7 - Exploiting a News Story

The Murders of Shannan, Bella, and Celeste Watts

On August 13, 2018, Shannan Watts and her two daughters, Bella and Celeste, were brutally murdered in Frederick, Colorado by her husband, Chris Watts. Christopher Lee Watts was convicted of three charges of first-degree murder, two counts of murder of a child 12 years or younger, unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and three counts of tampering with a deceased human body. Before the murder was confessed, the Watts women were believed to be missing. "As details of their deaths made headlines worldwide, it became clear that Shannan's husband wasn't the man he appeared to be." This tragic situation was covered in a made for Netflix true crime documentary film- American Murder: The Family Next Door. The documentary follows the Watts family from a first-person view, including footage from Shannan's own Facebook, police body cameras, text messages, as well as news stories. The abundance and inclusion of social media in Shannan's life gave access to the ups and downs of The Watt's family life, and portrayed a first hand view of the disintegration of a marriage.

Chris Watts exploited this tragedy in order to cover his tracks. He hid behind news cameras and laced his actions with a concerned façade. "At first, Watt's husband, Chris Watts, agreed to TV interviews, where he appeared torn up over their disappearance and begged for their safe return. Two days later, he was arrested in connection with their deaths." The day after the murder of his family, Chris Watts took to television and talked to Denver 7 News outside his house.

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Wild Card

Disney as a Democracy Disney has its own government and I could not be more shocked. All in all " Disney World is technically its own city with its own residents." This all started in 1965 when the company wanted to expand and Walt Disney and his business partners purchased 27,000 acres of land in Orlando, Florida. After the purchase of this land, they discovered that it laid in two counties (Orange and Osceola) which meant they had to deal with two separate local government. In order to pull off their dream without "bureaucratic red tape", they needed to create " Disney's own self-regulating municipality within a special district." In 1967, Reedy Creek Improvement District was established by the Florida Legislature from the request of Mr. Walt Disney. The special purpose of this district made Disney responsible for providing services such as power, water, roads and fire protection. This district includes Bay Lake, where the Disney theme parks a...

2 - Supermarket Tabloids

Drama! Drama! Read All About It! One of my core memories from my childhood was being in the checkout like at the supermarket and watching my mom turn all of the magazines and newspapers at the front around. As a child I always thought she was being outrageous, but looking back at it, she had the purest of intentions trying to shield my young innocent eyes from the images and headlines that these supermarket tabloids depicted. Tabloids used be simple small newspapers "that contained condensed storied hat were easily read by everyday readers". This innocent definition became contaminated once stories of scandals, graphic crime, and celebrity news became the focus of these newspapers. People access news from their phones, and have almost no need for paper copies. This change in the way Americans access news has drastically affected the circulation of supermarket tabloids. Surprisingly, tabloids still occupy a place in American culture as well ...

4 - Plagiarism and Fabrication

Plagiarism in College Sports You've all seen a show or movie that shows college athletes who have other students that do their schoolwork for them. In reality, collegiate athletes have a strict reputation to uphold. At Southern Arkansas most athletes are required a team study hall and coaches even go as far as to punish their athletes for missing classes. Athletes stay under the watchful eyes of their professors, coaches, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA). The NCAA even has a Promoting and Protecting Academic Integrity compliance section on their website; they take academic misconduct very seriously. Being involved with the NCAA, student athletes not only risk backlash with a university for plagiarism, they also risk athletic ineligibility and the future of their careers. Even with scrutinous eyes upon them, some student athletes still attempt to find their way around the rules. In 2014, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, after an investigation...

MCOM 4003 - Katherine Ledbetter

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