Media Law & Literacy

I’ve tried to keep my online presence limited because I don’t want embarrassing pictures from my youth to haunt me when I transition from college to the working world. It’s exciting as a young person to try out different paths and see what works best for you  - with friends, majors, ideas  - knowing that it’s okay to change direction and even make some mistakes along the way before finding a road you really want to follow. However, I don’t want to make my adventures and misadventures public for the world to see, so I keep my social media accounts private. I know that for many young people, it’s important to their self-esteem to have a big online footprint. Some are even willing to sacrifice their reputations to attract more followers, but that’s not me. I use social media mostly to post what I’ve been doing with my family, friends, and my dog.  I do “like'' and comment on things that are important to me, such as political issues and animal welfare. In 2016, a mother took ...

Thanks to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and not having a sedition act, political cartoonists can make their points about President Trump’s catastrophic mishandling of Covid 19. Trump has been in an alternate universe about the virus, claiming he has done a “wonderful job“ to control it; that it is well “under control”, and that it should “soon disappear.” Since all three claims are false, cartoonists are revealing the truth. My favorite has a MAGA couple at a morgue. Several drawers, with toe-tagged bodies have been pulled out. Naming two of Trump’s favorite targets, the man says to the woman: “Gotta hand it to the media and deep state—this is the most convincing hoax I’ve ever seen.” “Hoax” is also a favorite Trump word, which is ironic since Trump has lied publicly almost 20,000 times as President, according to the “Washington Post”. Another cartoon criticizes Trump’s failed covid rhetoric by showing a man who believed Trump that the virus is over, and followed Trump’s adv...

The video showing the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police sparked the Black  Lives Matter protests and became one of the biggest new stories of the year. But the video wasn’t taken by a journalist or put online by  a traditional media outlet, and it wasn’t vetted by anyone. Seventeen year old Darnella Frazier shot it on her cellphone, then posted it on Facebook and of course it went viral, just as she had hoped. “My video went worldwide for everyone to see and know,” she later said on Facebook. She didn’t want the police to be able to sweep it under the rug. This is a powerful example of what’s known as Citizen Journalism, where someone who isn’t a professional journalist distributes information - words, pictures or video - outside of the mainstream media. Frazier was able to share it with the world, instantly, on her own terms. Technology has made it possible for just about anyone to be a citizen journalist; all it takes is a  cellphone and an internet conne...

The “value of free expression” that resonates with me, is the “check on governmental power” through freedom of the press and through freedom of speech by individuals in blog and social media posts. Internet technology, specifically the first browser in 1993, Google’s search engine in 1999, through to today’s massive public forums on social media sites, have made it much easier for journalists—both established media, and individuals—to spread news of abuses they have uncovered; and much easier for the public to learn about them. For example, President Trump constantly abuses his power, and the press constantly reports it.  When he fired four Inspectors General because they were investigating possible wrongdoing by him and his people, the press reported on the firings and Trump’s self-serving reasons for them.  Anyone could quickly and easily find this information on the internet, around the world. Today’s news contains reports that Trump ignored warnings in his “Presidential D...

Imagine your perfect vacation, whether it’s in America, or an exotic spot around the world. Now you can be there, without taking a step. By putting on your virtual reality gear, you are able to experience your destination while sitting on your couch and sipping coffee or a glass of wine.  The idea of Virtual Reality goes way back to the 1800s. In 1883, the first stereoscope combined two photographs of the same object from slightly different angles giving the image more depth.  Virtual Reality offers entertainment and education. VR headgear creates an immersive 3D environment. Every Virtual Reality headset has one or two screens in front of your eyes. This replaces the real world.  There are two autofocus lenses generally placed between the screen and the eyes that adjust based on the individual's eye movement and positioning of the body. The visuals on the screen are transmitted through either a mobile phone or HDMI cable connected to a PC. The Virtual Reality invention h...

                                                                                                            The websites Antiwar.com and TheAmericanConservative.com give insights into issues I don’t often see in the mainstream media. For example, Antiwar.com currently has reports on how President Trump’s increasing sanctions on Syria are causing more hardship for Syria’s long suffering citizens; and on Israel and the U.S. getting the International Atomic Energy Agency to pressure Iran for more information about its nuclear activity. The AmericanConservative.com features stories on the growing number of civilians in Somalia killed by U.S. military drone strikes; and on...

The six freedoms of the First Amendment sound pretty simple. They include freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, but the “Black Lives Matter” article in “The First Amendment Encyclopedia” shows that exercising your freedom of speech and right to assemble can lead to a complex chain of reactions and can result in violence. The “Black Lives Matter” movement began with the use of the hashtag: #BlackLivesMatter, in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who had shot and killed a Black teen, Trayvon Martin, who had simply been walking by Zimmerman’s property one evening in 2012. Zimmerman got acquitted by saying he was defending his property, even though he had essentially murdered Martin for merely “walking while Black”. First Amendment freedom issues entered the “Black Lives Matter” movement when demonstrations erupted after the murder of another Black teen, 18-year-old Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014.  A police officer shot and killed Brown, after stopping hi...