Trump and Nixon: One in the same?

The funny thing is I’ve always compared Trump to Nixon. You cant deny the parallel between them. For starters, one of the biggest similarities between those two is both of them have endured some sort of scandal while in the white house. For Nixon, it was the Watergate Scandal, in which robbers broke into the democratic headquarters to steal information but Nixon denied any allegations about knowing or being a part of the situation.

For Trump (you can debate that he’s got at the least, 2 scandals) the first scandal was having the Russians influence in his election, i.e. collusion. And the most recent scandal has involved a porn star named Stormy Daniels, whom he had a romantic relationship. There has been no talks about impeachment yet but there has been call for his resignation and a petition to start the impeachment process.

Both have had scandals and both have been in the press about this for a long time (Nixon still is). Nixon, like Trump, denied any involvement in it. The government know otherwise and began the impeachment process but Nixon decided to admit he knew about the situation because tapes leaked of him talking about the situation.

Both presidents have lied about things they have done. Trump has denied any allegations of collusion between the Russian and his election into office, just like Nixon, at first, denied any involvement in the Watergate Scandal.

Both have tried to cover up their respective scandals. Trump’s lawyer tried to pay off Stormy Daniels, which the public quickly found out about (as they usually do). Nixon tried to ask the FBI, like Trump did with the Russian Investigation, to shut down the Watergate Investigation. Both have been extremely similar and there will come the day where Trump will either get impeached or resign from office.

 

 

Resilience

Parents are always trying to protect their children and rightfully so. What parent wouldn’t want to keep their child safe. But sometimes when you let a child go through something tough (of course, nothing too traumatic), it can actually given them strength and resilience. The word tough love comes to mind when i think of resilience. In order to build strength and adversity you need tough love. Allow someone to go through the bad so they know how to hand it, if it happens again.

Resilience is defined as the ability to bounce back quickly, to snap into shape. It’s a term we use quite often in way of something bad happening like a death in the family or getting injured and not being able to play a sport. We often say don’t worry, you’re going to “bounce back” or “this tragedy will make you stronger”. But when it comes to bullying or mental illness, it is far more complicated and not nearly as simple.

For those who are dealing with long term illnesses or another long term event, resilience is a forever ongoing battle. It is not done within a few our, weeks or months, these things are often things take years or even over ones lifetime, a way of approaching life. Our brains are programmed that when bad situations occur, we either get mad and approach the situation in a aggressive manor or we often run away and hide from the situation. Each person is different.

Resilience is one of those things we grow up with. Some of us deal with it for a short time, while others take a life time and grow up with it. Each person is different.

BuzzFeed: The Do’s and Dont’s

In Journalism it is sometimes hard to determine the difference between what is legal and what is ethical. One way to determine whether what you are writing is legal is by passing it through your editor. You should not hesitate to contact them, especially if it contains serious or potential harmful information.

One should not have to pay for an interview. Some news agencies do not have the funs or the capability to pay for your interviewee. So you should contact your editor to confirm whether or not payments can be done.

If doing the interview, members of buzz feed do not have to provide question to interviewee. Also interviews do not have to be in person. They can be conducted in person, phone, Skype/FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, etc. Although in person, video message or over the phone interviews tend to hold more value.

Another major issue in Journalism is the conflict of interest. If you are interviewing, meeting or covering a topic, you should ask yourself if there is any conflict of interest. One way to determine if something is a conflict of interest is the people you write for. Ask yourself, if your readers will be able to see/notice a conflict of interest. Look to see if you have any personal stake in the subject.

Determine whether or not you are interviewing someone you are close to or potential loss of money somewhere (or even gain in some aspects). If you continue, even if there is a conflict of interest, you should disclose it in your article so your readers understand the situation.

Outside income is another thing that members of BuzzFeed employees must disclosed when they are hired. BuzzFeed does not encourage free lance work outside of the job because they value your writing so much that they will want to publish it. The only stuff they do not publish is screenplays or novels. If you choose to publish outside of BuzzFeed, contact your manager so they can review it on a case by case basis.

Staffers also are not permitted to invest in any companies they cover. BuzzFeed members should not buy or sell stocks in the BuzzFeed company. This is frowned up.

Sox sign starting catcher Vazquez to three-year extension

The author did a great job in reporting the numbers on Vazquez’s new deal. She was able to state that the deal is a three-year extension that runs through the year 2021, with a club option for the 2022 season. Then goes on the explain how Vazquez has thrown out 42% (42-110) of basestealers in 221 total major league games player. And explains how he missed all of the 2015 season due to Tommy John surgery.

The author did a good job at explaining the numbers in a way that the average person, who does not understand the game of baseball. It was easy to report the numbers because it they kept the numbers simple and understandable. Nothing too complicated. They also put comments from Red Sox manager Alex Cora that makes us understand why they extended Vazquez.

These numbers were important to the story because they allowed us, the avid Red Sox fan, to understand the value of the deal, for how long and reason behind the extension. Basestealing is a big thing in baseball and you want a catcher who can stop them from, not only stealing the base, but keeping those stealers from getting into position they can cross home plate.

Vazquez is not known for his bat, although his batting did improve last season. From a Red Sox fan perspective, this deal was surprising because I figured the Red Sox would try to extend Jackie Bradley Jr, Mookie Betts or Xander Bogaerts. But i am glad to see the Red Sox valued Vazquez’s glove work over his batting (even though it is beginning to come aroud).

 

Link: Vazquez Extension

Being Accurate: One Important Principal

Another important principal in Journalism is being accurate. Accuracy is important for anything in life but especially in Journalism. In Journalism “Being accurate is the bedrock of thoroughness” (Mediactive 66). Make sure when acquire information or facts, you check and recheck. You can’t be too careful when it comes to facts. Understand who is reliable and who is not.

This is not just in reference to facts, this also applies to spellcheck as well. Misspelling a word, name or tile of something is a big no no. Misspelling is a big thing for a lot of companies, not just journalism but when applying for a job too. The misspelling of a person’s name is big because if you write a letter, tweet or facebook message someone and you some how misspell their name, they are more inclined to ignore your post simply because you did not take the time to check the spelling of their name

It is understandable that mistakes do happen but its not just about fixing those mistakes, its about taking the blame and the mistake, fixing it and then making sure it does not happen again.