Category: journalism

Stuff having to do with the world of journalism.

American Airlines Craziness

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Two major events have struck American Airlines this week. Lets recap:

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Today, October 5th, at 7:10 am American Airlines flight 550 landed in New York mid-flight for the last reason anyone would expect: the pilot passed away mid-flight, the name of the pilot and cause has not been announced.

During the flight, the pilot became unresponsive, at which point the co-pilot took over and was able to safely land the plane in Syracuse, its original destination was Boston.

This unfortunate event was completely unforeseen, thank goodness the co-pilot was proactive and able to get all 147 passengers to ground safely.

Next event. American Airlines flight 31 departed from Los Angeles with a full house, Hawaii bound.

Little known fact that the Airbus A321s was not certified to fly over the Pacific Ocean. This aircraft was no correctly equipped to fly over the Pacific.

Luckily, the aircraft made it safely to Hawaii. The plane was later flown back to LAX with the minimum amount of crew on board.

Thankfully both of these incidents left no passengers harmed… just a bit shaken.

Things Change

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I remember when I was a kid, I wanted to be a surgeon. Thinking back now, I cannot remember why, but something about my Asian ancestry made me want to be something big, important, and that rakes in cash.

My parents convinced me to change my career path.” They said that being a surgeon was too strenuous, that I would have no time to do anything else. Being a dentist was better, they said. Lots of cash, free time, and still in the medical field.

When I discovered my love for animals, I did what was natural for every animal-loving child of 12. I told everyone that I wanted to be a vet. And for the longest time I dreamed of traveling the world as an exotic vet, taking care of any and all wild animals that needed help at the moment. It was a big dream for a little girl.

Though that dream still lies, I soon realized that I don’t have the intelligence or… Mental grit to be anything in the medical field. I had no problem dealing with blood or dissections, but the thought of being in school for 7-9 more years made me feel queasy.

By some luck or miracle, a friend said two words with full confidence that may have saved me money, time, and sanity. “Forest Ranger.” I could be with animals. I could be surrounded by nature, isolated in a cabin or helping people understand the wonders that befuddle them.

Photo cred: Tom Philo Photography

 

Crazy to think how my aspirations have… Seemingly degraded. From high-ranking surgeon to a live-in-the-dirt forest ranger. But I really wouldn’t have it any other way. Things change.

Baltimore Riots

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Over the course of the past week, thousands of people have been rioting in the streets of Baltimore, Maryland for what they believe is justice for the death of Freddie Gray.

But what started out as a large group of teenagers, has turned into utter chaos for all the wrong reasons.

The death of Freddie Gray under police custody raises some eyebrows because of his ethnicity and gender: African-American male.

The police in the United States have set a precedent for themselves: they are overly aggressive towards African-American males. Looking back on the past few years, there are more than enough cases to confirm this precedent.

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Although there are many cases that give tangible evidence to show there is a “reason” for these riots, they are unacceptable and out of control.

These kids have no idea what they are getting themselves into. Looting, arsonist tendencies, and violence being committed on their own city is simply tragic and disappointing.

It is time for the United States government to begin to take control of this situation, and begin to make an effort that can be seen by the American people.

 

 

Imposers

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Videos are constantly popping up all over the internet, with titles broadcasting one miracle of life after another. From a child born without a brain to another born with an extra arm, these stories are true to their name.

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However, beyond videos about rare diseases and miracle survivors, the producers of these shows have began to document people who, frankly, are undeserving of the “miracle” title.

From viewing a documentary of a child with a never-before-seen case of dwarfism, one could then be taken to a video about a woman with the most famous butt. People, that is not a miracle of life!

It’s almost as if these unqualified people are taking away from people who truly are miracles. It’s not glory that is being taken away, per say, but the whole point of these “miracle” documentaries is to share the stories of unusual people. If one has a famous butt or some crazy plastic surgery, it’s not really a miracle, and it makes genuine miracles seem less important.

As far as videos about insane body-modification, great – they’re entertaining. However, they shouldn’t be categorized as life miracles, for they are not natural. The whole concept is based on changing oneself, and therefore in no way do any of these people qualify as someone born with an unusual quality.

Journalism Competition

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Monday, March 30th, OVS’ Journalism class took a trip down to Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks for a Journalism competition.

I have only been in Journalism for a little over three months now, so this is still all very new to me. Regardless, I was very excited.

After waking up at 5:30 a.m., we got some coffee and drove to the competition.

This competition is held each year and OVS has won awards almost every year they have competed.

I was competing in the Feature category with my fellow journalist, Daphne Psaledakis.

Our speaker told an interesting story about a Patagonian sheep herder traveling to the United States in order to earn higher pay so that he could support his family and his children can have a higher education.

It was intriguing and interesting, and something I had never heard a lot about previous to the competition.

Although I did not place at the end of the competition, some of my fellow journalists did. I was so proud of them, and even though I did not win an award, I learned so much from this experience that will help me to become a better writer.

 

The Jinx Justices

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As most of the world may know by now, Robert Durst has recently been caught and is in custody for the murder of Susan Berman, his friend, in 2000.

His admitting to this crime came to surface during Durst’s six part documentary series The Jinx on HBO.

This happened when Durst was still attached to a microphone, and during a bathroom break, muttered under his breath that he “killed them all.”

A little disturbing? Yes.

Durst had been interrogated many times about his friend, Ms. Berman’s, death. He had not once admitted to any participation in her murder. After holding in such a serious secret for 15 years, it appears that it had been taking a toll.

If you watch the documentary series, during his final interview, Durst has a physiological reaction, uncontrollable burping and muttering nonsense under his breath.

His reaction to the questions asked in the documentary obviously shows how psychologically disturbed Durst is, as his odd behavior increases to a max, he finally admits to the murders… thinking he was all to himself.

Photo Credit: mentalfloss.com

 

Cop Control Part 2

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The tables have turned.

Just as I was beginning to think that the police were running rampant, recently multiple officers have been victims of civilian shootings.

The true question is; what was their intent?

This question applies to the officers involved in the many shootings of African-Americans, generally men, over the past few years. However, recently because of the Ferguson case in particular and the many other shootings by police officers in the U.S., people have been taking matters into their own hands.

Patterns show that generally white male police officers profile African-American males because of arrest records and generalizations that they are more violent than whites or Hispanics. Because of this profiling, they are more likely to take drastic measures when threatened or have suspicion.

These incidents can be argued against. Many accusations use the word “discrimination.” Are these truly acts of discrimination? Or officers who are posed with a deadly threat in which they responded with a deadly action?

The only people who know the truth are the officers and the victims, which recently have been the officers themselves.

 

 

White Students Terrorize an American Classmate

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I recently watched a shocking video where a little boy named Harsukh Singh is terrorized by his classmates who claim he is a terrorist. It seems to be a common occurrence when he rides the bus, because he felt the need to film it. Why is it fair that one child can be excluded from the rest of his fellow-American classmates, and be blamed for a series of horrible events that happened all over the world?

I guarantee that the boy is not responsible for the World Trade Center, the Boston Bombing, or Charlie Hebdo. In the video he says “Kids are being racist to me and calling me an Afghani terrorist. Please don’t act like this towards people like me you don’t know. I’m not Muslim, I’m Sikh”.

The bullies think they are different from a terrorist. But the definition of a terrorist is someone who inflicts fear and has a political aim. I believe it’s more than just scaring the government; it’s about inflicting terror into the people, making it seem like not even the government can help. Everyday, United States citizens make people who look like Harsukh Singh feel like they are the bad guy and go out of their way to verbally, or even sometimes physically, attack them.

Each person who contributes to creating the terrorist stereotype is, in fact, a terrorist themselves. Maybe not individually, but in the bigger picture a large number of people bullying people of one specific skin tone is a form of terrorism.

Harsukh Singh is a smart boy, and he has already changed many lives by realizing the real way for power is through social media. I hope that a big news story is written on this, and the title should be “White Terrorists Terrorize an American Student”. Nowhere in that story should they blame Singh, or even mention religion. Even if this video isn’t covered in the news, hopefully the bullies will look back on this and realize what they did was wrong.

Newsroom Newbie

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Photo Credit: keithsrevolution.com

Due to the fact that I am a seventeen year old girl, my general topic choice for T.V. shows is mainly based around drama and vampires.

Recently, in Journalism class, we began watching “The Newsroom”, realistic drama based around life in a newsroom. This show includes their struggle to have the most updated facts about major events that actually did occur in history.

I can honestly say no other show has intrigued me to this extent.

The realistic way this show is written involves it’s audience to the fullest extent. Every time our class has watched, I am completely zoned out and concentrated on the show.

The plot of “The Newsroom” consists of a team of news correspondents who work together to be the most updated broadcasting show on the air. Between trying their best to say the right thing (morally and politically), you learn about each of the character’s personal struggles along the way.

My blog does this show no justice, I guarantee it will be your next T.V. show obsession.

Now go watch.

Writer’s Block

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As a first-year journalism student, I have the tedious task of producing two blogs a week. They aren’t hard pieces of writing – they have a 150 word minimum and can be about absolutely anything. However, every time I sit down to write one, I find myself with intense writer’s block.

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It’s not that my life is so boring that there’s nothing to write about, honestly. It’s just that I can never translate it into writing! I never know if I should talk about what’s happening in my day-to-day life or if I should speak more about worldly current events.

The most difficult part of writing blogs is the mandatory aspect. If I sat down whenever I had inspiration and simply wrote, my blogs would be great! However, I’m forcing myself to scrounge up “interesting” material and scrape out 150 words, which just takes the magic out of writing.

I’m not saying that everything I write is dull and completely forced, I’m only introducing the idea that if I were to write of my own accord, my writing would be full of life.