For my final project I felt it was important to discuss something we have talked a lot about in lecture, credibility, and how the media is seen and understood by the people around the country. I tried to highlight the way that since Trump has taken office, the idea of fake news has been portrayed in the media a lot more. The bias that Trump has towards Fox News has gotten to the point where he expressed how false other news sources are. People are being told by the leader of our country that the only accurate news source is one that believes in everything he does. This is not good. It takes away from people’s ability to express themselves fairly because the President of the United States turns them down and calls is fake news. With the news broadcasts I choose I wanted to show the way Trump and his cabinet do not fully support any news source other than Fox News. The part of the video at the end was used to show how often Trump discusses the idea of fake news.

As a comm student I hope one day to be able to talk and express my ideas to large groups of people. Reporters and journalists work hard to produce credible and new ideas and stories that challenge Trump’s ideas. America’s laws were put into place in order to allow challenge and to express different opinions, even those that go against the President of the United States. Trump’s ability to shut down people’s ideas makes him seem unable to change and not be a voice of the people only himself. I enjoyed being able to make kind of a motivation video telling people to not be afraid to speak up and continue to express their ideas even if Trump shuts them down.

I really liked the freedom we had with this project and it allowed us to talk about something we are passionate about. I was very new to Premier and struggled with it at first but felt like I figured it out. I was able to teach myself how to drag out clips and move the pieces to where I wanted them. I felt the flow of my piece was very effective and allowed me to express my opinion. The use of remixes in the media allow people to put together main ideas and portray a common issue within the media. Yes we hear about fake news but it is not known how much Trump really talks about fake news and expresses this idea. Common these are easier to see when put into a video and told like a story. This is a lot like reporting a news piece as it allows people to pull together different parts of a story. The credibility is also there as they are directly pulled from things people have said.

Trump needs to express why he feels certain ideas are wrong, but not just call it wrong because it does not come from Fox News. The bias is dangerous and takes away credibility from sources that are right and accurate.

My infographic was one that hits very close to home. The fight for women in the work force is not equal and never has been, while women have had to fight for the right to even step out on the soccer field let alone be paid for it. Women’s marches and many other protests have occurred in order to call attention to the wage gap. Women are practicing and participating in as many hours as men are on the fields and on the courts, so why are they not being paid equally for their hard work. The viewers and fans want to watch women’s soccer as there have been many records of viewers broken in soccer history, but the women struggle to advertise as they are not being funded with nearly as much money as the men are. I have practiced with the Seattle Reign for many summers before I came to college and the environment that these girls are put in is no where near as nice as it should be. The story I am telling with my infographic is that while there has been some progress there is still work that needs to be done in order to push this movement further. The facts I put on my infographic were ones that stuck out to me when I first saw them. They were the facts that made me think about the numbers and how women could easily bring in as many viewers and fans as men, but are limited by the amount of money they have to work with. The highest paid female, while still earning 18.1 million dollars, is still way under the highest paid male at 285 million. The women also earns 18 million in endorsements and outside of the sport jobs. These are things she has to work for outside of the sport itself. The prize money that women earn is by far less than men.

I used Canva to make my infographic and enjoyed the freedom it allowed while still guiding me in a general theme. It allowed me to add pictures that fit the main theme and idea of what I was trying to portray. I feel as though my infographic has just enough information to get the reader interested in the topic that they are viewing. Infographics are often found in places where people will see something that catches their eye and I feel as though it is organized and easy to read. I actually enjoyed working on this and understand the importance of taking bigger and more important topics and dumbing them down for the reader. If someone comes across a big long article about women’s rights and it simply states a lot of boring facts and big words, they are less likely to read it than if they were looking at something with pictures and eye catching statements. In today’s world people always want the quick and easy way out of things and I feel as though infographics allow for them to get to the point quickly and without thinking too much on their own.

Sources: https://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/news/record-breaking-fifa-women-s-world-cup-tops-750-million-tv-viewers-2745963

https://www.forbes.com/athletes/#6b67a43255ae

Anna Smith

I enjoy documentaries on Netflix and I find them to be very informational. I spend a lot of time watching different documentaries on sports teams and different people in the world. I enjoy learning new things with visuals. I get a large amount of my news and information from twitter and different social media websites where people I know are discussing their thoughts and ideas on things happening in our world. Twitter and Instagram have become a large part of my daily life and I check them multiple times a day. I spend at least an hour each day on some social media platform. I constantly have my phone in my hand and it does not always allow me to live in the moment. It is almost as if I feel I am missing out if I don’t have my phone on me. I am always switching from instagram to twitter and all different types of social media.

I do not use any social media that costs money. I think people can easily be sucked into spending money on things they do not need. With social media people are constantly wanting what other people have. When you are only shown the best of what people have you begin to feel unrealistic expectations for yourself and your life. You end up buying the newest trends and the latest fashion, but for what? A new post? Consumer culture is greatly affected by social media. I feel that a am not completely wrapped into consumer culture, but if I see something cute or a new outfit I might end up buying it, we have all dealt with this before. I am also very careful about who I talk to and who I make interactions with online. The internet can be used for good and can also be harmful. Just like everything in life it must be used in moderation. Below I have inserted a time log of my social media use throughout the day.