Finale

My favorite topics of the class were most definitely the ones about satanic cults, serial killers, and drugs in the media. I found it interesting that the media could play such a large role in these issues. Many times, these issues weren't even that serious, but the media blew them way out of proportion, like the satanic cults. It was interesting to see how the media can shape our opinions about some of these issues, and even take the focus off of the real issues at hand. For example, in the readings about school shootings, much of the blame was put on goth groups and music while it was simply the fact that these children did not feel as though they fit it. My least favorite topics were probably about blood diamonds and terrorism. Honestly, I don't care about diamonds. I know that sounds shocking, but I am not a diamond kinda girl. I understand that it is a serious issue, but it is not an area that I am passionate about. However, I did enjoy the use of the movie Blood Diamond to demonstrate how media can misrepresent an issue. Also, terrorism was not my favorite subject simply because it is covered in so many of my other classes. Overall, I really enjoyed the content and structure of this class. The only thing that I would do differently would be to incorporate more media into the class (videos, clips, music, etc.) but that is only because I am ADD lol.

Good Will Hunting

I chose this movie because it is definitely my all time favorite film. Will Hunting is a troubled foster kid who has racked up several charges from theft and robbery to assault. The last straw comes when he assaults a police officer in the middle of fight on a basketball court. While he waits for his court date, he ends up solving a nearly impossible math problem at MIT, where he works as a janitor. When the professor finds out that he is the one who solved it, he works a deal with the judge who allows Will to be released under the supervision of this professor and under the condition that he goes to counseling. His counselor (Robin Williams) shows him everything he can be, and how to follow his dreams. He falls in love, and eventually leaves the countless job offers to go be with this woman.

This film is so interesting because it shows some more of the emotional and psychological issues behind crime. Because Will Hunting was given a chance to explore the reasons behind his criminal behavior, his life was changed. Criminals aren't always just "bad people." Many times they are just troubled people who need a helping hand. Also, I chose this film because it does show some of the issues involved in the foster care system in our country. Overall, this is a fantastic movie!

Songs

He was on his way home from candletop
Been two weeks gone and he thought he'd stop
At webs and have him a drink for he went home to her
Andy wo-lo said hello
He said hi what's a doing
Wo said sit down I got some bad news that's gonna hurt
Said Im your best friend and you know that's right
But your young bride aint home tonight
Since you been gone she's been seeing that amos boy seth
He got mad and he saw red
Andy said boy don't you lose your head
Cause to tell you the truth Ive been with her myself

Chorus:
That's the night the lights went out in georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Don't trust your soul to no back woods southern lawyer
Cause the judge in the towns got bloodstains on his hand

Andy got scared and left the bar
Walking on home cause he didn't live far you see
Andy didn't have many friends and he just lost him one
Brother thought his wife mustve left town
So he went home and finally found the only thing
Daddy had left him and that was a gun
He went off to andys house
Slipping through the back woods quiet as a mouse
Came upon some tracks too small for andy to make
He looked through the screen at the back porch door
He saw andy lying on the floor
In a puddle of blood and he started to shake

The georgia patrol was making their rounds
So he fired a shot just to flag em down
And a big bellied sheriff grabbed his gun and said
Whyd you do it?

The judge said guilty in a make believe trial
Slapped the sherrif on the back with a smile and said
Suppers waiting at home and I got to get to it

Chorus

They hung my brother before I could say
The tracks he saw while on his way
To andys house and back that night were mine
And his cheatin wife had never left town
And that's one body thatll be found
You see little sister don't miss when she aims her gun

Repeat chorus twice

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/reba+mcentire/#share

I chose this country throwback song because I remember hearing it for the first time and loving it as a child. However, I admit that I had to listen to it a couple of times to realize exactly what was going on. Basically, this man comes home from a vacation and finds out from his best friend that his wife has been cheating on him with not only another man, but his best friend himself. Angry, the man leaves to go get his gun to confront his best friend who also left for home. However, when the man arrives at his best friends house he sees tracks and finds his best friend dead. Turns out, his little sister not only killed his best friend, but his cheating wife. The man fires a shot to get the attention of the sheriff who assumes he was guilty of the crime, arrests him, and takes him to a corrupt judge who sentences him to be hanged that same night. The little sister is never convicted and successfully hid the body of the cheating wife.

This song covers a variety of justice issues. Murder is the obvious one, but the issue of police corruption comes into play as well. Also, the judge can be considered as corrupt for giving him an unjust trial and sentencing the man to be hanged without viewing all the evidence.

Deadly Halloween

This blog is about a news article I found about a newlywed woman being shot by her husband after attending a Halloween party. The couple were married on October 10 and not even a month after the wedding, the wife was dead. Police said they found the husband walking naked in a nearby park, and when asked what he was doing, said that his wife had just been shot multiple times. The police then took him in for further questioning, where they then decided to identify him as the main suspect. What an intense Halloween.

Forensic Files

For this free blog I have decided to choose another one of my favorite crime shows, forensic files. Not only  is this show fascinating to me, but the narrator's voice tends to creep me out which adds a whole new element of excitement for me. Anyway, the show is a real life, non-fiction show in which forensic science and technologies are used to solve crimes. Usually, the show starts out giving the background story of the people involved. You know, life story, relationship status, etc. One of my favorite episodes involved a woman who had been cheating on her husband. One day she was at choir practice at church, and while getting ready to leave the church, she was gunned down in the parking lot. Her husband then became the prime suspect because investigators realized that he had just recently found out about her cheating on him.

here is a link to this episode. 

http://www.forensicfiles.com/episodes.php?id=119#EPISODE_INTROS

Oh the Horror!

So, I must say that I did find this video quite interesting. However, I found that many of these people are just ridiculous! The one that shocked me the most was about the couple who killed those people to get money. That is terrifying! Now I am going to be so concerned about who I decide to date. Good thing I don't have a lot of money though lol. Anyway, I just think that it is shocking that these two people got away with these murders for as long as they did. And the fact that they went through that much money that quickly was ridiculous. Secondly, the boy who killed his mother because of the Scream movies was scary. I, personally, have never seen a movie and then decided that killing a person in that manner would be awesome. This, again, makes me nervous about what I let my kids see. I'm not sure if there should be regulations on movies, or even if the creators of these movies should be held responsible because in the end these people are capable of making their own decisions. These are just a few cases in which people saw something and took it to the extreme by trying to copy it. That does not mean that the rest of society should suffer by having these movies removed, or not allowing movies like this to be made in the future. I, like many other people I am sure, enjoy a good horror movie every now and then, but that doesn't mean we will go out and copy the events that occurred in these films.

Belle

So it took me a while to think of something, and honestly I could not think of anything recently that applied to this. So, I called up my grandma and asked her about this question and found a rather embarrassing answer. Apparently, when I was young, about 3, I thought I was Belle from Beauty and The Beast. I watched the movie constantly, had a Belle doll, and even tried dressing like her. People would come up to me and ask me what my name was, and I would answer Belle. My grandma apparently was quite concerned about this haha. I, personally, have no recollection of this at all, however, Beauty and the Beast is still one of my favorite movies of all time.

Homecoming

So I do not attend homecoming festivities, but I did find an article from a local news station about the increase in police. Apparently, after springfest last year, Harrisonburg is increasing police all year. We have all seen them everywhere. Homecoming was no exception.One JMU student who was interviewed  said that he believes it will be a strong deterrent for students thinking about having parties. Their goal is to stop and prevent underage drinking and other activities involved with drinking. Also, one officer stated that an increase in police patrol creates an increase for the need of money to pay for these officers. Thus, several grants were given to the police department to help pay for the extra police on patrol for homecoming this year.

http://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/Harrisonburg_Police_Increase_Patrols_for_Homecoming_Weekend_104899604.html

Article

Ok. So a few of the terms found in the article were cognitive biases which include bandwagon effect. Basically, these shape how we view information, with the bandwagon effect, or believing something just because everyone else is, being an example of this. Confirmation bias is when we seek out information to confirm what we already believe (not a good idea). Next, base rate fallacy, which I had no idea what it meant before reading this, is when we favor our own experiences over information that we find through research. Annd finally, cognitive dissonance, which is basically when we discredit or don't believe information that is against what we believe.

With that said...One example of when I jumped on the bandwagon was in high school. My freshman year, seniors were selling tickets for access to the swimming pool and elevator in our school. So many of my friends fell for this, and I was starting to believe that there really was a pool that only upper classmen could get into. Turns out, there is no pool and there is no elevator. The school was only 1 story. Haha I felt so stupid!

As for the Department of Information, I think it is a good idea in theory. Obviously, as the author stated, it isn't going to fly. However, I do agree that we need some sort of system to help regulate what is fact and what is fiction a little better than what we have. It is extremely difficult to determine fact from fiction in even our news today! I just don't think that's right. I shouldn't have to do research on every story the news broadcasts to get the facts straight. I don't know, maybe I am just lazy.

When Beauty Queens Attack

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2010/10/06/ng.ky.beauty.queen.attack.hln

So this story is about a 22 year old Kentucky Beauty queen who apparently had a freak out and decided to attack a gas station attendant with a pen, stabbing him with it in the neck. She then ran across the street and attacked a female pharmacist, punching her in the face, kicking her in the stomach, and biting her. She now faces up to 15 years in prison. When asked in the story what triggered this incident, a witness claimed that she was drunk.

So, at first glance this was a lot to take in. However, when it comes to whether or not this story is for entertainment, I would have to say YES! Who isn't entertained by seeing one of these so called "perfect" beauty queens completely lose it? In a way, it's nice to see that these people are human. I'm really not sure how this could influence criminal justice policy other than it being another story of an intoxicated person in public doing something stupid and/or violent. I guess it could be the media's way of portraying the affects of alcohol on the lives of the abusers. Sort of a "Look at the successful, beautiful women and see how alcohol ruined her life." Much like the countless other celebrities we see being arrested for DUIs and drug abuse.

When it comes the the article in class, Media and CJ Policy, the format of crime comes into play here. I would argue that this is an example of an episodic format, because it presents this case as a discrete event, which I am sure will be followed by the story of the resulting case. However, when it comes to the ideal offenders, I'm not sure where this would stand. This girl seemed to have it all, a perfect life, intelligence, successful, etc. However, she committed what was a pretty crazy crime.

Kandahar

The story I chose was about the hearing of 5 US soldiers being charged with the murder of Afghan civilians, with 7 other soldiers being charged in a cover up of this crime.

CNN: The CNN article focused on the recent hearing-to-be of these soldiers. It discussed the methods in which the killings were performed, mostly grenades. Also, names of the accused were given, and this article talked about how the soldiers actually kept body parts of their victims.

FOX: I couldn't find a recent updated story on this subject, however, I did find a story from about a month ago when this story came out. This article explains the involvement of 7 other soldiers in this conspiracy. It also names all who were involved, and goes into more detail about how the civilians were killed: Shot and had grenades thrown at them.

MSNBC:I could not find the story on MSNBC.


There were differences between CNN and FOX, but mostly because of the time gap. CNN did this follow up story to inform readers of the hearing that is coming up Monday for these US soldiers, while FOX did the initial reporting of the story this summer. I really am not sure why MSNBC did not have this story. When I put it in the search, it only came up with CNN's story. Also, when I went to the Kandahar tab within the MSNBC site, I Couldn't find it there either. Overall, I do believe this is an important story. We need to know how our soldiers are conducting themselves overseas during this war. It reflects poorly on the US as a nation when this type of misconduct is performed. What is important now is the action that the US takes on these soldiers in punishing them for their crime.



http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/25/army-stryker-brigade-soldiers-conspired-kill-afghan-civilians-charged/


http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/27/afghanistan.coverup.case/index.html?hpt=T2

Unsolve Mysteries

So I decided to do this blog on the show Unsolved Mysteries because 1.)  my roommates and I are completely obsessed with this show and 2.) I have been watching it ever since I was born. Basically this show recreates crimes such as murders, missing loved one, robbery, amnesia, fraud, UFO's, and ghosts, and then gives info and facts from the crime with the hopes that someone watching the show will be able to identify the persons involved. The show first aired in 1987, and continues to be on Lifetime and Spike today. There have been roughly 1000 cases aired in 260 episodes, and 47% of the cases involving fugitives have been solved according the the website http://www.unsolved.com ! I think my favorite segments are the ones that have either been "updated" or "solved." It's always interesting to see an awful murder case from a previous episode be solved within the next two or three episodes. If you are looking for a great, suspenseful show to watch when you are bored, I highly recommend this one!

http://www.unsolved.com    Visit the website for more info!





Unsolved Mysteries Series: Trailer Terror
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Serial Killer In Leesburg Virginia

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082605949.html

This article from the  Washington Post, is about a native Israeli man, Elias Abuelazam, who is suspected of injuring 18 men, five of those being fatal injuries. The article focuses more on the case of the suspect, discussing trial places/dates, the details of the case, and the sentences that many police/court officials feel appropriate for this suspected serial killer. Facts including in this article are that Elias is a 33 year old Israeli native male who is suspected of killing men in Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia. He was flown from Georgia to Michigan to face charges of assaulting a man in that state. However, police are still trying to link cases in Virginia to the other known cases in Michigan. The only statement made about Abuelazam in relation to serial killers is that he was called an "evil" individual. Authorities most mentioned were the Leesburg police department. Abuelazam's victims ranged in age from teenagers to the elderly. Authorities believe that many of these attacks were racially based; 16 victims were African American, 1 hispanic man, and 1 white man. Finally, the locations all related to where Elias was living at the time. In Leesburg, he worked in a children's center (crazy!).

Freed American Hiker

I chose to do the rather recent story of the American hiker who was freed from an Iranian prison this past week. The links are:

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/09/14/iran.detained.american/?hpt=C1
The Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2012896744_edit15iran.html
NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129861240

While all three versions of the story had the same basic info/facts, there were some differences. The CNN story went into much more detail about the released prisoner's (Sarah Shourd) feelings and emotions about being released. Included in their story were quotes from not only Sarah, but her mother as well, while The Seattle Times' version was more about the basic facts. All three stories agreed on where Sarah was released to (Oman) and who was there waiting for her (her mother). However, the NPR story talked about her Uncle also being there to greet her as she was released. The CNN and NPR versions of the story also go into more detail than the Seattle Times. I think this is because CNN and NPR are more nationally (and to some extent internationally) based; they have access to more detailed information that locally based newspapers or organizations. For example, the Seattle article discussed how Sarah was let out on bail, while CNN and NPR gave the exact number of that bail: $500,000. Seattle also gave an opinion statement at the end of the article about how a trade deal of prisoners between Iran and the U.S. Another big difference is that NPR goes into much more detail about the bail set for Sarah Shourd. They ask the question, "Who paid for this bail," and then go into detail about the U.S. asking the Sultanate of Oman to intervene in the matter. Overall, I think that the differences in these versions of the story are subtle. I think this is the case mostly because of the access of information that is available to each of these sources.

Self Harm

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/self_injury.htm

I chose self-harm as my topic on deviant behavior because I have dealt with this behavior through friends who have taken part in it, and because I feel, like many other deviant behaviors, it is misunderstood. This site provides great information as to why a person performs this type of behavior, warning signs/symptoms, how to help a friend/family member, and how to help yourself if you find that you are wanting to partake in these behaviors. Also, this site provides many links for sites that deal with self-injury and suicide prevention and help. In my opinion, we as a culture should spend less time labeling this behavior as deviant, and more time trying to help these people who feel as though they need to harm themselves to find relief. Many people think that this is a suicide attempt. However, from reading these sites and discussing the topic with friends, I have learned that the majority of the time these people do not want to commit suicide at all. I do not know if this type of behavior will ever be "accepted," and personally, I do not think that it should be. Like I said before, I believe that as a society we need to reach out and help, support, and care for each other more, especially when we find ourselves in the presence of those who are going through an emotional crisis.

Media Article

 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/books/review/31POSNER.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

This article specifically criticizes television news media. The one main point made in this article is that news media has become politically one-sided. Personally, I believe this to be true, because if you look at news stations such as Fox News, it is obvious where they stand on the political spectrum. Secondly, this article brings up the fact that the media today has become more prone to scandals and less accurate. I think that this article does a great job in not only explaining the differences in the media today compared to previous times, but in asking the questions like "why are these trends happening?" The answer given in the article explains that households today are able to have more access to more channels for less money, and that there are less restrictions on what can go on television. Whereas a hundred years ago there may have been two newspapers in a city, today there are dozens of television stations dedicated to "news." Competition is not as fierce because these stations can reach millions of people with little effort. The city with two newspapers would tend to have one for liberal audiences, and the other for conservative. However, large number of people who fall in the middle must be reached as well. Because of this, neither paper would be too liberal nor too conservative. Cable news stations don't have as much of a problem with this. If someone doesn't fall into a liberal or conservative category, they can find another news station that seems more neutral, which, in turn, puts less pressure on the reporters to get accurate information.

I think that this critique makes several strong points concerning the problems with the news media today. People today are focused too much on whether they fall under the liberal or conservative side, instead of focusing on the facts of the story. Political "sides" influence not only what goes into a story, but how the story itself is portrayed. As we talked about on Monday, all someone has to do is watch a news story on CNN and then switch to FOX to see how different the same story will be. With that said, it is up to the "consumer" to look at a variety of news sources to get the "facts" about any particular story minus the political polarizations.

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Media Fast

I chose to do my media fast on Saturday because I had work most of the day, as well as some other plans throughout the remainder of the day. At 7 I woke up to go to work and did not turn on the radio on the entire 20 minute drive to work. I must say that I think this was the hardest thing to give up because I have made it a habit to turn on the radio to help me wake up and ignore some of the idiotic behavior on the roads. After returning home from work at around 4, I decided to take a nap instead of watching T.V. or getting on the computer. This was probably the best part of the media fast! After my much needed nap, I went out to dinner with my roommate and her family to a very nice restaurant in downtown Harrisonburg. It was so nice to actually sit down with people and not have to worry about phone calls, texts, computers, etc. We ended up having a regular conversation (one without phone interruptions that is) for about three hours. I definitely learned a lot about my roommate and where she comes from. The media fast opened my eyes to just how much I rely on the media in my life. This was so incredibly hard to do, but there was no cheating!

Media Log for August 31, 2010

Media Log for Tuesday August 31, 2010

Television

Watched an hour of news on TV before/while  getting ready for class. I also watched about two hours worth of DVD television shows while working on some homework online.

Radio

I listened to music on the radio in my car while driving to class, home from class, and on the way to and from work.

Internet

I spent about a half hour on Facebook before going to class this morning, and then another half hour or so after returning home from work. 

Cell Phone

I know for a fact that I used my cell phone for media purposes a ridiculous amount. Throughout the entire day I not only texted and/or talked to someone on the phone, but I checked weather, facebook, and email from my phone. I also talked to a friend from home later this night for nearly 3 hours (I know, excessive!)