Media Law and Literacy 2024

 06/24/2024 Privacy Online and Off      In the age of digital technology many take what they do online for granted. Whether it be a quick messsage, post or even ones own likeness, everything online is permenant and could have massive implication for your future carrer path or how others perceive you in society. As a member of such and age it's up to us to understand how our privacy is being exploited, how it affects our day to day lives and what we can do to prevent it from occuring more and more.       You may that these issues are far less important to you as your accounts are protected and only friends can access. However that couldn't be further from the truth. What about when you're replying to a simple comment on a public forum or even posting a photo for whatever purpose? Those things and everything else you do can be seen. The issue affects college students more than ever as what you put out online depicts to others what kind of person you...

 06/22/2024 The Invention of the Telephone       In our world one thing that almost everyone has is a cellphone. It's such a key part of our everyday lives that we often take it for granted. When life gets boring you whip it out and gawk at it for a few seconds before putting it away. It's something everybody does. However none of this would be possible without the famous invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell (well that's not entirely true but more on that later).        Alexander Graham Bell was born in March 3rd 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Alexander in his younger years was quite the curious child and became interested in inventing things around a early age. Bell was homeschooled in his early years and when he was 16 he started to study the mechanics of speech which would of course be useful in his later invention. Eventually Bell moved to the U.S and began teaching (despite not having a degree) at Boston University School of...

 6/19/2024 The Eight Values of Free Expression       In our  modern age the value of free expression seems to go unnoticed despite being one of the core facets of the U.S Constitution. There are in fact many different values of free expression which all acomplish different things. The one that that is the most important to me is promoting inovation. As somewho who values art very highly it's important to give people the freedom to create an innovate either for their own self fullfillment or for the benefit of others. Films are one of those avenues. However in recent years in the film sphere inovation has definitly stagnated with Hollywood trying to reboot or continue already established film franchises instead of establishing new IPs. Scott Mendalson details this phenomenon in more detail here:    https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2021/02/13/hollywood-is-desperate-to-turn-old-blockbusters-into-new-franchises/ . By promoting innovation i...

 6/13/24 The Inner Workings of the Supreme Court  One of the main things I learned about the Supreme Court is how problems come to them. They can't voice any issue on their own, instead the issues are brought to them. The justices receive them each week by the dozens. The issues typically are from citizens frusterated with other courts. Although the justices give careful consideration to each case very little continue past the first inspection. In fact out of the thousands sent typically only 100 are really given serious deliberation after which was something I was unaware of.  The most important take away I learned was just about the nature of being a Justice. Many don't remember but they are people too not autonmous robots who look at a case once at just decide then and there. They understand that the American people are depending on them for a decision that will affection millions of peoples lives and do not take it lightly. They deliberate for hours and even bring in ...

6/13/24  My Top Five News Sources In an era with such easy access to any and all news happening around the globe, one might think that the youth of our era might take advantage of such a great opportunity to learn about the happenings of the world around us. However short form content like Tiktok has taken over the attention of many young minds. Other social media platforms have also been playing their part in attracting younger viewers to short form content, leading to shorter attention spans. Platforms like Instagram have been doing this with their addictive scrolling and endless posts, keeping younger adults and teens entranced. Although this is a prominent way of getting information today, there is still an audience for the news. While I don't keep up with local or global news as much as I should, I have watched enough to put a top five list together for you today.  Number 5: CNN and Fox News Now to say I actively view any content from either of the sites would be a stretc...