What is the Problem with the Journalists and Media?

We are researching the positive and negative sides of our topic – media, and immigration. One thing I felt interested in this topic is how people think about the immigration. I try to search the term media and immigration online, and I searched most impression of the immigration is related to the news. The journalists create the impact of immigration for us. Sometimes, it can be good, but it also can be wrong.

What makes people trust what they saw on the internet? It is the reliability. The New York Times is one of the best news in the US which has high reliability. Most people are going to trust this news in their daily life. However, even it is one of the best news in the US, it still misleads the people sometimes. As the article by Steven A. Camarota, he pointed out that the New York Times journalist Eduardo Porter “incorrect use of enforcement statistics” and “his whole analysis of the economics of immigration is extremely one-sided.”(Steven, 2017) Porter criticized Harvard economist George Borjas research and wrote that “Mr. Card’s analysis has emerged pretty much unscathed.”(Steven, 2017) Porter tried to make the news forward to the side he wishes, even he knew that might be wrong. However, that’s what most people would like to trust. In that news, Porter is standing the side with the immigrants so most of the immigrants would want to believe what he said because Porter is supporting them. Moreover, the immigration issue is one of the sensitive problems in the US so most people would avoid discussing this problem in social media. Since fewer people talk about this problem, we are less understand this issue. When we less understand the point, we would choose to understand the issue by the media with high reliability. That’s why people would easy to get wrong information of immigration.

After Donald Trump is the US president, we started to face the problem of immigration because he changed the law to against immigrants. Also, we knew that many people don’t like Donald Trump so the journalists would like to write the article to against Donald Trump and his policy because that’s what people would like to see, especially the teenagers. Social media is easy to bring up the trend, and most teenagers are already in these trend as they are the new generation. Most of them don’t understand the politics, and that might also mean they don’t understand the person Donald Trump deeply. However, the media always try to zoom in Donald Trump’s problem, so what people see from Donald Trump is full of the mistakes. Honestly, we can’t ignore the adverse effect of the immigration. However, because of Donald Trump against immigration, so most people brain are getting heat, and can’t calm down to analyze the real situation.

Don’t trust every news and article we saw on the internet. Before we believe those things, we should check the sources first, and confirm it correct or not. Thus, we must doubt everything, and it makes us smarter in the society. I’m not the supporter of Donald Trump, but before we judge him, we should understand this person. We can’t drift with the waves and go with the flow in the society because it is putting us in the dangerous situation. Even the biggest newspaper office in the US, it is not 100% right. Journalists are the same human being as us, so they would also make a mistake and lie. Not all of the journalists have the personal integrity. Therefore, all the news we read is only information, not the truth. If we want live smarter, just doubt everything.

Work Cited

Camarota, Steven A. “NY Times Continues to Mislead on Immigration.” CIS.org, 16 Nov. 2017, cis.org/Camarota/NY-Times-Continues-Mislead-Immigration.

Artist’s New Found Independence

The last twenty years have brought forth leaps and bounds in the technological realm, of which has had major affects on the music industry and artists new found independence. 20 years ago the internet was in infancy. Still using AOL with dial-up, the internet was treated as the child it was. Not taking the internets power as the serious game-changer it is was a mistake. Nowadays people have massive anxiety attacks when something happens to their phone leaving them disconnected from the seemingly infinite wifi. The concept of dial-up would drive someone furious today, when we have internet speeds that provide instant results.

This massive technological shift in our usage of the internet has brought forth major software applications such as SoundCloud, where anyone with internet access and an email can upload digital recordings and files for people to listen to, share and download. It’s a similar concept to the originators, Napster, that were unfortunately shutdown after major artists and labels became fearful of the potential shift in power, relentlessly suing Napster into the ground, as we saw in the documentary. But as any true music fan knows, ‘the old school paved the way’. Almost twenty years later Napster’s sacrifice has shifted the industries power from the record labels to the consumers giving the power to the people; pretty badass.

Now that the power has shifted to the consumer, artists have had to shift their focus from pleasing the labels to pleasing the consumers. Today there are still artists that find themselves having to cater to their label due to the contracts that they have signed. Whereas many independent artists are finding success because they focus on their fans. With more interaction and feedback than ever before, from apps such as Twitter and Instagram, even SnapChat. Though, with available free downloads artists have had to seek other ways to profit. Which has caused an increase in artists touring and focusing on live performance for primary income. Arguably causing an increase in albums and musical content produced.

From Chicago’s South Side, Chance the Rapper has become the biggest independent sensation the nation has seen thus far. Summer of 2016, Chance released Coloring Book, earning him three Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album. Coloring Book was the first “streaming-only” album to be nominated for, and win, a Grammy. People try to argue that he’s not truly independent because he accepted a deal from Apple, where he agreed to release his album, “Coloring Book” on iTunes only, for two weeks. While he received half a million dollars and a commercial to do so, after those two weeks were up he immediately uploaded it for free download on SoundCloud.

Artists have successfully reached a new level of independence and it’s a beautiful thing, creative freedom at its finest. Maybe one day artists can even break away from the restraints that consumers place on them. Though, for now, its absolutely incredible to see the new connection between artists and consumers . Pushing creativity to new heights, all while providing consumers with a larger range of music to access and listen to. I can’t help but wonder who will be the next major independent sensation. The future is bright.

Peer Edited by: M.M., & X.Z.

Sources Cited/ References:

Amy Phillips/ News Director -https://pitchfork.com/news/71701-chance-the-rapper-explains-how-hes-still-independent-despite-apple-music-deal/

Andrew Friedman -http://www.factmag.com/2016/05/20/chance-the-rapper-independent/

Leveraging Technology to Bridge the Gap between Independent Artists and Reaching the Right Consumer -Arthur Price – First Published June 6, 2016 Research Article

Beats and tweets: Social media in the careers of independent musicians – Jo Haynes, Lee Marshall – First Published June 4, 2017 Research Article

“Downloaded” – Napster Documentary from Class

Images:

http://music2020.org/editorial/chance-the-rapper/