Final Project

Click to view our Video Piece on this project.

Amplified music, beer bottles being tossed, and couches set on fire; a scene pulled straight out of “Animal House.” This is Blarney Blowout; a rowdy Saint Patrick’s Day celebration started by two thousand UMass students gathering at the Townhouse Apartments in Amherst, Mass., on March 9. This is very different from the peaceful gathering of stoners at Extravaganja, an annually planed Festival held on the Amherst Commons.

In recent years, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has sought ways to diminish the “ZooMass” reputation the campus has developed over the years.

Every Spring, UMass has two events that cover the gamut. One, the chaotic drinking binge party, Blarney Blowout, and the other, a festival for stoners called Extravaganja. However, there is a clear distinction between events like Blarney Blowout and Extravaganja. Most noticeably being that while the Townhouse parties required a strong police force, the Extravaganja Festival has been a consistently peaceful event.

David Lenson, a UMass professor of comparative literature and speaker at this years Extravaganja festival, said the distinction between the two events can be attributed to the differences between alcohol and marijuana. “It has to do with the cultural differences between beer culture and pot culture,” said Lenson.

Lenson explained that he sees the ways in which the two events overlap, “…but a gathering of pot smokers is likely to be peaceful.”

While Blarney Blowout and Extravaganja are inherently similar events, they are seen by the University and by the Amherst community at large as distinctly unrelated. The Amherst bars that began the tradition of Blarney Blowout have never encouraged binge drinking, and the Cannabis Reform Coalition responsible for putting on Extravaganja has never encouraged smoking marijuana at the event. However, every year during Blarney Blowout students drink alcohol in excess, and every year during Extravaganja students smoke marijuana in excess. While consuming alcohol is legal for those over the age of 21, marijuana use, while decriminalized, is still illegal for anyone without a medical marijuana card. 

The Blarney Blowout partying moved from its traditional location at the downtown Amherst bars to the Townhouse Apartments and required a strong police force, resulting in six arrests.

Only weeks later, the Cannabis Reform Coalition, a UMass Registered Student Organization, put on the annual Extravaganja Festival in downtown Amherst.

The CRC, a political organization within the University that advocates the legalization of cannabis for all uses, has a rich history in the Amherst community and is in fact the oldest student organized cannabis reform group in the world. On April 20, the 22^nd annual Extravaganja festival took place on the Amherst Commons. While this festival did not encourage the use of cannabis, the event certainly did not have as strong police force to control illegal activities, as was seen at Blarney Blowout. Extravaganja joined bands, speakers, food vendors, and artisans with thousands of students and families from the Amherst area to support ending the Drug War and legalizing marijuana.

This year Extravaganja attracted about 6,000 people to the town common, while Blarney attracted an estimated 2,000 students to the quad of the off-campus Townhouse apartment complex. However, while Blarney Blowout attracted a third as many people as Extravaganja, three times as many arrests were made. Six men were arrested at the Blarney Blowout party on March 9; two were charged with assault with a deadly weapon, three with rioting and other charges, one on rioting, disorderly conduct, and attempting to burn personal property. During the April 20th Extravaganja festival a dozen people were issued citations for less than an ounce of marijuana but only two men were arrested; one charged with destruction of property over $250, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer, and the other with a Holyoke District court warrant for receiving a stolen motor vehicle and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

UMass Amherst senior Jeff Alexander attended this year’s Extravaganja festival. Alexander had met a perspective student stopping by the festival after taking a tour of UMass.

“She said that stumbling by the festival actually made her want to go to UMass more. But I understand why UMass wouldn’t use Extravaganja as a marketing took, parents of potential students may see it and think less of UMass.”

Alexander attended both events, but noticed the clear difference between the two.

“I think that it’s just the nature of marijuana verse alcohol that really makes events like Blarney Blowout have a lot more arrests then Extravaganja,” said Alexander.

UMass student Ilana Maimon attended Blarney Blowout at the Townhouse Apartments and has been to Extravaganja three times now.

Maimon said, “Blarney Blowout is more of a social construct of widespread day binge drinking than a coordinated event like Extravaganja. I don’t think that UMass would utilize an event such as Extravaganja as a marketing tool because it would portray the school in a specific light that aids a ‘party-on’ perception that the school has been working hard to squash.”

Patrick Mund is a UMass student and the treasurer of the Cannabis Reform Coalition, and works closely with the organization on the funding of Extravaganja.

“For the University, Extravaganja is just another RSO event…however, since we do not hold this event on campus, the UMass police does not get involved with our event and so it is not on the University to enforce the laws. We work very closely with the Amherst police department in ensuring the safety of our attendees and the success of our political event,” Mund said.

Many students, professors, attorneys, and police officials respect the aims of the Extravaganja festival.

UMass comparative literature professor David Lenson spoke at this year’s Extravaganja festival. “When I published my 1995 book On Drugs I essentially outed myself and decided to become publicly involved. I began speaking at Extravaganja. It's not at odds with my scholarly interests,” he said. However, when asked if the University should endorsed the festival or use it as a marketing tool, Lenson replied, “Not yet.”

While the University does not promote or advocate Extravaganja in any way, Lenson does believe that the event reflects on the University. “UMass has been a beacon of anti-prohibition for over forty years. Now, as public opinion swells for legalization, CRC and UMass emerge as civil rights pioneers,” Lenson said.

Blog Assignment 10: Another Look at the Future of Journalism

When I first enrolled in Steve Fox's Introduction to Multimedia Journalism course this semester, I was assigned to write about what I thought the future of journalism would be. Although my perspective has not changed much, I did not think that the multimedia work I completed in this course would be so significant to my future in journalism. I worked on several projects about on-campus issues at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and I plan on using these projects to further my studies of multimedia journalism. Throughout this course, I learned that some of the most impressive stories are those that integrate multimedia aspects. While I still think that the future of journalism is in multimedia, I did not expect to benefit so much from the skills I learned in this course.

In the beginning of the semester, I thought the future of journalism would predominately consist of online content, but print papers would always exist. After taking this course, I realize how important it is to learn about online journalism ethics and incorporating multimedia into a piece. When multimedia is integrated into an article, the reader can see what words project. Instead of trying to paint an image with words, the reporter can get the story across with the advantage of showing the story in a multimedia piece. Video captures what words cannot, and for this reason, I see the future of journalism becoming even more integrated and embedded in the Internet. I remember specifically reading Jim Stovall's article titled "The demise of newspapers means better journalism" and having a light-bulp go off in my head. I realized that while the future of journalism is threatened in some ways because of the Internet, the profession also benefits greatly from all of the advantages of going online.

One of the major lessons that this class taught me was the significance and impact that online journalism can and will have in the future. While I continue to see the future of journalism in online content, there are dangers to the profession of journalism on an online platform. At the end of the semester, this point was really driven home when I was assigned to go on a Twitter assignment to watch Dr. Pierre Rouzier, a UMass Sports Med Doctor and UHS Physician, who was at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Dr. Rouzier spoke about the role of the internet, specifically social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, when the news broke. While "status updates" and "tweets" where spreading rumors and creating a lot of speculation, Dr. Rouzier mentioned how these sites also acted as an aid, as people where able to connect with family or loved ones after the incident occurred. So, while I understood from the beginning of the semester that the Internet posed a great danger to the world of journalism, I now see the advantages that the Internet creates for the profession.

I think my perspective has stayed the same but become stronger. I truly believe that the Internet is not causing journalism to "die," as many people believe. Instead, I think the Internet is making journalism more prominant in today's society than ever before. Readers can go online and find information in a matter of minutes, and I believe that incorporating multimedia into these pieces only enhances and justifies this information.

Extra Credit Blog Post: Eric Athas offers Sound Advice to Aspiring Journalists

Reporting on the flesh eating parasite that attacked American Military forces while abroad; the scandalous murder at a Lululemon Yoga shop in Washington D.C; the fear of Watertown civilians while a terrorist was pinned down outside their windows- this is the life of University of Massachusetts, Amherst graduate, Eric Athas.

Athas graduated from the UMass journalism program in 2008 and is currently a Digital News Specialist at NPR. But the young journalist didn’t land the impressive job right away. Athas visited Steve Fox’s Introduction to Multimedia class on Thursday, April 25, to speak to aspiring journalists about the importance of staying connected, gaining experience through internships, and freelancing in the off time.

Athas applied to UMass with a strong desire to write for the school's newspaper, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. The eager freshman made the front page with an impressive cover of the aftermath of 9/11, but said he was majorly turned off when he rushed to pick up a copy of the paper. There it was, “UMass Reflects on Lost Colleague,” spread across the front page. Reported by, “Erica Athas.” And there that was, on the front page.

The disappointing misspelling was a buzz-kill, but propelled Athas to work harder. During his junior year at UMass, Athas ironically became Editor of the Daily Collegian. When journalism began developing an online platform, Athas joined the Amherst Wire to create the blog “UMass 101,” so he could focus on gaining online experience.

Athas graduated during the recession, but began working his at the Washington Post’s online newsroom in the fall after graduation. Fox, who worked at the Post, introduced Athas to the job. Athas would be hired as a web producer and home page editor and social media facilitator. “I was able to get the job because I was really proactive,” Athas said.

Shortly after landing his dream-job at the Post, Athas was introduced to Mark Stencel, head of all digital media at NPR. Although Athas was not hired right away, he kept in mind that every person he met and talked to could help him get a job in the future.

“Things work in really weird ways when you’re trying to find a job," Athas said, "Things will fall into place."

When Athas was eventually hired to work with NPR’s online content branch, he was working weekends, nights, and holidays with copy-editor’s that would tear his pieces apart. “I was just happy to be there. It translated to tons of experience,” Athas said.

During his summers off, Athas interned and worked at a daily local newspaper. Athas stressed the idea that potential employers look for that kind of experience. Athas said that having the "student experience" showed his interest and involvement, which got him the internship. He could then use the "internship experience" to get a job. Fox and Athas agreed that interning is “the most important thing for landing a job,” Fox said. 

Athas’s job at NPR requires him to know the proper use of social media and idealizing an online newsroom. When the news broke of the Boston Marathon Bombings, Athas was mainly in charge of organizing online content for the Boston branch of NPR, WBUR.com.

“There was a lot of pretty reckless reporting of unconfirmed events or details, and it caused a lot of damage and may have hindered the investigation and caused a lot of pain and anguish for incorrectly identified suspects…I cant think of anything where it is more important to be right, where the stakes are so high,” Athas told students.

Athas called social media a “blunt instrument.” He believes that while social media is a great starting point, it is the way that the information is used that is important. Athas reminded students of the significance of confirming information projected by social media, rather than reporting that story as it is.

After a question and answer session where Athas shared some of his most memorable times reporting, Athas offered a final piece of advice to aspiring journalists: “Always have your journalist hat on, even in unlikely places.”

Blog Assignment 9: Ethical Dilemmas of SEO

There are several, inevitable, ethical implications of SEO, search engine optimization. Several Internet search engines use search engine optimization, such as Google or Yahoo, in order to organize content by commonly searched terms. By tagging the most commonly searched terms to relative and popular websites, these sites will then appear at the top of a person’s web search. One of the most relevant issues with SEO searches is keyword trends. What I mean by this that sometimes people would benefit most from something printed in a newspaper, but do not know to search specifically in regards to a newspaper clipping. The searcher would just enter a main keyword, and search engines that use SEO would instead direct the search to the most popular or relevant source. However, this may not be the most beneficial or reliable source. What happens here, specifically, is when a search becomes a hit on the Internet, it doesn’t matter if the search is true or accurate. What matters is that the hit search is becoming increasingly popular, and the media wants that term to grow and to remain in existence for as long as possible. This is a huge ethical dilemma, especially in the field of journalism, because reporters cannot control what information becomes a hit search. Journalists can control what information is published and is known to be true. However, this reliable information sometimes gets pushed lower on a search engine list because searches that are more popular (even if these searches are inaccurate) will subsequently appear higher on the search engine list, due to SEO processes. If a keyword or topic is searched often enough, it will become noticed on the search engine and through the media. Whether true or not, that search will appear at the top of a search engine and will receive more traffic than searches lower on the page. This proves to be a major ethical dilemma, since rumors or claims can appear to be true if they are the first thing that pops up on a major search engine that people usually take to be a reliable research tool.

One of the most recent examples of the ethical dilemmas of SEO occurred after the Boston Marathon bombings. Throughout the immediate days following the incident, FBI officials and investigation officials were discussing possible suspects or persons of interest that were being held in custody or arrest. However, when the media projected this discussion (including big news cooperation reporters like CNN, who falsly reported on the claims during the days following the incident), viewers and readers went to the Internet for fast, updated information on the claims. Within hours, search engines, like this Google thread, topped with headlines like “the bombing suspect.” Though this had not been confirmed and in fact turned out to be a false speculation, this information appeared to be the top links on search engines, due to SEO. To truly understand the difficulty of SEO processes on the Internet when inaccurate reporting and information begins speculate and becomes increasingly popular, watch this criticism of CNN's reporting of the Boston Marathon suspect investigation by Jon Stewart. So much is done on the internet, even investigation searches, and readers must be aware that the most popular or top linked searches of information on a search engine may not always be accurate, but could just presented that way. 

As an aspiring journalist, I recognize the immediate ethical dilemmas involved with SEO. The problem with SEO is that the presentation of information is unethical. As an aspiring journalist, I would rather see the more accurate information filtered to the top of a story and have the claims and rumors pushed to the bottom of a web search and presented better, such as in a comment section of a story. But doing this denies the media of SEO optimization, and considering the mass amount of information that the Internet contains, it seems almost unrealistic that accurate, fact-checked information would be pushed above the most popular keyword searches.