Sentinel Konah Live Feed - Konah 2017-2018In addition to a comprehensive on-site report of the Spartan volleyball team taking their second Montana State AA Title, this page included a "live" Twitter feed. During the 2017 State Tournament I was able to tweet out the scores of each game to update the student body on how their team was doing. This incorporation of social media to the reporting added an element of interest to the student body. They could then read the paper to learn an in-detail recap of how the team performed at the state tournament.
Along with the State volleyball tournament I was able to attend and report on the final two games of the boys' and girls' State AA basketball tournament. With constant updates on scoring from both the boys' game as the faced of against the Great Falls High and the girls' in their State Championship game against Helena High. Tweeted from my personal account and then retweeted on the our school's student section account, students and staff could be updated on the Spartans as they competed. YouTube Drops Vlogger Logan Paul - Konah 2017-2018Aston Kinsella
Editor-in-Cheif YouTube has dropped vlogger Logan Paul from the Google Preferred program after he posted a video of a dead body he filmed hanging from a tree in Japan’s colloquially titled “suicide forest.” The Google Preferred program is a lucrative advertising network for certain YouTube channels that results in members having more favorable ad rates. On Monday, Dec.31, 2017, Paul posted his final video of the year. The video’s original intent was to conclude Paul’s three-part series on his trip to Japan. Paul and his companions ventured into the Aokigahara forest, known for its history as a location for people attempting and completing suicide, in hopes to capture some paranormal events that the forest has become infamous for. However the video resulted in the discovery of a supposed dead body of a person who completed suicide. Paul began his video with a personal address to his audience, as quoted from NYMag.com, saying, “This is not clickbait. This is the most real vlog I’ve ever posted to this channel. I think this definitely marks a moment in YouTube history because I’m pretty sure this has never hopefully happened to anyone on YouTube ever.” Going forward in the video Paul tells his viewers to be prepared for what’s in store for them, “Now with that said: Buckle the (expletive) up, because you’re never gonna see a video like this again!” The 15 minute video contained some mild jokes about the surrounding area and other comments as the group hiked through the forest. It is then that Paul and friends noticed a body hanging farther off in the distance. After questioning if it was just a person and then realizing he was filming a dead body, Paul turns the camera to himself, to explain, “So, a lot of things are going through my mind. This is a first for me.” Also adding that, “Suicide is not a joke. Depression and mental illness are not a joke. This obviously just became very real.” After the posting of the video it was viewed more than 6 million times before the video was pulled from YouTube on Jan. 1, 2018. At the same time Paul posted an apology on Twitter, apologizing that he posted the video and for all the criticism. He said that he thought he could “make a positive ripple on the internet, not a monsoon of negativity.” A majority of the criticisms came from the people’s views that he was using the person to gain publicity, that he was insensitive to the situation, and that his light-hearted stance and the humor and laughter that was in the video was rude to what had happen to that person. After receiving additional criticism that his Twitter apology wasn’t sincere, Paul posted a two and a half minute video apology, describing that he was truly sorry. He claims he did not intend for the video to send the message as it has been received. On Jan. 3, 2018, Paul took to Twitter once again to say that he would be taking a break from YouTube. YouTube has also announced that Paul will not be featured in the fourth season of the YouTube Red scripted original “Foursome.” YouTube’s prior actions against Paul included giving him a strike for his violation of its posted community guidelines. His participation in the upcoming YouTube original film “Thinning: New World Order,” a sequel to another of his YouTube Red projects, has been put on hold. This article was created to accurately recall the events of famous YouTube vlogger Logan Paul's controversial video. The relevance to the student public is created from a mass social media attachment, additionally the news had been circulating within the public for over three weeks. I took it upon myself to investigate what happened to clear up any rumors that were circulating the school and answer why it was so important in the media.
Sticks and Stones: Take time to Think before you Tweet - Konah 2017-2018 |
Coming off a heated Twitter debacle where Sentinel students were arguing over the disparity of support between athletic programs and musical/drama productions, I not only included a recap of the weekend's fight, but also discussed the underlying issue of the fight, while at the same time comparing it the current state of the country as a whole. The article was published no later than five days after the fight.