Author Archives: Sarah Brandt

Swift unrecognizable on Vogue cover

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By SARAH BRANDT

Taylor Swift is on the cover of the May issue of Vogue. She looks completely different than usual in a rock and role style outfit and a completely different hairstyle. Taylor has already been on the cover of Vogue several times before, yet this is a new change for her.

This cover has gotten a lot of attention since it was released to the media. Swift is well known all over the world, which is probably a reason as to why her cover is attracting a lot of attention. But the main reason as to why everyone is taking about this specific one is because of her hair. Taylor has rocked many long hairstyles but no matter what she still manages to look awesome and have people talking about her.

Another reason as to why her Vogue cover has gotten a lot of attention is the story inside. Taylor mentions that for the first time in 10 years she does not have a specific plan of what she wants to do. She did not mention any new music yet, but she for sure is working on something very soon.

Additionally she addressed Kanye West’s new song where he says he made Taylor famous. For this we have to rewind to seven years ago when West argues at the MTV Video Music Awards that Beyoncé should have won the award instead of Taylor.

Overall, Taylor Swift will continue to attract the news media’s attention. No matter if it is posting pictures on Instagram with her boyfriend Calvin Harris or changing up her style for a magazine cover.

Weekend in Naples gains world attention

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By SARAH BRANDT

She is 20 years old, he is 23. If you have recently been reading about fashion, the name Gigi Hadid is not uncommon to you. She is a famous model, who recently walked her first Victoria’s Secret runway show with best-friend Kendall Jenner. Gigi’s recent boyfriend is the former one-directoner Zayn Malik.

The two have recently been photographed for Vogue in Paris. From sitting on a motorcycle to overlooking the city of Paris, their pictures are all over the Internet and attracting attention worldwide. Websites such as the Huffington Post, the Daily Mail and all teen websites from PopSugar, to teen Vogue have covered this as their top story of the week.

Zayn’s recent music video, Pillowtalk starred Gigi. Once this video was released the public went crazy about their relationship. This shoot with Vogue only confirms their relationship. It has attracted a lot of attention from the fashion and entertainment media. As Gigi Hadid has been on multiple front covers of magazines all over the world and walked in multiple fashion shows and Zayn used to be in One Direction, also known worldwide, it is no surprise that their photos are very popular.

This goes to show that even though they are both already very well known to the public and their fans all over the world, they can still manage to attract a lot of people by doing something as simple as a photo-shoot together.

Louboutin unveils new shoe shades

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By SARAH BRANDT

This past week, Christian Louboutin unveiled a total of seven nude shades for shoes. This is an improvement from the total of five his collection had before.

Even though Christian Louboutin’s shoes are already very popular among fashion fanatics out there, many women are applauding this. They are excited for the new colors. The collection of nude shoes launched a few years ago, in 2013, but this is the first time that the colors “porcelain” and “deep chocolate” are added.

The seven shades of nude shoes caught the news media’s attention when the #NudesForAll started trending on Facebook

According to ABCnews.com, “Designers often treat nude like it’s a synonym for light tan, thereby excluding women of color,” one Facebook user wrote. “So it’s good news that Christian Louboutin has expanded its nudes collection, adding a larger spectrum of skin-tone shades to ensure that no matter what your ethnicity, you can find a shoe to match your complexion.”

Other media such as, CNN and nymag.com magazine are also reporting on the tremendous positive response these new shades of shoes are receiving.

I think, it is safe to say that the shoes with the red soles will stay in fashion and now, thanks to a wider variety of nude shades, will be appreciated by every woman, no matter what skin color.

Not much attention for iPhone release

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By SARAH BRANDT

A few days ago, on March 21, Apple announced at their famous press conferences the new iPhone Se.

Now you may be thinking, but didn’t they just release the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus? Well, yes, and that is exactly what everyone else is thinking, too.

When the iPhone 6 was released out into the world, people were running to the store and could not wait to get their hands on one. They were per-ordered months in advance and the media was talking about it nonstop. However when looking at the news media now, after the release of the iPhone Se, there has not really been that much attention geared towards it. The media is now more focused on dealing with bigger and more important issues, such as the presidential campaigns and the attacks in Belgium.

Looking at CNN, an article can be found about a study done with the iPhone and other Android phones and how the “Siri” responds to crisis modes, such as “Help me, I was just raped.” This study is very important, but again, not front page news.

I believe that the reason as to why the news media has not covered the release of the new iPhone Se that much, compared to the previous iPhone models may be due to multiple reasons. The iPhone Se, looks very similar to the iPhone 5, and therefore it not a new design, secondly there have already been so many iPhones, maybe people/media are finished and do not want another iPhone. Lastly right now in the world there are a lot of important events that are much more serious than an iPhone release.

Maybe once people are able to start buying the actual iPhone Se, then we may hear more about it in the media.

SeaWorld changes whales policy

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By SARAH BRANDT

When the documentary “Blackfish” was released in 2013, SeaWorld had received a lot of negative attention about the safety and health of its orcas. Back then, a lot of news media coverage has been focused on Sea World in a very negative way. An orca had just recently killed trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010.

“SeaWorld has received a lot of content and negativity from all over the world. It has been ignoring all the criticism it received. PETA had campaigned hard and today there is a payoff for future generations of orcas,” PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk said in a statement.

All the animals — orcas, dolphins, beluga whales, seals and lot of others — have suffered living in confinement at SeaWorld. The business model of Sea World changed, which is truly meaningful. Because of all the news media attention that they have received they have decided to re brand themselves, which has not worked. The news media and public had their opinion and their new management team decided to listen to them. This has resulted in a new way of thinking for SeaWorld.

Thanks to all the attention that SeaWorld has gotten from the news media, it has finally decided to end its captive breeding program of orcas.

Swastika in Swiss train station removed

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By SARAH BRANDT

A swastika image has received a lot of hate and criticism from the Swiss population.

The SBB is the national railway company of Switzerland. It hung up the sign as a protest against immigrants being allowed into Switzerland.

According to the Tages Anzeiger, a Swiss newspaper, customers of the SBB have been deeply hurt.

Technically, the SBB must allow such advertisement. According to a rule made in 2012, the open spaces in train stations count as public space. However due to many strong reactions from customers the SBB has removed the sign.

As this sign is pretty well known to most of the population, it received a lot of media attention from all over Switzerland. No matter that the sign was only present in a few train station, people were not happy. This in return got the attention of the media, which caused even more people to read about it.

Newspapers and radio stations went to the train stations to talk to people, and ask them their opinion. It was no shock that all the interviewed customers did not want the sign up. This caused the news media to write and report about the feelings the people had. With the help of the news media the sign was removed, which makes a lot of people happy.

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.

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.

Snowboarding video gets attention

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By SARAH BRANDT

Casey Neistat is a 34-year-old American film and YouTube content creator. He currently has two million subscribers and 459 million views on his YouTube channel. On an everyday basis he films everyday vlogs, in which he shows his viewers his daily activities and his family.

About two weeks ago, New York City was struck with a gigantic blizzard and snowstorm. News reporters and police were warning citizens not to drive around because it was too dangerous. This, however, did not stop Casey and he got out his truck, attached chains and a rope to the back and decided to snowboard throughout the city.

He had cameras all over, which allowed him to get footage from many different angels. He collected the clips and uploaded the video to his channel. A few days later his video was broadcast all over the world. It was shown on newscasts in Germany, Switzerland, England, Australia and many other countries.

Even news network Web sites such as CNN and ABC did stories on his video. A lot of news media decided to cover Casey and his video, and it was all in a positive light.

The reason for so many news sites covering this specific video was because as you can see in the video that Casey is the only one driving through New York. This is a very rare occurrence, as the city is always full with lots of cars and people.

New York City is also a city known to many other countries around the world, and they were also aware of the big blizzard going on. Therefore, it is no coincidence that various countries decided on reporting on Casey Neistat’s video, which brought much attention and enjoyment to most readers.

With this Neistat has without knowing produced a viral video. The fact that his video was covered by so many news sources boosts his YouTube channel and the video now has 1.5 million views. And, of course, it gave a tremendous boost to his career as a filmmaker .

Longest railroad tunnel near completion

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By SARAH BRANDT

Currently in Switzerland, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is under construction. This is supposed to be the longest railroad tunnel, which will allow passengers to travel from Uri to Ticino, Switzerland.

Reading the newspapers and watching the television news in Switzerland, a lot of media is geared towards this project. The SBB, which is the Swiss Federal Railway, has established some harsh rules. Some of these include, no collisions possible due to two separate tunnels, a vent which in case it burns the smoke leaves the tunnel and does not interfere with the other trains running in the other direction. Additionally only healthy trains will be allowed to carry passengers.

The SBB has let the news media know all this information with the aim of trying to bring as much attention to it as possible, so that once the tunnel is ready and the trains are running, there will be a large number of people wanting to travel this route.

Being this open about all the rules may, however, not be very positive in the future. If an accident were to occur once the tunnel is ready, the company will be questioned as it ensured the safety of all passengers.

Nevertheless the Gotthard Base tunnel will be ready Dec. 11, 2016. Until then a lot of more information and excitement will be heard in the media from SBB.