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The death of the Newseum in the era of fake news

November 18, 2019 by theCrimson Leave a Comment

The Newseum stands tall for the last months of the year as its closure looms Photo // Newseum

It’s been two weeks since our editorial staff attended a college media conference in Washington D.C.

We left the nation’s capital with an arsenal of tips for better reporting, but also deeply disappointed to see one of journalism’s biggest odes to the industry to be uprooted by the end of the year.

Since opening day in 2008, the Newseum has dedicated itself to increasing public understanding of the importance of a free press and the First Amendment.

“In all of the 30-plus years I spent in broadcast journalism, I would’ve never expected something like the Newseum to ever exist, anywhere,” said Paul Littman, a retired PBS broadcaster who has spent his early years of retirement volunteering at the engaging and interactive museum of news. “I was born and raised in D.C. and to see something as great as this close down will leave me heartbroken.”

As young and aspiring journalists, to walk through five floors of history and see how journalism captured every part of that left us awestruck.

One of the most visually impactful exhibits was the Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery.

To see a vulture preying on a starving child in Sudan is devastating.

But to then read that the photographer later took his own life because of the trauma and grief he felt for neglecting that child portrayed the harsh reality of reporting in third world countries.

A piece of the Berlin Wall showcases the contrast of freedom of speech between West Germany and East Germany. Crimson // Kevin Boodoosing
A piece of the Berlin Wall showcases the contrast of freedom of speech between West Germany and East Germany. Crimson // Kevin Boodoosing

Standing in front of chunks of the Berlin Wall that once separated communism from freedom was eye-opening to the freedom that we currently take for granted.

A glimpse at the civil rights movement exhibit showed that while many people turned a blind eye to the horrible things that were happening, journalists reported on the deaths of African American people, the brutal ways they were treated and the efforts they were making to gain more rights.

Walking one floor up, we entered the Stonewall exhibit, where the first Pride flag hung on the wall.

The Newseum illustrated how rights for LGBTQ people have changed and progressed throughout the years.

As in the civil rights exhibit, this was an area of history where many people were ignoring the mistreatment of the LGBTQ community or viewed them as bad people and deserving of punishment.

Meanwhile, journalists worked to uncover the truth and report it.

In another showcase—and perhaps the most emotional— newspapers from around the world covered a singular wall, each reporting on the events of 9/11.

A piece of the antenna from the North World Trade Tower stands in front of a wall of newspapers from around the world that covered 9/11.
Crimson // Jesse Villaverde

This exhibit highlighted Bill Biggart, a photographer and the only journalist to lose his life covering 9/11.

His gear was preserved in the Newseum, his photos having been recovered after the events of 9/11.

While we were in awe of the archives and galleries around us, other museum-goers were also drawn in by the history of news and value of free speech.

“This museum shows how the First Amendment is a gift to the world,” said Tim Neary, a professor from Worcester University in Massachusetts who was in town for a Georgetown Alumni celebration.“It’s a damn shame this place is closing. It seems like there has to be a solution.”

In a time when the Trump Administration has launched an attack on news media and criticized journalists for reporting “fake news,” the Newseum tells an important story.

It shows the way reporters have given their lives in pursuit of their craft.

It shows how history has been influenced by the news: When reporters do their jobs and report the truth, people take action and promote change.

In a survey of the Florida Tech community, we asked how reliable people believe the news is.

The survey is not reflective of the entirety of students, staff, faculty and alumni; rather a small portion—55 respondents—helps illustrate trends within a small section of our community.

The biggest takeaway from the survey is that 40 percent of respondents believe that the news is somewhat reliable and a little more than 38 percent believe it is mostly reliable, but we live in a time when the idea of fake news is broadcast and spread on social media constantly.

A display at the museum describes the significance of the First Amendment in a school setting. Crimson // Jesse Villaverde

Pew Research Center released a report this past June in which 68 percent of Americans, which is nearly seven in 10, said that the creation and spread of fake news is causing significant harm to the nation and needs to be stopped.

There are many people with their own agenda, but a good journalist reports facts in an unbiased way.

It is a hard job without stable hours. Many countries do not have the freedom of speech that we enjoy, and journalists risk their lives and are sometimes captured, tortured or killed as they pursue a story.

According to the journalist memorial at the Newseum, 2,344 reporters, editors, photographers and broadcasters have died doing what they loved.

These people dedicated their lives to giving marginalized groups a voice, even when others were not willing to listen.

What left us shocked in D.C. was to learn about the closing of this display of journalistic excellence.

This map compares the freedom of the press in various countries.
Crimson // Emily Walker

According to the Newseum’s website despite more than 11 years of service and nearly 10 million visitors, continued operations are no longer financially feasible.

It’s a shame as student reporters to have to wrap your mind around the fact that journalists are being torn down by the current administration in office with their jobs and the entire industry on the line.

More worrisome is the fact that no benefactor has stepped in to save this museum.

What will happen to those pieces of the Berlin Wall?

The preserved Articles of Confederation on display?

The piece of the antenna that remained from the top of the North World Trade Tower?

These are the questions reporters of our generation have now.

Distress in the Air: Florida Tech’s take on the Boeing 737

March 26, 2019 by Olivia McKelvey Leave a Comment

Within the past five months, Boeing has had two 737 Air Max 8’s crash.

Most recently, the Ethiopian airline crash that killed all 157 members on board caused a worldwide grounding of the Boeing model.

Carlos Obregon, a junior majoring in aeronautical science with flight, has been discussing the components of flight failure in the classroom and relating them to the crashes of the Boeing 737’s and how they are relevant to his field of study.

“In my advanced aircraft systems class we talked about how flight systems and controls can cause malfunctions and enroute flight problems,” Obregon said. “We debated on how the software stalling function and overriding features on the model and learned that this could have been the potential reasoning for the planes to crash.”

Pat Spangler, a junior in aeronautical science with an associates degree in air traffic control, was concerned about the safety dilemma that these crashes have drawn attention to and how aviation management is handling it.

In Spangler’s opinion, the Federal Aviation Administration and President Trump could have handled the situation better, but the aviation industry is still the safest mode of transportation and he stands by it.

“Safety is obviously one of the top priorities in the aviation industry, as it should be,” Spangler said. “One protocol put into place by the FAA that I think is essential to the job is a computer test every air traffic controller is required to take on a recurring two-month basis to remain updated on safety and eligible for the job.”

The FAA is responsible for regulating aviation and promoting safety.

However, in recent light of the situation the administration has been criticized by many as the United States was one of the last nations to decide not to fly the 737’s.

Aviation safety regulators in the European Union, China, Australia and the U.K. made the call to not fly the planes ahead of the U.S.

According to prior reports from The New York Times, the delay in the call for Trump to ground the Boeing models was deemed as “a bit too late” by many passengers and pilots.

It’s not just current aviation students that are especially affected by the grounding of the 737’s but also alumni that have entered the industry.

Jared Goodlaw graduated from Florida Tech in 2017 with a degree in aviation management with flight.

He has worked for a regional airliner in the past but is currently flying private jetliners.

Goodlaw stated that the FAA has released no private statements or reports to any licensed pilots in regards to how the situation is being handled nor any other investigative details.

Goodlaw had expectations of announcements directly to all private and commercial licensed pilots from Boeing or the FAA in wake of both incidents.

However, both organizations have failed to communicate if there are any plans underway requiring pilots to complete more training and/or simulations before anymore 737’s are cleared to take off again.

The consensus amongst Spangler, Obregon and Goodlaw is that they all feel their training and studies regarding flight emergencies and preparation is well documented in the Florida Tech aviation curriculum.

All three stated that they still feel safe to work in the industry as it is a very reactive field.

Incidents like this are thoroughly investigated, responsibility is held accountable for and updates and corrections are made as soon as possible.

Pilots are not the only people concerned about the Boeing 737’s.

CBS News reported that approximately 8,600 flights use the Boeing 737 Max 8 in a typical week of travel.

Furthermore, Boeing released an announcement saying that models will be grounded for at least three months.

Travelers may experience more travel and flight difficulties than they expected.

Charles Bryant, a business professor and the manager in charge of Florida Tech’s study abroad program to Spain, is one example of these worried travelers.

“With the Boeing 737’s being grounded, myself and those participating in the Spain study abroad program are having to look at different airport destinations within Spain,” Bryant said. “For example, instead of flying out of a smaller airport in the country like Malaga as we had originally planned, we are looking at other options that have more flight availability in bigger airports like Barcelona. Yet, this adds more planning and financial stress as the travel date in early June arrives closer and closer.”

Bryant draws attention to another issue: If he is having troubles finding flights for a group of roughly 20 or so people, it will likely be hard for the immense number of international students on campus to find flights home at the end of the semester in early May.

The Boeing 737 investigations are still underway and officials have stated they are doing their best to remain honest with the general public as they are well aware of the pressing matters and concerns at hand.

Professor iterates research integrity amidst anti-vaccination controversy

March 26, 2019 by Khemari Howard Leave a Comment

The controversy surrounding the anti-vaccination movement on social media has some students expressing the importance of peer-reviewed journals.

An Ohio teen, using Reddit— an American news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website—and scientific journals, went against the views of his mother and got himself vaccinated.

The teen testified against his mother before at a Senate hearing alongside experts, according to the Washington Post, which has caused an increase in the discussion of the topic.

Dzmitry Yuran, assistant professor in the school of arts and communication, believes that the popularization of peer-reviewed journals does more harm than good in the spread of misinformation in media.

“[Peer-reviewed journals] are crucial,” Yuran said. “But they’re not all powerful.”

Yuran said one such problematic journal was the anti-vaccination research.

He said the anti-vaccination movement was popularized with a scientific journal that has since been retracted because the co-authors revealed the data collection was unethical.

Yuran said peer-reviewed journals never give a 100 percent course of action; it’s the second level of interpretation that does that, which is usually in the realm of the media.

He said new research gets into places like a morning talk show or in the pages of the BBC.

The discussion usually surrounds understanding research that’s been done on a small animal, usually a mouse, but is interpreted as a course of action for human beings.

“Once it’s out of the journals, there is no control over it,” Yuran said. “It goes into the realm of misinterpretation, speculation and everything else.”

Yuran said this misinterpretation is caused by the simplification of information based on what people want to get out of them.

He said they’re often read by people who don’t necessarily “understand [the journals] fully, crawls down to [the] conclusion section and fishes for that one useful tidbit of information that they can turn into [a] course of action.”[sic]

Zachary Eckert, a graduate physics student, also shares the same beliefs as Yuran Eckert said science can easily be used to prove personal bias.

“With nearly any set of data you can get pretty much any outcome you want,” Eckert said, “depending on how you look at the data.”

Eckert said there are multiple ways of looking at numbers. He said it’s imperative to try and find the most true results from any set of numbers.

“The simple solution to every ailment in life is what we’re after,” Yuran said. “We want a simple shortcut and hope that science will give it to us.”

Yuran said that there’s no one solution to the spread of misinterpreted research, but education plays a big role.

Many scientific journals are published by people who have a very specific educational background and are difficult to read.

He also said they’re costly for the general consumer who may not understand the technical writing.

These factors lead to an over reliance on someone to interpret the information for the general public.

However, Eckert believes social media platforms play a big role in the spread of misinformation.

He said that most things that are shared are those which have polarizing opinions in the titles and is typically not based on either the content of the article or whether the article has evidence for it.

Most people decide whether they agree or disagree with shared articles from the title and share it without properly reading.

“If it supports your worldview, you’re going to share it with everybody else,” Eckert said. “And then your social media circle becomes an echo chamber of everybody who agrees with you.”

Eckert said memes– humorous images, videos or pieces of text that are copied and spread rapidly by internet users–may be helpful in dispelling misinformation.

He believes the simplicity and relatable nature of memes can easily be shared than an article explaining complicated science.

“They’re more likely to be able to permeate certain circles,” Eckert said. “And it can get some of the more centrist people to rethink their ideas.”

Yuran believes that society has a very long way to go in it’s relationship with science, but personal research and cognitive understanding on an individual level is a huge step in the right direction.