I will never forget the day the Chicago Cubs won the world series. I remember speeding home from work and making it just in time to watch the final three outs of the tenth inning and feeling so relieved that after 108 long years, the Cubs were once again World Champions.

I am grateful for the years we spent with Joe Maddon and I thought he was a great leader and mentor for what was a young team, but it was time to move on. After a lack luster few seasons post world series win, the players, owners, and fans were left wanting more.

When the news officially broke that Maddon and the Cubs agreed to part ways, I instantly took to the internet to read the thoughts and opinions of baseball fans everywhere. I came across this article from the New York Times, and I believe it sums up the situation well. Eventually reading articles became redundant as most of them say the same thing, just worded differently.

Cubs fans everywhere thanked Joe Maddon for bringing the Cubs and their fans the long awaited title win. This picture below was taken from the Cubs official Instagram page.

The media coverage was not lacking around the Cubs at the time of change. Everyday was filled with new rumors over who would become the new man in charge. From social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, to news outlets such as ESPN and NBC, everyone was a buzz with baseball. It was covered on Sports Center almost every day, as the reporters would continually update as new information got out to the public.

I remember when David Ross’ name started to be thrown around and at first, I was against the idea of a former player, having just retired a couple of years ago, coaching the same guys he played with. I follow many cubs accounts on Twitter, so that is primarily where I go to see what is going on in the world of baseball and is where I first saw the rumors of Ross becoming manager. From there I began seeing the news on Instagram, in Facebook comments, and articles from the Chicago Tribune and NBC.

When the rumors turned out to be true, that is when media started to flourish even more. I personally have never seen so many “armchair managers” come out of the woodwork until then. An armchair manager is a fan who thinks that they could coach a baseball team better than the actual manager (we all know a few people like this) and can usually be found sitting in a chair yelling at the TV when the game is on. Fans were concerned over Ross’ personal relationships with the players and how that would affect his coaching style.

In the end it came down to Joe Espada from the Houston Astros and David Ross. From what was covered by baseball experts and journalists in the field, it sounded like it was a tight race between the two, until they help a mock press conference where it was said the Ross dominated. From there it seemed like we got our answer, and a few days later it was officially announced that David Ross would become the Chicago Cubs 61^st manager. The Cubs capped off their search with posting photos across all media sites and welcoming the friendly face back to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.

Overall media coverage for this event was what I had anticipated. It was covered equally across social and news media, and gained a decent amount of publicity. Fans were more opinionated than usual, but I think that is only natural when your new manager was once a player you cheered for just a few years back. As a fan, I am hopeful. This press conference was what sealed the deal for me. I think Ross addressed the issues that fans had in a professional way, and he makes it clear that he is here for one thing, and that is to win.

Starting this week, I will be working towards becoming a media critic. Not of overall media, but of one specific topic. For a while I was going back and forth between what I should choose. What do I care about? What sorts of news am I already following on a daily basis that could be analyzed even more in depth? After a bit of soul searching, the answer became clear to me: sustainable fashion. 

“Capstone Project: Everlane” by Brynn McKinstry is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Sustainable fashion is something I care deeply about. I try to shop either second hand or from brands I know have ethical production methods, and sustainable fashion is even a part of my job. I currently work for Buffalo Exchange, which is a resale store where people can come in to sell their used clothing instead of it ending up in landfills. Resale stores like these have been gaining popularity over the last few years, and it’s exciting to be in a place that encourages reusing clothing.

  As much as I love fashion and clothing, the industry is one of the highest producers of waste.

“King of the Trash Hill” by cogdogblog is licensed under CC BY 2.0

It is a well known fact that the fashion industry is the world’s second largest polluter behind the oil industry and this article from EDGE fashion intelligence puts into perspective just what that means. By integrating sustainable fashion into your wardrobe, or by buying sustainably, you can help to reduce these numbers and minimize your carbon footprint. If we want to stop the deterioration of our planet through climate change and be able to enjoy fashion for years to come, something needs to happen. This is where sustainable fashion comes in. 

But what exactly is sustainable fashion? While the term can mean different things to different people, I see it as clothing that is produced in the most ethical way possible with regards to both the environment and socio-economics. This could mean that the products are made out of recycled or organic materials, that they aren’t using excess water, that their dyes are safe for handling or not made out of harsh chemicals, or even that they ship their products in recyclable packaging. Every “sustainable” brand is different, but at least they are making an effort to take the environment into consideration. Another aspect of sustainable fashion is that the brand’s employees should be paid a living wage in safe working conditions, unlike many fast fashion or unsustainable brands who produce their garments in sweatshops. 

Sustainable fashion sadly doesn’t see a lot of mainstream media coverage, and this to me is very frustrating. We see articles all the time about climate change and the innovative ways people are working to combat it, but rarely do these articles have to do with the sustainable fashion industry. If fashion is the world’s second leading polluter, you would think the industry warrants more coverage from big name media outlets like CNN, BBC,  The New York Times or The Washington Post. Typically when I do see articles about sustainable fashion, it’s from outlets that focus on fashion, like Vogue or Just-Style. Occasionally I do also see a good article from Forbes, but this makes sense since they’re focusing on business and fashion is a big one. 

While I am glad to see sustainable fashion is being covered somewhere, it would be nice to see it on a platform with a wider range of audiences. 

Typically, if I am looking for information about sustainable fashion, I’ll go to a platform that specializes on the topic. My favorites to check regularly are WTVOX, Global Fashion Agenda and EDGE: Fashion Intelligence. Both of these platforms solely post about the happenings of sustainable fashion, and often provide smaller stories that wouldn’t have gotten picked up by larger platforms such as Vogue. The downside to this is that the content is definitely more biased. They aren’t typically giving both sides of the story, or reporting on any fast fashion news, which can still relate to sustainability. They very clearly have an agenda to promote sustainable fashion, and sometimes even write whole articles about their own work in the field, but those are the articles that I am more skeptical of. Overall, I think it’s important that someone is reporting the happenings in the sustainable fashion field, even if is from organizations that are in the field as well.

On the Big Screen

“If a million people see my movie, I hope they see a million different movies.”

-Quentin Tarantino.

The cinema has become one of the world’s most cherished forms of entertainment. Getting to go into a theatre, have a break from reality for 90 minutes and become completely engulfed in a story is one of the many reasons why movies are loved by many. As a child going to the movies was a special occasion. As I grew up with three older brothers we rarely got out and did things, so when we did, it was magical. The thing that made me really fall in love with the cinema was the storytelling aspect. The way that the cinematographers and directors could completely enthrall an audience was my allure. I was the kid who would always break that fourth wall when seeing visual effects, or special effects. From an early age I developed  love for movies, and film.

. . . .

But is my love of film shared with the rest of the world? Probably not so much. The way that the media talks about movies, tv shows, and the entertainment industry in general can be a little negative. But let’s talk about the movies themselves, and how the media covers the press for new and upcoming movies.

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My go to entertainment media outlet is E! news. They cover a wide variety of topics but are always on top of the press coverage for all highly anticipated movies, of all genres. Another go to media outlet would be Rotten Tomatoes.  Rotten Tomatoes is a movie critic/ movie review website, and I feel as though a lot of people looking to see if they should see the movie or not turn to Rotten Tomatoes. The New York Times is also another go to place for movie reviews, or coverage of press. I believe that in general the media does a pretty good job of representing the movies and the actors in them with integrity, authenticity, and has the audience’s best interest in mind.

. . . .

But if we get a little more niche, the genre I enjoy most is horror. The horror movie genre is very black and white topic. Either you love it, or you hate it. A source I regularly turn to for horror movie reviews is a YouTuber name Sarah Hawkinson. I really enjoy her reviews and I think we have similar taste in movies, so I always look to her channel for her thoughts on the upcoming horror movies set to release in the near future.

As the new year settles in, one can expect to see a few new trends that are taking the younger, and possibly older generations by storm.  In the past years we’ve had fidget spinners, selfie-sticks, and most recently, the Tik Tok app shine through the saturated market of trends and make their way to the top of the trendy pyramid. If you’ve been paying attention, or at least take a look at some of the trends from the past few years, you’ll notice that slowly but surely skateboarding has been making its way to the top of the trendy list. I’m not just talking about people buying skateboards, I’m talking about the culture in general. In this generation, Skateboarding culture has a lot more influence on fashion, outdoor activities (it became an Olympic event), and even became the topic of a feature-length film in 2018. More and more celebrities are wearing skateboarding brands, and skateboarding as a whole is becoming more prominent in mainstream culture. I have no issue with skating hogging the lime-light, but when an outside culture gets brought into the mainstream, there tends to be some accurate representation along with some misrepresentation especially when a lot of people are quick to jump on the trendy bandwagon.

I’ve been skateboarding since I was eleven years old, and seeing the skateboard culture get more recognition as a sport, community, and less as a criminal activity, or something for troublemakers makes my heart happy. Yet, I still think there can be misrepresentation in mainstream media about skateboarders. I believe that social media allows skaters to share their creative abilities, music taste, fashion, and other activities with a much larger audience on a much more personal level, which helps represent skaters for who they actually are. The representation that I don’t agree with is how movies, T.V. shows, and commercials represent skateboarders. They consistently make skaters seem cheesy, stupid, and kind of loser-ish.

Now I’m not saying all movies, T.V. shows, and commercials do this, but a majority still represent the skating culture in a pretty inaccurate way.  In the well-known T.V. show Better Call Saul, one of the first episodes features a pair of skaters, who look like they should be in an ad for Target, whose main source of income were faking injuries and grabbing cash from the people who hit them. This is just one example, but I can tell you for a fact in all of my 15 years of skateboarding I’ve never once met a skater who has attempted some sort of fraud like that.  I know it’s just a fictional T.V. show, but in my opinion it links criminal activity to skateboarders which is not a proper representation at all. It would have made much more sense to have someone who is completely down on their luck attempt something like this. A person that has nothing to lose would be the one attempting a scam like that, not two random skateboarders.  This is just one example of how skateboarding can be misrepresented in the mainstream media, and like I mentioned it’s usually T.V. shows, movies, etc.

Even though there are still misconceptions about the skating culture, I must also take a moment to appreciate the advancements skateboarding has made, especially going from an activity that would get you kicked out of parking lots, to an actual Olympic sport. This is a huge step forward for the culture, and could lead to more skateparks and a more friendly view of the skating community, since the recognition worldwide would be even greater!

Hopefully this introduction into the Olympics will also lead to more coverage on the sport. Right now if you were to look on the Internet at a sports column, you’d most likely see your main sports; basketball, football, baseball, and hockey. There’s no coverage about skateboarding, so in order for an outsider to learn more about the sport and culture, they would have to visit one of the niche websites that is made by skaters. Basically, it’s not as easy to research as it is with football and other mainstream sports, but being added to the Olympics might change that.

As for information on skateboarding, I would follow as many skateboarders and skate brands on Instagram as possible, because this is the easiest way to hear directly from the company and skaters and see what their daily lives entail. I personally follow a lot of companies and skaters that are located on the East coast. Since I’ve never been there and have no idea what the skating scene and culture is like, this gives me a taste of what I could expect if I’m ever able to shred the streets of New York or any other city. Another great website to use would be Slap Magazine,  because it’s a message board for skaters, created by skaters. This is where I find the newest information on skate rumors, clothing coming out, premiers of skating video parts, etc. It’s really easy to navigate and you don’t have to have an account to read the forums, which makes it easy for someone who just wants a taste of what the community is like. The last place I go for a taste of the skating world and to grow my skating knowledge is a YouTube channel/ Podcast called, “The Nine Club.” This is a podcast and YouTube channel put on by a group of talented pro skateboarders that have been in the industry for a while, and they’ll interview other skaters, talk about recent skate videos that came out, and discuss between each other common topics in the skate industry right now. This channel also falls under the, “created by skater for skaters,” category, so the information received and subjects talked about are usually really interesting to the skateboarding community as a whole.  If you want to know anymore about skateboarding, I would try any of the previously mentioned sites first, and they’ll give you inspiration to dive deeper into a specific area of the industry.

From what I’ve seen, skateboarding is only getting more popular and slowly crawling its way up the trendy pyramid. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but with more people seeing it as trendy, the easier it is for the culture to get lost. As with any culture, you can’t just jump right in and feel like you know it like the back of your hand; it takes time to understand and knowledge on the subject. So, if you’re interested in skateboarding, be sure to visit one of the sites listed and don’t rely on what the T.V. shows you.

As 30 Rock’s cheerful NBC page Kenneth Parcell says in the second episode of the show’s third season, “There are only two things I love in this world: everybody and television.”

I could not agree more.

Well, alright, there might be a few more things that I love, but television is unquestionably one of them. To me, TV makes for such a great storytelling medium because it has the advantage of time. Sure, some shows experience a drop in quality the longer they run and, yes, the wait between seasons can be excruciating when cliffhangers are involved, but, when done well, there’s nothing better. It’s exciting to watch a story unfold, episode by episode, over years of our lives.

Of course, with subscriptions to services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+, years worth of stories can be enjoyed in a week if you try hard enough.

It has been fascinating to watch (and partake in) the rise of streaming over the past decade. The successes and failures of these streaming services are reshaping the medium in a lot of ways. Over the next few weeks, I am going to take a look at how the media is covering television’s new frontier. With so many new streaming services being rolled out right now, there is plenty of material to work with.

Overall, I think the coverage of streaming services and the changing television landscape has been good. There is a decent amount of variety in terms of how journalists and media outlets are approaching the topic. For example, many outlets are taking on the role of the friend who’s here to help you make sense of it all. Over the past few months, I’ve seen a lot of pieces like this one from NPR that guide readers through the process of deciding which of the myriad streaming services they should be subscribing to.

I have also noticed that some journalists with a focus on the business side of things have taken a more skeptical approach when covering streaming. These stories tend to ask questions about the sustainability of the streaming model or misleading viewership metrics.

A lot of interesting discussion about the deluge of new content is also taking place on Twitter. I have been following critics like Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone and Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker for years and it’s always enlightening when their thoughts on the changing role of the critic in this streaming-heavy era pop up in my timeline.

Other sources that I regularly turn to for coverage include the New York Times and NPR. Both are good for reviews of new or returning shows and coverage of newsworthy items. Outlets like Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide can be fun, but their content often feels more like PR than news. I’ve found that The Hollywood Reporter is good for stories examining the business side of things, while Vox’s Recode and The Verge take a more tech-centric approach to their coverage. The Verge even has a dedicated section for coverage of the ongoing streaming wars.

Finally, Vulture just started Buffering, a weekly newsletter that covers the transition from traditional television to streaming. I signed up and have found it interesting so far. It provides a nice round-up of the week’s biggest stories with some added commentary.

How is financial literacy for minorities presented in the media?

I’d like to explore how the topic of financial literacy for minorities is presented in the media.

This gives me the ability to observe how the media covers personal finance, economic mobility, generational wealth, education, retirement, and many other topics as they relate to members of marginalized communities.

From an arching perspective, I think this is important when we’re hearing discussions about socialism, reparations, universal basic income, welfare reform, poverty, the 1%, income equality, and so on in our political environment.

The need for such discussions is created by the condition of minority communities, but it’s as if the news media is talking about us like we’re not here. Media presentations of minority financial literacy appear to be about us, but not for us. Perhaps that’s why champions of financial literacy for minorities are so fiercely supported by their audience and rarely promoted by mainstream media.

A search for financial literacy + minorities returned an article by Black Enterprise: Bloomberg’s Multibillion-Dollar Plan for Black Economic Justice and Empowerment and the Minority Mindset website providing financial news and education.

Black Wealth Renaissance,  Dana Chanel , and Dr. Claud Anderson are three creators whom I follow on this topic. They provide more educational content and some news. One thing they all have in common is matter-of-fact communication. The information they have for their communities is urgent.

And that message seems to be that poor people have to shift their mindset and change their actions if they want to change their financial situation as individuals or as a collective.

A message I have rarely seen presented in mainstream media. Watch below as Dr. Claud Anderson Discusses America’s Race Based Society, PowerNomics + More.

At one point in time, I felt that members of minority communities were only victims. In many ways that is the picture painted by media.

However, with the right information, I was empowered to change my circumstances. Today, I am watching our family’s transition from poverty realizing that so many others (many, not all) just need an increase in financial literacy to improve their quality of life.

It’s like drowning in a kiddie pool. Sometimes all you need is someone with a different perspective to suggest that you, well, stand up. I often wonder why the news media doesn’t encourage us to stand up, shift the narrative, and direct our attention to the tools that might help us help ourselves.

I see a lot of judgment and pity in the media regarding lower class and poor Americans; not only in news but in entertainment as well.

What kind of message does media like Queen and Slim or Queen of the South send about minority economics? Is the only way to become wealthy to traffic drugs or turn your neighbors in for a reward?

When individuals do attempt to shift the narrative, they are often met with resistance as Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke was when he told Morehouse students that a lack of financial literacy was the true cause of the financial gap between Caucasian-Americans and African-Americans back in 2009.

All that said, I believe I can benefit from paying attention to the media’s presentation of financial literacy for minorities while delving into a topic that is of immense importance to me. I’ll look forward to writing more about this.