Media Writing Lab

Google Search: What Is A Protest or Demonstration ?  Definition: It is an Interruption, Disruption & Madness at DePauw University!   By: Aleysha Ward  April is usually a time in which people are getting ready for holidays such as Easter or planning their Spring Break vacation. Or people in particular students may be preparing for midterms. But, at Depauw University, students of color had to take time out of their busy schedules to not only bring about awareness to the racial incidents that occurred on campus but, to demand change and respect for their lives. In the beginning of April, a student decided to attend a party in black face and have a name tag that said “blackie” on it. A few days later, a racial slur was written under a toilet seat that said, “Die Sand Niggers”. Then, another racial slur that said, “All Niggers Must Die signed KKK” was written in the men’s bathroom at a restaurant on the campus that all of the students go to.  Students were outraged by this a

NICK AND NIKE  By John Pasch The 30th anniversary of Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign has already sent shockwaves through the world of mass media. Since 2016, when Kaepernick decided to first kneel for the playing of the National Anthem, he has been the face of the modern day civil rights movement. As of late, Nike, a major sportswear company, which has recently signed a contract with the National Football League (NFL) (Somers, 2018) agreeing to supply game day uniforms, made this controversial man the face of their well-known ad campaign. This controversy has been driven primarily by social media. Even though the actions themselves were demonstrated physically, a lot of the repercussions and feedback have come through different media outlets. A prime example is twitter, with a large online movement combatted by President Donald Trump and company. Colin Kaepernick first began his personal crusade against police injustice in the fall of 2016, igniting a r

By Ryan Scott On August 14, 2016, during the first NFL preseason game, one particular player decided to stop standing for the National Anthem. The professional athlete was Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback. This was a protest following the slaying of an unarmed, black teen named Trayvon Martin. He was killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch coordinator, who viewed Martin as a threat for his apparent image. This was a major sign of racial profiling and violence that is a reoccurring issue in our nation. Too frequently, unarmed African Americans are killed by police officers in disproportionate numbers. Nonetheless, most of these unfortunate killings have included no repercussions. Colin Kaepernick firstly went unnoticed the first two weeks of the preseason, and then it sparked a movement. In week three of the preseason, on August 26, 2016, he continued to sit out during the National Anthem and the uproar began. This turned into a prolonged debate about pr

By Duncan West Media fraud is a growing problem in our world today. The Media is very powerful. It can be used to do great things, but there are times it is used for not so great things, like the manipulation of its audience. Media Fraud can be a scam on the internet where someone says they are your buddy and need money and can be as pivotal as faking news. I think the root of this problem is that us, the users, believe anything and everything we see on the internet. People have incredible power via social media but this power can be manipulated. Take this case for instance, “In 2002, the U.S. invaded Iraq based on reports that Saddam Hussein’s government was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction… As of late 2011, U.S. troops are still in Iraq.”(Biegelman, 2013, p. 11) In this instance, even our own president was manipulated through fraudulence.  We have all heard of fake news in broadcasts but this fake news can appear in the form of internet fraud. Fake news is used t

By Freddie Coudret             Protesting in the National Football League (NFL) has been an extremely polarizing subject ever since Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid of the San Francisco 49ers first took a knee during the national anthem on September 1 st , 2017. Kaepernick responded to criticism by revealing that his reasoning for kneeling during the anthem was to shine a light on police brutality against minorities and social inequality. When I stated that this has been a polarizing issue since its inception- I meant it. People from all walks of life; sports fans, people who have never watched a game of football in their lives, white people, black people, and President Trump have all put their two cents in about the issue. As a result, the NFL began working on a new rule that would require all players to stand on the field for the anthem, the alternative being a fine. Owners around the NFL, mostly older, white men, quickly voted to pass the rule in May. The rule was to be enforced

By: Brogan Miller Protests in professional sports have become very relevant in America today. These protests were sparked by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and have now spread into other professional sports organizations. One of the most popular athletes in the world, LeBron James, has become outspoken in his views regarding the protests in the NFL and has offered his support to Kaepernick. "While James is widely recognized as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, his brand has expanded far outside of that." (Coombs, 2017). James isn't just a basketball player, and he wants the world to know that. James has been known to be outspoken about many different social and cultural ideals and has often garnered support in his statements. James recently spoke directly to President Donald Trump, criticizing him for his racial bias and underrepresentation of minority groups. James received some backlash for these comments from Fox News correspondent Laura Ingra

by Helina Samson People of color have played an incredibly active role in debates that erupted in both mainstream media, as well as in our everyday lives. How the media frames these movements on these social media sites however, impacts the ways in which America views these activists. Although the platform that is Black Lives Matter is heavily centered around progressive, modern day civil rights, many have turned this movement into a racial nightmare. This struggle to form discourse around race and racism is evident in popular forms of media like twitter for example. Focusing in on twitter, the ways in which “tweets” impacted the movements in the “streets” (Kidd, 2017) are greatly attributed to the immediate reaction of #AllLivesMatter. When #BlackLivesMatter first came to trend on twitter, it was a call to action. A way of saying Black lives matter, too. However, conservative media got a hold of the hashtag and attempted to silence Black voices out of reasons of co