JOUR 3101

By Maia Irvin  I think that the Star Tribune generally does a good job of posting news content on their social media pages, especially Instagram. The story that the Tribune posted on Instagram about the sled dog marathon  had a good layout for news content on social media.  The post had most of the necessary and basic information as well as a colorful and lively anecdote in the post's caption. The post itself was a series of several pictures depicting the characters described in the anecdote. The full story on the Tribune's website is then linked at the bottom of the caption. I think that sharing news content like this is different than a traditional story because there are more pictures, and the pictures are what catch the eye and are highlighted in the post since Instagram is a platform meant for sharing pictures for the most part. The point of a post like this is to catch the eyes of readers who are quickly scrolling past and may not otherwise read the story.  I like the pos

By Maia Irvin  On Monday, Arizona and Wisconsin certified their election results and stated that President-elect Joe Biden won in these states, according to several news sources.  Arizona election officials formalized Biden as the winner in Arizona over President Donald Trump and stated that Biden won by about a 10,000 vote margin, according to AP news . Just hours after Arizona announced its election results, Wisconsin officials also declared Biden the official winner in Wisconsin, according to The New York Times . Biden won Wisconsin against Trump by more than 20,000 votes, the Times reported.  Wisconsin's certification came after the state conducted recounts in two counties that the Trump campaign requested and paid $3 million for, the Times reported. Biden actually gained 87 votes after these recounts, according to the Times.  Officials did not expect the 20,000 vote margin that Biden had over Trump in Wisconsin to change significantly after these recounts, the Times reported. 

By Maia Irvin  On Wednesday, President Donald Trump pardoned former national security officer Michael Flynn after he had pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI, according to news sources.  Flynn was Trump's first national security officer and in 2017, he lied to the FBI about conversations he had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, according to NBC . Flynn asked Kislyak if Russia would wait on any retaliatory sanctions against the U.S. since Trump planned to reverse the sanctions that the Obama administration imposed on Russia, NBC reported.  Flynn initially pleaded guilty to lying about this conversation to the FBI, but he later withdrew his plea and substituted it with a  second plea of not guilty after accusing the government of trying to frame him, NPR reported.  Trump announced the pardon via Twitter , and critics said that Trump's action to grant Flynn a full pardon interfered with the justice system, according to NPR. This was not a surprise to most people thoug

By Maia Irvin  Time and again, western media projects a false and stereotypical image of Africa. This image is generally dominated by underdeveloped cities, governments incapable of helping their citizens and poverty among most of the population of the continent.  Western news organizations have historically reported this image of Africa, and they continue to do so today. Now, though, it can be more subliminal and less outright than in the past. This BBC article from September provides an example of this more subliminal stereotyping of Africa.  The article is about the incredulity and immense surprise that many people had when Africa, specifically South Africa, was reporting such low death rates from COVID-19. Many people expected there to be a severe outbreak in Africa because Africans live in crowded places rife with poverty. So when Africa seemed to be doing much better with COVID-19 numbers than much of the rest of the "developed" world, people started trying to look for

By Maia Irvin  On Tuesday, Scottish lawmakers unanimously voted to make period products freely available in public places, becoming the first country in the world to do so, according to news sources.  The Period Products bill makes menstrual products available for free in public buildings, according to CNN . These public buildings will include schools and universities across the country, CNN reported.  This law is intended to end period poverty, The New York Times reported. Period poverty is a term that represents the expense of period products that has left many of those who require them without access to them, according to the Times.  Several women's rights and equality groups praised the law as well as several Scottish lawmakers like Monica Lennon who is the lawmaker who introduced the bill last year, according to CNN.  "[This is] a signal to the world that free universal access to period products can be achieved," Lennon said after Tuesday's vote.  While this is

By Maia Irvin  On Tuesday, pro-democracy protesters in Thailand were met with opposition from police as they attempted to enter the grounds of Parliament, according to news sources.  About 1,000 protesters, who were part of the student-led protest movement in Thailand, tried to enter the grounds of Parliament to advocate for constitutional changes, according to AP News . The protesters were met with opposition from the police who used tear gas and water cannons to keep the protesters out of the Parliament grounds, AP reported.  This protest was considered the most violent since this protest movement in Thailand began in July, according to BBC News .  Protesters threw smoke bombs and bags of paint at the police, according to BBC. The police then responded with tear gas and water cannons laced with a tear-gas solution, BBC reported.  The protesters also clashed with royalists who do not want constitutional change, AP reported.  About 40 people were injured, and five people were shot, acc

By Maia Irvin  This New York Times story is about Hurricane Iota, a category 4 storm that hit Nicaragua on Monday. Hurricane Iota hit less than 2 weeks since Hurricane Eta slammed much of Central America.  The nut graph of this story appears three paragraphs into the report. This story's nut graph explains why Hurricane Iota hitting Nicaragua right now is even more important to pay attention to than normal.  "Central America is still reeling from Hurricane Eta, which struck less than two weeks ago and made landfall about 15 miles from where Iota did. Aid workers are still struggling to reach communities cut off by washed-out bridges, downed trees and flooded roads."  One of the human sources used in this story is Dennis Felgen, a spokesman and meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center. He commented on the nature of the similarities between both of the hurricanes. Another human source used was Sadma Vinicius, who is a father of three from Nicaragua, and he brought

By Maia Irvin  On Monday, officials reported that President Trump is expected to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia before his presidential term is over in January, according to news sources.  The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan would be halved, according to a draft order at the Pentagon,  The New York Times  reported. The Times also reported that the U.S. would withdraw almost all of the over 700 U.S. troops in Somalia.  Currently, there are 4,500 to 5,000 troops in Afghanistan and over 3,000 troops in Iraq, according to AP News .  National security officials said that withdrawing from these countries could have drastic effects, the Times reported. Republican leaders warned that a hasty exit from Afghanistan could disturb the peace process and current counterterrorism efforts, AP reported.  However, others have said that it is time for the U.S. to withdraw from these countries.  "We met the challenge; we gave it our all," Christopher Mi

By Maia Irvin  I think the  CNN  story about the distribution of the electoral votes and how Biden won included voter data in a way that was compelling. In this story, CNN laid out a lot of their voter data by using compelling visuals like colorful maps and graphs. I think that this visual component adds to the story and how readers understand the voter data.  So, CNN did a good job of visually laying out the data for readers, but the journalists also did a good job of synthesizing the election result and voter data in their written reporting. I think that most readers would have still been able to understand and digest what the journalists wrote, which is good, without the visuals. The graphics make the story more compelling though and propel the reader to continue reading.  The sources for a lot of the data that the journalists presented in this story were state election offices.  The data that the journalists included and analyzed in this news story compliment a larger story about h

By Maia Irvin  On Tuesday, Governor Tim Walz announced new COVID-19 restrictions and safety measures to combat the growing spread of the virus in Minnesota, according to news sources.  Walz announced at a press conference that the state will be adding new COVID-19 restrictions as Minnesota's COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations continue to increase, according to KARE 11 . The new restrictions are meant to target situations in which primarily young people congregate such as restaurants, funerals and wedding receptions, according to CBS .  CBS reported that 71% of Minnesota's spreading cases are happening in social settings.  These restrictions will go into effect at 10 p.m. Friday and will limit the capacity of social gatherings, weddings and funeral receptions, and bars and restaurants, KARE 11 reported.  Walz stated that this spread is not restricted to the metro, but it erupted in other parts of Minnesota as well, according to KARE 11.  "Every corner of our state

By Maia Irvin  On Monday, the drug-making company Pfizer announced an analysis of its coronavirus vaccine trial suggested the vaccine was effective in preventing the virus, according to news sources.  Pfizer and German biotechnology firm BioNTech developed this vaccine, according to The Washington Post . This coronavirus vaccine is one of four in the U.S. that is in the last stages of testing, the Post reported.  A review of this vaccine found that it was more than 90% effective in preventing the virus among those with no evidence of prior infection, according to The New York Times . The clinical trial involved 44,000 people, and so far, there have only been 94 cases of COVID-19 in those who were not previously infected, according to the Post.  Pfizer plans to ask the FDA for emergency authorization of the vaccine after the third week of November, the Post reported.  Independent scientists still urge caution though against hyping up these results, the Times reported.  "We need to

By Maia Irvin  On Thursday, the Central American death toll from Hurrican Eta rose to 13 after it left countries from Panama to Guatemala with fatal flooding, landslides and mudslides, according to news sources.  The Associated Press reported Eta initially hit Nicaragua on Tuesday as a Category 4 Hurricane. The hurricane had 140 mph winds when it hit, according to The Washington Post .  The National Hurricane Center called the storm life-threatening, according to the Post  "This rainfall will lead to catastrophic, life-threatening flash flooding and river flooding," the Hurricane Center wrote, the Post reported. This flooding led to landslides and mudslides that resulted in the deaths of several people, the AP reported.  As of Thursday, four people have died in Guatemala, seven in Honduras and two in Nicaragua, the AP reported Authorities in Guatemala reported that about 100 homes were flooded, the AP reported. Many people fled their homes with nothing but the clothes on the

By Maia Irvin  On Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Health reported another single-day record of COVID-19 cases in Minnesota, according to news sources.  According to the Star Tribune , the Department of Health reported 3,483 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, which is a new single-day record for the state. The state also reported 15 more deaths on Tuesday due to COVID-19, MPR reported.  COVID-19 case totals in Minnesota are now at 157,096 cases and 2,499 deaths, according to the Star Tribune.  MPR reported that rural areas in Minnesota are reporting the most new cases, especially in western in northwestern parts of the state. Health officials are urging people to continue taking COVID-19 safety precautions such as avoiding large gatherings, wearing masks and social distancing, the Star Tribune reported. Officials are also asking people to cooperate with contact tracers, according to the Star Tribune.  Minnesota's COVID-19 positivity rate is currently at 9%, according to the Star T

By Maia Irvin  Before the election, I primarily got my news from newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post . During and after the first night of the election, I continued looking at their live updates, especially from The New York Times because its online platform has several tracking graphics for readers.  I also consumed a lot of live broadcast coverage from different national news networks, but I did spend more time watching ABC News compared to other networks.  I think that overall all of these news outlets have done a good job reporting results so far. The Times has constant updates on the projected election results of every state. The Times has also reported specific updates from key battleground states that are still counting their votes.  ABC News has also done a good job staying updated on projections and updates from swing states. So far, the news network has reported on several news conferences from different swing states to give updates on the counting of