Author Archives: Alexandra Silver

Print journalism Is dead?

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By ALEXANDRA SILVER

A professor at the University of Miami School of Communication recently stated that “print journalism is dead.’

Is print journalism, in fact, ‘dead’? Or is it evolving into an online experience? Although television news is becoming increasingly popular, online reporting is crucial, therefore print media are not dead, but are simply changing.

As a student who is passionate about writing and reporting the most up to date and factual news, I firmly believe that many will continue to rely on written reports as opposed to television news.

Many articles are headlined “The Dire State of the Newspaper” and “Death of the Newspaper,” which is scary for many print journalism majors at colleges and universities, but online journalism is booming. Blogs, online magazines, and popular television stations are in need of talented writers. Although the newspaper itself might be on the decline, there is hope left for talented writers.

The revenue that newspapers make is dropping steadily year after year, from 48 billion to 44 an then to a staggering 28 billion. This is a 44% drop in revenue, which seems particularly scary to some, but once again this drop is due to the evolution of print.

So do not fret, print majors, you will be more than able to showcase your talent in some form or another.

Miami man falls out of plane

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By ALEXANDRA SILVER

Gerardo Nales fell out of a private plane three days ago and, after an intensive search, it is believed that authorities have found the body.

Gerardo Nales was one of two passengers on board a private plane flown by a sole pilot that took off from Tamiami Executive Airport in Southwest Miami-Dade County. This plane was flying at about 2,000 feet when the pilot of the Piper PA 46 called for help saying “mayday.”

The recording of the pilot was peculiar as he was completely calm when notifying the air traffic controller. The pilot’s name has not yet been released nor has the identity of the other passenger since this is an on-going investigation.

Gerardo Nales is a 42-year-old Miami native who resided in Key Biscayne. Cameras were lined up on the sidewalk near his Key Biscayne apartment complex this past Friday afternoon. It is unclear where the plane was headed at the time, but it was said to be about eight miles from the Tamiami airport.

Authorities still do not know exactly what happened on the plane, but investigators have no evidence of foul play.

This incident is still under investigation as investigators are unsure if Nales jumped out of the plane or was pushed. More information will become available shortly

Toronto mayor takes turn for worst

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By ALEXANDRA SILVER

A current article on CNN.com reads, “ Toronto’s Mayor is Stripped of Some Power”. After openly admitting to using drugs such as crack cocaine “in a drunken stupor” and using offensive and sexual language.

After this stunt, I would have expected to see Mayor Rob Ford leave office, but he claims that he will not be leaving his job any time soon. Despite this, he continues to make more mistakes when speaking to reporters and acting on impulse.

Mayor Rob Ford is clearly not too concerned with walking on eggshells. Although he wants to keep his job, he fires back at reporters with offensive responses that are hardly ever thought out well.

When asked about the sexual relations he had with an escort, he claimed that the woman was not in fact an escort, but rather a family friend. He explained that such “allegations” had “hurt his wife.”

 He is embarrassing the residents of Toronto and refuses to step down or take a leave of absence. According to sources, most members of the city council support the idea that Ford take a leave of absence, but he has refused, leaving the other council members powerless and helpless.

 We can only hope that he gets back on the right path and fixes his mistakes before he destroys his career.

Shooting at LA airport dominates news

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By ALEXANDRA SILVER

Early this morning, Friday, Nov. 1, a lone gunman went on a shooting spree at the LAX Airport in Los Angeles. It dominated national news coverage throughout the day.

The gunman, currently unnamed, appeared in Terminal 3 at LAX with a black shoulder bag. He then proceeded to take out an assault rifle and started shooting near the screening area and in the airport.

It was noted that the airport police acted quickly and tracked down the shooter and took him into custody. Unfortunately one man who worked at the airport was killed while more than 10 others were wounded.

Witnesses said they heard more than 20 shots fired.

This story, once again, brings about the topic of gun control in America. To think that any one person has access to an assault rifle is terrifying, but not knowing whether or not an airport, move theater, or school is safe is debilitating.

Many Americans are living in constant fear or what might occur during their trips to the mall or movie theater and when these incidents continue to happen, this fear grows stronger and prevents us from doing certain activities.

In order to feel safe in our environment, it seems as if drastic safety measures must be taken, such as metal detectors and pat downs. This should not be the case and it is certainly not the best solution. 

There are numerous articles that have been written about random mass shootings that discuss simple measures to prevent these tragedies from occurring in our neighborhoods. Although these articles are helpful and useful, they should not be necessary.

The real concern is the issue with mental health, which I spoke about in my previous post. In order to prevent these mass shootings we must first understand where the motive comes from and start from there. Hopefully the real solution is found and people can stop living in fear.

Mental illness, media in today’s society

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By ALEXANDRA SILVER

Just yesterday, a young boy who was attending a middle school in Nevada, wounded two students, shot and killed his teacher and then proceeded to kill himself in a random act of violence.

This is a devastating story as a little under a year ago, 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Although the shooter was much younger in this case, the concept of mental illness is still at the forefront of our minds.

Is violence directly linked to mental illness’ and ‘are all mentally ill people potentially dangerous’ are the questions circulating through the news media and in every household after the recent shooting in both Nevada and Connecticut.

Many researchers, psychologists and news programs immediately turned to the idea that untreated mental illness and our countries failing mental health system are the main reasons these massacres occur.

We ask ourselves many questions; are these mass murders preventable? If our society was more accepting to responding to the issue of mental illness, could we prevent school, mall, and movie theater shootings? Many of us are afraid to reference mental illness as a cause for violence, as we do not want to insult or put blame on those who do in fact have a mental illness.

There are certain disorders, which can create manic behavior, while other mental illnesses are harmless to others. By accusing those with mental illness, we are successfully convincing the public that all those who suffer from one are dangerous and capable of killing others. This idea, of course, is false, but our country faces the challenge of preventing these issues.

New Age reporting and getting it right

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By ALEXANDRA SILVER

In today’s day and age, word travels fast. When a breaking news story is unfolding, journalists want to be the first on the scene and the first to receive information, causing false information to be shared with the public.

We have seen this occur many times when it comes to stories such as the Sandy Hook shootings in Connecticut. At first, the public was told there were multiple shooters, but later one we were to find out there was only one man.

The Boston Marathon bombings pointed the finger at a young male student without having hard evidence that he was the bomber, but proceeded to alert the public of this man; showing a photo and giving out his name. These mistakes are monumental and create confusion.

This is the major issue journalists face today. The pressure to present valuable information first has caused many to listen to bystanders rather than go straight to the source.

Scott Pelley, CBS Evening News anchor, openly blames the Internet for this issue journalists face, due to the fact that social media sites have caused information to spread like wildfire anytime something is shared, tweeted, or posted. Pelley stated that “we are getting big stories wrong, over and over again.”

He believes that people have too much access to the wrong information and to information in general. Pelley believes that social media sites are simply geared towards gossip, although the public does not seem to understand that concept.

These statements are true, but this trend can be reversed. As long as this toxic gossip stays out of the established newsrooms, we can prevent gossip to spread and focus on getting information straight from the source.

Malala and education in Pakistan

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By ALEXANDRA SILVER

Just one year ago, the Taliban in Pakistan shot Malala Yousafzai after standing up for the education of women. At the time, Malala was 15 years old, but never failed to express her opinions and beliefs to the public, despite the danger she is constantly surrounded by.

Yousafzai is now 16 years old and was recently nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, making her the youngest recipient if she had been awarded said prize. Along with that, she is quite possibly one of the most inspirational and wise teenagers of this generation.

Yousafzai is an activist and continues to share her passion for education after being shot in the head by an Islamist militant. Her efforts have received worldwide news media attention and has been a major story in the U.S. national news media this week with her visit to New York.

On the bus ride home from school one day, a militant stepped onto the bus and asked, “Who is Malala?” Shortly after he opened fire in front of the children on the bus, as she gripped her best friend’s hand. Many did not believe that Malala would survive, but she came back stronger than ever.

In a recent interview with Jon Stewart during her New York trip, Yousafzai discussed how she has been a target since the age of 11, but still does not believe in hating the Taliban. She believes that the daughters of the men in the Taliban also deserve a quality education and hopes that one day they will be able to receive that.

Yousafzai’s true dream is to become Prime Minister of Pakistan and she promises to make sure that tax dollars are used for schools rather than “cronies or pork barrel projects.”

Although she did not win the Nobel Peace Prize this week, she did receive the Andrei Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament for standing up to an oppressive power. Despite this, I am sure she will be nominated in the future and she already knows exactly what she would do with the prize money.

“A Nobel Peace Prize would help me to begin this campaign for girls’ education” (CNN).

Motorcyclists incident caught on video

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By ALEXANDRA SILVER

The concept of sharing the roadway with bikers has always been difficult to grasp for most drivers on the road. Motorcyclists, just like other drivers, must follow the “rules of the road” but we still find many cyclists breaking the law.

On Sept. 29, a man named Alexian Lein was driving on Manhattan’s West Side highway in a Range Rover with both his wife and 2-year-old daughter when they were slowed by hundreds of motorcyclists.

The incident has attracted national and international news media attention because there was video of the incident and it is being replayed countless times as part of coverage of the story. It’s another example of the pervasiveness of video today and how it impacts our ability to see and to understand dangerous moments such as this one.

Lein was waiting patiently as the motorcyclists fooled around, holding up traffic for no apparent reason. As Lein attempted to get past the cyclists, he accidentally hit one of the motorcycles and continued to drive away. This prompted the hundreds of cyclists to follow his vehicle until he was at a red light.

In a matter of minutes, a cyclist bashed the driver’s window with his helmet and proceeded to attack Lein, breaking his leg, but leaving his wife and daughter unharmed.

This situation is particularly frightening, seeing as Lein was simply trying to protect his family and the motorcyclists continued to threaten and eventually injure him. They proceeded to destroy property and cause physical harm in front of both his wife and daughter.

Police are now investigating the incident and two of the cyclists have already been arrested. Another cyclist that was struck by the SUV is now paralyzed and the charges against him have been dropped.

Despite the fact that Lein should have been cautious of the cyclists, he was threatened and any father’s first reaction would be to protect their loved ones when they are in need.

Celebrity spotlight can be bright

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By ALEXANDRA SILVER

Many saw Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odem as a great television couple. They were entertaining and had a clear adoration for one another, but this quickly changed.

About a month ago, Lamar Odem was pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence. In a matter of days, magazine headlines read “cheating scandals” and “divorce” making many fans worry that this celeb couple was falling apart.

The rumors continued to spread viciously after Lamar was accused of being a drug dealer, intouchkhloedivorcecovercheater, and horrible husband. Of course these are simply rumors, said Khloe. Despite this, Lamar recently tweeted that he is going through a dark time and that Khloe and her family have been there to support him along the way.

Lamar’s father also took to social media and then accused Khloe of being a “phony” who does not have Lamar’s best interest in mind. Once again, Lamar took to twitter and wrote, “Won’t continue 2 speak on this but I have got 2 let this out real quick. I have let this man and many others get away with a lot of sh*t. He wasn’t there 2 raise me,” Lamar vented. “He was absent ALL of my life due to his own demons. My mother and grandmother raised me. Queens raised me (FoxNews.com).”

It is clear that social media is making Lamar’s situation much more difficult than it should be. Despite his celebrity status he is human, will naturally make mistakes, and needs support from his loved ones and fans.

We can only hope that he will be on the road to recovery soon and that he will mend the relationships that have been strained by these series of unfortunate events.

Media fuel craze over new iPhones

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By ALEXANDRA SILVER

The IPhone 5s came out this past week, but that is old news to most college students around the United States and the world.

The craze for Apple technology is still going strong as people stand in lines for hours to get their hands on the newest IPhone, IPad and MacBook.

It is hard to believe that a major headline this week was titled “Gold IPhone 5s won’t ship until October.” This begs the question; is this truly newsworthy? Or have we gone overboard with our obsession of material objects.

That wasn’t the only surprising article floating around the Internet about IPhones. Other headlines and articles read ‘Can IPhone addiction wreck your marriage?’ and ‘Psychologists Concerned about IPhone Obsession.’

The new IPhone 5s is said to have an application that disables the possibility of anyone other than the owner of said phone to unlock the lock screen. This new addition may discourage others who may try to steal these IPhones and sell them, as it is said to be nearly impossible to hack into these new devices.

Although, in a matter of minutes, multiple articles and videos surfaced online with tutorials that taught the art of hacking into this new IPhone 5s making the application useless.

Students have already taken to Twitter and Facebook with information about the new IPhone along with iOS7, which is newest operating system for Apple cell phone and tablet products. Many complain about the new look, despite waiting long hours on line and spending a decent about of money.

In only 10 minutes, the shipping date for this new gadget went from two business days; to 10 and this back order issue will continue for quite some time as it has in the past.

With this new information floating around the media, we have to consider that all new technologies are usually flawed and the small differences such as an anti-hacking application or a gold colored IPhone are not necessarily worth the anticipation and money.

Genuine human interaction is becoming a thing of the past due to the obsession with social media and networking that these phones allow one to have at all times. Whether it is through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or simply texting, the need to be connected at all times is proving to be a serious issue.