Wild Card-Puerto Rico

It has been more than seven months since hurricane Irma and Maria ravished Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's Senate is closing in on government agencies to explain why tens of thousands of people still lack basic necessities such as power or appropriate shelter. Nearly seven months after Hurricane Maria an island-wide blackout hit Puerto Rico due to an increasingly unstable power grid. Officials originally stated that it could take 24 to 36 hours to fully restore power to nearly 1.4 million customers which faced an obvious backlash. Main news outlets only gave attention to the current island-wide blackout that's going on right now but before the current power outage, several large power outages hit Puerto Rico in recent months.

Since then the power outages have created major traffic across the island forcing dozens of businesses with no generators to temporarily close and interrupted classes and work. Since then the island's international airport has switched to a backup generator and no cancellations or delays were immediately reported. CBS news correspondent David Begnaud has been reporting on the island's devastation for quite some time and tweeted out the island's priority list

Begnaud reports that the main hospital in San Juan has decided to run on a generator instead of the power grid since the hurricane because the generator was more reliable. Power company spokeswoman Yohari Molina told The Associated Press that crews were investigating what caused the blackout, saying she had no other details.

Angel Figueroa, president of a union that represents power company workers in Puerto Rico, said it appears that a failure on the main line caused the island's entire electrical grid to shut down to protect itself.

(Revisiting Puerto Rico)

The standoff caught the attention of top Puerto Rico government officials and ended several hours later after the power company promised it would keep crews in Las Piedras until service is fully restored. Justo Gonzalez, the company' executive sub-director, said in a statement that he is committed to restoring power to everyone but that blocking crews would only delay those efforts.

"People are not doing well," Las Piedras Mayor Miguel Lopez told The Associated Press, noting that there are many elderly people in his town. "They are suffering."

The mayors of rural towns across Puerto Rico recently complained that they remain largely forgotten, prompting the island's Senate president on Monday to order agencies such as the power company as well as Puerto Rico's department of transportation and housing authority to submit a restoration plan and a timetable to meet the mayors' needs.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing federal power restoration efforts on the island, has said they expect to restore power to everyone by late May. Some 40,000 power customers still remain without normal electrical service as a result of the hurricane.

The new blackout occurred as Puerto Rico legislators debate a bill that would privatize the island's power company, which is $14 billion in debt and relies on infrastructure nearly three times older than the industry average.Many remain wary of that timetable, including federal legislators who have requested that the agency's mission is extended as they note that the Atlantic hurricane seasons starts June 1.

10- Freedom of Information Act

Recently THV11 reported about a former Jacksonville police officer facing charges for allegedly stealing drugs from confined evidence. Allegations are now being raised about one of the department's K-9s and a recent shakedown of employees. Two weeks ago Arkansas's highest court ruled that Geoffrey Herweg could not serve as Jacksonville's acting police chief any longer. Herweg has been in question for nearly a year due to a prior conviction. Since then officers have been coming forth left and right with information that could be vital to freeing several inmates due to procedural wrongdoing. The recent investigation of the Jacksonville force is thanks to none other than City Councilwoman Tara Smith.

She is the councilwoman responsible for suing Jacksonville over Herweg who was found to have a criminal record. Smith is now saying that a former Jacksonville office came to her with concern about an officer and his K-9. All of this is happening days after Smith suit was decided and Herweg was forced to step down as acting police chief. Jacksonville has no shortage of drama currently as the former chief of police Sipes now the spokesperson for the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police has issued a "vote of no confidence against the City's Mayor, Gary Fletcher, and City Attorney, Robert Bamburg who is also acting police director at the moment.

This vote of no confidence comes after the City Attorney turned police chief sent out an email saying changes were going to be made in the department. Sipes feels as though residents should be concerned because officers are being transferred to other departments without the proper training which he thinks could jeopardize future cases. In the current environment that we are in [with] the incidents that have occurred across the nation, he pulled the [school resource officers] out to put two in that are inexperienced, and don't want to be SROs,” Sipes said. “It takes a special person to be a school resource officer."

Out of 80 positions at JPD, only 55 are filled, and Sipes expects more departures because of the transfers.

Both Sipes and Smith say they don't believe this situation would be unfolding if the mayor had appointed an officer instead of the city attorney to lead the police force.

"A good leader is going to admit when he makes a mistake. We don't have that," Sipes said. "We don't have a leader that can admit that mistakes were made and try to correct those mistakes. Try to heal rather than seek retaliation."

Via: http://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/jacksonville-councilwoman-alleges-k-9-officer-worked-without-certification/91-532634877

9- College Media

Is it a crime to steal an item that is sold for free? Spokane Falls Community College and Tennessee Tech University seem to think so, and in this case, I agree with them. Currently, Campus police at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville are looking for suspects who reportedly stole around 800 copies of the campus newspaper, The Oracle. The Oracle's managing editor, Marcelo Gonzalez said he believes the newspapers were stolen due to a front-page story regarding two student government senators who leaked a document to The Oracle in February.

“I don’t see any other reason why the papers would be taken,” Gonzalez said. “It definitely feels like retaliation.” Around 3000 total copies of the March 20 issue were published and the 800 copies that were stolen are worth $400 to $500. Personally, it wouldn't make too much sense to me to even steal 800 newspapers from The Oracle due to there being 2,200 copies still available. If anything the two people that committed the crime has caused a minor inconvenience to the campus, and now the campus police are taking action. Vanessa Curry the paper faculty adviser said she is setting up a meeting between the student editors and the campus police chief to check on the open investigation.

Curry had this to say on the situation, “There’s nothing else in that paper that’s controversial,” she said. “That’s not to say that I think the SGA itself is involved … but I think it has to do with that story.”

Students attending Spokane Falls Community College have found them selfs in a similar situation. On Mar. 12 former Editor-in-Chief Chandler Pedersen found several newspapers that were damaged. Pedersen responded in kind by reporting the incident to campus police but no action was taken. On Apr.2 the new Editor-in-Chief Magdalena Clough found 200 newspapers missing; after replacing the missing papers they went missing once again the next day. Clough responded in kind by filing a report with campus security and on Apr. 5 filed a police report. Pedersen and Clough recently published a front-page article about sexual harassment allegations against the acting University President Darren Pitcher who resigned on February 26.

The Communicator's current paper editor Jason Nix believes the controversy over the past University President is the reason papers are missing. So far four hundred issues have disappeared representing one-third of The Communicator's total print order. The paper may be free for students but the actual loss amounts to $191 according to Nix.

Original Story

7- Exploiting a News Story

First, let me start off by saying that Black Panther is a great movie in its own right. If Black Panther had the freedom to be judged like any other movie that didn't feature a predominately all-black cast and a black director it'd probably be rated much higher. Unfortunately, even though Black Panther will receive its due praise for it’s an incredible storyline and fleshed out characters some will still have an opinion that there's more to be desired. Black Panther is expected to stand for something bigger than itself and while a black directed film is most likely to face this challenge regardless it's unfair, but Black people as a whole have always had to go the extra mile.

Ed Powers a writer for the Irish Independent like all editors, reviewers and bloggers have an opinion. Reading through his review his opinion on the movie seems rather forced; he proposes that Chadwick Boseman the leading man is visibly straining through the movie. Being a king is no small role don't you think? Governing a whole nation secluded from the world while facing internal threats is rather taxing on the back, and you may wake up on the wrong side of the bed don't you think? Following his rather short explanation, Ed goes into detail about how Black Panther, in short, becomes dull after the combat scenes in Black Panther.

"What he doesn't get to do much of is jump around beating up bad guys. That’s a shame. Marvel has finally given us an African superhero. The hope surely was that he would be allowed do superheroic things."

Now I don't know really see the problem with a black man who has a great responsibility, and a nation to uphold doing less fighting. The basis of the only negative review for Black Panther so far is the main character and the only Black Superhero in the Marvel universe not doing enough fighting. It's interesting because like I said earlier Black Panther is supposed to stand for something more than any typical movie considering the cast, director and the history of Black people in general. So why in fact is the passiveness of a Black King who is willing to fight but won't resort to that strategy unless pushed a problem? I can tell you exactly why Black Panther is supposed to stand for more, but only if there's plenty of jumping around and the Black man is doing plenty of ass kicking. 

http://fortune.com/2018/03/10/black-panther-film-billion-sales/

6 - Copyright and Fair Use

Back in 2017 Beyoncé has found herself in headlines once again, but not for the usual new award or dragging of a poor individual by the "Beyhive". Beyoncé is being sued over claims that she used a recorded line from a late New Orleans Rapper in her song 'Formation'. The estate of late YouTube Star Anthony Barre aka Messy Mya has filed a suit against Beyoncé for using the phrase "I like that" without permission. The track also uses Mya's: "What happened after New Orleans?" and "Bitch, I'm back. By popular demand" from Mya's video "Booking the Hoes from New Wilding at the very beginning of the song.

https://youtu.be/daKqgdcypTE?list=RDdaKqgdcypTE (Messy Mya | Booking The Hoes From New Wildin)

https://youtu.be/zsYOnx2xJuY (Beyoncé| Formation)

        

Beyoncé and her representatives are accused of ignoring the estate's attempts to communicate with her over the issue. Mya's estate is currently seeking more than $20,000,000 in royalties and other damages TMZ claims. Sony Music and Jay-Z entities were also named in the suit. Mya's sister is also seeking proper credit as a writer, composer, producer, and performer for her brother.  Mya was shot and killed in New Orleans in 2010 was known for his viral YouTube videos that mixed bounce music and comedy.

Formation was previously the subject of copyright controversy in 2016 when filmmakers Abteen Bagheri and Chris Black claimed they did not give Beyoncé or the video director permission to use footage from the documentary 'That B.E.A.T' a 2013 documentary about Hurricane Katrina. A representative for Beyoncé told Entertainment Weekly: "The documentary footage was used with permission and licensed from the owner of the footage."

Soon after the statement was made Bagheri told the Washington Post "Anyone who works in the industry knows that putting out a work is a miracle.

“There needs to be a unity amongst directors. We need to preserve the sanctity of the craft and champion individual voices. Our work isn’t just b-roll for someone else. It just shouldn’t be considered, whether or not it’s legal. It’s a bad precedent to set.”

(Original Article: http://masetv.com/estate-messy-mya-suing-beyonce-20m-formation-sample/)

5-Reporter’s Privilege

First and foremost let me explain exactly what Reporter privilege is in the United States. Personally, I had no idea what this was before looking it up but reporter's privilege is a reporter's protection under the constitutional or statutory law from being compelled to testify about confidential information or sources. From what I've researched so far the court or a judge may ask and even intimidate a reporter/journalist into handing over there sources. Legally though a reporter truly doesn't have to hand over their sources to a court.

Back in October Buzzfeed invoked reporter's privilege to shield the infamous Trump Dossier source (Original Story). Buzzfeed had a report prepared by a former British spy Christopher Steele that detailed basically every scandal Trump was involved in (Trump Dossier). From his supposed affairs with prostitutes to coordinating with the Russians over hacking his Democrat opponents. As a result, Buzzfeed is now facing a defamation lawsuit from a Russian tech entrepreneur Aleksej Gurbarev. Christopher Steele had a history of investigating Trump's ties to Russia as he was hired in 2016 by Fusion GPS for that exact reason (Article on Christopher Steele). Naturally, the plaintiff's attorney asked Fusion GPS's counsel if Fusion was indeed BuzzFeed's source.(What to know about Fusion GPS Russia investigation)

Naturally, the answer was no and at the time Gurbarev was busy trying to pry the source from Ben Smith. Buzzfeed had this to say regarding it's timely invoking of reporter's privilege, "Plaintiffs demand that this Court order Defendants to violate a promise of confidentiality to a source, an act that for any journalist would constitute the ultimate breach of his or her professional ethics and sense of duty. Yet Plaintiffs have made this extraordinary demand by invoking what are essentially phantom claims about their purported need for this information, and without having made even the slightest effort to explore any alternatives. Under any version of the reporter’s privilege to protect confidential sources, the balance here decidedly tips in Defendants’ favor."

3 - Advertising Ethics

We have a built a society based on rules in every aspect. Without rules, we are no better than animals who just blatantly run wild but as a society, we are also allowed our freedoms as well. Today we'll be talking about advertising ethics, and in today's society advertisement is a big part of the internet and the social media world. One of the biggest faces in social media today is Facebook, and recently FB has come under fire for its flat-out ignorance when it comes to these ethics that have been established in the social media world. 

For one Facebook has been making slight tweaks to its service throughout 2017 and heading into 2018. Most of these tweaks from most people's perspectives have failed to start with the rollout of FB news feed. In countries with a growing internet population like Bolivia are ideal testing grounds for the company but their's a problem. Facebook has a knack for limiting the audience nongovernmental news sources and amplifying the impact of fabricated and farfetched stories. As these changes were being made FB found itself encased in a larger debate in its role for spreading fake news and misinformation affecting elections in the US and other nations. (https://www.businessesgrow.com/2018/01/08/facebooks-biggest-problem/)

Spreading fake news isn't FB biggest problem currently that award goes to the social media's live streaming capability. The biggest threat to FB's image is it's live streaming services, and while many people have provided positive feedback for the site's live stream they have been criticized for the slow response. In an effort to fix the problem at hand Facebook hired 3,000 more workers dedicated to the live streaming service. The main goal of hiring these workers is to recognize and identify these violent videos, and remove them so far no one is really asking FB to handle every single violent live stream posted, but asking them to eliminate 70 percent of the violent live streams. Regardless of the outcome, this remains as Facebook's biggest problem as far a ethics and image go.
(https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-crime/facebook-tries-to-fix-violent-video-problem-with-3000-new-workers-idUSKBN17Z1N4)

2 - Supermarket Tabloids

They can be found in almost every grocery store or supermarket in the US. People rarely pay attention to them anymore due to the fact that everything is on the internet.  Regardless if you visit a local 7-Eleven or even a CVS chances are you've seen a supermarket tabloid. From personal experience, I've only ever picked up a supermarket tabloid for one reason to see if a celeb really cheated on another celeb. It's very common to see a supermarket tabloids front page filled with drama and that's what attracts its readers.

More often than not supermarket tabloids have words and images that pop off the page. For example, a supermarket Tabloid would be "The Globe" or "The National Enquirer" and they specialize in crime stories. You'll never find a Supermarket tabloid that doesn't have at least one gossip column about a celebrity or sports stars, but as they've progressed various tabloids have expanded their range of topics.  Despite people's opinions supermarket tabloids don't always use mean-spirited tactics, but usually, the ones that do attract the most customers and readers. One supermarket tabloid jumps out when you're talking about mean-spirited tactics, and that's none other than The Globe.

At the top of a Globe supermarket tabloid, the first thing that you can see is Serial Killers Special Report: "Nurse Slaughters 60 Babies". The Globe wouldn't be what it was without the bright yellow lettering of its main article on the center of its front page. More often than not what they decided to feature as their main story is the story that doesn't hold any truth, but they do attract customers. "Priscilla's NEW LOVER LIVES IN TRAILER PARK!" screams at the viewer on the front page; personally I have no idea who the woman is in the photo but most supermarket tabloids do a good job of featuring stories catered to the younger generation.

1- Bias in Cable Television News

As a human being its normal to have a certain habit or a repeatable routine. Some habits or routines are positive and help a person get through the day, for example, a cup of coffee for a doctor before he/ she starts a 24-hour shift. A negative habit would be a bus driver constantly texting on his phone while there are passengers aboard. Donald Trump the current president of the United States apparently has a habit of waking up every morning and watching the morning news. President Trump is also a big fan of tweeting, and not above throwing subtle remarks at people who may have been outspoken about him in the past.

It's easy to speak out on another person if there's a cast of nationally televised people backing up your every word. Fox and Friends happen to be the cast of which I speak of. One of the most popular news morning tv shows, but also one of the most openly biased news networks on the air currently. Regardless of how many times Fox & Friends has been called out for their open bias they still remain on air some think that's all due to the current President of the United States having the network in his back pocket. One of the more recent events of Fox & Friends open bias came in late 2017 when Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore was accused of sexual assault. 


All major news networks were busy covering the story, and most likely the day was spent analyzing the allegations. Fox & Friends took a different route by spending just four minutes discussing Moore who had allegedly molested a 14-year-old girl when he was 32 years of age. Fox & Friends decided to cover other topics such as the Texas church shooting, and the NFL boycott. They also decided to cover different Washington Post stories altogether even though it was the Washington Post that published the Roy Moore story first. (http://www.newsweek.com/fox-friends-spent-less-4-minutes-roy-moore-hours-weinstein-708271)  

Between October 5 to October 24 It's also been recorded that Fox News spent a cumulative 12 hours, 32 minutes and 36 seconds discussing the allegations against movie star and Democratic donor Harvey Weinstein, but in contrast, Fox News Anchors breezed over the sexual misconduct allegations impacting Fox itself. Between April 1 and October 24; they devoted just 20 minutes and 46 seconds to the allegations against conservative promoter Bill O'Reilly.This information was brought to light by Media Matters For America and it's plainly apparent that Fox & Friends has been openly biased on more than one account, and usually in support of the Republican party.

(https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/10/25/fox-news-spent-12-hours-over-3-weeks-harvey-weinstein-just-20-minutes-over-7-months-bill-oreilly/218327)