https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-51316270
This news piece covers a directors input on the continuous lack of diversity in this Oscars. I genuinely trust most of what I read from the BBC, as they are a well trusted news organization. This article was no different. The reporter, Steve Holden, got his information from the interview between director Melina Matsouka and the BBC’s own Radio1 Newsbeat. I think this makes it more credible because Holden did not go to a random secondary source but wrote about information received within their own sources. He also hyperlinked other similar articles from the BBC to support his information as well as a hyperlink to the Directors Guild of America. I like how he gave a background on Melina Matsouka and her work, one being a trailer from her latest film. I think this all shows that he did research on the topic as well as who he was talking about. Holden not only talked about this important topic but gave the perspective from a significant figure as well as explained how she is working on this issue through her own work. This article also provided only facts and the information given directly by Matsoua, so there was no personal comments from the reporter on the subject. Overall, instead of just repeating what everyone else is saying, he provided insight from someone who is personally affected by this issue.
I never paid attention to all the opinion pieces I would read, especially from the New York Times. This one clearly states it is an opinion written by their opinion section writer, Spencer Bokat-Lindell. This helped me notice how much freedom they have with their writing compared to the news article from the BBC. For one, the title is very upfront with, “Very male, very white”. Lindell also started this article aggressively with, “If, as an award show, you were looking to start controversy, you might start by nominating only male directors for the second year in a row”. The viewer can already tell how strongly he also feels about this issue. I also sensed a sarcastic, humorous -attitude in this writing, which is not seen in news pieces that are supposed to be kept neutral. I also think this article is a credible source. Aside from his own comments, he also provided sources from other New York Times articles that spoke on the same issue. Lindell also sourced significant critics, Tweets and other journalists from credible news sources like the New Yorker. I also appreciated the way Lindell spoke on this issue. He showed various comments from different people -whether they were in the movie business or not. This article really captured how important it is that we talk about this issue.
I found this article written by Stephen King to be really interesting. I really enjoy his work, so it was great to see his input on this topic. In this article he spoke over the comment he made on Twitter and wanted to clarify how he believes there is a major problem at hand. This article was most definitely the most bold one and he did not hold back on the Academy’s wrong doings. As for credibility, his personal opinion was backed up by facts surrounding previous Oscar statistics. King sourced various articles, but were credible ones such as the LA Times. I think the New York Times did great in letting King share his perspective on the matter. Although, King is receiving criticism, it was important that he was given this platform to explain his thoughts behind his controversial tweet.
The first opinion piece I read shared a lot of tweets pertaining to the Oscar issue and I like how this news piece also shared a few of them. The reporter, Sarah Whitten did not proved her own opinion but shared how controversial this topic is from all the comments going around in the media. She also provided a summary of major nominees and those who were snubbed instead of just talking about the problem, which I think is needed for viewers who want to get the most information out of this issue. Whitten also briefly explained how voting works which she sourced directly from the Oscars website. I felt this article was one of the best because of how in depth it was about the lack of diversity but also on the Academy’s process . This news article did not just cover the problem and what celebrities are saying about it but also the statistics on the Academy’s history. Like the other sources, she also sourced credible articles from respected news organizations.
