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Newspaper at the end of the driveway? Probably not.

Steve Monroe, a retired editor and current freelance communications professional, discussed minimum wage in the district. Photo by Madeline Jarrard.
Steve Monroe, a retired editor and current freelance communications professional, reads The Washington Post. Photo by Madeline Jarrard.

News is revolutionizing.

Younger generations in the United States are obtaining news differently than past generations as technology allows for new ways to receive news.

In the past, people received news from the television, the newspaper and the radio, but today those outlets are being side-swept by the Internet and a generation increasingly seeking its new through mobile devices.

The “State of the News Media” report from the Pew Research Center found that while advertising revenue for newspapers continues to slip, some of the top digital news websites have seen traffic from mobile devices more than desktop computers.

Malayna Nesbitt, 17, consumes news in a variety of ways, accessing a mix of old and new technologies.

“Social media is the main source of this generation,” said Nesbitt, who explained that she gets her news primarily through applications she has on her smartphone.

Nesbitt said that her parents used to have the newspaper delivered to their home when she was younger. But not any more.

Now, she listens to NPR in the morning and receives breaking news updates from the CNN application on her phone.

Nesbitt is part of a growing trend.

The news is becoming more accessible as people switch from desktop to mobile news apps, or tune in to NPR. The Pew Research Center reported in a Public Broadcasting report that, “The number of NPR associate and full member stations grew 11% in 2014 and the number of stations airing NPR programming grew by 3%.”

At the same time, the Internet has become a main news source for the younger generation.  It beats out television, newspaper and radio.

But age matters.

Another Pew Research Center report found that the 18-29 age group claimed the Internet as their leading news source for national and international news, while the 65+ age group labeled television and the newspaper as their top news sources.

Steve Monroe, 66, used to be the business editor for the now-defunct The Gazette in Montgomery County, Maryland. After putting down his hard copy of The Washington Post on a recent morning sitting at a Tenleytown Starbucks, he explained his own news habits.

“I get 70 percent–no 60 percent–of news information from hard copy,” Monroe said.

He explained that he reads from a multitude of newspapers: The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, plus a local paper called Washington City Paper.

But even some who are closer to Monroe’s age see newspapers as a source of the past.

Rebecca Owens, 56, watches her local MSNBC affiliate twice a day and gets national news at 5:30 p.m. Other sources for Owens include the Internet but never a print newspaper.

Alice Scarborough, 47, watches her local Fox News affiliate and it’s been a while since she received a newspaper at home.

“Not in the past 10 years or so,” Scarborough said.

 

 

 

 

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Sexual assault on campus

Students and professors at American University interviewed this month shared their opinions on how security measures affect college rape culture and the prevalence of sexual assault on their own campuses and nearby housing in Northwest Washington D.C.

Campus rape is a problem plaguing universities and colleges across the country, and it’s receiving attention from many here. Almost everyone interviewed at AU in July said that the university’s administrative response could use improvement, but noted offenses occur off campus, too.

“I don’t think it’s a campus safety issue because from my experience with it, it’s all been acquaintance rape, date rape, happening at parties,” said Jessica Kowal, a 20-year-old AU student. “It’s not someone walking back to their dorm late at night and someone jumping out the bushes.”

Both Kowal and Carolyn Hamilton, also 20, shared personal stories detailing their dissatisfaction with administrative response. Both say they knew women who had been assaulted.

“It’s very prevalent,” Hamilton said.

But Amy Eisman, 62, who teaches in the journalism division, feels that perhaps the deficiency of effective response is due to the sheer magnitude of the problem.

“My perception is that the university is doing what it can,” Eisman said. “But it’s a huge issue that I’m not sure anybody has a great handle on yet.”

Stalls in every campus bathroom display a poster providing information for victims of sexual assault and contact information for support networks. Many of these posters also include handwritten notes that students have left each other. One scratched out the word “survivor” and wrote “victim.”

A sign posted inside a bathroom stall at American University. Photo by Zoe Searles.
A sign posted inside a bathroom stall at American University. Photo by Zoe Searles.

“You are stronger than you know,” one reads.

The University offers sexual assault information on its website. IDs are required for entrance into the dorms, emergency telephone poles can be found every several hundred yards and safety patrol officers are stationed on campus around the clock.

There are peer support groups, of which the students interviewed spoke highly.

These groups are not limited to female discussion; Jaques Foul, 25, said that he doesn’t think males are left out of the conversation.

“I think we’re all responsible if something happens,” Foul said.

 

 

 

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AU students and faculty react to campus safety measures

By Emily Boyle
Discover the World of Communication student Naima Fonrose from Laurel, Maryland observes a blue phone emergency system on campus. Photo by Emily Boyle

American University students, staff and summer program attendees expressed both confidence and apprehension about campus safety in interviews this month.

Cassidy Luciano, a rising junior at AU, said she felt comfortable on campus with the various safety measures implemented. Though Luciano has never seen the blue “emergency” towers around campus in use, she has felt comfortable knowing they are present.

Luciano lives off campus but lived in Anderson Hall during her freshman year. While she liked having someone to check IDs at the front desk, Luciano said “sometimes I think they were a little relaxed,” attributing the laxness in the security to being in a “big city.”

Megan Piccirillo, a rising senior at AU, had no complaints about security on campus. Piccirillo noted she consistently finds public safety officers present, front desk monitors in dorms checking IDs and new technology frequently being introduced to the University.

Samantha Dumas, 19, a student at AU, has generally felt safe during her time on campus. Despite this, Dumas said that occasionally, “people are doing unsafe things behind closed doors.” Dumas did feel that resident advisers are “on top” of keeping dorms safe.

Michael Allen, an AU police officer for eight years, thinks public safety at AU has improved over the years, with many new technologies around the campus being implemented to maximize security measures. He pointed out a shelf of pamphlets that read “Personal Safety Apps.”

One of the key safety apps listed was the “Rave Guardian App.” According to Allen, the app connects students with AU police, allows tip texting and sets a safety timer for students traveling between locations on campus.

Assistant Director of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution Regina Curran believes that AU’s public safety is improving drastically.

Curran said 14 new security officers were hired on campus. Curran said there will be a “greater presence” of officers all around AU, hopefully ensuring all students and faculty feel safe around the clock.

Curran additionally explained the function of the blue phones on campus, which “automatically call the dispatcher” and find immediate help for students in emergencies.

 

 

 

 

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Women making strides in life but not media representations

Washington D.C. residents and visitors agree that women are portrayed poorly in the media today with attention directed to female bodies and emotions rather than their accomplishments.

Taylor Blowers, 16 and Bina Lee, 16 smile for women's rights in Starbucks. Photo courtesy of Naima Fonrose
Taylor Blowers, 16 and Bina Lee, 16 smile for women’s rights in Starbucks. Photo courtesy of Naima Fonrose

Women are objectified in the media constantly due to stereotypes and unrealistic standards, an issue that has lingered for decades. They are underrepresented and treated differently than men.

“For the most part, women are portrayed very poorly in mainstream media,” said Camilla Duke, 17, from Bethesda. “They’re objectified, they’re put into stereotypical boxes, and their voices are stifled by the male-dominated industry.”

The media’s coverage of women is focused on their appearance. Women’s bodies and appearance are central to their coverage in the public eye.

“There are two main types of women shown in mainstream media: the thin girl, and the fat girl, whose weight is a central part of her character and existence,” Duke said. “It’s uncommon to see anything in between.”

Either way women are looking to the media to see the body standard that society says they should strive for. The media portrays that their personal value is determined by how they look. Women’s bodies are everywhere and are used for marketing and advertising from potato chips to cars to cologne.

According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, the body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5 percent of American females and 69 percent of girls in the 5th to 12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of the perfect body shape.

“Diversifying the pool of women that appears in mainstream media will have a greater impact than many may think,” Duke said. “It’s so much easier to have healthy, positive self image when you can see someone who looks like you in a position where she’s considered beautiful.”

In media women are underrepresented, this can be proven by a test done that rates female representation in movies.

The Bechdel Test has criteria for women in movies. The movie has to have at least two named women in it who talk to each other about something besides a man to pass. The test seems simple but major motion pictures such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Godzilla do not pass the test, Alex Hudome, 17 said.

Some teenagers hope the tide is turning.

Taylor Blowers,16 said, “Women in general are getting a bigger role.”

Many female celebrities are criticized for doing the same thing men do such as singing songs about their romantic experiences. One prominent example is Taylor Swift.

“No one makes fun of Bruno Mars for writing love songs or tells Ed Sheeran’s girlfriends to “watch out, he’ll write a song about you,” Hudome said. “Taylor Swift’s dating life is a more heavily discussed topic than her successes and achievements, and there’s something very wrong with that.

The media’s representation of women is poor and unbalanced.

“It’s always about what women are wearing, how young or old they look, who they’ve slept with, and what they look like, rather than their talent, awards, achievements, and their creative and/or professional work,” Hudome said.

 

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D.C. students and residents want more, better cultural education

Residents and workers in Northwest Washington D.C. talked this month about their experiences with foreign cultures and discussed their interactions with world cultures.

Taylor Dewey, an American University student majoring in international relations, spent 4 months in Spain and England. She thinks that Spanish people know a lot about the U.S, but she thinks some in Europe dislike a lot about American culture.

Meghan Howie, 17, a high school student from Pennsylvania, stands outside a Starbucks in Washington D.C.'s Tenleytown neighborhood. Photo by Anne Yang.
Meghan Howie, 17, a high school student from Pennsylvania, stands outside a Starbucks in Washington D.C.’s Tenleytown neighborhood. Photo by Anne Yang.

“I think the people here are more naive about other people’s cultures whereas other people are always looking at the U.S. culture,” said Dewey, who like to see more knowledge and understanding of foreign cultures in the U.S.

Meghan Howie, a rising high school senior from Pennsylvania, has taken four years of Spanish plus a World Cultures class, but she thinks it’s not comprehensive of what cultures are. She has some experience visiting an uncle in Germany, but wishes she knew more.

“I feel like I’m not able to understand everyone from different countries,” Howie said.

Joanna Harris is a children’s librarian in Tenleytown and she spent two months in Japan. She was first exposed to Japanese culture by her half-Japanese friend and by watching Japanese anime as a kid.

Tenleytown librarian Joanna Harris hopes for more cultural understanding. Photo by Anne Yang.
Tenleytown librarian Joanna Harris hopes for more cultural understanding. Photo by Anne Yang.

“When I first watched it, I realized it was different from American cartoons, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it,” said Harris, who also was surprised to see Japanese children wearing uniforms after school and taking classes at other facilities in the late afternoon time.

But Harris questioned how much one culture could legitimately learn about another.

“I think media is really reflective of a culture, but always keep in mind who is telling this story and from which perspective,” Harris said.

Radhika Puri is a 20-year-old student at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee who was born in India. Puri, who speaks fluent Hindi, majors in biology and minors in business and is spending the summer interning for a public policy group. She thinks the world does a better job knowing about U.S. culture than the U.S. knows about the rest of the world.

“You go to India and you go to China, they know how to speak their language and English,” Puri said noting many in the U.S. don’t need to learn a second or third language.

 

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Campus healthy living accessible but not always desirable

Pizza display at American University's campus dining hall
Pizza display at American University’s campus dining hall, Terrace Dining Room. Photo courtesy of AU.

American University students provided mixed opinions on the selection of healthy options on campus everyday and agreed that they must work hard to stay fit.

Students find that they have to be motivated to eat healthy on campus because the options are mainly unhealthy.

“The healthy options are not right in front of you so you have to try to eat healthy,” Katie Wolf-Rodda,19, said.

Caroline Dowden, 18, considers herself a part of the group of students who go above and beyond to eat healthy. She believes that you have to get creative to eat healthy meals on campus.

Freshii is the best place to eat healthy, according to AU students. It offers green wraps which they can fill with kale, spinach, tofu, falafel and quinoa. The eatery advertises itself as having fast and healthy options.

Freshii’s most popular Pangoa salad contains avocado, brown rice, grape tomatoes, black beans, cheddar corn and spicy sauce. It may sound healthy but it still contains 770 calories, according to Freshii’s website.

AU students agree that the campus seems to be health conscious with many gym goers and joggers but the food choices do not reflect that mentality.

Other places to eat on campus include, Elevation Burger, Global Fresh, Bene Pizzeria and Subway.

“It is way easier to eat unhealthy for sure,” Anna Bomomo, 20, said.

At college the amount of fast food surrounding students can make it hard to eat healthy.

The “freshman 15” is a phrase that has been coined in the US to describe the weight gain that first year college students experience when they begin college.

“Thank God I didn’t get it,” Dowden said.

 

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People respond to journalists’ ethics

It’s protected by the First Amendment. It’s helped take down a president. But, average citizens often do not know what being a reporter entails.

Some interviewed this month in Washington D.C. shared their thoughts and opinions on the topic of ethics in journalism, providing some insight about how everyday citizens see the world of U.S. media.

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Newspaper boxes in Tenleytown. Photo by Sarah Plemmons.

Journalists must be familiar with the Society of Professional Journalist’s Code of Ethics, a list of principles explaining how to ethically perform the job of a journalist, or their organization’s own code. The preamble states that “Public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy.” The four principles are to seek the truth and report it, to minimize harm, to act independently, and to be accountable.

It is required that journalists abide by these rules in order to produce reliable content for media consumers.

According to consumers, writing and publishing the truth defines ethical journalism.

Jack Gibson, 20, emphasized the importance of “providing accurate information without bias.”

Michelle Nowak, 19, however, thinks bias is permissible because it shows personality in writing. According to her, “People have different truths.”

But should these truths come out in a journalist’s writing?

People had varying opinions on what they thought of the integrity of their own sources of media.

Tony Corbel, 74, a British native, regularly uses the BBC, Britain’s publicly-financed broadcast network. He trusts the network completely and has for most of his life.

Cindy Lee, 56, thinks her stations, CNN and Fox, are “probably as reliable as you can be.”

Others, though, do not solely rely on just one or two news stations.

By having numerous news sources, one avoids the risk of getting information that is biased, people said. Many consumers use multiple sources such as BBC, CNN, The New York Times, and various social media sites. They feel that though no one can entirely avoid bias, using multiple news sources makes their news more accurate.

“Generally they’re writing to appeal to an audience because they’ve got to get viewers on the internet and people to read the papers, so I think most–not every, but most–will cater to a specific audience to some extent,” said Aaron Rowell, 23.

This practice of dramatizing stories to make them more interesting is called “yellow journalism,” and is highly scorned in media today and violates the first tenet of the SPJ Code.

“I think that is not okay,” Lee said. “I think whatever happens, we need to reflect what happens and not dramatize it.”

Journalists are constantly evaluated by each other and the public to follow the Code of Ethics. To not report the whole truth would be devastating, yet it is crucial that journalists honor the privacy and safety of their subjects.

“I guess they’re just trying to do their job,” Corbel said. “But there’s a limit to what you do.”

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Do Americans appreciate the Fourth of July?

Fireworks explode over the National Mall in Washington D.C. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service.
Fireworks explode over the National Mall in Washington D.C. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service.

In the days before the Fourth of July, many Americans begin to gear up for the celebration which this year marked the 239th anniversary of America’s independence.

Whether it’s eating hamburgers or seeing a fireworks show, many Americans like to party on the special day.

“It’s definitely a focal point of the summer,” said Chris Morgan, 25, from Gaithersburg, Maryland.

As of July 2, Morgan planned to party with his friends, one of which will be meeting him in Pennsylvania with his fellow hikers from the Appalachian Trail. Morgan has many Fourth of July memories from previous years as well, including a glow-stick party in his neighbor’s pool and a firework show over Camden Yards in Baltimore.

There’s no doubt that Americans do their share of partying on the Fourth of July. But is this partying aimed towards the right cause? Is there appropriate reverence for the actions of America’s forefathers?

Buddy Bonner, 48, said the answer is “no.”

“I think we got a gross departure from appreciation with what our freedoms are,” Bonner said. “It’s more than likely just viewed as another day off from work.”

Bonner even admitted that he might be one of those people who does not hold the Fourth of July in high enough regard.

For some, the lack of appreciation of the Fourth of July is rooted in a lack of education.

“What happened exactly only the Fourth of July?” said Kevin Quinto, a 16-year-old from North Carolina. “If you asked 10 people at least five of them wouldn’t know.”

For Francesca Coyne, 18, of Pennsylvania, the holiday brings people together.

“Its really cool to see everybody get together and appreciate something,” Coyne said.

“It’s very rare that you can get a group silent and appreciate something,” Coyne later said.

Marsel Ganeycv, 18, an international student, said the Fourth of July is a worthy celebration for the independence of the country.

“I have a t-shirt with stars and people say ‘I have the same t-shirt,'” Ganeycv said. “They’re all so friendly.”

Like Coyne, Ganeycv sees the holiday as a way to bring people together.

“When you see the fireworks, something is happening in your soul,” Ganeycv said. “You feel that you’re apart of the whole crowd.”

 

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2016 election already on voters’ minds

Standing between the 56 granite columns of the World War II Memorial donning shorts and a t-shirt, David Johnson, 31, toured the site with his wife and parents.

Sixteen months from the 2016 presidential election tourists like Johnson already are looking ahead to the barrage of political advertisements, speeches and debates that will shape the next year and a half. Regardless of political party, issues are diverse and the election season is expected to drag on.

“I would hope that they focus on the real issues rather than the crap that goes through the 24-hour news cycle,” said Johnson, who counts issues including net neutrality and money in politics as top election priorities.

Many citizens feel the need to elect a candidate who will focus on these issues and others.

Gregory Pratt, 27, said he would like to see the candidates address student debt, while Bianca Perez, 30, is looking for greater focus on the economy, especially for middle and lower classes.

“I hope people don’t vote based on party lines but instead on what the candidates have to say,” Pratt said.

Perez, however, had a different vision for the outcome of the election.

“I hope that we can get a candidate that can continue the progression of our country,” Perez said. “A lot of steps have been taken towards more acceptance in our nation, and I hope whoever the new candidate is can continue in that path.”

While most voters have high expectations and are passionate about the candidates’ talking points, some are skeptical and even indifferent.

Angel Cleves, 44, said that she doesn’t “really trust a lot of politicians. I guess. So that’s my concern: what they say they’re going to do, they do.”

American University graduate Logan Combest-Friedman was not keeping up with the election developments.

“I don’t have many expectations,” Combest-Friedman said. “It’s the same thing every time.”

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Sex education differs nationwide

Nearly half of U.S. public schools offer sex education with others prohibiting it or teaching abstinence-only.

While some states like Arizona allow schools to teach sexual education unless a student is permitted by a guardian to opt out, many schools such as those in Tennessee prohibit sexual education to be taught unless it has been approved by both the state’s board of education and the local school board.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures website, “22 states and the District of Columbia require public schools teach sex education.”

Many schools incorporate sexual education into their wellness and physical education courses while others have courses specifically designed to teach sexuality.

“In middle school we had a class called Explore,” said Bretton Dempsey, 19, from Mattawan, Michigan. “You didn’t have to take it in high school unless you chose to take a class like that.”

In schools like Jed Rosenberg’s, 14, in Bethesda, Maryland, students are taught the mechanics of sex.  He said his school informed him of the basics of sex, including “reproductive organs, what they do, the different diseases, how to put the condom on.”

But Marcus Robinson, 36, went to high school in Eufaula, Alabama, which he described as “conservative.”

He explained how the school had brought in people with HIV disease to let them “know it was real.”  Robinson said that his school focused primarily on sexually transmitted diseases instead of the mechanics of intercourse.

“I was in med school for the Air Force,” Robinson remembered. “It was the first time I had heard a lot of that sexual stuff.”

With so many methods of teaching sexuality, there is debate over which approach works best to prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States.

Robinson said, “They should teach more. Not just sex, but self-esteem…the importance of having a life…it would make them wait to have a child at such a young age.”