Elections in Egypt

Egypt is getting ready to elect a new president. So far ten of the candidates who were in the running have been barred from the election due to different disqualifications. Three of them are known for being very controversial. Some argue that barring these polarising candidates will create an opportunity for more moderate ones to emerge. On April 26th a final list of candidates will be published. This information may not seem relevant to you, and it may not be. The reason I chose an article from The Stream is to point out that America's CNN, NBC, FOX, etc. isn't the only source for news. This is one site that I use for my international news, but there are many others in English. When international stories enter the media spotlight it is important to check other sources outside of our country. This will help objectify the view point of the story. Checking these international sources regularly will help us understand what's going on in the rest of the world and take the focus of America. Yes, we have our problems here and that's most peoples' main concern, but if you look at these sites it might give you some insight into why we have these problems here. We all know gas is expensive because of tension in the Middle East, but that's just from America's viewpoint. Check out this site and find a few more to find out what's really going on in this new global economy.

Judge Stepping Aside

The controversial Trayvon Martin shooting has caused an uproar in the media over the past several weeks. Most recently on Wednesday the defenses motion to disqualify the appointed judge, Jessica Recksiedler, was approved. This is all because her husband works with a CNN legal analyst. Recksiedler said in her decision that while the findings on each basis were "legally insufficient" for disqualification, "the cumulative effect of the events and the totality of the circumstances provides a legally sufficient basis for this court to grant the motion to disqualify," a statement from the court said. Cases such as this and the Casey Anthony case stir up so much controversy in the media that the facts of a case seem to become highly skewed. Yes, it is important to identify crimes in the media to show others that they can't get away with them, but is it taken too far? In Casey Anthony's case the media along with most of the world "knew" she was guilty and would be sentenced. Despite all of the media attention and all of the circumstantial evidence she was proven not guilty by the jury. These cases do need some attention from the media to show that people are paying attention. I do believe the attention will deter future instances like this from happening, but if the media frenzy causes these crimes to go virtually unpunished are they really helping? Do you think the media's attention on that case and more relevantly the Trayvon Martin case hurts the outcome?  What would be a better way for the media to handle cases with such high interest?