The first event I attended was fake news. I understood the concept of it clearly, but I wanted to go deeper, to exactly how it affects our minds and opinions today. And in fact, I did learn some new things about the topic. One example was the major difference between “blue” and “red” feeds. This was a study done by the New York Times to see how different Facebook and other social media sites choose news articles for you depending on your political affiliation. The topics discussed, the specific news source, and the type of language used was much different between the two. We also discussed different ways facts can be skewed, from overstating the fact, taking something out of context, to flipping the axis on a graph or chart so it looks like it is depicting something different than it is. 

The next event I attended was Avery and Matteo’s (I forgot the exact name). It talked about the basics of human rights and government, specifically in the Middle East. The region has seen lots of turmoil ever since the Sykes-Picot agreement arbitration split the region into different states, with no regard for the ethnic groups that were being split up. This had disastrous consequences for the internal stability for some countries. An example of this is Syria: The civil war there has now reached its eighth year, with the conflict between rebels and the Al-Assad government causing massive amounts of bloodshed. Amid this turmoil, an interesting experiment of democracy and liberal values has emerged: Rojava. An autonomous, self-governing region in the north of Syria, it is not recognized as independent by Syria or any other international powers. It is mostly consisted of Assyrian, Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen populations. It first gained autonomy when Syrian military forces withdrew from the region to assist in the larger southern cities. Its militia proved to be a potent fighting force against ISIS, spearheading many of the main attacks that have chipped away at ISIS’s territory over the years.

The most interesting thing about Rojava is its government; it is a democratic, socialist ideology, promoting decentralization, gender equality, tolerance for other religions, and environmental sustainability. This is within a very conservative region, with patriarchal and traditional values being king. This is all stated in its constitution, which was ratified in 2014. It claims that the values within its constitution should be an example for a unified Syria. While it has not formally declared its complete independence, it is worth noting if a country like this can even function on its own. The region is under pressure from two sides: the rest of Syria and Turkey. It might not be able to exert its influence to its full capacity if it is completely independent. And with the continued pressure from Turkey in particular, one can wonder if Rojava as it is today can be sustainable for the future.

Although I’ve never been to previous nights before, I think the event overall went smoothly. Maybe it was because of the large number of juniors that were available to set up beforehand. As for the topic themselves, I saw a couple of interesting ones that I will keep in mind as I go into senior year. One in particular was the sugar conspiracy that Matteo did. I found it really interesting that all this conspiracy and monopoly at the expense of Dominican workers is legal, due to the massive influence the sugar industry has on US politics. It seems like a very prevalent topic, not only because there are people overseas suffering, but also because of the fact that it relates directly to the Dominican Republic Service Trip that Watkinson does every year. Unfortunately, due to the harassment and threats that other people and schools have received, it may be impossible to effectively inform the public to the full extent of this conspiracy.

Another one I found interesting was Avery’s comparative policing, mostly because it focuses more on a local level, specifically modern technologies that are helping Hartford police better control the city. I never knew about the Shotspotter system, and how effective and efficient it can be in detecting and confirming gunshots. Even better, there are programs in place that can help police officers better communicate and interact with the community they are patrolling in. In this era of Black Lives Matter and police brutality, we need to look beyond the headlines and look into solutions to this issue, so that people and police officers everywhere can trust each other. This way, we can strive to make our communities safer every day.

The power of a narrative, particularly in journalism, is very important because it includes the most honest, trustworthy account of an event, by word of mouth. Most news nowadays is speculation or interpretations of a newsworthy event. Since it is almost impossible to be unbiased in this regard, something will definitely get skewed one way or the other. This can create a lot of reactionary or “bandwagon” public opinion on a certain side of the issue. We can especially see it now with this turbulent political landscape, with drastic differences in wording and interpretations between “red” and “blue” news sources. But unless you have clear, confirmed info on what happened, you really don’t know what happened at all. When you interview witnesses or participants in the event, on the other hand, it opens up a corridor on why they did what they did, or why the event happened in that way. This can open up a lot of insight on a lot of contentious events in our country right now. 

As I was reading through Welcome to the New World, I felt that it could be a very informative comic for the average person that wanted to read up on the topic of the refugee crisis more. It was really eye-opening, as you got a first person sort of view on two families who are very much in the thick of the crisis. You’re escaping violence and turmoil in your home country, hoping to make it to the US, a country where you can start over. But in reality, things might not be so different from the Middle East. As I saw in the comic, the families were constantly scared for their lives in the aftermath of Trump’s election, especially after the death threat forced them out of their home they initially settled in. The adults have trouble holding jobs with decent pay, and the kids are concerned with their appearance (especially the girls) constantly in school. All this ties up into a story that is very indeed true, since it is told from someone’s point of view. I think this comic can show people that we should not view these immigrants with fear, but instead with empathy and understanding due to the traumatic events they have been through.

For another piece of journalism, I read The Cop, the story about Darren Wilson, the cop who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014. I remembered first hearing about it on the news, and the massive backlash that followed. That backlash only got bigger when Wilson was not indicted for the killing. Although I agreed that what Wilson did was very bad and could have a lot of racist connections, I never heard Wilson’s side of the story. Even though it might be ugly, you still need every side of the issue in order to understand it fully. But with so many people against you, it might be hard to vocalise that side. As Jake told Wilson, “You might be the most hated man in America right now.” Reading through the article, I learned a lot of new things that I had not previously learned before, the most important one being the systematic racism in Ferguson, then and today. The Justice Department even released a report on it. The report gave me a very different view on what had happened that day, compared to the initial reports and the scenario that seems to stay with many Americans today. It just proves how just one bit of false reporting can have a nationwide impact.