All the President's Men

1. What does Bob Woodward have to do to get information about the Watergate break in?

Woodward had to contact "Deep Throat," a secret unnamed source, to get the information about the Watergate break in.

2. How difficult do you think it was to get information about a story BEFORE the internet? What would reporters have to do instead?

I think it must have been very difficult to get the information about the story before the internet because if the internet got the story out it would of spread very quickly before the reporters could tell it.  The reporters had to do every move in secret and double check information.

3. Why did Bob Woodward have to be careful about not being followed when he met with Deep Throat?

Woodward had to be very careful about not being followed when meeting Deep Throat because he was an anonymous source, who many people where trying to figure out who he was.

4. When Carl Berstein (Dustin Hoffman) gives Woodward the name Kenneth H. Dahlberg what does Woodward have to use to find a phone number for Dahlberg?

Good Night, And Good Luck

1. Why were CBS executives and its journalists so hesitant about questioning Senator McCarthy?
    They were hesistant because they had to defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and tactics used by McCarthy during his communist times.  


2) What method did Murrow and the other journalists use in the first story against McCarthy? Why did they choose this way to tell their story?
     They used McCarthy's own words and pictures to show the public that even McCarthy's own words wouldn't support what he was trying to convey, in the first story against McCarthy.


3) Describe McCarthy's appearance on Murrow's program. In your opinion, was it positive? Negative?

     His appearance on the program was positive I believe because it showed to America that he was single minded and only focused on making accusations of treason with no evidence behind what he says, America say the true McCarthy.

4) Why did Murrow's schedule get changed on CBS from a nightly program to Sunday afternoons?

      The CBS program got changed to Sunday afternoons because viewer amounts changed.

5) What does Friendly and Murrow refer to as the "downfall of television?"

      It is refered to as the "downfall of television" because television changed from being for educational purposes to being for entertainment and each program wanted to beat the other.


6) What ended up happening to McCarthy?

     In the end McCarthy ended up resigning from being senator .

7) What was Murrow's speech at the beginning and the end of the film about?

       At the beginning he says how history is what we make it, it is his job and the medias to report the information. The television can teach and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it towards those ends.

Current event: 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/us/obama-to-offer-major-blueprint-on-climate-change.html

        The White House on Tuesday morning is expected to unveil President Obama’s blueprint for cutting United States greenhouse gas pollution by nearly a third over the next decade. Mr. Obama said the United States would cut emissions 26 to 28 percent by 2025. Since any proposal to move climate change legislation will not be approved by the Republican-controlled Congress, Mr. Obama is expected to rely almost entirely on his executive authority. Countries need to submit plans to be greener soon before agreements are hard to reach. 

       I believe going green is a very important matter. Even though the results of our efforts won't effect today's generations. It will effect our children and so on. It is our job as the people of this planet to protect where we live. I'm glad to hear that Obama is taking steps to protect our planet. I also agree that cutting back on gas pollution is very important. 

      

Current event: 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/26/us/colorado-pregnant-woman-attack/index.html

      A former nurse's aide will not face murder charges for allegedly cutting and removing an unborn baby from the mother's womb in Boulder County, Colorado, prosecutor Stanley Garnett said Thursday. The mother, Michelle Wilkins, answered a Craigslist ad for baby clothes on March 18. When she arrived at the seller's home, she was attacked, beaten, cut open and her fetus was removed. The baby did not survive.  The attacker will not face a murder charge. 

      I think what happened to this innocent women is awful. I also think it is ridiculous the attacker won't face a murder charge just because in the state of Colorado they do not recognize a fetus as a person. That baby should definitely be considered a person because it died. Also the attacker should face worse charges because what Wilkins suffered from the attack. 

Current event:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/us/aaron-hernandez-trial/index.html

      After being granted immunity fiancée of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez said at a hearing Friday that she was asked to conceal a box and take it out of her Massachusetts home after the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2013. Jenkins testified she was "instructed" to take the box out of the home, and that it was "important" for her to get rid of it. On the day after Lloyd's killing, prosecutors have said Jenkins received a coded text message from Hernandez. Search warrants said Hernandez asked his fiancée to remove something from their basement.

        I find it very hard to believe Jenkins had no idea what she was getting rid of. And if one is instructed to get rid of an important box why would one not question what is in the box. That is why I believe she knew all along what Hernandez was doing and what he had done. She was most likely trying to protect him, even though he is a bad man who deserves to be in prison. 

Current event:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/30/us/tsarnaev-boston-marathon-bombing-prosecution-ending/index.html

        Federal prosecutors rested their case with grisly testimony about how the bomb Dzhokar Tsarnaev placed near the marathon's finish line tore through the bodies of Martin Richard and Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old grad student.  No part of the boy's 69-pound body was left untouched by the explosion, said Henry Neilds, Boston's chief medical examiner. Neilds peformed the autopsy and concluded that Martin bled to death after suffering blast injuries to his torso and extremities. Monday was the 15th day of testimony in the trial, which opened March 4 after lengthy jury selection.

       Jurors have a very difficult decision to make soon. Whether Tsarnaev deserves the death penalty or not. Personally I believe he deserves to die. After hearing all the gruesome things so many people at the marathon experience and all the loss in people's lives what he did was an awful thing and he deserves the worst possible punishment. 

Sales Pitch

To whom it may concern,

            Burncoat High School class of 2015 would like to offer your business the opportunity to feature an ad in our yearbook this year.  To remember our time at Burncoat we wish to create the best possible yearbook to treasure forever.  In order to help lower the cost of the yearbook so many more students can purchase it we sell advertisements.  Every penny we get from business's helps us.  This opportunity would be good exposure for your business, I strongly would appreciate you considering purchasing an ad.  We greatly appreciate your time and consideration.
                                 
                                                                                                  Sincerely, Burncoat High School

What's a good source for news?

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/09/us/hernandez-evidence/index.html

       CNN is a reliable source, for the latest news and breaking news its a good place to go to because they report the information not any personal opinions.  This article reports all information from the Aaron Hernandez case without giving the authors opinion.  CNN also uses reliable sources, having reliable sources makes articles seem more legit. I chose this article because this case has drawn much attention in the news, much attention can cause personal opinions to form.  Writing an article can be hard to keep these opinions out of.
        This news reporter, CNN, uses sources and detailed information to make it "good" news.  A good source for news is one that reports all known information. This article I chose does exactly this, it reports all known evidence against Aaron Hernandez and what's in and what's out in the case.  I believe that CNN does a very good job covering their news reports and showing evidence.

"Sources" in Journalism

Sony Hacker Article
The journalist who published this story did a great job explaining this story from two different perspectives. He talked about why people thought this wasn't an invasion of privacy because these are celebrities and nothing they do is private. And he also talked about how the celebrities felt exposed and why they felt that way. As a journalist it is critical to tell the story from more than one perspective in order to drive your story further.

Rolling Stone Article

As a journalist it is your job to be factual and include legit resources in your article. Not including important factual information and make your article seem misconstrued and incorrect. To be a good journalist you have to have various amount of resources to back up your article, other wise facts can be tossed around and your whole article becomes wrong. The writers in both situations should have been more truthful with their writing.

Shooting Fire Discussion Questions

1. I believe some people believe the First Amendment goes too far because it covers too much.  For example the freedom of speech excuse is used too often.  People are able to blame something they said even if wrong on the fact that the First Amendment allows them to the freedom of speech.

2. My reaction to the story of school principle Debbie Almontaser was I was very shocked.  The media who is supposed to provide us with factual information twisted Debbie's story.  Her words were twisted into a way that made her seem like the bad person when she had a lot more to say.

3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/04/23/on-freedom-of-speech-social-tolerance-and-opposition-to-gay-marriage/ 

This article shown here talks about freedom of speech and gay marriage, similar to the documentary when the young boy who apposed gay rights was protected by the freedom of speech amendment. 

Current Event:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/09/us/hernandez-evidence/index.html

            Former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez's jury selection begins Friday, as attorneys begin to whittle down a pool of more than 1,100 potential jurors to the small group that will decide whether Hernandez is guilty of murdering semipro football player Odin Lloyd. That pool is about 10 times larger than usual, largely because of concerns over finding an impartial jury. Attorneys will select 18 jurors, including six alternates.  Hernandez, 25, has pleaded not guilty. His friends Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz have also been charged with murder in Lloyd's death. They have pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately.
           This case has cased much attention and its interesting to see how it all plays out.  It sounds like Hernandez is guilty but the trial will be difficult especially with all the evidence being thrown out.  Hopefully the victim and the face of the victims family gets justice and Hernandez is put in jail.  It would be a shame if he gets away with the crime he has committed.

Current Event:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/world/europe/french-government-questions-intelligence-lapses.html?ref=world

           At least 13 people have been killed and France is traumatized, after the shooting of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.  The vulgar treatment of the Muslim religion has caused the shooting to occur.  The government now faces questions over intelligence lapses. But such reasoning did not answer the basic questions about why the French had not monitored the Kouachi brothers more aggressively, what the brothers were doing between 2011 and now, and why Charlie Hebdo was not better protected. And it raised the question of whether there had been a spectacular failure in American-French intelligence cooperation.
           Its so sad to hear about the shootings in France, so many people and families have been affected and are now grieving.  I don't understand why these terrorists continue to cause so many problems.  Their dislike against the newspaper company should not have caused such tragedy to happen.   

Current Event:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/us/politics/obama-proposes-free-community-college-education-for-some-students.html?ref=us&_r=0


          President Obama said Thursday that he would propose a government program to make community college tuition-free for millions of students.  This is a plan that will expand educational opportunities for many students that before college was not an option due to the cost of college.  The plan would be funded by the federal government and participating states, but White House officials declined to discuss how much it would cost or how it would be financed.  It is bound to be expensive and likely a tough sell to a Republican Congress not eager to spend money, especially on a proposal from the White House.  The proposal would cover half-time and full-time students who maintain a 2.5 grade point average, about a C-plus, and who “make steady progress toward completing a program,” White House officials said. It would apply to colleges that offered credit toward a four-year degree or occupational-training programs that award degrees in high-demand fields.
          I think this program would be very useful for many students to use.  I like how President Obama cares about the education program and takes steps to make changes to benefit the system.  If students are able to begin their college career for free to gives them time to save money to continue on in their college career.  I'm sure this will take a very long time to actually take affect however I'm glad some things are changing with the education.