News Comment 6

September 28, 2017

This week I am writing on a Fox News interview with Otto Warmbier’s parents (Fred & Cindy Warmbier) three months after his death. Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea after trying to take a propaganda poster from a hotel.

Warmbier’s parents tells the ordeal of their son’s return. They reiterate that North Korea “wasn’t a victim, they are terrorist.” They believed that North Korea sent him home early because he was going to die.

Throughout the interview, the interviewer encouraged a political agenda. The entire story is ‘heartbreaking’ but evidently political.

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Descriptions

September 26, 2017

Person

Jose Luis Gonzalez is about 5′ 9″. He is of Hispanic decent. Gonzalez has brown eyes and trimmed black hair. He wears black framed squared glasses and has sideburns and with a trimmed beard. His face is rounded and appears ‘friendly.’

Gonzalez is from Santa Anna, Orange County, California. He’s 21 years old and was born in January 1st. Gonzalez usually wears jeans and t-shirts or sweatshirts depending on the weather.

Food

Blueberries are purple, little, squishy balls with a small crown at the top. The outer layer of a blueberry has a flesh like texture. After sinking a tooth (because they are too small to sink more than one tooth) into one, the inside more or less dissolves in your mouth. Blueberries are usually sweet but can sometimes be tart. Blueberries smell earthy when fresh; but has a distinctive sweet like aroma when boiled or baked (jam/pie fillings). It’s almost impossible to describe the smell of blueberries without saying that they smell like blueberries.

Creme de Piroulines are essentially dark chocolate sticks rolled in wafers. They are crunchy and easy to break. They smell like coco and cinnamon. They taste like gelato in waffle cones.

Scavenger Hunt draft

September 21, 2017

Pastor Andy Nelson sat in his office. He braced backwards in his chair. His arms were folded over his blue plaid shirt, tucked into his grey dress pants.

“I spend a lot of time wondering if people are listening to me,” Nelson said in response to the three journalism students sitting in his office.

The office smelled of fresh brewed coffee that Pastor Andy Nelson offered with smile. The walls of the campus minister’s office were  decorated with paintings by Helen Levitt.

“They are probably a lot better than anything that I could chose.” Nelson said. He was referring to his inability to decorate walls. Nelson said that he had a few small children. He sad that the art he was used do could be called “uncommissioned, children’s vandalism.”

On theft side of his office was a shelf filled with colorful yarn. Every Tuesday at 12pm, a group of students would casually knit items. They were currently searching for a organization to donate their knitted pieces to. I suggested that the Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence (CSADV) could use scarves and sweaters with the upcoming fall and winter seasons.

Nelson said that his favorite season was winter. He enjoyed  being in jeans and sweatshirts. He was from Minnesota where “the winters were the worst.”

When Professor Dolie Thompson was a kid she had a book that her great aunt wrote in. “Love many, trust few, and always paddle your own canoe.”

That bit of advice stuck with her because it taught her to “think for herself.”

 

News Comment #5

September 20, 2017

Since we are currently discussing interviews in class, for this week’s news comment I decided to use an interview from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

This show is on comedy central and is more infotainment than traditional news.  I find the show a good way to stay informed while still being entertained.

Trevor Noah interviewed International Tennis Player Maria Sharapova about her book “Unstoppable.”

Noah connected with Sharapova with humor and knowledge of her life and her book. He used social cues and body language to convey his interest and that he was comfortabe throughout the interview. Noah used his tone of voice to be empathetic when asking sensitive questions to make Sharapova comfortable when asking difficult questions (about her doping scandal).

I wouldn’t say that this was a perfect interview (notably when he mixed up a simple fact about her age) but it was good and I find Noah to be a relatable interviewee.

Interview at 15:46

Trump’s administration is ignoring the willingness of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients to legally attain the American dream.

In his campaign against DACA, President Trump has broken the trust built by the previous government’s administration.

Former President Barack Obama enacted the DACA in order to protect unauthorized immigrants who came to the United States before age sixteen.

DACA recipients paid a fee and provided their personal information to the government in hopes of being legally acknowledged by the United States.

Jose Antonio Vargas from the New York Times wrote “Applicants paid a $465 fee for processing and gave all their contact information (name, address, phone number) to the government they had grown up fearing. In effect, the Obama administration said, Trust us.”

Trusting the Obama administration through the DACA allowed young adults, who were brought to the United States illegally as children, to remain without fear of immediate removal from the country. It gave them the right to work legally.

According to Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis from the New York Times President Trump ordered an end to the Obama-era program that shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation. He dubbed it the “amnesty-first approach.” By March 2018 the DACA recipients “will become eligible for deportation.”

Shear and Hirschfeld also wrote “Mr. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who announced the change at the Justice Department, both used the aggrieved language of anti-immigrant activists, arguing that those in the country illegally are lawbreakers who hurt native-born Americans by usurping their jobs and pushing down wages.”

Trump and Sessions rhetoric states that the DACA recipients are criminals who are responsible for low wages.

However, in the guidelines stipulated by the Department of Homeland Security, the DACA recipients must currently be in school or have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States.

In Individuals states, namely California, other government officials have taken matters into their own hands. State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit against the rescindment of the DACA.

Patrick McGreevy from the Los Angeles times reports “State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said he decided to file a suit separate from legal actions by fifteen other states, the University of California and civil rights activists because California and its economy will be hurt the most by the president’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.”

Thousands of Californians are recipients of DACA. Rescinding DACA disrupts the lives of theses individuals who trusted the government. To rescind DACA also unsettles California.

State Attorney General Becerra shows that there are individuals still willing to support the illegal immigrants hope of the American dream.

News Comment 4

September 18, 2017

For this news comment I chose an article from the New York Times
Eight Dead From Sweltering Nursing Home as Florida Struggles After Irma. The article was relatively lengthy and I skimmed rather than read its entirety.

This particular news story references eight lives that were lost at The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills in Florida, as a result of Hurricane Irma.

While skimming the article. I gathered that it was written more like a tale than a news story. The inverted pyramid was not followed. Important information was scattered throughout the entire lengthy piece and the tone was more ‘storytelling’ than informative.

A lot of the content in the pice was repetitive or stretched out. The entire story could have been more condensed.

The American dream is a long sought after concept. For Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, the dream became a reality.

DACA allows young adults who were brought to the US illegally as children to remain without fear of immediate removal from the country and gives them the right to work legally.

According to Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis  from the New York Times “Mr. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who announced the change at the Justice Department, both used the aggrieved language of anti-immigrant activists, arguing that those in the country illegally are lawbreakers who hurt native-born Americans by usurping their jobs and pushing down wages.” Trump and Sessions rhetoric essentially claims that DACA recipients are criminals who are responsible for low wages.

Recipients of DACA are certainly not criminals but are individuals seeking to better themselves. In the guidelines stipulated by the Department of Homeland Security. DACA recipients must currently be in school or have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States. Also the must

not have been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.

In short, they must be educated or currently being educated and cannot be criminals. This can be interpreted as DACA recipients must be positively contributing to society.

DACA recipients willing paid a fee and provided their personal information to the government in hopes of being legally acknowledged by the United States.

Jose Antonio Vargas from the New York Times  wrote “Applicants paid a $465 fee for processing and gave all their contact information (name, address, phone number) to the government they had grown up fearing. In effect, the Obama administration said, Trust us.”

Trump’s administration is ignoring the willingness of DACA recipients to legally attain the American dream. In his campaign against DACA, he has broken the the trust built by the previous government’ administration.

Government isn’t continuous and decisions are made in a term. Whether said decisions are considered good or bad; they could vanish with the next president. Living in todays society means living by a political governing term. DACA recipients are currently, directly experiencing life by political governing term.

Individuals states, namely California, have taken matters into their own hands and filed a lawsuit against the rescindment of DACA.

Patrick McGreevy from the Los Angeles times reports “State Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said he decided to file a suit separate from legal actions by 15 other states, the University of California and civil rights activists because California and its economy will be hurt the most by the president’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

Thousands of Californians are DACA recipients and rescinding DACA does not only disrupt the lives of theses individuals (plunging them into the unknown) but also unsettles California. General Becerra shows that there are individuals still willing to support the immigrants hope of the American dream.

News Comment 3

September 7, 2017

This week I’m focusing on the ledes and headlines of two news story about hurricane Irma. The headline from the New York Post story was more impactful in contrast to the headline from ABC network’s (in Australia) story .

The headline in the New York Post was: “Hurricane Irma wipes tiny Caribbean island off the map.” This captivating headline screamed ‘Extra! Extra!’ However, it was misleading and essentially sensational. The island in question, Barbuda, still exist. Currently, life on the island would be difficult, but it definitely still exists. Also, the word ‘wipe’  is subjective and incorrect.

The other headline was: “Hurricane Irma: 90 per cent of Barbuda buildings destroyed as monster storm roars through Caribbean” was more informative however the use of the word ‘monster’ also seems subjective. I believe that stating the hurricane category would suffice.

These headlines are both impactful but also both subjective.

In regards to ledes, essentially the most critical part in an article. It should summarize the most important parts of the article while simultaneously being captivating.

I fond that the lede of the New York Post was well written because it effectively covered what the story was about, stating the what, where, when, why and how. ‘The tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda is “practically uninhabitable” after it was steamrolled by Hurricane Irma, officials there said as the superstorm’s confirmed death toll climbed to three Wednesday.”

The lede from the ABC network’s story was less interesting and initially wasn’t what the story was about. “Barbuda’s Prime Minister says 90 per cent of buildings and vehicles on the Caribbean island have been destroyed by Hurricane Irma.” This lede was mostly a repeat of the headline and the rest of the story wasn’t really focused on Barbuda s the lede and headline would imply.

media

 

Lede

September 7, 2017

“The tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda is “practically uninhabitable” after it was steamrolled by Hurricane Irma, officials there said as the superstorm’s confirmed death toll climbed to three Wednesday.”

link