Death of Lewis Marnell

This article covers the death of Lewis Marnell, a prominent skateboarder.  He passed away due to hypoglemic reaction caused by type 1 diabetes.  Officials say that Marnell was found dead in his home in Australia on January 18th, 2013.  This story heavily impacted the skateboarding community because Marnell was only 30.  I choose this article because it distinctly gives the reader a history of Marnell’s life rather than solely commenting on his death.  The article briefly describes his childhood, his struggle with diabetes, and his rise to fame in skateboarding through various sponsors.  This article also contains a tribute video capturing the intensity Marnell possessed while skating. 

                This story contains 3 media components which are print, video, and interaction.  The print aspect vividly explains the cause of his death and the reaction of family and friends.  This information is essential because it is able to give readers an inside look into the type of person that Marnell was.  Therefore people are able to connect to the story on an emotional level.  The video is able to show how passionate Marnell was about skateboarding.  The video is crucial because the readers are able to see Marnell’s laid back persona and lovable character.  Without the video the story would simply be mundane and lifeless.  The interactive part of the article is very important.  Through the use of social media and the internet people were able to hear about Marnell’s death before it was officially posted.  The news was first released via Twttier and quickly spread until Redbull, Espn, The Berrics, and transworld were able to post it officially.  The Redbull website contained different icons to share, “like”, comment or message the story to different people or sites such as Facebook or Twitter.  Once the news of Marnell’s death leaked his twitter was flooded with comments and questions.

                When I read this story I was highly distraught because I was a huge fan of Marnell’s skateboarding ability.  I thought the article was written well and gave people a great idea of who Lewis Marnell was.  From explaining his childhood to his death this story was well put together.  it also gave a list of different companies Marnell was sponsored by such as: Nike SB, Almost Skateboards, Volcom, and RedBull. The video showed many highlights of his career that I’ve already seen but beautifully displayed his talent in one compilation.   Being able to share the story and comment is very important.  I was able to see everyone’s reaction and really see how many people appreciated such an iconic figure in skateboarding. The only aspect of the story I would change is interviewing other skaters with diabetes.  Therefore the people are able to see the severity of this 

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The Little ship that could.

Voyager 1 Goes Where No Man-made Object Has Gone Before.

Image #1 Voyager 1 IMAGE BY JPL

On September 5th 1977 I was 22 years old, and the spacecraft Voyager 1 (Image #1) left Earth on its voyage to explore Saturn and Jupiter.  The ship photographed Jupiter from January until April 1979, then it moved on to explore Saturn.  In November 1980 the Radio Telescope flew by Saturn exploring the rings and moons of the planet, but it's trip had just begun.

The little ship that could, continued on it's mission, alone, without a specific goal. Traveling through the dark emptiness of space with no other goal than to keep going.  On a lonely night in February 1990, the Voyager 1 sent its last picture, a portrait of the solar system it has called home.  

Image # 2 Family Portrait

Twelve and a half years after leaving mother earth it sent us a picture of our little family of planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus.  Little did the Voyager 1 spacecraft know that Pluto had been divorced from the family and demoted to a dwarf planet.  But the little ship just kept going on and on into unexplored space and sped towards the stars.

Years pass, the coldness is everywhere, no sunlight because our star is just a distant dot in the sky. it is now 36 years since the little ship left earth.  Almost 19 billion miles from home and entering into that area between the stars in the vastness of space called Interstellar space.

On September 12th 2013, Researchers confirmed Thursday (Sept. 12) that the spacecraft had has officially moved into interstellar space.  Farther than any man made object has ever gone.  Temperatures at minus 400 degrees fahrenheit with nothing in front of it but distant stars. (See Link "Pale Blue Dot 2" below)


Alone but not alone.  We have sent our hopes and dreams that other life forms traveling these great distances may find our little ship that could.  Onboard the little spacecraft that could we included a Golden Record.  A way to tell another civilization about our little planet in the depths of space. We are Spinning around our little point of light and heat, going on and on with little more goal than Voyager, to just keep going on.  But no, our goals are much higher.  As the astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist Carl Sagan noted" The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this 'bottle' into the cosmic 'ocean' says something very hopeful about life on this planet."  We have moved beyond the limits of our solar system and into the space between the stars.

Pale Blue Dot 2: Voyager 1 Signal from Interstellar Space Seen from ... 5 days ago ... Voyager 1 is now officially in interstellar space, but doesn't mean NASA can't see the far-flung spacecraft. See a photo of NASA's Voyager 1 ... www.space.com/22787-voyager-1-signal-interstellar-space-photo.html

How bullying can affect someone's life

http://news.yahoo.com/florida-girl-bullied-months-suicide-192741431.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyV45CrDW-g


A sad and shocking story out of Florida helped me see the potential of multimedia journalism. A girl named Rebecca Ann Sedwick was bullied for months and committed suicide. The reason why I chose this story is because I want people to be aware of the incident. The girls that bullied her constantly are not aware of how their actions affected someone else's life. They may have thought it was funny then but it's not now. There were fifteen girls that were involved in this situation ganging up on her threatening her with words like you should die and why don't you die. I felt like those words were inappropriate to say to someone. You should never wish death on anybody because there's no coming back from that. There may be times when you feel sad, angry not wanted or like the whole world is against you but suicide is never the answer. I feel like if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say nothing at all. I can honestly relate to Rebecca's situation because I was bullied myself so I know what its like to be the underdog. I feel sorry for Rebecca's mother because she was really traumatized by what happened. In the video she was in tears crying and everything. It was hard for her to even speak because she couldn't deal with it. I wish Rebecca's mother the best because I know that life is going to be different for her now that her daughters gone. I mean if anything you would want to go before your child does. I think its a shame that this whole thing happened which started over a boyfriend issue. Most of the time situations like this happen where girls end up fighting each other or commit suicide because of a boy. You hear about it a lot on the news. This situation just goes to show you never judge a book by its cover because you never know a persons story.

 The three media components that I think are successful are print, video and interactive. 

I feel like the print of the article is important because it talks about a 12 year old girl named Rebecca Ann Sedwick who was bullied everyday consistently. Fifteen girls were engaged in this activity ganging up on her threatening her with words like you should die and why don’t you die. Rebecca couldn’t take it anymore so she changed one of her online screen names to That Dead Girl. She had messaged a boy in North Carolina saying I’m jumping so then the next day she went to an abandoned concrete plant area and hurled to her death. I feel like the video is important because it sends a message about a young girl who was bullied over nonsense. The whole thing started over a boyfriend issue where Rebecca was suspended for fighting with a girl who used to be her friend. She was also hospitalized three days after cutting her wrists from what she said was bullying. Rebecca said that she was pushed in the hallway and that a girl wanted to fight her, so her mother began homeschooling her. I think this video just goes to show you that you never know a person’s situation. That’s why you should never judge people because you never know their story. You never know how a person’s feeling inside. You never know if their angry or depressed. I know that there may be times when you feel angry, feel like the underdog, not wanted or feel like whole worlds against you but committing suicide is never the answer. Tommorrow’s never promised. I feel like the interactivness is important because when the whole bullying was going on Rebecca’s mom deleted her facebook account. Her mom was unaware that she was still using other social network sites such as kik etc to keep in touch with friends. The video also shows how Rebecca’s death affected her friends and family especially her mom.

 The strengths of print, video and interactive. The strengths of print shows how detailed the article is and how it gives examples of Rebecca’s experience. The article is definitely backed up with clear facts. The strength of the video is good because it shows Rebecca’s friends and families concern after her death. The video was very informative. The strengths of the interactivness is good because it showed people’s concern for Rebecca’s death.

 No there is no media coverage that I would add or change. All three media components were informative and some how all related to each other.

Russia's Anti-Gay Interferance with the 2014 Olympics: An Interactive Article by CNN

In Russia, there has been word that since the new anti-gay law banning the “attractiveness of nontraditional relationships” (‘non-traditional’ in this sense meaning any sexual orientation besides heterosexual), athletes, coaches and anyone that visits Russia for the Olympics that are a part of the LGBTQIA community, naturally, do not feel safe. In the video of the link of the CNN article below, one reporter interviews gay Olympic athlete, Blake Skjellerup. In the video, it’s stated that Skjellerup is the only known gay athlete to be competing in the Olympics with Russia being the host. Due to Russia’s crackdown on the LGBTQIA community and their allies, Skjellerup feels the great need to stand up to this oppressive, discriminatory law just as others have done in the past. In the video, it shows past revolutionary stances of groups that were severely discriminated against. Track and field athlete Jesse Owens is an example used in the video. He competed in the 1936 Olympic Games as an act of defiance in the post-Hitler Nazi-Germany era. Another example used in the video was the use of the ‘human rights salute’ when the Games took place in Mexico. American Olympic competitors Tommie Smith and John Carlos had worn black gloves and did the salute in the duration of the Mexican national anthem. Australian competitor Peter Norman also supported the human rights movement as all three of them wore human rights badges on their jackets. For the oncoming Olympics of 2014, LGBTQIA athletes have seen that this is their time to stand up to this injustice. The reporter goes on to say that non-heterosexual athletes state that, “Power is to show up; not boycott the Games”. Athlete Ally ambassador, athlete and activist Rennae Stubbs calls 2014 the LGBT’s community’s era of civil rights. Stubbs states that members of the LGBTQIA community are just as equal as every other athlete that will be competing in the 2014 Olympic Games. The video ends off with the stating of U.S. lawmaker Jeff Merkel of Oregon demanding that whomever competes or visits Russia for the Games will be adequately protected during their stay. The article definitely compliments the video with Russia’s Program Director at the Human Rights Watch, Tanya Lokshina, discussing about her experience with a friend she knew was gay. Her friend was basically told to keep his homosexuality to himself as it was frowned upon in the Soviet town he lived in. The article then goes on with stating that “that though things weren't easy for gay people in Russia, you did not have to stay shut in that closet for life.” That paragraph ends off with this being before the anti-gay was passed. The article carries on with the Russia’s lawmakers wanting there to be a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ atmosphere in Russia, despite the Olympics code of conduct for not discriminating against any athlete, coach or spectator for their race, creed, sex, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and any other human variation of the sort. There is a comment section available but, as with most other forums about any controversial, there were opposing and non-opposing sides for this article. One has the opportunity to share this article on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. There is also a comment section available with there being opposing and agreeing sides of the coin of Russia' anti-gay 'propaganda', the highest rated comment saying that Americans ought to wary that a law like this may pass in the U.S., where 'freedom' is only truly free if one fits in with the status quo of things.

ted talk with the man whose face you dont know

  Investigative journalism, undercover operations and video footage of corrupt officials combine to create one of the most outstanding Ted talks of the year www.huffingtonpost.com/anas-aremeyaw-anas/tedtalk-investigative-journalism_b_3917030.html.

  I choose an entry on the huffington post, an online blog and news source by Anas Aremeyaw Anas. The "parts" of his entry included the original video of his ted talk, an article and of course the ability to interact via comment and share the article. In the video of his ted talk Anas shares the story of how he began as an undercover journalist 14yr.s ago; he also discusses his journalistic principles of "naming, shaming, and jailing". During the course of the video Anas addresses his critics and explains why his method of undercover journalism not only works but is neccessary, he drives this point home with a clip of an officer who claims he had nothing to do with the smuggling of coacoa into the country and than another clip of that same officer counting money he had recieved for the coacoa he smuggled.

  The footage he included in his ted talk provided a powerful visual aid for the viewer. I dont believe his speech would have been as provacative without the aid of the video; footage  of albinos with missing limbs and dead bodies in jail help to drive home his points and possible an emotional response from the viewer.I apperciated that the article written by anas was complimentary to the video not repeatitive;in the text he recounts different stories of how undercover journalism has helped the community as anas eloquently stated " Journalism is about results, its about affecting community or your society in the most progressive way." The is more detailed and includes lots of imagery since it cannot rely on visual aid. Finally the fact that the article was written on the huffington post allows the viewers to interact with eachother; we comment, share with our facebook friends and twitter followers and send it to our emails.  From more information on Anas Aremeyas Anas check out his facebook page  and website

Want to Follow your Passion? Think Again

Following your passion in college nowadays might as well mean planning to be dead broke after graduation. Except your passion is to be a petrochemical engineer, mechanical engineer, chemical engineer, civil engineer, brain engineer, shoe engineer... etc. You get the drift. As long as you're an "ENGINEERING" student, you'll do just fine. Well, except you sleep through lectures, party through college and actually hate engineering! 

The most and least lucrative college majors is an realistic list and interesting topic compiled by different institutions every year based on research and earnings. This could simply as well be another list based on median salary and popular opinion but the multimedia components in the article will make a skeptic take more than a look.

The first component is the text which briefly explains what and the why of the article using two people on different sides of the earning spectrum as an example. The emotional connection and imagination makes the text come alive with individual readers. As short as the article was, it did the essential work it was supposed to do which was to set up the idea and lets the audio and graphics do the remaining explanation. It didn't over-shadow the other forms of media in the article. The text also sets up the precedence to look at the graphics, understand it and in turn links you related articles.

Instead of having an article with hundreds of words, hyperlinks are used to compliment the text leading you to another relating story. These stories also have their own hyperlinks and graphics which is a perfect way of getting a visitor caught up in your website. Besides that, the relating articles also give you a better understanding of the previous one.

The audio is another aspect of the piece that I really love which is common with NPR. The audio arouses your imagination leaving you to create a reality of what you're hearing. The audio also makes it convenient to consume simply because you don't have to flip to pages, graphs or links. It is direct and straightforward  It also makes it easy to rewind, fast forward and pause. It does not overcompensate for the text or graphics. 

Another aspect of the piece that is really important and maybe more interesting than the article itself is the interactivity. The ideas and opinions shared in the comment section passes the message onto the editors as to what readers needs to know. It also generates the conversation between the community that otherwise wouldn't be there if the interactive part of it isn't maximized. 

Adding a video to the article would have been a good thing to do but it would also have been an overkill. I don't think a video is essential for this piece since the other aspects of multimedia has been maximized. Overall, it is an article one could breeze through and if need be, go in-depth. It's all right there; in synergy.

MEDIA COMPONENTS: Text, Info-graphics, Hyperlinks, Interactivity