There is No Shame in the Word Vagina!

To Be Popular or Not?

The Constitution is one of the founding documents of the United States, and the steps to electing a new president with the electoral college is found in Article II. According to electoral-vote.com each state gets the same number of electors equal to the number of representatives they have in Congress. Each state chooses their own electors but these electors are the actual people voting for the president. What the general public is voting for   is a slate of electors who have pledged to vote for a certain presidential candidate. Most states today have a "winner-takes-all," system, according to NARA, which means that all of the electoral votes go to the same candidate, the candidate who won the state's popular vote.

The Electoral College is an traditional system that many feel has its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to picking the next president of our country. For example, according to the Chicago Sun Times Blog, some disadvantages are that sometimes the candidate with the most popular votes will not be the winner in the electoral college. George W. Bush in 2000 is a strong example, because he did not win the popular vote, but managed to win the electoral college. Another example of a disadvantage that the electoral college according to How Does the Electoral College Work?, is that the "swing" states receive a larger amount of attention from the candidates, because they need that specific states electoral votes. If the election was based off of popular vote, then more attention will have to be payed to all states, because then each individual vote would count. Lastly the electoral college makes the election difficult for third party candidates because the majority, at least in a winner-takes-all state, has to vote for the third party.

According to Slate, one advantage of the electoral college is the fact that it is able to produce a clear winner. If the electoral college was changed to popular vote, the "what if" possibilities would increase and the entire system would need to be reevaluated. Another advantage of the electoral college, according to keyframe5, is that the smaller, less populated states play a role in the election, and prevent the bigger states such as Texas and California from controlling the election.

picture source: Chicago Sun Times and C-SPAN

Introducing Saad Mohseni, the MOBY Media Mogul

picture source

Saad Mohseni is a 44-year-old media entrepreneur in Afghanistan. He is the chairman of MOBY media group, the largest media group in Afghanistan and the group is linked to popular brands like Tolo TV and multiple radio shows. While being mainly involved with media, his is also well in tune with politics in Afghanistan and is considered somewhat of a radical himself. He has been criticized for being "un-Islamic for allowing women and men to be on the same show together, especially on the popular singing competition show in Afghanistan, Afghan Star. He has also been threatened to be arrested for his outspoken views against some aspects of the government and encouraging journalists to investigate the government corruption. MOBY media group has many branches that range from television, radio, and slowly into new media as well. If I ever have the chance to interview Mohseni I would ask, "How do you balance working in the media, while still living in a country that is mostly under the control of the Taliban, a group that is firmly against uncontrolled media?"

The New Yorker

I choose the article from the New Yorker because reading through the story, I could tell that the interviewer had met with Mohseni because of the detailed account of the day of the interview.

TIME Magazine

I used TIME Magazine because Mohseni was part of the 2011 TIME 100, so it was not a long article about Mohseni, but just gave the basic details and a small overview of what he has done.

MOBY Media Group

I used the MOBY media group website, because this is Mohseni's company and it held the information of all aspects of the group from broadcast, print, and even new media options that are trying to be implemented.

The Daily Show Interview

I used this site because it had a video interview of Mohseni. He talked about Afghan Star and the affect that is has had on Afghanistan and the contestants. It was a reliable source even though it was taken from comedy central because comedy was not the main part, getting the information and learning about the show was the central idea.

Step 1: Introductions

Hello! My name is Stephanie Cheek (or Steph if you prefer)

This is not my first attempt at a blog, but this is the first time that I am excited and looking forward to creating and posting in a blog. I am a sophomore Communication Major at Slippery Rock University, so I feel like I should have started a blog a long time ago, but my New-Media Journalism class gave me the push that I needed to start and actually enjoy blogging. 

I am like most college students enjoy spending time with friends whether in person or through Facebook. Facebook is one of the few social media sites that I am consistently on so my Twitter is completely new and foreign to me, but you learn by doing, so I'm starting. I am specifically interested in print journalism, and since the field is changing, this is a great opportunity to familiarize myself with social media and how it can be used to help me in the future. I hope to be able to blog on a regular basis and almost become addicted to constantly updating.

I grew up living bi-coastally, part of my time I lived with my mom in Los Angeles, CA, and the other part of my time I spent with my dad in Pittsburgh, PA. I love the fact that I grew up traveling and going on numerous vacations with my family, so it blossomed my love for traveling. I go through phases where I need to write on a regular basis, and others where I just create a list in my head of things that I want to write about. I love spending time with my friends and family and try to be up for almost anything, but I'm a true introvert at times wanting to curl up and read a book, watch a movie or my favorite television show.

Journalism and finding news has truly changed from more of a traditional route to a more convenient and easier way to find and read the news. An example of a traditional news source is USA Today. USA Today is one of the top newspapers in the country and captured audiences with their use of graphics and color. They cover a wide range of news topics while at the same time capturing attention. An example of a new-media outlet is Mashable. Mashable is a news website that has articles, pictures, videos, and even comics. It is a truly interactive news website that allows the audiences to be a part of the news. Also they actively participate in social media and have sections that range from business and world news to technology and entertainment, making it a news site for any age.

I look forward to continuing to post and travel through the world of blogging, so follow along and start passing notes!