My Digital Self

The news stories that I follow closely are those that appear on social media and particularly, the news about the injustice done within the black communities around the United States. One of the very first cases being Treyvon Martin and George Zimmerman. I was in middle school when that story became a national phenomenon. February of 2012, George Zimmerman killed a young boy because he felt threatened as the boy was walking from the local store in a black hoodie with an Arizona Iced Tea and Skittles. As of July 2013, Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges against him and there have only been more since that day. I feel as though every night since that night I have watched the news only to hear about more cases of unarmed black Americans getting killed by police that as punishment, simply get paid suspensions. Sandra Bland who’s traffic stop, resulted in her sentenced to jail and a ruled suicide. The state trooper, Brian Encinia’s perjury charges were dropped because he agreed to permanently end his law enforcement career. Those are not stories from my hometown, however, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. June 15th, an 18 year old was shot multiple times, by a Mount Pleasant Police officer, twice in the head because he tried running away after he was stopped for riding his bike without reflective gear. The investigation is still active to determine why lethal force was used. When I go onto my facebook account and see a link to my hometown’s journal article, I always check it out to make sure that I do not see anyone I know personally.

I can watch the stories on the news, typically Fox 6 or WISN 12 ,and see the articles on my social media sites.I unfortunately do not go onto The Journal Times website to read the articles, because I rely on my social media to have shared any local news. My favorite news source is Facebook. There is shared content pertaining to my hometown and news all around the world that I as well my facebook friends, feel is worthy of national attention. A lot of the time, I only recieve my news from my social media sites, but my parents like to watch the news before bed and they usually listen to the things that happened in our surrounding towns and cities. When I want to hear about the latest gossip about famous people, I listen to The Breakfast Club radio podcast. Every morning the three host talk about the latest gossip, whether it’s President Trump, drama on a reality show, such as the Kardarshians. They bring humor and a variety of news for their audience to listen to. Unfortunately, I do not go searching for news stories and I don’t fact check by googling. When I find out about a story of some kind, I just check that source and its link to determine if I can find the information trustworthy. For instance, when I find out about local news in my hometown via my social media, I will look for the “The Journal Times” logo to make sure it is in fact, legitimate. While I reside in Whitewater, I rely on campus apps and emails to alert me when there is a threat, or something just wrong in general. With that being said, I don’t listen out for our radio broadcast or watch the campus television broadcast to hear any important information pertaining to the campus. I think social sites can get the job done more efficiently for a student who is always on the go like myself.