For any questions, please email: scheney at collin dot edu
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
THIS BLOG IS AN ARCHIVE OF A PAST ENGLISH COMPOSITION CLASS.
THIS BLOG IS AN ARCHIVE OF A PAST ENGLISH COMPOSITION CLASS.
For any questions, please email: scheney at collin dot edu
For any questions, please email: scheney at collin dot edu
Friday, April 26, 2019
Out To Get The Muslims!
News reported a man charged with throwing a child off a balcony to be a Muslim. They attempted to attack Muslims by saying this man, Emmanuel Aranda, was “born Abdisaid Mohamed.” He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for throwing a 5-year old boy off a balcony at the Mall of America. Records also later proved that his name was, in fact, Emmanuel Aranda and no there was no evidence for a legal name change. A word from Bloomington Police is “We don’t have an alias for him and certainly not that one". The boy is recovering at Minnesota hospital.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/26/fake-news-stories-visuals-week/39405571/ [2 images, 1 link, 1 quotation, and 101 words]
African Journalist
African Journalist
Declan Okpalaeke is an African journalist that works for The Guardian NIgeria. He recently won the CNN African Journalist of the year award. He is an “award-winning health and environmental journalist who led the launch of Africa's first Pan-African health journalists’ organization, the African Health Journalists Association (AHJA).” He wrote pages and pages of articles for popular newspaper companies and talked about deadly attacks and such in hope that he could make a difference for the African society. He has won many awards and is very well known with his informative articles and motivating diction that gets people listening. He has changed the lives of many Africans with just his words. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, 111 words]
African Journalists Finally Released
Two African Journalists have finally been released after being charged and held since January of this year. The journalists were reporting after having interview local families about a violent Islamist group and were accused of “spreading messages damaging to the Mozambican Armed Forces.” According to Reporters Without Borders, even though the two journalists have been released, they are still at risk of being prosecuted and are not in the clear. These journalists who choose to enter areas of this nature are at risk simply because the authorities do not want negative press to be released and make them look bad.
https://rsf.org/en/news/two-mozambican-journalists-freed-after-being-held-months
[1 image, 1 links, 1 quotation, 100 words]
A New Movie! Really?!
False hype surrounded the upcoming new release of a movie called Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice II that is. A video with a fake trailer surfaced onto the web hyping Beetlejuice fans only for it to not be claimed by film company Warner Bros. (the period is part of their name). On top of that Warner Bros. also denied any such film currently in the works at that time. The trailer for the Beetlejuice trailer that had been surfacing for a year was made by putting together clips or the original cast and film making a little more believable. The movie is basically about “a couple who dies in a car accident and haunts their old home.” Spooky!
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/26/fake-news-stories-visuals-week/39405571/ [1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, and 115 words]
Farmer Throws Cell Phone at President
According to www.heavy.com, William Rose, a farmer and family man who appeared to be intoxicated threw his cell phone at President trump as he walked onto the stage at an NRA convention in Indiana. Heavy.com is reporting that Rose 'was transported to receive a mental health evaluation.” Per the article, Rose stated that his cell phone was stolen and he wasn't the one to throw it. Rose was arrested and the incident is being investigated. The article, similar to Fox News' similar story, stated that President Trump barely reacted to the phone landing on the stage. Heavy.com gave much further details into the story than Fox News' two short paragraphs.
https://heavy.com/news/2019/04/william-rose/
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Gas or Pass
There was word going around that gas prices in California were skyrocketing. More specifically, it was rumored the prices were jacked up to $9.40/gallon in the Death Valley. Obviously, this is absurd and is not true. Gasoline prices in California were high at the time but they were not THAT high. It was later revealed by G. Dan Mitchell, who is a Californian photographer, that the image was one that he had taken several years back but altered it as an “April Fools Day Prank”. What made this even more believable a first was the gas station in the photo was notorious for high gas prices! What an April Fools Day joke! https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/26/fake-news-stories-visuals-week/39405571/ [1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, and 114 words]
Journalist in Australia
Journalist in Australia
A journalist Paul Farrell who is a journalist for Guardian Australia in Australia. He mentioned in an interview with medium.com that working on the Nauru Files was one of the “most challenging and interesting moments of [his] career so far.” The Nauru Files is the lives of asylum seekers in detention detailed in a unique database. Paul Farrell had to find and read through many reports of incidents in this Australia detention center. He used logos to inform the readers of the information he found throughout the years. He mainly used graphs and color codes on things to make everything easier to understand. [1 image, 2 links, 1 quotation, 104 words]
Cell Phone Thrown at Trump
Per Fox News' website, a crowd-goer threw a what appeared to be a cell phone at Donald Trump as he approached the podium to speak at an NRA convention today. Fox News chose not to name the accused and also didn't give much mention to a reaction from the crowd or President Trump. Fox News simply stated that the cell phone landed to the left of President Trump and he continued on with no reaction at all. According to Bradley Brewer, a man attending the convention, "The individual was swiftly arrested and the President continued with no problem" (Brewer).#BREAKING: A phone was thrown at @realDonaldTrump during his introduction at the @NRA convention.
The individual was swiftly arrested and the President continued with no problem.
1,852 people are talking about this
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/person-appears-to-throw-phone-at-stage-as-trump-approaches-nra-podium/ar-BBWkdx0?li=BBnbfcL
[1 image, 1 links, 1 quotation, 100 words]
"Six Rhetorical Devices that have Served Trump Well"
Despite what different views we might have when it comes down to politics, especially with our current president, there is no doubt President Trump has managed to come up with very funny and interesting catch phrases. On this article by Statesman, they provided a list of the six different types of rhetorical devices President Trump has used throughout his presidency. They claim that Trump's most used rhetorical device is the argument ad baculum, which is the most headline grabbing. Mercieca has a book on Trump's rhetorical use. According to the article, "She has watched and listened to some 300 Trump rallies during his campaign and presidency, many of them multiple times, in writing a book-in-progress titled “Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump". They also said, "She believes Trump is a rhetorical genius and a demagogue, noting the latter term has not always been considered pejorative".
Link:
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Front Page News
Going through Newseumed’s archived front pages, it’s evident that they use enlarged, bold words along with eye-catching, controversial visuals to grab the reader’s attention. Their headlines, while massive, are very short - the shorter the headline, the bigger they can make the font is what they seem to aim for. These headlines are followed by shorter summaries that elaborate on the bolded text, but don’t give away too much so that the readers are forced to open up the magazine or article and read further. Visuals are also vital to these front pages. Bright, vivid colors are used to emphasize celebration or chaos, while images with muted colors, or sometimes no image at all, are used to accompany a solemn and somber story. For example, a front page from 2015 has a full black cover with the words “JE SUIS CHARLIE” in bold and nothing more. The event, which led to “subsequent unity rallies in support of free speech and free press,” was significant enough to not need a visual or accompanying subtext. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, 183 words]
Fake News
Donald Trump is the first person who comes to mind when hearing “fake news” because of how much he throws the term around. Trump loudly denounces “fake news” constantly and persistently throughout the media whenever there are claims about himself or his actions that he deems incorrect. However, Trump has become increasingly extreme with his denouncements to the extent that is alarming to most Americans. His idea to stop the spreading of fake news is to counter with authority, a few examples include “threatening to jail political opponents or urging police to be violent with criminal suspects.” To play with power in this manner is concerning and it’s understandable why Americans would be alarmed, but his actions seem to be counterproductive as it is actually encouraging his opposers to speak up and protest more. On the other hand, those who support him may follow suit and assume their own authority to punish resistors who spread “fake news.” As president, Donald Trump should be more careful with his rhetoric as it is further dividing the country into those who are with him and those who are against him. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, 196 words]
On Stage Chemistry with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
With the amount of technology that we are surrounded by on a daily basis, it is no surprise that many people post fake news. One photograph can completely misrepresent a situation and can spread quickly with a single post. This was the case on the day of the Oscars. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga were performing their new
song ‘Shallow’ together on stage. Many people noticed how close the performers seemed to be and people were quick to post that they must be in love with each other. Some even claimed that Lady Gaga was "'dating' Jeremy Renner to get 'revenge'" on Bradley Cooper for not committing to her. Others had even claimed that Lady Gaga had broken up with Christian Carino because she was secretly in love with Bradley. However, she was quick to shut down all the rumors by claiming that the love people saw was "what we wanted you to see". She claimed that the love they have for each other is "a love based in solid friendship and admiration for one another". Just by looking at the posts on social media platforms, people would be confused to their actual relationship and believe that they have romantic feelings for each other even though that may not actually be the case. [1 image, 3 links, 3 quotations, 214 words]
More information can be found on these websites:
- https://www.gossipcop.com/lady-gaga-jeremy-renner-bradley-cooper-dating-revenge/
- https://stylecaster.com/lady-gaga-bradley-cooper-dating-response/
- https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a26976860/why-lady-gaga-broke-up-with-christian-carino/
News Feeds:
Twitter and Wall Street Journal are both outlets for sharing and finding news, but they both have a different approach to how the news is communicated. With Twitter, it is up to the individual to find news sources that they deem reliable and then they “follow” the respective source’s account. These news sources can be family and friends or companies, brands, and actual news outlets such as the New York Times and Washington Post. While many people view Twitter as just another social media app, Twitter’s CMO Leslie Berland said that it is more than just that by claiming “Twitter shows me what’s up in the world...Twitter shows me what’s up. Twitter keeps me on the pulse. Twitter keeps me informed.” While it can be used for pure social purposes, it is also a reliable source of what’s current in the world, but it is up to the individual to seek the news.
The Wall Street Journal app however is made purely for news and will only give you the news. While it can have social purposes, such as commenting on posts, WSJ’s main goal is to share current events to keep their users informed. Twitter is more curated to the user because the individual chooses who they follow, meaning they choose what content they see. While WSJ does allow you to follow specific events, it will always display all sorts of news and will help you find other events to keep up with. Both Twitter and the Wall Street Journal app share news, but Twitter is more socially oriented and more curated to the user while WSJ aims to keep their audience informed on all sorts of news. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, 287 words]
All the President's Men
More information on the movie review can be found here:
Fox News vs. CNN
For a long time, news sources have been known to align towards different ideological groups. Due to this reason, the way news is portrayed on these websites has varied with the two most common differences being CNN and Fox News. CNN uses more details and complex sentences to display their content. This provides the reader with more details which may or may not help them get a better understanding of the topic they are reading about. In addition, the articles posted in their website uses more pictures. Fox News on the other hand relies on shorter titles like “’Evidence’ of Trouble” to 
The websites mentioned can be found below:
Journalists Lives are in Danger, More Now than Ever
Journalists have always risked their lives to bring coverage to the most enthralling and important situations happening worldwide. But Journalists have also put their lives at risk for being journalists. On this article by BBC News, it is stated that, "More than 2,500 journalists have been killed since 1990, and media rights groups warn, on World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, of a growing trend of journalists being targeted for the work they do". It is crazy to think about how many journalists are oppressed back in their home countries based on the simple fact that their government doesn't want them to report on certain issues going on to protect themselves. "In the last six years, it's been an incredibly dangerous time to be a journalist," says Mahoney, CPJ's deputy executive director. "Many journalists are not killed in conflicts, they are murdered and deliberately targeted for their work." BBC News states that most of the killings have to do with investigations in regards to political corruption and organized crime. Often, those with wealth and power buy journalists to portray them as something that they are not to keep their image clean or to better it. An example would be the President of Venezuela who does not allow videos or articles about what is going on in his country to be published unless it is showing his "good" side.
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"Being a Journalist in the Trump Era"
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| Image from article
In this article, the caption below the image was about a police officer standing outside to guard The New York Times building after the shooting at a newspaper in Annapolis, MD. The police department wanted to protect news media organizations from psychos who wanted to do harm to organizations they disagreed with. Miles Howard, the writer of the article went into detail about what it felt like to be a journalist during Trump's presidency. He stated that "It began on the campaign trail, where Donald Trump would take the stage at his rallies and rage against the media to the point where journalists in attendance found themselves harassed by Trump fans and manhandled by his security staff". He followed by saying that, "What Trump did was embolden people who already held a grudge against the media to be more openly contemptuous". Trump without a doubt did lead his audience into attacking news outlets they believed to be "Fake News". As a matter of fact, that is a phrase Trump has being using since his campaign days and it is one of his most popular phrases. Whatever his goal was, President Trump managed to get conservatives to believe news outlets like CNN, are fake news.
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Recall on Kids2 rocking sleepers
Kids2 rocking sleepers recalled after five infant deaths
Kids2 recalled all models of its rocking sleepers on Friday
after five infant deaths. The recalls affect almost 700,000 products sold under
like Bright Stars, Ingenuity, and Disney Baby. They introduced the rocking sleepers
in March of 2012. But since then five infant deaths occurred. “after the
infants rolled from their back to their stomach while unrestrained, or under
other circumstances.” The sleepers were sold to major retailers such as Walmart,
target and Toys “R” Us. The announcement also comes from a similar recall of
Fisher-Price Rock ‘n’ Play sleepers after the product was linked to more than
30 infant deaths in the last 10 years. [106 words, 1 quotation, 1 image, 1
link]
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