under the spotlight for his recent success. When the results showed how his percentages compare to that of the other candidates, the businessman turned presidential candidate has distinctly marked New Hampshire, South Carolina and now Nevada, to be “Trump states.”

From one state to the next, Trump is consistently pulling further away from his fellow Republican candidates and it’s looking more likely that there is a big possibility for Trump to heighten his momentum come Super Tuesday.

Alongside Trump’s efforts to power through the Republican polls, it’s also interesting to read about what the news has to say about this Trump frenzy phenomenon going on.

CNN has just released a number of news stories entitled What would Trump’s be first day in office look like and Trump’s Day 1-to-do-list. With the release of these web stories, it appears as though what’s being presented to the audience is an indirect opinionated piece that can influence public opinion.

Although CNN has not shown any support for Trump in any regard, it’s almost doing the same as straightforwardly subjecting the public to count Rubio and Cruz out.

Keeping up with Kanye

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By BREANA ROSS

From his rants on Twitter, to his relationship with Kim Kardashian, to his $53 million debt after the release of his new album, Kanye West seems to always make headlines. Two weeks ago, it was his Twitter spat with rapper Wiz Khalifa that sent social media users into a frenzy. Then it was an offensive lyric against Taylor Swift in his new album that even earned a response from Swift at the Grammy’s. Now it is his feud with music producer Bob Ezrin.

Ezrin denounced Kanye West in an essay for The Lefsetz Letter when he wrote, “Unlike other creators in his genre … it’s unlikely that we’ll be quoting too many of Kanye’s songs 20 years from now. Kanye’s greatest achievements have been in the form of excessive behavior, egomaniacal tantrums and tasteless grandstanding.”

This sent Kanye West into a Twitter rant about Ezrin’s lack of “connection with anything” and irrelevance to the music business. But doesn’t Bob Ezrin have a point here? Every time Kanye West is involved in a dispute or a tantrum, which seems to be quite often, the media is all over it. Why is that?

Most people know by now that Kanye West is an interesting character who never fails to brew drama, whether it is on Twitter or on live music award shows. He is a controversial figure and that’s the thing that makes him a media magnet. Whether we love Kanye West or hate him, we want to see what outrageous thing he is doing or saying next. Right when we tune in to a media outlet to see the latest Kanye spat, the media has achieved its goal.

The news and entertainment media have grabbed our attention. Whether it seems like pointless news or not, the media have got our eyes and ears. So, yes, there are plenty of things we need to know that supersede Kanye West’s latest ventures but by giving that type of news attention, we give media outlets the impression that that is the type of news we want to hear.

Personal stories are newsworthy, also

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By ETTY GROSSMAN

In our days, there’s a common thought about the lack of humanity among the news. People believe that the news media are only interested in breaking news about prominent or public figures. However, if we do a deep search we can find many news sites focused on real life stories about ordinary people.

CNN is one in many news channels that opens the door to its public to express themselves and share their stories, which are very interesting and touching.

In the case of CNN, there are established categories from which the person can choose to write about: Overcoming anxiety, your “Aha” weight-loss moment, how you found happiness or your journey to body acceptance.

At a first glance, the topics might seem a little controversial, but the way in which they are addressed tend to seek for social justice. The stories selected do not promote anorexia, unhealthy methods to lose weight or physical beauty as an important value; instead they ask people to tell their stories to help others to overcome this type of problems that were probably caused by societal pressures.

The assignments not only values people it also encourages them to serve as inspirational models.

Weight gain and obesity trends often make headlines, but many people have found a way to lose weight and get fit by healthy methods and this are the type of stories they are looking for.

Personally, I believe these testimonies are very useful and should be valued. We live in a world where instead of sleeping an extra hour per day, women decide to spend three hours and 19 minutes each week in front of the mirror.  I’m pretty sure that it is not to enhance their beauty, but because they don’t feel comfortable with themselves.

Instead of reading about Kim Kardashian’s new surgery, stories such as “how one woman learned to love herself” should hit the front page of every news channel because they really teach us how to recover from daily problems by natural, real and accessible methods.

Her Campus offers variety of styles

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By MARIA LUIZA LAGO

Her Campus is a website that provides news about style, beauty, health entertainment and much more written by college women all over the United States. According to each university, the website has different kind of news and focuses, and any college women can apply to write for Her Campus or send ideas to the editors.

The idea started by three undergraduate students from Harvard University, Stephanie Kaplan Lewis, Windsor Hanger Western and Annie Wang. Their creation of the website won the Harvard College’s business plan competition and many other prizes and awards. Her Campus also helps brands to reach the college market offline and online, according to the official website.

The Her Campus team has more than 7,000 members, including the national and editorial team, contributing writers and bloggers, high school ambassadors, campus correspondents, chapter advisors, interns and InfluenceHer collective members. The website also focus on campus life, career and love sections for the college women audience.

What I found most interesting about Her Campus and its way of reporting is that it brings the writer and the reader really close to one another, like someone were writing to a friend or like someone was telling a story.

Since some of the writers are women that are still in college, the proximity between these writers and other female students is really close. Through the website, you can meet the lifestyle of other colleges and engage with their environment and recent news.

I found that Her Campus was a mixture of campus newspapers like The Miami Hurricane, BuzzFeed and blogs in general. There’s a feeling that there’s a lot of opening to talk about many topics, but at the same time it feels like it is a space to reinforce the importance of the college women community and what it represents to other female students as well.

It’s not a website to talk about “girly stuff” but, yes, a mass communication and news vehicle that  talks with students and women in general to try to pass them an  important message about things happening in the world, awareness and of course, entertainment.

Miami squeaks by Virginia

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By WYATT GELLER

They were on their heels for the entire game, but the Miami Hurricanes were able to stay in front most of the game as they held off the University of Virginia Cavaliers 64-61.

Virginia guard London Perrantes missed a game tying three pointer from half court as time expired to secure the victory.

Players wait for the refs to resume play in the first half.

Miami and Virginia players wait for the referees to resume play in the first half (Photo by Wyatt Geller).

The hero from the game was Junior forward Davon Reed who had a career high of 21 points on 5-6 shooting from the three point line.

He got the Canes going offensively early on with two 3s, and he hit two more at the beginning of the second half.  Reed also sank two free throws to safely put the Canes up by three late in the game.

After a slow offensive start for both teams, Miami led 30-25 at halftime thanks to a floater from three point range by Sheldon McClellan as time expired.  McClellan would finish with 11 points.

The story of the second half became a catch up game for Virginia when Miami would go up by more than two possessions.  After Miami went up 39-29, Senior guard Malcolm Brogdon helped Virginia cut the lead back down to a one possession game with 15 minutes to go.  Brogdon, who is a candidate with McClellan for ACC player of the year, finished with a game high 28 points.

At the final media timeout with under four minutes to play, Miami led 60-52 and seemed to be in control of the game.  Brogdon then hit two shots and Perrantes made a layup to make it a 60-59 game.

Miami could had put Virginia away a little sooner, but it only shot 60 percent from the foul line going 12-20. Free throw shooting along with poor rebounding allowed Virginia to continue to creep back into the ball game.

If I were Coach Jim Larranaga, I would work to formulate a plan for interior post defense when Tonye Jekiri goes to the bench. Kamari Murphy seems likes the best option to cover the other teams’ center’s, as he finished the game with 11 rebounds.

Monday night’s win was a statement victory for the Canes, as they moved within a half game of North Carolina in the ACC standings and continue to battle for the regular season title. We will see you Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. for the home finale against Louisville.

Retired Army horses seeking a home

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By KATIE HOVAN

The Miami Herald featured an article on Sunday to create awareness about free, retired Army horses that are seeking new homes.

The animals, 15-year-old Kennedy and 11-year-old Quincy, both served tours as caisson horses in the Army’s Old Guard at the Arlington National Cemetery.

Caisson horses are responsible for the pulling coffins of military officials who were killed in action to their burial sites. As one of the most distinctive ceremonies in the military, it requires extraordinary skill and accuracy from the horses.

Pfc. Kris Loudner, a cassion rider who knows the horses well, said, “I think one of the reasons to own a horse like Quincy or Kennedy is to have a piece in this mission. In a way, you’re tending to a horse that has honored America’s service members.”

In the “News” section of the Miami Herald website, the article about Kennedy and Quincy was one of the first trending articles, and it stood out from the usual political reporting and crime-related articles.

Quite frankly, I have to commend The Miami Herald for featuring a story about the horses because, as a reader, it’s refreshing to hear positive, lighthearted news when most information that is deemed newsworthy centers on something negative.

The horses may not be important to very many people in the South Florida area, but this story is uplifting compared to the content most readers consume on daily basis. It’s a beautiful, feel-good article that is creating awareness along the way.

Your privacy or your security?

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By JEAN-PAUL AGUIRRE

If you have been keeping up with the news lately, you might have heard about the dispute between Apple and the federal government.

In short, the federal government is requesting Apple’s assistance in unlocking the iPhone of a San Bernardino attacker for information vital to its investigation. The reason the government requires Apple’s assistance is because the phone has a lock out function that will prohibit anyone from opening the phone after 10 failed attempts. In order to attain the information, the government is asking Apple to create a “master code” that will allow them to override the lock out function of any phone they choose.

Apple sees this as a massive privacy rights violation for their customers and has opted to deny the government’s request.

The media runs this story more and more as new information comes out, or when a public figure releases their statement about the situation and what they think either side should do.

Additionally, the recent vacancy in the U.S. Supreme Court, after Justice Scalia’s death, could be contributing to the story’s frequent airing.

There may be a good chance of this case reaching the U.S. Supreme Court if the two cannot reach a settlement. With the Court at a stalemate in regards to party affiliation, as well as the obstruction in the appointment of another justice, there is no telling which side would prevail if it reaches that point.

This situation has more significance than some people realize. This case could further protect the individual’s privacy, or it can provide the government with another tool for collecting intelligence and improving national security.

This story is not about a dispute between two prominent figures, but rather the implications of their dispute and the drastic repercussions that will follow. The media are trying to distinguish its gravity, as opposed to other stories. For that reason, the story is being covered appropriately.

The chaotic life of Kanye

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By GRACE BERNARD

Last week, Kanye West kicked off New York Fashion Week with his revolutionary Yeezy Season Three sold-out fashion show and listening party for his new album, “The Life of Pablo,” in Madison Square Garden. But people all over the world were able to score an inside look at the event thanks to today’s media coverage.

In the aftermath of the over-the-top show, the media have spent the past week proving that technology is making fashion and celebrities more accessible than ever before.

Both fashion and traditional news websites began sharing articles featuring pictures and videos from the show that day. Then, the news media focused on West’s outrageous rule list given to models that was leaked through SnapChat and Instagram. Finally, West himself took advantage of the media’s power by announcing that his album would only be available through his subscription-based website and Tidal.

According to its website, Tidal is a “high fidelity music streaming” service. Tidal was also the only website that had access to a live stream of West’s show.

This past week, West has been unable to stay out of the news media. His notorious Tweets made headlines on websites like CNN.com after he claimed to in $52 million worth of personal debt and pleaded with Mark Zuckerberg to donate $1 billion in order to fund his continuous stream of business ventures.

Most recently, the feud between West and Taylor Swift was resurfaced after headlines reported that Swift responded to a lyric in one his new songs about her as being “misogynistic.”

As of Wednesday, news media, particularly online websites as most traditional gossip magazines aren’t published until Friday, have now been running with a leaked recording of West ranting and calling out Swift backstage at “Saturday Night Live” before his performance for the show.

Mega-celebrities such as West, as well as over-the-top fashion brands, are normally inaccessible to the majority of the population. But with the increasing usage and development of social media, they are now becoming a greater part of our everyday lives.

As the population continues its fascination with these once distant concepts, they are becoming more concentrated in traditional new outlets that used to be reserved only for topics of practical importance.

The news media’s normalization of things that used to be such strong symbols of wealth and success begs the question of what will happen to the notion of exclusivity as it becomes more and more available to not just the American public, but the world.

Conspiracies arise after Scalia death

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By VICTORIA DE CARDENAS

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead on Saturday at a resort in West Texas.

Scalia died in his sleep during a visit to Texas. A government official said Scalia went to bed Friday night and told friends he wasn’t feeling well. He didn’t get up for breakfast on Saturday morning, and the group he was with for a hunting trip left without him.

Someone at the ranch went to check up on Scalia and found him unresponsive.

According to The Washington Post, it took hours for authorities to find a justice of the peace. When they did, Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara pronounced Scalia dead of natural causes without seeing the body and without ordering an autopsy. Judge Guevara has the right to do so under the Texas law.

Guevara said she declared Scalia dead based on information from law enforcement officials on the scene, who assured her that “there were no signs of foul play.” She later said Scalia was weakened from a heart condition and had high blood pressure, according to The Associated Press.

The conspiracy theories kicked into high gear after the owner of the ranch where Scalia died told a Texas newspaper that Scalia had “a pillow over his head” and no autopsy was ordered. This made a former D.C. homicide commander raise questions of the late Supreme Court judge’s death.

“As a former homicide commander, I am stunned that no autopsy was ordered for Justice Scalia,” William O. Ritchie, former head of criminal investigations for D.C. police, wrote in a post on Facebook on Sunday, according to The Washington Post.

It should be noted that members of Scalia’s family did not request for an autopsy.

The news media made a frenzy of the conspiracy theories. Why did the news media find the need to bring attention to conspiracy theories? The family of Justice Scalia knew he was not in the best health, especially at his age.

As soon as the news outlets got a hold on statements from the family about his death, why continue to publish articles about his death. His death was over shadowed by Washington’s quick decision to replace him. The country couldn’t more his death in a peaceful way without the media reminding everyone that he now needs a replacement in the Court.

Personally, i couldn’t get through a paragraph into any article without the news media talking about either a conspiracy theory or waiting to fill his seat in the Court. The news media should be more sensitive to someone who holds an important seat in Washington,

The bathroom bill problem

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By ROBYN SHAPIRO

The Senate of South Dakota has recently voted to approve a “bathroom bill.” The bathroom bill states that students would have to use the bathroom based on their “chromosomes and autonomy” at birth, rather than what they identify with now. This bill not only attacks the LGBT community, but also completely discriminates against transgender students.

State representative Fred Deutsch, who was in favor of the bill, stated this is necessary in order to protect the “bodily privacy rights” of “biologic boys and girls” and that if transgender students were uncomfortable with this, they could use private accommodations. He refused to do a follow-up interview with Time magazine on this statement.

Time provided a first-hand example of how this law could effect transgender students when they interviewed Rebecca Dodds, the mother of a transgender boy who had recently graduated high school in South Dakota.

Her son stated that the idea of using the girl’s rest room was so uncomfortable for him, he would avoid using the bathroom the entire day. Because of this, he contracted multiple urine infections and had other health-related issues throughout his high school career.

The identity struggle for transgender students is a difficult enough issue that having a law to further isolate them from normalcy would only contribute to their existing insecurities. While conservative America considers the sensitivity of the standardized “norm”, liberal America considers the sensitivity of all.

I believe Time magazine did an excellent job providing a non-biased, yet informative, opinion on this current issue. They provided opinions from both the pro and con sides, while further examining how this law would affect transgender people and the LGBT community outside of the school system.

While much of our American population is socially conservation, our younger generations are growing be more and more liberal. The media needs to continue to report these issues with sensitivity and compassion as our society progresses into acceptance.

Kanye West’s $53 million debt

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By SARAH BRANDT

“I write this to you my brothers while still 53 million dollars in personal debt… Please Pray we overcome… This is my true heart…” Kanye West.

Kanye West Tweet

Kanye West Tweet

The above-mentioned post came from rapper Kanye West, which he posted on Feb. 13, 2016.

This was just a few days after his “Yeezy Season 3” presentation and his new album release “The Life of Pablo”.

His statement has been publicized all over the news, such as CNN, The Guardian and on Billboard. With this plea, he made himself the target for a lot of Kanye haters. Now hateful memes can be found online, including his comment of his $53 million debt.

West is very popular in the music industry and he had just recently released his brand new, and much anticipated album “The Life of Pablo.” Already, after he presented the world his new record, he received a lot of hate, from viewers and the news, about how his presentation of the album was nothing spectacular and he just simply pressed a button to play his songs. The fact that a few days later he posts this tweet does not make him much liked to a few people.

West had also posted the following, a few minutes later: “Mark Zuckerberg invest 1 billion dollars into Kanye West ideas,” also on Twitter.

This statement is very ironic and funny, as Zuckerberg is the CEO and founder of Facebook and not Twitter, and will most definitely not invest $1 billion for Kanye. The Guardian went on discussing West’s further tweets and pleads to other “tech billionaires.”

Kanye West is a very well known rapper, who just came out with a new “Yeezy” season and a new album, now happens to be in $53 million debt. Hopefully with his tweets, which are very clearly receiving a lot of attention from the media, which is not necessarily always positive, he will soon find someone to relieve and save him from his debt.

Too little, too late for radiation

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By JEAN-PAUL AGUIRRE

On Thursday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2016, as CNN was covering the Republican Presidential Town Hall, news broke that highly radioactive materials in Iraq had been stolen.

Reports have gone on to say that the device, which uses the radioactive material, Iridium-192, was reported stolen from an oil services company back in November.

Iridium-192 has a half-life of about 74 days, which means that by now the material has all ready decayed by half. Analysts on news stations are clarifying that these types of situations happen more frequently than they are reported on the news. Also, they believe it is highly unlikely that the material would be used in a terrorist attack and if it were used in a “dirty bomb,” it is likely that the explosion from the bomb would cause more harm than the Iridium-192.

What I am concerned about is why this news is being reported now? If the Iridium was stolen from an oil company in Iraq, in November, why should we care?

From what the online reports and analysts are leading onto, the repercussions of this incident alone will not be severe, yet they mention the possibility of radioactive materials being the next step in chemical warfare due to the availability of such materials around the world and the rising number of cases of stolen materials.

It seems to me that this news was reported too late. Now the nation is focused on the South Carolina primaries, an incident of stolen radioactive materials from November is not as important. I believe the mindset audiences have now is “Nothing has happened yet, so why should we care.”

If the news media were to have made this a bigger issue when it happened— instead of three months later— it would have garnered more attention and certainly would have been a talking point at the debates we have seen in the past months.

The Bowie tribute of all tributes

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By MIA POLLACK

There’s no question that every time Lady Gaga makes an appearance anywhere, she goes all out. I mean, from the hair, the make up and the outfit, she’s always making a statement.

This year, Gaga was asked to perform a tribute to the late, great, David Bowie, and she certainly did not disappoint. From the moment she walked on the carpet in custom Marc Jacobs and a flaming red wig, paying homage to Ziggy Stardust.

When the time for her performance finally came, the crowd that filled the Staples Center went absolutely wild. She ran through 10 of the artist’s hits from the 1970s and 1980s, making it one of the longer, but more technologically advance performances of the night.

During the telecast Monday night, Intel released commercials featuring the singer on how the company collaborated with the star, 29, to bring her performance to life. As ABC News reported, in one of the commercials Gaga explained, “we wanted to create an expression of not only David Bowie’s magic, but also to show that there is magic that can be made with technology.”

Screen Shot 2016-02-18 at 9.33.58 PMAccording to Fox News, Gaga told them that it was one of the most difficult things that she’s ever done, as the icon served as an extremely influential person in her life.

The influence definitely showed in her performance.

The Telegraph from U.K. picked up on the fact that Gaga’s performance was a hybrid of her unique stage presence, along with that of Bowie’s with wide-eyed facial expression and fluid movements. The true strength that the U.K. newspaper thought was her vocals, immaculately imitating Bowie’s strong accent that shined on “Space Oddity,” “Suffragette City,” “Fashio” and “Rebel Rebel.”

Though the performance seemed to be a favorite among the crowd inside and audience watching at home, the one person that did not seem overly thrilled was the late singer’s son, David Jones. Billboard reported that Jones’ Tweeted a cryptic message, which many thought to be a diss to Gaga’s stellar performance. I think he got the idea for this from searching Lady Gaga on Urban Dictionary…