Tag Archives: Entertainment news

‘Spotlight’ illuminates a sensitive topic

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By ROBYN SHAPIRO

In response to the film “Spotlight” winning the Best Picture Academy Award last Sunday, news coverage has rekindled its fire toward the issue of sexual assault in the Catholic Church.

“Spotlight” tells the story of an original investigation conducted by the Boston Globe that began in 2002, when reporters in the Globe’s investigative team started to analyze cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Recently CBS News released information that a Grand Jury report had found two bishops had hidden more than 100 sexual assault cases by more than 50 priests and religious leaders in the past 40 years. Evidence was found for these cases in a secretive dioceses archive.

News media are the only way a population will be informed about what goes in the world around them. While I appreciated the quality of storytelling that “Spotlight” did in order for the public to know about the issue, I am sad that it took almost 14 years after the original investigation in order for people to recognize its relevance again.

Does it really take a Hollywood picture to emphasize the weight of corruptness inside of this religious organization, or in any organization?

If that truly is the case, then the news media should emphasize other channels in order to get across crucial messages. A compelling story like this one could not have been told in a more emotional, factual and enlightening way.

Film is a medium of communication that has not been unlocked to its full potential and is one of the few art forms and media channels that engages an audience through almost every sense.

While issues like this one and undoubtedly others go unnoticed, it is our job as the media to not only inform the public, but also truly convey the importance and pertinence of current issues in whatever media channel that is most effective.

A winning year for women at Oscars

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By MARIA LUIZA LAGO

I found it really interesting that while other news websites were talking about the highlights of the Oscars being about the racial diversity speech of Chris Rock, which was also important, Vox decided to also talk about a gender issue that has confronted many women on the cinema industry: the lack of women winning categories in the Oscars. This year, as the website pointed, it was the best year for women “in ages.”

Vox pointed that for the first time, a woman — Sara Bannet — won the category of Visual Effects Supervisor, for the movie “Ex Machina.” The category is usually dominated by men. Also, many other women won the categories of Documentary Short, Live Action Short, Production Design, Makeup, Costume Design and Film Editing.

What was also interesting is that Vox pointed that the awards itself were not the biggest accomplishment for women of the night, but the stories that the movies focused on. Usually, two women won the Oscars for lead actress and best supporting actress, and sometimes the woman does a part in which she supports the man in the movie.

This time, Brie Larson won the category of Best Actress for “Room” in which the story is centered on a woman. Other movies were also centered in a female figure, like “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness,” “Amy” and “Inside Out.”

Other than movies, there was a presentation at the Oscars by Lady Gaga in which she focused on sexual assault both for men and women and for women specifically on “Mad Max,” “Room” and “A Girl in The River.”

Other issues still have to approached in the Oscars, specially the racial diversity – no women with color won the Oscar this year, Vox pointed — for all the genders. The focus that the news website gave to the event was interesting and it analyzed the Oscar in a different journalistic way.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

Controversial Yeezy re-release is Friday

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By SIDNEY STERLING

Adidas will restock Kanye West’s personally designed Yeezy Boost 350 Pirate Black shoes on Friday to retailers and consumers around the world. Anyone who follows sneaker news and Kanye West in general knows this is a huge deal for the “sneaker head” community.

Landing Yeezy’s during a scheduled release, for their retail value of $200, could entail reselling the shoes for around $800 to $1,000. However, due to high demand, most shoppers just want to flaunt that they were lucky enough to snatch a pair.

Prior to this release, Adidas first debuted this design in August 2015 and it immediately flew off the shelves. Due to high demand and West’s exposure, they are re-releasing the Pirate Black color for a second time just six months later.

Retail stores like Champs, Footlocker and Adidas held raffles to avoid overcrowding, long lines and potential safety hazards on the actual release day.

Social media platforms, fashion bloggers and mainstream sites have been raving and taunting West for weeks regarding the re-release of his shoes, his new album and recent twitter rants/tangents. Maybe the timing of all these events is not a coincidence.

News outlets available to the everyday consumer are exposing West for “broken promises” to his loyal fans.

In a story, GQ stated, “Despite Kanye’s intentions to make the sneakers available to a wider audience, the only big box stores that will be carrying them are Finish Line, Foot Locker, and Champs. And you can only claim a pair at those stores through raffles you either already had to wait in line to get or should be currently in line to get.”

In lieu of the drop of the Yeezy’s, West conveniently claimed he was $53 million in debt from launching his own clothing line.

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In response CNN said, “Oh, Kanye West. Wow. Even by your attention-grabbing standards, this was a weekend to remember.”

On another note, fans of West and his designs had a more positive take on the situation.

Rolling Stone’s Grammy moments

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By MARIA LUIZA LAGO

The 58th annual Grammy Awards was full of good performances and tributes to great artists, like David Bowie and Lionel Richie. The Rolling Stone magazine did a review of the 20 best and worst moments but overlooked certain important aspects of some performances, like criticizing Adele for a minor sound issue and putting as the “worst” moment the non-attendance of Rihanna, even knowing she was sick and couldn’t sing.

The magazine analyzed important parts like the performance of Lady Gaga in honor of David Bowie: “her nods to Bowie’s performances showed a true obsessive, what made Gaga’s performance perfect was the way she captured the spirit of the man’s work throughout his career”; and the “notable solo performance” of the artist The Weekend, as well as other great performances of Taylor Swift, The Eagles and Stevie Wonder with the Pentatonix group.

The worst moments, however, were in part understandable. Others weren’t. The tribute to Lionel Richie performed by John Legend, Demi Lovato, Luke Bryan, Meghan Trainor and Tyrese Gibson was good until John Legend stopped singing. Even Lionel Richie, who was at the event, stopped cheering as he listened to his own work being sung by the other performers, as Rolling Stone pointed out.

Another worst moment was the duet of singers Tori Kelly and James Bay that seemed out of pace when both tried to sing both of their singles on the same time, and the music and scenarios were not good enough compared to the other performances.

What I think Rolling Stone may have exaggerated was the fact that one of the “worst” moments was the fact that, in Adele’s performance, the piano microphones fell into the piano strings, making the sound dissonant and, as noted by the magazine, “sounded like a fork on a guitar and a volume drop that nearly silenced the singer.” I think despite the audio trouble, Adele’s performance was good, there was no problem with her voice or whatsoever and I wouldn’t judge as a bad performance someone that wears a “messy bob” as being the worst part of the Grammys.

Also, Rihanna didn’t show up at the event due to bronchitis. Her doctor told her not to sing and the magazine also pointed that out, but still, “Rihanna bails.” Her performance was not even judged as good or bad and her condition forbid her to perform.

Grammys bring race issues onto stage

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By BREANA ROSS

Under the dim lights of the stage, multiple black figures immersed from the darkness in a straight line. As the figures became closer to center stage, it became apparent that they were shackled, chained together. Even closer, it became visible that the figures were dressed as inmates. They continued to walk in unison, closer and closer to full visibility, until the leader of the line reached the microphone that waited in the center of the stage. The head of the line was award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar and he was about to deliver a controversial, political performance on one of the largest music stages in the world: the Grammys.

Lamar, a popular African American rapper known for his songs about the struggles within the black community, delivered a powerful performance with many messages about racial injustice, African American heritage, and self-hatred intertwined. The performance began with Lamar and his background dancers in chains and dressed as prisoners while he rapped his song “The Blacker the Berry” which discusses oppression issues surrounding the Trayvon Martin case. Lamar rapped, “You hate me, don’t you? You hate my people. Your plan is to terminate my culture,” among other lyrics.

As the mood of the performance shifts, Lamar and his dancers drop their chains and begin to dance. Lamar then walks on to another set on stage with African dancers around a fire and begins to sing, “We gon’ be alright,” a lyric form another one of his popular songs. He ends the performance alone on stage, once again, rapping about racial injustice and oppression towards African Americans as an image of the continent of Africa with the word “Compton” written inside appears on a screen behind him.

Any time an artist, politician, or anyone for that matter, has the courage to speak on an issue of race on such a large stage, it is a hit or miss with the news media. Some times the individual receives enormous praise in the media while other times there is major backlash. In this case, Kendrick Lamar’s Performance was raved about within the media.

USA Today and the Los Angeles Times called Lamar’s performance “the only one that mattered.” CNN and many other popular entertainment news outlets covered his performance, all in a positive light. However, this positive reaction by the news media is drastically different from the reactions spurred by Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance.

Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance was also an attempt to bring light to the struggles of African Americans, but using a different approach. Beyonce’s back-up dancers all sported “Black Panther” attire as their outfits for the performance. Although a subtle message, this sent the media into a frenzy over Beyonce’s intentions. Some claimed the bold move was racist and anti-police.

Others connected the Black Panther reference to support for the Black Live Matter movement. Regardless, the media picks and chooses which racial messages to accept and which to reject. When one decides to discuss the “race issue” on a world stage, there is a risk attached, one that can impact the favorability of the artist in the eyes of the media.

TV show contestant wins $120K car

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By MELISSA CABRAL

It’s Dream Car Week on the popular game show “The Price is Right” and one contestant’s dream just came true.

Contest551771ant, Francesca Penko, became the lucky first participant to become the winner of her dream car on the TV show on Monday. Penko, a wedding photographer, won the grand prize of a 2016 Aston Martin Vantage GT Coupe worth $120,265.

To win the luxury vehicle, Penko participated in a Spelling Bee game in which she was asked to guess the price of three different household items. Lucky for her, she guessed all three correctly and was presented with the difficult choice of finishing the game and walking away with $25,000 or to keep playing for a chance to win her dream car with the risk of losing the previous money won.

Although it was a risky move, Penko chose to continue playing for the chance to win the grand prize. Host Drew Carey, tried to convince her to keep the cash but the audience encouraged her to go on for the big prize. She chose a card and Carey flipped it over revealing that her card had the word C-A-R written boldly on it.

Penko jumped up wildly and screamed in disbelief as her husband shouted in joy from the audience. The show is not known to give out such luxurious vehicles or prizes so this was big moment for everyone involved.

Beyonce gets political at Super Bowl 50

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By VICTORIA DE CARDENAS

The Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers Sunday night at Super Bowl 50, but many are talking about the halftime performance.

The halftime show began with Coldplay and an array of fireworks, streamers, flags and a stadium full of color. Fans held up signs that read “Believe in love.” Coldplay was then joined by Bruno Mars who performed his big hit from 2015, “Uptown Funk.”

Beyonce joined in and that is all anyone is remembering from the halftime show.

Beyonce was accompanied by 30 back-up dancers and flames blowing with every line in her new single “Formation.” But her special effects were not what people were talking about.

Beyonce’s dancers were dressed eerily similar to the Black Panthers, with berets and afros. While “Queen B” wore a Michael Jackson inspired outfit. The outfits alone caused controversy.

The star released the music video of “Formation” the day before the big game. The video referenced the “Black Lives Matter” movement with police officers and a young black boy wearing a hoodie and “stop shooting us” on a written on a wall behind him.

Beyonce’s political statement during the Super Bowl shocked many people, including former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani.

“I think it was outrageous,” Giuliani said. “This is football, not Hollywood and I thought it was really outrageous that she used it as a platform to attack police officers who are the people who protect her and protect us, and keep us alive.”

Others had opposing views.

Black Lives Matter activist Erika Totten said Beyonce’s message accomplished exactly what the movement is supposed to do.

But why are news outlets bursting at the seams with Beyonce’s call for equality? Could it be because she never engaged in political discussion before?

Most media outlets seem to have forgotten that Coldplay was the headliner and Beyonce and Bruno Mars were guests. Coldplay clearly made a reference to gay rights with the bright rainbow colors on stage and in the stands. Why don’t I see journalists over-analyzing Coldplay’s contribution to recognizing gay rights? It was their halftime show anyways.

Screen Shot 2016-02-12 at 12.10.56 AMScreen Shot 2016-02-12 at 12.10.34 AMScreen Shot 2016-02-12 at 12.09.11 AMCould the news media be scrutinizing Beyonce’s performance because she’s black? If that is the case, Beyonce’s message should have be heard and seen by all. It is unfair that a celebrity of her status is being put under the microscope by the media because she addressed the racially charged issues in America.

Screen Shot 2016-02-12 at 12.08.47 AMArticles all over the Internet are criticizing her performance and her contribution to bring attention to the social injustices. Instead of trying to inform and unite the public, the media does the exact opposite.

Beyonce has found her voice and speaking out through her music, but she’s not the only one to do it. I hope to see news outlets acknowledge other celebrities who are trying to draw attention to social issues as much as they did for Beyonce.

Sandy Hook victim father up for awards

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By WYATT GELLER

Saxophonist Jimmy Greene has endured tremendous grief ever since his daughter, Ana Marquez Greene, 6 at the time, was killed in the Sandy Hook shootings back in December of 2012.

Greene continued by composing music and an album, “A Beautiful Life,” to honor Ana.  The album is up for two Grammy Awards this year: best jazz instrumental and best arrangement for vocals, as these are his first two nominations.

The nominations are a huge honor for Greene, but he wishes his daughter was there to see it.

According to ABC News, Greene said, “There is not a day that goes by that doesn’t have tears and just incredible sadness, … Music is a language in and of itself and it’s a language for me that kind of picks up where words leave off.”

It was not always easy for Greene to continue playing the saxophone.

“So the process of making the music, it was fraught with tears and a lot of pain, but it was a necessary expression, just like talking is a necessary expression.” Greene said, in a report from CBS News.

His time and effort towards his saxophone playing has helped Greene cope with the loss, as he has continued to do what he loves the most and that is to perform.

The 58th annual Grammy Awards will take place this Monday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

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 .

Giuliani criticizes halftime show

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By JEAN-PAUL AGUIRRE

This past Monday, Rudy Giuliani stirred up some controversy over the Super Bowl halftime performance by Coldplay, which featured Bruno Mars and Beyoncé.

The portion of the performance by Beyoncé referenced ongoing social issues being confronted in the U.S., such as the Black Lives Matter movement, while also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panthers.

The performance proved to be quite divisive as both proponents and opponents advocated their positions on the various platforms, from online-opinion articles to morning shows on national news networks.

The former mayor of New York, Giuliani, expressed his deep offense by Beyoncé’s performance on “Fox and Friends” on Monday morning. He said that it was “outrageous” and that it was an attack on law enforcement.

The story has not made major waves in the form of newsworthy topics on local or national news stations. I feel that it is appropriate that news stations have not blown the story up to extreme proportions, as they have been known to do recently. I feel that it may be worth mentioning as a tidbit during segments, but the nation should not concern itself with an insignificant feud.

The nation is immersed in the presidential campaign, especially now with the presidential primaries and caucuses in New Hampshire and other states. Following the campaign to try and figure out which of the candidates might take the lead in the race for the White House is more important.

This is one instance where I feel the media took the right approach with covering the Beyoncé-Giuliani story. It contains the news element of prominence, which would permit it to receive some attention, but not enough to allot more time than is necessary — like what we have seen lately with some stories, such as the woman who pulled over the police officer, or if you watch ESPN, the ongoing saga with the Cleveland Browns and Johnny Manziel.

SAG Awards places diversity on display

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By MIA POLLACK

Diversity was the night’s Big Winner. 

Last Saturday, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, or SAGs for short, aired on TBS and TNT. The ceremony, held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, is probably one of the most special evenings to take place during award season.

Why, you may ask?

It is because the small and big screen stars are voting to nominate the work of their peers and later send a few home with the night’s top honors. When the nominations were dolled out in early December, the contenders for the infamous Actor statue came from all walks of life, creed, color and sexual orientation.

It is a great deal of difference compared to the controversial list of all white nominees for this years Academy Awards.

The nominees, which influenced the hashtag #OscarSoWhite, getting the news media and a slew of black actors talking about a boycott of the award show that is set to air on ABC on Feb, 28. Legendary filmmaker Spike Lee took to his Instagram account to say, “we cannot support it and I mean no disrespect.… But, how is it possible for the second consecutive year all 20 contenders under the acting category are white? And let’s not even get into the other branches.”

With the sound of the public and media outrage, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs has even stated to industry publication Deadline that she was disappointed in the way the nominations turned out.The controversy lead the media and the public’s attention to the body of voters that make up AMPAS, mostly “older white males that are out of touch with today’s movie goers.”

Again, this is extremely different from the body of voters that make up the Screen Actors Guild, which is why I think the SAG awards gain so much attention, because actors are giving awards to their peers, making it all that more special.

I remember watching the award show and having actor Idris Elba be a fixture at the podium, having won awards for his work in Netflix’s “Beasts of No Nation” and the BBC’s “Luther,” and saying, “ladies and gentlemen, welcome to diverse TV.”

According to reports from South Florida Times website and the Associated Press, Elba did not make a direct reference to the crisis that has been sweeping through Hollywood over the last few weeks.

There was so much diversity seen through the night at the awards ceremony, and it especially hit home for so many watching at the Shrine or at home on the couch, when “Orange is the New Black” took home gold for the second year in a row for ‘outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.’”

Laura Prepon, who accepted the award with her cast standing beside her, said, “Look at this stage. This is what we talk about when we talk about diversity. Different race, color, creed, sexual orientation.”

Diversity was definitely a surrounding theme of the evening and no one said it better than Viola Davis, “we’ve become a society of trending topics. Diversity is not a trending topic, it’s just not.”

Steve Harvey’s ‘terrible mistake’

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By ETTY GROSSMAN

For the first time in the history of beauty pageants, the host of the event received even more attention than the contestants themselves.

During the Miss Universe contest on Dec. 20, 2015, host Steve Harvey committed what we can call an epic “oops!” Live on air as he announced that Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez had won the title.

But the joy lasted less than five minutes. While the prettiest woman of the entire universe celebrated, Harvey apologized and announced that he had made a “terrible mistake.”

Colombia was the first runner-up.

What an error! A night that was supposed to be remembered for its culture, perfect bodies, smiles and beautiful women ended up being a story full of irate messages and conspiracy theories.

Social media exploded and everybody had a comment about what had happened. It smelled fishy to many. Some people thought it was a publicity stunt to get everyone talking about Miss Universe when normally no one (except Colombians and Venezuelans) would be talking about it.

Tweets suggested the competition needed a boost so it wouldn’t be difficult to conclude that the crown switcheroo was previously arranged. Vulture’s Joe Adalian, a veteran television industry reporter, said, “everybody wins here ….”

As critics continued growing, others accepted human error as a plausible explanation and asked people not to be so hard on Harvey.

The corporate news media didn’t wait much as well. They focused their resources on every thinkable angle on the error. It was an unusual and very newsworthy situation, but, in my opinion, the media failed this time.

The scandal not only drowned out other important news that happened both before and after Harvey’s “mistake,” but also narrowed the coverage towards two things: Miss Colombia and Steve Harvey; leaving behind who was the actual star of the show: Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.

The funniest thing is that you may have NO idea who she is. Oh well! Then, let me do what the media didn’t; introduce you to Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, Miss Universe 2015.

At this point, a really good angle to cover this tremendous scandal would be asking Miss Philippines what she felt or how does she feel now. Give her more importance. At the end of the day, like it or not, she is the one who won.

NBC’s ‘Friends’ hold rare reunion

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By MELISSA CABRAL

Looks like they’ll be there for us one more time.

It’s been 12 years since the show’s record-breaking finale aired in 2004. NBC has announced that the stars of the hit show, “Friends”, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc will all take part in a new two-hour special honoring director James Burrows on Sunday, Feb. 21.

Noticeably absent from the announcement is co-star Matthew Perry, who played the sarcastic character, Chandler Bing on the show. It was announced that the actor would not be able to make the reunion as he is in London in rehearsals for his play.

The cast is reuniting to partake in a special tribute honoring the comedic director, Burrows, who directed 15 episodes through out the 10 seasons of the show. Although this is a special about the director, fans from all over the world, including myself, are eager to see the cast mates back together after all these years.

The two-hour “Must-See TV: A Tribute to James Burrows” will air at 9 p.m. ET Feb. 21 on NBC. The special will also bring together other iconic casts. Among them: “Mike & Molly,” “Taxi,” “Cheers,” “Frasier,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Will & Grace.”