Media Law & Literacy Course

The technology I chose to research is Bluetooth. Bluetooth is a type of technology that allows you to connect one device to another in order to share data. Bluetooth originated at the Swedish telecommunications company, Ericsson. Nils Rydbeck and Johan Ullman comissioned Jaap Haartson and Sven Mattisson to come up with short link radio technology. The goal was to not have as many cables between different technologies. Bluetooth is not tied or linked to any product but instead managed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. They are a committee who revises standards and licenses technology and trademarks to manufacturers. Bluetooth is advanced enough that you can connect to multiple devices from one device. For example, my iPhone allows me to be able to Bluetooth my car, speaker, headphones, friend's car, my printer, and much more. However, once a device is conncted you cannot connect to another at the same time. When people think of Bluetooth, they likely think of cars. New ca...

When watching, listening, or reading the news it is not often that we hear about strong anti war agendas. This may be for a number of reasons, but I believe it is because most Americans think that war corresponds with strength, and everyone wants to belive they live in a strong country. Lots of companies also profit off of war, and want to promote wars so they continue to make profit. Another reason could be that American wants to tell its citizens that war is good and worth the money, resources, and lives. If the media was constantly promoting anti-war agendas, the morale of the general public would decrease and the government would have to deal with people arguing war and protesting it. I think that people have to seek out these obscure websites to read about this topic because the media and government do not want people hearing about it. In America, people who are antiwar are typically a minority, and their writings do not get as much traffic as they shoud. I think that everyone s...

The times of the Civil War may seem long gone, but they are in fact relevant and occuring today. During the recent protests, protestors have been tearing down and vandalising Confederate statues that were put up after the Civil War. The Black community is upset and outraged (for good reason) at the treatment they have been recieveing, especially from the police and government. Having statues of generals who fought for slavery is not a good image and is upsetting for most people. Most southern lawmakers have made it harder to get rid of these statues, so protestors have gone in a different direction in eliminating them. One of the six freedoms in the first amendment is the freedom to assemble/petition. This allows the protest against the government to occur. The amendment says that they must be peaceful, however the mistreatment of Black people for so long has caused many to protest aggressively. In an ideal world, peaceful protests would immediately lead to change. This is not the c...

My previous blog post was about the Black Lives Matter movement and its impact and importance. When asked to look through a 'First Amendment Lens' I immediately thought again about the movement. Earlier today, I witnessed Starbucks getting backlash not allowing their employees to wear BLM tshirts. Many employees reported that they were told not to wear BLM shirts while working at Starbucks, and many quit because of this. When people found out, they were upset because it is people's freedom to represent a movement, especially if they believe it to be important. After the backlash, Starbucks quickly changed their stance and designed BLM shirts for all employees to wear and are standing behind the movement.  Without the First Amendment, employees would not have been able to post about and expose Starbucks for their ban, and Starbucks could have easily gotten away with banning their employees from wearing certain shirts. The First Amendment is especially applicable in t...

The videos and topics of Week 3 were related to the Supreme Court and its beginnings. The Supreme Court is the most powerful judicial body on Earth. In the beginning, people did not want to Court to have as much power and authority as it does today. Over the years, it has grown and advanced. In these videos, the first thing I learned was that people can send petitions to the Supreme Court for any number of reasons. They have the ability to draw boundaries of the governments power and tell individual states what they can or cannot do. They recieve more than 100 new cases a week, but the court accepts very few for full consideration.They decide which cases get their attention in conferences that are held weekly. Once a case is decided, lawyers argue the case in court in front of all 9 Supreme Court justices, which can be very nervewracking. After their decision, they have to write their opinion which bonds it and informs the public as to why they chose to make that decision. This part ...

When asked to write about a news story relevant to the First Amendment and a dispute, the first thing that comes to mind is the situation happening between people of color and the police. Many Black (and white) Americans are outraged at how the police and society treat Black people. There has been a build up of many cases where innocent Black people have had their lives taken by the police being overly violent and brutal when not necessary. The George Floyd case recently sparked an outrage from a group of people who have been oppressed for far too long. Protests have been occurring all over the U.S., and even in other countries. These protests are a perfect example of the First Amendment. Because of the First Amendment, people have the freedom to speak up about the Black Lives Matter movement, whether they are for or against it. Media has the ability to inform the public about what is going on and report their standings on the situation. The government cannot stop anyone from protest...

Hi! My name is Sam Brewster and I am from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I am studying Strategic Communications and Sales. At High Point, I am involved in Phi Mu and Big Brothers, Big Sisters. I hope to join more clubs this year and become more involved. After graduation, I hope to work for a PR or advertising firm! I would love to be able to travel for work and to meet new people along the way.