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In my podcast On the Media, I discuss whether online media slandering the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games by circulating negative coverage on Russia’s inner political and business affairs. I present online articles I have found on online newspapers, magazines and new sites which cover topics of the LGBT law established in Russia last June and the criticism of Russian Olympic investors. One article calls for the boycott of the 2014 Olympics rooted in the LGBT matter while another simply libels the Russian investors. I analyse the timing of these articles’ publishing, consider their spread across cyber space and their influence on online media readers. I question the ethics of online journalists and bloggers of spreading libel on Russian political and business controversies and linking these irrelevant controversies to the Olympic Games. I answer whether these controversies affect the Olympics or is it immoral to link these issues to the games and are they tainting of the Olympic integrity? 

https://soundcloud.com/user751014367/podcast-complete

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Christine Hawryluk, Final Thoughts

Can't believe the term is already over and exams are just left. The thing that I can't believe even more is that I created a podcast. Never in a million years did I imagine myself doing something like this.

I am, surprisingly, very happy with how the podcast turned out. I did not think I would be this happy with the final outcome. For the first time, I feel I did a very effective job of creating this podcast and editing all my segments into one final outcome. I also enjoyed creating this podcast, since it was on a topic that was close to heart. This podcast has also helped me become more comfortable with recording and being more comfortable with people reading my work.

I cannot think of anything that I would change, except to force myself to not get frustrated so easily. 

The one piece of advice that I would share with a student who is just starting this course is to follow your guideline for the things you need to do. Stick to that timeline, just like I did, and do not fall behind; this will make a lot of things easier. Also, believe in yourself and don't doubt yourself. Keep positive!

This course has been very enjoyable and I have learnt a lot of things. Enjoy your summer!

Sara Siddiqui W14, Final Thoughts

I am quite satisfied with the way my podcast episode turned out. If I had more time or the chance to go back and do something differently, I would spend more time editing my podcast, as editing was a lot more difficult than I had imagined. It required a lot of dedication, and attention to detail. However, it was a great learning experience and doing this project allowed me to be comfortable with sharing my work with others. One piece of advice I'd offer to a student starting this course is that one should definitely try to follow his/her podcast timeline, as it really helped me to stay on top of the due dates, and focus on the process of research rather than merely the final product. In doing so, it will help you to follow guidelines and produce a project that has not been rushed or done last minute.

Holodomor: The Untold Story of Ukraine's genocide

This is my Final podcast! Hope you enjoy it! Below is the summary (from my pitch assignment) for my podcast!

Hi my name is Christine Hawryluk and I am here to pitch an idea for a podcast about an emotional and inhumane historical event to the podcast show Stuff You Missed in History Class. Before I begin, I have a question for you to simply think about: Have you ever thought if it is possible for people in a country to be killed very slowly at the rate of 30,000 people a day and nearly a third of them being children?  Not many of you may have heard of this event, but this is why I am here today, to inform you about the Holodomor. This was a brutal, man-made famine caused by Joseph Stalin from 1932 to 1933 on Soviet Ukraine. What makes this event most devastating is that Stalin took away something that people here in Canada take for granted—grain, which was Ukraine’s primary food source. My goal is to examine how Stalin’s removal of grain affected the people of Ukraine. To be informed about how millions of Ukrainians died in the most cruel and brutal way possible, by starvation, is something that would be an eye-opener for many. Food is something that millions of people around the world take for granted, but these Ukrainians had nothing to live off of. This is why it is important! This is why people should know about it. This event is not like WWI or 9/11 where people were killed instantly by some military machine. This event is different from others because Stalin’s motives were inhumane by choosing a method that takes much, much longer to kill a person, rather than shooting them and dying instantly. To see images of people deteriorating slowly after having no food or nothing to drink for weeks and weeks, and seeing them barely crawling on the ground is an image that will never leave someone’s mind.  The most interesting aspect of this large event is to see how Stalin’s removal of grain affected the Ukrainians: to see Stalin’s goals, how exactly these goals were accomplished, the effect these goals had on the population of Ukraine and the final result. To see this timeline of events would make those two years seem much shorter. This issue of how Ukrainians were treated very poorly by the Russians can still be seen today with what is happening in Ukraine this very moment—showing that the Russians never give up, that all they want is power over Ukraine! The mercilessness of the Russians can be seen in Stalin’s implementation of his goals on the Ukrainians where he doesn’t care who gets hurt. In my eyes, the Holodomor is considered “the lost famine,” since not many people know about it, but I am going to change that!

 

Har-har-hard to Stay Tuned: College Students, the News, and more...

This week, On The Media, broadcasting from the top of the CN Tower, is taking a critical look at the satirical spinning of traditional broadcasting and current event. Specifically, asking where are college students getting their news, and why it's significant. If the rumours are true, and college-aged students are less and less inclined to engage with tradition forms of news media, is it a concern that satirical news programming, like Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, SNL or the Rick Mercer Report, could be skewing their public opinion? 

Final Thoughts

All in all, I am fairly happy with the way my podcast episode has turned out. I really feel as though I did the very best I could with the amount of help I got. I did do the majority of this projects on my own and it definitely was a big task for just one person. I wish I did have just a bit more time to complete it because that would have allowed me to edit more closely. I realized afterwards that I should have adjusted the volume of some of the recorded sections of my podcast, as they sounded lower in than others. Unfortunately I just did not have the time for this. I am however happy with the way it sounded especially in regards to how I spoke. I rehearsed my script as much as I could to ensure I could speak as naturally as possible. I think I accomplished this for the most part, so I am quite pleased with this aspect of my podcast.

One piece of advice I'd offer a student just starting this course would be to start as early as possible on each assignment so that in the end, there is plenty of time set aside for just recording and editing. I really did not realize how long this portion of the project would actually take. You especially need time to play around with whatever recording program you are using, to become comfortable with it and learn how to properly use it. I had never used Audacity before- or any recording program for the matter! I had to learn how to do everything on my own through the watching of YouTube videos- which was actually very, very time consuming and ended up taking away from recording and editing time.

I would also strongly advise them to work with someone they know for sure is reliable. This assignment requires a very great deal of time and effort and if you don't have someone to put forth that, the task just becomes more difficult and stressful! Quite often you can only really rely on yourself- so if that mean's working on your own, so be it!

Overall, I am happy I had the chance to complete a project as such. I learned a lot and I didn't expect to have  as much fun as I did!