Never Stay Silent - Grant Hines

       The topic of news sources has been a recurring topic for me this year, especially since starting journalism courses. When Professor Joe Michaels recounted his experience directing NBC'S TODAY on 9/11  this year he explained that back then, producers required three credible sources before they went to air with information. There was no relying on other outlets for information (i.e. Attributing U.S.A. Today about a story that is run on The Today Show ). In Dr. Nahed Eltantawy's Reporting and Writing Across Platforms class, she taught the importance of cultivating and maintaining credible sources. This is important if you are assigned to a specific beat such as crime or government because it makes gathering information a lot easier. As I heard from the group that presented their EOTO 3 on Reliable Sources, this isn't the case so much in today's media landscape. Nowadays it's about being first rather than right. Since TV news is a money-driven business run by rat

       After having watched  Good Night and Good Luck  for the second time, I couldn't help but compare it to the way the media operates today. In 1953, the year the film takes place, was the beginning of broadcast TV and cable news did not yet exist. The way CBS then and the current cable news landscape operate had similar traits. For one, the topic at hand, whether people were communist or not based on speculation is a way that the network could stir drama based on nothing. In an odd way, it reminded me of the 2020 election and the baseless claims that Donald Trump was making to try to prove that the election was fraudulent. An example from the movie is the Air Force officer, Milo Radulovich , being discharged from the service because his family were known communists and he refused to denounce them. This example is more believable than the others, but what crazed me was the example of the internal conflict CBS had related to communists. On one of the stories that Murrow's sh

  As we've seen with every U.S. president dating back to when the country started fighting "the war on terrorism," most of them are unnecessary and lead to bigger conflicts that we can handle. The U.S. wraps itself in these conflicts because of problems that don't exist leading to full-scale wars. Exhibit A is the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq due to their claims of the presence of weapons of mass destruction in the country. The involvement of the press played a huge role , especially on cable news, where propaganda was more popular than just reporting facts. Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch who was a strong war supporter, in a way rebranded the network shortly after the invasion garnering support for the invasion among the channel's average of 2 million viewers in prime time. The more liberal channels followed suit with shows like  Countdown: Iraq depicting similar pro-war symbolism. They even fired anti-war commentator Michael Savage for his oppos

  During the second EOTO presentations, Frederick Douglas stood out to me the most because I saw a lot of myself in him. He was self-determined, stood for causes that disenfranchised identities that weren't his, and he made an impression on the world by being innovative. His hard work earned him the noblest positions in the country having worked with five presidents in six different roles during his life. The first being Abraham Lincoln who Douglas convinced should let black men serve in the Union army. This was unheard of for any other black person during that time, and even for decades after. This made me wonder how much of a rhetorical communicator was he to convince multiple presidents of the United States to work for them. Frederick Douglas was a trailblazer of his time and certainly someone I would like to embody. Some life experiences that earned Douglas the distinction of one of the greatest civil rights leaders ever began with him escaping slavery from near my hometown in

  During the pre-civil war era, free black slaves were still not given the same human rights as their counterparts. Not only legally speaking but in terms of how society portrayed them, especially in the media. For far too long black people were either excluded or didn't have a say in how stories affecting them were told in newspapers. That's why in 1827 a group of freed slaves and other prominent black figures met at Alexander Crummell's home to discuss issues related to the black community. From this meeting, the Freedom's Journal  was born, establishing America's first black newspaper.  "Too long have others spoken for us...we wish to plead our own cause." Rev. Samuel Cornish and John B. Russworm , the founders of the publication, aimed to have stories told from black people's perspectives and in their own voices. In addition to general news happening throughout the world, the  Freedom's Journal  also featured editorials focusing on anti-slaver

  During World War II a lot of women filled the occupational roles that were held by men before they were shipped off to the war. For some women, they made just as great of a sacrifice for their countries by traveling to war zones to report on the events of the war, serving as nurses, and even repairing trucks, such as what Queen Elizabeth II did. Some defied odds by working as reporters on the frontlines even when it was illegal. As it's written in the history books, it seems like a lot of women were not involved in covering the unfolding events of World War II, but it was actually a woman that first reported Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939. Clare Hollingworth, described as having acquired the "scoop of the century" and notifying  The Telegraph  back in the U.K., saw the invasion first hand. After WWII, she covered the bombing of the King David Hotel, being just around 300 yards from the site of the blast at the time of detonation. Up until she died she was alw