"Shock and Awe"

 Shock and Awe was another movie which allowed us to see the insightful information of the Iraq War and how that in turn, affected the journalists' careers. 

The movie explains how there could be varying point of views from journalists, as the U.S. government is preparing to raid Iraq. 

Many were reluctant to dig deep into the behind the scenes of this case, except for some specific journalists. While researching, I found it interesting to find the meaning behind “Shock and Awe” which technically is a military strategy that displays force and overwhelming power and that would base off why the movie is named that way. 

In the movie, the journalists investigate the Bush Administration in regards to numerous claims that Iraq possessed numerous weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and he was aware of it. These claims proved to be false and unfounded.

Overall, this movie displays the harsh reality behind George W. Bush and the false information that he whole-heartedly supported as reasons for entering into combat and going to war with Iraq. 

Another example of how journalists provide insightful information in regards to how and what is being reported and how that information is being reported. 

"Good Night and Good Luck"

 Good Night and Good luck presented to up and coming journalists a true example of what should be exposed in the field of journalism, and field work that would be considered corrupt. The premise of Good Night and Good Luck was to expose Senator Joe McCarthy on the false accusations that he sent out on their association with Communism. 

In a word, the best way to describe Joe Mccarthy is a "bully". People were afraid to speak up to him because of the threats that he often made to his opponents. However, one person that wasn't afraid to speak up to him was Edward R Murrow, who was a widely respected and trusted Broadcast Journalist.

During a major speech, Murrow was adamant on his obligation to call out McCarthy on what is known as McCarthyism, a campaign spreading fear of supposed communist influence on Americans. This movie displayed the true job of journalists, which was to expose the truth about corrupt people in our society. 

It is the responsibility of journalists to educate the public on matters related to our nation's government. Without journalists, like Edward Murrow, the public would not have the truth about McCarthy's true intentions and misdeeds.

What Murrow did at CBS is unlike anything we have ever seen before. He single-handedly exposed the truth to protect others from the harsh and inappropriate actions that McCarthy immersed himself in. By Murrow putting himself out on a limb and taking a risk to help others, shows the true dedication of journalists like himself. 

In the movie, we see a trial between a woman and the senator, and even with little to no evidence, McCarthy tries to unfairly accuse her. With the help of Murrow, she is able to get a fair and equal trial as she deserves.

The censorship that is utilized to prevent certain individuals from speaking should not be tolerated or condoned. This movie gave me a new perspective on how important it is to understand the importance of the accuracy of reporting in today's society. 

The CBS team, along with Edward. R. Murrow, accomplished just that, and in turn, allowed for the censorship to be removed and the truthful information to flow freely.

The title "Good Night and Good Luck" originates from how Murrow would sign off from his reports, most significantly during this battle of the press and the ongoing McCarthyism plaguing the United States. 

Front Page the Commedy

 The Front Page was a comedy created in 1974, and was filmed in Chicago during a time when journalists were relentless and competing against each other for the best stories. Throughout the comedy, we see Hildy Johnson announce his retirement, but soon after he backs down on his word because of a breaking story. 

    Hildy Johnson was on the cusp of making the move to Philadelphia with his wife when a prisoner escaped police custody causing breaking headlines everywhere. Upon this news, the newspaper he was working for had quickly got in contact with him asking him to return. 

    As we see through the comedy, this show displays a different perspective of journalism that we don't see today. The manner in which these reporters conducted themselves is not something that ordinarily ever happens. These reporters were all surrounded by gambling and smoking, while waiting for more breaking headlines, but today, we see the journalists out in the field pressing these officers on the scene and reporting to the newsroom.

    As seen throughout the comedy, journalists during this time were willing to give up anything to get the story out. Hildy even took the prisoner who had escaped, and hid him to make his story seem better than it actually was. 

    This shows the fierce competition between the journalists to secure the best story. Peggy, his now wife, with whom he is getting ready to make the move was all set to hit the road when this prisoner escapes. Peggy gets fed up but Hildy doesn't leave because he knows that he will get the best story. Soon after, Hildy does and the prisioner comes through the window and Hildy locks the windown and doors to interview the prisoner. 

Now althought this action packed story is so fast-paced and far-fetched, the main story is from the journalists, and this happened during a time where people were looking to sell the most and get the most views. It was this mindset that prompted them to pull out all the stops and do anything to beat the competition. 

Smoking and gambling at the table 

People during this time looked for this action packed breaking news stories and the newspapers fed off of this revenue as seen by the connection between Hildy and his respected boss. Gossip was not ruled out of the stories as well, since they would be sure to spice things up. 

Journalists have the right to be themselves and speak freely to report the news that everyone wants to hear, although sometimes people attempt to limit what they can say. Even though the world of journalism has evolved through time, some things are long-standing and will always remain constant. 

Journlists have duties and those duties are followed and trusted by the public. It was amazing for me to see how even Hildy would not turn down the opportunity to engage and publish one last story, even if it meant losing his soon to be wife.

EOTO 3 Reaction

 Although I was watching this presentation online and not in the classroom, it was by far my favorite presentation and EOTO that we have done so far. The three individuals that I want to focus on the most are Bernard Shaw, Howard Cosell and Bob Woodward.

Bernard Shaw was one of the most influential journalists of his time. He was interested in journalism at a young age and since then, had always known it was this passion that he wanted to pursue as a career. He grew up watching Edward R Murrow, one of the most famous journalists ever, and gained great inspiration from him. 

Shaw would report and write for various newspaper companies before he secured his first television job with CBS News in 1971.  His success would only accelerate from there, where soon after he was offered a position to be a correspondent, but ultimately declined that offer to join ABC. 

Shaw would leave ABC to pursue a career with CNN where he would help start up the major company and be a premier anchor on the show, where his legacy acknowledged. Shaw's accomplishments would soon be recognized by the numerous awards he would win.

Shaw passed away in 2022, but his memory continues to live on today, as he will always be regarded as one of the best journalists of his era. 

Howard Cosell is best known as one of the most recognized sports broadcasters in our history. However, not all of his on-air commentary was well received, as he had his fair share of controversial comments. 

His domination in the sports world stemmed from him supporting Muhammad Ali and his hard hitting opinions with no censor to protect him. 

After a seemingly racist comment about a boxer named Alvin Garret, Cosell's broadcasting career would come to a close. He gained much support from those that he was supporting and even Garret himself, his intended target, came to Cosell's defense.

Although he had these negative interactions, the positives were still obvious as he was honored for several of his most outstanding achievements.

Finally, there was Bob Woodward who was hailed as the "greatest reporter of all time". He attended The Yale School of Law where he completed two degrees, one being in English and the other in History. After his time dedicated to our country, he went to the Washington Post where he was seeking a job as a reporter. His attempt failed and he would not be granted a position there, but soon after, he would join a smaller newspaper company that would soon refer him back to the Washington Post.

He partook in many journalistic activities such as exposing the truth on presidents, something that previously couldn't be done before. He is also a dedicated author where his books have received numourous accolades. His book "The Agenda" became a best seller as it exposed the secrets of President Bill Clinton. 

Woodward was so successful that many tried to search his books and call him out for "fake news" reporting to make him second guess himself that his reporting was not completely factual. However, his sources were accurate and respected sources who trusted Woodward with their confidentiality and his reporting skills. 

Woodward is still alive today where he lives with his wife, Elsa Walsh, who is also a journalist. Their dedication towards effective and truthful reporting still lives on. 

EOTO Reaction 2

 My classmates taught me so many valuable lessons from this presentation. I especially loved learning about the Early History of Radio and television in sports because it is something that surrounds us every day but people never know the back stories behind it. 

Sports are something that most people will either watch or at least scroll through when they are watching television or listening to the radio but most people do not know that the first radio broadcast that involved sports was in 1921. That sporting event was a boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee. 

As an avaid sports fan, I watch/listen to sports everywhere, whether its in the car and I'm listening on AM radio or in the house watching on the TV this is a topic that intrested me drastically. I was intrigued to learn that the first radio station to broadcast a sports event was KDKA. 

KDKA radio station

Radio and television were only up from there. Later that year the first college football game was broadcast, this game was between the University of Pitsburg and West Virginia University. Something that I found interesting was that the attendance didnt drop at these events instead it grew, and grew drastically because more people were being reached without having to travel. 

Then came television and in 1939 the first-ever baseball game was broadcast. "The effects of TV were tremendous for teams to generate money," said Akenna Rootes in her presentation, and still to this day the sports industry is growing as different camera angles and ways to reach the population are discovered. 

The other thing that was intriguing was the gossip presentation. I had no idea that in Newspapers there was a section dedicated to gossip, something that now I will be sure to look for. 

The first known gossiper was James Boswell who was a colonist and a "hypochondriac", he would gossip about things going around in the town but not about the people in the town. He would twist the things in the town to make things worse and always put a bad taste in people's mouths.

Today we still see a lot of gossips, especially just for the "clicks" or "views". It is mostly found in popular magazines and in digital media. This should be considered fake news because this gossip has a connection between fake news.

EOTO 1 Reaction!

I gained so much knowledge from watching and listening to the presentations of my classmates. There were a few individuals that I had known about, but one person that stood out to me was Winifred Sweet Black. Winifred was an American reporter and colonist who displayed incredible courage and persistence, and never seemed to back down from a challenge,  even when facing obstacles.

As Victoria stated in her presentation, Winifred was known for her unorthodox ways and methods of getting stories. She founded the NY Journal, but then left there because she disliked the city so much. She would then start writing for William Hearst. 

One piece of fascinating information that I learned was in 1900, she disguised herself as a boy and was able to bypass the police lines to get the information out to the public. She would be the first to give an inside view to the devastating Galveston flood disaster that was occurring in Texas. The death count of this tragedy would rise to 700 victims, and she was able to report firsthand on this significant tragedy. 

The overall demeanor of Black was that she didn't shy away from the truth, even if it meant risking her own life in the process.  She was determined to secure the truth and sought to expose those who violated or misrepresented it. She was also generous as seen by her opening a temporary hospital with the funds that Hearst had accumulated to support those in need. 

The other presentations that impressed me were the SPJ, NPPA, AAEC, and ASME programs which was presented by Ella and Mila. The first of the three, the Society of Professional Journalists was founded in 1909, and was followed by the National Press Photographers Association in 1946, the American Editorial Cartoonists in 1957 and finally, the American Society of Magazine Editors in 1963. 

These four programs are all extraordinary, and the main one that I will focus on is SPJ because of its continued popularity and the fact that it's actually a club that exists at High Point University. Their mission is to provide "the perpetuation of a free press at the cornerstone of our nation and our liberty." The SPJ provides professional development and career support, while facilitating connections in the industry and providing journalism advice to its members. 

Another organization that I found to be interesting was the N.P.P.A. The purpose of the N.P.P.A is to advocate for the visual journalists of the industry. Their mission is to ensure that journalists have the opportunity to write freely, and will make a proper living from this work. 

John Costa was the founder of this organization, but he was originally a photographer and edited for multiple different newspapers. They have such a vested interest because this is their career and livelihood, and they want to make sure that they are being both represented and understood. 

Overall, I learned a great deal from the various presentations.  It was very interesting how they distinguished themselves from each other and they were all very informative. I really look forward to gaining more insight about these programs throughout my journalism career. 

EOTO 2 Photojournalism

 Photojournalism is a key and important way of getting the correct images out to the public and ensuring that the images used are also providing context to the article you are reading about purpose. The best way to easily sum that up would be to state that it is the connection of news through photographs. The popularsaying "a picture tells a thousand words" is extremely important in the journalism field because most people skip over large blogs and headlines and go directly to the images for context. 

Photojournalism not only helps "enhance a story, but it tells a story of its own as well". Many believe that the choice of photos utilized throughout a story will either make or break a story. Photojournalism is defined as the main process of using photos to accurately tell a story. 

The presence of photojournalism is evidenced throughout news stories and is an extremely popular venue that is employed. While most of the time photojournalists use still images in their writing and segments, a video is a viable option as well. 

The introduction of photojournalism has a long and storied history. Photos have been accompanying news articles since the start of the Civil War in 1861.  In the 1920s, photojournalism entered a Golden Age, with the arrival of smaller cameras such as the 35mm Leica which was invented in Germany in 1925. 

This Golden Age was pivotal because people would begin to see actual images of what was going on throughout the wars that were being fought, which allowed us to understand current newsworthy stories in real time. Even during this time that may not have been exactly prosperous, the photos that were received allowed for visual storytelling and reporting.

There were many individuals who were pioneers in this industry, and one of the most significant was William Eugene Smith. He is widely described as "perhaps the single most important photojournalist". Smith was a photojournalist for Flying Magazine, and then later LIFE Magazine.  He became interested in photographty at the age of 14,  and since that point, he was dedicated to making sure that his photos told the truth of what was really going on. He spent the majority of his career covering the wars that were underway. 

Another key photojournalist is Robert Capa. The actual images of war that he captured made him a truly remarkable and respected photojournalist. Robert would often put himself in very dangerous situations to ensure that the images that he was securing were effective and truthful.  His famous quote was always "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough". During his time, he covered the responsibilities of shooting 5 different wars. 

Roger Fenton is the third and final journalist who was a pioneer in the photojournalim industry. His dedication to truth was seen through his images. An accomplished photojournalist, Fenton was highly regarded for his landscape and architectural photographs during the wars. Fenton also is acknowledged as the first journalist to photograph a war, which was known as the Crimean War. 

Overall, photojournalism is a means of photography which has drastically evolved and improved during the last several decades, and it is still a highly effective and popular communication tool that is employed worlwide today. Photos help tell stories, convey feelings, provide insight, enhance our perspectives and even allow us to reconsider and form more actual and reliable judgements. Without the presence of photojournalism, there would be no evidence to either prove or disprove what the public considers to be factual information.