On February 24, 2017, NPR reported that examining social media is one elements of Trump Administration’s extreme executive vetting on refugees.

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Social media vetting involves checking a list of website refugees visited and they would be asked to provide the password of their accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This screening began at the end of 2015 and the purpose is to check what the incoming refugees are looking at.

Initially, the targeted group is “the Syrian males who had some sort of flag in their application,” said Leon Rodriguez, who is the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. But recently his agency kept “expanding the universe of people whose social media we examined, to include larger numbers of Syrian applicants and Iraqi applicants.”

The process is extremely time-consuming. It could take up to 8 hours to go over the file of one person, and any concerns in the file would lead to hold or rejection of the applicant.

But it is hard to determine how effective it is from now. If people became well-known that their profiles are be scrutinized, would they just delete the stuff on their social media accounts?

As the National Broadcasting Company, NBC produces news that reflects human interest from a grand scale. On Feb 10, 2017, NBC Nightly News discussed the recently happened event that Russia may return Snowden to U.S. as a gift to President Trump. This news piece includes timeliness, impact and human interest. For the impact of Snowden’s returning to the U.S., people are concerned about national security as well as his personal safety, as he was a hero to some, but a traitor to others. This news also stirs human interest because the controversy regarding Flynn’s telephone conversation. People are guessing whether Flynn have actually talked to Russian ambassador about Obama sanctions.

Another news was that Trump is signing a new immigration order. It reflects both proximity and prominence. This move is proximite since it affects green card holders and foreign visitors, including college faculties and students. And it is also prominent because experts state it violates the constitutional rights of people and raise concerns for United State’s “unitedness”.  

NBC also reported the extreme weathers around the nation. The widespread flooding in Idaho, swallowing cars and homes; mudslides crushing them in Washington state; overflowing caused people submerged in vehicles in Southern California all shows conflict between human and nature.

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