After watching the “Witness Training Program Video” and reflecting on the major news stories this past week- I really began to reevaluate my intake of information from the media, much more than I have before. The events that have taken place in the past couple weeks, have been more than horrific. The amount of lives lost in Kenya, Beirut, Syria, Paris and MANY more places is devastating. And although there have been so many incidents where lives have been taken, I have mainly only heard about Paris- this being a great deal, my fault. I haven’t sought out my news from sources other than CNN- whose stories pop up on my screen without my having to do anything. I have been lazy. I simply open the app and read the top stories- which are mostly updates on the Paris attacks.
After watching the Witness Video- I felt guilty. There are so many people in this world who deserve to be heard- just as much as any person(s) who is the subject of a major news story deserves to be heard. We should be informing ourselves on more than just the major stories. There is so much importance in expanding the scope through which we get your our news.
Medialectic 
I completely understand what you’re saying. I also find myself going back to the same news sources time and time again fully aware of their biased nature, to one side or the other. Check this website out: http://therealnews.com/t2/
I feel like this class has definitely made me feel more critical when reading news articles. I often find myself reading the top stories of the day and skipping the rest. Its crazy how the news almost controls how people process information and what information the receive.
I am a little ashamed to admit that I get a lot of my news from Facebook. However, in the last few days, I have really enjoyed getting my news from Facebook as it seems that many from my (well-educated, media-critical) friend circle have taken to expressing their frustration with having more access to pre-selected information and very little or no access to others. For example, many complained about being exposed to global tragedies only in the aftermath of #PrayforParis such as hearing about the Garissa University attacks in Kenya a full 7 months after it happened (April). There are so many great articles I ended up reading that, while in no way excuse this, did help me understand why things like these are still happening. I know a lot of my Claremont community has accepted this wake-up call, but I’m not really sure how many other people are willing to open their eyes / would much rather hit “snooze…”