Today, in my news and media class, our teacher shared two "news" clips with us. In my opinion, neither of these videos are news because of how informal the discussions were and how hard it was to follow. The issue being discussed was on the Voting Rights 5-4 SCOTUS, but I wasn't able to learn very much about the issue from watching these. In the first video, from "The Daily Show", it was very hard to follow and the reporter's opinions were obvious to the viewer. He added in unnecessary details and used descriptions that are not necessarily true to the public. He was bias and cracked way too many jokes, although they were humorous. In the second video, from "Fox News", it began in a more serious-manner and he did tell more facts than jokes. Towards the end of the story, it felt as if the facts that had been previously shared with me disappeared and the argument's the reporters had were distracting and the multiple perspectives shown were confusing to anyone who watches this. All in all, I felt as if neither source was news and that they were not very informative.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-25-2013/the-supreme-court---the-voting-rights-act
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/sean-hannity-juan-williams-supreme-court-voting-rights-act-ruling_n_3502119.html

There are a multitude of positives and negatives related to social media today. After researching a bit, I came across Ellen Niemer's article, "Teenagers and Social Media". She describes how most teenagers, boys and girls, spend so much of their time "plugged in" and entertaining themselves while online. She then goes on to explain the benefits and negative effects of social media on teens. Some benefits include, connecting with people who have similar interests, communicating with friends, and branching out and trying new things. Unfortunately, the positives don't outweigh the negatives in this situation. The internet, especially on social media sites, is a major component of where bullying (cyberbullying), harassment, and sexting take place.

So many teens, including myself, spend hours at a time checking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. I definitely agree with the author of the article when she says that communication is a key factor of these websites. I use it to communicate with friends I've made through programs similar to Summer Discovery, and it's a great way to keep in touch with them. But, I have also seen how harmful they can be. Bullying over Facebook happens way too frequently. And just recently, my younger sister created an Instagram account, which was later hacked by an adult male, who posted some very inappropriate pictures of himself. Kids should not be exposed to this kind of material at such a young age and in the media these days, it is dominant over the more appropriate and useful sites.            

http://www.alive.com/articles/view/23615/teenagers_and_social_media

Home for the next six weeks!

Introduction

Hi, my name is Rachel and I'm so excited to spend the next six weeks at UCLA with Summer Discovery. This program is an opportunity for high school students to learn, meet new people from around the world, have fun, and participate in a college-like experience. I arrived yesterday and am anxious to see what's in store. I chose to take an introduction to psychology course and a news and media course. One aspect of news and media that really sparks my interest is how it affects teenagers, impacts our understanding of the world around us, and influences our perspective; especially being here with hundreds of these teens, it will be interesting to know how it will alter the experiences we are all going to have. I have been a part of my school's newspaper for the past couple of years and I have been able to see how the news and media changes our opinions on about most everything. There are many studies which show both the positive and negative effects of news and media. Some including, school, obesity, advertising and commercials, stereotypes, violence, and sexuality. I hope that over the next few weeks, I will be able to explain to you all how these topics are portrayed through the news and media and how they are related to teenager's lives.