Watergate Review

1. What part of Watergate did you research?

My group and I researched the legacy of Watergate. The legacy is what was left behind from the whole scandal. It was mostly a large amount of trust was lost in the government. The faith in the

U.S. President was hit the worst. People didn’t think the president was capable of something like this.

2. What do you find most interesting and important about Watergate?

I thought the most interesting thing was the people who figured out what Nixon was doing.

It was nobody reporters who didn’t even like each other, and only worked together because they

had too. All the two really did was take the accusations about the break-in and follow the trail. This eventually led to the resignation of the president. All in all in showed the true power of journalism, and

I was amazed by it.

3. How did Watergate affect American Journalism?

First of all it made everyone want to be a journalist. The thought of two low level

journalists at the Washington post taking down super star president Richard Nixon was borderline

impossible. The American people were absolutely amazed by this profession after

the story had been released. The whole Watergate story had put faith in the people.

They didn’t feel weak, they had their own opportunity to fight back the government by

digging up its flaws.

All the President’s Men Book Review

The book I read is called All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein, and Bob Woodward. The text was about two reporters who formed a news story about the shady business that had been going on at the democratic national committee headquarters. This building is also known as “Watergate.” They followed the leads and information they collected and it all led up to getting the president at the time, Richard Nixon, to resign.

One characteristic of the authors writing style is imagery. Imagery was not used much throughout the book but it was very important when explaining the building of Watergate, and what had been going on inside of it. By going on inside of Watergate, how the listening devices were placed, and how Nixon’s men got broke inside. Hence the name, “All the President’s Men.” Another characteristic of the authors writing style would be mood.  The authors kept a rather, ominous, or mysterious mood throughout the story. While reading I felt almost obligated to keep going instead of stopping. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, especially when the authors explained what happened at Watergate. The last writing style that I thought was used frequently throughout the book would be voice. The voice that was being used was in a way liberating. Since the whole essence of the book is mostly about the extermination of evil in the government at the time I believe that liberation was a perfect choice for the voice. Every step of the way the authors were uncovering more and more about the whole situation allowing the “good people,” if you will, to take down the evil scumbags that reside in what is known as the government.

    I think the authors’ thesis would have to be that the two main characters believed what they were doing was right. It was to be honest. The authors of the book are the main characters of the book because they were the ones who put their journalism skills to the test and really dug deep and uncovered the scandal. They were doing what had to be done and it overall was the right thing to do. All they really did was follow the truth, and that’s what counts.

    The book had many strengths, and its weaknesses were limited. A dominant strength that book had was its overall caption of the situation. This was mainly because it was solved by the authors of the book. A weakness would probably be the fact that it is a very complex scandal, and it maybe be hard for some people to understand.

    I thought it was a great book in my opinion. I enjoyed the good versus evil aspect of the book. I also loved how the two journalists kept going even though it was just them against Nixon and the network of people working for him. I definitely benefited from the book and would strongly recommend it to anyone who is going into the field of journalism. Overall this is a phenomenal, and most certainly valuable book. It is more than likely this book is read by journalists in training. The reporting by Carl Bernstein, and Bob Woodward on the “Watergate break-in” is maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time.

12 Angry Men Article

On the hottest day of the year, 12 men on a jury were faced to decide the fate of an 18 year old boy who was accused his killing father. From the start, all evidence showed that he was guilty of the crime. One man, juror 8, decided to give the boy a chance because he had reasonable doubt.

As he began to explain his point of view, a few men got fed up with his nonsense. He was saying that he didn’t know what happened, but was not completely confident with the decision to send the boy to the electric chair. The others felt differently and felt as if he was wasting their time. In consideration of the others and their want to make a decision, he made a deal that if anyone other than him votes not guilty they will stay, otherwise they will find the boy guilty. They took a vote and juror 9 voted not guilty as well.

This outraged the other jurors especially jurors 3 and 10. These jurors would not want to listen and would yell over every point against their thoughts. They would yell things to hurt peoples feeling and make them feel intimidated or dumb for thinking differently from them. Through the process, Juror 8 was able to keep his cool and focus on why he and the men were there. Also as the discussions went on it seemed like he had a growing desire to make everyone vote the boy not guilty.

One of the points that he brought up was the buying of the knife. During the trial it was said that the knife was a one of a kind and that there was no other like it. Juror 8 asked to see the knife to the crime. When it was brought in everybody was saying that there could not be any knife like it, and this was when Juror 8 brought out the same knife and stuck it in the table next to the murder weapon. This caused a scene with the men gathered around in disbelief. All the men were asking questions, but in the end only one man changed his vote to not guilty.

Part of the story was that during the killing an El Train passed by the apartment. Also, an old man was a witness and said that he heard the boy scream, “I’m gonna kill you!”, and heard a body hit the floor. Juror 8’s argument was that if the train was going by there would be no way that the man would have been able to hear this. Again, in response to this, many men were shouting and acting out.

With these arguments and many more that the boy was innocent, there were also some about him being guilty. The man who believed this just thought the fact of the old lady seeing the boy stab his father was disputable. This brought up a great debate when juror number 9 and old man questioned this theory.

He remembered seeing that the old lady had the dots on the side of her nose that people get from glasses. Then juror number 4, who wore glasses was asked if he wears glasses to bed. He said that nobody ever does. To this a conclusion was made that the old lady just waking up and gazing out the window could not have seen the clear image of the boy killing his father.

This was the final argument made that made everyone have reasonable doubt that the boy committed the murder. After everyone let out there strong, powerful emotions, the room was dismissed and the decision made was that the boy was not guilty.

 

My Cartoon

My cartoon deals with the controversy over Flight 370. It has to do with how the situation is responded to by Malaysia Airlines. They are reluctant to release information of the investigation to the families of the lost. They are outraged as well as frustrated with the complete and utter lack of respect. There should be more people out there searching for the plane not just one designated group. The time is running out, and families are getting weary of the indefinite answers.

Cartoon Analysis

The picture I found was of two people on a boat. On the boat there is a man, and a very large woman with the label “tax burden” on her back. She is sinking the boat which is labeled “Business”, making it unable for the engine which has the title “Prosperity” to propel the boat forward. This shows how taxes weigh down the American dream. How people cannot get where they want to with taxes in their way. This dates back to the 1930’s when the great depression began.

The contemporary cartoon I found is a of president Bush. He’s looks a little goofy with pointy ears and a wide grin. He is pointing to a globe and saying things like, “We can drill for oil here”, and “Dig for more coal here”. The Caption at the bottom of the picture is, “Earth day with President Bush”. This shows how little he really cared about the Earth, and how much he really cares about making money. It is inferred that all he cares about is boosting the United States economy.

Kanye West Feature Article

Kanye Omari West is an American hip hop recording artist born in Atlanta, Georgia. When Kanye was three, his parents divorced and Kanye moved to Chicago with his mother. Both of his parents were fairly successful, his mother being a professor and his father running his own business. At the age of ten, Kanye and his mother moved to China because his mother was teaching at Nanjing University as part of an exchange program. Kanye picked up Chinese pretty fast and actually received good grades, despite being the only foreigner in his class according to his mother.

Kanye West is known mostly for his performances in the stage and for his music. He is Ray West’s son, who won an Academy Awards for best soundtrack in Star Wars. His mother, Donda West, died of heart disease after a surgeryand Kanye wrote a song called Hey Mama to remember her. Kanye just a few months ago had a baby called North West, with his wife Kim Kardashian. Ray West says “He is a really good son, he helped me when I needed, giving me the capital to start the Cafe in Maryland”. Kim confirms that Kanye is a really good father, he often flies back home as soon as he has time to be present in her life.

Known to be friends with Jay-Z, who is another rapper known to be the husband of Beyoncé. There are rumors saying that Jay-Z refused to be the best man at Kanye’s wedding, which could have affected their friendship in a negative way. Also, Kanye and Pia Mia are working on music together under his GOODMUSIC production company for the past few months. They are known to be good friends since working on music together, but rumors say that Kanye might be cheating on Kim over Pia.

Kanye West, while adored by some, does not have a very positive image in the public eye. Kanye’s animated personality often leads to him saying very outlandish and often controversial things, such as, “I am God’s vessel. But my greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself preform live.”, or “George Bush doesn’t like black people”. Kanye has made his fair share of A list enemies including, the former president of the United States George W Bush and Nelson Mandela. Even his mother in law, Kris Kardashian, isn’t always so happy with the singer especially when it comes to her family Kim, Kanye’s wife and Kris’s daughter, and North West, Kanye and Kim’s brand new baby, especially after Kanye went behind her back and built a 11 million dollar house, in what Kris says is an attempt, “to tear my family away from me”.

Kanye West being a popular artist has had his moments of genius and stupidity but he keeps his position by keeping his personality on the forefront. Kanye West has made some lovers, haters, but has also gained love and family. Controversy always seems to follow Kanye’s path but he is known to solve these problems his own way. Becoming one of the most respected rappers, Kanye’s journey is one he took on his own and his passion for his music shows when you speak to him about it. Living through hardship has only let Kanye become stronger and his career is on the track to success.

Editorial

 

The human race is amazing to say the least. We are all different in every single way, down to the finger print. It is what we do that distinguishes us, not our backgrounds or what we look like. It is also amazing what people will do to each other. Whether it is buying someone a box of chocolates because you love them or killing someone because you don’t love them. This applies to Jordan Linn Graham. She killed her husband by pushing him off a cliff at Glacier national park. He plummeted down the cliff, and did not survive. At first Jordan denied the allegations, and said it was an accident or that he started it. It was an act of regret. She states that: “I wasn’t really happy,” she strongly regretted marrying Cody enough to murder him. There was a nine month struggle on trying to convict her with something substantial. It was evident that she deserved a lot more than just a couple years in prison. That’s exactly what she got last week on Thursday she was sentenced 30 years in prison. Johnson’s family, and friends were still in mourning, and completely distraught over the situation. Glad that Jordan had been convicted the family can now be at ease. The thing that confused many people was that Jordan was so young, only 22, when she made the decision to make the final act on her husband. All Jordan had to say about what had happened is that “It was a reckless act,”. This is the definition of sociopath. She does not seem to regret in any way what she had done. Jordan had filed for the drop of the first degree murder charge, and was immediately denied by the judge. Her defense attorney stated that she was just trying to delay the trial a little bit longer. The entire situation had created, an uproar in the United States. People were completely out raged by what Jordan did. The worst part about all of this was just the way she handled it. She seemed to pay absolutely no respect to the family, and all she wanted to do was delay the trial as much as possible so she could live her life before being sentenced. She lied to the law officials failing to even admit her crime. It is finally over though. The entire situation has been put to rest, and the Johnson’s can finally sleep at night. Although 30 years is a very long time, people would argued she should have been given more. This is not the way to act, and she is a sad excuse for a human being. Every ones hearts go out to the Johnson’s, may he rest in peace.

Bio about me….

Bio about me.

My name is Maximilian Francis Davies. I was born on December 12, 1998. I am 15, and a freshman in high school. I’ve played many sports but my favorite by far is Track. I love the sport, including all the work that goes into it.

Daniel Pearl Reflection

Daniel Pearl is not just a great man, he was a great journalist. Many say you can learn a lot from what happened to him. It is true. He was a true journalist, and followed the truth, no matter what. The thing with journalists today is they don’t have the will to follow there leads. They get paid off or the just aren’t smart enough to follow the information they found.

Journalism is a form of writing that teaches you something, and gives you an update on people’s mistakes. The mistakes are used to teach you how to live. What to be like, and not to be like. It’s up to you to decide which information is true. It is up to you to decide how valuable this can or cannot be to you. Journalism is about the truth, and nothing but the truth, it’s all about how you perceive it.