Is Snowden to blame?

/ Sarah Litz / Leave a comment

The rise of technology now has the world completely interconnected. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone that the government also became a part of this new wave.

As Edward Snowden explained, the government keeps pockets of metadata. Anything that someone uses through cell phones, the internet, messages, social media, can be stored and analyzed for further or later use.

The part that concerned Snowden, is that the general public did not know that their own government was collecting this data and claims that the collection of metadata is a direct violation of privacy. The government, however, claims that the collection of metadata prevents terrorist attacks from happening and is only serving the role as big brother in order to protect the citizens.

And this is exactly why Snowden is being blamed for the attacks in Paris.

Paris has it’s own metadata collection service, as do most countries. Some are claiming that because of Snowden’s whistleblowing, his intelligence leak has made it easier for terrorists to hide online. Despite having this advanced tracking technology, the elaborately planned attacks still happened, leaving over a hundred of Parisians and travelers dead.

However, I do not find these arguments to be valid. Only relying on massive amounts of technology tracking in order to find terrorists doesn’t seem to be the most reliable nor effective way to effectively stop terrorists. Since 2001, the claim to use spying technology doesn’t ring true to me – for example, the Boston Bombing still happened, movie theaters and schools were still targeted (but there’s little speak of this from the government since this apparently only applies to gun laws and mental health discussions).

Presentation: theSkimm

/ Sarah Litz / Leave a comment
  1. http://www.theskimm.com/
  2. Design
    1. Look and feel: Sleek, simple, words catch attention
    2. Tone: Clean, text heavy but still clickable by peaking reader’s interest
    3. Page zones: most recent Skimm at the top, archive page to go back further.
  3. Technology
    1. Platform:
      1. Language: JavaScript
      2. Markup language: HTML
      3. http://w3techs.com/sites/info/theskimm.com
  4. Content
    1. Editorial flow: Each Skimm post starts with quote of the day, the story, why do I need to know this, what you need to know, why this is important, the Skimm of it
    2. Photography: Links to Insta (https://instagram.com/theskimm/)
    3. Sourcing: Jobs available, still a start-up and taking off, interns
    4. Multimedia: Unless if it’s on social media, it’s not there, no videography, rely heavily on photography and witty words
  5. Social
    1. Social media to promote: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Spotify
  6. Data and facts
    1. Site history: Launched in 2012 by two NBC news producers, Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin in New York
    2. Traffic:
      1. Global rank: 35,340
      2. Rank in United States: 3,500
      3. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/theskimm.com
  7. Business model:
    1. Sponsored by Chase, Starbucks

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    1. Amazon links
      1. http://www.theskimm.com/2015/10/15/skimm-for-october-16th-3
    2. Sponsored jewelry (they know their audience)
      1. http://www.theskimm.com/2015/11/08/skimm-for-november-9th-2
    3. Ambassadors — free advertising

Changing with the times

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There’s no other way to break unfortunate news to someone than to just say it: News media is changing, and (here’s the shocker) it’s completely expected.

As technology develops, changes, and evolves into new forms, we as journalists and readers are expected to develop, change and evolve as well.

It’s true – jobs are decreasing, there are not high-paying jobs, and the future sometimes looks bleak. There have been incredible downsizing of many companies including tycoons like Los Angeles Times, New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. Smaller offices are suffering as well. And, it’s important to note, that it isn’t only print journalism but also broadcast journalism as well. Many companies are outsourcing graphics and control to sister stations and many employees are freelance (and don’t have secure positions that aren’t under union).

Now that I’ve said all of that, it looks bleaker than bleak…ultra-bleak.

But now, it’s time to get creative. Instead of having one editor-in-chief, there are opportunities for several specialized editors to take positions. Become a beat writer. Introduce creativity to posts. Use social media. Learn it, use it, learn to love it, and use it some more.

There are downsizing, there’s no denying that, but there’s also great opportunity to become specialized or to learn how to present your information in an incredibly unique way. Like I’ve said, it’s time to evolve, and here are some ways to do so to survive and thrive:

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Live Tweet: GOP Debate

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Live Tweeting is always a fun, innovative and strategic part of journalism. Instead of just heading back to the media room to write the story with quotes you managed to pull, live tweeting is a way to report in real time.

My strategy for live tweeting the GOP debate was to first research trending hashtags and popular people contributing to the twitter stream. I followed the trending people and memorized helpful hashtags.

Further research I wish I would have looked up, would be specific platforms of each candidate. If following the candidates longer, I would have liked to see if their views have changed or if they presented any conflicting statements.

The ‘persona’ I took on for live tweeting is the persona I generally use: opinionated, quirky and questioning. Throughout my tweets I tried to present the information differently instead of just always using direct quotes to relay information – I wanted my own questioning views to be presented. I often asked my followers if X was a quality that they would want in a president and question actions of the GOP candidates.

I enjoyed the fast-pace of live tweeting and think it’s a great way to get together a community of people covering the same event – I had people retweeting me I didn’t know and one person asked their own followers to follow me to see my tweets. This is a skill many aspiring journalists (and journalists!) should practice at every opportunity.

Data Journalism

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Data journalism is a different animal than daily news. In daily news, there’s the answers to the simple questions – What’s happening today? What’s coming up? Why does this affect me?

In data journalism, however, information is studied over time in order to find different trends in society. Whether it be studying the affects of bacon on the human body or the changes of the ocean’s water levels, data journalism can provide a unique prospective.

Personally, I am very interested in the ways that data journalism findings are presented because how something is presented affects readership. “Data journalism” sounds like a spreadsheet of numbers or a scientific paper, and it could easily be presented that way. But as journalists, part of our job is to get people to read what we research and what we find. Data journalists have the opportunity to present their findings in unique, multi-faceted ways.

Let’s look at the previously mentioned oceanic water level example. It’s one thing to write an article on the changing water levels over time and include a table representing changes in inches over time, but it’s another to have a topography map showing the changes as time goes on. Where does the water go? Does water from certain areas disappear? Is it going anywhere else? The visual representation will have a greater impact on the reader than simply reading an article, and it will help them understand it better as well.

On a Distant Witness and videos..

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It wasn’t just a “right place, right time” scenario for Andy Carvin; it was diligence, smarts and connections.

Reading “Distant Witness” was like watching a good movie – it’s so good you don’t even realize you’re there, until it’s over and you have to get up and return to the real world. Carvin devoted hours a day away from his job and family to be a part of the revolutions making them known to not only his followers, but to act as a breaking news reporter for NPR as well.

His diligently sought out sources in every country to ensure that the story could be told, and be told told correctly. He used translators and friends of friends to confirm allegations. He knew the people to contact and how to contact them. He wasn’t just a “social-media-whatever-his-job-was;” he was and still is a reporter, he just started a reporting trend in a different fashion.

Without social media and camera phones, I wonder if we would have known about these revolutions, or, more accurately, if these revolutions would have even happened. Carvin’s book attests to the true power of what happens when people can interact, plan and collaborate together – and maybe attests to why certain countries block websites and social media accounts.

A Tweet can only go so far, however. Words about Zainab being arrested can be confirmed, but when multiple photos are released across the airways, that evokes an even stronger image of what she endured. Words about tear gas in Tahir Square are powerful (heartbreakingly, terrifyingly powerful) but a live-video stream can leave someone speechless.

The power of videography is undeniable. From SPCA commercials to a war-torn country, seeing is believing and can put a name to a face or a crime to a fear.

Videos have changed the digital landscape because it makes words more relatable, and video has become a staple necessity along with every article. With more interaction, the reader can become more immersed in the story.

Copyright Criminals

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The documentary, Copyright Criminals, explores both the digital world of sampling and how that has affected both music and copyright law.

Beginning in the 1980s by hip-hop artists, sampling was a way for artists to take bits and pieces of another artists work, remix it, lay the track and produce a new song. Because technologies that allow sampling didn’t exist before, old law didn’t have an exact approach or response to the new wave of music.

One of the most important – and honest – points of the film was the interview with Clyde Stubblefield, drummer for James Brown. He discussed his musical process of creating some of the most iconic drum beats for Brown. When listening to other music, he couldn’t say if the other artists specifically got the beat idea from him or it was their own musical talents that drove them to bang the drum in a certain way – something that should ring true for most artists.

While it is one thing to blatantly steal a whole track for personal use, using someone else’s music for inspiration shouldn’t be chastised. Simply put: inspiration always comes from somewhere else.

With sampling, using bits and pieces of someone else’s music to create a new style or a new beat shouldn’t be chastised either. This is how new music, new ideas and new cultures come about. Sharing and vibing with one another is a way that new ideas can be produced.

Are we copyright criminals?

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Laws were at one time very simple, but that was when technology itself was simple too. We now live in an age where technology is rapidly changing, producing and reaching almost every person in the world. And with that, our laws regarding how technology is used is changing too.

The birth of the Internet also gave birth to more questions: What is private? How is information now shared? What information that can be obtained online can be used for other use?

It used to be simple – if you copied, you copyrighted. But now, the laws of copyrights are blurred and (most likely) we are all guilty of being copyright criminals.

The morality is when we take something of value from someone else it is wrong, but others shouldn’t be banned from having inspiration from another’s work. If a song was completely taken and just had different lyrics over it, then that’s more than just inspiration, that’s just copying. An example would be of the copyright infringement case against Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke and T.I. for the song “Blurred Lines.”

For others who are just innocently seeking inspiration, I say seek away. Anything can be found nowadays and maybe (just maybe) the idea of being original is dead since inspiration can be found anywhere at anytime.

At least innocently, we might be all copyright criminals.