Reflection of NPR Field Trip

The NPR field trip was very fun. I got to meet Kenny “Baby Face” Edmonds as he was leaving the NPR building. That was a great start. The first place we went was the 5^th floor to see the satellites and the Green Roof. The NPR building is very environment friendly. The satellites are weather proof which means that they can withstand winter storms and thunderstorms. The second place we went was to the work quarters where people gather information to put on the website. That floor is also where they hold important interviews. This was interesting to me because there were so many people at work and our tour guide told us that some of those people work 24 hour shifts. When we went to the second floor we went to the Tiny Desk where they have small concerts. Bob Boylen gave us a nice lecture on doing what we want to do in life; he is a strong promoter of having a job that makes you happy. His tiny desk was filled with toys and other things he had collected over the years. There were also books and albums from some very important people. After we left Bob we went to meet with Tasneem (Digital Editor) and Alecia (Producer) to have a conversation about what the media includes and does not include about serious topics. The conversation was very interesting because the media does leave out a lot of information. We also discussed bias in the news also and how that can impact the story to favor one side over the other.  I really enjoyed the conversation and after we left I wanted to go back.  

Circus w/o borders

Our Circus without Borders lesson provided me with a lot of lessons that DC and the entire world can benefit from. There is a lot of misguided youth in the Washington DC area and other parts of the world that need to get involved in activities that can keep them out of trouble. The Circus took in troubled youths and taught them to believe in themselves and follow their dreams. Guillaume’s community was dealing with a lot of suicides so he created a program that implemented acrobatics to take the children’s mind off of negative things. Yamoussa and his friends used acrobatics and dance to escape the reality of poverty.  This pass time can also take the troubled youths away from their troubles and give them something to be happy about. The movie also showed acceptance to different cultures and encouraged the integration of different races. Men from Guinea and the Igloolik, Nunavut Community were able to join together and be successful. It also teaches children to accept themselves despite what others think of them. Guillaume was being bullied because he did not look like the rest of the Igoolik people. Giving back to the community is another lesson the Circus teaches us. Both Guillaume and Yamoussa go back home and perform shows for their friends and families. Guillaume started a program to give back to his youth. Yamoussa recruited some of his friends who are good in acrobatics to join the circus with him and experience different surroundings. Susan’s collaboration of the two very distinct cultures contributes to her interest in “telling positive stories.” Collaborating two groups of people who are very distant from each other and becoming successful is something that everyone wants to see. There are many stories in the news of different cultures going to war because of their differences or local gangs fighting because they want to be better than one another, but, May’s documentary shows a positive reflection of conjoining two different groups of people. Telling positive stories in the news is important because people need to here good things so they can have hope in humanity. 

Underdog- Pollution

An issue that is not getting enough attention is pollution. Pollution is the introduction of containment into the natural environment that causes adverse change. Pollution can take the form of water pollution, land pollution, air pollution, light pollution, noise pollution and thermal pollution. Pollution is caused by loitering; the vast releases of carbon dioxide from cars, and deadly emission of Green Houses from the burning of fossil fuels. These types of pollution change our environment and cause many issues. In the article “Smog in China closes schools and construction sites, cuts traffic in Beijing” by Katie Hunt she discusses how the pollution in Beijing has caused a thick layer of smog to form around the city of Beijing. The smog is so thick that it shut down the whole city because inhaling the films may lead to health damages. The smog is predicted to last for a week according to Beijing’s Bureau of Environmental Protection. Their embassy also stated that the air quality was absolutely horrific, ten times higher than recommended. The citizens of China’s capital have to wear face mask to help prevent the inhalation of the unhealthy films. If the air around Beijing is contaminated then the markets will have to shut down too because the vegetables will absorb the films. If people eat contaminated food, they’ll become sick and spread viruses. Not only does pollution affect this specific city, it affects the whole world because it is contributing to Global Warming. Global Warming is the vast heating of the earth’s climate over time. Global Warming is harmful because it’s melting ice caps in Antarctica and raising the sea level. We need to worry about saving the planet before it’s too late. To prevent further damage to our environment we need to take care of our planet by: recycling, buying hybrid cars reduce emission of fossil fuels by conserving electricity and many more other things.

Giving A Voice to the Voiceless

In the article "Kenya: The Wasteland", the author David Conrad gives a voice to a woman who is suffering in Dandora. The article explores the epidemic of a rural city outside of Dandora being victims of waste disposal. The city gets waste from the Kenyatta International Airport and other places at the same time every day. Once the trash is disposed, many people sort through the waste to eat and feed their children. One woman named Rahab Ruguru points out that she depends on the trash to feed her children and for work. She has been suffering in the filthy city but says that she will follow the dump cite if moved. She depends on the trash for everything, despite how harsh the conditions of the city are. This article gave Ruguru a voice to tell her experience with living in the trash capital of Kenya. Many people aren’t as fortunate as her because people don’t give them chances to express their feelings about a living situation. With this article, people from all around the world can know about this tragedy. According to the article, the wasteland was supposed to be destroyed or moved because the site was overused. There have also been reports of people trying to help but at the same time trying to control the impoverished individuals living in the area. It’s sad to say that only the people inside the wasteland are trying to help because other higher powers aren’t really trying to make a change. Ruguru is still waiting for improvements but until she sees them then she will forever work in the wasteland.

Truth & Beauty in Photojournalism

Real Beauty

This picture shows a man taking his children to the park. This picture is really beautiful because he is actually paying for his children to enter a park. Most people's fathers leave them or are never in their lives to begin with, and the fact that he is taking care of all of his 5 children is wonderful. He doesn't even have a proper mode of transportation but still found away to get his kids to the park safely.

Unauthentic Beauty

In this photo their is a beautiful model who works for Victoria Secret. Victoria's Secret is a clothing company and it has models to advertise their merchandise. The lighting in this photo really compliments the women;s skin complexion. The women is also half naked which may also draw attention to her. If you do the rule of thirds, the center of the photo is the women's breast. The blue in the photo stands out because its such a deep shade. This color is really calm in my opinion and that's why I was so drawn to it. It reminds me of the ocean and her wings remind me of an angel. I think the photographer's intention was to make her look heavenly and that can draw someone to it also. This photo is confusing beauty because the model has a lot of make up on. Her body is also photo shopped to enhance the photo. Thew way the light is reflecting off of her makes her skin look flawless. This photo is bias because it makes people think that you have to look like this to wear theses clothes- when you don't necessarily have to. Many people believe that skinny is better when in all actuality this model most likely starves herself to be this skinny. This photo can have a negative influence on someone who has been struggling with confidence. I think this is why they made a branch for "plus size" models. But the "plus size" models aren't really plus size, they aren't that much bigger than the actual models. This suggest that people take "plus size" as a joke because the models don't represent actual plus size ladies.

#4- Bacon Causes Cancer....but NBD

The story correlating red meat and cancer relates to me because I eat a lot of processed meat because it’s faster to make and cheaper than organic meat. Since I live in the low income area of Washington DC, it is difficult for me to get unprocessed foods because those are the only things that are offered to me and the people of my community. It’s scary to think that the only food offered to me can increase my chances of getting a terminal, incurable disease. This impacts the world because there are many impoverished countries that don’t have access to healthy food. This is very frightening because so many people eat red meats because they enjoy the way they taste. I know for a fact that I love the way steak and other red meats tastes. But, according to International Agency for Research on Cancer, they believe that if humans continue to eat vast amounts of red meats then there are more likely chances for us to get certain types of cancer. This is very misleading because when I saw the article, I immediately believed that if I continued to eat those meats I would get cancer. This is not entirely true; I just can’t eat immense quantities of the meat. The article Ham, Sausages Cause Cancer; Red Meat Probably Does, Too, WHO Group Says immediately encourages readers to automatically believe that the foods they loved will give them cancer. The article says, “Processed meat, such as bacon or hot dogs, causes cancer, a World Health Organization group said in a long-awaited determination on Monday.” Although the claims involving the correlation between processed meat and cancer are sufficient, the claim still catches the reader's eye because the word cancer draws them in and makes them believe that these foods will eventually kill them. This miscommunication can be avoided if the press would release the actual report instead of allowing the bias press to misconstrue the story.

Field Trip Recap

I had so much fun on the field trip that we took to ABC 7 News Channel 8 studios. I met three people that I never thought I’d meet in my life and it was a very exhilarating experience. While we were there, we got to see a lot of behind the scenes task that people do to contribute to the success of the show. There are so many small jobs that are important to making the show the best. Also, we got to see Larry Smith end the 12:00 noon show, and after that he gave us a very important speech about his travel to the top of his career. His mentor, who now works with him also talked to us about her accomplishments and her journey to the top of her career. She offered to be my mentor and I will be in touch with her soon. I had a very fun time at ABC 7 studios; I really want to go back.

After ABC 7, we went to Politico. Politico is a magazine company that keeps people up to date with the political events. While were there, we met Matt Worker. Matt is a political cartoonists and an amazing person and I loved all his stories. He told us about the inspiration that makes him create the cartoons he makes. He told us how he got involved with drawing political cartoons and who he looked up to when he was younger. I really loved his style of drawing; the fact that he can create something like that every day is unbelievable. We also met someone named Beatrice who handles videos and digital art; I wasn’t really intrigued with her job because I live in the digital era. It was more interesting to see Matt’s work because he actually goes through a process to create what he does and it only takes him 6-8 hours, but it would take me like a week. Politico was my favorite part of the day, I really admire Matt and I hope I see him again.

Mandatory Minimums

Many people are going to jail up to 65 years for selling drugs because of the change on mandatory minimums. The issue of mandatory minimums is a very sensitive subject because a lot of people are in jail for up to sixty-five years for crimes that only require five to ten years. This is personal because if this was me or somebody close to me, I would want them to be let out after a certain amount of years.  I know selling drugs is not a good thing, but that could be someone’s last result. The economy is not that good to begin with so jobs are a dime in a dozen, especially good ones, so I do understand a person selling drugs to put food on the table.

               The groups of people who are prone to going for this crime are African-Americans and Hispanics. From this, I see that mandatory minimums affect a specific minority. This leaves a negative impact for my community; it also gives my community a bad reputation because people may think all we have is drug dealers roaming the streets.

               This affects the whole globe too. There are a lot of people serving time for crimes that are not that bad necessarily or for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. People have kids and it is ashamed that they won’t be there to see their children grow up, that’s not right. It doesn’t make sense for someone whose selling drugs to get a bigger sentence than someone who killed people.

Political Cartoon Analysis

• 
• This political cartoon stood out to me because I know what Obamacare is. I believe the message of this cartoon is that Obamacare is killing jobs. With Obamacare, people who have it don't have to pay for healthcare.The characters I see in this cartoon are Obama, the grim reaper and a man. Obamacare is killing jobs because some people's businesses can't afford to have it. The Grim Reaper is the doctor and the man represents jobs that he kills. Obama is appointing the man to the Grim Reaper.
• The intended audience for this cartoon is the people who work for places that can't afford Obamacare. On one side there's the employees suffering from this bill. The other side is Obama and his administrative crew who want the bill to work for people. The intention behind the cartoon is to get Obama to correct this bill and make it beneficial to everyone. Yes this is propaganda because it's trying to sway people to believe that Obamacare is taking jobs away from people. This is in fact negative propaganda because it raises a negative point. 

Body Cameras

Jhayda Johnson

Police officers should wear body cameras on their body because it can help the officer or the victim in the long run. If the police officer is being accused of assaulting the victim and he did not do anything, then the body camera can give that officer justice. Vice versa, if the victim is being assaulted by the police officer then that person would get justice too. For example, when Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer for allegedly resisting arrest, a body camera would have been helpful for the court in solving the case.

There are not just pros to body cameras, there are also cons, and certain debates over whether or not they are an invasion of privacy have often come up. In my opinion, I do not think they are just for the simple fact that they can give somebody their innocence or help a family know who was to blame for an incident. I also believe that they are not an invasion of privacy because they are not showing negative things; if the officer is doing his job correctly then it would not be a problem.

I think the body cameras do become a problem when the officer starts to act differently because he or she is on camera. Cameras should not affect an officer’s work ethic; they should not act a certain way because their bosses can see them at all times. An officer should always act accordingly, no matter the situation.

Technically Challenged