Dirty Wars: A Review

The movie “Dirty Wars” was a very eye opening and evoking film.  It was a very enthralling investigation of the journey of Jeremy Scahill’s tail of the unraveling truth of what really goes on in the government and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). 

It really made me think about how much the government keeps things from us, and conspiracy theories.  The film started with a cover up of the death of five civilians, especially two pregnant women.  From there, the film follows the crusade to learn the truth. 

It was very interesting to see the transition of Anwar Allaki.  Throughout the film, we see the transformation from “All American” patriotic Allaki to someone who is a passionate Jihad who encourages war and destruction.  In my opinion, America is the freedom country and even if we do not agree with what he was saying, we have to respect the fact that he can have his opinion.

It worries me that it is possible for the government to “take out” and assassinate Americans.  The war had moved from the Middle East to now our own country and that is beyond alarming. 

Scahill is not covering the story for money and glory.  I truly believe he did this investigative reporting to show American’s the truth.  I believe his reporting is fair and balanced.  He provides his sources, even if they use a voice over for anonymity because of a threat to their safety. 

It was heart wrenching to hear of the death of Anwar and his son.  The interview with the grandfather was full of emotion.  The videos and photos of the young boy who was “not just killed, but completely vanished him” was heart breaking. 

The conclusion was very powerful.  "Will the war on terror ever end" and "Will we see what is hidden in plain site?"

Fragile Trust: An Honest Opinion

Jayson Blair really rubbed me the wrong way.  The whole time, he came off as proud of what he did.  He’s quoted saying “It’s not rocket science.  It was easy to take a piece from this story, a piece of this story and a piece of this story and no one even noticed.”

I feel that he described his substance abuse issues and mental illness of Bi-polar disorder to gain sympathy and it really seemed to be a cop out to me.  He took a huge downward spiral, just spinning his web of lies and he continuously tried to save his own butt by lying. 

He had countless opportunities to come clean and tell the truth.  I have no sympathy for someone who had the chance to do the right thing multiple times and continued to lie instead.  Jason Blair was surrounded by people who had his back, and would have helped him.  His mentor, Jerry Gray was very sympathetic and protective of him. 

To fabricate not only once, but also time and time again is inexcusable.  It wasn’t a one-time mistake, but a chosen lifestyle of lies.  I’m shocked that he lied the way he did.  Claiming he had spoken to people he had not, saying he had been places when he had not even left his apartment in Brooklyn.

Blair, in my opinion, is the perfect reason as to why people don’t trust the media.  He lied in 36 out of 74 stories, or at least that was what was confirmed.  Jason benefited from this whole situation by writing his book, and that’s when I lost any compassion I still had for him.

The fact that people blamed the editors and other staff, made me very disappointed.  I understand they’re supposed to be held to a higher standard, but how were they supposed to fact check on every single employee and keep everyone truthful and honest. 

Especially when all they expected of their employees was to just be normal human beings and be honest and accountable.  Why would they ever assume that one of their employees would lie this much?

In the end, the Times’ editors did admit guilt for the part they played in it by not watching closely enough. 

Storify: UNT ORLANDO

 Hey check out my newest Storify to see what UNT students and America thinks about the Orlando shooting.




Storify Link: UNT ORLANDO REPORTING

"The Paper" Movie Analyzed

In the movie “The Paper”, there are a slew of issues concerning the Collegian’s future.  The main worry for the paper is its future.  Decreasing circulation and increased issues with the newspaper’s investigative reporting has resulted in a decline of interest in the paper. 

“The Paper” was an eye-opening documentary that gave an inside look into the major struggles of student journalists and even newspapers in general.  It was very telling about the “downward spiral” that newspapers and print media are on and how it is a “dying” news medium. 

In the movie, the team brainstorms ways to reach young students with invoking topics such as fashion, gossip and relationships.  Their main goal: to reach a wider array of students. They asked themselves, what is it that young people want to read and what actually affects them? Yet even with the new approach, the paper still seemed to decline.  “Maybe it is just too bold.” Editor-in-Chief James Young said. 

“Circulation has decreased even more,” Young said. “I just don’t think we’re covering anything that people want to read.”

This constant struggle to appease the masses definitely took its toll on James Young, the ex-Editor-in-Chief. After college and the Collegian, he labored at a small newspaper for two years.  However he ended his career in the journalism field shortly after and moved into urban revitalization.

“Now I think about traffic circulation instead of worrying about newspaper circulation.” Young said.     

Introduction

Hey everyone!

I wanted to take a second to introduce myself.  My name is Lindsay Higgins. I am a 23 year old Senior at University of North Texas.  Majoring in Strategic Communication and minoring in Psychology.  I live in downtown Dallas and am currently making the wonderful commute to Denton every day.  Working for the Kim Dawson Agency keeps me pretty busy, but I'm truly lucky to be finishing my degree.

I love dachshunds, cooking for my husband & kiddo and traveling the world.

Journalism 3321 requires a blog, and this is my first one! I'll try to make sure I say some interesting things...hopefully.