https://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-put-life-support-vaping-didnt-smoker/story?id=65522370&cid=clicksource_4380645_null_card_hed

Sally Hawkins, Knez Walker, Ashley Riegle and Anthony Rivas report on how vaping almost killed Simah Herman and the issues surrounding the increased use of e-cigarettes. Herman, 18, was hospitalized this August after losing her ability to breathe. Less than 48 hours after Herman’s first chest X-ray, the later ones showed her lungs were inflamed and filled with fluid. Pulmonologist Dr. Kathryn Melamed, who was looking after Herman said, “My best guess since we’re still learning about what is really going on in the lungs is [it’s a] profound inflammatory reaction to the vape products or some…component of the vape products,” when talking about Herman’s chest X-rays. Herman is only one case of a growing number of vaping-related illnesses. There are six confirmed deaths and 450 possible cases of lung illness tied to vaping.  

With the hot topic of vaping going around, this is super relevant article. It does the first part of the story in the article well. Reading about Simah Herman going through a near-death experience made me feel sick to my stomach. It provided a human-interest hook was more engaging than just reading all the points about how vaping is bad. Yet, the article loses interest the longer the story goes on. Herman’s case is in a very inverted pyramid order, but because her details are spread so far through the story, it makes it seem long. There are addition links about different articles related to vaping that break up the story and make it hard to focus on. The links aren’t placed in places to get out of the story, just under relevant information.

https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/youtube-pay-170m-fine-violating-kids-privacy-law-65379803?cid=clicksource_4380645_null_headlines_hed

After breaking a law on children’s’ privacy, YouTube is paying a 170 million dollar fine. The article by Rachel Lerman and Marcy Gordon discusses how Google collected personal data on kids using the YouTube video service and what rules it breaks. The targeted ads on kids’ videos violate the 1998 law that parental consent is required to share the children’s information if they are under 13. YouTube was targeting ads on video channels directed to kids seven and under. The article then dives into how the settlement has been criticized. Criticisms include how the fines “signals that politically powerful corporations can break the law without serious consequences,” and how creators may try to make more ad revenue and Google can let it slide.

With a story talking about media companies and ads going too far, this is an extremely relevant news story. It gives a sense of just how targeted advertisements have become everywhere, even impacting children. However, the article is strangely ordered in the beginning. It actually brings up the law in question seven paragraphs into the story. In the beginning, it goes how Google has to pay a total 170 million to the Federal Trade Commission and New York State but then abruptly moves on to what law got violated and how. I feel like those two things should have been switched. Even as an article talking about children’s data on YouTube, it doesn’t seem targeted at parents. The target audience looks to be anyone who keeps up with the privacy debate as media collects more data on people.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/9816600/old-town-road-lil-nas-journey-pop-star/

Grant Rolling uses this article to share more about the life of Lil Nas X after his song, Old Town Road, won song of the year at the VMAs yesterday. After the record breaking 19 weeks at number one on the charts, he explains how 20-year-old Lil Nas X, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, came from a very nontraditional background of a pop-star. Rolling goes through Hill’s current accomplishments, such as being on TIME magazine and meeting other celebrities.  Rolling then dives into Hill’s origins. He starts from Hill’s home in Georgia and ending when he moved to Austell with his father when he nine. Finally, he discusses Old Town Road’s humble beginnings. Hill spread the song on social media, it getting recognition on the short video app TikTok. The song was noticed by Billy Ray Cyrus after it was booted from the country chart, leading the remix that topped the charts. The article ends with Rolling quoting Hill on his sexuality, saying “I feel like I’m opening the doors for more people.”

I think a story like this one is interesting because it highlights just how powerful social media is in music this day and age. Lil Nas X, who is only a year older than me, got his start just by spreading his song on different social media, which was a deliberate tactic he was using to break into the music industry. Another interesting point in the article is how Lil Nas X has to fight against harassment on social media as well after he came out. Social media’s influence on Lil Nas X’s career is a double-edged sword. He is closer to his audience, but more available to trolls. The article actually included one of my favorite tweets of his, which reads “Wow man last year I was sleeping on my sisters floor, had no money, struggling to get plays on my music, suffering from daily headaches, now i’m gay.” His openness is another aspect that draws him closer to his listeners who share in his humor.

Graphic Design and Advertising major Anna Uehling is in her third year at Morningside College. Originally from a family of writers in New Ulm, Minnesota, Anna currently lives in the Garretson House, one of the houses near Morningside’s campus. She lives with four human roommates, but her own room is home to more aquatic animals than people in the house. Eight beta and two goldfish swim happily in Anna’s room. “My desk is literally cover in fish,” Anna said with a laugh. The 10 fishy friends that make their residence on Anna’s desk are only the beginning of Anna’s animal love.

Anna described herself as “cat crazy.” Her 24-pound Maine coon cat is round, fluffy, and walkable. Anna has a leash for her cat and has the arm muscles to pick him up too. However, she has taken care of other cats before. Over the summer, she was fostering cats out of her love for the animal and her wish to find them good homes. Not only does Anna express her love for cats through her actions, but on her body as well. She has two cat tattoos. One is of her current cat and the other is of her first cat who passed away. Anna is very dedicated to her love of animals and brings that to her life at Morningside. It’s a love she is not ashamed of through her permanent ink and happy expressions.

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/07/17/413380545/opinion-report-on-racism-but-ditch-the-labels

Keith Woods, the VP of Newsroom Diversity and Training at NPR, offers different ideas in reporting on racism so journalism to step into the boundaries of opinion. Throughout his opinion piece, Keith stresses how important it is to report on racism while keeping one’s opinion in check. He calls refraining from that label “the fragile line that separates the profession from the rancid, institution-debasing cesspool that is today’s politics.” It keeps reporting from becoming the same as opinion, which allows it to hold the powerful responsible. However, Woods offers ideas to present racial injustice without becoming opinion. He writes, “Report. Quote people. Cite sources. Add context.Leave the moral labeling to the people affected; to the opinion writers, the editorial writers, the preachers and philosophers; and to the public we serve.”

NPR choosing not to use racist as a label has both pros and cons. Does avoiding using racist but still providing context that connects the president’s speech and action to definitive racist history allow people to come to their own conclusions? Absolutely. However, if the actions of the president escalate (more than they already have), will they be able to avoid racist as a label without it feeling like a cop out? Only time will tell. The decision is correct for NPR, but still could face backlash. They take pride in their journalism and as they see racist as an opinion, it keeps them to their own standards. Using the label vs. not using it separates journalism from other media. Journalists keeping opinion out lets readers make decisions based on the facts presented. Avoiding opinion in journalism holds people accountable for the opinions they form.