Meet Baby Sussex!

Welcome to parenthood, Harry and Meghan.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their first child on Monday, May 6th, 2019 at approximately 5:26 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs and 3 oz. On Monday, Prince Harry announced his son's birth.

"I am just over the moon," said Harry.

They named their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Earlier on Wednesday, they introduced their son to the world in a highly orchestrated photo opportunity at Windsor castle.

"It's magic, it's pretty amazing, and I have the two best guys in the world, so I'm really happy," Meghan said.

The official announcement came with a black and white photo showing Queen Elizabeth II meeting her new grandson. According to CBS, the monarch was next to her husband Prince Philip and her grandson, Prince Harry, and Meghan stood beside her mother, Doria Ragland.  Archie became 7th in line to the British throne the moment he was born.


"Parenting is amazing. It's only been, what, two and a half days, but we're just so thrilled to have our own little bundle of joy," said Prince Harry.

Click here to watch the Duke and Duchess of Sussex make their first public appearance with their royal baby.

Harry and Meghan thanked the public for their well wishes and are excited to spend some special time with him as he slowly starts to grow up.

The Future of Technology

Google just announced two new, awesome features for Android phones that will be a huge help to those who are deaf or hard of hearing. One of the features they just released is an app called Live Transcribe that automatically starts writing out what it hears in easy-to-read text. The other incredible feature Google has created is the Sound Amplifier. Sound Amplifier is designed for those with hearing loss, allowing you to tweak sound settings to improve your ability to hear, almost like a hearing aid app! The only downside of these new features is that an Internet connection is required. Both will be available preinstalled on Pixel 3 phones in accessibility settings and also available via the Google Play Store for other phones. Purchase today if you are one who struggles with your hearing daily and wants to gain a better future

through the help of technology! 

The Big Blog reveal!

Personal blogging has changed the world of mass communication.

The term 'blog" came from a shortened version of "web log" and was one of the earliest forms of mass communication opportunities for many people who wanted to write online content.

The Internet has changed the world of mass communication.

When the Internet was invented in 1983 and blogging started not too long after, in 1999; It has changed the way people communicate and the way people live their lives.

Forms of communication have broadened, whether it be through social media, news stories, or the Internet. In 2011, 90% of the media is controlled by only 6 mainstream companies- GE, Disney, News Corp, Viacom, CBS, Time Warner. These 6 companies control what we read, watch, and listen to on the Internet.

Although communicating is a lot easier nowadays, it can definitely be difficult at times.

To begin, media promotes the 1st amendment, which allows more people and press to share their ideas and beliefs. As the 1st amendment is amazing in which we can have a voice, it also makes blogging complicated. Furthermore, personal blogging and articles you find on the Internet can be controversial because there's more tension as more people express their opinions and beliefs. Moreover, it can be challenging because someone may not agree with your thoughts and ideas.

In addition, communicating through the Internet and blogging does have it's positive traits. It empowers individuals and allows us to express our personality, character, and emotions. It provides content of recent news and allows us to tell stories with the rest of the world.

It's crazy to think that we are able to write and tell our story or someone else's and it has changed the way people communicate. Blogging and storytelling through the Internet have not only changed the world, but also the world of mass communication.

This past semester for COM 1450, my Media Law and Literacy class, we have had to write weekly blog posts on everything and anything related to politics, history, the 1st amendment, privacy, technology, and other current news related topics. As I reflect back on what I've learned from this class and from my blog, I have learned to be more connected and involved with the news and how to relate and find a news story that corresponds to what we learned that week.

I was amazed by how they all connected. For example, we learned about the history of technology through a detailed timeline. We had to write a blog post on something related to technology, so when I was searching for something on the news, I found that Google had recently released two new apps to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing. I was so fascinated about how you can find current news that connects with something you may have learned that day. I was never confused or had a difficult time finding something to write about in my blog. I found stuff that interested me and I wrote about it.

Overall, I really enjoyed blogging this semester and I will definitely be continuing my blog on all things related to news or my daily life!

Check back soon to see where the rest of my journey goes with my blog!

Social Media vs. Mental Health

Social Media has taken over the world.

Not only physically, but also mentally.

Researchers have conducted experiments to determine whether or not social media harms your mental health.

The most popular social media platforms are Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. All of these platforms are a popular source for news and celebrity gossip, as well as sharing your life with others.

Since social media has blossomed, mental disorders among young adults have become more common, such as anxiety, body shaming, self-consciousness, isolation, and depression. The numbers increase every year and we must find a solution to find a balance between social media and our health.

According to center4research, "In 2016, an estimated 44.7 million adults aged 18 or older in the U.S. had a mental illness."

Social Media has always had a bad reputation as it provides a condescending message. Although it's great to provide beautiful photos from your recent trip to Costa Rica or videos from Coachella or even a selfie from your perfect wedding day, social media sends a message to others saying "Look at me, I'm prettier than you" or helps boost someone's confidence.

We are living in an age where appearance is put first before a lot of other things. We always want to present ourselves best and look the best. Social media puts out your good qualities, but it can also hide the negative qualities that you don't want others to see. It gives people the attention they want through likes, comments, and follows.

This being said, it has hurt many through mental illnesses. The risk increases if you spend two or more hours on social media. One psychology professor San Diego University discovered that teens who spend five or more hours a day online were 71% more likely to have at least 1 risk factor for suicide compared to teens who spent only 1 hour a day online.

Overall, we need to be more cautious and aware of how many social media platforms we use and the amount of time spent on them. This can greatly affect your mental health and may harm you for the rest of your life.

Mediasphere- What is a Whistleblower?

One term I found interesting was whistleblower from group 2's project based on the idea of mediasphere.

A whistleblower is someone who exposes corruption in an organization. They expose any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organization that is private or public. She was in some way apart of the government who leaked private information.

The Whistleblower protection act of 1989 is a law that protects federal employees from retaliatory action for voluntarily disclosing information about dishonest information within a government organization.

Whistleblowers can face legal action, criminal charges, and social stigmas from any job if they get caught or if the information they have disclosed gets released.

Chelsea Manning is a perfect example of this policy. Manning was a former U.S army soldier and whistleblower. In July of 2013, she released over 700,000 military and diplomatic documents to Wikileaks. Due to her leaking classified databases, she was charged with 22 offenses, which including aiding the enemy. Moreover, could have led her to the death penalty. She also got charged with espionage and theft and was put under solitary confinement for a year.

In all, Manning has been imprisoned since 2010 and will continue to remain in jail until she agrees to testify before a grand jury. She's refused every time.

Critics have stated that Chelsea Manning has received too hard of a punishment as others state that Manning deserved to get charged with aiding the enemy for releasing important, confidential information.

Watch the video below to get a better insight of Chelsea Manning's case.

HACKED!!! Be careful what you post...

I watched a series of TED talks that focus on your online privacy.

Privacy is the most vexing and controversial topic of the millennial digital age. Your information used to be private.

Moreover, I learned that what you post on the internet is there forever, regardless if you delete it 0.001 seconds later, and for anyone to see. "It's like a permanent tattoo," said Juan Enriquez. Enriquez discussed the permanent effects of digital sharing on our personal privacy.

This being said, NOTHING is private on the Internet.


Whether it's a photo of you and your friends, a blog post about french fries, your credit card information, your GPS, your home address... it's out there for anyone to find and either use or steal.

The internet is an electronic tattoo and it follows you everywhere!

The 1st TED talk described the Internet as an "electronic tattoo" that can't be undone or erased because once you press send, it will remain in channels for people to discover and find, even if you may think it's deleted. There may be information about yourself that you don't even know about or may not be aware of. There is always something people like and dislikes about themselves on the Internet and it sucks knowing that the information we may not like can't be permanently deleted.

The fascinating thing that caught my attention was face recognition on iPhones. Face recognition on mobile phones is 84-94% accurate, which is a high percentage knowing that your phone can tell you the difference of people with names in the photo you've just taken. "It's getting hard to hide from all of this," said Enriquez. In addition, it not only gets that person's name but it also captures their identity and records.

Face.com has about 18 billion faces that they have recognized within photos that have been posted through various social media platforms and anyone can search for you.

Another TED talk that intrigued me was the one with Catherine Crump. She talked about the automatic license plate reader that police use to detect where you go, when you go, and with whom. These cameras are innocuously placed around America to catch known criminals. They catch every passing car and covert your license plate data into machine-readable text to check background information and to see if that person has done something bad.

This can hurt the rest of us because police are not only trying to track the "mean" guys, but they are also tracking and getting more information from people who are doing the right things and are far from being in the wrong.

Nonetheless, when the police capture this data, the government can also control and capture this data. They track your every move without you even realizing it.

In all, after viewing these informative TED talks, I've learned more about my privacy than I ever have before. I learned that pretty much anything and everything is not private anymore, whether you post it or someone else posts it.

I am now a lot more aware of my online privacy, the data that's collected about me, and the potential risks of what it could do me. I will make it a goal of mine to be more careful about what I personally post on the Internet.

Check out this link to watch a video about Internet Privacy with ABC News.

Policy- What has this generation come to?! News deserts and cord cutting?

Over the past few years, our world has changed drastically.

People have started to steer away from print and have gone digital. People have also turned away from paying for cable and have pursued cheaper monthly subscriptions.

This being said, two major key policy terms have become prominent to newer generations- news deserts and cord cutting.

News deserts is a term used to describe a community or town that is no longer covered by daily newspapers. This affects many as newspapers are one of the major sources of reliable news locally, statewide, and nationally. This term emerged when hundreds of daily newspapers were closing in certain cities.

News deserts may affect the community in which people must rely on the internet instead to look for important news, moreover, it can affect people who don't even have internet access. People who want to read about more local news are out of luck. They are left with no daily news outlet. In addition, kids who live in these towns may not get to experience the impact of newspapers.

The benefits are using fewer paper products and taking advantage of Google. The cons are missing local news, having to purchase wifi for internet access, and not finding the news you're interested in.

Next, cord cutting is similar in the way it "cuts" how people used to watch TV to moving people in the direction of what's more popular now, which is purchasing monthly subscriptions to television networks online. Whether it's on your smart TV or laptop, there's a variety of companies that give you the option to pay a fixed monthly fee. Some of these companies include Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube TV.





The benefits of canceling or "cord cutting" your cable is lower costs, no contract, lower equipment costs, and you receive an a la carte channel selection. You can also watch what you want when you want without any interruptions. The downfalls are most likely you still need to pay some sort of fee, you may still need cable or satellite, could cause streaming limits, and not all companies offer the same channels.

All in all, there are pros and cons to both news deserts and cord cutting. These policy changes have affected many, regardless if your old, young, black, white, gay, or straight. These terms have given generations a different perspective on life, due to the fact that print newspapers and TV cable are slowly disappearing.

Here is a guide on how to ditch TV cable and stream happily ever after.