Category: students

I’ve chosen to do my blog post on the extreme salary discrepancy between women’s and men’s hockey.  While I do not follow women’s hockey closely I became aware of the the wage gap during the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018.   In this day and age, it’s absolutely ridiculous for a woman to be playing a sport making a salary of approximately 26,000 a year, while her brother, Phil Kessel, playing that very same sport, is making an average of 8 million.

These women have to pay for their own travel to and from the game, while their male counterparts are catered to.  Many of them have outside jobs, they have to, and that limits the time they have to train and perfect their craft.

The fact is, it is extremely difficult to find a lot of information on women’s hockey and their struggles.  (It seems like the entire sports community is trying to sweep them under the rug!)  The NWHL is always a good place to start searching for women’s hockey.   Another place to start searching would be ESPN.com.  I’m going to give a bit of warning here though, ESPN doesn’t cover men’s hockey very well.  When you get to the website, you have to do a fair bit of searching.  That in and of it’s self is beyond ridiculous to me.  Lastly, the CBC had a great radio clip with Amanda Kessel regarding players in Canada and the United States refusing to play until the league is bettered.

I don’t think that the media sufficiently covers this matter.  As I stated before, it’s difficult to find information on the NWHL, even more-so now that players are refusing to play.  One would think that a move of that nature would bring them to the front of the hockey community…apparently not.

Film and entertainment journalism is a topic I’m very passionate about and invested in. Following how film (and television) is reported in the media, and social media in particular, is a subject that is very close to my heart. My Twitter follows are a mix of random feel-good accounts (like WeRateDogs), friends I’ve made in person and online, random celebrities I find funny or engaging in some way, and others. But what probably makes up the majority of my social media follows is the film community, whether it be studios, directors, writers, and especially critics.

A few years ago I was working, maybe not entirely happily, but at least contentedly, in my regular 9-5 job. I had never found something that I was exceptionally passionate about career-wise, and I expected that that would always be the case. Not everyone can “do what you love,” or even ever know what that means for them. At least not in a way they could build into an actual career. But then I started listening to a few pop culture podcasts by some well-known and respected voices in media criticism, and suddenly it clicked for me. This was something that I could not only do, but that I could really love doing. Something that eventually led me to decide to go to college for the first time, in my thirties. Writing about film and television culture, and pop culture at large, was what I wanted to do. And through that I discovered the fascinating and often complicated online culture surrounding the film and entertainment industries.

The way film and culture critics (a lot of whom I follow across various social and digital media platforms) are received online has been a surprising and interesting foray into that world. Between sites like Rotten Tomatoes – where unprofessional viewers can leave their own reviews and shape (for better or worse) how films perform in the box office, to the often toxic elements of online fandoms and how they interact with the professional critics, I believe there is a lot to learn about how we as a society, and as sometimes clashing cultures, engage with media.

At 18 months old, I had an anaphylactic reaction to a small bite of a peanut butter and banana sandwich fed to me by my mother. Afterwards, I was confirmed severely allergic to peanuts by an allergist. Ever since then, I’ve carried two Epi-pens with me at all times. I’m not alone–since 1997, the number of people in the U.S. with food allergies has skyrocketed. Because of this, the allergy world has slowly but surely made its way into the media, and that’s what I’m going to discuss on this course blog.

The attitude of the media towards food allergies has always been a mixed bag. Many films and TV shows make fun of those with food allergies, playing up their potentially life-threatening reactions for comedy. Other media sources choose to take a more sober approach and simply report the facts or fictionalize the issue in a respectful way. Recently, Netflix’s documentary show Rotten added an episode called “The Peanut Problem”, which addressed both the scientific and social aspects of peanut allergies. It was an extremely well-done program and much of it was also applicable to allergies other than peanut.

My stance is and always has been that making fun of allergies does no good. In fact, such things trivialize the issue, which has the potential to get people killed. On the other hand, well-researched news stories and media portrayals can save lives and make everyone feel more empowered along the way. Therefore, it is my duty to share such portrayals and give them as many eyes as I can. I don’t often make recommendations on social media, but after watching “The Peanut Problem” I took to Facebook to share it with all my friends. 

As for websites, my go-tos for for allergy-related content are Snack Safely and PeanutAllergy.com, both of which post up to date and interesting resources for both allergic individuals and those who love them. In future blog posts, I’ll discuss this topic in more depth and really get to the heart of how allergies are treated in today’s media landscape.

Quinlyn

With 20 democrats running to contest President Trump in the 2020 election, the American people are overloaded with candidates. Varying between establishment politicians, new breed Democratic Socialists and an array of single issue campaigners. In November of 2017, entrepreneur Andrew Yang announced his campaign for the democratic nomination, with his platform focusing on a push for Universal Basic Income, job displacement and Medicare for All.

His campaign has been a series of interesting developments. Starting from unknown obscurity, Andrew Yang now is polling at 4% across multiple media outlets by focusing on an internet-based campaign, reaching across the political spectrum and taking voters from candidates across political ideologies. He sets himself as an evidence based pragmatic trying to achieve societal change on how Americans view Capitalism, government spending and our obligations to each other.

What I find especially interesting on his candidacy is the media coverage his campaign generates vs. what they receive. By focusing his efforts to the Internet, he has fostered a growing social media following, catalyzed by an appearance on the YouTube podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience“. Voters from across the political spectrum were able to find his message and now his coalition extends across the political spectrum. His treatment from traditional media sources have been contentious at best. His campaign and supporters have claimed several times the media has suppressed his campaign, from not including him in polling rankings where he has polled higher than other candidates featured to his mic being cutout during the presidential debates. Through this blog I hope to assess the validity of these claims while also exploring his policy plans how his candidacy effects the overall political landscape.

I am picking Designer fashion for my topic to blog about this semester. I have always been interested in fashion since I was a little girl. Fashion means a lot to me because it is a beautiful way for individuals to express themselves. Each day we are putting clothes on our body that tell stories how we want others to view us. On a large scale designers each season put out collections that they feel will speak to their consumers. From there typically styles and colors will trickle down from Christian Dior and Tom Ford to Target and Macy’s. Fashion is one of the most covered Art industries by media. From the Met Gala to New York Fashion Week there is always press talking about different designers and what they are working on. Different fashion events throughout the year typically get lots of publicity in the press. Fashion is very powerful in our society because it is a reflection of society and evolves with our society at the same time that it is shaping our society. The media always is covering fashion because fashion is always changing and like most art forms, is always pushing the envelope. Fashion evolves which means there is always a new story.

When I am not at work or doing homework, I can likely be caught watching YouTube. I use YouTube daily for entertainment, news, and other information (many of my home projects have been guided by helpful videos). The issue of demonetization and advertising continues to be a popular conversation especially among YouTubers who have lost their revenue for a spectrum of reasons. One of the biggest reasons for demonetization is for what YouTube dubs as inappropriate content. This is because advertisers do not want to have their brands associated with potentially offensive content. This has led to a significant share of monetized content being aimed at children. The issue now becomes complicated as many of the people viewing and creating monetized content  are breaking YouTube’s terms of use requiring that users are at least 13 years old. As a response to this and growing concerns of children accidentally encountering inappropriate content on the platform YouTube has just launched YouTube Kids. YouTube Kids is supposed to make it easier for parents to monitor what their children watch and harder for the inappropriate content to slip in, although YouTube warns that it still can get through.

As a daily user of YouTube, I am interested in how YouTube itself and YouTubers earn revenue. I know that kids are increasingly becoming more and more reliant on YouTube for entertainment. I think this issue raises good questions about the role of parents in both monitoring children’s media consumption and teaching children media literacy skills. I have seen a fair amount of coverage over this issue. Much of the coverage seems to be critical of YouTube. In my opinion this seems fair as children’s safety is involved and YouTube is the leading video streaming platform.

As a manager at Starbucks, I see the large quantities of plastic we go through a day. Whether that be the various gallons of milk or the thousands of cups and lids, our stores are full of plastic. However, Starbucks is pioneering towards more sustainable solutions. I see many customers using re-usable cups we sell, in which there is a ten-cent discount used as incentive. On social media like Twitter, the craze over the limited-edition Starbucks cups is often criticized or made fun of.

Regardless of the steps the company takes to reduce and reuse, social media often trashes the Starbucks name. Whether it be because the prices are high or that the Starbucks plastic had been found in the oceans, they just can’t seem to catch any recognition for their pro-activeness thus far. When a company like this one is in such high demand for consumption, it’s bound to be hated by a large portion of the population.

Some sources I turn to for information on Starbucks steps to becoming a greener company is on USA Today, The Motley Fool, but most importantly straight from the horse’s mouth. I often read the section on Starbucks.com about their global reports for each year. They have breakdown reports of their steps to becoming greener ranging all the way back to 2013. The reports are often quite lengthy and go into great detail on their goals and shortcomings for that year as well.

I often see that it is easier to jump on a hate train for Starbucks than to acknowledge that they have opened 1,000 L.E.E.D (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) stores making them the world’s largest green retailer (Starbucks, 2018). With all the sources at hand on this topic, I am excited to see what is to come for this year and how the media will react.

This summer, Quentin Tarantino released his ninth film, “Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood” which received many positive reviews, several of which noting the same criticism. During a short scene featuring a cameo by an actor portraying Bruce Lee, there are remarks made that turn his career into a throwaway gag. Many people spoke up about this, calling it distasteful and dishonest to Lee’s legacy. Even Bruce Lee’s daughter spoke out against Tarantino’s portrayal of her dad, saying in an article on The Wrap that it was “disheartening.”

In response to backlash in a Variety piece, Tarantino said that Lee was, “kind of an arrogant guy.” The director defended his decision to write Bruce Lee in the way he did, but this refusal to even apologize has only added fuel to the fire. I found this story to be sad when I saw it, partly because I really enjoyed this film and didn’t think much of the scene at the center of the controversy. As a young white male, I feel a responsibility to be educated on such issues. Right now, it seems that representation and accurate on-screen depictions of real people and other cultures is “in reach” in terms of matters I can learn more about. My initial indifference made me interested in reading the many takes from film journalists, along with Lee’s daughter.

In the modern day, it is common to disregard old techniques of utilization and replace them with a more modernized invention. One of those inventions was the digital camera. The digital camera, allowing users the freedom to shoot an unlimited amount of photographs without having to worry about the financial costs of wasting film, or having to develop numerous slide of photographs, has deterred camera users away from the mechanical usage of film photography cameras. I personally care much about this topic since I am a professional and hobbyist photographer, in which I have experimented with both tools to experience both their costs and their benefits.

There is a continuous ongoing discussion as to whether film photography should even stay relevant in the modern world, given the new technology. There is a large following of people as advocates on either side, where one believe the nostalgia and hands-on approach that compliments film photography has been lost through unconscious snapshotting through a digital viewfinder. The digital argument is that it is a less expensive approach in the long run to switch to digital and be able to experiment with a variety of topics without having to worry about wasting film or money.

Fstoppers is a community of photographers, both amateur and professional, that is curated by a select few professional photographers who have excelled in the industry of their craft. They supply their audience with information as to the best gear, methods, and problem solving to photographic situations. In this article “You’re Making a Mistake if You’re Not Telling Your Friends to Start With Film,” it states that it would be easier to start as a film photographer since you can focus more on the form of a photograph, while the processing does the color work for you. Many people would disagree with their approach, considering the costs of paying for scans, processing, and the film itself, but there are others who take on a more neutral approach to the advantages and disadvantages of both sides.

The Darkroom, an award-winning film processing lab located in San Clemente, California, has listed the objective information concerning both mediums. In their article, “Film vs Digital,” it goes over how film can help novices in many ways given its advantages, with one being for example, “Film is more forgiving of minor focusing issues and exposure problems.” This may not be seen as a significant matter, but when digital lenses are often so delicate, a small drop can mess up the focus of the camera lens, leaving you to either resorting to manual mode, or not being able to see the photo is focus at all until it is on your LCD screen. Given that notion, a huge advantage comes to the digital aspect, when you are given unlimited use of storage, only limited by the amount of space given by your selected SD card. This offers the opportunity to take as many different angles of one subject, or being able to spend all day at a location in hopes of achieving success through your imagery, given that natural light changes about every 15 seconds, especially during sunset.