Clipportfolio 2

Marcy Marbut’s Clip Portfolio

Table of Contents I.

The Review ---3

II.

Artist Interview--- 5

III.

Personal Essay---8

IV.

Desert Island Playlist---14

V.

The Feature---23

Review

Fly Through Cosmos in Bassnectar’s New Album Into the Sun The famous pioneer of the dubstep, Lorin Ashton, known by the stage name Bassnectar, dropped his newest album June 30th. This album will be his 13th, and in true Bassnectar fashion, the album is uniquely different than any of the past. Into the Sun, is a departure from Bassnectar’s most recent style, and instead of use of heavy base, it has more melody. The first song on the album, “Chasing heaven” begins with floaty tones, eventually developing into a chorus of intergalactic sounds mixed with a strong bassline. Other similar songs like “Sideways” and “Science Fiction”, sound like songs sent straight from the heavens, including alien like floaty beeps switched up with upbeat tunes of electronic tones. The feel is very futuristic, and very tripped out.

A few weeks before the album dropped, Bassnectar opened up in an interview about his feelings about the current drug culture surrounding dubstep music. Bassnectar explained that allthough he used to use drugs, he feels being sober is the key to experiencing electronic music fully. “I decided I wanted to be as clear and sober as I could be and how fun that could be. I’d go

10 hours a night dancing and going to raves at the beaches and have just as much fun without getting high, more so because I could really participate in each experience, and I could remember my experiences and process on a deeper level.”

This quote struck me as particularly poignant because for the most part, drugs and dubstep are like peanuts at a baseball game.This album is extremely trippy, still reflects the influence of drugs on the rave scene, and for this reason, Into the Sun is not an album I would imagine sober people listening to. The sound of Into the Sun is so interstellar that while listening to “Science Fiction” on my way home from school, I felt like my my car was a spaceship taking me to Mars instead of my apartment. . The album is a far cry from mainstream music, but is consistent of Ashton’s inconsistent style. It is yet another example of Ashton’s experiment with electronic and dubstep music, and delivers an immediate thrill for for all hardcore dubstep fans seeking next level, tripped-out dubstep music.

Artist Profile

Interview with Eric Dingus Eric dingus, a local music producer from south Austin is the quintessential musical prodigy. Dingus, like many musicians, has found inspiration and solace in music. At the age of 16 he dropped out of high school because he was bullied. Because he had so much free time to himself, Dingus began experimenting with production equipment and electronic synthesizers.

While high school and college degrees are often thought of as an extremely necessary to be successful Dingus is living proof that this is not the case. Today, 20 year old Dingus has over 100,000 hits on his YouTube page, has co produced albums with big names in the rap scene such as Drake, and owns his own record company.

In previous interviews, Dingus touched on how his depression and shy nature made high school a “hell-hole” for him. His previous interviews reflected a lone-wolf mentality, so I was a bit surprised to find two musicians sprawled around his apartment when I met him for the interview. I eventually came to learn that both musicians Dingus met online. “Its never been easy

for me to make.” One of these artists, Kermit, a Belgian producer met Eric on a music blog which prompted them to collaborate until Eric took a plane to Belgium to meet him in person. .

Eric said, “We were hanging out (online) getting to know each other for a year.” The other musician Nicole, met Dingus on Twitter. When a third named Do- Wrong, a rapper, enters the living room giving handshake-pound it combos to the others, its was apparent to me that Dingus has found music to be the medicine for his madness. “The Internet helped me break down a barrier that prevented me from making friends, and also helped me find people that could relate both musically and personally.”

Dingus’s drive is rooted in the desire to connect with others. He has found that by making music, he has not only helped himself, but has helped those in need. “People have messaged me how I've helped them through dark depressive times. That is why I make music.” Dingus finds emotion to be the biggest inspiration for his work. “With music, it's supposed to make you feel something. Emotions.” The emotions in his music are blatant. They are not expressed with words, but with layers and layers of rich, melodic electronic sounds and beats. Dingus, who describes his music as ethereal, explains that “ethereal is heavenly and healing, and that's what my music sounds like.”

Dingus, about to drop his first full album in the spring of 2016, finds it “very scary” because he “wants it to be successful.” Nevertheless, Dingus has plenty of ideas to keep him afloat for a while. In addition, Eric’s motives are founded in a deep sense of social consciousness. Claiming that “hip hop is for the youth”, he shows that he yearns to pass something on. “Music is a universal language,” said Dingus, adding that the use of technology and combining genres makes the sound more globally palatable. In essence, Eric wants his music to help others find their own ways of coping with personal issues such as social anxiety and not

fitting in. With any hope, this new album will gain traction and admiration. In an industry shrouded in darkness, materialism, and superficial values, Eric Dingus stands as symbol of hope.

It just goes to show that some one's most difficult challenge can also be their greatest strength.

Personal Essay

A Life a Without Limits Today is the first day of ACL. First a shiver of nervous anticipation runs through me, which is soon extinguished by wave of irritation restlessness as I try to take a simple left on Barton Springs which apparently now takes 15 minutes. Hundreds of people dressed in skimpy clothes have been crossing the intersection, marching fervently toward bilker park toward the festival. ACL is one of Texas’ largest and most anticipated festivals every year. The festival helped the city of Austin earn its title “Live Music Capital of the World.” 42 years ago, ACL was a small event created to celebrate country music and rock n roll, but today, the thousands of fans swarm in annually to come enjoy artists that range from niche and quirky to mainstream and iconic.

The first time I heard about ACL was my Junior year at Alamo Heights high school in San Antonio. I was sitting in math class, the bell was about to ring, and classmates on all sides of me were chatting in excited voices saying, ACL tickets are available, I already bought mine!”

Confused and too embarrassed to ask, I went home and did my research. As my eyes scanned the lineup, I felt like a kid in a candy store, thrilled to pieces about the exciting bands and artists playing. I knew too well my straight laced, conservative parents would not be receptive to the idea of ACL but I worked up the courage and asked them anyway. Their response was worse than I expected. “Absolutely not!” my mother said while putting away a dish.

When reflecting back on my experiences as an ACL festival goer, it's unbelievable to me that the girl with strict parents living a calm simple life in quiet alamo heights was me. Much to my mother’s dismay, this year will be my 4th year to attend ACL. What my mother does and could not understand is the sentimental value ACL holds for me. Much like smell, thinking about acl weekend evokes vivid memories. It is a sort of scrapbook of emotions, the memories capturing where I was in my life in that year, on that weekend.

My first year attending ACL was my first year out of the house, going to college in Austin Texas. By this time,, I had years to build up the ACL experience in my mind. That year, I attended with a date named Nico . I remember doing crunches on my dorm floor, obsessing over my hair and making sure there were no clumps in my mascara. I wanted my first ACL experience to be perfect.

After waiting 5 minutes by the bus stop taking us to Zilker park, the sky turned grey and angry drops of rain swooped down on us from the heavens. Upon Arriving at ACL, my hair had frizzed up , mascara was running down my face, and my date and I wearing garbage bags over our clothes. Nico and I proceeded to the ticket gates, where we were instructed to join two separate lines across from each other to. “Ill meet you right after the gate,” he said. When I entered the festival,I was astounded by the size of the crowd. The thousands festival goers looked like frantic ants crawling every which way around an ant hill which was Zilker Park. I looked around for Nico, couldn't find him, and then tried to call him only to discover I had no service. I eventually found him. By the end of the day, my clean shaven and moisturized legs had mud caked all over them, my hair looked like I had been electrocuted, and whatever makeup I had put on had either been sweat off or relocated to the wrong parts of my face. My feet hurt, my stomach growled, and I was so tired I just wanted to curl up in the grass and nap. My first ACL

experience , to say the least, was a far cry from the smooth, low key and slightly glamorous event I had in mind. “I don’t get it about ACL. “It's not worth it” I told high school friends on the phone.

By Junior year, Nico and I had broken up, and at that point in my life I had very few college friends because I had spent most of my time thus far with Nico. That year, I attended ACL with a friend named Jon. Jon, a small, soft spoken blonde haired boy who I had met during move in day. My mother, knowing very well I would find a way to attend ACL,whether she funded it or not, insisted on paying for both me and Jon’s ACL ticket because she wanted to make sure I “was safe.” In the back of my head, I recall feeling embarrassed, wondering if her generosity was rooted in sympathy for her lonely, friendless daughter. Jon and I attended ACL all three days. Jon was a nice, but not the most exciting person to festival with. That year I was 21, and could drink legally at ACL which I took full advantage of in order to make myself feel a little more lively. By Saturday, I had spent most of my money on 10 dollar beers.

By the time it was my senior year, I had become a very different kind of person. I had become tired of feeling friendless,and learned to overcome my shy nature and assert myself more in social situations. The result was a group of fun loving, amazing friends. As soon as tickets went on sale, me and my closest friends Mackenzie and Kate all agreed that we were going to acl no matter what. We each bought our tickets., and the day of ACL me kate , mackenzie, and their boyfriends, giddy with excitement, made all the preparations for the weekend, covering yourself in shiny flash tatoos, buying snacks and discreet drinks we could sneak in, and charging our gopros. When we got to the festival, we confidently each walked through the wristband scanners, me being last. When I placed my wristband on the scanner, a loud beep sounded and red lights flashed. “Go to the wristband help center” the guard said. Panic struck me while i waited in line

and started to hear my favorite singer, Lana Del rey playing, who i was most excited to see.

Eventually, at the front of the line a ticket helper took my wristband to investigate the issue.

“This wristband is for weekend two” he said. “That's not possible,” I said, “I bought it from someone who told me it was weekend one.” The helper looked at me sympathetically, I then asked the ticket helper if there was anything I could do to switch it for a weekend one, to which he replied no. I looked over at my friends, who were standing as close as possible to the ticket help within the festival, anxiously watching. Feeling a defeat strike me like hard lightening , I desperately asked the helper if I could volunteer, to which they also responded no. Tears began welling up in my eyes. My natural instinct was to hold back the tears, but suddenly an idea struck me. I proceeded to channel my inner puss in boots, playing up my panic with widened eyes with a slightly trembling chin pleading, “ My friends and I have been planning this weekend for months, some came in town just because I was going to weekend one.” The helper looked at me sympathetically, turning to his co worker who had a similar apologetic expression, both shaking their heads. I toward a shockingly abandoned ticket gate, my shoulders sagging with defeat. As I approached it my friends nervously watched me asking out loud if I made it. I continued to walk through, still overcome with grief, and “no” on my lips. I paused, realizing suddenly that the ticket scanners were behind me, austin city skyline in front of me, and festival goers were all around me-- I was already in the festival. “ Should I run?” I asked my friends. “RUN” they all said in unison, eyes wide and arms flailing, we ran into the crowd with silly grins and faces flushed faces. Getting into ACL that day was the easiest compared to the rest of the weekend.

Saturday, all waking up mid afternoon slightly hungover, made our way over to acl like a rag tag army, wondering how they were going to get me in. Zander, Kate’s boyfriend, walked through the crowd flashing my wristband, pausing by anyone holding a sign saying “ Need tickets”.

Because it seemed so many people were needing tickets, I felt positive I would be able to find a legal way to get into the festival. It turned out that the sign “need tickets” was actually code for “selling tickets”. Scalping tickets has legal repercussions,and police patrolling the ACL area were on the lookout for perpetrators. Eventually, 280 dollars later, I bought a wristband for the rest of the weekend. On Sunday, Mackenzie’s mother, Charm, became our ACL angel. Charm, being the quintessential ‘cool’ hippie mom she is, gave us backstage passes for the bud light stage. We didn’t think it could get any better while sitting on a pink tapestry, drinking free beer from the beer tap, until a beautiful girl (mackenzie knew) , with a blue eyed man came over to chat with us. Introducing ourselves, I noticed Kate’s demeanor change, her face lighting up when shaking the hands of the man. They sat down with us, and when they weren’t looking Kate informed me that the man was a celebrity named Adrien Grenier.

Recalling last year’s series of unexpected events, II can only dream that this weekend will be as exciting as last years. But deep down, I understand that it is important to welcome the experience whether it be good or bad. The reason I have come to understand this is because I see ACL as a symbol of my life’s trials and tribulations. I can look back on any fall since living in Austin, away from home and on my own, and remember what it felt like to be living in that moment. ACL has taught me not only to live in the moment, but to expect the unexpected. It is ironic in my opinion that the festival is called Austin City Limits, because it has taught me that life’s possibilities are limitless. In my five years since leaving home, I have come to understand that there is no way I can guess what the future holds. While my life won't always be without struggle, I understand now that without struggle there is never going to be any personal progress.

Desert Island Playlist

A Life a Without Limits Today is the first day of ACL. First a shiver of nervous anticipation runs through me, which is soon extinguished by wave of irritation restlessness as I try to take a simple left on Barton Springs which apparently now takes 15 minutes. Hundreds of people dressed in skimpy clothes have been crossing the intersection, marching fervently toward bilker park toward the festival. ACL is one of Texas’ largest and most anticipated festivals every year. The festival helped the city of Austin earn its title “Live Music Capital of the World.” 42 years ago, ACL was a small event created to celebrate country music and rock n roll, but today, the thousands of fans swarm in annually to come enjoy artists that range from niche and quirky to mainstream and iconic.

The first time I heard about ACL was my Junior year at Alamo Heights high school in San Antonio. I was sitting in math class, the bell was about to ring, and classmates on all sides of me were chatting in excited voices saying, ACL tickets are available, I already bought mine!”

Confused and too embarrassed to ask, I went home and did my research. As my eyes scanned the lineup, I felt like a kid in a candy store, thrilled to pieces about the exciting bands and artists playing. I knew too well my straight laced, conservative parents would not be receptive to the idea of ACL but I worked up the courage and asked them anyway. Their response was worse than I expected. “Absolutely not!” my mother said while putting away a dish.

When reflecting back on my experiences as an ACL festival goer, it's unbelievable to me that the girl with strict parents living a calm simple life in quiet alamo heights was me. Much to my mother’s dismay, this year will be my 4th year to attend ACL. What my mother does and could not understand is the sentimental value ACL holds for me. Much like smell, thinking

about acl weekend evokes vivid memories. It is a sort of scrapbook of emotions, the memories capturing where I was in my life in that year, on that weekend.

My first year attending ACL was my first year out of the house, going to college in Austin Texas. By this time,, I had years to build up the ACL experience in my mind. That year, I attended with a date named Nico . I remember doing crunches on my dorm floor, obsessing over my hair and making sure there were no clumps in my mascara. I wanted my first ACL experience to be perfect.

After waiting 5 minutes by the bus stop taking us to Zilker park, the sky turned grey and angry drops of rain swooped down on us from the heavens. Upon Arriving at ACL, my hair had frizzed up , mascara was running down my face, and my date and I wearing garbage bags over our clothes. Nico and I proceeded to the ticket gates, where we were instructed to join two separate lines across from each other to. “Ill meet you right after the gate,” he said. When I entered the festival,I was astounded by the size of the crowd. The thousands festival goers looked like frantic ants crawling every which way around an ant hill which was Zilker Park. I looked around for Nico, couldn't find him, and then tried to call him only to discover I had no service. I eventually found him. By the end of the day, my clean shaven and moisturized legs had mud caked all over them, my hair looked like I had been electrocuted, and whatever makeup I had put on had either been sweat off or relocated to the wrong parts of my face. My feet hurt, my stomach growled, and I was so tired I just wanted to curl up in the grass and nap. My first ACL experience , to say the least, was a far cry from the smooth, low key and slightly glamorous event I had in mind. “I don’t get it about ACL. “It's not worth it” I told high school friends on the phone.

By Junior year, Nico and I had broken up, and at that point in my life I had very few college friends because I had spent most of my time thus far with Nico. That year, I attended ACL with a friend named Jon. Jon, a small, soft spoken blonde haired boy who I had met during move in day. My mother, who knew Iwould find a way to attend ACL,whether she funded it or not, insisted on paying for both me and Jon’s ACL ticket because she wanted to make sure I “was safe.” In the back of my head, I recall feeling embarrassed, wondering if her generosity was rooted in sympathy for her lonely, friendless daughter. Jon and I attended ACL all three days. Jon was a nice, but not the most exciting person to festival with. That year I was 21, and could drink legally at ACL which I took full advantage of in order to make myself feel a little more lively.

By Saturday, I had spent most of my money on 10 dollar beers.

By the time it was my senior year, I had become a very different kind of person. I had become tired of feeling friendless,and learned to overcome my shy nature and assert myself more in social situations. The result was a group of fun loving, amazing friends. As soon as tickets went on sale, me and my closest friends Mackenzie and Kate all agreed that we were going to acl no matter what. We each bought our tickets., and the day of ACL me kate , mackenzie, and their boyfriends, giddy with excitement, made all the preparations for the weekend, covering yourself in shiny flash tatoos, buying snacks and discreet drinks we could sneak in, and charging our gopros. When we got to the festival, we confidently each walked through the wristband scanners, me being last. When I placed my wristband on the scanner, a loud beep sounded and red lights flashed. “Go to the wristband help center” the guard said. Panic struck me while i waited in line and started to hear my favorite singer, Lana Del rey playing, who i was most excited to see.

Eventually, at the front of the line a ticket helper took my wristband to investigate the issue.

“This wristband is for weekend two” he said. “That's not possible,” I said, “I bought it from

someone who told me it was weekend one.” The helper looked at me sympathetically, I then asked the ticket helper if there was anything I could do to switch it for a weekend one, to which he replied no. I looked over at my friends, who were standing as close as possible to the ticket help within the festival, anxiously watching. Feeling a defeat strike me like hard lightening , I desperately asked the helper if I could volunteer, to which they also responded no. Tears began welling up in my eyes. My natural instinct was to hold back the tears, but suddenly an idea struck me. I proceeded to channel my inner puss in boots, playing up my panic with widened eyes with a slightly trembling chin pleading, “ My friends and I have been planning this weekend for months, some came in town just because I was going to weekend one.” The helper looked at me sympathetically, turning to his co worker who had a similar apologetic expression, both shaking their heads. I toward a shockingly abandoned ticket gate, my shoulders sagging with defeat. As I approached it my friends nervously watched me asking out loud if I made it. I continued to walk through, still overcome with grief, and “no” on my lips. I paused, realizing suddenly that the ticket scanners were behind me, austin city skyline in front of me, and festival goers were all around me-- I was already in the festival. “ Should I run?” I asked my friends. “RUN” they all said in unison, eyes wide and arms flailing, we ran into the crowd with silly grins and faces flushed faces. Getting into ACL that day was the easiest compared to the rest of the weekend.

Saturday, all waking up mid afternoon slightly hungover, made our way over to acl like a rag tag army, wondering how they were going to get me in. Zander, Kate’s boyfriend, walked through the crowd flashing my wristband, pausing by anyone holding a sign saying “ Need tickets”.

Because it seemed so many people were needing tickets, I felt positive I would be able to find a legal way to get into the festival. It turned out that the sign “need tickets” was actually code for “selling tickets”. Scalping tickets has legal repercussions,and police patrolling the ACL area

were on the lookout for perpetrators. Eventually, 280 dollars later, I bought a wristband for the rest of the weekend. On Sunday, Mackenzie’s mother, Charm, became our ACL angel. Charm, being the quintessential ‘cool’ hippie mom she is, gave us backstage passes for the bud light stage. We didn’t think it could get any better while sitting on a pink tapestry, drinking free beer from the beer tap, until a beautiful girl (mackenzie knew) , with a blue eyed man came over to chat with us. Introducing ourselves, I noticed Kate’s demeanor change, her face lighting up when shaking the hands of the man. They sat down with us, and when they weren’t looking Kate informed me that the man was a celebrity named Adrien Grenier.

Recalling last year’s series of unexpected events, II can only dream that this weekend will be as exciting as last years. But deep down, I understand that it is important to welcome the experience whether it be good or bad. The reason I have come to understand this is because I see ACL as a symbol of my life’s trials and tribulations. I can look back on every autumn living in Austin, away from home and on my own, and remember what it felt like to be living in that moment. ACL has taught me not only to live in the moment, but to expect the unexpected. It is ironic in my opinion that the festival is called Austin City Limits, because it has taught me that life’s possibilities are limitless. In my five years since leaving home, I have come to understand that there is no way I can guess what the future holds. While my life won't always be without struggle, I understand now that without struggle there is never going to be any personal progress.

The Scene

Growing up, my family and I took vacations every winter to Colorado to ski. Because of this, Colorado in my mind has always been represented as a wholesome place for healthy, happy families. As I have grown older, and been exposed to other facets of life, I have come to think of Colorado much differently. No longer do I see Colorado as a place for ony families, I see it as a

mecca for art, expression and music--a place for both happy families, and happy hippies. Around 300,000 people move to colorado each year, because of it’s unique features. There are four distinct seasons, nature is impeccable and seemingly untouched, and perhaps more appealing to some is that since 2011, marijuana is legal. Colorado, in short, is a hippie’s paradise. The artsy climate of Colorado is also the birthplace of a different type of hippy- the electronic music hippy.

The values surrounding electronic music such as the concept of PLUR- peace, love, unity, and respect is widely celebrated by the young twenty somethings living Colorado.

Since the birth of electronic music, it has grown and divided into many parts. Under the electronic music umbrella, there are subgenres such as EDM, Dubstep, trap, House, Trance, and Trip- hop. Each of these genres are similar in that they use electronically generated sounds, but each genre has a unique sound. None the less, all genres share similar festival style, characterized by very loud speakers, and jarring strobe lights.Another major component of the electronic music scene is drugs. While not everyone who listen to electronic music are drug users, it is commonly known that people heavily into the EDM scene view the act of taking drugs differently than some. Fans of electronic music see drugs as a ticket to enlightenment. For this reason, it is understandable that in Colorado, where marijuana is often smoked, electronic music is popular.

Electronic music, which could described by some as loud and jarring, seems like an unlikely place to be celebrated in such a serene and beautiful place like Colorado, however it makes perfect sense. One such reason is because Colorado has a liberal state of mind. In the past 100 years, Colorado has elected 12 republican governors and 17 democratic governors. The liberal presence in Colorado is reflective and symbolic of free thinking,and free love that is captured by colorado electronic music.

The beginnings of the birth of the colorado electronic music scene can be traced back to 2004, when musical mastermind Derek Vincent Smith began working on an album. Smith’s take on electronic music was dramatic departure from most electronic music because of its focus on melody rather than beat. Smith preferred soulful melodies rather than up tempo explosive beats.

A further element which set his music apart from other electronic music was the way it incorporated vintage funk and soul samples to create a contemplative, gripping type of sound.

Furthermore, Smith broke away from traditional electronic music and used live instruments in production and performances rather than only using electronics. The way Smith’s music sounds is often thought of as contemplative, soulful, and intricate.

Smith continued to penetrate the electronic music scene with his unique sounds, which and rapidly gained the attention of his friends and school mates. Smith continued to expand audience outside of Colorado by making his music available to all, available to download free of charge through the internet. By doing this, Smith doubled his exposure and soon became an internet sensation. As Smith's music gained influence, other electronic music acts from other states, such as Griz, came out of the woodwork with similar jazzy and soulful music.

Smith now owns his own label, called Pretty Lights Music, under which there are four other colorado based djs. All the music from acts under the pretty lights label share the same soulful, funk sound. Smith attributes his inspiration for Pretty Lights Music to being from Northern Colorado. In an interview, he said “Northern Colorado allowed me to be exposed to so many different kinds of music, and that’s eventually how I was able to visualize an original new genre of music, which is now blowing up in Northern Colorado, and has been for years, and there’s producers coming out of every nook and cranny and the music is hype!”

Smith and Pretty lights music is a perfect example an environment and a thing can have a reciprocal relationship, each acting on the other in it’s own way. The liberal ideology and free spirited cultural climate of Colorado was the perfect place for Pretty light music to be born, as a subgenre of electronic music. Fans from Colorado who find deep meaning in their genre and identify with the way music feels, the free spirit message it conveys, and the way in which it promotes the core value of love and human connection.

The Feature

The Adverse Effects of Media on Terrorism and the Generation of Race- Hate On November 28th, 2015 Theresa Church left her gym in Northwest Austin to find a note on the windshield of her car that read “go away!” Theresa, a Muslim US citizen and a self proclaimed “Texas girl” is only one of many Muslims feeling condemned by society since the Paris attacks."It just hurt me. It was more of, I just felt embarrassed...And I just felt like, you know, where am I supposed to go? This is, you know, where I was born, this is where I've always

been, this is where my family is.” Since the Paris attacks, there has been 27 cases of reported incidents involving hate directed towards Muslims in the US. The media has often failed to educate its viewers on a key component to understanding the issue, being that ISIS is not representative of the Islam religion or Islamic community. For this reason, media coverage of terrorism has a complicated effect on its viewers. While the media’s coverage of the Paris attacks has generated compassion and support for France, it has also caused an increase in Islamophobia and race-hate.

I interviewed French, Muslim, and American individuals about their thoughts on media coverage of the paris attacks, and if the media, in it’s coverage of ISIS, has had a role in the misrepresentation of Islam . Nais Ohayon, ,a French student at St. Edwards, who watched both American and French coverage of the attacks, says she thinks “US media dramatized the attacks, in France, there is no Republican or Democratic TV stations, French TV has to be neutral.”

When I asked Ohayon how's she thinks French view Muslims since the attacks, she responded by saying that while some, mostly young people, who are fearful for the country are joining an extremist party called Front National, Most french know they have to accept Muslims, not marginalize them.”, Dany Subayi, a citizen of France who has been watching French coverage said “French journalists are concerned about those attacks so they cannot, even if they try, to be objective.” Katie Hittinger, another French student, says :The situation is a bit complicated since Paris got attacked two times this year. While media coverage of the Charlie Hebdo Paris attacks in January had given rise to heated debates, his time the coverage has so far not raised issues.The media had to change between January and what happened three weeks ago. I don't think French tv is becoming anti- Muslim. It's important not to conflate between muslim and radical Islam. It's two different things! Of course some French people are saying all Muslims are

terrorists but they are wrong! In my opinion, French media is actually saying and showing that we need split the two.”

It seems that a core problem riddling the quality of news coverage is the shallow and fast paced nature of media today, making it easy for people to form biased opinions without fully understanding an issue. This problem is clearly illustrated in the increase in race-hate toward Muslims, even though ISIS is not representative of Muslim ideology as a whole. Members of ISIS, The group responsible for the Paris attacks, have unique and separate beliefs , renouncing any form of Islam that isn’t identical to the radical rules of society outlined in 7th century islamic texts. Furthermore, they accept violence and terrorism as means to obtaining the Islamic state, which is also not a tenant of all Muslims. The media has done a poor job making this essential distinction, and as a result, race- hate and islamophobia has increased.

Popular news stations such as FOX and CNN deliver sometimes racist,unfair, or unclear news which further perpetuates this epidemic of ignorance. FOX news hosted Ahmed ShihabEldin in January for a discussion on “Should moderate Muslims speak out more?” The host, Michaela Pereira asked Shihab-Eldin "we've been hearing from, sort of, different corners – that moderate Muslims need to be part of this conversation – that [they] have a responsibility – need to be doing more. What are your thoughts on that? Eldin’s responded by saying that “Muslims of all kinds – moderate Muslims, Muslim leaders – have often condemned these kinds of attacks, and continue to do so today. I think those who are calling for these kinds of..., condemnations and denouncements are either... not aware of Google; or not paying attention; or perhaps, watching too much Fox News, where hosts constantly are – you know, driving this point home.

The bigger question should be, why is it that only Muslims should speak out when these kinds of attacks happen?”

The importance of accurate reporting is further illustrated in the fact that many people don’t understand the goal and strategy of ISIS.Something that many Americans seem to be unaware of is that ISIS intended for U.S. citizens to display cultural intolerance toward Muslims and Muslim communities. An article titled by the Washington Post, called “Hating Muslims plays right into the Islamic State’s hands” explains that the increase of Islamophobia is precisely what ISIS wants: for all people to condemn and commit acts of hatred against all muslims, because “then ISIS will be able to say, ‘I told you so. These are your enemies, and the enemies of Islam.’”

The media has the power to educate and inform their audiences, but instead it seems they are pandering to the audience’s fears perhaps for the sake of higher ratings and wider viewership. Steven Walters, a student at St. Edwards, spoke to this when I asked him what he thought about media coverage of the news attacks. “ I think the media focuses too much on death and try to create hysteria, so then they have higher ratings and view counts.” After interviewing o many students about their thoughts on this issue, I came to believe that instead of provoking fear of all Muslims, the media should focus on reporting the facts about what ISIS is and what they intend to do. In my own research, I found in the latest issue of Dabiq, ISIS’S official magazine, a written strategy to eliminate all Muslims who are not supporters of ISIS. The article explains that ISIS’S goal to obtain the Islamic state is largely helped by growing hatred and division toward Muslims in the West. The article says that ISIS’s goal is to a) create an Islamic state and eventually world or b) to “polarize Muslims against one another, to incite internal divisions within the West, and to turn the West against Islam, with the ultimate goal of “goading] the West into launching an all-out ground attack, thereby setting the scene for the final battle between Muslims and the crusaders prophesized to be held at Dabiq in Syria.” Furthermore, an ISIS

author wrote that the latter would require an “operation overseas that is so destructive that America and its allies will have no alternative but to send in an army. This would have to be something on the scale, if not bigger, than 9/11.”

These excerpts contains key information to understanding ISIS’s strategy and their ultimate goal, which is is to create divisions between Muslims and Westerners. Today's media coverage of this issue is so surface level that viewers are left with incomplete information which can, and has been the reason behind an increase in hatred towards Muslims.