Wednesday, February 22, 2023 - State of the Media

DAILY BEACON STAFF AND POLICY INFORMATION

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Daniel Dassow

MANAGING EDITOR: Abby Ann Ramsey

COPY CHIEF: Olivia Hayes

NEWS EDITOR: Autumn Hall

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Emma Co�ey

SPORTS EDITOR: Andrew Peters

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR: Eric Woods

OPINIONS EDITOR: Lily Marcum

PHOTO EDITOR: Ericksen Gomez-Villeda

DESIGN EDITOR: Bella Hughes

PAGE DESIGNERS: Emma Fingeret, Rhylee Gross, Julia Paulman, Chloe Black, Paige Stark

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER: Jackie Dremel

COVER PHOTO: Ericksen Gomez-Villeda

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ADVERTISING PRODUCTION ARTISTS: Everrett Hurst, Jean Mendoza

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CORRECTIONS POLICY:It is the Daily Beacon’s policy to quickly correct any factual errors and clarify any potentially misleading information. Errors brought to our attention by readers or sta� members will be corrected and printed on page two of our publication. To report an error please send as much information as possible about where and when the error occurred to managingeditor@utdailybeacon.com, or call our newsroom at (865) 974-5206.

The Daily Beacon is published by students at The University of Tennessee on Monday and Thursday during the fall and spring semesters. The o�ces are located at 1345 Circle Park Drive, 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The newspaper is free on campus and is available via mail subscription for $200/ year or $100/semester. It is also available online at: www.utdailybeacon.com

Letter from the Editor: Why do we still print?

DANIEL DASSOW Editor-in-Cheif

This job often takes me to journalism classes, where I stand at the front of the room and describe to students what The Daily Beacon can offer them.

Once last year, a student raised her hand to ask a question. She introduced herself as a fifth-year senior in the school of journalism and then said, “Where do you even get copies of the Beacon?”

When students ask this question, I descend into a familiar thought crisis about whether the Beacon should be printing physical papers at all.

Let me back up a few years. When I got to UT, I met Kylie Hubbard, then editor-in-chief of the Beacon, at a welcome week event and told her resolutely that I wasn’t going to work for the paper.

Student media was like improv, choir and theater – something stressful I subjected myself to in high school that I was now releasing myself from in the semi-retirement period they call college. I had served as editor of my high school paper, and my decision to move the paper fully online was unpopular and soured the experience for me. Kylie was nice though, so I said I might write for her. My first article was published a week later.

Here’s what I want to say about the paper edi-

tions of the Beacon. I did not pick them up every week during the two years that I was a staff writer, but I can remember so clearly the first time I saw my story on the front page.

I had gone to Dunford Hall to interview a historian of medicine named Susan Lawrence, because I wanted to get her thoughts on what some people were saying could become a pandemic.

I was about the get on the elevator when I saw it. There, sitting low in a rack by the doors was my story, the first feature about COVID-19 published in the Beacon, printed on the front page. When you are a staff writer, you don’t know which stories will make it in the paper and where, so it was a great surprise.

This is why college papers have a period of mourning when they go out of print. Going out of print means losing most of your physical presence on campus and the chance to reach people in a tactile way. It means that all your work becomes a piece of analytic data on a screen, like numbers in a bank account.

So when I’m asked by a students where one can even find a copy of the Beacon and I’m tempted to ask myself why we print, I remember that we print because we are lucky to be able to print.

Many other editors-in-chief of the Beacon have written letters over the last 10 years announcing a reduction in print. I have not had to make any announcement like this in my time as editor, but I do not think the Beacon will always be in print.

The Beacon used to print 10,000 full-sized

newspapers every day with the help of a large staff, ample advertising sales and wire services. Now, we print 2,700 copies a week, in a world where ad revenue is low and students get their news online. But the physical papers are very important to me, because they create powerful chances for connection. UT has changed a great deal. Dunford won’t be around much longer and the university is super sizing itself as if to assert that the pandemic couldn’t hold us back. But the papers printed and distributed every week have been a constant. As we publish this special edition on the state of the media, the only conclusion I can come to is that the world is changing rapidly and that the day is coming when the Beacon will print its final edition. And when that happens, there will be a marked absence on campus.

Letter from the Managing Editor: Do what you can

ABBY ANN RAMSEY Managing Editor

Last week, Paramore released a new album for the first time in five years, titled “This Is Why.” In their video on Spotify introducing the album, lead singer Hayley Williams explains the inspiration for the album as a whole.

“This album is a culmination of a lot of lessons learned over the last four or five years, some that are really personal, and some that are part of a bigger picture that I think we’re all engaged in at some point in and out of the social happenings, political happenings and it being too much some days,” Williams said. “And then at the same time always having your own experience and your own personal stuff to overcome. It’s just the balance of both of those.”

I watched this video before listening to the album but didn’t think much of it. That was until I understood everything she meant when I listened to the second track titled “The News,” which was simultaneously deeply relatable and heartbreaking to me.

“Every second, our collective heart breaks/ All together, every single head shakes/Shut your eyes, but it won’t go away/(Turn on, turn off, the news),” Williams sings.

The news is constant and rarely feels encouraging. No one can keep up with the sheer amount of content that’s made every day. And while feeling burnt out by the news is not a new problem, it felt especially true to me during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the aftermath.

I was a senior in high school, editor of the school paper, telling everyone I’d major in journalism at UT to pursue my dream of being a reporter. Yet, after March 2020, I got so sick of news I could only read headlines. And honestly, I’d do my best to avoid even headlines.

Looking back, I think the main thing that deterred me was that I felt like there was pressure to read every single thing. I’m a bit of an all or nothing person, so my thought process was, “Once I read one article, I’ll have to read them all.” So instead of catching up on the news once or twice a week, I literally blocked it out of my brain as much as I could.

I eventally got back to my usual self, but it was hard for me to learn that I didn’t have to read, watch and listen to everything. Moderation in news consumption was a foreign concept to me.

Now, I try my best to give myself grace when the only information I’ve read is from a news source’s Instagram caption, reminding myself that I can go back and learn more when I catch a breath and when it doesn’t feel so draining.

People say journalism is dying and that Gen Z kids have never heard of a newspaper — which

by the way is not only untrue, but is a pretty lazy joke, if you ask me — but the truth is content is growing at a rapid speed. It’s just not the same as it used to be.

Don’t be ashamed to use the tools we have, like Twitter and TikTok, to consume media. Just make sure you’re still checking that the information is reliable and try to remind yourself to do some more research when it doesn’t feel like the world is crashing down around you.

I still go through phases where I want to avoid everything, refusing to open my social media apps when I see the red Apple bubble showing how many notifications I have. But I try to remember that even a sliver of my time spent gathering reliable information is better than none at all.

Thumbnail for Paramore’s “Running Out of Time.” Courtesy of IMDb

History of modern media

1784 Newspaper 1896Radio

e Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser was the nation’s rst daily newspaper. e publication ran from 1784 - 1790.

1983 Internet

2007

Guglielmo Marconi invented “telegraphy without wires” to allow people to communicate overseas. In the year he applied for a patent, Marconi sent a 12-mile broadcast which kickstarted mass communication.

Defense Data Network merged communication channels, creating the internet. Shared IP addresses promoted global communication, which was only the beginning of the internet phenomenon.

2004 Facebook

Television 1876

Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell acquired the rst U.S. patent for his invention of the phone in 1876. Within the span of a few years, his invention revolutionized communication.

e rst electronic television was invented in 1927 by Philo Taylor Farnsworth. Farnsworth’s invention would soon make way for the modern television as his electrical system is still used today.

Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerburg while he was studying at Harvard. It quickly became one of the rst widley-used social networking sites in the United States.

iPhone 2016

e iPhone was introduced in 2007 by Apple headed by Steve Jobs. It included a touchscreen display, a microphone, headphone control and much more, all of which can be seen in the modern iPhones that we still see today.

TikTok

TikTok rose in popularity shortly a er it took over the popular app Musical.ly. Users could create short videos and share content with people all over the world. To this day, TikTok still contributes greatly to an increase in social media content creators.

Looking for a new AI-powered best friend? Look no further than ChatGPT. This cuttingedge language model developed by OpenAI is not only incredibly smart and knowledgeable, but is also friendly and engaging. ChatGPT is like having a personal assistant, tutor and conversation partner all rolled into one. Whether you’re looking for recommendations, help with homework or just some good old-fashioned banter, ChatGPT is up for the task. So next time you’re feeling lonely or in need of some intellectual stimulation, give ChatGPT a try and prepare to be entertained.

The paragraph above is what ChatGPT, a chatbot program made to respond to prompts with natural language, created when asked to write lead for an article on ChatGPT in a college newspaper.

Here is the real lead, written by this real human staff writer: On a college campus, it is seemingly inevitable that you have heard, extensively, about Chat Generative Pre-trained

Transformer, better known as ChatGPT, from professor warnings in regards to honor codes and plagiarism, to mentions of its legitimacy or accounts of personal experience from peers and even the whispers swearing that this is doomsday — the beginning of robotic take over.

On nearly all fronts, artificial intelligence is a contentious topic in the sphere of media and academics.

From books to articles, websites and everything in between, ChatGPT is able to sift through its catalog of intelligence and provide you an answer to any question within seconds. You can ask the robot to write you an essay on an obscure topic or solve your math homework.

The precision, detail and human-likeness by which it is able to answer some questions is one side of concern for educators. The vagueness with which it responds is the other.

On Feb. 9, more than 100 faculty attended a discussion hosted by the Office of the Provost titled “The Power and Peril of Emerging AI in Education.” There, faculty shared their experiences with AI, deliberating on policy and concerns, as well as discussing the pos-

Why is Smokey the best mascot in the SEC?

Smokey is widely regarded as one of the best mascots in the SEC, if not the entire country, for a number of reasons. Smokey is known for his friendly, loyal and energetic personality. Smokey is also known for his distinctive bark, which adds to his charm and appeal. He is a handsome and distinctivelooking dog, making him very photogenic.

sibility of its place in the future and the excitement that comes with new and emerging technologies.

A ChatGPT Taskforce Steering Committee of students and faculty has formed in order to inform and help the UT community in navigating the changing fronts of teaching and learning.

Making the jump from the flurry of concerns surrounding the changing climate due to the emergence of AI, UT programs are in place to turn the anxious energy into research and into a policy plan.

The next listening session was held via Zoom on Tuesday, Feb. 21 from 4-5 p.m. The topic of discussion was called “The Power and Peril of Emerging AI in Education: Developing our Campus Plan.” Meetings will continue to take place biweekly.

Melanie Faizer, senior lecturer of journalism and electronic media, discussed the way that she sees AI, and ChatGPT specifically, developing the state of the media.

“There are a lot of things that AI can be really useful for. In journalism, to free up human capital to do the other kinds of reporting, I think it’s great. We can spend our time

ChatGPT, capable of humanlike writing, inspires campus taskforce Hey, ChatGPT

doing stories that AI is not capable of doing,” Faizer said.

This is not an entirely new phenomenon, either, in Fraizer’s professional experience.

“AI has already been in use in a lot of templated stories. I used to work in business news, for example, and templated stories about earnings or stories that just rely on data as opposed to human sources and interviews have been generated, using AI, for a long time,” Faizer said.

The difference with the modern introduction of ChatGPT, is that this technology is now present on a wider, more accessible scale.

“I think we’re going to have to reckon with the fact that the skills that we’re teaching or maybe how we teach it are going to go away and not be as important anymore,” Faizer said. “I think being open to that is important if it advances us as a whole.”

Of course, one does not interview a robot without asking the most obvious question: Are you planning on taking over the world?

“No, as an artificial intelligence language model, I am not capable of taking over the world or any other type of action on my own,” ChatGPT said.

How is UT’s upcoming baseball season looking?

The Volunteers have a strong baseball program with a talented coaching staff and a history of success in the SEC. As with any upcoming season, there will be uncertainties and challenges, but I’m sure the team and its fans are looking forward to an exciting season and will be supporting the team to the fullest.

What is there to know about the 2023 Vols football season?

The Tennessee Volunteers football team is gearing up for an exciting season ahead, with new coaching staff and promising recruits adding to the mix. With a renewed focus on developing their young talent, the Volunteers are looking to build on their progress from last season and make a statement in the competitive SEC. The team’s fan base is eagerly anticipating their first game, hoping to see their beloved Vols put up a strong fight against their rivals and showcase their potential for a successful season.

CAITLIN MULQUEEN Staff Writer

Smokey watches the Vols in Neyland Stadium on Sept. 17 at a game against Akron.

The Vols scramble out of the dugout after their victory against Georgia Tech at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Sunday, June 5, 2022. Edward Cruz / The Daily Beacon

Live in Bulgaria or in the classroom, Teodora Trifonova shares multimedia passion

KYLIA BERRY Staff Writer

When she was a sophomore pursuing her bachelor’s in journalism at the University of Bulgaria, Teodora Trifonova yearned for hands-on experience in her journalism career. In Bulgaria, she knocked on the doors of numerous media organizations with her resume and CV. As part of her first internship, she worked at the Bulgarian National Radio Station. As a young journalist, Trifonova knew broadcasting was her passion and she continued her internship at the leading TV network in Bulgaria, bTV.

“I spent a year there, and they hired me,” Trifonova said, now a doctoral student in journalism and a teaching associate in the College of Communication and Information.

Over the past 11 years, Trifonova has reported news and investigated crime for bTV media. She came to UT to pursue her doctorate and to be the educator to younger journalists that she wished she had.

“I wanted to have a real journalist come to me and be able to take their class,” Trifonova said.

In a 15-year career, Trifonova has acquired valuable knowledge she hopes to pass on to her students.

“Teodora goes the extra mile for her students, giving them experiences beyond the textbook and in the field,” Clinton Elmore, director of The Volunteer Channel, said.

Trifonova is also a researcher and received

the competitive Collaborative Scholars Grant from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication along with journalism professor Joy Jenkins last year to study foreign correspondents from Eastern Europe as they cover the war in Ukraine.

The journalism profession is rapidly changing as technology advances. As a professional in the media industry, Trifonova has seen how the industry has changed over time. There was a dramatic shift in journalism from 15 years ago to today’s profession.

“Journalists are multitasking nowadays, and you must be a multimedia journalist,” Trifonova said. “I want my students to be exposed to mobile journalism to develop more skills, and when they go outside of academia, they will find a better job.”

With the change in the industry, journalists have developed skills that assist them in their profession. Today, reporters are often their own copy editors and videographers.

“If you asked me 15 years ago that I would have to have skills in filming and editing, I would say no way,” Trifonova said.

Media in the 21st century is constantly changing, making journalists adapt to new professional trends. Trifonova stresses the importance of mobile journalism to her students.

“I want my students to be exposed to mobile journalism so they can develop more skills,” she said.

In addition to educating students at the university, Trifonova is a U.S. correspondent for bTV Media. She reports live in Bulgaria from Knoxville and from around the United States. The iPhone is her cameraman as she clicks on the app provided by her news station to broadcast live in Bulgaria. She can fit all her equipment in her purse to go live anywhere.

“Here is my lovely adaptor for my smartphone and my portable light so that I can go live anywhere,” Trifonova said, unpacking her media kit.

Trifonova was a special correspondent in the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections. Before reaching the polls, she brought her entire production set in her suitcase. As former journalists began arriving, she noticed they were using the same equipment and reporting on their iPhones. The similarity of the reporter’s equipment exemplifies the change in the media industry.

“I met with journalists from different countries who were also U.S. correspondents. They were working the same way as I was,” Trifonova said.

Trifonova believes multimedia journalism will increasingly become the new normal in the industry. In the 22nd century, all journalists could be in a multimedia profession.

“Embrace it. Don’t fight against it. Use it,” Trifonova said.

Teodora Trifonova, a doctoral student in the school of journalism and electronic media, broadcasts live back to Bulgaria as a U.S. correspondent for bTV. Courtesy of Teodora Trifonova

BookTok, BookTube and Bookstagram

In statements to The Daily Beacon, YouTuber Haley Pham, author B. K. Borison and other book influencers spoke about

EMMA COFFEY

Arts and Culture Editor

Before the internet, people read books for enjoyment and pleasure. While some watched television, many young people read for entertainment. However, with the rise of the digital age and social media in the early 2010s, reading declined tremendously.

Young people used to be avid readers, especially in the era of releases like “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer and “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins.

A study done by a professor of psychology, Jean Twenge, and the American Psychological Association in 2018 found that in 2016, one in three high school seniors did not read a book for fun, and 82% of seniors were on social media sites every day.

The study also found that in the 1970s, 60% of high school seniors reported reading a physical form of print, whether that be a book, magazine or newspaper — and this percentage has been steadily declining for years.

The internet led to an increase in Amazon users, so people who were reading for fun were doing a lot of purchasing online. This meant that the internet quickly became a problem for publishing companies, chain bookstores and independent bookstores. These businesses were seeing major declines in sales.

For years, because many young people stopped reading for fun due to social media apps, it negatively impacted the book world. However, the internet brought literature back to life with the rise of TikTok.

TikTok is an extremely popular app among young people in the U.S. It changed the game for many companies when it came to promoting products and marketing. People post short videos on the app, often sharing what products and services they are enjoying, and certain things become trends that millions of people join in on.

This trend also translated to the publishing industry. There is an entire algorithm on TikTok that is labeled “BookTok.” BookTok is a community within the app where people review and make videos about books that they love, and they often get a lot of attention. Whether it be romance, thrillers or fantasy books, this commu-

nity covers just about everything. The hashtag #BookTok on the app currently holds almost 110 billion views, and in 2021, a new record was set with 843 million print books sold in the U.S. This side of the app began trending at the end of 2020 after a user — @aymansbooks — posted about a book called “The Invisible Life of Addie Larue” by V.E. Schwab. Her video received millions of views and a lot of engagement from young people.

Because of her persuasive language while describing the plot, the book ended up being sold out on Amazon after three days of her video being posted. Many people made comments on her video saying that the book was also sold out at their local bookstores and Barnes & Noble.

Certain books — such as “The Invisible Life of Addie Larue” — go viral and then to the top of the New York Times Bestseller’s list in a short period of time after receiving exposure on the app. Schwab’s book was on the bestseller’s list for forty weeks.

Young people enjoy doing what is “trendy,” and because of social media’s influence, people find that reading has become fun and addictive again. Users are constantly trying to discover new books to talk about and share on the app, and it’s a never-ending cycle.

BookTok has recently been the most popular platform for book promotion, but Instagram and YouTube also have a large book community, which people refer to as “Bookstagram” and “BookTube.” Publishers and authors have been taking advantage of these apps as well.

YouTube is one of the oldest social platforms that has created a large number of influencers.

Haley Pham is an internet sensation – a 22-year-old social media creator with 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube. She is married to Ryan Trahan, a YouTuber with 11.7 million subscribers.

Pham’s content, which she began creating when she was 12 years old, used to solely focus on lifestyle, but in 2021 she began to focus on book content creation. Pham also has a second channel with over 800,000 subscribers where she creates book vlogs.

Pham has had a major influence on book sales. In 2022, she discussed the book “Better than the Movies” by Lynn Painter in a couple videos on her channel, which caused the book to sell out of stores for months. In Lynn Painter’s following novel, “The Do Over,” she credited Pham in

the acknowledgements for making her work go viral, saying “Haley Pham, I adore you and your delightful followers.”

Pham spoke to The Daily Beacon on how social media impacts her own personal reading trends.

“I think social media has been a huge proponent of reading books consistently month after month because of the community aspect,” Pham said. “If I ever find that I’m not very excited to read, by the first of the next month there are tons of creators raving about the books they read the previous month, and it reignites my excitement to read all over again.”

Authors and publishers began using social media platforms to their advantage to sell their own books and create partnerships with influencers. Many bookstores also have BookTok tables in their stores to attract readers, as well as BookTok sections on their websites.

B.K. Borison is a popular romance author known for her “Lovelight” trilogy. Borison shared how social media impacted her own work and success as an author.

“If it wasn’t for the organic opportunity available through social media, I wouldn’t have been able to build my readership,” Borison said. “In just one year, I’ve been able to grow my audience tremendously. I went from a self-published author, to picked up by a major publishing house.”

In addition to YouTubers, Instagram creators are also sharing in the success.

Grayson Holmes is a large Bookstagrammer – @goodreadswithgray – with over 130,000 followers. Because of her platform, publishers often reach out to her for book promotion to create buzz.

“I must admit it’s quite cool to get early copies of books sometimes, or to just get sent books in general. It’s something that still shocks me sometimes, that publishers and authors are interested in me posting their works on my platform,” Holmes said. “I’ve also had a number of paid brand deals, which is something else that

truly baffles me. Overall, it’s been a super fun experience for me, and I truly love everything about it.”

While social media has often been known to cause mental health issues among younger people, it has also given people an avenue to share their love for books and even create a successful career from just creating content on books. It has revived the publishing industry and has allowed new bookstores to open across the country, as well as influenced people to pick up books.

In Knoxville, business owners are taking action due to the increase in reading rates.

There have been two new indie bookstore openings in the summer of 2022: Bear Den Books in Sequoyah Hills and Addison’s Bookstore on Gay Street. The newest indie store — Fable Hollow Coffee and Bookshoppe — is a fantasythemed store that opened this month. These stores along with ones like Barnes & Noble and McKay’s have hopped on the train of having entire sections and tables dedicated to BookTok, which brings in young readers.

With new local stores opening and increased community events, it is clear that social media has had a major role in the success of Knoxville’s literary community’s success and growth.

the drastic impact social media has had on the publishing industry.

BookTube sensation Haley Pham has major influence in the online reading community. Courtesy of Haley Pham

“If it wasn’t for the organic opportunity available through social media, I wouldn’t have been able to build my readership.”

B.K. BORISON Romance Author

Q&A: Rebecca McCarter (’97), former Beacon editor

News Editor

In an effort to see what changes to the media have looked like from the ground level, I spoke with my mom, Rebecca McCarter, about her experiences as a staff writer and student life editor for The Daily Beacon from 1995-97, and what she thought about the current state of student journalism.

The following interview has been edited for length.

Autumn Hall: What was the newsroom dynamic like when you at the Beacon?

Rebecca McCarter: The newsroom was so much different then versus now. We had to physically go to the newsroom every time we needed to type out a story. I remember one time, I had a story completely done and the electricity went out. I lost the entire story.

Hall: How did you communicate with writers?

McCarter: It was all either written down or by word of mouth. The system wasn’t nearly as sophisticated as it is now. I do think that it worked just as well then, though. I think we were clearer with each other on what we wanted to write and what we did. There are so many distractions with social media and different things. Back then, it was just clear cut communication.

Hall: What were some of the biggest issues that you faced during your time at the Beacon?

McCarter: My peers editing my work. I got in hot water because of their edits sometimes. One time, I did a story on Mothers Against Drunk Driving. It was the cover story. They did skits depicting the effects of alcohol abuse and drunk driving. I had an editor who added the words “funny skits” into the article. The next morning, I woke up to the head of the UTPD calling me.

Hall: Oh no! How do you think that impacted your personal editing style?

McCarter: I think going forward, it taught me a valuable lesson that words can easily be twisted. Your article can mean something very different just by the change of a couple words in a statement.

Hall: What was the campus climate like when you were going to UT?

McCarter: It was awesome. Of course, we had a fellow called Peyton Manning. He was such a great athlete. Football was wonderful. We also had Pat Summitt. What a powerful female to be a role model to so many students. Also, the campus was really growing. We thought UT was huge then, but look at campus now!

Hall: How would you say student readership with the Beacon was back then?

McCarter: I think readership was definitely higher back then. There was much less social media news. People would actually pick up a paper and read it. I do think newspapers are still alive in some ways, though. More so than people think.

Hall: What would you say is the biggest difference between my time at the Beacon versus your time at the Beacon?

McCarter: Of course, the personal computer. Where you type everything, I wrote everything. I had a writer’s notebook. I think we were more hands on, more in person. With social media, I feel like a lot of the information people get for news stories is from online sources. I don’t think it is as personal as it used to be.

Hall: What about from a content perspective?

McCarter: You guys definitely delve into harder news and issues that we never would’ve written about back then. I think the Internet has opened up people’s minds to more and more ideas. That information is just so available to you. You also focus on more entertaining things. Listicles are an example of that.

Hall: What advice would you give to someone who is just getting started in the field of journalism?

McCarter: The advice that I would give to a starting reporter at the Beacon or anywhere else in the field would be to ask a lot of questions. Come up with ideas. Be excited every day. As a reporter, you never know what you’re going to do that day. to listen and be willing to take on stories outside of your comfort zone because you never know what will come of it.

The

by Margie E. Burke

AUTUMN HALL

Social Media Week turns online engagement into business connections

BELLA HUGHES Design Editor

Social media goes beyond a TikTok for you page (FYP) or an Instagram timeline. Social media is a business platform that connects companies to clients and viewers to virality.

UT Social Media Week is an opportunity for students who are curious about starting a career in social media or building a business presence online. Social media strategy student Tamari Davis discovered business opportunities within social media and the analytics that go along with the program.

“I did not know about all the numbers and logistics that go into calculating views and engagements until I took ADVT 461, Social Media. Now that I know about Social Media Week I will be participating,” Davis said.

In 2012, during the rise of the social media age, Courtney Childers, a professor of advertising and public relations and current interim director of the school of journalism and electronic media, saw potential for business in social media. Since its inaugural year, the event has informed a greater population on how to build a career online.

“Career paths in social have a true legitimacy. It took a few years for people to understand and embrace the true impact of social. Social isn’t all fun and games. Brands use social for strategic purposes, and many social campaigns are tied to significant return on investment,” Childers said.

Social Media Week began Monday and will conclude on Thursday, Feb. 23. Clubs and faculty will host guest speakers, inluding panelists with expertise in podcasts, sports journalism and video production who will lead discussion on how to be influential and effective in sending media messages.

“Speakers will provide diverse per-

spectives and experiences to get students (thinking) about future possibilities,” Childers said.

The Adam Brown Social Media Command Center in the Communications building is an in-house resource UT students and faculty can use to gain insights on audiences and trends. The center now has access to Sprinklr, a database used by Fortune 100 companies like Microsoft and Capital One. Sprinklr uses AI technology to scan media platforms including Twitter, Reddit, Facebook and TikTok. The database allows students and faculty to analyze engagement and conversations around a brand or topic

to ensure accurate research.

On Wednesday at 12 p.m., Matthew Pittman, director of the Adam Brown Command Center, will host a seminar on how to operate Sprinklr technology.

“Sprinklr is a world class social media analytics and engagement tool used by the biggest brands in the world that UT now has access to. In the session I’ll give a birds eye view of what Sprinklr can do,” Pittman said.

Sprinklr is not exclusively for CCI students and staff. The entire UT community can benefit from the resource to have a better understanding of the social market.

Hunter Foster, a UT alumnus and director of social media at Knoxville-based advertising agency Designsensory, understands the importance of keeping a brand relevant on a platform that is flooded with content.

On Thursday, in an event hosted by the Public Relations Student Society of America and the Ad Club, Foster will share how he and his team launched a Tiktok page and developed a strong social media presence for their client Regal Cinemas. The event will take place in the Communications building room 321 at 6 p.m. and also provides a Zoom option.

For more information on Social Media week visit @utkcci on Instagram.

Student media outlets continue to fight censorship

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. In this 1988 case, the Supreme Court decided that schools may restrict what is published in student newspapers if the papers are not public forums. The court also decided that schools can limit First Amendment rights of students if the student speech goes against the school’s mission.

Censorship is most prevalent in high school newspapers, an example being the recent “pause” by school board leaders on the Viking Saga in Northwest Public School in Nebraska after it covered two LGBTQ+ stories.

In another example, a Los Angeles teacher refused to censor a student’s article and was suspended. The suspension has since been lifted. The censorship case which led to the Hazelwood School District decision happened in 1983, when Cathy Kuhlmeir was in high school.

prejudice and are targeted with hate crimes, hate-speech, or any sort of bias and false information,” said Kevin Thomas, a senior journalism major at UT. “The censoring of fake news works to stop the spread of misinformation. However, censorship in classrooms shouldn’t be ideal.”

Michael Martinez, assistant professor of practice in journalism, has taught about censorship extensively in his classes, particularly his media law class.

“I think society has gotten more conservative as far as trying to censor voices. They’re trying to get people to shut up and not talk about it – ‘they’ meaning the administration and ‘it’ being controversial issues in general,” Martinez said. “But there’s also been a lot of fights to push back against censorship and many times it’s been successful.”

alumni, Banks decided to allow the newspaper to continue printing weekly until the end of the semester. The paper’s most recent print issue was published on Feb. 16.

The fight, however, does not always come from just students, alumni, or faculty, according to Martinez.

“When the University of Memphis defunded their student publication, because the administration didn’t like what they were writing about, the newspaper industry in general came to their aid and pointed out that just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s not valuable. It’s good journalism – what they’re writing,” Martinez said.

In fact, according to journalism student Megan Trivette, professors are supportive of students reporting on the “whole” story.

With the fifth annual Student Press Freedom Day approaching on Feb. 23, the time has come again to look into censorship in student media and what students can and cannot do when reporting.

Though the First Amendment guarantees the right to freedom and speech and freedom of the press, student journalists are much more limited than professional journalists, due to

Luckily, college students are less likely to face censorship than high school students, but they are often victims of budget cuts (which have affected papers such as those at University of Memphis and Wesleyan University), an indirect form of censorship.

Though less likely to face censorship, journalism students spend ample time pondering censorship in schools, no matter the level of education in question.

“Censorship can be good when it’s out of protection for groups who already are facing

A successful retaliation against censorship is the L.A. teacher, Adriana Chavira, who refused to censor her students’ work and successfully fought back against the suspension she faced.

College publications are not immune to direct action by administrators. Texas A&M’s student newspaper, the Battalion, was told by the university’s president, M. Katherine Banks, that they would stop print in February of 2022.

The student newspaper’s print was meant to be suspended immediately upon Banks’ request, but after backlash from students and

“I really don’t think that the professors have had an impact on censorship, in fact a lot of them really encourage us to go out and get the full story,” Trivette said. “We really are provided with the opportunity to write what we want to write.”

In reality, the state of censorship in the United States and particularly in universities is constantly fluctuating and must be taken on a case-by-case basis. The question is the same as it has always been: “What can newspapers say? What is the line?” but the answer continues to change.

ABBIE SMITH Staff Writer

Ericksen Gomez-Villeda / The Daily Beacon

Albritton Bell Tower at Texas A&M, where The Battalion was ordered (unsuccessfully) to stop printing. (Ed Schipul/Creative Commons)

Journalism faculty on rise, evolution of fake news: ‘Doom for our democracy’

AURORA SILAVONG Staff Writer

Once upon a time, “fake news” was confined to the trashy tabloids leering over bewildered children at the grocery store checkout line. It was easy to laugh at

Twitter have attempted to be proactive by flagging content from questionable sources and fact- checking posts from those channels, Martinez has his doubts.

“It depends on how confident you are in whomever,” Martinez said. “I think it helps, but it’s not the endall-be-all.”

FAKENEWS

their ridiculous headlines: “Woman gives birth to alien baby” or “Elvis spotted alive.”

The tabloids have not gone anywhere, and neither has fake news. Instead, it has found a cozy home on the Internet where it has evolved to be indistinguishable from legitimate news. Social media has enabled information to be spread faster and further than in years past, but that also applies to lies that could potentially be damaging and dangerous.

According to the Pew Research Center, Americans are more likely to believe social media has a negative impact on democracy. Additionally, across the 19 countries it surveyed in 2022, there was a general belief that social media made it easier for bad actors to manipulate information, even in countries that had a more positive opinion on social media.

It is still being debated whether or not social media companies have an obligation to control the information hosted on their websites. The Biden administration has expressed that it wants tech companies to be held accountable for spreading misinformation, but the companies, notably Facebook, have been reluctant to accept responsibility.

Michael Martinez is an assistant professor in the school of journalism and electronic media whose research focuses on media law and ethics. He says he believes social media companies do have an obligation to stem the flow of false information.

“They have an ethical responsibility,” Martinez said. “I don’t think they have a legal responsibility. They’re private entities, so the government, from a legal standpoint, can’t regulate them.”

Martinez explained there are currently efforts by legislators to enact a measure of control over social media content, especially when it is used as a public forum or an instrument of communication by a public figure.

While some platforms such as YouTube and

The same Pew study also concluded that people worldwide believe fake news to be a major global threat, second only to climate change.

Guy Harrison, another professor in the school of JEM, concurred with that viewpoint.

“If climate change is our biggest threat globally, I’d say fake news is the biggest threat to our country and our society,” Harrison said. “We make important decisions based off the information we’re exposed to.”

“If people are tuned into outlets that are spreading inaccurate and harmful things, I think it legitimately spells doom for our democracy.”

Harrison points to fake news’s role in the past two American election cycles to illustrate his point. In particular, he focuses on fake news’s role in stoking the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“So many people buy into the inaccurate things they read, and it can skew how they vote,” Harrison said. “It also gives them a false sense of ‘oh, I have to do my American duty and rebel and storm the Capitol,’ and it leads to violence.”

“I don’t see events like Jan. 6 and fake news as being separate from each other. I see it as one causing the other.”

Martinez brought up the Trump presidency’s invention of the term “alternative facts.” The phrase was coined by then-presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway, and it entered into the public vocabulary in 2017 when she used it during an interview on “Meet The Press.”

“I am still baffled by Kellyanne Conway’s use of the term ‘alternative facts,’” Martinez said. “There are no ‘alternative facts.’ There are ‘facts,’ and there are ‘lies.’”

Democracy is not fake news’s only victim. Underserved and underrepresented groups also find themselves targeted by the spread of false, particularly damaging information. This leads to increased violence and even normalized discrimination against these groups.

“A lot of misinformation and disinformation is aimed at ‘the other’.” Martinez said.

Other targeted communities include Black men, Asian Americans and transgender people, who all already struggle historically with discrimination and misconceptions surrounding their identities. This struggle is further ampli-

fied when public figures give a platform to false information and disseminate it to their large audiences.

Harrison pointed to the example of stories of men dressing as women to gain access to women’s spaces to commit sex crimes and the effects the tales have on perceptions on the transgender community, especially trans women.

“You have people like J.K. Rowling who’ll talk about this issue like it’s something all women have to deal with when maybe it’s happened once,” Harrison said.

Another threat looming over the horizon is the increasing usage of “deepfake” technology. The technology is developing rapidly and is already being readily adopted for malicious use. For example, a scandal broke out recently when a Twitch streamer was caught paying for and watching deepfake pornography of his popular female colleagues.

JEM professor Joy Jenkins has introduced the topic of deepfakes to her classes. She says it is a growing threat that should be looked into.

“The things we are seeing in the audio and visual environment, especially how they can be manipulated, can be really scary,” Jenkins said. “It’s getting hard to discern what’s real and what’s not, so that’s definitely a coming concern we should be paying attention to moving forward.”

Harrison proposes just the threat of deepfake poses is damaging enough without throwing actual use of the tech into the mix.

“Every bit of new technology that can contribute to fake news ironically makes people more skeptical of what they see in media,” Harrison said. “As a result of that, people spread wild conspiracy theories based on the

idea deepfake technology exists.”

Harrison cited the debacle around Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who was hospitalized following a cardiac episode during a football game. Although Hamlin posted a video message reassuring fans of his recovery and appeared at a Bills game at the end of January, conspiracy theories began popping up that the “real” Hamlin had died and all of his subsequent appearances were the work of body doubles – or more wildly, clones – and deepfake technology.

While it may seem fake news is poised to take over the world, there is some hope. Professors are seeing a good measure of media literacy and cWritical thinking in their recent classes, despite a potential decrease in formal media literacy education. The types of media students are consuming are also making them more knowledgeable and sensitive to other viewpoints.

Jenkins says she sees fewer students in her intro classes reporting that they have had any prior media literacy training before college. At the same time, however, she has also seen a greater and broader awareness in her students.

“When I talk to students, they are critical thinkers and are aware there are bad actors and bad information out there,” Jenkins said. “They are skeptical of things and do check and double-check if something doesn’t seem quite right.”

“This generation seems to be more thoughtful about these things.”

Harrison added: “I’m impressed with my classes just how much they know about certain modes of representation, and it’s often because they read something or watched something on TikTok that informed them.”

TikTok ban: Will the app be prohibited on UT wi-fi?

LEAH HIBBERT Staff Writer

Following the lead of states like Texas and Oklahoma, the Tennessee General Assembly is reviewing a bill that would ban the popular social media app, TikTok, from Wi-Fi networks on college campuses around the state, directly affecting the UT campus.

Several universities have already banned the app on campus Wi-Fi in compliance with new laws from state governments. Many state governments and universities fear that ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, could leak protected information and data.

“The bans stem from security concerns regarding the app’s China-based parent company ByteDance,” said Mariah Espada in an article for TIME. “U.S. security experts are worried ByteDance could share its extensive collection of data on American users with the Chinese government.”

However, as TikTok has gained more users and popularity, professors and students have referenced the app for academic purposes. Guy Harrison, an assistant professor in UT’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media, has embraced the advancement of technology and social media. He said it’s important and relevant to incorporate popular videos, trends and so-

cial media posts into his lectures.

“I think the ban is short-sighted,” Harrison said. “I understand the reasoning behind it, but our students and staff use other social media apps that have a history of acting haphazardly with our data, and from an educational perspective, it’s harmful because it’s a platform growing in legitimacy.”

According to Wallaroo Media, TikTok has over one billion active monthly users and was the most downloaded mobile app worldwide.

Jamal Brown, a former Biden administration official and current spokesperson for TikTok, told The Daily Beacon that TikTok is being singled out amongst other social media apps.

“We can understand why state lawmakers wouldn’t want state employees to have entertainment apps on their work devices for personal use, but singling out TikTok on all state devices and networks does nothing to improve security,” Brown said. “All it does is prevent state universities’ ability to share information, recruit students and build communities around athletic teams, student groups, campus publications and more.”

Many universities have TikTok accounts of their own as well. In an age where almost half of the population relies on social media for news — 48% of adults according to Pew Research Center — and many students and professors incorporate it into teachings, the po-

tential ban is unfavorable for most universities.

TikTok is also working hard with the government to arrive at a compromise, according to Brown.

“The bans are largely fueled by misinformation,” Brown said. “We are continuing to work with the federal government to finalize a solution that will meaningfully address any security concerns that have been raised at the federal and state level. These plans have been developed under the oversight of our country’s top national security agencies — plans that we are well underway in implementing.”

Some college students also double as influencers on the app, making TikTok a source of income.

Collin Storm and Max Thompson are just two of several influencers here at UT. Storm has over 2.8 million followers, and Thompson has over 274,000. Both creators make content on campus and the ban would affect their platform significantly. Storm and Thompson are widely known for conducting interviews on campus. Thompson’s account relies almost entirely on on-campus interviews. Banning the accessibility to that would affect his following, opportunities through the app and something fun on campus that he’s widely known for.

“TikTok has changed my life more than any other company that has ever existed,” Thompson said. “There is no other platform that does

nearly as good of a job of bringing together creators like me and an audience that may care about them. I view the banning of TikTok similarly to the banning of your favorite computer game in high school. Sure, you can’t use the university Wi-Fi to access TikTok, but millions of students everywhere will just use cellular service and use the platform just as much.” Even if the ban is approved, students will most likely still access the app through a VPN or cellular data, as Thompson suggested. Due to its popularity and usage across college campuses, banning the app on university Wi-Fi will not stop the use of the platform.

UT’s TikTok of the Month: The state of astrology

EMMA JOHNSTON Staff Writer

Anastasia Fine, a senior studying public relations, has been going viral on TikTok multiple times a week for close to two years. Fine creates astrology and horoscope-based videos to provide viewers with creative information about their zodiac signs.

On Feb. 6, Fine posted a video detailing the “expectation when dating each sign vs. what it’s really like to date them.” This TikTok has been viewed over four million times and has received nearly 440,000 likes.

The video is the second in a 12-part series Fine uploaded — each part featuring two zodiac signs and exploring the shared concept of dating expectations versus reality. The contrasting notions for each sign are represented by Pinterest-esque pictures.

With a sped-up version of “Mine” by Tink ft. G. Harbo playing in the background, Fine’s most viral video in the series showcases the dating expectation versus reality for Leos and Cancers.

The comment section on Fine’s video is full of viewers requesting that Fine post their signs in the next video of the series. This demand has been made hundreds of times on her other videos as well.

Fine explained that her views tend to come from non-followers who stumble upon her videos on their ‘For You’ pages. Still, the videos’ topics captivate them.

“Everyone has a zodiac sign, so people watch the videos all the way through waiting for their sign,” Fine said.

Fine began making zodiac-themed TikToks because she was interested in astrology and spirituality, but now she has a steady following of over 400,000 people who persistently ask for more content.

“Making the videos has always been fun for me,” Fine said. “At first it was ‘just a joke,’ like everyone says, but now it has turned into an income source for me, and I’m grateful for that.”

Local astrologer Noah Frere — who received a master’s degree in physics from UT — explained that Fine’s video is most likely referring to Cancer and Leo sun signs. According to Frere, a person’s moon sign and rising sign are just as important, if not more important, than their sun sign to their love life, though.

“I think the video is probably healthy for society — although, I personally think TikTok is a terrible invention — mostly because it adds complexity to the Cancer and Leo archetypes which is always good,” Frere said.

The videos Fine posts range from portrayals of different zodiac signs as popular memes to depicting what each sign looks like after a breakup. Despite the specifics of each video,

Fine’s TikToks consistently get thousands — and often millions — of views.

The success of Fine’s account raises a question about the state of the media in regards to this niche topic.

A great deal of Americans have taken an interest in their zodiac signs for decades. Traditionally, those curious have obtained information about their signs from horoscope columns in newspapers.

In an article printed in The New York Times in 1975, a Gallup poll indicated that 24% of American adults regularly read newspapers’ astrology columns.

Now, however, there are dozens of mediums through which people receive information about their signs. In fact, there is a whole sector of TikTok called AstroTok where users share and interact with videos relating to astrology.

“I think social media has replaced traditional newspapers when it comes to reading about horoscopes,” Fine said. “I think this is because with social media the content is a lot more engaging, so people like it more. It’s also more interpersonal because you can interact — like and comment — whereas newspapers are just reading it.”

social media the content is a lot more en-

Solen Feyissa / Creative Commons

All talk, little action on Black representation in media, professors say

ABBY ANN RAMSEY Managing Editor

The summer of 2020 came with a racial reckoning that confronted people as they sat isolated and quarantined. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, protests filled the streets of America as people called for an end to police brutality.

It didn’t stop there though, as the conversation became about more than just police brutality. America was reevaluating race relations entirely. Black squares filled Instagram feeds, #BlackLivesMatter trended on Twitter and bookstores saw a tremendous surge in anti-racist book sales.

But behind all the conversations. how much have legacy newsrooms and entertainment companies improved in their representation of Black communities?

UT professors say there is still work to be done when it comes to covering Black issues and representing Black culture.

Guy Harrison, an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media, teaches Media, Diversity and Society. Much of his research has focused on diversity in the sports broadcasting industry, but he also spends time studying diversity in the entertainment and news industries.

“In 2020, and in the months after George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s deaths, we did much more talking about it than we had before,” Harrison said. “But I don’t know that there has been a recognizable shift either in entertainment media or news media or even just politics or policy changes. I feel like all of that has just gone by the wayside.”

Amber Roessner, director of diversity, equity and inclusion and professor in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media, focuses on communication history and the history of women and minorities in the sporting and news industries.

She echoed Harrison’s claims that it’s hard to see what change has come from all of the conversations. But from her experience studying media history, she said that usually seems to be the case.

“It’s incredibly problematic,” Roessner said. “We have these watershed moments in our nation’s history and some of them are when we start to reconsider journalism and media. There’s this great talk of, ‘These are the changes that need to happen,’ and all of that is accurate and true, but then we often don’t see that change take place.”

Harrison and Roessner said that newsrooms need more diversity, but Black reporters can feel uncomfortable in spaces that have always functioned through a white lens.

“Newsrooms need to be more diverse, and

in order to do that, newsrooms need to develop policies and practices that make them more welcoming places for people of color,” Harrison said.

While diversifying is an important step to take, Harrison said a lack of diversity isn’t an excuse to continue to fail communities who aren’t represented in the newsroom.

“At the same time, especially until such time as newsrooms become more diverse, the onus is on white reporters and journalists to take on more of the labor of reporting on these issues and also educating themselves before they report,” Harrison said.

In terms of educating reporters so that their work is more inclusive, Roessner pointed out that training young journalists — as well as consum-

ers — is vital.

The backlash that came after news coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 is evidence that audiences must train themselves to be media literate, according to Roessner. When people say Black journalists are biased and when audiences have stubborn beliefs about objectivity, these problems with media representation persist.

“I think it’s important to recognize the lens through which you see the world and to reflect upon that and to be transparent about that,” Roessner said.

Murder mayhem: Benefits and dangers of true crime media

Podcasts have also become a popular outlet for true crime enthusiasts to get their fill. There are currently more than 200 true crime podcasts available to stream on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Google Podcasts or Stitcher.

“I am a true crime fan,” senior English major Presley Cowan said. “I wouldn’t put that in my Instagram bio or put a sticker of those words on my laptop, but I do like true crime podcasts. I listen most regularly to ‘Crime Junkie,’ which I think is probably the most popular of the true crime podcasts.”

sionals to go back and reopen closed cases that were built on rocky foundations.

“Police officers have X amount of time in order to try to solve a crime. But true crime, podcasts or shows or whatever, don’t give up. They keep looking, and they keep digging,” Michael Martinez, photojournalist and journalism professor at UT, said.

lent crimes, the Cleveland Clinic explains how absorbing too much true crime content can negatively impact your mental health. Listening to true crime can elevate anxiety and paranoia: constantly feeling unsafe and/or scared, being wary of everyone around you and having trouble sleeping are all signs that listening to true crime is becoming unhealthy.

Books, podcasts, TV shows, movies and even traditional news coverage have turned to true crime as reliable entertainment.

Stone / The Daily Beacon

Calling all true crime lovers – and haters – for this review of the fascination and toxicity of the true crime world.

From the recent Netflix “Dahmer” docuseries to the widespread Gabby Petito case, true crime is skyrocketing with popularity in the media. “Half of Americans say they enjoy the genre of true crime,” according to a poll run by YouGov.

True crime podcasts’ claim to fame started with the first season of “Serial,” in which journalist Sarah Koenig dug into the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee. She was interested in Lee’s exboyfriend, Adnan Syed, who was arrested and charged for her murder yet maintained his innocence from the beginning.

After exploring the prosecution’s case against Syed, sorting through mountains of evidence and talking through it all with Syed, Koenig was able to prove that Syed could not have committed the murder. In October of 2022, the prosecution dropped the charges against him. For the first time in 23 years, Syed was a free man.

“Serial” was monumental in challenging the judicial system and righting a decades-long wrongful conviction. True crime podcasts are powerful in that they analyze each case from a different point of view and can influence profes-

Interestingly enough, Martinez has his own true crime fun fact: as an intern at the Miami Herald in the late 1970s, Martinez photographed Ted Bundy as he arrived at a hearing, with Bundy staring right at him the whole time. He describes the encounter as “chilling.”

While podcasts like “Serial” lean into handson investigation, other true crime podcasts are largely entertainment-based. The hosts of the “My Favorite Murder” podcast, Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff, emphasize their limited research on the cases they describe and make comments such as “I loved this one” after detailing an upsetting, usually violent crime.

Even though “My Favorite Murder” falls under the entertainment umbrella, are comments like this acceptable, or do they feed into society’s unhealthy obsession with crime? How much interest in true crime is too much interest?

“If it’s aimed more toward entertainment and not following facts, if it becomes more fantasized or sensationalized, I think it could easily cross over into unethical territories,” Martinez said.

In addition to the dangers of glorifying vio-

“I have definitely felt increased anxiety since listening to true crime. It’s a hard line to walk because consuming this sort of media is helpful for me, but it also raises my guard in situations where I am actually probably safe,” Cowan said.

As Cowan notes, listening to true crime can be helpful. These stories have an educational component to them by raising awareness and teaching listeners how to detect a dangerous situation.

The educational side is also a likely reason that women listen to true crime more often than men. As women are more likely to be victims of crime, having knowledge of these crimes can help women prepare and prevent themselves from becoming a potential victim.

As far as the mental impact of true crime goes, be conscious of how often you’re listening and if you’re experiencing any lasting effects. If you catch yourself feeling high levels of anxiety, fear or danger, put it on pause. As much bad as there is in the world, there is just as much good – listen to a healthy dose of that, too.

As Karen and Georgia like to say, “Stay sexy and don’t get murdered.”

OLIVIA HAYES

Copy Chief

Madelyn

Students participate in a march for Black lives. File / The Daily Beacon

Opinion: We’re more than a mascot

PILAR GARCIA Columnist

Post Super Bowl LVII, the Kansas City Chiefs are making waves among Indigenous activism groups. While the Super Bowl featured Indigenous artists and performers like Lucinda Hinojos and Colin Denny, the Chiefs were at the center of controversy regarding the theming of their team.

While the Chiefs’ name was derived from a former mayor, the fan-favorite “arrowhead chop” and arrowhead motifs surrounding their merchandise and stadium speak volumes to the power of a name. The team only recently retired its horse mascot, Warpaint, in 2021 and banned headdresses and stylized face paint that “appropriates American Indian cultures and traditions” at Arrowhead Stadium.

Despite the strive for appreciation rather than appropriation, much of the damage has already been done. In the United States, mascots that portray the likeness of a Native American, typically a male with a headdress, face painting and a “primitive” weapon, are among the most common.

Additionally, this isn’t only an issue in professional teams. As a child, I went to three separate

elementary and middle schools which boasted an “Indian” mascot, claiming appreciation, despite the non-specification and the “war cries” elicited from non-Native children.

While the Native American mascot has always been controversial, the successful call for removal is much more recent. In 2007, Illinois State University was successfully persuaded to remove Chief Illiniwek, and most recently, the Washington Commanders changed their name from a racial slur in 2020. Although many teams have changed egregiously offensive caricatures, like Cleveland’s Chief Wahoo or the Atlanta Braves’ Chief Noc-A-Homa, it’s not enough.

A common argument is that Native American mascots bring awareness to Indigenous issues, but it’s an empty claim. As Smokey the dog is our mascot, how many times have you considered the mistreatment of animals or donating to your local animal shelter because of his presence? Likely none, as a mascot is meant to instill a feeling of pride and community.

It’s a physical representation of a group, not presenting itself as an advocate. When we see others wearing orange or donning a t-shirt of Smokey, we feel connected with someone based on their presentation — we understand that we share a connection based on our choice of team. Seeing a non-Native sports fan wearing a headdress and donning stereotypical face paint does

not elicit the same feeling.

In a 2010 study of the psychological effects of Native American mascots, Native students scored significantly lower on questions regarding selfworth and identity after being exposed to pictures of mascots like Chief Wahoo. While fans of these teams can claim the “cultural significance” of a mascot, it cannot outweigh the voices of living Native Americans.

As of 2023, states like Oregon, California and Maine have restrictions on schools using Native American-themed mascots and names. State restrictions raised questions on the purpose and authenticity of these mascots, like Massachusetts, which requires schools to have consent from the portrayed tribe before any tribal depiction is allowed.

Having an open dialogue with tribes is necessary for the future of sports, whether a professional or high school team. Tribal communities and councils can effectively reflect their respective peoples’ desires and decide how to best proceed with certain teams.

Native Americans should be allowed to enjoy sports without caricatures and racist behaviors plaguing their experience. Racist behavior, intentional or ignorant, should not be tolerated in sports. A fictitious “Indian” should never take precedence over living Native Americans.

is a senior studying English and journalism and electronic media. They can be reached at pgarcia3@vols.utk.edu.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

Leaving Twitter? Dating safely?: Five apps, websites for 2023

It operates similarly to Twitter, although it is completely open-source, entirely crowdfunded and relies on volunteers for most of its day-to-day operations. Despite this, Mastodon is able to compete with its social media rivals and presents an ethical alternative to social media addicts who struggle to disconnect. Mastodon is available for basically every operating system.

Yidio

In the age of streaming bloat, it can be difficult to figure out what to watch and where to watch it. While VPNs have enabled users to game the system and watch content not available in their respective countries, sometimes, viewers do not want to go through that hassle.

No matter what your vibe is, here are five apps and sites to to look out for in 2023.

All apps featured are free to download, though some may require a subscription to access premium content.

Mastodon

This Twitter alternative has actually been around since 2017, but it received widespread attention in 2022 after Elon Musk’s controversial takeover of Twitter. Thousands of users migrated to Mastodon, and it now boasts over 1.5 million active users worldwide.

Enter Yidio. This service is like Google but for streamable content. It allows users to search for movies and TV shows, and it will show them what streaming services it is on. It will also show users where content is being streamed legitimately for free, so no more dealing with shady pirating sites and their barrage of pop-up ads.

Yidio is available on desktop, Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

Finch

Finch is the mental wellness app for kids who grew up with Webkinz. Users are tasked with taking care of a cute, bird-like creature,

and it is nurtured through logging in and doing daily activities. These include doing breathing exercises and other wellness activities. There is also a social media component to the app, and it allows users to add friends and connect with one another.

Finch is available on iOS and Android.

SafeDate

It can be intimidating to try to jump back into the dating game post-COVID-19. SafeDate makes it safer to go on that nerve-racking first date you have been putting off. It is a companion software that works with all dating apps, including Tinder and Bumble. It allows a user to import date plans and create a network of trusted Safe Mates they will check in with throughout the date. If a user misses the check-in time, the Safe Mates are notified and sent the imported details of the date.

SafeDate is available to download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Clue

In post-Roe America, many people who menstruate are feeling anxious over how their data is being used, especially data from period-tracking apps. Some popular apps, like Flo and Stardust, have been caught either selling its users’ data or having clauses in their terms of service that would allow them to turn over user data if the U.S. government

asked for it.

Clue is one of the world’s leading periodtracking apps. Unlike its competitors, it is based in the European Union and has publicly pledged that it will not respond to requests from U.S. authorities to supply user health data. For users who live in states where abortion is completely banned, totally not using an app is the safest choice, but if one still wants to use an app, then Clue is the best bet.

Clue is available on iOS and Android.

Pilar Garcia

Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs do the “arrowhead chop.”

Victor Araiza / Creative Commons

AURORA SILAVONG Staff Writer

Ericksen Gomez-Villeda / The Daily Beacon