Blog #10- EOTO Whistleblowers

Today was our last class of Media Law & Literacy. I am shocked to say I am sad about it. I have very much enjoyed this class because it is hands-on, from taking notes to presenting new topics to the class. We did our last EOTO presentations and I decided to write my blog on Whistleblowers. Kimberlee Summerville did a great job of teaching the class the meaning of this concept.

Whistleblowing is defined under the law as “disclosing information that you reasonably believe is evidence of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or gross mismanagement, or gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial danger to public health or safety.” In Kimberlee's presentation, she discussed the pros, cons, positive impact, and famous whistleblowers. For her pros she mentioned "ensure wrongdoers are not rewarded by corruption. I liked this pro because people need to be held accountable for their actions. A con she went over was how whistleblowing can be a threat to a career. That is because
if a person informs your organization of wrongdoing your career can be ended fast. I realized that the pros and cons go hand and hand. Whistleblowing has a positive impact on society and that is because corruption and injustices are called out. It can also help balance levels of authority in a business. A famous whistleblower Kimberlee mentioned that stuck out to me was Linda Tripp. She was the woman who revealed the affair that President Bill Clinton

was having with Monica Lewinsky, a white house intern. It is known that a lot of men use their authority to get what they want from employees with less power.

Personally, I think whistleblowing was one of the most important presentations that occurred in class today. I believe that it can do more good than harm. That is because I think the harm that comes out of whistleblowing is the punishment corrupt people need.

Blog #11- Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. In today's world, technology is continuing to advance and take over. When you think about what technologies and devices that were accessible to us as kids vs now, or even think back to when our parents were our age it puts into perspective how much the world has changed. Artificial intelligence is a fairly new advancement that is continuing to grow and will soon be our new normal. The documentary Age of AI explores the concept of artificial intelligence and how it is changing our lives currently, plus our lives in the future. 

When I think of artificial intelligence I think of that scary robot that came out a couple years ago. If I

remember right, her name was also Sophia. She looked like a real human and it was even rumored that she was given citizenship. That terrified me... Imagine a world where we are walking around with robots that look like us, are able to do the same things as us but can possess way more information than us.

After watching part of the Age of AI documentary in class I learned that it doesn't just consist of talking and walking robots. Things like facial recognition, self-driving cars, and amazon's Alexa are all a part of artificial intelligence. To me, that makes the concept less scary. Facial recognition has made my life easier. It's not a need, but when Apple added it to the iPhones I could pay faster, not have to remember/type in all my passwords, and open my phone easily. I personally think that self-driving cars are an amazing invention. My family has a Tesla and while the self-driving part isn't 100% ready yet, it is a cool concept and can probably save many lives. Amazon's Alexa was a cool invention to push forward "smart homes". We have a couple throughout our house that we used to use frequently when they first came out. Our family doesn't really use them anymore because they aren't really needed.

With any new technology, advancements comes the topic of privacy. The three AI devices I am familiar with are also an invasion of privacy. With facial recognition, it is scary to think these creators/ the government has access to all your information through scanning of your face. When talking about privacy and self-driving cars, in my experience the car takes all of your information and stores it to make things easier on you. If you really think about your privacy, it is kind of scary because it stores data of where you've been and where you want to go, including your home address. Lastly, to me, Alexa is the creepiest of all. I recently saw a Dr. Phil episode where hackers got into their home cameras and Alexa. They used it to talk to the family's little children. They knew all of their information and even when the parents leave for work and come back. Privacy is a tricky thing, but if you are open-minded with these inventions you have to understand the negatives. 

Blog #9- Diffusion

Diffusion theory is concerned with the spread of innovation through a population. Researchers in diffusion theory have developed analytical models for explaining and forecasting the dynamics of diffusion of innovation (an idea, practice, or object perceived as new by an individual) in a socio-technical system. The new innovation that I will be looking at through the lens of the Diffusion Theory is TikTok. TikTok is a content-creating app that was started in 2018. The app really "blew up" in 2019. Why did it catch on? I believe COVID-19 had a large effect on the app. Before the pandemic, TikTok was mostly for a younger crowd and was actually looked down upon. There were several memes and jokes about the people who had the app downloaded and used it frequently. When the pandemic hit and everyone was in lockdown people were trying to find things to keep them occupied. That is when millions signed up for the content-creating app. So many people became early adopters of the app for two reasons. One was that it was taking the place of a previous app called Musically. This app consisted of users making short videos of different songs. People who knew of this app or used this app then switched to TikTok when it came out. The majority of TikTok users were late adopters as I explained with the pandemic. TikTok is an entertaining app with constant new uploads to keep you busy. Late adapters, I believe, started to see their friends use the app. which influenced them too. I was also known that creating content on this app could turn into a job. People like Charlie Diamilo,

Addison Rae, Bryce Hall, etc. all curated millions by posting videos of themselves. With any social media app, there are negative consequences. During the middle of the pandemic, it was said that China was hacking users' accounts, taking their information, storing it in a database, and even looking at you through your phone camera as you used the application. Privacy is a huge negative when it comes to any social media app. Another negative would be the use of TikTok. It has been shown that it is an addictive app and can take over your day-to-day activities. With anything positives can outway the negatives, it just depends on your personal mindset. 

Blog #8- EOTO: Spiral of Silence

This week in class we did another Each One Teach One presentation. My group was assigned theories. I was personally assigned the Spiral of Silence. I was familiar with several of the theories such as, gatekeeping, agenda-setting, and confirmation bias, so I decided to choose one that I wasn’t informed on. The spiral of silence theory was proposed by the German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle- Neumann in 1974. I learned that the spiral of silence theory explains the growth and spread of public opinion. It is people’s willingness to express their opinions on controversial public issues. It explains how they are affected by their largely unconscious perception of those opinions as being popular or unpopular. The perception that your opinion is considered unpopular tends to discourage you to express it. While if you have the perception that your opinion will be popular you tend to have the opposite mindset. Because of this, the theory shows that a social group of society might isolate themselves or exclude members due to their personal opinions on a matter. This then stipulates that individuals have a fear of isolation. So, they would rather follow the popular opinion or the “norm” so that they are not left out. People constantly monitor the behavior of others to find a sign of approval or disapproval. This then affects their personal beliefs and opinions. The concept is interpreted from a social-psychological perspective as a state of consciousness in which individuals are aware that their actions are “seen by all” or “heard by all,” requiring that they constantly monitor not only their own actions but also the reactions of others in their environment.

There are many effects of the spiral of silence theory. In today’s day and age, it has gotten easier to apply this theory. With the media today, we are exposed to a wide variety of different media stories. This theory has an effect on public opinions. It triggers a “spiraling” process that reveals the majority opinion of society. When voicing your opinion, you could be faced with social isolation, so this limits people. researchers such as Ho et. al (2013) have found that those with more media exposure are more likely to voice their opinion in public (pp. 123-124). Once again, this is a reasonable assumption, as exposure to different types of information on a given issue will encourage vigorous debate. The media chooses to report on the majority group’s opinions and activities because they are money-driven. What about the people that do not have a lot of media exposure?

The internet (a.k.a. interwebs, series of tubes – thanks, Al) seemingly levels the playing field, where a minority opinion won’t be felt by the individual as a minority opinion and might be voiced in that arena whereas the individual would have not been so vocal in another place of public discourse. There are outlets that disprove this theory. For example, politics. Most right-sided people will follow Fox News because their opinions are the same or similar. Left-sided people will follow CNN because of the same reason. A right-sided person most likely would not voice their beliefs on a page that makes their opinions feel minority to theirs.

In conclusion, the spiral of silence is an important theory to know and understand. It helps us realize why we work the way we do. Why we express certain beliefs and not others, and also why we are so scared so social isolation and what it can do to us.

FINAL: My Relationship with Technology

Technology has such a huge impact on everyone's everyday lives. Constant innovations and updates progress us further into the future. Media has a big role in my life. When I think of media the first thing I think of is social media. My generation grew up with social media. Social media grew as we aged and matured. Instagram came out when I was a teenager and back then it was something that everyone just played around on. It wasn't serious. Our posts consisted of pictures with no filter, no editing. Now apps like Instagram are used to show the best parts of your life. We take time to capture these moments, tweak the photo to make it perfect, and apply a filter to make it aesthetically pleasing. All of this is just to receive validation from your followers. The difference between these media apps 10 years ago vs today and how they have progressed is wild. Their purposes have completely changed. I personally use Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok daily. Like most users, I am not posting every day but looking at others. These apps play a big role in my life. I am able to keep up with friends and family who I do not see all the time. It keeps my relationships strong. I do also use these apps like others. I post the parts of my life I want people to see. My happy side, who I am with, what I am doing, and with all these photos I use filters, effects, things to make my posts look appealing to others. 

The definition of a digital footprint is the trail of ‘electronic breadcrumbs’ you leave behind when you use the internet. It can include the websites you visit, the photos you upload and your interactions with other people on social networks. Personally, I am very exposed on the internet. My footprint is large. I have always trusted the internet and I think that is one of my flaws. I let websites save my usernames,
passwords, credit card information, addresses, etc. I never think twice before pushing the save button. I believe for me, that is because of convenience. I am a very forgetful person. Saving all this information is easier for me. Not only is your footprint what you save on the internet, it is also what you post and interact with. Everything you do is permanent and out in the public. Websites you visit, ads you click, photos you like or comment on. It is all saved in databases and then content is curated just for you. This class has made me more aware of that and has shown me that I have to be more aware of what I do online.

Technology has changed the world we live in. There are so many things we do and do not even realize that
technology is involved. For example, when the Covid outbreak happened our classes moved online. Applications like zoom and webex made it possible for us to continue to attend our courses and finish out the semester. So many jobs are remote now too. Who would've thought it would be possible to work from home Monday-Friday at a corporate job? Technology is limited to a certain age group. In today's age little kids know how to work a phone or iPad better than the older generations. My eight year old cousin uses her mom's shapchat account to keep in touch with my sister and I, while my seventy year old grandma doesn't even know how to turn her phone flashlight on and off. It is insane to see how tech savvy this children are getting at young ages. In our every day lives we use technology to pretty much do everything. From texting and calling to using online maps to get you where you want to go. It is insane to think about how much we rely on these devices daily.

Sadly there is a darkside of technology. Like anything in the world advantages come with disadvantages.
Technology has been hurtful to a lot of people. Specifically social media. Cyberbulling is something that has occurred since technology has advanced. Many lives are lost to this cruel act. People feel that they can hide behind their cell phones and computers. They find the power to say things they would never say to someones face. Another disadvantage has to do with social media. Most accounts only show the picture perfect parts of user's lives. This causes comparison. Reality is what is lost on social media. We emphasize the best versions of ourselves instead of the real versions.Life can be hard, ugly, and downright depressing at times. But those likely aren’t the adjectives most of us would use to describe the photos we post onto our accounts. Social media users are starting younger and research shows that the impact can be harsh. Who is at fault for this? Is it the app creators? Or the parents of these young, easily influenced kids? Personally, when I have children they will not have social media accounts until they are matured and know how to use them in a positive way. In some ways, the negative effects outway the positive. Users do not know what they are getting into until they are already too deep. 

Blog #6- EOTO Technology

In class each student got assigned a different form of technology and had to present their findings to the class. During the EOTO Technology presentations Bluetooth stuck out to me the most. Today, we use Bluetooth all the time. In the car, when using AirPods, connecting to speakers, using cordless keyboards and mouse, etc. I learned that the definition of Bluetooth is a wireless technology that uses radio frequency to share data over a short distance. Before this presentation I never understood how Bluetooth worked. From this definition, I discovered it uses radio frequency. When I first started seeing Bluetooth around me I was about 10

Bluetooth Earpiece

years old. I was old enough to understand that my dad's ear piece was connected to his phone, but without a wire. When I first started to notice Bluetooth it was funny to me. I vaguely remember being at gas stations while my parents filled up their cars and other people would be next to them with their Bluetooth earpiece in. I always thought it looked like they were talking to themselves. From this presentation I learned that Bluetooth has been around much longer than that. It was discovered in 1994 by Ericsson. What I found very interesting was the logo for Bluetooth is two different symbols combined, and those symbols are Ericsson's initials. After the discovery many different inventions came out, like

the wireless mobile headset and even a Bluetooth phone. Bluetooth consists of two devices trusting each other in order to connect. Without this invention the world would be very different today. So many things we do and use incorporate Bluetooth. I am constantly Airdropping photos, videos, files, and more to people around me. My house alarm, garage, and doors all unlock with a click of a button on my phone, and that is because of Bluetooth. Without this discovery, technology wouldn’t be advancing as fast as it is.

Blog #5- The Progressive Era

Today in class we went over the Progressive Era, Marketplace of Ideas, and the Modern First Amendment. We created a timeline from 1914 to 1931. This timeline covered wars, events, acts, and laws. I have personally never been a huge fan of history. That might be because through grade school history was forced on us in a way that wasn't enjoyable. We had to memorize every war, president, event, etc. and the dates they all occurred. So war has never been something that draws my attention. I am very grateful for our troops that risk their lives daily to protect ours. By no means am I trying to downplay that. Many of my family members were in the military and I couldn't appreciate them more. That being said, when I visited ANTIWAR.com and theamericanconservative.com I saw a shocking amount of war related content that I have never seen before. Stuff that I never want to see again. I personally am not anti-war or pro-war. I believe that there is a right and a wrong time for conflict and there is also a right and a wrong way to go about it. In mainstream news you don't really hear about the strong opinions people have against wars. I believe that is because the leaders of our country want to go to war. People like war and there are so many opposing opinions about too many topics today. If the information that is on these websites was posted daily on

mainstream media there would be more anti-war people. Seeing the amount of people killed on the daily would change people perspective. Personally, I have never heard of websites like these. I knew there were people very opposed to war but not this expressive. I am sure websites like this exist because in the media right now anti-war followers do not have a voice. I think to hear strong anti-war voices you have to dig deep and find websites of this sort because of the censorship happening today. The media puts out what is popular and what people want to hear. But the media also puts out what will make them more money.

Blog #4- EOTO Printing Press

For the Each One Teach One research project, I was assigned the printing press. A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the cloth, paper, or other medium was brushed or rubbed repeatedly to achieve the transfer of ink, and accelerated the process. Typically used for texts, the invention and global spread of the printing press was one of the most influential events in the second millennium. Johannes Gutenburg was a German inventor, printer, publisher, and goldsmith. He was credited for the printing press. Gutenburg started experimenting on the press in 1440. He started developing the printing press in France. It took him ten years to produce it. Once he was finished and "perfected" he brought the press back to his hometown in Germany.

Johannes Gutenburg wasn't the first person to discover printing. The oldest known printing was dated back to the first millennium A.D. in China. The Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist book from Dunhuang, China from around 868 A.D. during the Tang Dynasty, is said to be the oldest known printed book. Before the printing press books such as The Diamond Sutra were created with a method called block printing. Block printing was hand-carved blocks with letters printed backward. After block printing, metal block printing was invented. These types of printing were very tedious and took a very long time to produce. Thanks to Gutenburg printing became easier.

The printing press changed the world we live in today. Without it, there are so many things that wouldn't be possible today. The printing press allows us to share large amounts of information quickly and in huge numbers. In fact, the printing press is so significant that it has come to be known as one of the most important inventions of our time. It drastically changed the way society evolved. Before the printing press information was shared orally. The press helped educate the world faster. Literacy levels began to rise. Johannes Gutenberg's discovery helped books be produced quicker and cheaper. The printing press even improved science. historian Elizabeth Eisenstein wrote her 1980 book about the impact of the printing press, she said that its biggest gift to science wasn’t necessarily the speed at which ideas could spread with printed books, but the accuracy with which the original data were copied. With printed formulas and mathematical tables in hand, scientists could trust the fidelity of existing data and devote more energy to breaking new ground. Thanks to the printing press a huge social and cultural revolution was born. A century after it was founded the Italian renaissance began. The press wasn't the reason the renaissance began but it did help accelerate rediscovery and helped share knowledge.

A significant positive effect of the printing press was that voices around the world were being heard. For example, Martin Luther and his 95 Thesis. Thanks to the printing press and the timely power of his message, Luther became the world’s first best-selling author. Luther’s translation of the New Testament into German sold 5,000 copies in just two weeks. From 1518 to 1525, Luther’s writings accounted for a third of all books sold in Germany and his German Bible went through more than 430 editions. Luther questioned the church, he wasn't the first one, but he was the first person to publish his message around town. He believed that printing was a gift from God himself.


Overall, Johannes Gutenburg and the printing press had major effects on the world. If it wasn't for his discovery we would not be living in the world we are today. Communication was changed for the better along with so many other things.

Blog #3- Eight Values of Free Expression

In the past couple of weeks in class, we have learned a lot about the first amendment and how it is applied to life today. The definition of the first amendment is, “an amendment that prevents the government from making laws which regulate an establishment of religion, or that would prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the freedom of assembly, or the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Specifically, we have been learning about freedom of speech. Because we are reviewing the values of free expression, I want to define freedom of speech. In short, it is the principle that supports the freedom of a person to produce their opinions and ideas without fear of censorship or getting in trouble with the law.

In this blog post, I will be reflecting on the Eight Values of Free Expression and choose the two that stood out to me and why. The Eight Values include Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self Government, Stable Change, Individual Self-Fulfilment, Check on Government Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation and Protect Dissent.


After reviewing the eight values of free expression I noticed the one that stuck out to me was number three, stable change. Stable change states, “it has been suggested that a society in which angry and alienated citizens are allowed to speak their mind, or “vent”, will be more stable, as people will be less likely to resort to violence. It has been pointed out that allowing the alienated and biconnected to speak freely enables government to better monitor potentially dangerous groups who would otherwise act more clandestinely. Ultimately, it is in the government’s own self-interest to allow such venting.” This value of free expression stuck out to me because I agree with it. If a person is angry and has the right to speak their mind on it, violence and acting out can be prevented. When people are allowed to speak freely it is easier for the government to see the difference between people who are able to speak freely, in a good way, and who is going to potentially act out. It is clear that this speech theory will always be relevant. With free speech being a part of the first amendment, stable change will always be around. This theory I believe is most prevalent today because of all the court cases that are happening involving speech and hate.


Another speech theory that stuck out to me was a marketplace of ideas. This theory is also known as the discovery of truth. The definition of this theory is, "a rationale for freedom of expression based on an analogy to the economic concept of a free market. The marketplace of ideas holds that the truth will emerge from the competition of ideas in free, transparent public discourse and concludes that ideas and ideologies will be culled according to their superiority or inferiority and widespread acceptance among the population." I chose this concept because I liked the overall purpose of it. To me, it means that in a marketplace of ideas we use competition to judge truth and fairness. This theory encourages people to have their own ideas and thoughts which relates back to the first amendment and freedom of speech. In today’s world, I like to believe that we are all free to express whatever we believe in without being held back. This really shows today within the news and how everyone is allowed to have their own opinions even if not everyone agrees.

Blog #2- Supreme Court

 

1. What did you learn about the Supreme Court that you did not already know?

Throughout the video, I learned a lot about the Supreme Court that I did not already know. I personally have never learned a lot about it and only recall a little bit of my high school history classes. Something new that I learned was the Supreme Court receives 7,000 cases a year and 100 new cases a week. When hearing this all I could think about is how overwhelming that must be. Then to discover that the justices basically work alone on these cases. Reading through them, deciding if they want to keep them or not, and forming their opinion on the cases without anyone's help. These cases are then taken and lawyers stand in front of them for only 30 minutes each and present their side of it. After the nine justices get together and vote on the case. I found all of this interesting because it's a lot of work for these nine appointed justices. Without knowing a lot about the Supreme Court, I assumed there were a lot of people behind the scenes helping them.

2. What is the most important take-away point about the Supreme Court?

My most important takeaway point about the Supreme Court is that everyone is equal. There are no cases that just get handed to the supreme court because someone is of a higher power, like the president for example. All cases have to wait for the people to bring the problem to the court. That is important to me because everyone gets a fair chance. For example, a high-priced legal consul is treated the exact same way a case that was sent in from a prisoner would be treated. Equality within the court system is what keeps the people trusting of the Supreme Court.

3. What was the most surprising thing you learned?

One of the most surprising things I learned from the video is that all the members respect each other. As mentioned in the clip, when entering the room they all shake hands, and they like that because they feel as if no one can hold a grudge against each other. I was personally shocked to hear that they all respect each other because everyone has such different opinions on each case. They obviously disagree but in the end, they still look at each other the same. Following my important takeaway, it just goes to show that they all think of each other as equals, and I am sure that is what keeps their jobs going. 

4. How did the video change the way you thought of the Supreme Court?

The video changed the way I thought about the Supreme Court because I have never been fully educated on the court. It showed me how much the Supreme Court actually does. Hearing the current court tell the new members how long it takes to adjust to the job shows the length their job goes to. After watching the film I know now more than ever that being a Supreme Court Justice takes a certain kind of person. Someone who is hardworking, driven, organized, and able to work in very overwhelming/ stressful environments. 

Blog #1- My Five Top Sources of News and Information

 1. Fox News via Instagram https://www.instagram.com/foxnews/

Fox News is a source that I use to get information on politics and other news stories. While people think that Fox can be biased, I prefer it over other channels because it is a right-wing perspective. I personally like Fox because it isn’t always just about politics. I am able to follow stories such as the Gabby Petito case as well. 

2. E-News via Instagram https://www.instagram.com/enews/

E-News is one of my most used news sources. I use E-News to follow up on all of my favorite celebrities. When comparing this news source to a similar source such a TMZ, I prefer E because it is usually more reliable. TMZ is known for false information that gets corrected by E-News. I recommend this news source if you enjoy keeping you with celebrities and Hollywood stars.

3. Twitter>Explore>News https://twitter.com/explore/tabs/news_unified

I use Twitter news when I want to get different opinions on current news. When something big happens and is released, Twitter news shows everyone's responses to the news. I recommend this because I like to hear what others think about topics. It helps me see where others are coming from. Twitter news also doesn't just post politics. They have sections that are made just for you, and you can also go under different headers like entertainment, whats trending, etc.

4. Inside NOVA https://www.insidenova.com/

I was born and raised in Northern Virginia and have followed InsideNova for a while. InsideNova is a news source that posts about anything happening within the Northern counties of Virginia. I like InsideNova because I am able to receive email updates, Facebook and Instagram updates, or I can go to their website. It is convenient and informative of what is happening in my hometown. 

5. Google News https://news.google.com/

Google News is a news source that I use and recommend because it is not biased. It presents a continuous flow of news from all types of sites. Google shows news from all around the world and isn’t filtered for a certain demographic. It is helpful when I want to see what is happening around the world and not just in the United States.