“All the President’s Men” is a film that follows the reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they broke the story about how President Nixon and his administration was involved in the break in at the Watergate complex.

I think this movie did a good job at showing how sometimes journalists can risk their lives in order to expose the truth and publish a story. Woodward and Bernstein received many threats from officials in the Nixon administration to stop their investigation. Nevertheless, they continued to investigate and broke a historic story.

This movie also showed how much of an impact journalists can have on history. If it had not been for these two reporters, the truth about Watergate might have never been revealed to the public. If the public did not know the Nixon administration was involved, Nixon might not have had to resign from being president.

The movie “Spotlight” follows reporters from the Boston Globe who wrote an investigative report on sexual abuse in the Catholic church. The reporters who took part in the investigation were able to uncover years of abuse committed by priests and the cover-up that officials within the church took part in.

The film did a good job of showing all of the work reporters need to do before they can actually publish a story. For example, reporters continuously had to check their facts and get permission from their editor before they were actually able to publish the story, which are tasks journalists do all the time.

The film also showed the journalists going from door to door and trying to get interviews from people they believed were involved with the abuse. This is definitely not an easy task and the movie did a good job at highlighting how hard it is to get sources to open up and share their experiences. There were multiple scenes within the movie that showed people refusing to speak with the reporters and share information they had.

Rodger Streitmatter’s Mightier than the Sword is rightfully titled considering the strong connection journalism has to history. The pen has been a profound way for people to spark movements and make changes that will forever be ingrained in history.

Revolutions, feminist movements, civil rights, and so much more has been started as a result of the work of journalists and their ability to shed light on important issues.

If Woodward and Bernstein had not taken the Watergate break-in seriously and chosen not to write the following stories, Nixon might have never resigned from office. This could have completely changed the course of history.

Woodward and Bernstein are just one example of how history was shaped as a result of journalism, but there are so many more examples that could be listed.

Knowing the impact that journalists had throughout history is important for people to understand. This way, people can appreciate what men and women in this field are doing for a living. They can also appreciate the integrity of journalists for risking so much for society.

The course of history could have been forever changed had certain stories never been broken by men and women who were brave enough to investigate and write them.

After spending almost an entire semester studying journalism and writing articles, I can say that I have a greater appreciation for what journalists do. Finding story ideas and sources is not always easy. The first assignment of speaking to three different strangers was something I was expecting to be easy. But, I ended up being really nervous to talk to people I had never met.

I also think how news is told can really influence people’s perceptions about the world. This is why journalists have such an important job. If they go against basic ethics they can affect a lot of people’s beliefs. Even small changes, like editing pictures in a certain way, can be dangerous. Journalism is a field that comes with a lot of responsibility. If people push the boundaries and start crossing ethical lines, they should not be creating news stories.

Taking journalism also made me more aware of where I get my news from. Before the class, I tended to use social media as a way to get my news. After learning more about getting reliable news from Stephanie Craft’s talk, I go straight to news outlets to try to get the most accurate news possible. Hearing about stories through sharing and word of mouth is not always the best way to get news. I also started reading the newspaper more. Since most places on campus offer newspapers for free, it is one of the best way to get news on campus.

I read an investigative report written by Joe Mahr, Matthew Walberg, and Angie Leventis Lourgos of the Chicago Tribune. The article is about the Illinois Lottery and the lack of oversight the Illinois government used in regards to the program.

The article explains how a private company that was hired by the Illinois Lottery to manage the program accumulated extra money by ending scratch ticket games before all of the tickets were sold, including the tickets with large grand prizes.

The authors used records and databases, interviewed lottery experts, and looked at communications between the company the Illinois lottery to find their information.

Before 2010, there were no states in the country that used a private company to manage the lottery. However, that changed when the Quinn administration hired Northstar Lottery Group and officially privatized the program.

The authors found that the Illinois government did not use enough oversight to watch over the company in order to ensure the Illinois Lottery was being run fairly. The only time Northstar’s game designs were ever audited was in 2010.

The report found that many of the instant games ended before half of the total tickets printed were ever sold. This data included one instant game where only 15% of tickets were sold before it was pulled.

According to the authors, there was not an explanation given for why these games ended before grand-prizes could be won. The Illinois government did not intervene in the pulling of any instant games.

The reason for Northstar’s decision to end games early is most likely due to the fact that they were not meeting their enthusiastic goals outlined in their bid to manage the Illinois Lottery.

As of December 30, 2016, when the report was written, the Rauner administration was looking for a company to replace Northstar Lottery Group.

Denison giving advice about how to create a successful startup including knowing the market demand for a product and building a good team.

Ashley Cullins of The Hollywood Reporter wrote an article about the ongoing battle between Rolling Stone Magazine and a fraternity at the University of Virginia.

Rolling Stone and the University of Virginia chapter of Phi Kappa Psi have been in and out of court since last year. In June of 2016, Rolling Stone won a defamation lawsuit that was filed by members of the fraternity.

Currently, the magazine is still battling with the national fraternity of Phi Kappa Psi, who are arguing that the article defamed the entire organization. Rolling Stone insists that the sole motivation of the lawsuit is money.

This article relates to the topic of defamation that was discussed in chapter 7 of the “Principles of American Journalism” textbook. Defamation is any communication made with the intent to harm a person’s reputation.

In regards to this specific case, it seems to me that Rolling Stone’s intent was to bring light to an important and often ignored issue that occurs way too often on college campuses across the nation.

David C. Frederick wrote an opinion column for the Washington Post where he advocated for the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The author of this opinion column worked with Gorsuch in the past and believes he would be a great addition to the highest court in the land. He especially thinks that Gorsuch will be the best nominee that President Trump will produce.

Frederick emphasized the fact that Gorsuch is an independent mind who has the ability to decide cases on logic and not on personal beliefs and values.

Whether it be through supporting a Muslim inmate who was mistreated by guards because of his religion or through suing a large cooperation, Gorush has had a wide range of experience as both a lawyer and judge.

Frederick believes the ability of Gorsuch to remain non-partisan, when needed, will result in America having a type of justice that is necessary in today’s world.

This assessment is interesting because Frederick states that he sees himself as more democratic-leaning. This means that Gorsuch could get support from people who do not necessarily identify as republican. However, Frederick’s previous work experience with Gorsuch could be biasing his opinion.

Rebecca Morin of Politico wrote a story published this morning about President Trump’s attempts to gain support through social media. She shared one tweet in which President Trump appears to be asking his supporters to hold their own rallies, in lieu of the recent Women’s March and similar gatherings happening all over the country.

The story also looked at the most recent charges the President made against the media outlets that he more commonly refers to as “fake news”. In a tweet focusing on the perceived unfairness of the press, the President tagged both the New York Times and CNN’s twitter accounts. Morin connected these tweets with the recent discovery that the White House did not allow certain news organizations into a press briefing.

Morin’s stringing together of these events shows just how far this administration has gone in order to protect a positive image of the President, even when the facts might not be as positive as they would hope. This is definitely the first administration to use social media as a way to directly attack certain media outlets for not always reporting on the administration in a favorable light.

I noticed three values that played a large role in the types of stories reported on Wednesday night’s broadcast of ABC World News. Conflict, impact and prominence and human interest constituted a majority of the broadcast. Conflict permeated almost all of the stories about President Trump. The main story, involving President Trump, examined his angry tweet targeted toward Nordstrom for their decision to no longer carry Ivanka Trump’s products. Another story explained President Trump’s disdain for the judges who are stopping his immigration ban from taking place. The story noted how President Trump’s recent words involved attacking of the judicial branch. The value of impact and prominence arose with the reporting on the winter storms hitting the Midwest and the East Coast. The reports focused mainly on the number of people affected by the storms and the damage that resulted. Finally, the news ended with a few short human interest stories: one about newborn tiger cubs born at the Cincinnati Zoo, and another about a teen basketball star who scored 92 points in one basketball game. Collectively, these stories showcase and define what ABC World News values in terms of the stories they produce.