Measles problem needs news coverage

By RYAN GRILLE

A measles outbreak is occurring in Washington state, resulting in Gov. Jay Inslee declaring a state of emergency. The outbreak has occurred largely due to the recent anti-vaccination movement that has been growing in the United States. The outbreak has also spread to Oregon. The news media are covering this outbreak through several lenses, each of which is important to focus on.

First, the news media are covering the anti-vaccine movement and how it has become a modern health crisis. News organizations are issuing reports about the safety of vaccines and why it is important for parents to vaccinate their children. This is an excellent example of what reporters should do. They should keep the public informed with proper factual information in order to keep their community safe. A misinformed public can, and has proven to be, extremely dangerous.

Another element that the news media are focusing on is the political side to the issue. Lawmakers in Washington state are looking to pass a bill making it illegal to refuse to vaccinate a child for personal reasons. The news media are covering the topic while examining the public reaction to these proposals. Reporters should keep the public informed about the politics of their local government.

Unfortunately, not all reporters are handling this situation properly. Less credible news outlets are publishing misinformation both about vaccines and the lawmakers involved. In today’s social media climate, it is not only important for reporters to check their facts and maintain a high standard of ethics, but news media consumers should also be alert about the news they receive. The handling of this measles outbreak could potentially save, or endanger, the lives of many, and it is important to cover the issue thoroughly.

Symphony of Seas calls Miami home

By MATTHEW POWELL

Royal Caribbean’s newest and biggest ship, Symphony of the Seas, recently made its way from Spain to cruise out of Miami for the winter and spring season. Symphony, the largest ship in the world, marks an already changing tide in the Miami cruising industry that begun two years ago when Royal Caribbean broke ground on a new terminal.

Symphony of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, will be sailing from Miami to the eastern and western Caribbean. Popular destinations such as Cozumel, San Juan, Labadee and St. Maarten will all be visited by Royal Caribbean’s flagship.

The news media coverage of the inaugural sailing and naming ceremony was done extremely well. Royal Caribbean invited journalists from a variety of different outlets, some involved in the cruise industry and some not, to cover this historic event.

Symphony sailing from Miami is a great example of several cruise lines pushing their initiatives to make Miami the cruising capital of the world again. Along with Symphony of the seas comporting in Miami, Royal Caribbean will also have Mariner of the Seas and Allure of the Seas in the magic city.

When bias clouds reporting judgment

By NICOLAS IPARRAGUIRRE

College football writer Brett McMurphy has had an impressive career and gained the respect of many college football fans for his outstanding reporting. In 2017, after spending five years at ESPN, McMurphy was included in the round of layoffs that saw many writers and analysts let go by ESPN.

Since leaving ESPN, McMurphy saw his notoriety rise when he published a story about former Ohio State assistant football coach Zach Smith and his alleged history of domestic assault. McMurphy’s report led to an internal investigation by Ohio State and eventually a three-game suspension of head coach Urban Meyer stemming from his role in potentially covering up Smith’s alleged indiscretions. Unfortunately, this week McMurphy published another story about Ohio State that was irresponsible and exemplified his disdain for the program.

McMurphy’s story surrounded former Ohio State receiver Trevon Grimes and an altercation he may have had during a practice. According to McMurphy’s reporting, an altercation during an Ohio State practice ended in Smith directing the N-word towards Grimes, which led to his decision to transfer to the University of Florida. Before this story, it is widely believed that Grimes, a South Florida native, transferred due to his mother having been diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer and his desire to be closer to home.

The story also alleges that the waiver Grimes’ received from the NCAA that allowed him to play right away due to his mother’s condition may have been based on false, and that his mother does not have cancer at all. McMurphy’s main source for the story was Grimes’ estranged father Lebron Grimes, who Trevon claims he has not spoken to in over two years.

In reading the story, it is clear McMurphy was extremely diligent in his research for the story. He reached out to various players on the Ohio State team, Ohio State’s Athletic Department, friends of Grimes, and attempted to contact Grimes and his mother. Unfortunately, he wrote a story that was at the very least incomplete, and at the worst irresponsible.

He was also reckless in conducting his research, badgering both Grimes and his mother despite both of them personally, and through a University of Florida spokesperson, requesting he stop reaching out. McMurphy admitted as much in his actual story. McMurphy also gave a lot of credence to the story presented by Lebron Grimes despite his description of Grimes’ legal indiscretions and the allegations of domestic abuse that had been made against him by his ex-wife, Grimes’ mother.

Since the story has been published, Grimes, Ohio State’s Athletic Department, and all of his former Ohio State teammates have publicly denied the accusations in the story. While this is to be expected, McMurphy’s ultimate error was publishing a story prior to verifying the allegations in said story. Without a single Ohio State player or even Grimes agreeing to corroborate the Smith incident, it was irresponsible to publish that part of the story based on Grimes’ estranged fathers account.

As to the allegation regarding Grimes’ mother potentially lying about having cancer, McMurphy once again published a baseless accusation and badgered a woman who is not a public figure. While McMurphy’s research allowed him to create context for this story, without any evidence that Grimes’ mother actually lied about her condition, it was an irresponsible accusation to publish.

While the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 makes finding medical information about an individual very difficult, McMurphy had a responsibility not to publish the accusation without a source other than Grimes’ estranged father.

The story illustrated that McMurphy is a talented writer who conducts extremely thorough research, but it also showed his judgment has been clouded by a deep contempt of the current Ohio State program. The story was so diligently researched and transparently written that his own conclusions were both debunked. McMurphy’s search for the truth can be seen as a noble crusade, but he published a story with conclusions that he may have been able to prove or even disprove had he waited for further evidence.

Michael coverage varies across board

By ISABELLA VACCARO

Six people died in the wake of Hurricane Michael, which decimated Florida’s panhandle, flooded the Carolinas and continues to cause mass destruction on the Atlantic Coast. Entire houses were uprooted and more than one million people were out of power.

I compared CNN’s coverage of the storm to the Sun Sentinel’s and found that although both provided similar information, the presentation and angles were completely different. While CNN’s presentation was much more conducive to acquiring facts quickly, the Sun Sentinel’s coverage almost read as a narrative, using its locality to its advantage with stark Florida references that evoked emotion in its readership.

Even the two news sources’ headlines differed vastly in the message that they sent. The Sun Sentinel’s headline, “Hurricane Michael wipes out Mexico Beach, Fla., in ‘apocalyptic’ assault” plays on the drama of the hurricane and sends the message that the storm has passed, devastatingly, leaving Florida in distress.

CNN, on the other hand, headlined its coverage, “Michael’s not done yet — path of destruction stretches north from Florida,” stressing that although the storm departed Florida, it is still a threat to other coastal states like Virginia — obviously taking a more national lens to the story.

Furthermore, the Sun Sentinel uses similes and metaphors to tell the story of how Michael ripped through the panhandle and shook the worlds of many. Instead of delving right into the hard facts, and after a heart-wrenching anecdotal lede, the author writes, “Boats were tossed like toys. The streets closest to the water looked as if a bomb had gone off.”

CNN, instead, hits the ground running with an inverted pyramid-style beginning, stating in the lede exactly where the hurricane hit already and where it is headed, as well as mentioning some of its effects, like flash floods. CNN also writes a bulleted list of “Key Developments” for readers who want fast facts about the storm, providing the route of the storm, how many power outages there are, who died and more.

Contrarily, it makes sense that a Florida newspaper would only focus on the effects of the storm in Florida, and the narrative style makes for a more interesting, though saddening read. The Sun Sentinel even includes an anecdote about a couple searching for their elderly mother in the ruins of the storm, inserting a quote portraying the way the wife called out for her mother: “Aggy! Aggy!”

Both news sources do a good job of capturing the severity of the storm, but for the Sun Sentinel, the focus was in the past, whereas CNN makes sure to send a message that the storm is still highly threatening. It is always interesting to note how many different ways the same story can be covered based on the location and audience of the news source.

Post-Florence coverage suffers

By DAVE DOWNEY

Although Florence made landfall nearly a week ago and became a post-tropical cyclone a few days later, the long-lasting impacts are only now coming into view.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster warned on Thursday that, “The worst is yet to come.”

Some rivers are still rising, leading to evacuations that are continuing, more than two weeks after some were already advised to leave.

Portions of I-95 and I-40 remain closed in North and South Carolina.

The death toll has risen to 42.

And yet, the only main news outlet covering the story on its devastation to the Mid-Atlantic States is The Weather Channel.

Sites like CNN and USA Today, instead of covering updates on its aftermath to all the residents of those areas, choose to provide coverage about it from different, sometimes irrelevant angles.

CNN’s headline: “This satellite image shows Florence’s floodwaters polluting the Atlantic.”

USA Today‘s: “A disgusting side effect of Florence: Escaped pig poop. Lots of it.”

Instead of covering the aftermath nation’s most significant national disaster of the year from the correct and informative point of view, they choose different sides of the story that does not provide readers with an idea of the scope of devastation and ruin that some in the Carolinas are dealing with.

Cote shines light on LeBatard’s moment

By MATTHEW POWELL

If anyone follows the Miami sport’s scene, you are sure to have heard of Dan LeBatard and Greg Cote. Both are long-time sports journalists and columnists who have been writing about the variety things going on in Miami sports for quite some time. The duo are also long-time friends both professionally and personally.

Recently, LeBatard became engaged to his girlfriend during a safari in Africa. This prompted him to tell his close friends and family, including Greg Cote. As the weeks progressed, LeBatard kept the news under lock and key for the public.

That all changed when Cote decided to risk his friendship with LeBatard for clicks on an article for the Miami Herald. Cote decided to publish a story announcing the news, without permission of the newly engaged LeBatard himself. This prompted a hilarious outbreak from LeBatard on his national radio show for ESPN in which he was suddenly flooded with texts of congratulations.

In this new age of clickbait, especially in relation to journalism, I thought this story was a funny, but legitimate, example of how far some journalists can go in order to secure clicks on an article. Even if those clicks sacrifice the relationship between a mentor and a mentee.

Room to improve in Florence coverage

By DAVE DOWNEY

It seems like in these natural disaster events, particularly hurricanes, the national news outlets do the worst job in their coverage efforts.

Sites like CNN and Fox News, although well respected in their political and general news stories, fail in most efforts to convey a well-written or scientifically accurate weather story.

CNN’s latest article incorrectly gave a rain rate total that may only be the case in one section of the hurricane, which could also change from one moment to the next. Instead of recognizing the total amount of rainfall possible at the beginning of the story, the biggest killer in tropical cyclone landfall events, they do it later, in the latter half of the story.

Fox News’s latest article has similar issues, although this article has a little more scientific accuracy than CNN’s did.

They did a good job reporting storm surge numbers reported by the National Hurricane Center in their hourly updates. They also included a tweet from the NHC in their story, giving readers a primary source as to where they can get more information.

The two main issues in this article are with the title and a similar problem in CNN’s story.

First, the title focuses on the downgrade of Florence from a Category 2 to a Category 1 Hurricane. The NHC stressed particularly with this storm that it is irrelevant where Florence landed on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, as it will have impacts far beyond just its maximum sustained winds.

Second, it mentions the total amount of rain possible even later than where CNN put it, which should by far be the most significant part of the story.

Carolinas brace for impact of Florence

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.

Twitter bans Alex Jones, InfoWars

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 JournalThe 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.

FIU bridge news reporting shifts focus

By PATRICIA SANTANA

On March 15, the pedestrian bridge being built over the intersection of SW Eighth Street and SW 109th Avenue near the Florida International University campus unexpectedly collapsed.

There were six deaths, including an 18-year-old student at FIU and a worker for the bridge inspection company.

The story received a lot of national coverage and was featured prominently on major news media such as The New York Times and CNN. While those sites continue to periodically post stories, they have toned down their coverage as other stories emerge. This is in stark contrast to the Miami Herald, which continues to prominently feature the story on its site. This difference makes sense, since the story is a local tragedy in Miami and thus will be more relevant to the readership of the Miami Herald.

The coverage the Miami Herald has given the story has evolved. Initially, the coverage focused on providing updates on the death toll and posting videos of the collapse recorded by bystanders. There were also articles coming out on the history of the construction company and design firm behind the bridge and past projects of theirs, which continue to come out now. The coverage now is focusing more on the emotional impact the collapse has had on the survivors and on remembering the victims. There is also a greater volume of speculative articles regarding possible causes of the collapse.

Shalala running for Congress

By PATRICIA SANTANA

On March 7, former UM president Donna Shalala announced her candidacy as representative of Florida’s 27th Congressional district.

Shalala is one of many contenders vying for the vacancy created by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s retirement. Shalala is running as a Democrat. Her platform includes issues such as LGBTQ rights and environmental conservation.

The Miami Hurricane did an excellent job of covering this story.

On Feb. 14, they published a speculative piece discussing the rumors that Shalala would run for Congress. This article displayed a commitment to the story and indicates that they were on top of any developments long before Shalala filed for candidacy.

There are also a number of corrections on the bottom of the article dated Feb. 16. These corrections show their transparency, since they could’ve made the corrections and not announced it in order to not risk a negative perception of their mistakes. They also could have avoided any corrections and hoped nobody would notice, which would have been very lazy reporting.

The Miami Hurricane’s Facebook page was very prompt in posting Shalala’s announcement on March 7. The timestamp on their “Breaking News” post was 10:39 a.m. The next post on their page was of a complete article on Shalala’s announcement, posted at 11:08 a.m. This gap of about half an hour shows how quick they were to produce a complete article in order to provide readers the full story in a timely manner.

In comparison, The Miami Herald’s Facebook page did not post about Shalala’s announcement until 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Granted, The Herald has many other stories they need to be covering and Shalala is a campus icon at UM, making her story one worth prioritizing for The Miami Hurricane.

The story by the Miami Herald focused on Shalala’s anti-Trump platform, her Clinton connections and what the competition will be like for that congressional seat. The story by The Miami Hurricane focused much more on the impact the news had on campus and included quotes from UM administrators, such as Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia Whitely, and faculty such as Associate Professor of Political Science Joseph Uscinski.

The Miami Hurricane story also focused on Shalala’s impact during her tenure at UM to a greater extent than The Miami Herald did. These differences are illustrative of how different newspapers report their stories based on the audience. Whereas The Herald must tailor their stories to a greater Miami audience, The Hurricane can focus more on capturing the attention of the UM community, a much more specific audience.

Fergie bashed for national anthem effort

By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

Fergie’s performance at the NBA All-Star game has received so much negativity and has been described as “cringe worthy, laughable, and my friends drunk mom acting sexy.” Roseanne Barr also mocked her saying her own rendition of the song in her 1990 performance was “low key better.” The singer took the responsibility into her own hands by sincerely apologizing for her artistic risks and explained she tried her best.

Even the NBA players were unable to contain themselves, as it was evident during the performance. Players including Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Matt Dollinger, were ones who proved their problems with the performance, as they laughed and made faces throughout. Fergie has always been known to put her own kick into her music, making her stand out as an individualistic artist who has proven to sing from her own soul. Apparently, this was not good enough for everyone.

Every report of this performance has been nothing but disgraceful and hurtful towards Fergie. She has been respected as not only a performer but also a person. She is real, successful, and different. Singers are ridiculed for being too bland and for being too “risky?” The backlash of her performance can be understandable to a certain point, but the coverage of the situation is unnecessary.

Albeit it is the national anthem, but if the NBA is all about respect, how is it that the players are allowed to laugh during the performance of this “sacred” anthem? The players are free to laugh, talk, and ridicule the performance and performer of the national anthem? Reports need to also focus on the mutual respect between the performer and the players. What needs to be done is for whatever incident occurs, it needs to be taken seriously and in a fair manner. For players to be tweeting and mocking Fergie as she apologizes for the incident, just seems like the system is rigged and the players are bullies.

It is 2018, crazier things have happened. Having such a well-liked and respected woman perform the national anthem, should be the automatic point made to not ridicule her. However, if there are going to be rude comments given, they should come from both sides.

Miami men fall to No. 1 Virginia

By JABARI WILBON

Miami’s men’s basketball season has had an up and down year, especially in ACC play.

Without sophomore Bruce Brown, things have gotten even harder for them as they have started to use players off the bench in more minutes than they usually play. After coming off a surprising road loss to Boston College, the Canes were set to play Virginia, who had just risen to become the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

Miami has had several home wins against top five teams in the past few years, so the anticipation from the fans for this game was high. However, when the game started, UVA proved why it was No. 1. Virginia led the entire game and held Miami to a season-low 50 points with its well-renowned defense.

The news media on campus did a great job of covering this game. The @CanesHoops account tweeted regularly during the game, keeping the fans who were unable to watch or attend completely updated throughout the game. It tweeted every two to four minutes and kept the score updated as well.

The game took place at 9 p.m. on Feb. 13 and The Miami Hurricane posted an article at 12:15 a.m. on Feb. 14 with analysis of the game, quotes and stats. The campus newspaper did an excellent job putting together a top-notch story in such a short amount of time for people to read the next morning.

Highlights of the game were posted to YouTube the following morning on the ACC Digital Network for a quick recap of how the game turned out. Also, pictures were taken by Hunter Crenian were uploaded with the story on the website of The Miami Hurricane.

The game was nationally televised on ESPN because it was such a big ACC match-up. It was a big game because it was a good platform for the seedings in the March Madness tournament at the end of the year. The game was highly interesting to fans all around the world.

With all of that being said, the news media did a good job covering the game and getting out information and stats to the public as soon as possible, especially The Miami Hurricane, which was able to put up a story within a short period of time.

Choosing bitcoin over homes?

By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

Running low on energy, Iceland has to make a tough decision. As a power shortage is approaching, the region will need to decide if bitcoin mining is more important than powering houses this year.

The time has finally come: questioning the true value of bitcoin. All the fun math (mining) games may come to an end for the Icelandic people. The bitcoin mining tools include computers, servers and cooling devices – so pretty much, electricity. In simple terms, these tools use 840 gigawatt hours of electricity per year while homes in Iceland use 700 per year. Additionally, with more projects looking to jump on the cryptocurrency wagon, the situation could get worse.

This industrial development has been questioned since the day the idea was conceived, and now it’s starting to cause a real problem in Iceland.

Why there? Well, Iceland has cheap electricity and a great portion of the energy comes from renewable resources. The abundance from geothermal and hydroelectric power plants is to thank for the availability. Since these companies pay a low tax bill, for now, the situation continues: the power supply will definitely not be able to keep up with such a high demand. However, things might change to stop a lot of growth from affecting the region.

Companies like Expedia allow for digital currency pay, which increases the need for more bitcoins. One common way to gain bitcoins is by mining for the currency in a computer game. Sounds realistic, right?

The trauma brought on by bitcoins will continue to spread if the demand continues. Losing electricity to a coin that isn’t even in circulation yet seems unnecessary at most.

Iceland will have to chose to either step away or go all in, but hopefully whichever way the situation flows, it will not end with another bank crash.

National signing day creates a new buzz

By BRENNAN PRUSAK

On Wednesday, high school athletes made decisions that would change their lives forever.

On national signing day, the top unsigned football recruits from across the country decide where they are going to attend college and play football for the foreseeable future. While this is a very important and usually personal decision for the athlete, it has evolved to a news media frenzy.

Whereas athletes would once “announce” their commitment by signing in the comfort of their own homes, ESPN and other sport networks have changed the game and created a full day special broadcasting top recruits’ announcements. This has resulted in some fairly humorous displays on live TV from athletes trying to outdo each other with their creative commitments.

To start off the day, four highly recruited members of American Heritage High School took to ESPN to announce their decisions. While it appeared like it would be a fairly normal segment, things took an odd turn when two of the recruits decided to announce their decisions using a “Chucky” doll as a prop. Yes, that “Chucky,” the one that probably gave you nightmares as a kid.

While Nesta Silvera, a four-star defensive tackle that committed to Miami, simply held the doll in his hand while making his announcement, his teammate did him one better.

Four-star linebacker Andrew Chatfield reached for a University of Miami hat sitting on the table, just to drop the hat and pull the “Chucky” doll from under the table, and the doll happened to be wearing a University of Florida hat, which Chatfield proceeded to put on his own head, cementing his commitment. While there have been props used before, none have been quite as odd as this.

Up next was probably one of the most memorable moments in recent memory of national signing day. Four-star outside linebacker Quay Walker picked up and put on a University of Tennessee hat during his announcement Wednesday. While Tennessee fans across the country were surely leaping from their seats with excitement, it was short-lived.

Walker than removed the hat, threw it into the crowd, and removed his jacket and pants to reveal a Georgia polo and khakis with the Bulldogs logo plastered all over them. To top it off, he threw on a Georgia sun hat as his family members behind him revealed Georgia apparel of their own. Tennessee fans certainly weren’t happy, but it proceeded to blow up on social media along with ESPN and other sport platforms.

With the amount of news media coverage this event gets, many are beginning to worry that national signing day is becoming more of a “who can outdo who,” in regards to the most memorable announcement.

Personally, I couldn’t care less. For a lot of these kids, it’s their first time in the national spotlight, so of course they’re going to ham it up. This will be remembered as one of the most important days of their lives, so they have every right to live in the moment, and I certainly don’t mind getting a good laugh out of it either. Sports are supposed to be fun, and the news media surrounding these announcements really lets the athletes enjoy their moments.

Tree ceremony not well attended

By VERONICA SPAGNA

Thursday, as part of the annual tradition which has been dated back almost 100 years, Donald Trump led the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

During his campaign in 2016, President Trump said that he was looking forward to saying in the National Christmas lighting “Merry Christmas” and made the promise that Americans will be able to say Merry Christmas again instead of “Happy Holidays.”

In fact during the ceremony President Trump said: “Today is a day that I’ve been looking very much forward to all year long, It’s one that we’ve heard and we speak about and we dream about and now, as the president of the United States, it’s my tremendous honor to now wish America and the world a very Merry Christmas.”

A photo shared by Steve Rudin, a journalist in Washington, went viral and showed the many empty seats during the event. The photo was shared on Twitter, Rudin tweeted with the photo that it was a “beautiful” ceremony but “hard not to notice the empty seats.”

Many reporters decided to compare this National Christmas Lighting Ceremony led by President Trump with the ones led by Obama in 2009 and 2013. Reporters added photos in their articles comparing the number of people who showed up in the ceremony with different presidents. The photos showed a packed crowd of people showing up for the traditional ceremony during the Obama era, with the clear intention of highlighting the greater amount of respect and support for the last president.

Strange media ideas to gain audience

By REGINA SÁNCHEZ JIMÉNEZ

“Stranger Things” is one of the greatest audiovisual phenomena in recent times. The Netflix’s production has hooked a huge mass of audience. Their main characters are known all over the world.

Millie Bobby Brown | Photo by Gage Skidmore

So, mass media, particularly media specialized in cinema, take advantage of it writing reports and news about the TV series. They know that fans will click on it and read it. But sometimes, news media should know where are the boundaries.

Recently, W Magazine, a fashion newspaper, classified Millie Bobby Brown, the 13-year-old actress of Stranger Things, as one of the sexiest TV stars.

People reacted against the publication because of the young age of the actress who plays Eleven.

Probably, W Magazine would never have written this article if Bobby Brown wasn’t part of such a successful series. Despite the fact that this is not a serious publication as could be The New York Times, not anything goes. Media should be careful because the audience has principles and what media write to attract an audience could go against them.

Economics and success shouldn’t be a priority but common sense. Of course, there is no track of the article on the Web anymore.

Other case but totally different was led by a Spanish cinema newspaper, Fotogramas. The newspaper published an article about the machismo in “Stranger Things. This assessment was based on dialogue and scenes that are representing a time, the 1980s, that was sexist. For example, when Barb’s mum asks her husband for permission to talk.

That’s the article:

http://www.fotogramas.es/series-television/Stranger-things-temporada-2-machista-analisis

Most of the comments reacting to the post of the article on Facebook were about the opportunism and how they jumped on the bandwagon of the feminism and the successful “Stranger Things.”

Again, another attempt to please the audience that actually gets the reverse impact.

Media should isolate from fashions and trends and follow their own criteria of what is really important to write about and so, they would achieve a more quality journalism.

Dog steps on a shotgun, shoots hunter

By NINA GARZA

William Rancourt was shot in the back Wednesday afternoon while out hunting in Northern Iowa when a hunting dog stepped on a loaded shotgun that fired bird-shot pellets.

Rancourt was taken to the hospital with moderate injuries, state conservation officer Ken Lonneman told reporters that if Rancourt had been closer to the shotgun his injuries would have been more severe. The shotgun was approximately 22 yards away from Rancourt when it fired, hitting him the back from his waist all the way up to his neck.

When Rancourt arrived at the hospital he was alert and able to walk. X-rays were taken to make sure all of the pellets that were fired into Rancourt’s back were removed from his body.

Looneman stated that this was a freak accident and the dog’s foot was “just in the wrong place at the wrong time, accidents happen.”

During the busy hunting season, it is important that hunters always remember to unload their guns, place the safety on and never leave them unattended.

The news media has not spoken to Rancourt or any other members on the hunting party that were also out hunting when this incident happened. However, they did get good content from the state conservation officer. The officer’s statements added more meaning the story by addressing all hunter to making sure this never happens again.

Hurricanes rank No. 3 in football

By IZABELLA FELPETO

The Miami Hurricanes prove that “you can’t spell undefeated without the U,” after destroying their long-time rival, Notre Dame, 41-8 this past Saturday, in one of the most exciting home games of the season.

The Canes started the game strong, earning two touchdowns in the first quarter and putting the Fighting Irish (who finally scored in the 3rd quarter) to shame.

A year ago, the Hurricanes and the Fighting Irish met in South Bend, Ind., with Notre Dame escaping with a 30-27 victory. The iconic teams: No. 7 Miami Hurricanes and the No.3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish continued their rivalry, with the Canes dominating the Fighting Irish in a game that set fans wild over a hard-earned victory.

The Canes (9-0, 6-0 ACC) are now ranked No. 3 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.

“We’re just trying to get better every week,” linebacker Michael Pinckney said. “We just come out every week, we can’t take anyone lightly. We got great things ahead. I just feel like we have to come out this weekend and take Virginia no lighter than we took Notre Dame.”

The team is one step closer to the ACC championship and Miami fans are loving it.

“My goodness. Malik Rosier’s performance last Saturday becomes even more impressive. Best to him and his family,” tweeted ESPN’s sports commentator Stephania Bell.

The Hurricanes will continue their battle to the ACC title with Virginia, tomorrow at noon.

Russian zookeeper gets mauled by tiger

By NINA GARZA

Zookeeper Nadezhda Srivastava, was feeding 16-year-old Siberian tiger, Typhoon, when he jumped on her and started mauling her.

Srivastava told reporters that she tried to get away but the cat put all his weight on top of her and she could not move. Pictures show Srivastave cover her face and put her elbows up in order to keep the tiger from biting her head. After the tiger had torn up her arms she turned to get away but he then sunk his teeth into her back.

People who were visiting the zoo saw what was happening and tried to help by throwing things at the tiger in order to distract him.

Srivastava fought for her life for about 10 minutes before she was finally able to run away to safety from the tiger. She was taken to the hospital with a shattered wrist, several broken fingers and a couple broken ribs. Luckily, there was no damage to her nerves.

When talking to reporters, Srivastava said that she is so grateful for the visitors of the zoo that were trying to help her. She stated, If it were not for the visitors of the zoo, I would no longer be alive.”

The news media reported this story very well because they throughly described everything that occurred within the 10 minutes that Sricastava was battling the tiger. Although 10 minutes does not seem like a long time, it felt like eternity for Scricastave and the news media did a really great job in relating that to the public.