A Frantic Friday

Steve Ratigan and Danny Doherty

Staff Writers

  Black Friday this year is going to be like any other black Friday, stampedes of people, irritated employees, and “Cheaper prices than ever.” Cheap prices, and ads all around to show these prices,  have dropped. What some don’t know is that certain businesses take advantage of the oblivious consumers that stampede the store on the first Friday after Thanksgiving. These business sometimes lower prices even lower than they advertise weeks before Black Friday, just to make more profit from the oblivious customers. If you did solid research on certain items and knew the retail price, you could catch these sudden drops in prices weeks before the big sale event. The crowds, the fights, and the early stampedes can be proven to not be worth it on Black Friday, especially if the sales are lower in prior weeks to the event. Working and shopping on Black Friday can be a drag, but can be beneficial to the customer, as well as the employees. Higher pay and cheaper prices could never be a better day for a customer and an employee, but the environment of Black Friday can be too much for someone not used to the crowds. Some employees say: “You couldn’t pay me enough to work on Black Friday!”

  Camping in freezing temperatures, dealing with stampedes and sometimes the bloody fight for the last item on the wall. Black Friday is an opportunity for people who love sales to get crazy about maybe getting a television for 50% that they do not even need. Black Friday in a sense has people saying, “I’d be losing money if I didn’t buy it.” With this comes massive amounts of people lined out stores, filling up streets, waiting for some of the biggest sales of the year in retail space to come out. Then again, they could wait until the next Monday when they could be sipping a hot cup of hot chocolate getting even better deals at home on their computer. But why would they? Why would they do that, when you can risk being trampled on and dying by electronically and home appliance hungry buyers? But for millions of Americans especially in a recovering economy like this, Black Friday has been the opportunity to not only get holiday gifts at a very low cost, but also a lot of the shopping for the year out of the way. There is a chance you could be run on and killed by thousands of insane individuals, but you also could be hit by a bus walking to the store. Black Friday every year brings commotion and madness, but in the end brings many families a financially easy holiday season. And really, what person does not love getting great deals, even if the stuff you are buying is not the most important. So this Black Friday, head up to Oxford Valley, Bridgewater, or King of Prussia and get the deals of the year on the items you love!

Barbie Encourages Unrealistic Body Type

Mariah McGlone

Staff Writer

A Barbie doll has a height of twelve inches, a waist that is three and three quarters of an inch, and hips that measure to be five inches all around. Her dimensions have been proven to be unrealistic by designer Nickolay Lamm.

 Lamm recently did the project: “What would Barbie look like in real life?” In this project, he compared Barbie’s disproportionate body to that of a healthy 19 year old’s. To do so, Lamm used 3D models for both body types.

 “Of course, Barbie is just a doll, and I’m sure people are going to say that a toy can’t negatively affect a young girl’s self-esteem. However, if people talk so much about skinny models in advertisements, surely we can talk about Barbie.” Lamm said.

 He found that if Barbie were to be scaled, she would be five feet nine inches with a bust that is thirty-six inches, an eighteen inch waist, hips that are thirty-three inches, a head circumference of twenty-two inches, and a neck that measures out to be nine inches.

 Compare this to a healthy nineteen-year-old girl that is five feet three inches and a half will have a 33.6 inch waist, a head circumference that is twenty inches, and a neck that measures to be fifteen inches. Her bust would be thirty-five inches with hips that are measurably forty.

 This information proves that a real life Barbie would not have even enough space in her body for her vital organs, considering she only would have room for half of a liver. In addition, she would need to walk on all fours, given her ankle and foot size. Imagine getting a quadruped Barbie doll for the holidays.

 Lamm takes his project of deciphering the measurements of a human Barbie a step further by creating a new more realistic and healthy Barbie doll. Nickolay Lamm calls his doll a “Lammily.”  

 “Lammily” displays proportions of a healthy nineteen-year-old girl and includes stickers that exhibit real life occurrences in a young adult girl’s life, such as acne, cellulite, and tattoos. Lamm has stateed the imperfect nature” of the dolls does not seem to be an issue and that he watched young children playing with them, laughing as they took the stickers on and off to customize their Lammilies. To prove this, he posted a video to YouTube that showcases a group of second graders’ reactions to the innovative doll. He hopes that they will appeal to teenagers, as well, given their distinct but relatable characteristics. Lamm also recently completed a study entitled: “What would Barbie look like without makeup?”

 While a Barbie doll can be dismissed a toy, why continue to promote this unrealistic body size? Almost every girl grows up playing with a Barbie doll. Even though not every child believes she needs to look like one to gain acceptance, the prevalence of a doll with unrealistic and unhealthy proportions instills that idea. The option is now there to provide a toy that girls can relate to instead of one that they wish they could look like. At a young age, girls are unadulterated by the pressure to look perfect at all times. Barbie doesn’t significantly change that, but the doll doesn’t encourage that either. Instead, Mattel introduces a specific body type that is ideal for girls to look like and for men to idolize. A Lammily eradicates the pressure of unrealistic expectations for young girls.

Republicans Win the Senate

Heather Borochaner

Staff Writer

 For the first time since 2007, Republicans have gained a majority in the American senate. This senate race was critical for the remaining two years of Obama’s presidency and his agenda, which Republicans will now argue against as much as they can, along with pressing for the repeal of Obamacare. The Republicans now have 53 seats compared to the Democrat’s 46 seats and two seats belonging to Independents, and one runoff election set for December 6th in Louisiana between Sen. Mary Landrieu, who is desperately clinging to her seat, and her Republican opponent Bill Cassidy, who has been gaining more support due to more bitter opinions towards Obama throughout Louisiana. Many blame the result of this election on President Obama’s low approval rate among Americans, however the president refuses to take responsibility. One responsibility he won’t be able to deny, however, is if he decides to veto the Keystone Pipeline when the Republicans give him the bill for it when the new Senators are inaugurated, which Republicans promised would happen. If Obama does veto the bill, Democrats will have a very difficult time obtaining their votes in the elections to come, since the Keystone Pipeline would make America energy independent.

 Despite the huge success in the Senate, Republicans probably won’t be able to do much, even if they try. If Obama chooses to refuse working with the Republicans in any way and just vetoes whatever is put on his plate, he’ll gradually starve himself and the States. With a current overall approval rating of 41% (Republicans at an 11% approval rating towards Obama, Independents at 22%, and Democrats at 76%), it isn’t too hard to see that it will only move further down with all parties if Obama refuses to work with the new Senate given to him by the American people.

NHS students learn not to take chocolate chip cookies for granted

Spencer Tinkel

Features Editor

In an unbelievable recurrence, the New Hope-Solebury cafeteria has once again taken away the original chocolate cookies and have replaced them with much smaller, less appetizing cookies.

 This is not the first time the chocolate chip cookies have been replaced, as last year, in a shocking discovery, the original cookies were taken off the market until they were brought back after students showed their anger towards the new, smaller cookies. In a classic “don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” event (shout to all the Cinderella fans out there), students at New Hope-Solebury did not know how much the “good” chocolate chip cookies meant to them.

 “I took them for granted. They were so good and I thought to myself, ‘There’s no way something so good would be taken away from the students.’ I was shocked last year when the cookies were taken away, and I’m even more shocked this time around considering how much anguish was created within the student body last year when the cookies were taken away,” stated a solemn, anonymous New Hope-Solebury High School student.

 However, there are other options at lunch when contemplating dessert such as: sugar cookies, ice cream frozen treats, a piece of cake, or a 100 calorie Keebler Elves cookie pack. Yet, to the students at New Hope-Solebury, no other dessert can compare to the original chocolate chip cookie.

 “If you like chocolate, the original chocolate chip cookies were the way to go. The ice cream options are just too expensive and the sugar cookies don’t have the chocolate we want. And let’s be honest, it would take like three 100 calorie Keebler Elves cookies packs to satisfy any sort of sweet tooth. For 80 cents, I was able to get one of the best cookies, and now it’s all gone,” a distraught Matt Steele had to say.

 Clearly, the original chocolate chip cookies were friendly to the stomach and the wallet. As the school moves closer to Thanksgiving and the winter holidays, it will be interesting to see whether or not the school and the cafeteria open up their hearts and bring back the “good” chocolate chip cookies.

 “It’s absurd to think that they took them away once. But a second time? That’s mayhem. Absolute mayhem. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to bring back the greatest cookies that have ever been made here at New Hope-Solebury High School,” Ken Fest had to add.

 New Hope students can only hope that the cookies will end up back on the shelves. For the Class of 2015, time is winding down, which means with each passing day, one more day goes by without the “good” chocolate chip cookies.

 Ken Fest also added, “Not only did they take away from our lunch, but now they're taking away from our tradition.”

Should We Take the PSAT?

Karli Burns

Staff Writer

 On Wednesday, Oct. 15, both the Juniors and Sophomores took the PSATs at New Hope Solebury High School. The PSATs tested  mathematics, writing skills, and critical reading.

  The PSATs are a way to prepare students for the SATs. When students receive their PSAT scores in December, those scores will illustrate what sections that particular student excelled in and where they struggled. This will provide a clear direction on what sections students need to focus more on when preparing for SATs. Scores will also show how likely a student is to succeed in certain AP courses and college. Lastly, if a student does well on the PSAT, they may be eligible for certain scholarship opportunities.

  Many will argue that taking the PSATs is a waste of time and believe that the scores received are not an importance to anything. However, if a student where to excel on the PSATs, there may be a potential scholarship at hand toward college. Also, a student's SAT score does count for a lot and ultimately determines what schools they get accepted to. Their PSATs can help them see what areas on the SAT they might struggle on.

 “I did not find the PSATs that hard. Some sections were harder than others but all in all they were not too bad. I think the PSATs are a helpful test since they will show me areas I need to improve in before taking the SATs,” said by Junior classman Madison Walsh.

 Overall, the PSATs are a helpful test that only benefits students. They can help them excel in the SATs tremendously which will only create a tremendous amount of opportunities for students involving college.

Students Make 1:1 Devices Their Own

Sam Lombardi

Staff Writer

  Ever since the introduction of the 1:1 devices, students have been finding ways to customize them to fit their personal preference. A lot of people usually change their desktop background, lock screens or color scheme, but most students do not realize they can also customize the exterior. Some different ideas that have floated around the school include different cases and also stickers to make the laptop more unique and recognizable. Some people cover the back with loads of different stickers or art and some others put a brand logo on top of the school emblem. These means of tablet customization are all acceptable but it’s important to keep anything added appropriate and make sure it’s not something that can damage the computer.

  Some examples of stickers that you can expect to see throughout the year are for sports teams, clothing brands, and other miscellaneous designs. There is a wide range of different reasons; however, the most common thing people have said when asked about it is simply: “I don’t know, I thought it looked cool,” which is perfectly valid; who wouldn’t want their laptop to look better?

 Some people only decide to cover up the school emblem, while others plaster the back with a bunch of obscure stickers, but no matter what, it reflects a degree of creativity for those who aren’t content with a bland laptop.

Death of Social Media

Ben Muzekari

Staff Writer

 The simple concept of change is what makes the world go around. Humans are perceptibly addicted to change and therefore, there is always “new.” We love new things and as time goes, so does our interest for the “old” things we once liked when they were “newer.”

 Recently, it appears that even social media is becoming old, despite the uproar in teenagers abilities to access high-end technology. It’s a simple law; everything eventually dies, whether it’s material or not. But why? Why is the thought to be inevitable idea of social media decreasing in interest?

 First off, to state a given, everything becomes old and therefore less interesting and appealing to the human brain. However, let’s get into more detail. Privacy is a substantial topic and one that is affecting whether or not people use social media sites. Organizations like the NSA and several businesses have been the main conversation of social network. These types of companies are known to collect data and seemingly spy on people through social network. These consequences certainly affect the outcome of many having social media sites, but surprisingly a different and more simplistic type of privacy is even more game-changing.

 This privacy reason may appear dull, but a plethora of our peers affect the way we use social media or even if we use social media. For example, over time, one may begin to start to receive follows or requests from specific people like family, coworkers, friends of friends, and even people who are unknown. This plays a large factor in social media because many people on social network sites are surrounded by people whom they are not necessarily close with. With this said, more and more people are beginning to become uncomfortable with posting and sharing information or opinions on these sites, and therefore are losing interest in social media.

 Additionally, the main reason for social network is not for communication, but for entertainment. Entertainment is often broadcasted on these sites by specific companies and organizations and people enjoy this type of material. However, after people realize the majority of substance is entertainment than discussion, numerous people end up turning to the specific publisher of that content rather than searching for it on a website like Facebook.

 Ultimately, the peak of social media usage has already appeared and now it’s back on its way down again. With the law of change, privacy issues, and publisher content attraction, don’t expect to get many followers any time soon.

Students mixed on schedule change

Ryan Shadle

Staff Writer

 New Hope-Solebury High School has changed its schedule this year to make kids feel bad if they miss the start of the day. They now have first period starting at 7:50 and homeroom after first period at 8:30

 The Lion’s Tale interviewed four teachers, and they all said they like the new schedule. Mr. Achenbach said that they also tried this schedule 10-15 years ago. He said that, from experience, he “likes the schedule,” but it’s harder to pass out notes and get to the news. Also, science labs are two periods long, so homeroom falls between the two periods. He said that it would possibly be acceptable for homeroom to be placed after second period, but if that was the case, then such things as the pledge of allegiance would be taking a backseat to scheduling dilemmas, which would be considered disrespectful and not the proper way to start off a school day.

 The goal of having students feel bad if they miss school is good because when they miss school, they miss material that the teacher taught. The students don’t seem to like the new schedule because it’s different than their regular routine. They are used to waking their brain up in homeroom,” but now students must find other ways to charge their mind, including coffee and energy drinks, which is simply not a proper way to begin the day. New Hope-Solebury senior Spencer Tinkel only has this to say about the issue; “ I believe that the idea behind putting homeroom after 1st period is a solid concept, but receiving a test as soon as you step into the school is a hard adjustment to make.”

Panic Spreads Over Ebola

Steve Ratigan and Max Wagner

Staff Writers

  Ebola is a infectious fatal disease that causes fever and severe bleeding internally, which first started in 1976 and there hasn't been any big cases since then, but it recently has spread to 6 countries, has had in total over 15,000 cases since 1976 and currently there are 4,000 in the world right now. Liberia where the disease started has had 2,705 deaths from this disease, as reported by Reuters News Company. The disease has just become big because it has spread to the United States and reporters have made a huge deal about it. Although the flu has taken so many more, people the have made it a much bigger deal than needs to be.

  The Ebola virus has spread rapidly both physically and through the media. Recently visitors of Africa have carried the virus back into our own country. The first victim was reported to have the virus in Dallas, Texas. Two nurses had contracted the virus after trying to determine what was wrong with him. They are on the road to recovery. He came in contact with at least 18 other citizens after the hospital sent him out with the deadly disease without knowing it. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has confirmed that it will be one of the sites to house young Ebola patients in America. The safety precautions in doing so will be taken very seriously of course. The CHOP experts say they are not worried about an Ebola outbreak in the United States, but they are worried about the doctors and social workers that have to deal with patients up close and personal. America has beaten Ebola so far, and each patient taken to an elite US hospital and correctly treated for the disease has lived.

  The survival rate in the United States is 80% after the first five incidents and is expected to improve dramatically. Ebola is a deadly virus and in some cases can mean an immediate death sentence, but United States citizens are foretold to have nothing to worry about due to our wealth, modern medical care, and dozens of intelligent doctors on their way to find a complete cure to the Ebola virus.

The Mile

Oren Depp 
Staff Writer 

In New Hope Solebury High School, there has been a long standing dissatisfaction with the mile time requirements for boys and girls. While boys must run a mile in 6 minutes and 30 seconds, girls only need to run a mile in 8 minutes 30 seconds. This two minute difference has been the subject of much controversy. Obviously there are differences in the physical capabilities between boys and girls, and those differences must be accounted for, but the current difference between requirements for the two genders is radically disproportionate.

 In order to prove this theory, I gave out a survey last year for my statistics project to find out what the average mile times are for boys and girls. When I got the times for both boys and girls, I subtracted the given mile time from the required mile time depending upon the gender. This allowed me to measure how close a person was to getting a 100%, or by how much they beat the required mile time.

 The findings were astonishing; the girl’s average time was -53.47, or 53.47 seconds below the required time, while the boy’s average time was 11.7, or 11.7 seconds above the required time. That’s a whole minute in difference.

 Using these averages, I was then able to calculate what percentage of girls got a 100% and what percentage of boys got a 100%. When the crunching was done, I found that 90% of girls obtained a 100% for the mile; in comparison, a measly 39% of boys received a 100% for the mile.

 Now these results might seem extreme, almost to the point where one might think that something was wrong with the sample. But when one finds the p-value of the data, or the chance that the differences found between boys and girls were merely the product of a sample that was not representative of the school, it becomes clear the data is exceedingly relevant. Normally statisticians will accept a p-value below .05 for an experiment; this experiment had a p-value of .0000000798.

 Obviously the above data means that the mile time requirements need to be revised. It becomes a question of what the purpose is for the test. Should a majority of the people taking the mile be getting a 100%, or should the mile be a challenge that only those exceptionally fit and healthy should be able to conquer?

 In my opinion, this survey should be taken to a larger scale, where a random sample of 300 boys and 300 girls in the district are asked what their most recent mile time was before any definitive action is taken. This would create a stronger basis for change when those in charge of schools in the district asked for more concrete evidence.

 In the end, the data only presents the problem as reality. In order for any change to be made, action must be taken and effort put in. Gym class grades affect a person’s transcript as much as any class, and leaving boys at such a distinct disadvantage means they have to fight an uphill battle. G.P.A. is still affected, and even though many colleges subtract classes like Gym from a person’s GPA in college admissions, it still affects admissions into clubs like National Honor Society. Making sure the way the school evaluates its students is equal must be a priority of both the school and its students.

Michael Brown’s Death Still Under Investigation

Lexi Anderson

Staff Writer

On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an 18-year-old resident of Ferguson, MO, was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson.

 Reports show that Brown was unarmed when he was shot six times. Brown had his arms up and was pleading: “Don’t shoot me,” at Wilson. Wilson shot anyway. According to eyewitness Devin Stone, Wilson “let it rip.” Police Chief Thomas Jackson initially said that Wilson approached Brown because he was blocking traffic. Although, only hours later, Jackson released another statement claiming that Wilson approached Brown because he believed he was linked with a cigar robbery that happened moments before. I agree with Michael Brown’s mom on her opinion that Jackson was trying to draw attention away from Wilson and place blame on Brown. Either way, it was unnecessary to shoot Brown six times for either of the two crimes. Instead of trying to understand why the murder happened, they are trying to justify it.

 Another report from the New York Times claims  one of Brown’s neighbors, a nurse, was nearby to the incident when she saw Brown get shot. She begged Wilson to let her perform CPR on Brown in an attempt to save his life, but she was rejected. They didn’t even check to see if Brown was breathing. Many Ferguson residents gathered to demand justice for Brown’s death. Protestors were met with tear gas from the police. Have we really gone as far as to tear gas our own people? The police sincerely do not understand why people are so upset over this event, which is baffling. Honestly, Brown’s death was just another racist act. A high school student and beloved child is dead for no other reason other than his race.  African American people are constantly being stopped, searched, and arrested, simply because of their race. Brown’s death was that taken to a whole new level.

SAT Holds Too Much Weight in College Acceptance

Ben Muzekari

Staff Writer

 SAT-Superfluous Absurd Test

 Or at least that’s what the SAT should stand for. Nowadays, the SAT is blown out of proportion, and the one single test is an essential part of getting into a college of your choice. It shouldn’t be this way.

 "A lot of my teachers have said that if you don't have these scores, [colleges] won't even look at your applications" said Mara Meijer, a junior student who attends Belmont High School in California. Meijer surely isn’t the only student who feels this way, as thousands of students across the country are stressing the importance of the test. Kids are buying SAT practice book after SAT practice book, studying day after day, and signing up for SAT class after SAT class. Thousands of dollars are being spent, but what for? It’s all for one five hour test, on one day, that most likely narrows a student’s future down in the time of one sitting: one long sitting. Are college admissions really expressing more interest in a five hour test than a four year transcript? Yes, and that’s unfair to many, and from a decision-making point of view, flat out foolish.

 "They're not exactly a fair way to show our skills" Meijer stated. "I wish they could find some way to really show what we can do." It’s simple, and that way is through GPA.

GPA is the best way to define one’s ability. A transcript clearly shows grades over a four year time period. Within that time period, there are numerous homework assignments, projects, and tests. These grades reflect productivity, consistency, effort, and improvement. These four attributes distinctly represent one’s ability to perform over a long period of time as opposed to the SAT, the superfluous absurd test. What does the SAT test? It simply tests one’s ability to take the SAT, better known as, “a waste.” So why is the SAT so important? Why is it valued so much higher than GPA? Who knows? It is possible the test could be used as a deciding factor between two applicants who are in a tight race, but it shouldn't be measured as such a critical piece of information like it is today.

 "Human intelligence is so multifaceted, so complex, so varied, that no standardized testing system can be expected to capture it" states William Hiss, a former dean of admissions at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. In recent years, Hiss has conducted multiple studies comparing the importance of GPA and SAT’s. A conclusion that Hiss often came to was simple, high school grades are crucial. High school grades are merely the best predictor of one’s success in college, not standardized test scores. Hiss came to one overall cessation, the students who had moderate test scores, but higher GPA’s, did better than students with good scores, but moderate grades. “It's probably not so surprising that a pattern of hard work, discipline and curiosity in high school shows up as highly predictive, in contrast to what they do in three or four hours on a particular Saturday morning in a testing room" inferred Hiss.

 Ultimately, the SAT solely should not be weighed more heavily than GPA. GPA is an extremely beneficial source of information as it demonstrates multiple key attributes of a student as opposed to one plain test which shows a few scores in a confined time period. As of now, more and more colleges are beginning to realize that SAT’s may not be the best determination of one’s ability. Today, 800 of 3,000 four year colleges or universities have made the SAT or ACT optional. However, this number is still relatively low and concludes that the SAT is still an exceedingly powerful way of admitting students into college, rather than GPA.

One to One Device Brings Distraction to the Classroom

Michael Iverson

Staff Writer

New Hope Solebury High School’s One to One Initiative has officially begun in the High School with the start of the academic year. The initiative, started by the administration, is part of a greater nation-wide movement to bring technology into schools. The initiative so far has had a relatively smooth start. Networks are working, wifi is working, however students are not.

While the devices are working as intended, their purpose to students is not quite what the administration wanted it to be. The initiative was supposed to encourage students to use technology to advance their academic knowledge. However, for most students, it has only advanced their knowledge in how to avoid the long track in Asphalt or how to make virtual friends in the My Little Pony Game.

The One to One device initiative has become become a one to one distraction to students.

The problem at hand is not within the devices themselves, they’re rather useful to complete a physics lab or quickly grab notes from the previous day’s class. The problem lies within the students and teachers, and their mutual understandings of respecting the classroom while utilizing technology for an academic purpose.

Teachers who reject the technological movement in schools do nothing for students who are going to be thrown into a working world filled with expectations of understanding technology. However, teachers who simply allow students to use their devices, without any restriction, allow for their students to easily become sucked into the internet, leaving their minds far from school. Teachers need to find the right balance within their classroom, allowing their students to use technology but strictly for academic purposes.

In no way do I mean to vilify or add responsibility to the teacher. Enough responsibility is already placed on each teacher, as they are not only tasked with teaching but controlling the classroom as well. However, the reality is that computer use must be added to this responsibility of controlling the classroom if teachers are to be successful at capturing their students attention.  

However, while teachers are responsible for the use of devices in their classrooms, the greater responsibility is that of the student’s. It is the student’s own responsibility, both for their own understanding in the classroom and to prove “we can have nice things,” to utilize their devices correctly. If students continue to abuse the privileges awarded to them by the school, then students can expect those privileges to be revoked. And this doesn’t stop at computers, because if we can’t handle the freedom of having a personal device, who is to say that we can handle the multitude of other freedoms awarded to us?

Implementation of one to one devices is planned for the middle school next year. Judging from the distracted responses of high schoolers, are middle schoolers capable of having the internet at their fingertips and deciding to pay attention to lattice and the cartesian coordinate system rather than cool racing games?

The art of Journalism

Dylan Selbst

Editor

Journalism is a sacred art. It is the only profession that is represented in the Bill of Rights; the first amendment clearly grants Americans “freedom of the press.” Nothing is more important than our right to be informed, however, in recent years, this right has been threatened, and not in the way that our founding fathers imagined.

 The original enemy of our freedom of the press was government limitation. Put simply, colonists were not allowed to publish what they wanted to because Great Britain did not allow it. Today, the enemy of our sacred freedom of press is too much freedom within our “press”. Through twitter and other forms of social networking, anyone, especially celebrities, can post what they feel is newsworthy and reach millions of people. This change in the way that journalism is reported completely alters the public’s outlook on the news, and not in a good way.

 Objective news sources of the past are no longer the norm, today, the modern American gets their “news” from unreputable journalists publishing uncited headlines in less than 140 characters. This subjectivity posted by these pseudo-journalists lacks the main aspects that audiences have come to expect with traditional news: ethics and reliability. This is why traditional news will not be replaced by microblogging and social networking. These sources are simply unreliable and unethical.

 The unreliability of social-networking news stems from the fact that these online journalists are anything but real journalists. Real journalists study journalism and their work is reviewed and edited before it is published. The journalists who haphazardly post news online simply publish whatever will be most popular, regardless of accuracy. There is nobody to fact-check their publications and there is nobody to apologize for incorrect information. With large, trustworthy media conglomerates, information is always checked for accuracy before it is posted, and false information and data is always recanted as soon as possible. This is because these traditional media outlets feel as though they have a moral obligation to actually inform the audience with the entire truth.

 A reader should not be put in a situation where they are questioning the credibility of an author, nor should they have to wonder if the news story was written professionally. However, with some contemporary news sources, these concerns arise. This is not only unfair to the reader, but it is unfair to the real journalists. The posting of unreliable information and branding it as “news” corrupts the sacred art of journalism. The skepticism created by these insufficient excuses for journalists ruins the foundation on which the media-audience relation was formed: trust.

 After all, why should a reader trust anonymous bloggers or celebrities? What have they done to deserve the title of “journalist”? The answer is simple, these people posting the newest version of news have done nothing. They have no credibility as journalists and they do not deserve the trust of an audience.

 Just like MySpace and grunge culture, the all-too-common practice of receiving news through social media will be a thing of the past. Americans will soon realize, if they haven’t already, that the best news is traditional news. Granted, things have changed. Traditional news does not necessarily need to be in print or on a major TV network. News from large corporations will keep up with technology today and is available on the internet, just like social media. The main difference between outsourced news and mainstream, professional news outlets is the reliability of the articles and information.

 The average American will soon come to the conclusion that if it’s not from a trustworthy source, it simply cannot be trusted. In time, the idea of social networking news will be obsolete, giving way to the traditional sources of news that we all know and love.