How Media Covered the 2008 Election

In general, the 2008 election favored Barack Obama instead of John McCain, leading towards a potential bias. Media gave McCain a more negative view and less popular coverage.

A negative opinion of Obama had risen when they began to question his birth place. The Media suspected he was not born in the U.S. therefore not eligible for presidency. Obama had produced his birth certificate to disprove these claims, after many attempts by Fox and conspiracy theorists of his citizenship to demean his presidency.

A prominent reason why McCain had a very negative public view, was because he constantly paraded his views on the Iraq War. He formed a propaganda campaign strictly on Saddam Hussein's possession of WMD's.

"I have not seen the book or the comments. But i know why i supported [the war] because I believed Saddam Hussein ad weapons of mass destruction as did every intelligence agency in the world and every assessment," McCain claims.

McCain had initial positive remarks from the press until his reaction to the financial market crisis. McCain tried to change public opinion so he had attacked Obama's character in order to increase his own popularity, but this only ended up hurting McCain more.

 Obama's coverage had the opposite effect. He began with a very negative response, but the tone switched after McCain's several screw ups.

McCain encountered many attacks towards his character. There were recorded phone messages that had spread rumors over McCain's wife Cindy, that she was a junkie; she had also been addicted to prescription painkillers once, which had helped support their claim despite their being lack of evidence.

A small group of Vietnam veterans had suggested that McCain became a traitor while he was in Vietnam. McCain responded to these by pulling down his negative advertisements from TV.

Another factor that contributed to Obama's win was his techno-demographic appeal. This caused the youth to show more appeal towards him. The media's coverage greatly contributed to his win, with a 70% vote among Americans under the age of 25.



A study published by ABC News shows that the news/media focused primarily on campaign strategy, polls and fundraising than on the individual policy positions of these two candidates.

Nearly 63% of all stories from the media focused on the political aspects, rather than the 15% concentrated on the candidates and their policies.

"More than three-quarters of the American public said in recent surveys that they want more coverage of the candidates' positions on the issues... and that's exactly what they're not getting from the coverage in the press," said Amy Mitchell, deputy director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

With so many candidates at the start of presidential elections, the news did not have the resources to cover every candidate.

"In these nominating contests with large fields, journalists are in a tough position of figuring out who the front-runners are," said Harvard professor Thomas Patterson, author of "The Vanishing Voter" and "Out of Order."

Journalists had a difficult job to cover such a large event, but the media covered it with triumph.

Interview about Obama's Stand on Crisis'

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-on-economic-crisis-transition/

Work Cited 
http://www.journalism.org/2008/10/22/winning-media-campaign/

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2008/05/29/23990/mccain-mcclellan/

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42779923/ns/politics-white_house/t/obama-releases-detailed-us-birth-certificate/#.VWXDAmRVhHw
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/11/17/the-fall-7
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2008/11/19/barack-obama-and-the-facebook-election
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3789721

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

Age Of Ultron

    When I saw Avengers: Age of Ultron I came with high expectations, hoping it would have lived up to the hype. The movie starts off with the Avengers starting a raid on a Hydra base, searching for Loki's weapon. 

     Hydra introducing what is referred to as "The Twins" to try and stop the Avengers, which is really Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver begin fighting the Avengers, while Tony Stark searches for the weapon.
   Bruce doesn't seem to mind being the hulk so much, until once he turns back. Black Widow and Bruce begin a love story, because why not? It's a movie, it's got to have romance somewhere.

    When Tony finds the weapon, Scarlet Witch somehow sneaks up on him, and sees into his mind, playing on his worst fears. After seeing into his mind, she allows him to take the staff, knowing it would lead to his destruction.

    Tony then takes the staff back to the Avengers HQ, to do some sort of research on it with Bruce before Thor takes it back to his home, Asgard.

    Now this is where it gets good. Tony and Bruce begin experimenting on the weapon, finding that inside is some sort of computer, or A.I.

   Tony, always wanting to "push the limits of science and save the world" begins trying to create the A.I into a functional system that can create world peace, calling it the "Ultron Project." Bruce Banner reluctantly follows Tony's lead, because hey, this is Tony Stark we're talking about.

   Once Ultron is created, it somehow takes over the system after being active for literally 5 minutes and just decides to destroy the world. It begins to develop robots immediately, and tells the Avengers through one of them that they will be destroyed for the cause of peace. (Cause why else would he want to do it?)
   Ultron finds Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and team up because they have a common enemy: The Avengers. So the classic 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' scenario plays out and they go to work.

   Ultron builds more robots, and begins looking for Adamantium (The indestructible metal), the avengers somehow lose that battle due to Scarlet Witch playing on almost all of the teams fears and minds again, and they go into hiding after a devastating loss.
   Hawkeye takes them to a safe place, they find out Hawkeye has a family, and Bruce and Black Widow's love story plays out more but this time they search for sympathy in the audience, seeing as how they have similar stories since they both have lost and hurt many.

   Thor goes off to do his own thing for a while after having his fears exposed by Scarlet Witch, and doesn't show up for a while. They never really explain this part for some reason, he just goes in a pool and lightning occurs, and BAM he's better again.
   Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver find out that Ultron plans to destroy the world, and begin to help the Avengers. Vision becomes created as Ultron wants to become a cyborg in a way, and the Avengers steal the body, and Tony implant a form of J.A.R.V.I.S into it (The team reluctantly allows this, even after he did this the first time and that's how this mess started).
   Once the whole team is united, they go to stop Ultron in the big battle you've all been hoping for.
Overall I give this movie a 8/10, since some of this is practically forced on you, and they even miss or don't explain a lot of this movie.

Four Reviews, Four Topics

TV Review

http://time.com/3457510/bobs-burgers-die-hard-laugh-harder/
Bob's Burgers is mentioned in this due to the Family Guy/Simpsons crossover, where they have a scene where Bob is in an airplane with Homer and Peter, where Peter Griffin states "We gotta carry him because he can't fly on his own." The critic disagrees, and I have to agree with the idea that Bob's Burgers is able to coast on its own, not needing support form other animated series; even after being under the radar most of their air time. Bob's Burgers is considered to be the critics favorite show, almost a reward that he saves, and I can't disagree with that. How it gives "inspired weirdness and expressive voice casting," and how the characters are fully realized giving some great comedy since it was aired. And I believe that that's the truth. They talk about the season premiere "Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl" which he says will not disappoint. He states how you can just jump into the episode no problem, with ease. They speak about how this could become the best show on Fox, if not already. I believe that in time it will, but not yet. Give it a season or so, then it'll be for sure.

Restaurant Review

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/dining/datebook-diner/2014/10/15/fongs-pizza-datebook-diner-review/17306941/

Fong's Pizza is stated to open a second location in spring. the critics tells the history of how the place was opened by 10 entrepreneurs, how they kept the chinese decor that was left over. he talks about how the place feels, how it's "retro and eclectic" because of the design of the place because of their posters and tiki mugs. He speaks about how the menu gives a brand of culinary fusion, which I have to agree that it does after seeing the menu. He also talks about the different drinks, how they range in price from $6 to $9 with different varying names. He likes to talk about their specialties that they offer ranging from a crab rangoon pizza, to something called a bacon popper pizza. He tries to stay humble, stating "I'm not saying Fong's has the best pizzas in town - I found the crusts so-so and on some pizzas, the toppings competed rather than harmonized. But you know? Who cares?" He brings it back though calling it a "funky adventure in the heart of Des Moines" and how it's great for just hanging with friends and relaxing. I have to say that I agree with everything he says, word for word.

Album Review

They start it off with the history of Flood, and how it had changed college rock. They talk about those who had created the album. And how they've known each other for so long, and past records as well. He states that "Flood saw the duo let loose like a riptide." He begins talking how the song  "Theme from Flood" "plays like the soundtrack to a Technicolor movie" which I can't disagree with. The song gets followed by "Birdhouse in your Soul" which is has a pogo-worthy bass line, which is pretty true. He speaks about the rest of the songs that have retro-pop homages that "split the difference between the duo's contemporary heroes and the 1950s aesthetic that imprinted on them as they absorbed TV reruns in their youth." This is pretty true, although the 1950s aesthetic could be argued. He also speaks about nine musicians that were featured on 12 of the 19 songs in total. They also speak about different songs specifically, and how the artists feel about them on their own. i have to say that i agree with most of the opinions that were given here, there isn't much to disagree with here. Nothing is really controversial.

Technology Comparisons

Movie Reviews: 2 movies, 2 reviews each.

Road to Perdition

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/2002/2002-07-12-perdition-review.htm

This positive review states very truthful things, both good and bad. One thing I agree with that had to be bad, would be that the story does fall short in some parts, but it makes up for it. I have to agree with the idea that it is greatly filmed, with a great finale as well. I have to disagree with the idea though that every scene is studied and calculated to create a sense of "art." I believe that it isn't calculated, as is a byproduct of the film. Overall, this review is quite fair, and also accurate too.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/11/ca.s02.review.perdition/index.html

I agree with the idea that it wants to be a family saga, compared to the "Godfather." But the idea that the actual story itself can't bear the weight that that the themes provide, is something I have to disagree with wholeheartedly. I feel like the story could've, if it was done in a different fashion. The idea that you get a vapid sense of emptiness from this movie where it's soul should be though, that the critic states in the review, I believe is slightly true, yet also false. There is some truth in it, but I feel it can be overlooked due to the fact it is only minor.

The Lazarus Effect

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-lazarus-effect/Film?oid=16355205
I agree with the thought that it's thematically thin, that's clear. What I have to disagree with is that it's good for a few scares, The movie was predictable leaving little to the imagination for when a jump-scare would come. I have to disagree with the idea that the filmmakers "mine horror for a sense of confinement" well, the facility seemed quite large in the movie. His saying that the movie had been hampered by an insufferably smug lead performance seems fair, but can be argued by some if they wanted too. That part is up for debate.

http://www.vulture.com/2015/02/lazarus-effect-is-a-dopey-thriller.html
The critic states that this movie wastes a very likable cast, which is pretty safe to say. The film making a half-hearted attempt to seem smart makes sense, they never really mention most of their talk again after that point; they just do the experiments without explaining further after that. I also agree that when they had brought back the main characters wife they just dropped the topic of soul-searching and anything scientific and pick up on "refreshing stupidity" about the serum affecting her brain. He compares the movie to the film "Lucy" where a woman takes a drug and unleashes her brain capacity, and how in that one they actually build up anticipation compared to this film. And how in this film they just go into it so quickly it doesn't give the audience time to react to anything going on. One of his final statements accurately sums up the belief I hold for this movie: "The Lazarus Effect is simultaneously too much and not enough."

Chris Sosnowski Outline

Mr. Sosnowski personality profile

How his course is used at the university in Arizona that chose to use it. Is it how he and those who went with and supported him intended it to be? How has Mr. Sosnowski's reputation and teaching style affected the course?

Possible Interviews

• Mellisa O'Neil
• Mr. Hall
• Sosnowski
• Director of Polk County Extensions
• Principal Biggs
• Staff who joined him
• Students
• Student teacher

Possible Research

• Polk County Extensions website
• Social media
• ACCT Conference website
• ACCT Conference courses and topics
• DMPS (Any extensions and articles)

Scenario Response/Summary

http://journalism.indiana.edu/resources/ethics/invading-privacy/intruding-on-grief/

300 Word Response/Summary? to the Scenario

The scenario that I had read was about a Journalist who had to sit down with a family of a Navy electronics technician, Kelly Robert Quick.

He had been unaccounted for when two Iraqi missiles hit the USS Stark in the Persian Gulf on May 17, 1987.

He writes about how he believes that barging into peoples privacy during a time like that is wrong, and the public doesn't have a right to know about how the family is dealing with the news.

Personally I agree with what he is saying, and I think that the public doesn't really care about the family, they just want a good story whether it's sad or happy.

Initially when the journalist talked to the father of Kelly Quick, when he saw that he had been tired, sobbing and had already given several interviews to other stations and newspapers, he left giving his blessing.

His editors reaction was very upset, by that how it wasn't his job to be concerned with what the sources want, and that it's only to get the story. To not give advance warning, to take them by surprise.

He had to go back to the father's house and try to get as much information from them as possible, even after he had already tried earlier.

The father ends up telling the story that he had been telling for the past few days. I don't really see how this could've been different than any other paper, but I guess they just wanted the story anyway.

When another reporter came into the house, when he saw one reporter in the house, he assumed that he could be there as well.

The reporter ended up ignoring the family inside and went around the house looking around, took a photo, asked the family if he could take it and then left.

He had received a call on the phone asking if he had enough yet. When he asked if he could just come in and not tie up the phone lines, he was told that it didn't matter because their son had died.

The press knew before the family that their son had died, and he had to wait for their reaction when the "officers in white uniforms" come.

What should've been done and what was done

The reporter ended up resigning from his job shortly after what had taken place there. I personally think he should've told other news stations and people about what happens.

I don't think it's morally okay for someone to barge in and ask people all about their personal problems involving this issue.

The idea that the public deserves to know how a family reacts to a tragedy is ridiculous, if anything it is a privilege that has to be earned by peoples trust in the news station, reporter, or whomever tries to get the interview.

I believe that when a person is calm and collected, then they should be able to be requested for an interview.

The idea of profiting from someone's loss is sickening.

The pros of interviewing people during their grief is that they get tons of popularity, and it makes for a much better story.

The negatives are that the press may seem cruel and unkind to people, and that they might not even get a good story from them and just get the same story as everybody else in the room.







Watergate Scandal Timeline

Deep-throat was actually Associate Director of the FBI, Mark Felt. He confessed he was deep-throat in 2005.

WATERGATE TIMELINE

In November 1968, Richard Nixon beats Hubert Humphrey in the presidential election for the Republican Party.

On July of 1970, Nixon approves a plan for increased intelligence gathering by the FBI, CIA and other agencies.

September of 1971: The White House "plumbers" unit (named for their ability to plug leaks in the administration) rob a psychiatrists office for files on Daniel Ellsberg, who released Pentagon Files earlier that year.

June 17, 1972: Five men are arrested for trying to rob the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel and Complex.

September 29, 1972: John Mitchell, while working as Attorney General, controlled finances for Republican intelligence gathering operations against the Democrats.

October 10, 1972: FBI agents confirm that the Watergate Break-In comes from a massive campaign of spying, sabotage, and more conducted on behalf of President Nixon's reelection campaign.

November 11, 1972: Nixon is reelected in one of the biggest landslides in American history, with over 60% of the total votes.

January 30, 1973: Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James McCord Jr. are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in the Watergate scandal. 5 others plead guilty.

May 18, 1973: Senate Watergate committee begins its nationally televised hearings.

June 3, 1973: John Dean tells Watergate investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon over 35 times.

July 13, 1973: Alexander Butterfield (former presidential appointments secretary), reveals in testimony that since 1971 Nixon recorded all conversations and telephone calls in his offices.

July 18, 1973: Nixon orders the White House taping system disconnected.

July 23, 1973: Nixon refuses to turn over the presidential tape recordings to the Senate Watergate committee or special prosecuter

November 17, 1973: Nixon states "I'm not a crook." maintaining his innocence in the Watergate case.

April 30, 1974: The White House releases over 1,2000 pages of edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes to the House Judiciary Committee. They insist the tapes themselves must be turned over.

July 27, 1974: The House Judiciary Committee passes the first of three articles of impeachment, charging obstruction of justice.

August 8, 1974: Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S president to resign. Vice President Gerald R. Ford assumes role as president. He later pardons Nixon of all charges related to Watergate.

Lesllie Perez Spring Break Interview

"Spring break was really needed." Lesllie said.

Lesllie Perez spent the much of her break not being able to do much, but that hadn't stopped her from enjoying her break.

She sadly didn't go anywhere fun over break, unable to travel, staying here in Des Moines the entire time. She would have liked to go to Hawaii, or someplace warm and tropical, but couldn't.

She didn't visit any distant relatives while on break, and mainly spent time with close family and friends during the week.

She feels like the most fun thing she's done over break was just being able to spend time with her friends more outside of school.

She wasn't able to do as much as she wanted, because she was sick for the first half of spring break, so that had limited her options, and how much she wanted to get done.

"I'm looking forward to next years spring break, because I'm hoping to be more productive than this years." Lesllie said.

During Spring Break Lesllie spent time on her extracurricular activities, practicing to improve her soccer skills to prepare for the season to start.

Her lowest point was really not being able to do much, just sitting around, not being able to be as active, watching Netflix.

Even though Lesllie was sick for half of spring break, she still had enjoyed her break overall, despite not being able to do as much as others may have had.

She feels Spring Break could have gone much better than if she wasn't sick. She was able to still get much done, enjoying the time off from school, taking a break from schoolwork in general, and being with her friends.

Stephen Glass Article Review

http://wp.lps.org/akabour/files/2013/12/Spring-Breakdown-Stephen-Glass.pdf

After reading the article Spring Breakdown, I can see now how he wasn't caught as soon as he started it. If I hadn't known that Stephen Glass faked most or all of this, then I would've believed the article.

He gives so much detail about the events that took place, like he was there, even when he wasn't. He gives detail about the people there, the hotel rooms and parties they attended, that it seems hard to make up.

He gives a vivid description of many of the people there, each with their own quick and small background, including a  place of origin, and age.

He comes up with all of this, mixing facts with fiction so it'd sound much more real. He gives details about the conference that sound believable, that most people would overlook and just naturally believe.

He talks about what it was like in the past, and how it's currently affecting C.P.A.C's popularity. That doesn't begin to cover how he backs up what he's saying.

He covers up some of the claims he makes by saying that they won't release the numbers of those who showed up because of how embarrassingly low the numbers are, only giving estimates that supposedly came from veterans of the event.

And even if there was truth in that, why didn't anyone at cpac call him out for his claims that attendance was dramatically dropping?

PUNISHMENT

I feel like he shouldn't be able to write for a newspaper after the events that took place, and deserved the punishment he had gotten.

The fact that he had not been caught earlier is shocking to say the least. I can understand why he wasn't, but I feel like they should have done more research into sources cited.

If he needed a lesser punishment, it had to be suspension from writing. He doesn't deserve a lesser punishment, so it wouldn't matter anyway.

If somebody was able to come up with these stories, partially or completely, then how come they couldn't have put that effort into actually doing journalistic work instead of writing fiction?

I believe that punishment was well-deserved and earned, and I can't see why he would do something like that. Especially for one of the most supported newspapers.

60 minutes interview reflections

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/darpa-dan-kaufman-internet-security-60-minutes/

The first interview was about how the internet isn't that safe, and how they're trying to change it. They talk about the guy who invented the technology they're implementing to stop it.

 They mainly talked about what he did beforehand, how he got his job, why he wanted to do it, and what he has done with the job.  I could learned about how you should focus more on the person and their topic.

I learned about how people can hack into modern cars and control it on their laptop anywhere in the world. They showed examples of what they're doing and how they use the technology.

The guy receives about half a billion dollars for funding to find out ways to stop government information from being stolen and finding websites on the "dark web".

The interviewer looks like she's interested in the topic, and asks a lot of follow-up questions from different perspectives. She talks about the good and the bad that can come from the technology that the guy created, and how it could be used to invade our privacy at any time.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bob-simons-pick-mount-athos/

The video talks about Mount Athos and the history behind it, and why it's so isolated from the rest of mankind.

I learned about Mount Athos, what the monks do, and why they enjoy the isolation.

The interviewer is very friendly and light with the people he's interviewing, and he's listening attentively to what they're saying. He keeps his head up, nodding at what they say, never taking his eyes off of them.

He asks the main questions, and follows through their day, looking at what they're doing. He talks about different people and what they do usually in their daily routine.

He walks when they walk, sits when they sit, keeping an even level with them, trying to show respect. He asks follow-up questions, keeping the topic going as much as possible before changing.

He tries to be as respectful as can be, letting them go about their lives without interrupting them.

Katie Baumert's Interview

Katie Baumert is a freshman at Roosevelt High School. She describes herself as a snazzy person, but believes she's lazy as well.

She doesn't play any sports,  and her favorite class is Psychology, because the teacher "lets her do whatever." She lives life with no big regrets, leading as an example for others.

She has 1 step-sister, 2 half sisters, and 1 full sister. Her biggest influence in life was her siblings as well. Her favorite memory also involves her full sister.

She tells a light hearted story about when she was little about how she lived in an apartment complex. She once got locked out with her sister, so to pass the time, she and her friend got her friends ferret to chase her little sister around.

If she was asked to choose between fruits and veggies, she'd choose fruits. She backs this up by choosing apple products over android, as well.

She doesn't play any sports, and doesn't like to sit back and watch things happen, but instead takes charge. She's traveled to 9 states, having many experiences in her life.

She enjoys Tumblr over iFunny, and finds happiness in La Bamba. She says that if she had wings and had a choice to fly anywhere, it'd be the Bahamas. Katie has also had bad times as well as good ones.

Her most adventurous thing she's ever done, was almost drowning. The dumbest thing that she's done was when she said a girls arms were "over flowing" when she was in the 4th grade. Her most embarrassing moment was when she slipped in a puddle at lunch and her tray spilled onto her in front of everyone.

Katie overall is a great person, who inspires as she goes. She leads by example, with the life motto of "aesthetic." She sadly does not have any nicknames, so someone should get to work on that as soon as possible.

What I hope to accomplish in the 2nd semester

What I hope to accomplish in 2nd semester

    My first semester went well, because I had class with all of my friends. I just want to keep my grades, and try to keep attendance high this semester. 

   This semester I just want to get by. After everyone gets adjusted to the new schedule the days will just blend back into being fast and routine.

   I have computer apps this semester, which I've heard is pretty easy. I got Journalism and General business. Those three are my new classes this semester. I don't really like General Business, but Journalism is all right.

   I don't really like the way my schedule was set up, because all my classes were moved to different periods but two, Math and History.

 My grades were okay last semester, but I'd like to get them higher than before.

 I have opportunities this semester to do new things, which is pretty nice. I don't expect much to be different, but it will in subtle ways.

All of my core classes are the same, except I have new periods and new people. I jsut have one of each core class, like everybody else.

Last semester gym was pretty easy. We just got graded on participation, so it was easy.

I met Bailey last semester, he's still a nerd.

Things went smoothly last semester, nothing went totally wrong, which is nice.

Who I am as a person.

I'm Thomas Dainty. I'm from Des Moines, Iowa, and 15 years old.

I don't really like talking about myself, so I'm not sure what to write about. I live with my mom and dad, and a dog named Chance.

I have two brothers and a sister. Their names are Ross, Ryan, and Elizabeth. They're on their own now, so its just me in the house.

I hope to get into Iowa university like my brothers and get a degree. I'm not sure what i want to do with my life though.

My sister elizabeth has four kids, making me an uncle. Her kids aren't that much younger than me, so it's not really that different than having a younger brother or sister.

I like volunteering and helping, I haven't done much since October but I'll be looking for places to volunteer on the weekend. I enjoy donating, and plan to do charity events in the future.

I enjoy most things in life. I like football, my favorite team is the packers.

I don't like Bailey Agan, he's a nerd. Total nerd, like not even lying.

Joking about Bailey, sort of. He's ok I guess.

I help out with housework since my dad works the night shift, so I've learned how to do stuff like cook and other essential things to live, so I got that going for me.

I don't drink soda, never have, never will. Most people find that kinda weird, but eh. Coffee is pretty good though.

I've never broke any bones yet, which is nice. Glad to not have done that yet.

I don't really see the point of this introduction thing, since the only people seeing this is the teacher, and maybe a student every now and then.

I complain a lot, that's a big thing that I need to change. I want to improve upon myself by stopping bad habits early, like complaining all the time.

There's not much to say about me, I'm a simple guy who likes simple things. So this is my blog, don't expect much that you wouldn't see on any other blog.