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Showing posts from February, 2020

American Dirt: As told by an outsider

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American Dirt is a novel written by Jeanine Cummins. Earlier this year the book was released and immediately sparked controversy on social media. The novel is about a Mexican woman and her son and their journey across the border. There have been many thoughts on the book criticizing the content, the characters, and the intentions. Jeanine Cummin - Author One of the first things people scrutinized was not the book, but the author. With such a complex subject matter many people feel that someone with a personal connection would be better suited to write about the immigrant experience. Many people are calling it cultural appropriation since Cummins identifies as mostly white . But while criticism of her ethnic background was being questioned she acknowledged that she has a Puerto Rican grandmother. This was her way of legitimizing her closeness to the subject matter although being Puerto Rican and Mexican are two very different things. Our next book club selectio...

Reading Review: NYT + Mobile Social Journalism

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The readings in the Mobile and Social Journalism Media course I'm taking have given me the chance to reflect on how people consume the news today. It is very apparent that the news has been condensed in a way to be easy to digest for the reader but also structured so that it keeps them interested and piquing their interest. NYT Article One of the readings that we were assigned was an article by the New York Times outlining popular trends in the news in 2020. Instead of a straightforward list of things to look out for, this article unpacked the reading habits of the average reader in this year and outlined important things to note when producing the news. For example, it explained that time of day is important when publishing news stories. The most detail-oriented and hard-hitting news should be published in the mornings when people are energized and ready to consume news but towards the end of the day more light-hearted human interest pieces are the way to go. Th...