6.02 Getting an Education

Life Plan:

My life plan is to become a police officer. I get there from here by staying out of trouble and getting through high school. The only education that is needed is to complete high school but I plan on getting a 2 year degree so I can get higher pay when I pass the police academy. I can prepare to enter the police academy exercising and staying in shape. This will take about two years since I have to be 19 to enter the academy.

Reflection:

I think my goals are very reasonable. Writing a life plan is something I don't like to do. My life plan is generally very easy as long as I don't get into trouble and stay in physical shape. I think other people should write life plans if they have very extravagant life goals like being a doctor or actor. These goals take a lot more steps and in those cases life plans are great.

Lesson 6.01

Reporter - Sports

The location of this job is Blacksburg, Virginia which is right around Richmond. The person in this position can make about $45,000-52,000 a year. 3 to 5 years experience required and proper knowledge of Microsoft Word and bloggers. Education level is high school and they expect you to be knowledgeable in sports.

Lesson 6.00

 There are many journalists in the world and only a few make it big. Recentlty I have been watching a lot of CNN and I came across Piers Morgan. I previously know Morgans from Americas Got Talent as the out spoken judge that hurts everyones feelings. He now has his own show, Piers Morgan Tonight. Morgan began his career at Harlow College getting his degree in Journalism. He landed his first job at South London News as a reporter. He then left South London News and floated around to many major networks including editor of News of the World. Piers Morgan has a lot of experience.

 Morgans new position at CNN doesnt differ much than his previous jobs. He has always been a reporter and editor. He conducts his interviews every night for the world to watch. He took over for the retired Larry King and in my opinion is at the top of his career. Whenver a network will fill you in with a position Larry King held you are very good.

5.05 Lead Sentence and Outline

Lead Sentence: The recent political debate between Mitt Romney and fellow politicians is causing public attention because of his religious beliefs and people are wondering if this is going to affect his chances of winning the presidency.

Outline:

Lead Sentence/Introduction
-The problem
-Public attention

Religion and Politics
-History
-Founding Fathers?

Does Politics Mix
-Recent controversy events
-Conclusion

5.04 Elements of a Good Interview

Interview with Nick Baez : 
1. What political party do you consider yourself to be in and why?
I consider myself to be a republican because my dad is a republican and I dont care much for democrats.

2. If I may ask, what religion do you consider yourself?
I'm an atheist. I dont think religion is any good.

3. Why do you consider yourself a non believer?
I consider myself an atheist because that's how I believe.

4. Due to your views on religion do you believe religion has a part in politics?
I dont think religion has a place anywhere. If you bring it into politics then the whole world is going to go down the drain.

5.  Why do you consider religion evil? Hasn't religion done a lot of good to America?
I dont consider religion evil. I consider the politics behind it evil. Religion hasn't done one thing good except cause violence.

6. I dont know if you have heard about the recent drama in politics about Mitt Romney but what do you think about the man?
I think Mitt Romney is a cool guy but he needs to tone it down with his openness about religion.

7. Does your opinion on him involve his religious beliefs or his political views?
My opinion involves both because a person is full of opinion when he has religious views.

8. Due to your young age do you feel that you will ever feel differently about the topic of religion and politics mixing together?
No I wont feel differently about the topic of religion and politics. They always stay the same and never change.

9. Do you think that politicians are all biased when it comes to religious views?
No, I dont think politicians are biased when it comes to religious views because I wouldn't be biased because I dont believe.

10. Thank you for your time. Do you have any additional comments?
No I'm good.

Interview wirh Cameron Schneider:

1. What political party do you consider yourself to be in and why?
I consider myself a republican because I have always thought that the republicans of private business ideas was best.

2. What religion do you consider yourself?
I consider myself a Christian.

3. Why do you consider yourself a christian?
I consider myself a christian because I believe in the gospel and the research I put into the religion.

4. Do you believe religion has place in politics?
I believe religion has a place in politics but we need to limit it. It would be like to many politics in religion. It wouldn't work.

5. Do you think religion has had an influence on politics in the past?
Yes I think religion has had an influence on politics in the past because some of the founding fathers fought so hard to develop a country of freedom of religion.

6. Mitt Romney recently has been subject to a lot of ridicule because of his religious beliefs. Do you think that he should be ridiculed like that because of his views? Can you explain?
I dont think anyone should be subjected to ridicule because of their beliefs.

7. What is your opinion on Mitt Romeny as a politician?

I think Mitt Romney is a great politician as far as I can tell. All politicians dont tell the truth so we just have to pick the best ones.

8. Does these opinions reflect him solely as a politician or also his religious views?
I think these opinions are both because a mans character is based on his beliefs and actions.

9. Do you think all politicians are biased in some sort of religious belief and if so, do you think they should keep it secret?
I think they are all biased and they shouldn't keep it secret but they also shouldn't wave it around like a flag

10. Thank you for your time. Do you have any additional comments?
No.

Reflection:
The interviews went fairly well. I had a really hard time holding my tongue with Nick but had to get through the interview without any argument. We are good friends but we have our differences and they definitely show. But trying to be a good interviewer I kept my composure and went along. In Cameron's interview everything went very well. I think both interviews could have been better if we were allowed more time to prepare but I wanted to get it done quickly.

5.03 Source Materials: Interviews

Interview Questions for Nick Baez :
1. What political party do you consider yourself to be in and why?
2. If I may ask, what religion do you consider yourself?
3. Why do you consider yourself a non believer?
4. Due to your views on religion do you believe religion has a part in politics?
5.  Why do you consider religion evil? Hasn't religion done a lot of good to America?
6. I dont know if you have heard about the recent drama in politics about Mitt Romney but what do you think about the man?
7. Does your opinion on him involve his religious beliefs or his political views?
8. Due to your young age do you feel that you will ever feel differently about the topic of religion and politics mixing together?
9. Do you think that politicians are all biased when it comes to religious views?
10. Thank you for your time. Do you have any additional comments?

Interview Questions for Cameron Schneider:
1. What political party do you consider yourself to be in and why?
2. What religion do you consider yourself?
3. Why do you consider yourself a christian?
4. Do you believe religion has place in politics?
5. Do you think religion has had an influence on politics in the past?
6. Mitt Romney recently has been subject to a lot of ridicule because of his religious beliefs. Do you think that he should be ridiculed like that because of his views? Can you explain?
7. What is your opinion on Mitt Romeny as a politician?
8. Does these opinions reflect him solely as a politician or also his religious views?
9. Do you think all politicians are biased in some sort of religious belief and if so, do you think they should keep it secret?
10. Thank you for your time. Do you have any additional comments?

Interview Questions for Karen Hart (My grandmother):
1. What political party do you consider yourself?
2. Why do you consider yourself an independent?
3. Because you feel so strongly about politicians lying does this affect your views on them?
4. Does your views on them also include their religious beliefs?
5. What religion do you consider yourself to be part of?
6. It seems like all politicians are biased in their views of religion since each person holds one. Do you think their beliefs carry over to their politics?
7. Mitt Romney has been very vocal with his religious views. What do you think about Mitt Romney?
8. Do you think politicians should tell everyone their religion?
9. Do you think that their religious beliefs would affect their votes?
10. Thank you for your time. Do you have any additional comments?

Conducting research before a interview is very important. It allows you to be prepared and know how your interviewee is going to react to your questions. I'm going to interview some of my close friends and relatives because that's all the people I can find. I'm choosing some of these questions because they are very important for my research topic. I have to ask their religious beliefs before I start asking my topic questions because that is a big factor in this question I'm going to address. I knew beforehand that they were totally fine with me asking this question.

5.02 Source Materials: Research

Three sources I intend to consult about this topic is a couple of newspaper articles and websites about politics. Some of them will include New York Times articles, religious websites and not so religious websites dealing with politics. The reason why I'm including both sides of the discussion is because I have to stay impartial. I'm going to present both sides and let the reader decide. I will consult three interviewees and they will be my friend Nick, my friend Cameron and my grandmother. I know I need to talk to credible sources and these are the best people I can get. If I said I consulted a politician I would be lying. My secondary interviewees would be my parents or neighbors.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~kenc/relandpo.htm
http://www.cfr.org/about/outreach/religioninitiative/index.html
http://www.evolutionary-metaphysics.net/politics_and_religion.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/28/opinion/la-oe-allen-religion-politics-republicans-20110828

5.01 Before You Write

For this topic I have to choose a view to be impartial about. I decided to pick a topic that I wrote about in my English class. We had to go on a editorial of a specific journalist and I picked the one about Mitt Romney. In the news over the last couple of weeks there was a big deal about him being a Mormon and running for president. So for this module I'm going to write about whether or not religion should be involved with politics. I find this topic to be impartial for me because I can see both views.

Lesson 5.00 Intro to the Writing Process

Writing plays a big role in our daily lives. If you look into history there are so many civilizations that tried to develop a system of writing. I believe it is very important for us because without it we would be back in the cavemen era.

I believe that spoken language is very important but writing lets us express our feelings even more. I have the habit of writing poems when I'm in a bad mood. When someone makes me mad or I have had a rough day I sit down with a piece of paper and a pen. The words just seem to flow on the paper. Writing is also very important because sometimes it isn't the right time to speak. I sometimes get in trouble with my mouth. When I'm upset with someone I generally tell them how I feel but with writing I can take a step back and think about what I'm writing down that I will eventually tell the person.

Writers like me get in trouble sometimes with their feelings. The goal of writing newspaper articles and information related articles is to inform them impartially. I think this happens rarely because writers are all human beings. Many people have a hard time keeping their opinions to themselves and they pay the consequences. If we could learn how to write impartially it would decrease much conflict in the world but would also make the world a lot more uninteresting.

4.03 Ethos and Credibility

http://news.yahoo.com/nasty-computer-virus-infecting-u-military-drones-125600227.html

Writers generally write to inform their audience on factual information but sometimes they also use ethos. Ethos are when writers write with their values or ethics in mind. When reading an article from someone you share the same values with it may not seem like an issue but if you disagree with them then it really affects how you feel about the article. When writers make a comment about something they feel strongly about then you start to question if the article is factual at all.

Reading through articles on the internet I found one that was about a nasty virus that was affecting the U.S. drones. This sounds like a great article but you always have to make sure the authors ethics dont override the article. In the short but informative article the writer presents the evidence in separate parts describing what the virus is doing to the drone systems and how they are trying to fix it. 

To make sure the author of the article is even credible you should always check what company the author is writing from and in this case it is, The Week. The company and their journalists always write factual articles that are credible. He also presents credible sources including GeekoSystem Co. and others of other articles that first found out about this topic.

The author doesn't seem to offer any ethos except that the military needs to fix it and supports the U.S. in their defense. Anyone reading this article may not support the U.S. and his values so this is portrayed as his own feelings.

4.02 Logic and Fallacies

Logic fallacies have three common ones and they are bandwagon, false dilemma, and correlation/causation. I have experienced bandwagon many times over the years since I watch sports from time to time. The best example of bandwagon I can give is when a sporting team wins and everyone is there fans. In my real life example this is exactly what it was.


My friend Matt was a die hard Red Soxs fan after they won the world series. This seems like it is completely logical but it wasn't because Matt the year before was a New York Yankees fan. Anyone that watches sports can tell you these two teams dont get a long especially the fans. He is what you call a bandwagon fan coming from the logical fallacy of bandwagon.

The situation was resolved when I told him that he was becoming a bandwagon fan. When you are a sports fan there is a known rule that you dont switch teams like that. If you are a true New York Yankees fan then you stick with them through it all or if you are a Boston Red Sox fan then you do the same by sticking by them even when the going gets rough. Even though this wasn't me that experienced the logical fallacy it was my friend so I used the example.

4.01 Pathos in Journalistic Writing

When fighting a war you have two opposing sides. One side feels they are correct and the other is wrong. This is the same for the other. But what would happen if they came together in agreement and put down their weapons? The war would be over and peace would be in the future. During the beginning of my belief in a divine being I struggled with understanding science. I even wrote a short poem explaining my frustration. I held to my theology like I was stuck in a wind storm and didn't want to get blown away. Little to my knowledge did I realize that both can come to an agreement much like a peace treaty in war.

I dove into science and started researching many topics. Some of these topics included the Big Bang theory, evolution and DNA. I thought I would find many pieces of information that were missing that would crumble the theories into nothing. I held to the belief that the missing parts of theories I could fill in the blank with a divine being. What I realized was religion did this all the time. This made them look extremely bad. The Catholic Church during the time of Darwin hated the idea of evolution and natural selection. This caused people to split into sects of people that believed in science or believed in religion. I truly believe that this hasn't changed since because one side thinks they are right and other is wrong just like in war. What one does not understand is that both can come into agreement.

Francis S. Collins a renowned scientist of genetics who is the lead man that mapped out the human genome put it this way in his book, The Language of God, "It is time to call a truce in the escalating war between science and spirit. The war was never really necessary. Like so many earthly wars, this one has been initiated and intensified by extremists on both sides, sounding alarms that predict imminent ruin unless the other side is vanquished. Science is not threatened by God; it is enhanced. God is most certainly not threatened by science; He made it all possible. So let us together seek to reclaim the solid ground of an intellectually and spiritually satisfying synthesis of all great truths." I think this best explains the idea that both can come into agreement. It is very true that we have extremists on both sides. Science has a way of working through trial and error. When new evidence is presented in the scientific community they build upon the old to get a better understanding of the world around them. I believe theology can do the same. With the scientific world expanding on physical knowledge why dont we apply that to theology. Theology and science together can help interpret the sacred text and we can better understand it if we just get on level ground. Theology can interpret the text with sound understanding of biblical understanding and science can keep working while both are building upon each other. Science has proved that human beings have extremely gifted minds and it also shows how much more complex the divine being is, showing his unlimited power. Science and religion are in two different worlds but when both are brought together they are, "intellectually and spiritually satisfying of all great truths."

4.00 Introduction to Persuasion

In our lives we come into contact with a lot of persuasion. When you turn on the television you are surrounded by opinion and persuasive commercials. You go out in your car and look to your left and right to see billboards. Then you turn on the radio and there are even more commercials of companies trying to promote their goods or services.

Messages that contain persuasive material can either be effective or ineffective. I think one of the greatest persuasive billboards I have came into contact with is those big Disney billboards as you head north toward Orlando on I-95. They talk about it being the happiest place on earth and display these great deals you can get. Then there are those insurance company commercials that prove to be ineffective. There is one insurance company that uses that little green lizard. The green lizard has nothing to do with insurance rates and the message of the company is lowly portrayed.

When trying to persuade someone it acts on their emotions. When your emotions are effected then you react or behave in a certain way. I found that the Disney billboard made and my family want to go to Disney even more. We actually decided that Disney was the place to go over Universal Studios because of the persuasion. Persuasion in the world is one of the greatest tools that can promote the sales of goods or even ideas.

03.04 Slander and Libel

A high school prints a monthly bulletin for students and parents. In it the administrators post the license plates of vehicles they contend have been speeding in the school zone. Several parents sue, stating that they have been unjustly identified.

The school district should be sued by the parents and sentenced to pay whatever the parents are asking. The school district based on this description said they contend that they have been speeding. Unless they actually have proper documentation of tickets or video evidence they cannot give out names of people without their consent because they have not be rightly accused and sentenced themselves of these alleged crimes.

03.02 First Amendment Freedoms

The Supreme Court vs. Davis has just shook the media and the court systems. This case shows that you have freedom of speech even when you are locked up in prison waiting to be put to death. But not only did Davis express his freedom of speech but the people that supported him with organized protests in front of the prison and around the world.

Troy Davis was an African American man that was accused and convicted of killing a police officer in Savannah, Georgia in 1989. There was substantial evidence from witnesses and was convicted to die a few days ago. Thanks to the news media we found that many people expressed there freedom of his innocence. We have also dealt with cases just like this. Also about the same time he was put to death a white supremacist accused and convicted of the dragging death of a black man had people rally for him for his innocence before his death. Both of these men had people supporting them with freedom of speech and they also practiced it themselves.

The protesters of Troy Davis case were allowed to rally outside and protest with picket signs and had megaphones chanting his innocence.  The same was with the white supremacist that was put to death. They had an established buffer zone and couldn't go on prison property or they would stay on prison property for some time. It was peaceful and didn't cause any violence and was well within the law. I believe that as long as they are calm and within the law they should be allowed to do this at anytime. With Troy Davis he was proclaiming his innocence to his death and even convinced the supreme court to review his case by freedom of speech.

This rights are great for people that are actually innocent. Any type of support from people during rough times is good especially with freedom of speech because in America you have a lot of power in your voice to be heard. I believe if this kind of freedom of speech was removed in this case Troy Davis he would have not be given a chance to reclaim in innocence before his death. But Davis killed a police officer and I believe that if you kill a police officer or anyone you else you deserve to be punished. I think a lot of this case was surrounded by the fact that he was an African American and he wasn't getting a fair trial. Based on evidence and eye witness accounts he did it and was given a fair trial. You can not use the racist argument every time.


Even in the court house you are given your freedom of speech to defend your innocence. In this case he was given it during his trial and was even allowed to express his innocence a second time when he asked the supreme court to review his case. You had people protesting outside for his innocence and the evidence just overwhelmed them. Freedom of speech is a right we are given to express ourselves and views. But unfortunately sometimes it isn't good enough and it falls short hurting people that are innocent but luckily based on the evidence it looked like a guilty person was rightly punished for their wrong doing.

3.01 Code of Ethics

5 Code of Ethics

• Do not accept gifts or money from people that want their story published. (The reason why I chose this is because when someone wants to buy you in then they want you to do a favor they know is wrong. Also it is wrong to publish a story with only one side and thats what they want you to do by buying you a gift.)
• Do not change a story and keep it original. (The reason why I chose this is because you want factual information in a story and not stuff that is changed.)
• Give both sides to the story by interviewing both parties. (This is so the news is not biased.)
• Be as accurate as possible providing information and photographs. (The reason why I chose this is because you want things that relate to the article that are factual including pictures from the scene of the story.)
• Minimize hurt (The reason I chose this is because you dont want to go around hurting people that are already hurt.)

I think the reason why I chose these five rules for ethics because to me these are the most important. All five of these have the general theme of being honest. Honesty to me is very important in every situation even if you dont want to hear it. 

3.00 Introduction to Ethics

1. What does it mean to be ethical?” Explore what you know about ethics to write a response to this question, providing examples to illustrate the qualities of an ethical person. Using your definition of an ethical person, describe how you believe someone should handle the situation described in this lesson. Explain how you came to your conclusion.

Being "ethical" is having a good set of morals. Examples of this would be opening the door for the person behind you, returning the money dropped from a person, telling the truth, helping out a fellow friend and giving out factual information. I believe the situation in this lesson should be handled by telling on your friend. Its the ethical thing to do because it will keep your friend safe and its telling the truth to the persons parents. I came to the conclusion because seriously its a terrible example. 

2. “How do ethics apply to journalism?” Now that you have defined an ethical person, write a short response about how you believe ethics plays a part in the presentation of the news.

Ethics apply to journalism because they have to be ethical accepted. When you are ethical accepted people expect you to tell you the truth. Ethics play a part in journalism because when they present news they are always having to be ethical. They have to dress nice and carry themselves well.  They also have to tell factual information.

2.05 Internet: News, Blogs, etc

Look around and there are so many different types of ways you can get your news. There is newspapers, radio, television and internet. They all have similarities and differences. So which one is the greatest for getting factual news?

Two of the most similar types of news is newspapers and the internet. Newspapers have written text that you read. The internet is the same since you read articles in text format. The difference between the two is the internet includes text and videos. The newspaper has text and pictures. The newspaper though is easier to receive everyday than buy a $500 laptop.

Radio and television are another set of news you can receive throughout the day. Radio is heard and not read. Television is seen and heard. Both allow you to get news but in very different ways. Radio and television makes you have to be in the room with the radio or televison to get it.

The internet is the final type of news there is. This is the newest type and most advanced. The internet involves news that is in text, video, radio, and televisoion format. It is always updating so breaking news isnt a problem like it is in newspaper. The only disadvantage would be that you would have to have access to a computer.

Out of all the different types of news the internet is the best choice. It provides all the previous types of news like newspaper (text and pictures) and television (videos). As long as you have a computer or phone you are going to be filled with the news of world on a device that is so small compared to the world yet you are going to know all about it in minutes by getting the news on it.

2.04 Broadcast-Television

There are many different types of news you can watch on television. There is local news, sports news, TV news mangement and many other. Television has gone a long way with better equipment to film and shoot this type of journalism.

This morning I was watching Fox 29 news which is a local news station in the area. This television news station provides interviews from people on events that have recently happened in the area. Also they provide world news, weather, traffic and entertainment news. This type of television news is for people that are going to work early and want to catch up on the news around the area and world.

In local news you really get to know the reporters since you see them every morning. This is a good thing since you are comfortable with them and they prove that they are excellent reporters. But sometimes they can get to comfortable and start spilling out opinion which can alter the story. This morning they were covering the story of Serena Williams because she was fined $2,000 for grunting during the game. The news anchor man, John Favole made a remark, "well it looks like she should follow the rules." This is just one example of the many opinions that are thrown into the television news that some people dont even notice that could change the whole story.

The most important aspect of local news is getting the facts covered and being effective. Fox 29 did a great job covering the major stories locally and around the world. They gave weather and traffic for the people that had to get to work and made sure they were also informed. This is why Fox 29 is the place to gets news that effective in informing you so you get facts from the story  and not just opinions.

2.03 Radio- Broadcast

The Hidenburg disaster broadcast was one of the first radio broadcasts that broke the news as it unfolded in person. The radio broadcast started out as the broadcaster talked about how he came on a new airplane and talked about how it only took three and a half hours to go from Chicago to New Jersey were the event takes place. He then went into the specifics about the Hidenburg airship.

Reporter Herbert Morrison was the man behind this broadcast. He was a man that went into great detail and gave details as they began to go to chaos. He was a model of what broadcasters were supposed to be. He took a short pause as the the Hidenburg crashed to allow him to collect his thoughts and the listeners. He used sources from the crash. There were survivors and he interviewed them. He got their names and he asked them questions how they survived. He then described how they looked telling listeners that his eyebrows were burned off.

Mr. Morrison gave the whole story of the disaster before, during and after the crash. This is a picture perfect example of radio broadcast. He gave credible visuals the whole time and after the crash interviewed credible people that were in the airship or witnessed the crash as he gathered their names. He stayed on the scene and gathered information for all the listeners to hear. We all learned from this man the exact details from his point of view of the Hindenburg disaster and are all thankful for the radio broadcast so we could have this as history for decades to come.

2.02 Print- Magazines and Journals

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2092512,00.html

Dear Editor,

"Officals Chase Uncomfirmed Bomb Threat" article was very informative about the threats we are going to face this upcoming Sunday. I have found myself really trying to grasp the fact that you actually published this. Many of your articles have been bringing the terroists threats into the light which I appluade you for giving this information to the public so we can be as safe as we can.

The only problem I have with this is you are almost giving out too much information. You are telling us that they are chasing down the unconfirmed bomb threat. Do you think that the person that wants to commit this act is going to pick up the magazine just like me? Of course they are and then they are going to go on the run and they might not catch them. When you write articles like this please try to keep details small and the overall plot of the article big.

Your Reader,

Anthony Schroder

2.01 Print-Newspaper

When you get your newspaper you are usually getting a daily newspaper. But there is also a another type and it is called a weekly newspaper. There are a lot of similarities and there are differences.

The daily newspaper is a paper that is printed 7 days a week. It contains the news, sports, opinion, etc like any other paper. The paper is usually shorter than the weekly newspaper since it is printed everyday. Most people pick it up every morning with a cup of coffee. There is a problem with the daily newspaper because the internet has really took business away. This paper usually covers the breaking news of the day before.

The weekly newspaper is a paper that usually covers the news from the past week. It is usually brief articles since the daily newspaper had covered it for the last days. They include the news and the things that are usually in the daily news plus art. This paper is usually thicker than the daily newspaper since it covers the week.

The weekly and the daily newspaper are pretty much the same thing. If you are looking are one paper that covers the whole week go for the weekly paper but if you want a paper everyday to read get the daily newspaper. It is based on your own personal preference.

2.00 Introduction: What is News?

What is news? News is the information we get from a number of sources that tells us what is going on around the world. Centuries ago news was very different than it is today. They would travel hundreds of miles to tell about what happened in their area. Then came technology that opened the doors to the news. So how do we get news? Do we watch it, read it, hear it or do we get it from friends?
Every night we turn on the television we are surrounded by the sights of the news. It can be from sports news to celebrity news to international news. We read across the bottom of the screen at sports bars and hear it in our living room. We also pick up the newspaper next to the couch that dad was reading and read the news. We go out into public and are surrounded by friends that are gossiping about the latest news. We turn on the radio and hear the traffic reports and weather.
In our culture we don't get news just in one format but so many different ways. We hear it, read it, get it from friends and can almost hear it in our sleep. We have become connected to the news and can not put it down. It is like oxygen and we cant live without it. It is almost like it is built into our five senses.

1.05 Who are Journalists

When you think of Journalism you might have a vivid picture of men and women standing in a room gathering information trying to get it on national television. Or you might have the image of a lone man sitting in a dark room writing a news article for the Sunday paper. Whatever you think Journalism is I'm going to tell you what I think it is.

Journalism is people gathering information about what is going on in the world and giving it out to the public. It can be in many forms. People can broadcast it over the radio, write it in a newspaper or magazine, go on television or post something on the internet. All of these are great ways to get information out. But what qualifies a person to be a journalist?

To become a journalist there are no requirements set by the law. You can become an independent journalist working by yourself or you can go to journalism school so you could get a job with a big company like CNN. I think the requirements that you need to be a journalist is first go to journalism school. After you finish journalism school you should have to serve as an intern in some company for at least two years. After that you should have to put together a book with all your works so it can be reviewed to see if you can become a certified journalists.

I believe this is the best option because the world of journalism is full of false facts. If you became a certified journalist with a company people would check the facts and make sure they are correct. After they are checked it can be published to the public. I don't know about you but I like having the facts straight.

Two of my favorite journalists of all time is Anderson Cooper and Katie Couric. The reason why these two are my favorite is because they are very professional in their line of work. Also they work for large companies that proof read all their facts before they present them to the public.

1.04 Jornalism Today

Every time we turn on the television there is a new news report. It could be about a foreign issue or even a domestic issue that is down the street from where you live. In this lesson I was asked to interview three different people. The question I asked them was, "How do you get your news?" The answers differed since all three of these people come from different generations.

Before we get into the answers from these three people lets talk about the news. How do we get the news?  We get the news in many different ways. Journalism has really evolved since the time of radio broadcasts. We now have television broadcasts and the internet. All of these are great ways to get news. I believe it is based on personal preference so lets see what they say.

The first person person I interviewed was my good friend, Bill. He is my age and comes from my "generation". I asked him how he got his news and he said, "the internet". I have found that most people my age rely on the internet to get news whether its sports or politics. I think it is this case because we are always connected to our phones or computers. We are known as the "technological generation".

The next person I interviewed was my father, Rob. I chose to not reveal his age because he doesn't like telling people his age. I have found many people his age are shy about revealing their age so I will just say he is in his 40's. I asked him the questions, "How do you get your news?" He replied, "the internet and television." The reason he says he relies on both because when he is at work and in his car he uses his police computer when there is no television. I would consider him a news junkie since he is always wanting to see whats going on in the world.

The final person I interviewed was my sweet grandmother, Karen. She also chose not reveal her age but she is past her 60's. I asked her the question I asked the last two people and she replied, "I rely on the television to get news." I was really surprised that an older person didn't rely on radio broadcasts since that was their "time" but she doesn't. I questioned her further by asking, "how come you don't listen to the radio broadcasts?" She said that radio is outdated and the new technology is what she enjoys.

It seems that the new technology is taking over the old. Every person I asked said that they relied on the television or internet. The radio is still around but it seems like to these people that it isn't as popular as the internet or television which I would agree. I can only imagine what the future is going to bring in journalism and news world. 

01.02 Evolution of American Journalism

Journalism for early American history is just as important today as it was when it was granted to us by the Bill of Rights. The early Americans were given a big victory over the government. Not to many governments allow their citizens this right. This gave rise to many freedoms that we can now express freely.

The year is 1690 and one of the first American newspapers was published. This seems like it was a great success but it ended with the publisher being arrested. You may be asking, "Isn't this protected under our rights?" It is protected under our rights but not till the Bill of Rights was published. We are now allowed to express our opinions without worry of being thrown in jail as long as the comments aren't threatening. 

In the previous paragraph I was writing about how great the Bill of Rights is for our society. It gives us the freedom to write anything in the press we want. One example of that is publishing articles about religion. In America we are allowed to publish as many things as we want  about it. It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. In other countries that would be very dangerous. So what happened if we didn't have freedom of the press? We would be thrown in jail and some publishers even killed if it got that extreme like in other countries. I believe there would be violence in the streets and it would snowball out of control. I have always been taught that you cant bottle up emotion or its going to explode. With freedom of the press we can read things we want and it sort of lets the emotions out. It is good for us and as a society.