1. A Big news story this year (illustration with headlines, clips, Social Media sources):

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Florida school shooter, 19 year old Nikolas Cruz, has so far made multiple appearances in a Broward County criminal court charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. The murders were carried out on February 14, 2018. He etched swastikas onto one of the ammunition magazines he used during the shooting.

Since the school shooting, social media has exploded with people reaching out to the students, and letting their voices be heard. However naturally there’s those who claim that the students who are most active and seen in the media are nothing more than crisis actors hired by gun control activists, however this was debunked, and spawned outrage at people creating baseless conspiracy theories in the wake of a tragedy that impacted these kids so much. This is a great example of a very big news story in the media right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DHAv-jLb58

The school shooting has also spurred on a lot of students from the school as well as fellow activists to advocate for stricter gun laws in America, in order to let their classmates deaths not be in vain, and to possibly stop others from dying in school shootings in the future. The American government however, is not doing the best job, and instead of putting stricter gun laws in place, are instead considering arming teachers instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bzQ6sMFUb0

Gun control has been an ongoing debate in America for a long time now, and with the parkland school shooting, the media has been a huge influence in the movement with students and the public advocating for gun control and supporting one another, it has brought people together in a way that has rarely been seen before. The government are propositioning arming teachers in order to help

protect students, however that has raised even more debate and distress in regards in the media in regards to possible mistaken identity in a crisis situation, or the discrimination and targeting of students who are minorities, all valid points.

In wake of the shooting, the proposition to arm teachers has been made into a meme online, with various ‘Imagine if this teacher had a gun’ posts, featuring famous mean teachers in TV shows such as Miss Puff from SpongeBob and Miss Trunchbull from Matilda. These memes both raise awareness to the fact that teachers could hold prejudices, but also, in true millennial spirit, it uses humour as a coping mechanism in response to a tragedy.

People also took to social media to call out President Donald Trump as well as other influential media figures for being insensitive towards their school tragedy. David Hogg, a parkland student, had this to say about Donald Trump’s actions and media posts about the shooting:

"You're the President, you're supposed to bring this nation together, not divide us. How dare you? Children are dying, and their blood is on your hands because of that. Please take action. Stop going on vacation in Mar-a-Lago. Take action. Work with Congress. Your party controls both the House and Senate. Take action, get some bills passed, and for God's sake, let's save some lives." (From https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/18/politics/donald-trump-florida-shooting-twitter/index.html)

Emma Gonzalez, A parkland student and activist, is rallying the nation together and advocating for change to be made in America, media plays a key role in her outreach. The next planned big movement on gun control is the student organised ‘March For Our Lives’ movement that Emma, classmates and various celebrities and public figures are advocating for and supporting.

https://marchforourlivespetition.com/

The March For Our Lives movement takes place on March 24, 2018, in order to give the nation time to grieve, at the march, students and the public will congregate in Washington D.C and in local communities and cities in the country as well as national communities demand action from the government and political leaders. The march requires that any students get up and leave school and refuse to go back until the government takes heed about their pleas for stricter and safer gun laws and finally take action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob48twC1yf8

Here is some of the term and demands you can see on the petition website that the people behind the movement have set:

As you can see, while the Parkland School Shooting was a massive tragedy, but the resilience, bravery and support that the students and public have shown towards one another is awe inspiring, and while it is a very heavy news story to cover, I believe the impact it had on the American nation and the actions and movements which it spurred are inspiring, and I wanted to cover it as my news story.

2. A piece of technology you’re invested in (iPhone, Laptops camera etc choose 1 show how)

I’m very invested in using my Laptop in day to day activities.

This is because I do all my coursework (except editing) on my laptop. I use it daily, using my laptop for various crucial tasks on a day to day basis. Such as checking my emails to make sure to keep myself aware and updated on any information in regards to my course and coursework, as well as other important things. It allows me to stay connected to my friends and family, and my laptop also plays a key role in my leisure activities, such as watching TV shows, cartoons or other things I want to indulge and immerse myself in when I have free time.

My laptop allows me to stay on top of my emails, for example.

As you can see this is a crucial part of my course, and most of the emails I receive are in regards to coursework and various reports, films and activities that I need to do as part of my course. It allows me to stay in touch with my tutors and keep them updated with my life as well, such as if I can’t make it in because of the weather, and offers them the knowledge as to why I can’t be in and when to expect my work in for them. This helps me rest assured in feeling connected with my tutors and other important people who would need to know about any changes in my life.

As well as keeping on top of emails in regards to my course, it also allows me invaluable online resources that are needed for my coursework. Such as my research into the Parkland School Shooting for the first part of this report.

While I was already quite well versed in the social media actions taken with this news story in regards to the students and the march and such, it still provided me with valuable information into the formalities as well as other smaller important details about the crime and the case. Having access to the internet via my laptop truly enriches my education and accessibility to knowledge that I would be interested in. It allows me to thrive in both a social and educational environment, and form my own educated opinion on current affairs in the world.

My laptop also allows me to engage in my online hobbies. I watch a lot of YouTube gamers, and in my spare time I love nothing more than to destress and catch up on play-throughs or videos posted by a few of my favourite Youtubers. Having leisure time enhances my concentration and engagement in my actual work. It also helps with mental health and overall happiness. Overall my laptop is a necessity of my day to day life and acts as a useful tool that I use daily to perform crucial tasks for my education, as well as this it helps me look out for my own wellbeing and keep on track of various tasks, as well as keep me connected to friends, family and others.

3. Favourite app used every day (evidence)

An app I use every single day is Twitter. On this app I talk to friends, and it allows me an artistic and creative outlet where I can express myself, and engage with likeminded individuals who have the

same hobbies, interests and humour as me. Twitter is one of the more close knit social media platforms, being able to easily find and connect with a variety of people with the same interests and likes as you.

Twitter only allows you to post messages publically if they have 240 or less characters in your tweet. This tends to help restrict people from long spam messages and also makes it so that people have to condense their thoughts into shorter, easy to understand messages. Twitter has a lot of different functions for people to share their opinions with, one of the more recent new additions to do so is having the ability to make anonymous polls and post

them on your twitter page, and this allows your possibly shy friends and followers to contribute to something you want to be contributed to. This brings everyone a little closer.

I use my twitter to talk about my interests, such as art, games, cartoons, music, and TV shows.

As well as this, twitter is where I also keep myself updated on current world affairs and national as well as local news and updates. I also air my own jokes and thoughts on my account, and talk to my friends, as well as support their hobbies and interests. That is why I think twitter is a very close knit and friendly site if you have good company and friends there, I’ve been using the website daily since 2015 and if anything I’ve made lifelong friends on the website, and that counts for a lot, in my opinion.

I spend a lot of time on twitter, and I have to say that it enriches my social life, due to the fact that it keeps me up to date with all my interests and hobbies, it is also the perfect way for me to wind

down after a long day, and the app gives me and my friends a lot of laughs and things to talk and joke about. Social media – and media in general, enriches everyones lives in many different ways, having so much knowledge and content assesible at the click of a mouse or the tap of a finger. The use of social media and the development of media has enhanced the nations lives in a way that had never been seen before, and allows for more outreach, support and information to be accessed then ever before in such a short amount of time.