FDA opposes plant-based milks

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By ANABELLA ZAMBRANO

As people become more interested in plant-based diets, veganism is now the most talked about way of eating. Not only is the healthiest, if eaten right, but it also has thrived in market sales with vegan alternatives such as vegan Chao Cheese, Beyond Meat Burgers, and plant based milk.

Earlier this year, the dairy industry is troubled with a drop of sales. People are choosing alternatives to dairy whether it is for lactose intolerance reason, taste and simply just preference. The FDA argues consumers are being misled into buying milk alternatives since those alternatives have the word “milk” on their label.

According to Veganuary.com, the dairy industry has been in trouble for a while now due to milk alternatives. But until recently a bill was passed known as the Dairy Pride Act, which as it states, aims to “protect the integrity of dairy products by enforcing existing labeling requirements” with the purpose to enforce a new law against non-dairy products being labeled in the descriptor like milk and cheese with the claim that this is confusing to the consumer.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), sales of almond milk shot up over 250 percent between 2011 and 2016. Meanwhile, consumption of dairy milk has dropped 37 percent since the 1970s.

It is not a matter of consumers being confused. For a while, studies have shown that consuming dairy raises risks of osteoporosis and raises chances of having breast cancer for about 41 percent according to Cowspiracy.com.

Although it is not for sure whether or not plant-based milks will be limited to remain described as “milk,” it is no doubt that advertising affects what people consume. If it becomes popular, it will most probably end up on the news.

But when it comes down to deciding whether dairy will regain their sales or not, this milk war has become one of the hottest topics to talk about through YouTube, Instagram, and it has become an interesting thing to decide if consumers are being mislead, which I doubt.

Through out the news outlets, not enough is covered on the topic that dairy does increase risk of death by 93 percent, according to a study by the British Medical Journal. Or just the fact that milk from a cow is not healthy to consume.

But as long as it is about the labeling controversy, it will be more covered in the news.

Serena flops on big stage

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By MATTHEW POWELL

Over the weekend, Serena Williams faced Naomi Osaka in the final of the Women’s U.S. Open. Usually, after such big tennis matches, the main stories are about the quality of the tennis within the match. In this case, however, Serena made sure the headlines would be much, much different.

Although much has been made about Serena’s childish actions and behavior that resulted her in being penalized a game in the match’s final set, I’d like to discuss how ESPN handled the controversy that ensued on their broadcast.

ESPN has the best tennis broadcasting crew in the game, hands down. It offers quality insight and great play by play commentary followed by interesting analytics. When Serena’s incident began to play out, ESPN clarified the rules extremely well, were objective  in their commentary, and also picked up every word that was said by Williams. The team’s coverage of the incident itself, quite frankly, was great.

Where ESPN failed was in there post-match coverage. At the trophy ceremony, they constantly referred to the incident itself rather than shine the light on Naomi Osaka’s (20 years old) absurdly good performance against the game’s greatest player. Naomi Osaka played the match of her life and felt the need to apologize in the post game interview because people didn’t get the outcome they wanted.

Although I understand why ESPN found the need to carve the narrative around what would get more clicks and headlines, the network failed to shine the light on the proper person and the proper story.

Old school, meet new school

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By TYRIQ MCCORD

In most of the 20th century, school was a lot different during those times compared to today. No WiFi, let alone computers were just being invented. There was a time where students passed notes across classrooms. Cell phones have made note passing extinct.

But a school in Hephzibah, Ga., is bringing a procedure back that may be a conflict in today’s society. The Georgia School of Innovation and the Classics is bringing back the “paddling procedure” as a form of punishment for students.

According to CBS News, the charter school sent out consent forms to parents explaining the new policy of using a wooden board to “spank” a child as punishment.

“A student will be taken into an office behind closed doors,” the form read. “The student will place their hands on their knees or piece of furniture and will be struck on the buttocks with a paddle,” Part of the form reads.

This new policy cause a big commotion in the community of this small town, but one-third of the parents at the school gave the school consent to used this 19th century procedure.

“In this school, we take discipline very seriously,” Superintendent Jody Boulineau said. “There was a time where corporal punishment was kind of the norm in school and you didn’t have the problems that you have.”

The form goes on to go into detail on the “corporal punishment”.  Students are given two chances to behave properly. After the third offense, the student is “eligible” for a beating. The paddle will be 24 inches long, 6 inches wide, and three-quarters of an inch thick. They will not be struck no more than three times.

When the student receives the paddle treatment, the parents will be notified. But the parents who were against the new policy must agree on a five-day suspension from school.

Since 2011, more than 30 states have banned corporal punishment, Florida and Georgia are not one of those states. This gives the charter school the green light to practice their new policy with the consent of the parent. Since the announcement, The Georgia School of Innovation and the Classics have received negative reports via Google Review, causing the rating of school to drop by two points.

Only time will tell to learn if this policy helps the school academically and/or behaviorally.

Smart braces for release of captor

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By NOA ISRAEL

On the evening of June 5, 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart went to bed as she did every night, alongside her younger sister in their shared bedroom. However, in the middle of night Smart was awoken by a man who told her to come with him and be silent. Smart, fearing for her life, complied, and was led out of the house.

After months of searching for the missing teen, hope to find her alive began to dwindle in the community. Unbeknownst to the world, Smart was alive and being held captive by the man who took her from her home, Brian David Mitchell, and his accomplice Wanda Barzee. Smart was taken out in public on several occasions wearing a disguise, but the strange costumes eventually caught public eye.

On March 12, 2003, nine months after her abduction, Smart. Mitchell and Barzee were confronted and questioned by police while out in the park. Police recognized smart and she was taken to the police station and reunited with her family.

Smart endured months of starvation, rape and cruelty while with her captors. Mitchell was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and Barzee was sentenced to 15 years. Recently CNN reported, Barzee wasn’t expected to be released from state prison for at least another five years. But after receiving credit for time served in federal prison, Barzee is scheduled for release on Sept. 19.

Now, Smart fears for her the safety of herself, her children and others in the community. In a news conference Smart pleaded for the decision to be reconsidered. While it does not look like Smart will win her plea, she is still continuing to fight against her captors and receive justice for her torture.

Soccer incident stirs controversy

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By NICOLAS IPARRAGUIRRE

For fans of the U.S. men’s national soccer team, the past year has been more disappointing then any in recent memory. Failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup was a devastating end to a tumultuous qualifying campaign that saw the team lose the first two games of the Hexagonal stage of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) qualifying process and never bounce back.

Now 11 months removed from failing to qualify, fans finally had a reason to celebrate when the United States defeated rival Mexico 1-0 in an international friendly on the 17-year anniversary of 9/11. The team bounced back from a forgettable first half and was able to frustrate the Mexican side with extremely physical play.

The highlight of the game came in the 63rd minute when 6’4 center back Matt Miazga stared down the 5-foot-5 Mexican midfielder Diego Lainez and ended with Miazga mocking the Mexican player for his diminutive stature.

Following the encounter Mexican forward was shown a red-card hard foul and the U.S. capitalized three minutes later with a goal.

With both teams fielding extremely young squads for the friendly, it would seem that post-game commentary would reflect how the squads reacted to the incident. The youthful Mexican squad reacted poorly to the incident and allowed themselves to become frustrated by the antics of the U.S. When asked about the incident, Mexican forward Angel Zaldivar said, “They poked fun [and] tried to play a dirty game that honestly we don’t think is how you should play. That’s their game and we couldn’t do anything about it.”

Some in the news media also felt Miazga’s actions may have represented some greater issue with the overall mentality in U.S. soccer culture. As ESPN’s Sebastian Salazar tweeted following the incident, “Not surprised it was a #USMNT player who made a short joke on a soccer field. Obsession with & size in ‘coaching’ circle in this country is absurd.”

While Salazar’s claim should be considered inherently absurd, especially considering that two of the U.S.’s greatest talents ever, Christian Pulisic and Landon Donovan, both stand at 5-foot-8, it does illustrate a dangerous tendency in sports commentary. To make one instance of juvenile smack talk between two competitors a part of a greater discussion about U.S. soccer development is not productive and fails to enjoy what should have been a fun moment in a fun rivalry.

Miller died hours before body was found

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By MIRIAM RUIZ

More information on musician Mac Miller’s death has been released. Emergency personnel discovered the rapper had passed away hours before authorities found the body.

Many fans all over the world have been grieving Mac Miller’s sudden death at such a young age and it has left many in shock. It has been reported that Miller, 26, suffered an apparent drug overdose. Miller had a history of drug addiction and fans were aware of it because he shared his experience and struggle through his lyrics.

The news media have handled Miller’s death respectfully; however, official knowledge of the incident has yet to be confirmed. Outraged fans began to attack Miller’s ex-girlfriend: Ariana Grande on social media, blaming her for the tragedy because she broke up with the rapper due to his drug addiction.

On an article published on Fox News, written by Ryan Gaydos, it is reported that when authorities arrived at the scene they assumed the house was “swept clean” therefore, officials cannot confirm exactly what happened the night before the rapper overdosed.

Being such a sensitive topic, the news media have handled it delicately to protect the privacy of the family and report the information in a respectable manner. So far, news on Miller’s death has been just that, quick, constantly updated, and to the point.

More information about the incident is yet to be discovered but as officials investigate, more details will be revealed.

Vogue praises amputee model

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By ISABELLA VACCARO

When model Lauren Wasser lost her leg to toxic shock syndrome (TSS) in 2012, her life, which had been full of modeling and basketball, changed forever. After five years of pain and very little physical activity, she decided to have her second leg amputated, too. When the news outlets first covered her story, it was all about the dangers of TSS and the devastating effects it had on Wasser’s life. 

Today, Vogue published a story on Wasser that couldn’t be more different. The story takes a complete 360-degree turn from the sob stories told in 2017 when Wasser had her second leg amputated. Vogue instead covered Wasser’s recent success in modeling and her mission to prevent TSS from affecting others. 

Vogue’s article title, “How Lauren Wasser, Fashion’s Girl With the Golden Legs, Made a Triumphant Return,” grabs audiences with its upbeat, positive tone, and intrigues readers who may not have otherwise known about Wasser with the word-choice of “Golden Legs,” which isn’t a phrase normally used to describe fashion models. 

The story does a good job of condensing the events of Wasser’s tragic loss of her legs in one sentence, before quickly moving on to the main subject of the story — Wasser’s return to the modeling world. 

Author Janelle Okwodu provides important background information as to Wasser’s childhood, growing up as the child of model Pamela Cook, and how modeling is in Wasser’s blood. Today, Wasser models not only because she enjoys it, but in order to send a message. The other purpose of the article is to describe Wasser’s efforts in advocating a bill that would force brands to list the ingredients in their tampons. 

What seems to be missing from the article are quotes from Wasser, however there is a video which complements the story and follows Wasser on her journey from Los Angeles to New York City for Fashion Week. 

The Vogue story also proves an important point about the changing nature of journalism today. Video content is becoming the emphasis and written stories, such as this one, are playing second fiddle. 

The 300-word story almost acts as background for the main event — the video content, which expertly tells Wasser’s story with scenes in her own bedroom, town and then with the backdrop of New York City where she re-emerges into the fashion world.

Overall, Vogue’s coverage of the story is unique and refreshing in comparison with the multiple other stories written on Wasser which all dance around the tragedy piece. Their use of video content allows the story to appeal to a much wider audience and is more marketable this way on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. 

Rihanna show includes pregnant model

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By NOELLE BARREDA

Savage X Fenty made New York Fashion Week headlines such as the one on Cosmopolitan.com for their extremely diverse cast of models including supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid, but who stole the show was model Slick Woods.

Rihanna’s muse, Slick Woods, walked the Savage X Fenty lingerie show, showcasing her bump with pasties.

The full bump looked stunning and really sent a message to women to love your body and be confident no matter what your stage in life.

Woods has been working with Rihanna in campaigns for Rihanna like Fenty Beauty. The model is not the typical cookie-cutter model and that is what Rihanna loves about her, which is why she is her muse. Woods’s look inspires Rihanna in all her projects.

Cosmopolitan.com said it is not a new thing to have pregnant models on the runway but it definitely new to have a pregnant model in lingerie with just pasties covering her breast.

It was a big risk Rihanna took, but that’s nothing new as Rihanna is known to be a trendsetter; coming through with her uncommon ideas.

The queen of fashion made sure to kill NYFW being one of the last shows to happen and Rihanna did exactly that.

Carolinas brace for impact of Florence

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By JENNIFER HUDAK

This Friday, Hurricane Florence will make landfall on the Carolinas as the strongest storm to make landfall on the continental U.S. in the last decade.

Mandatory evacuation orders have been put in place for North and South Carolina, as well as several counties in the surrounding states. While the government has advised that this storm will be catastrophic, some residents have decided to ride out the storm in their homes.

Florence is currently trekking along in the Atlantic Ocean, maintaining its status as a Category 2 storm, but is expected to strengthen before making landfall on Friday.

With wind speeds reported of up to 80 m.p.h., meteorologists say the biggest concern for coastal cities should be the storm surge and heavy rain.

What’s more, Florence appears to be moving slowly at roughly only 10 m.p.h., meaning these wind speed will batter the Carolinas for hours on end.

Aside from Florence, scientists are monitoring four additional tropical disturbances, all expected to develop into storms within the next three days. Sept. 10 marked the peak of Hurricane season.

FDA’s new target: JUUL use

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By ANDREW FRATTAROLI

The JUUL is an electronic cigarette that has become increasingly popular with high school and college students since its release in 2015. Now, the Federal Drug Administration is putting its foot down when it comes to teenage vaping.

Sheila Kaplan and Jan Hoffman of The New York Times wrote a fantastic piece, titled, “F.D.A. Targets Vaping, Alarmed by Teenage Use,” about the FDA’s actions as well as the possible consequences for JUUL and other electronic cigarette companies.

Hoffman and Kaplan make the FDA’s main concern very clear. They are worried that these companied, specifically JUUL, are advertising and purposely selling their product to teenagers. The concern there is obviously that teenagers who have never smoked before will become addicted to nicotine via using these sleek devices. The FDA referred to this as the modern-day version of the Joe Camel advertisements.

The article also took quotes from the spokeswoman for JUUL. They said that they will work with the FDA and comply with them to keep their products out of the hands of teenagers.

While news reporters did a great job portraying both sides of the argument (pro and anti-government regulation) they failed to do one thing. They did not list statistics for how many adults, over the age of 18, have used devices like these to quit smoking, and how that population will be affected. The talk of regulation has been a concern in the vaping community and it would have added another element to the article to voice the concerns of people who have used JUUL and other companies to quit their cigarette addictions.

This is a big issue and one that is very obvious, especially if you walk around a high school or college campus. This article now has put this issue out in to the open for the general public to discuss and debate.

Police shooting coverage incomplete

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By SUSAN AGHEDO

The Texas police shooting of Botham Jean last Thursday appeared on news sites across the country. The same basic facts are being reiterated: police officer Amber Guyger’s affidavit, the lawyers’ of the victim’s  family disputing some of the facts in it (namely that the door was ajar), and other general information. The stories take on the expected inverted pyramid structure, but some articles on the news issue exclude key information  that adds to the full portrait of available knowledge.

This begins with the exclusion of the initial search warrant for Guyger’s arrest and how it contradicts the arrest warrant that follows. The arrest warrant supports Guyger’s affidavit, while the search warrant supports the Jeans’ lawyers. Early in the coverage, NBC affiliates reported that a anonymous police source offered information supporting the lawyers’ claims that the door was not ajar, but eventually took it down due to this information contradicting the arrest warrant. That being true, a recognition of the altered information as opposed to not including the original information paints a more complete picture of the news.

This article took on a unique angle, focusing on the mystery witnesses that claim Jean confronted Guyger at the door and they heard yelling the night of his shooting. The interviewing of uninvolved expert lawyers added a more objective view of the case, unlike other articles that only included the words of the family lawyers and other people who had direct ties to the case.

One of these family lawyers is Benjamin Crump, who represented the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and other black men who were shot. This tidbit of information was not mentioned in many of the articles I read, even though he was quoted in some.  Most people would recognize the cases he has represented, but not his name, so I find it important to specify who he is. 

Dramatics dominate Florence news

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By SARAH BRADDOCK

At the height of hurricane season, it’s no surprise that a large storm has formed and will hit the East Coast. That being said, news coverage of the storm is verging on theatrics.

It seems that each year the news media’s coverage of natural disasters increases in sheer time allocated towards the events and in the dramatics with which the news is delivered.

While this may very well be due to an increase in the intensity of storms, the news media are not attempting to quell the general population’s discomfort regarding impending natural threats. This leaves the outlet’s intent when covering storms to question: are they just doing their best to spread breaking information for public safety or are they intentionally using fear-inducing tactics to keep a captive and large audience?

This questionable phenomenon is no different with approaching hurricane Florence.

Opening with dubbing the hurricane as “violent,” Washington Post article “Category 4 Hurricane Florence drawing closer to Carolinas and threatens ‘catastrophic’ flooding” by James Samenow, is one of many fear-inducing pieces circling the web.

Throughout the piece Samenow uses various, arguably unnecessary, phrases to describe the approaching hurricane.

Samenow describes the storm as, “monstrous” and “like a bulldozer,” and emphasizes his intentions with verbs like “unleash.”

Even the direct quotations chosen for the piece are ominous. Including one from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper saying, “Even if you’ve ridden out storms before, this one is different.”

Granted, Samenow does prove to have some educational intentions with this article through the inclusion of scientific information, quotations, and graphs via sources like The National Hurricane Center, High Plains Regional Climate Center, and The National Weather Service.

Furthermore, Samenow elaborates on various path projections and the fact that storms are very unpredictable.

The article is extremely informative, but the threatening vocabulary scattered throughout the piece points towards underlying intentions beyond informing the masses.

Shalala wins Democratic nomination

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By JENNIFER HUDAK

After a tough battle, Donna Shalala, former University of Miami President and Secretary of Health and Human Services, has won the nomination for the South Florida District 27 Congressional seat. Among her opponents were former Knight Foundation director Matt Haggman, former University of Miami academic adviser Michael Hepburn and Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez.

The showdown in November will come between Shalala and GOP nominee Maria Elvira Salazar, a former Univision reporter and anchor, is expected to be a close race.

Throughout her campaign, Shalala was adamant on several policy stances. Among the most controversial, Shalala campaigned for government-provided health care, removing the nation’s immigration enforcement force (ICE) and starting impeachment proceedings on Trump on day one if she is elected.

While her views may deter from the Democratic agenda, Shalala’s resume bodes an impressive history in Washington. Serving as chair of the Children’s Defense Fund from 1992 to 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated her as Secretary of Health and Human Services in 1992.

Many constituents cited this experience as making Shalala the most qualified among the Democrats for the nomination.

The final election will take place on Nov. 6.

Homeless hero gets his funds

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By NOA ISRAEL

Many have been following the story of Johnny Bobbit Jr., a homeless ex-Marine that saved a stranded girl by giving her his last $20 for gas last October. Soon after the encounter, the girl, Kate McClure, started a GoFundMe Campaign— “Paying it Forward”— in order to raise money for Bobbit as a thank you gesture. The campaign went viral.

Within a few months, more than 10,000 people had donated to the campaign and raised more than $400,000 for Bobbit. It seemed as though the story had come to a happy end. However, as the money came funneling in, problems began to arise between McClure, her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, and Bobbit.

“The money has been in dispute, and Bobbitt is suing the couple, accusing them of fraud. Bobbitt’s attorney says his client has only seen about $75,000 of that money and should have gotten about $300,000 more after GoFundMe’s fees,” CNN reported.

The couple refused to give Bobbit his campaign donations, claiming it was because of his drug addiction— feeling he would spend it all recklessly. Bobbitt and his lawyer disputed this and claimed the couple was using the money for their own necessities.

After a legal battle, the couple is now being ordered to hand over the money to Bobbit and a search warrant has been issued for their home to see what and how the money they received was handled. The mass amounts of news media attention on social media and the news surrounding Bobbit’s story contributed to his recovery of his deserved money quickly and smoothly.

Bobbit plans to use his new found fortune to find a place to live, pay rent and other necessities. He also plans to participate in a rehabilitation program in order to target his drug addiction problem.

Florence news sends mixed messages

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By DAVE DOWNEY

The middle of September is typically the time of the year when the Atlantic Basin is most active for producing tropical cyclones. This year looks to be living up to the norm.

Tropical Storm Florence is flourishing out in the Western Atlantic, several hundred miles southeast of Bermuda. Two other areas of disturbance are located several hundred miles off the coast of Africa. The National Hurricane Center expects both of these areas to be named storms, Helen and Issac, by the end of the weekend.

Florence is quietly sneaking up on the eastern seaboard, which is something many news outlets are simply not picking up on. USA Today wrote an excellent article Thursday outlining the high activity level of the tropics, along with an enticing headline (Florence expected to re-strengthen as it nears the East Coast) giving readers a heads-up.

NJ.com‘s headline is significantly different (Hurricane Florence weakens to tropical storm as New Jersey weekend weather cools considerably). They fail to recognize the point that their area could very well be in the path of this storm at this time next week but instead focus on the fact that Florence has briefly weakened to a tropical storm, which will certainly not last long.

Although it is understandable that news outlets do not want to scare their readers and induce panic and preparation at too early of a stage, it should still be imperative that the word is out there that they could be in the path of a major hurricane in a short amount of time.

California bans animal testing

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By ANABELLA ZAMBRANO

California is now first in line to pass the “Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act” which will make it illegal for any products tested on animals to be sold in the state. These products include make up brands, house cleaning detergents, medicine, air refreshers and even food.

Companies like Maybelline, NARS, Benefit Cosmetics and cleaning detergent TIDE are among the hundreds of companies who test on animals but will not make a direct statement admitting it. Even though they don’t test on animals within the U.S., they still are guilty of these practices because they still sell in mainland China.

By law, China requires animal testing for foreign cosmetics companies. Make up brand NARS was cruelty-free until last year, in 2017, when it decided to sell in China to expand its brand and raise sales.

These testing procedures range from injecting the product in a rabbit’s eye with no pain killers, beagle puppies forced to inhale toxic chemicals or rats eating certain products and study how they react. It is illegal for people to take pictures of these procedures or even document them. Lack of coverage or news reports have prevented this bill to be passed.

According to VegNews.com, The California Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act (SB 1249) was unanimously passed with a vote of 80-0 in the state assembly. Sen. Cathleen Galliani sponsored the bill and it will officially become law on Jan. 1, 2020.

“I’m proud of California lawmakers for moving science, industry, and ethics forward today,” Galliani said.

The cruelty-free controversy would not even be happening if it wasn’t for social media. Through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook groups numerous animal activists and animal lovers are the one’s who brought this problem to the public eye.

Animal testing is something that is highly protected by powerful make up brands and they have tried to hide their animal practices to the consumer.

Scott uses runway for political stand

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By NOELLE BARREDA

Jeremy Scott used his runway to take a political stand.

Scott is known for his unapologetic style in fashion. He is very creative and is all about having fun while creating fashion.

Scott closed his show with a debut of his white t-shirt with black letters saying, “Tell your senators no on Kavanaugh.” The t-shirt statement was followed by the phone number to Washington, D.C., where you are able to call an express how you feel.

The Vogue.com article on Jeremy Scott covered who Kavanaugh is to the general public and why he is important while keeping it simple for an audience who probably isn’t politically inclined to understand.

According to Vogue.com, Scott has been very open lately on his political views with gay rights and is not holding back any time soon. Continuing showing his stance by showcasing this t-shirt during New York Fashion Week in protest to change the election of Kavanaugh.

He hopes that other designers follow his lead and speak up on what is right during NYFW where it can make a great impact.

Saban comments draw criticism

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By NICOLAS IPARRAGUIRRE

As the college football season kicked off this past weekend, the major off-season story surrounding the defending champion Alabama Crimson Tide has been the quarterback battle between junior Jalen Hurts and sophomore Tua Tagovailia. After a dominant 51-14 win over Louisville in the opening game, the prevailing story surrounding Alabama has been the behavior of Coach Nick Saban in his post-game interview.

In an interview with ESPN sideline reporter Maria Taylor, in which she asked about whether the game provided any answers to the ongoing quarterback battle, Saban gave an answer that drew the ire of most members of the sports media.

“I think both guys are good players. I think both guys can help our team, all right? So why do you continually try to get me to say something that doesn’t respect one of them? I’m not going to. So quit asking,” said an irate Saban to the reporter.

Following the interview, many in the sports news media expressed their disgust with Saban’s answer to a question he should have seen coming. “He may be the best coach of all time, but when he continues to treat people like that … it’s classless,” said veteran college football analyst Paul Finebaum.

Along with the news media, some experts in sports journalism also weighed in on the controversy. Following the interview, director of sports journalism at Northwestern University J.A. Adande tweeted, “It’s hard to respect Nick Saban when he won’t respect other professionals who are doing their jobs and doing their jobs well.”

Although Saban has since issued an apology, none of the coverage surrounding the incident has focused on the source of Saban’s anger. In providing a defense for the outburst, former Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri tweeted, “Love seeing Coach get animated when asked about QB’s after the game! Why he’s so great, cares for them on a personal level and respects both Jalen and Tua too much to say anything negative about either one ever!! #kingsaban.”

While Saban’s behavior was unprofessional and disrespectful towards Taylor, who asked a question that should have been expected, the root of Saban’s anger should have also been a part of the story.

Kaepernick news causes more tension

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By ANDREW FRATTAROLI

Nike recently announced that Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback, would be the face of its new advertising campaign. This has blown up on social media and caused withdrawn support for the company due to his decision to kneel during the national anthem at NFL games.

Out of all the national news media coverage it has received, I chose to look at the article that CNN published, titled, “Nike’s support for Colin Kaepernick protest has some destroying their shoes” written by James Masters and Gianluca Mezzofiore. As CNN is a liberal news media outlet, I wanted to see if they could look at this issue objectively, as this has become a liberal vs conservative debate. They tried (sort of), but ultimately failed.

CNN decided to choose three clips of men from Twitter who did not give their opinion on the matter, but rather just showed video clips of them burning their gear. One of the videos was a high school student who was laughing and playing the national anthem in the background. At no point in this story, did the reporters get someone who fully describes their point of view towards the company, and on the matter as a whole.

If they had done further research, they would have found that people are not solely upset that Nike is affiliating themselves with a former athlete, who many believe disrespected the flag and the military by kneeling. What a lot of people are upset about, is the slogan. The slogan says, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

It is referring to the fact that Kaepernick is no longer an NFL quarterback due to his decision to kneel during the anthem. However, Kaepernick has had multiple job offers in other professional areas since 2016, and many believe that he has not been signed to a team because of his poor quarterback performance. He is currently suing many NFL owners, accusing them of conspiring to keep him off a professional roster.

Additionally, Kaepernick is set to make millions with his Nike deal, possibly more than he would have made in the NFL, which causes people to question the legitimacy of the ad campaign and his willingness to “sacrifice everything.”

CNN could have made its point more efficiently if it chose its content to show the ideas on the other side of the debate, rather than three videos of people who are a terrible generalization of the people who are offended by this move by Nike. CNN kept the information at the surface level and added additional tensions between the general public by not trying to understand and present both sides of the argument.

The liberal side has a very good reason for supporting Kaepernick as he highlights racial injustice in America; an issue that there is no hiding from and needs to be worked on by all Americans. However, by pointing fingers, and showing a poor depiction of the opposing argument, they throw away any possibility of a meaningful conversation between both the left and the right.

Twitter bans Alex Jones, InfoWars

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By ADAM SPECTOR

Twitter banned Alex Jones and other accounts pertaining to InfoWars, his fake news website on Thursday afternoon. This was covered by countless local and national news sources including ABC, CBS, NBC, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post to name a few. This story has also been covered by a number of tech websites such as CNET and Engadget.

InfoWars is known for promoting fake news stories and conspiracy theories such as 9-11 being an inside job, the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax, and countless untrue stories about various public figures.

“Today, we permanently suspended @realalexjones and @infowars from Twitter and Periscope. We took this action based on new reports of Tweets and videos posted yesterday that violate our abusive behavior policy, in addition to the accounts’ past violations,” the company wrote on its account.

Twitter is not the first high-profile company to drop Infowars. Apple, YouTube, Facebook and Spotify removed InfoWars from their platforms earlier this August. These companies mostly cited “hate speech” as their reason for removing Jones and InfoWars from their platforms and not for deliberately spreading false information.

Back in August, Twitter publicly stated that they would not remove Jones or InfoWars because they did not violate their policies. Twitter had previously suspended Jones for one week for promoting violence against news reporters, saying to get their “battle rifles” ready.

Twitter decided to ban Jones and InfoWars after Jones publicly harassed Oliver Darcy, a reporter at CNN. On this same day, Jones also harassed Senator Marco Rubio.

News sources such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times have done a better job of covering this story than most other news sources because they also mentioned that these tech companies have been criticized for waiting too long to remove InfoWars and other fake news sources from their platforms.

Many believe that some of these companies only removed Jones and Infowars because other companies did so and not for the reasons that they provided. This is a fair and valid point, as sources like InfoWars have already made a major impact on the public. In addition to this, InfoWars has been around for years and has had few problems releasing false information, hateful content, and promoting violence. Many news sources have made the mistake of labeling InfoWars as a far-right website and not a fake news website.