This film will leave the audience on their toes through the suspense as Bob Woodward fights for justice and follows his dreams as a journalist. He comes across many trails and triumphs as he reports on a story of five criminals who broke into the Watergate Hotel. This was during Nixon’s term as President of the United States. Woodward was assigned to this case but decided to take matters into his own hands. This film is an excellent representation of his efforts and historical fight for justice. The best part of the film was how it covered a variety of topics and showed the connection of Nixon’s re-election, Woodward’s supportive editors from the Washington Post, and the two mens perseverance in the legendary case. I was impressed with the flow of the film, it was easy to understand and the scenes were realistic.

Although this film may be uncomfortable to watch with the family, I recommend “Spotlight” because of it’s powerful message. Marty Baron is the editor of this film. I commend her hard work and dedication to highlighting the importance of this issues in the Catholic Church. Many may be turned off by this controversial film, but just minutes into the film the audience can see transparency. “Spotlight” focuses on telling the story about the allegations and reports from the Boston Globe. From countless interviews, this film uncovers the earth shaking reality of child molestation in the Catholic Church. This film gave important detail and had a somber theme. It was extremely appropriate to show all angles of credibility to continue this transparency throughout the film. From beginning to the end of the film, it is a fascinating storyline about the massive cover-up in the religious world.

The problem with journalism is credibility. We have ethics to uphold as journalists but unfortunately since it is so easy for anyone to post, the public is left confused. Fake news has always been an issue, but there has been a significant increase now that sharing and creating news is so easily accessible through social media.

This semester we talked about how the press is a watchdog. This fulfills the need of accountability. Although journalists are responsible for what they report, the public needs to remember to check their sources. FactCheck.Org is one source we discussed in class to help check for credibility of a news story. Overall, the news is inaccurate, bias, and deceiving. As a journalism student I have learned that it is important to hold yourself accountable. Remember to check the URL and news source before sharing. This is how fake news continues to spread. Lack of careless to check the sources for credibility should be our number one priority.

Although fake news is at the center of this article, I appreciate those journalists that stick to their ethics and have the heart to serve the people with accurate information. We must remember that not all journalists are wrong, many do not even mean to report false information. There are many factors that go into fake news even if their intentions are for the good.

Laura Poitras’ film about about Edward Snowden was both accurate and powerful. I highly recommend this movie because it is transparent. It is inspiring to see such courage to create an honest film. This has simply never been done before, but it is much needed for all to watch. “Citizenfour” explicitly shows our flaws as a country with the government, terrorism and implies the actions we must take to end this madness. You will be invested in this action pact film focusing on freedom, privacy and the will to fight. Besides the quality images in this documentary the content itself is impressive. This film was created to inspire citizens to take action against the government. What I truly admire about Poitras is her effort to keep it completely factual. Of course she had to pick and choose what to add and dismiss, although she does a good job with making it a historical documentary. She paints Snowden as a neutral figure so that the viewers can draw their own conclusion about him and his story.

The University of Illinois hosted a conversation with senior leadership on April 19th 12:00-1:00 p.m. at the Illini Union. . This board included Chancellor Robert J. Jones who spoke on topics such as an update on the school’s budget, current issues they are fighting, and the panel closed with answering questions from the audience. One topic that was brought up from the audience was student safety. Chancellor Robert J. Jones and the senior leadership board stressed the importance of campus security and bringing awareness of this issue to students. The University of Illinois continues to rise about the challenges presented to them each year including the topic of funding on state and federal level. The board also focused the conversation on talking about recruits and how they continue to strive for the best, well-rounded students. College recruiting continues to be competitive although they feel confident the University of Illinois will continue to rise and be successful academically, athletically, and socially.

Gregory Hall hosted a panel called, “The War on Facts: Costs and Causalities” on April 13th, 2017. The focus for the panel was the discussion on the war with mainstream news media the effects of fake news. A side discussion was developed discussing strategies to be proactive with accurate information. One topic that was emphasized was the discussion about fake news. The panel for the evening consisted of the following: Stephanie Craft, author of the University of Illinois Journalism 200 textbook, Lynn Sweet, John Nerone and Ann Reisner. The conversation started off with the moderator, Mira Sotirovic, explaining an example about President Trump and how fake news is relevant. She said that President Trump started the “war of facts” which is simply the war in media and journalism. Craft jumped into by saying, “fake news is a thing because we made it a thing.” The only reason so much attention is on the journalist fact checking is because that is what the public sees and hears through media channels. After explaining why fake news is such an important issue, the panel gave advice on what they believe students can do to help reduce fake news, whether they are part of the general public or an aspiring journalist.

Elizabeth Thomas, a 15-year-old student from Culleoka Tennessee went missing March 13, 2017. Authorities say that a friend dropped Thomas off at a restaurant in Columbia, Tennessee. Tad Cummins, a teacher that was close by pumping gas was caught on surveillance tape. Cummins is on Tennessee’s most-wanted list because of sexual misconduct with a minor and kidnapping. Cummins is the prime suspect in this case due to his criminal history and relationship with this girl. Thomas was in Cummins forensics class.

Kim Doddridge, a spokeswoman for the school provided a timeline of their actions on this issue to The Daily Herald in Columbia. On January 23, 2017 allegations began after another student saw Thomas and Cummins kiss in his classroom. This is when the investigation started. Jason Whatley was the attorney representing the Thomas family. Whatley sent a letter February 6, 2017 following a call February 1, 2017 from Anthony Thomas to the Superintendent, Chris Marczak. Although Elizabeth Thomas said she was still present in his class and kept in contact, the school confirmed that they did remove her from Cummins class. Early in the investigation Cummins was listed as “TBD” on the health science faculty list, but it is now confirmed that he is fired.

Amber alerts have been issued to keep the public informed and aware of the situation. Since the first update they received 250 tips according to CNN article, although none of the tips helped the investigation.The CNN article with updated information was written by Eliott C. McLaughlin, Faith Haleh Robinson and Scott McLean. Police also said that Cummins is armed with two handguns and took out a loan for $4,500 just a few days before the abduction.

President Trump accuses former national security advisor, Susan Rice of committing a crime. Abby Phillip, a journalist for The Washington Post explains the accusations in this article. President Trump says that Rice requested the names of the Trump campaign. This information was in the classified intelligence reports and should not be distributed.

These names are kept private or “masked” to protect Americans. The information that Rice requested should only be revealed for national security purposes. If this allegation against Rice is true, this would be known as a crime because she infringed on the privacy rights of Americans. Rice chose to not comment and denies that Trump is being truthful with his accusation. This could be considered libel if it is a false statement published that hurts a person’s reputation. Libel is an example of a media law.

President Trump continues to think that Rice leaked information to the media and refers to a conservative website for verification. Rice could be questioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee. The current status from lawmakers is that there is no evidence that Rice requested the names.