TABLOID

While reading news from a tabloid magazine it is easy to notice the differences between this style of journalism and news in a regular newspaper. First, the headline must be shocking so it would call the reader’s attention immediately to the report. The text must be direct and interesting, with not much space for specific details and facts. The reporters don’t talk much about their sources, they simply spit out what they discovered.

The tabloid magazines sell exactly what a reader wants to know, while the regular newspapers sell what a reader should know.

New York City: The Rockefeller Center

The Rockefeller Center





The Rockefeller Center was built during the Great Depression by John D. Rockefeller Jr. The project provided work for over 40,000 people, some of whom you see in the photo above sitting on a cross beam. The official opening was in May 1933. However, its busy life fully started in the 1940's, when the Sixth Avenue subway opened for business, connected to the Rockefeller Center Concourse. By 1946, the Rockefeller Center was fully rented.

I know that one of the most famous views in the city is from a top floor in the Empire State Building, which used to be the tallest building in New York City, before the Twin Towers were built. After 9/11 it tragically recovered this status, but it is now being rapidly overtaken by the Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan. However, I prefer the Rockefeller view of Central Park, the Hudson River and even the Empire State.

This magnificent building is not only known by its great view from the top floor but for the fact that it is the studio of NBC television, which has many famous TV programs such as 30 Rock, The Voice and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Nowadays, the Rockefeller consortium also includes Radio City Music Hall, on the corner of 50th and 6th Avenue, where many important figures like Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli and Tony Bennett have performed.

The location of this NY must-see is 30 Rockefeller Plaza and the entrance is on 50th Street, between 5th & 6th avenues. The working hours are daily 8am - 12 Midnight (last elevator goes up at 11pm).
If you are coming from the Grand Central this is your best route, passing through 5th avenue with its big and wonderful stores.

I hope you enjoy very much your stay just as much as I did. Also, that you enjoy one of my favorite places in the city.

Atonement

Ian McEwan's book relates a story which begins in an old British country house just a few years away from World War II. He tells the readers about Briony Tallis, a 13-year-old inspired writer who is waiting anxiously to act her first play for her older brother Leon as a coming-home surprise. Their cousins, the twins (Jackson and Pierrot) and Lola, are coming from the North and are not very willing to help Briony with her production.

Parallel to that, Briony's older sister, Cecilia, is confronting the tensions in her relationship with Robbie, the son of one of the Tallis family servants. The Tallis father paid for Robbie's studies in Cambridge and both she and Robbie studied there together but saw nothing of each other. It is obvious that they feel something really strong for each other but their difficulty in handling that makes them frequently annoyed with each other.
Briony as the promising writer she already is, is full of curiosity and imagination, which will inevitably create a household catastrophe.
With a lot of specific detalis, not only about the scenario but the characters mind, the book from the first instant calls the readers attention to what is yet to come and so does the movie.

The movie, directed by Joe Wright stars Saoirse Ronan as young Briony and Romola Garai as the 18-year-old Briony, Keira Knightley as Cecilia and James McAvoy as Robbie. And it is not a bad adaptation, it has a wonderful photography and great actors. Also, as written in The New York Times review, '“Atonement” fails to be anything more than a decorous, heavily decorated and ultimately superficial reading of the book on which it is based.'

The story is about making a terrible mistake and the guilt that follows and how this actions can ruin lives forever. And Briony's effort to make atonement.

Egypt

The news that I would like to discuss is located in this link from the BBC.com:

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17920053

The Arab Republic of Egypt is a well known country, located in the north-eastern corner of Africa and south-western Asia. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by Palestine and Israel, on the south by Sudan, and on the west by Libya. Mostly, the country is acknowledged for its great history, the Nile, the Pyramids and its religion, Islam.

In any discussion of Egypt, it is important to remember that the country has a wonderful past which was closely tied to its belief in the Afterlife. The Egyptians believed in more than 20 gods and goddesses, and each one had its own role in the creation of the world, making the sun come up everyday and offering protection. So, it was the population's duty to recognize and worship them. Another belief was to mummify the body to preserve it for the Afterlife. The Pyramids were built for the pharaohs to house their mummified remains for "eternity".

The River Nile also retains a key role in the daily life of Egypt.  It is the longest river in the world and its name was quoted on the Pyramids, the great temples and in tales of mummies. "In fact, for thousands of years, the River has made life possible for hundreds of thousands of people and animals, and has shaped the culture we today are only beginning to truly understand"*.

The Arab Spring is the name given to a series of revolutions and protests that occurred in the Arab world between 2010-2012. For many years, dictatorships controlled not only the social life of the population but also the political and the economical aspects.

In the case of Egypt, the President's name was Hosni Mubarak. The protests in the country ran for 18 days. Right at the beginning, the government attempted to eliminate the nation's Internet access because the social media networks were helping the population to organize the protests. President Mubarak dismissed his government and trasferred his power to the Armed Forces of Egypt.

Now, there are 13 Egyptian candidates that will stand in the poll for President on 23 and 24 May. The candidates fall into categories of former regime figures, Islamists and independents.

The big difference between the Egyptian revolution in the Arab Spring and the other countries was that Egypt's protests were largely unarmed. However, this report shows a new wave of violence has already resulted in at least 20 civilians being killed in Cairo at a protest near the Ministry of Defence.

"Opposition to the SCAF (Supreme Council of Armed Forces ) has built up steadily since it assumed Mr Mubarak's presidential powers in February 2011. The council has been accused of stifling dissent by killing protesters, detaining critics and undermining the youth and civil society groups which led to the uprising." Some reports state that the attack was made by civilians, angry at the sit-in, which began on Sunday. The sit-in was a protest from the supporters of a Salafist preacher barred from competing in the election.


*http://www.touregypt.net/egypt-info/magazine-mag05012001-magf4a.htm
**http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Story.aspx?sid=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17859639

Risky Business: Extreme sports

At first, I chose this sport because the name caught my attention and I had never heard about it. Also, all the other sports made me uncomfortable because there were too many risks or simply heights involved. However, when I started my research about Zorbing, I was very curious about how it worked out. Zorbing is an extreme sport of rolling downhill in an orb. There are two types of orbs, harnessed and non-harnessed. The first is constructed for a maximum of three riders, while the second one carries up to one or two riders. 

As I said before, Zorbing is usually practiced downhill, but it also can be done on a level surface, which gives the rider more control. Sometimes ramps are built, when there is an absence of hill, inflatable, wooden or metal ramps. 

It seems to me to be a very exciting sport and not dangerous after all. I would love to try it out someday. I just need to find a hill...

Zorbing in Pigeon Forge in Tennessee:

A free press in a free world!

"Free press usually means the right to publish, a right to confidentiality of sources, and a right to access."*

Freedom of the press is directly related to vehicles of media and published materials, where the freedom of communcation and expression is essential. Freedom is considered the absence of any kind of interference from the state. However, it is not only an individual liberty, but also an institutional one. It shows that despite the fact that State organizations should interfere, they have an obligation to protect this freedom.

Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765):
"Where blasphemous, immoral, treasonable, schismatical, seditious, or scandalous libels are punished by English law … the liberty of the press, properly understood, is by no means infringed or violated. The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publication, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published. Every freeman has undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this is to destroy the freedom of the press: but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous, or illegal, he must take the consequences of his own temerity."

On Sunday, June 18, 1972, a small headline in the Washington Post said: "Five Held in Plot to Bug Democratic Offices Here". This entry told a story about a break-in inside the offices of the Democratic National Committe in the Watergate office complex in Washington. What may sound normal intrigued two young reporters, Carl Bernestein and Bob Woodward.

Right from the start, Woodward's notes shows that "police sources [said] that the men came from Miami, wore surgical gloves and carried thousands of dollars in cash. It was, said one source, 'a professional type operation.'"** Also, it was learned that the grand jury had sought testimony from two men who had worked in the Nixon White House, former CIA officer and former FBI agent.

After following the money leads and hearing unidentified sources, they were able to write an article that led to the first resignation of a U.S. President. The whole break-in was a plan to sabotage the Democratic's campaign, which President Nixon was full aware of.

Video:
"Former White House counsel John Dean tells the story to the Senate Watergate Committee, June 25, 1973."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2007/06/14/VI2007061401055.html

The question that remains about the Watergate scandal is: "What would have happened if there had not been a free press in the US?". The answer is simple: the population would never have discovered what Nixon's intentions were and what he was able to do as a President of the United States of America to get what he wanted.

In Brazil, the most important media is television. The private sector owns the majority of this media landscape, while a public broadcasting company is struggling to gain popularity but gets some criticism due to its close ties with the government.

Print media is still not very popular. Considering a current population of 190 million people, we have a small amount of newspaper circulation, only 8.4 copies per day nationally.

Also, internet and mobile phones should be considered. “According to Ibope figures, in 2008, there were 63.2 million people aged 16 or older who had access to the internet. […] And the Brazilian Agency for Telecommunications estimate that there are 91.9 cellphones for every 100 inhabitants”.

Concerning media ownership, some legal issues still remain. “The case of José Sarney against O Estado de S. Paulo has not been solved yet and its ending may influence the course of similar cases in Brazil, potentially posing a threat to freedom of press in the country”.***

José Sarney is a Brazilian politician. He supported the "Revolution of 1964", a military coup which resulted in a military junta which ruled the country for 20 years. In April 1985, Sarney became President of the country after the elected Tancredo Neves died before being able to take office.  

The newspaper The Economist publish a story called “Where dinosaurs still roam”:
"Mr Sarney may look like a throwback to an era of semi-feudal politics that still prevail in corners of Brazil and hold the rest of it back. But with the tacit support of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the country’s left-of-centre President, he was this week chosen to preside over the Senate. It is the third time in his career that he has held this powerful job, which confers a degree of control over the government’s agenda and opportunities for patronage".****

In conclusion, it is simple to say that free press is a right of the population and it has to be taken care of. There is a saying: "don't believe in everything that you read", but if a population is unable to research things on their own, they need to be able to rely on media landscapes. For that reason, a media without government interference is essencial.


Bibliography:
*http://faculty.ncwc.edu/mstevens/410/410lect09.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press
**http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/
***http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/Media_Landscapes/Brazil.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Sarney
****http://www.economist.com/node/13062220

A Day in the life of Luisa

My name is Luisa and I'm 20 years old and I would like to share my thoughts about my experience studying aboard. I started thinking about doing it since I was 16 years old, in High School, when all of my friends started coming back from their visits overseas.
In 2008, I went to Montreal, Quebec, to study English for three weeks. However, I had to leave my boyfriend in Brazil, which made me sad enough to enjoy next to nothing during my time there. In time, I had to face the music and realize that it was only my fault that I didn't put any effort into liking it.
In my time as a college student, I met a lot of friends who did a study aboard and years after they came back, they still missed it. So, the idea came to me again. At first, I was dragging my feet because my time in Canada wasn't very pleasent for me. But, it also made me realize that I needed new experiences.
My best friend, Giovanna, always told me to keep my chin up when I began to be afraid of coming to New York City. I'm so thankful to her. She never let me forget that with everything else in my life, I always let my hair down with no worries or fears. "Why should this experience be different?", she said.
And she was right. Everything here is amazing. I made a lot of friends that I will keep in my heart for life. I even met my boyfriend here. I'm learning a lot in my International Affairs class, also my General English class. I got my first internship in a company called Be&D. Everything has exceeded my expectations. And American food is 'finger lickin' good'!


Dictionary:
1. A bad-mouth somebody:
to say unpleasant things about someone or something, especially in order to spoil other people's opinions of them.

2. 'Break a leg!':
good luck in a theatrical way.

3. To drag one's feet:
to deal with something slowly because you do not really want to do it.

4. To get out of hand:
it cannot be controlled any more.

5. To face the music:
to accept responsibility for something you have done.

6. 'Finger lickin' good':
excellent food.

7. To keep your chin up:

remain cheerful in a difficult situation.

8. To let your hair down:
behave in a free or uninhibited manner.

9. To learn STG by heart:
to learn something so well that it can be written or recited without thinking; to memorize something.

10. To get off on the wrong foot:

make a bad start.