HCRHS Media Lit

"President Trump said Thursday that violent video games and movies may play a role in school shootings, a claim that has been made - and rejected - many times since the increase in such attacks in the past two decades.

"f you are reading this online right now, the machines have done their job. The algorithms served you this piece because you probably already know and believe in the ideas I'm about to put forth. This story bounced into your feed because what I am about to say might not be dramatically new to you. But it will likely reinforce that you are an intelligent person, whose ideas are well-thought-out and compatible with society. Or, more precisely, with the society you wish we were. Because that's the world we live in these days. We know what we know and we only reluctantly venture into the world of the unknown. We (and the machines) have identified who we are and we feel pretty good about it. Why change? Sure, every once in a while, we'll peek under the curtain to see what others are doing or saying but that's only to find fodder to ridicule those who disagree with us. The reality is that we are not much of a society today. We are a nation of individuals. There is a cable network for every interest, a website for every topic, a news organization for every political party, a social media feed for any ideology, and message boards for everyone else. It's easy to stay in your lane, even without the machines dictating what we see on Twitter, Facebook, or Google."

Last week, 17 people, most of them teenagers, were shot dead at a Florida school. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School now joins the ranks of Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Columbine and too many other sites of American carnage. What do these shootings have in common? Guns, yes. But also, boys. Girls aren't pulling the triggers. It's boys. It's almost always boys. America's boys are broken. And it's killing us. The brokenness of the country's boys stands in contrast to its girls, who still face an abundance of obstacles but go into the world increasingly well equipped to take them on. The past 50 years have redefined what it means to be female in America. Girls today are told that they can do anything, be anyone. They've absorbed the message: They're outperforming boys in school at every level. But it isn't just about performance. To be a girl today is to be the beneficiary of decades of conversation about the complexities of womanhood, its many forms and expressions. Boys, though, have been left behind. No commensurate movement has emerged to help them navigate toward a full expression of their gender. It's no longer enough to "be a man" - we no longer even know what that means."

"Join Note to Self's Bored and Brilliant project to help you detach from your phone and spend more time thinking creatively."

""Smartphone notifications have turned us all into Pavlov's dogs," Greenfield says. The average adult checks their phone 50 to 300 times each day, Greenfield says. And smartphones use psychological tricks that encourage our continued high usage - some of the same tricks slot machines use to hook gamblers. "For example, every time you look at your phone, you don't know what you're going to find - how relevant or desirable a message is going to be," Greenfield says. "So you keep checking it over and over again because every once in a while, there's something good there." (This is called a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement. Animal studies suggest it makes dopamine skyrocket in the brain's reward circuity and is possibly one reason people keep playing slot machines.)"

"In the age of tweets, Instagram posts and Facebook invites, many argue today's youth is more interested in social media and the technology that accompanies it than what is going on in real life. While this belief is understandable, it's also worth noting how technology and social media have helped launch several political movements, and continue to contribute to political activism among young people."

"The term 'slacktivism', a portmanteau of slacker and activism, appeared for the first time in the year 2009. It refers to casual or armchair activism, also known as clicktivism. Those who support the latter argument, question the real impact of the anonymous justice seekers whose commitment goes no further than the Facebook wall. They see it as superficial activism, no more than social marketing. For José Manuel Guerra de los Santos, professor in Social Psychology at the University of Seville, this type of behaviour reflects the need for internal reinforcement. "We all like to reinforce our self-worth, our ego, by feeling that we are taking part in meaningful actions. Social media makes it easy for us to fulfil that need." For him, 'social desirability' is a key driver. Supporting a cause is socially desirable. "But what happens next with such people? Will they go to a demonstration, will they get more involved? I don't think so, because it is low-level solidarity.""

"Articulate, witty and digitally native, the survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, are using social media to debunk conspiracy theories and amplify their voices in a way the world hasn't seen before. With thoughtful tweets about gun control, a fearlessness for taking on politicians and sharply worded messages to shut down conspiracy theorists, the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are leading a movement. And in classic teenager fashion, they're doing it their way. "I tell my students, 'Don't ever let adults tell you what you are doing [on your smartphones] is a waste of time or it's silly or antisocial,'" said Jeremy Littau, an associate professor of journalism at Lehigh University. "When [this generation] has something to say, they now know how to use these tools in sophisticated ways. That would not have been happening if they hadn't spent last 10 years preparing themselves through these tools.""

"At least half of Happy Meals listed on menus in the United States will not exceed 600 calories and will have other other dietary restrictions, like limits on saturated fat and sodium percentages. In order to accomplish that, McDonald's is taking cheeseburgers off the Happy Meal menu (they are still available upon request), decreasing the amount of fries that come with the six-piece Chicken McNuggets meal, cutting the amount of added sugar in chocolate milk and adding bottled water onto the children's menu, according to the release."

"At least 17 people are dead following another school shooting on American soil, this one in the South Florida town of Parkland. Yesterday's tragedy is the US's third-deadliest school shooting, and one of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern American history. Coverage of the event followed a now-familiar pattern, with cable news shots of students being evacuated, and somber contributors speaking with anchors who seemed resigned to covering these sort of tragedies on a regular basis. Wrapping up an interview with a congressman, CNN's Wolf Blitzer said, "Let's hope it stops. But clearly it won't." One notable difference from coverage of past school shootings was the prevalence of social media postings from students still in the building. Videos of students sheltering in classrooms as gunshots echoed from offscreen provided a terrifying window into the experiences of those trapped in the middle of the chaos. Several outlets also shared text messages that students sent to loved ones. A common theme across the coverage was just how normal these mass casualty events feel. Every few months, it seems, early reports of a shooting-at a school, a church, a concert-lead to news bulletins and breaking coverage followed by hours of somber analysis, thoughts and prayers from some and calls to legislative action from others. But nearly two decades after Columbine, the only thing that's changed is the technology by which audiences experience the carnage. As Blitzer said, it's clear we will be back here."

"The average adult checks their phone 50 to 300 times each day, Greenfield says. And smartphones use psychological tricks that encourage our continued high usage - some of the same tricks slot machines use to hook gamblers. "For example, every time you look at your phone, you don't know what you're going to find - how relevant or desirable a message is going to be," Greenfield says. "So you keep checking it over and over again because every once in a while, there's something good there." (This is called a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement. Animal studies suggest it makes dopamine skyrocket in the brain's reward circuity and is possibly one reason people keep playing slot machines.) A growing number of doctors and psychologists are concerned about our relationship with the phone. There's a debate about what to call the problem. Some say "disorder" or "problematic behavior." Others think over-reliance on a smartphone can become a behavioral addiction, like gambling."

"American adolescents watch much more pornography than their parents know - and it's shaping their ideas about pleasure, power and intimacy. Can they be taught to see it more critically?"

"Saying it's "the medias" fault confuses me. Is that your local meteorologist? The person who covers lifestyle news in the city newspaper? The video editor at CNN? The host of an opinion show? Me writing this article? You on social media? Your neighbor who just started a blog? I'm not quite sure who "the media" is (or are), but since everyone else is aware, for the sake of this post, I'll use the term. When people say news and media coverage is slanted and there's an agenda, I really don't see it. This is why."

"The annual Super Bowl game is one of the last appointment TV events: we still gather around the television at the time the game is played.  For weeks before the big game, the media has been abuzz about the commercials.  This website is designed to help you incorporate these ads into instruction, no matter what you teach. Use the links in the left hand column."

"Super Bowl Ad Analysis Worksheet  created by Frank W Baker, Copyright 2018 [permission is granted to duplicate for educational purposes]  See also "Using Super Bowl Ads In The Classroom""

"Everyone wants to be popular online. Some even pay for it. Inside social media's black market."

"Logan Paul's controversial dead body video is a watershed moment in YouTube's effort to grapple with a vast content moderation problem."