Category: students

When looking at celebrities in the media, there are a lot of sources that do not provide the most accurate information. Often times, these unreliable sources will give out wrong information just to make the story a little juicier. It is getting harder and harder to find genuinely reliable sources in terms of celebrity news, but there are definitely some still out there. With that being said, I will give my top five media outlets that offer the most accurate and reliable stories for celebrities.

PEOPLE

People fills its articles with quotes directly from people who know the whole story which provides the readers with very accurate articles. This is not a celebrity gossip outlet; it is real news with reliable stories explaining what happened.

A recent article titled “Former Love Island Host Caroline Flack Found Dead at 40” gives information of her death based off of her family’s own statements. They also provide more insight as to what her life was like before her death including different allegations and scandals related to her job. All information provided is linked to other sources to confirm what is being said.

TWITTER

Twitter is a great outlet to find news about celebrities because it is coming directly from them. A lot of celebrities like to post updates that give the real story and not just what everyone is assuming to be true from the news outlets.

A prime example of this is from Jordyn Woods. There was a huge scandal that she was involved last year so she took to Twitter to post her side of the story.
INSTAGRAM

Instagram is another social media outlet that is a great place to get information directly from the celebrities themselves. Like Twitter, Instagram provides news that is not dramatized because it is given from the only people who know the whole story.

Selena Gomez previously took a break from social media and gave her followers an in-depth post as to why she was doing this. Most of the time when celebrities do this, they do not inform anyone of it (because they shouldn’t have to), but this leads to celebrity gossip sources making articles making assumptions as to why they did. Her post let people know that “negative comments can hurt anybody’s feelings” and that she just needed some time away from it all.

US WEEKLY

US Weekly is a great place for all things celebrity related whether the stories are big or small. They offer daily articles with quotes directly from the people involved to provide credibility.

A recent article titled “Jamie Lynn Spears’ Daughter Maddie Hospitalized Following an Incident at Recess” gives the story on what happened to her daughter and adds post’s from Jamie’s Instagram about the incident.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

The New York Times is a great news outlet overall for any news that you may be looking for. Their articles on celebrities have some of the most accurate information by adding links and direct quotes for proof of authenticity.

They recently posted another article that I found on Caroline Flack and they did a great job at providing links to everything being said as well as direct quotes to back it up.

SOCIAL MEDIA USE

My social media use has been decreasing recently. I am currently in two classes that deal with nearly this same material, so other than doing assignments that require the use of media, I do not get on a lot. This is mostly due to my busy school and work schedule. Since being in these classes, I find myself clearing out some of the old pages I had been following. I am filling my feeds with more educational information and news outlets so that I do not feel as guilty about getting on social media. I used to feel very unfulfilled after getting off of social media because I wasn’t looking at anything beneficial to me.

 

 

 

 

This past week, I have made the extra effort to search out some of the most well crafted, informative, and entertaining content related to veganism that the internet had to offer me. Below I curated 5 of my favorite finds of the week and broke down what it was that made them stand out amongst the rest.

Unnatural Vegan : Unnatural Vegan is a vegan Youtube influencer. She makes videos pertaining to the science behind veganism, as well as videos explaining when / why vegan diets can go wrong and how to fix them. (This weeks’ video pertaining to valid reasons to eat meat was particularly interesting!)

Medium // Nothing You Eat is All-the-Way Vegan : This article is a good eye opener to the fact that veganism is still not a completely cruelty free diet. Focusing on fertilizers, this article covers what is actually in our fertilizers and why organic is not always better.

@TheVeganSociety // Vegan and Plant-Based Diets Use Less Resources : The Vegan Society is an affluent vegan twitter that shares news, recipes, and original articles pertaining to veganism. The article we are discussing here was shared to their Twitter this past week, and pertains to the benefits a vegan diet has on the use of our earth’s resources.

BBC News // Why the Vegan Diet is Not Always Green : This article published on BBC, a source I often look to for well sourced articles, does a great job at acknowledging how much less harmful a vegan diet is on our environment without making it appear harmless. It includes verifiable statistics pertaining to the environmental impact of our diets, as well as information on the impacts of importing the majority of our fruits and vegetables.

Veg News // These 25 Black-Owned Restaurants Are Redefining Vegan Food : This article posted by Veg News is a well crafted list of black-owned vegan restaurants, including pictures from each place, emphasizing the variety that can be had in a vegan diet. In addition, this article does a good job of showing that vegan food can be made across many cultures and is not just for the stereotypical young, white, and rich character it is often associated with.

My media use this week was much different than it normally is, and I think that is a good thing. While I still spent plenty of my time doing nonproductive things on the internet, beginning my time with a purpose and a goal was really helpful for me. I think knowing that I was searching for items to curate this list made me more apt to search out sources that I felt were trustworthy, and gave my time spent online a purpose rather than something to do mindlessly, or to pass time.

Being someone that has considered themselves to be news avoidant, having to search out news and content relating to a topic I feel passionately about made me realize that news is not all bad when it is gathered from the right places. Previously I have admittedly gathered much of my news from just my Facebook feed, and curating this list made me dive deeper into what the sources I usually favor have to offer. BBC for example is a source I often don’t think twice about when it comes to credibility, and while I still am a large fan of all they have to offer I did realize that there is definitely bias and personal opinion included in much of their content.

In addition to BBC, Unnatural Vegan is one of my favorite sources for content centered around a science based vegan viewpoint and I think that if anything I have become a bigger fan of what she produces. Unnatural Vegan does an outstanding job of coming from a place that is fact based, rather than coming from a place of emotion or passion in her content. While this assignment didn’t necessarily change my sources for news, it did make me realize that news does not have to have such a negative connotation if it is being sourced from reliable and relatable sources.

Aside from just the impacts that this assignment had on my sources, I think the biggest impact it had was giving my internet use purpose. I realized that most of my time online is filled by consuming information that is often negative or just not useful to me, and that I can get a lot more out of my usage if I search out things I am interested in rather than settling for whatever pops up on my Facebook newsfeed.

 

When it comes to body image, any celeb would be lying if they said press about their appearance, gender, or general setting of value didn’t affect them. While blogs and online publications give journalists (and sometimes the public) a place to judge/report on musicians, they also give these musicians a platform speak out about how they would like to be viewed and how they see themselves. Here are examples of both sides – ranked from 6 (less noteworthy) to 1 (more noteworthy).

6. RANKER – “The Best Female Visuals In K-pop Right Now”

The creator of this page has presented 31 different K-pop female singers and allowed viewers to vote on who has the best visuals.

This article prefaces the rankings with a general overview of good visuals: “Korean beauty standards, like light skin, slim figures, and big eyes, play a huge factor in selecting the visual members of the group. ”

I would not consider this particularly notable because it doesn’t use official sources to curate their list. It does have some base because it produces results directly from the audience – the people who are fans of these k-pop stars. Though there is no area for the fans to discuss their reasons for voting up or down.

5. PEREZ HILTON – “Taylor Swift Reveals Her Past Struggle With Eating Disorders & Body Image Issues In ‘Miss Americana’”

Perez Hilton’s article draws much of it’s material directly from Taylor Swift’s Miss Americana documentary, playing now on Netflix.

Because it’s practically reporting straight from the original source itself without much non-cited opinion or information, I see this particular article notable in that sense.

That being said, Perez Hilton has been known to post more “breaking news” as an attempt to be one of the first sources to report a scandal or story. For that reason, I still stay wary of this blog.

4. BUZZFEED – “Sam Smith Opened Up About Their New Pronouns And Being Misgendered By The Public”

This article is similar to Perez Hilton in the sense that it is drawing directly from a different, very notable source. This time the source is an exclusive interview between Sam Smith and New Music Daily by Apple News. The interview is linked at the bottom of the article.

This article picks out the pieces of the interview which relate to the subject of pronouns and being misgendered, which makes it accurate. The author does not add their own views or a comment section for viewers.

3. DAILY MAIL – “Too sexy for the Super Bowl! Parents slam J-Lo’s pole-dancing and Shakira’s tongue-wagging half-time performances blasting that they were inappropriate for kids”

I wanted to highlight this article in particular because it shows both sides of the argument. The author includes screen shots from Twitter accounts who think the Super Bowl halftime show was inappropriate and others who believe other performers (i.e. cheerleaders and Adam Levine) have been just as risque, but did not face nearly as much scrutiny.

There is also a section below the article that lets the readers voice their opinion. I am not sure if there are moderators who keep an eye on this area, but this allows for a more transparent conversation.

2. HUFFPOST – “Rebecca Black Shares Emotional Post On ‘Friday,’ What She’d Tell Her 13-Year-Old Self”

While Rebecca Black’s Twitter was directly quoted frequently, this piece links other sources like NBC and the Hollywood Reporter to present more information. Because it’s not just quoting the star’s social media, I find it to have more depth than the previously mentioned articles.

The author herself has had experience with other sources like Vanity Fair, Apple, BULLETT, and Conde Nast Traveler, which are very well-trusted outlets. This gives the writer more notoriety.

1. BILLBOARD  – “ITZY, K-Pop’s Rookie It Girls, Are Sharing Their Confident, Self-Love Message With the World”

Billboard’s article starts off explaining how K-Pop band “ITZY” rose to fame, including links to other Billboard articles which related to the topic.

This was an exclusive interview with the band members, so it is a very notable source. Because of this, it wasn’t the type of article that would require “both sides of a story” to be discussed.

It was very accurate – all the names were spelled correctly. This was a thorough article, asked the band members many revealing questions (i.e. “You’re entering your second year as ITZY as we move further into 2020 and approach your first anniversary, so how do you feel moving past your debut era?”), and let all of them answer.

Revisiting The 24-Hour Media Assignment

The first thing I difference that stood out between this assignment and the 24-Hour Media Assignment was that I was expanding my intake of media sources in order to find articles that related to my topic.

This was not my expectation. I assumed I would organically come across this subject a lot more often because I follow a large amount of musicians and media sources that cover pop culture. However, they are not necessarily covering topics this specific. They often discuss music releases, stories behind the music, and outfits, rather than image and identity.

Billboard is one source that stayed consistent between the two assignments. It has remained one of my favorite trusted outlets to view music news – one of the big reasons is because of it’s exclusive interviews like the one mentioned above.

I have never gone to Perez Hilton for my news, not because I don’t trust it, but because it is always so cluttered with numerous “breaking news” articles. The actual structure of the website is busy and full of click-bait pieces. I prefer sources that are straight to the point, clean in visuals, and aren’t as much focused on gossip.

I don’t directly follow Buzzfeed, although oddly enough, I find myself on their website quite often. Buzzfeed shows up on my Apple News feed on my iPhone and the articles tend to be subject that interest me – be it fashion, politics, music, or breaking news. I also find that many of my Facebook friends post these pieces from Buzzfeed, so naturally I end up clicking on some of them. This is a source I may consider making more of an effort to follow.

Typically when I’m searching for news or information regarding the global spread of Korean culture (which more often than not focuses on popular Korean music, more commonly referred to as K-pop), there aren’t any specific websites I regularly check aside from Twitter and what shows up on my own timeline. Throughout this curation process, I’ve realized that the news I find on my Twitter timeline is already a personally curated conglomerate of news sources regarding Hallyu. So I reverse engineered my timeline and found the direct sources that make up my curated list here.

• The r/kpop subreddit

This subreddit is a one-stop shop for all news regarding K-pop and K-pop adjacent information. It’s noteworthy because it’s a moderated community made up of nearly 460,000 subscribers that contribute to the content of the subreddit so you get a variety of opinions and viewpoints as well as the bonus if being able to interact with the original posters as well as other commenters.

• Josh and Ollie’s YouTube channel

Their YouTube channel, 영국남자, (romanized as yeongguknamja) translates to english man. The Korean Englishman channel is notable due to the fact that Josh has been closely connected with Korean communities growing up and has a vast wealth of knowledge regarding K-culture and Hallyu that he shares with their channel subscribers through fun videos.

• Megan Bowen’s YouTube channel

The now self-titled YouTube channel was previously known as “chonunmigooksaram” which is a romanized Korean statement meaning “I am a person from the United States.” Megan Bowen grew up in the United States but found she had a love for Korean culture that lead her to becoming an expatriate to live in South Korea. She makes videos to share her knowledge about Korean culture and the differences or similarities it has compared to America.

• The Hallyu+ forum

This forum, which has Hallyu right in the name is yet another user based news outlet that allows members of the forum to share pictures, videos and links to other news sites. Only approved members of the forum can make original posts on the Hallyu+ forums in order to minimize the number of click-bait articles and false information being shared.

• Korea.net

This website is a great place to find news and information regarding Korean culture and its spread to other countries because it pulls its news stories and information from a variety of different sources. From their own “About Us” page they say “Korea.net is the Internet portal that represents the voice of the Korean government and which promotes Korea online.”

 

My Media Use This Week

A few weeks ago I made a post about my media use in the span of 24 hours. I’d say the day that I tracked was a moderately lighter day of media consumption than what I typically partake in so revisiting the idea of tracking what I’ve consumed was exciting. This week I was home a lot more than I would normally be because I was sick with the flu, so I had much more free time to read news, watch Netflix and browse through various applications and websites on my phone and laptop.

Much of my time was spent on Twitter and YouTube. I found myself regularly checking Twitter Moments more than I normally would. There I found a few politics related news bits that I thought were interesting and through that I came across a few verified accounts belonging to journalists and news reporters that I ended up following. this week I also watched a lot more news on television than what’s typical for me, but I attribute that to the upcoming elections and wanting to be knowledgable about the candidates in the primaries.

This course made me realize that I should bolster my news consumption by following reputable accounts on media that I regularly use for mindless entertainment. So I made a separate account on Twitter that I now use as a news source on the go. I followed verified accounts for sources such as The Guardian, BBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist (just to name a few) and have regularly read actual news articles instead of waiting for a coworker or family member to tell me about something newsworthy that had recently happened.

Radio Articles – A Curated List

Podcasts and digital streaming services get all the attention, but don’t count AM/FM radio out just yet. With two recent headline-grabbing issues – the lack of female artists being played on country radio and the mass layoffs of iHeartMedia’s on-air talent – the focus is on radio once again. These two issues touch on the heart of what radio is about: the programming. These five articles cover these topics in interesting and provocative ways. Hopefully this will bring more attention to a medium that still has a lot to offer the listening audience.

• Gender Representation on Country Format Radio: A Study of Spins Across Dayparts (2002-2018)

https://songdata.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SongData-Watson-Country-Airplay-TODStudy-December2019.pdf

By Jada E. Watson, in consultation with WOMAN Nashville, December 6, 2019

This 30-page research study analyzes the amount of female, male, and male-female ensembles (males and females in a group) artists played during certain times of the day. The resulting data show that male solo artists are played 75.5% of the time, versus 19.6% for female solo artists and 4.9% for male-female ensembles.

• New Study Shows Staggering Imbalance of Gender Representation at Country Radio

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8545668/study-shows-gender-representation-imbalance-country-radio

By Annie Reuter, December 6, 2019

Just on the heels of the research study by Jada E. Watson, Billboard published an article that featured the data points from Watson’s analysis. This coverage helped to give Watson’s study the media attention that it deserves.

• ‘Everybody’s in Revolt’: How One Radio Station Fought iHeartMedia Cuts — and Won

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/iheartmedia-radio-layoffs-murph-andy-937985/

By Elias Leight, January 17, 2020

This Rolling Stone article covers the layoffs and subsequent rehiring of six on-air personalities at a Des Moines radio station, KXNO. Andy Fales and Keith Murphy, hosts of a sports radio show and not part of the layoffs, stayed off the air in protest to their colleagues losing their jobs. Fans and sponsors joined the protest, and the station hired back the six employees.

• Inside Country Radio’s Hidden, Sexist Policies That Keep Female Artists Off the Air

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v74dn3/a-country-radio-station-admitted-they-cant-play-two-female-artists-98kcq-kacey-musgraves-discrimination

by Drew Schwartz, January 17, 2020

This article from Vice is a comprehensive look at the issue of country radio not playing female artists in the same amount as male artists. Schwartz uses Jada E. Watson’s study as a source, along with covering the Twitter posts of female country artists and one by Michigan station KCQ DJ Barbara Sheltraw, which was later denounced by their program director as being meant as humorous.

Quote:

“[There are two] unwritten rules when it comes to giving female artists airtime. The first: Women shouldn’t make up more than about 15 percent of your set. The second: You should never play two women back-to-back.”

• Have Layoffs Done Collateral Damage to Radio?

https://jacobsmedia.com/have-layoffs-done-collateral-damage-to-radio/

by Fred Jacobs, February 4, 2020

This editorial by Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media Strategies, a media research and consulting firm, talks about the recent iHeartMedia layoffs and resulting media attention as being bad publicity for an industry already hitting a rough patch. Jacobs starts his piece explaining that radio must change to keep up with a changing media industry but finishes with a very heartfelt opinion on why radio stations need to keep their on-air personalities as a way to connect with listeners.

Media Diary – Part 2

My media usage this week is not very different from Part 1. I am still getting the bulk of my media on YouTube, as sort of a one-stop shopping site. This week was a revisit of the artist Nina Hagen, a German alternative artist who was on the fringe. At night I put on headphones and listen to an audiobook or meditation. My preference lately is classic Swedish crime thrillers from Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, whose Martin Beck series came out in the 60s. At work I am too busy for any media, and once I get home I am mostly reading textbooks or articles for class. Morning and afternoon commute times this week involved connecting my phone to the Bluetooth receiver and listening to Apple Music.

There are a lot of political issues happening now, but I prefer not to read articles or watch news stories about them because it can be upsetting, and I have little control over the outcome. Instead I am a headline surfer: I scan headlines to get a general idea of what is going on. In this way I found out about Trump being acquitted without reading the details. My goal after this class is to have enough information to find credible news sources and stay more current on important topics.

 

 

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are around the corner and, as I’ve mentioned in my past blogs, skateboarding is going to be the newest event included.  As a repeat contender, the USA will obviously participate in the skating events, which sparked my curiosity about the USA team and whole olympic skating process. So, after doing some research, I’ve compiled a small list of the best sources I could find and hope to educate someone unfamiliar with the new event and the USA skate team on some of the best information.

• “The 2020 Skateboarding Olympics EXPLAINED”:

This is a great interview from The Berrics‘ YouTube channel with Josh Friedberg, CEO of USA skateboarding(the national governing body for skateboarding in the US), that explains a little bit of history behind skateboarding itself, and then goes into great detail about skateboarding as an event in the upcoming Olympic games.  This piece is a great starting point for understanding USA skating and the rules of the events coming up since Josh is a key member in making it happen.

Source: The Berrics YouTube Channel youtube.com/user/theberrics

“The quotas are set up so that no more than 3 people from any one country in any event can compete…“ –Josh Friedberg discussing the rules of skateboarding in the 2020 Olympics

 

 

• Qualification System:

This is a page from the World Skate Organization giving a detailed outline of how skaters can qualify for the upcoming Olympics, as well as the process of qualifications. This is solid source of information since it’s coming from the organization creating the rules for the skating events, and is a great learning tool for someone unfamiliar with how qualifications work and want to know the detailed steps.

Source: worldskate.org

“The Women’s Park and Street events and Men’s Park and Street events will each be comprised of exactly 20 athletes: the three (3) highest placed in the 2020 Season World Skate World Skateboarding Championship events will be directly qualified. Sixteen (16) will be qualified through the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings (OWSR) and one (1) Host Country place will be allocated to the highest ranked Host Country skateboarders in each event.” – World Skate Qualification Pathway, Section D. 

 

• “TEAM AMERICA’S SWEET SIXTEEN: THE 2020 OLYMPICS SKATEBOARDERS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED” By: Stu Gomez

Here’s a great article by Stu Gomez on The Berrics webstie, introducing the 2020 Olympic Men’s and Women’s park and street team, so that people can get familiar with the talented folks who they might see competing on the big screen. It’s a great starting point for someone to learn names of skaters competing on the USA team, and possibly spark interest into learning more about these athletes.

Source: theberrics.com

” Josh Friedberg, USA Skateboarding’s CEO, was on the mic introducing 16 skaters who will make history at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.” – Stu Gomez

 

 

• “Introducing Team USA’s Olympic Skateboarding Uniforms“

By: Dave Carnie

This is a pretty interesting article by Dave Carnie for Transworld Skateboarding showing some of the designs being created for the 2020 Olympic skate uniforms, including the US, as well as a little backstory behind the inspiration and the rules and regulations of Olympic uniforms. This is a very informative article for anybody wanting to learn more about how skating in the Olympics will look and why.

Source:  skateboarding.transworld.net

“It should also be noted that Olympic skaters are allowed to wear their own shoes and ride their own equipment (boards, trucks, wheels, etc.) at all times and the Nike apparel is only mandatory during Olympic events.” – Dave Carnie

 

 

• “Skateboarders wonder whether the Olympics will change sport’s renegade image” By: Rick Maese

This last article is interesting because, in my opinion, it gives a very unbiased view on how skating in the Olympics may be affecting skateboarding culture. Rick Maese for the Washington Post gets many perspectives from pros in the skating community about how the culture might change due to the Olympics, some good thoughts and some…. not so good. This may not be teaching more about the technical aspects of skating in the Olympics, but I found it to be an interesting perspective to report on, and those who may not know skating may not even realize this type of backlash could be caused by the Olympics.

Source:  washingtonpost.com

“The International Olympic Committee, desperate for a younger audience, saw an opportunity to inject something fresh into its summer lineup, a decision that was embraced by some skaters but cursed by others. What they mostly agree on: Good or bad, the new platform could bring big changes to the sport.“ – Rick Maese

Media Consumption Pt. 2:

After another week of exploring the Internet looking for credible and valuable sources to use in this weeks blog, I thought back on my previous post about my media consumption and if anything is different or has changed.  To my surprise, I’ve actually changed my behaviors a bit since I first started writing this blog, even though it doesn’t really feel like it.  I’ve noticed that I’ve been heading to The Washington Post more often than I used to, but that seems like the only new site I’ve consistently visited this past week looking for a good story.

A change in behavior that I have also noticed is that I’m using social media less to find specific topics of interest or sources to research. This week I was using google a lot more to search a topic, visit multiple websites speaking on that topic,  read and determine what I thought was relevant, and then research the source to decide if it was trustworthy or not. Before, I would most likely just visit websites or research people that I had already known about, but now it seems that I’m able to pick out important bits of information from multiple credible sources. I hope to keep my media consumption open to different perspectives, and from what I’ve noticed since the start of this blog, I’ve been slowly working toward that.

While political polarization and the issues with American political discourse arise often, there isn’t exactly a story on the topic every day. In fact, once a week would be a bit of a stretch, unless you include opinion columns, which there are typically more of that concern this topic. But, there is still a plethora of information on the topic out there, and here are a few of the best sources I found over the last week:

When I started looking for sources, I started on YouTube, mostly because I had never looked there for information on the topic, and I found a couple of really good sources.

1) This video, which is published by San Francisco State University, features a political science professor, Robert C. Smith. Smith spends about two minutes discussing political polarization, and the video is a great and fast explainer on the topic.

2) This may not be the best source, but I wanted to include it in this week’s blog anyway. Axios published a story on Valentine’s Day about dating in a politically polarized world, it was interesting and worth the read.

3) This William and Mary source is likely my favorite. Xiaowen Xu, a psychological sciences professor at William and Mary, is studying political polarization and its topics. What is especially interesting is that they are seeing if they twist a political belief or ideology in a way that fits the personality of someone, it may make someone more perceptive to that argument, according to the article.

4) This Pew Research study, which I have used in previous blogs, titled “Political Polarization in the American Public” is a great study and is very well-sourced, though it is a couple of years outdated at this point. But, the study clearly points out that America underwent a shift when political opposites began to shift further and further apart, and it still happens to this day.

5) Additionally, this Gallup research by Frank Newport better explains the impact of polarization on America. Newport writes that “polarization and partisan conflict lead to inaction, as ‘my way or the highway,’ ideologically rigid mentalities lower the probability of achieving the compromise that should be at the heart of legislative functioning.” Newport also discusses the benefits of polarization, which makes his work unique compared to other work on the topic.

These are a few of the sources I have clicked on when scrolling through Instagram or Facebook -the two sites that I use the most when it comes to my daily news intake.

I have gotten better at clicking on articles that my friends share instead of just scrolling past them. I think this has a lot to do with me wanting to see if they are actually sharing stories from credible news outlets. I do still have a habit of passing up headlines and sharing that information from the few sentences I read, but this lists includes some that I actually took the time to search up again.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/woman-murder-ingrid-escamilla-cupids-fault-mexico-femicides-dead-a9331291.html

I was a bit skeptical when reading this one because I have never read an article by Independent. I clicked on the authors Twitter and learned she also works for the Guardian and Vice which I find to be credible news sources. This article was also different from the others I have read on the topic because they gave numbers on how femicide has been growing, but would say “according to sources” or “according to activists”. This one gave a name on a specialist who tracks the percentage, although it is in the UK, it was good to hear from a specialist on the matter.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-51488124?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c2690r7e1kpt/femicide&link_location=live-reporting-story

I like this article because it is more of an update after the murder and protests occurred. It briefly explained how Ingrid Escamilla was brutally murdered, but the main story of the article is how people are posting beautiful photos in her honor.  They shared several tweets from people who were sharing the photos. I find it important for news articles to share posts from social media that pertain to the story; social media is a popular way people get their news and important public figures might share information that viewers would want to see.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/a-couple-in-china-on-living-and-cooking-under-coronavirus-lockdown

I rarely ever read from the New Yorker. I have nothing against it, it is just never on my radar. What made me go on it was a sponsored ad on Instagram. I had stopped reading up on the coranvirus, but this article caught my attention, The headline, “A couple in China on Living (and Cooking) Under Coronavirus Lockdown”. I found this newsworthy because it was a direct interview between the author and the couple, so no, “sources say” or “according to”. Although, it had a lot to do with their cooking, I was able to read about it directly from people living under these circumstances which is different from the other articles I have seen.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8jQ1fhnQ2j/

I recently started following the Washington Post on Instagram when a friend DM’d me a post from them. I like how they give a brief description and some quotes on the story. This made me want to follow more news outlets on social media. Although, I try to limit myself when reading from my favorite outlets I do like the sources they referred to, one being ABC news.  I say I try to limit myself because, the photo they chose of Trump is a very unflattering one and their language is also very biased ;nevertheless their photo and description made me want to learn more about the story.

https://www.insider.com/trump-administration-will-send-border-agents-to-sanctuary-cities-2020-2

I also almost never read from Insider but I went in search more information on the topic. I have read a lot of fake Trump-immigration stories before so I wanted to verify this one before making my blood completely boil. I like how the authors name was provided with a hyperlink to more information on her. This article also had hyperlinks to many other credible sources like the New York Times, CNN, and their own Business Insider. I especially appreciate when authors link the other articles done by the same organization on the same topic. It is like reading a timeline with different updates on the story, therefore giving the reader a broader view on it.

My list is a bit different from when I started. It is definitely more broad and I can see I have opened it up to some more news organizations. When choosing these items, I did notice that the way I read and analyze stories is much different. Now, I actually click on the hyperlinks that are provided, I am more skeptical, and I search for more information if I don’t understand a certain part or if I am unsure on its credibility.

Also, I do not just think about the stories themselves, I actually consider the language that is being used, what questions or part of the story is not being asked/covered and whether the author is being transparent in how they obtained their information. I also started opening up to articles from other countries which does give me a different perspective on stories.

I used to be really bias and would stick only to the New York Times or the Washington Post. I think this was because I felt very vulnerable when it came to other news outlets. Although, we should always be skeptical no matter how big, or well-known an organization is, I think I would take it too far -therefore limiting my news sources. I also noticed I started following more news outlets on social media which has actually succeeded in making me read more news articles instead of just reading the headlines on Facebook.

At the start of my blog, I set out with a goal to provide my audience with a balanced view on vegan diets and the claims made for and against the diet.  The following content curation touches on the major reasons commonly discussed in pro and anti vegan conversations.  The outlined reasons for and against a vegan diet are sustainability, human health, and animal treatment.

Pro vegan diet

Climate Change, Cowspiracy the Sustainability Secret  

This infographic provides a visual of how a vegan diet could decrease a person’s impact on the environment and be a more sustainable option.

Demystifying Vegan Nutrition, International Vegan Association

It is common for people to advocate for supplements when on a vegan diet, but this article provides insight on a vegan diet without supplementation.

Why Go Vegan – For the Animals, Vegan Travel

This article discusses the reasons why it is inhumane to kill animals for human consumption.

Pro omnivore diet 

Why the Future Won’t Be Vegan, Ethical Omnivore Movement

This article discusses ways to be more sustainable, than adopting a vegan diet.  Ethical Omnivore Movement is the opposite of a pro vegan movement and offers the public a wide array of information on omnivore diets.

Eight Vegan Diet Dangers (One Is Irreversible), Clean Eating Kitchen

Originally published in 2018, this article was recently updated and provides a unique infographic that delivers information on possible deficiencies on a vegan diet.

Animal Welfare: FAQ & Useful Links, Michael Pollan

Michael addresses the common mistreatment of animals in the meat industry, provides a solution of grass fed meat and shares his experience for finding local meat.

Revisiting my media use:

My 24-hour media use did change the way I use media.  Since then, I have cleaned up who I follow on Twitter and have decided to use Twitter more as my news source.  I unfollowed most of the people that I had on there and now I mostly follow news organizations, celebrities, politicians, and brands I enjoy.  The biggest change to this list is the news organizations and politicians.  I don’t check Twitter everyday but have made a goal to check it at least three times a week.  From Twitter this week, I read articles from Global Voices, Chicago Tribune, Journal Sentinel, and a video from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

I have also adjusted my media use on LinkedIn and Facebook by joining groups that discuss public relations, communication and vegan diets.  I don’t believe I have decreased my screen time at all, but it has changed with my being more mindful about my media use and not mindlessly refreshing my pages.

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For this blog post I am going to introduce some of the top sources I have turned to for the information I have given over David Ross and his move to becoming the manager of the Chicago Cubs. Most of these sources come from news sites, although I have a few nontraditional ones as well. They are in no particular order but I have grouped the like ones together.

1. This source is an obvious one, it is the MLB’s official website. This article titled, “David Ross officially introduced as Cubs manager”, I find informative detail over the move written by an experienced sports analyst. One reason I like this particular post is because it includes a clip from the official press conference. One quote from this article that stuck with me is this “Ross believes — even with no managerial experience — he is prepared to handle all that comes with his new pile of responsibilities”, because it is something the viewer can revert back to the video to hear Ross himself explain.
2. I tend to read a lot from NBC Sports- Chicago, as I find they post relevant material and have a wide variety of journalist, that way I can read more than one opinion. With NBC being a major news corporation, I do find this to be a credible site to go to for sports information. The article “Cubs questions entering camp: What kind of manager will David Ross be?” was a good read. It ties in current situations now that training camp has started and gives proper insight into what we can expect in the foreseeable future. “Time will tell how successful Ross is in his new position. What’s evident is things will be different with him at the helm, which he and the Cubs hope will help the team be greater than the sum of its parts” in this quote the journalist remains fairly neutral on the subject, which is something I prefer when reading something informative.
3. From Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, a popular sports radio broadcast, he posted this article titled “David Ross: Cubs out to prove something” on the radio page’s main site. Bruce has covered all things Chicago baseball for over 30 years, so I find credibility in that fact, he also included a short clip of a broadcast, which I also tend to favor when choosing a news source. In the clip, Levine is seen interviewing Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks who mentions that the team is looking forward to the changes this coming season.
4. The “Chicago Cubs Manager Press Conference” is another source I tend to visit when looking over my topic of interest. Found straight from the Cubs official YouTube page, this 30 minute video is a great reference to turn to when reading other articles that claim to know what David Ross will be like as a manger. Known for being a lovable guy, Ross makes it known in his official conference that he will hold his players accountable when needed, and has high expectations for the team.
5. Jesse Rogers is a Chicago Cubs sports analyst who works for ESPN.I read his work on ESPN’s site from time to time, but I most often interact with Jesse’s work through twitter. His twitter handle is @ESPNChiCubs and he is who I turn for when news is breaking. Roger’s frequently live tweets press conferences between players and media staff and works diligently to inform the fans who follow him with accurate and important news. This here is a recent tweet from Rogers who talked with Kris Bryant and the details of all of the trade rumors. I found this funny as twitter is actually one of my favorite areas to receive sports news content.

Overall, I can tell you that the social media algorithm is in fact a thing as now all I see are sponsored sports ads, and my timelines are filled with all things Cubs. My media use over the last week has been bumped up compared to previous weeks. I spent time looking over sources, new and old, to find which sites I tend to gravitate towards for my sports news. I still visit sites like MLB.com., ESPN.com, SI.com, and NBCSports.com regularly, as I prefer to read from sports analysts who have been in “the game” for a while. I guess I equate years of experience to credibility in my mind. Though, I have found some new sources to turn to in the future.

Something I did this week that I haven’t done in a while was subscribe to online newspapers. The Chicago Tribune is a site that I saw myself visiting more than I ever used to and I am happy to become a consumer of their service. I also subscribe to the Chicago Sun-Times to read more news. Not only am I reading the sports columns, but I have started reading other news as well. I also started listening to more sports radio broadcasts. 670 the Score features Pat Hughes (one of my all-time favorite broadcasters) as well as Ron Coomer, who is one of the players that turned out to become a great play-by-play sportscasters. These new sources of information are vital to the world of sports, and I am excited to feature them in my new and upgraded media repertoire.