What makes headline news and what trends on Twitter is not always or even usually what is most important. Not enough people realize that. News stations market and manipulate people just like advertisements, and they aim for popular demand. Social media just spreads that popular demand and makes everyone hop on board whether they understand the current events or not. What I'm getting at is that the Trayvon Martin case should not be such a huge national discussion...it's not a race issue. It's Florida's ridiculous laws and lack of evidence. Our country legally permits us to carry guns and kill people under certain circumstances. When laws like that actually come into play, everyone flips out....wonder why.
During the course of the trial (June 10 - July 13), while CNN was coming up with dramatic headlines and everyone was protesting and tweeting their fingers off about Trayvon and racism, 54 people were shot dead in Chicago alone (according to a Huffington Post article), most of whom were male and many who were under the age of 19. I could pull up the article again to recall the percentage that were black, but it just really doesn't matter. Why are we still bringing race into every case? The point is that there were 54 lives just like Trayvon's lost to gun violence in just one city that all go unnoticed by national news in the shadow of a heated headline-winning case. What happened to Trayvon is tragic and in my opinion, unjust. But it is in accordance with the law. Under the "Stand Your Ground Law" in Florida, when a person feels that their life is being threatened by someone else, they are allowed to choose not to run away and instead fight back and kill the person. That's pretty messed up to me, but that's what Zimmerman did. And due to lack of contradicting evidence, it seems like what he did would've been legal in any other state too under self-defense. Therefore, the jury ruled him not guilty. It's sad, but our pro-gun society makes situations like this inevitable. Those 54 people in the past month are a small sample of the gun violence happening throughout our country, not to mention the major national tragedies like Newtown and Aurora. Zimmerman owned his weapon legally and was protected under self defense. He made an idiotic decision when he shot Trayvon dead and was probably a racist prick for following him in the first place, but where is that going to get us? It's over. Time to turn our heads toward why this is happening. Those 54 people in Chicago, were they killed by legally owned guns? Probably. Anyone can get a gun these days. James Holmes ordered insane amounts of ammo off of a well-known gun supply company that pops up right away on Google (claims to be based in St. Louis by the way...great). And I bet many of the killers behind those 54 cases got away with it, and many of them probably could have under protection of law. Because you know what's ironic about all of this? There was only one state left where it was not legal to carry a concealed firearm with a permit, and that state just recently passed the law so that it is legal. That state was Illinois. CCW is supposed to provide more protection, so that someone with the permit for a concealed weapon could legally take action in case of emergency, but that was technically exactly what Zimmerman did. He was utilizing his right to kill the boy with the Skittles. Do you see why we shouldn't assume to fight fire with fire? Or firearms with firearms... I'm going to backtrack. The Trayvon Martin case is a tragedy and is showing how one lawyer can be better than another and how lack of evidence screws over everything. Zimmerman should be in jail because he's an asshole, but he's technically not a proven criminal. But how this turned into riots across the United States about racism can be blamed on the media. The stations are incredibly biased. Even if most of them are geared somewhat toward my views, that's even worse because I need to be wary of the facts they're leaving out. Several news magazine covers compared Trayvon Martin to civil rights activists and blacks that were lynched in the South...that's an extremelely unfair comparison in my opinion. And like I was saying about the popular demand thing...this case is nothing compared to the Mexican drug lord/human trafficker that was just captured or the devastation sweeping Egypt. This is one kid. Americans need to get their heads out of their asses (and/or their Twitter feeds) and see what is happening around the globe, because with our gun-happy nation's ignorance and constant criticism for the president we could very well be next.
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I'm delving into the corporate world this summer as a marketing intern at Alberici Constructors, a company based in St. Louis that handles large construction projects across the U.S. and internationally, including hospitals, schools, power plants, factories, and more. I have always been familiar with Alberici because my mom has been working there my whole life, but this is my first time being part of the team and understanding the business from an inside perspective. I've learnd endless amounts about the construction industry, marketing, and how a corporation is run in general. It's crazy to think that this summer is my very first embarkment into the real world. From here, I'm only getting older and the jobs are only getting more "real," which is a good thing. It excites me to be a part of the success of a multi-million dollar company and to understand how businesses interact with each other.
The marketing part of construction is much different than the typical marketing definition. We do not pitch Alberici to the public, instead we market it to clients (other businesses and contractors) in accordance with their specific needs and markets (healthcare, manufacturing, mining, buildings, energy, water, infrastructure, automotive, structural steel or heavy industrial). If we're hoping to get a job for a large bridge project, we aren't going to show them our powerpoint of the DeSmet high school renovations, for example. Our team's job is to put together the materials - resumes, project profiles, powerpoint presentations, and more - to market Alberici's culture of safety, excellence, dependability, commitment, and integrity to potential clients. The environment of Alberici is positive and dedicated. I could write a whole post about the office itself because it's quite impressive and strategically built, but I'll spare you for now. The offices are all in open space cubes, which might immediately come off as having less quality than roomy offices for "important" positions, but I think it provides for better communication and equal unity among departments. No one has to knock on each others' doors. The space welcomes shared ideas and questions to turn the business day into productive conversation. I will be at the halfway point of my internship after today. So far, the internship is exceeding my expectations. I am excited to continue to learn and contribute to the company. I hope I can impact Alberici in some way while I'm here, and I do have one idea that I hope will begin to boil before the summer is over...I think the marketing team should expand Alberici's brand awareness potential through social media. I did a lot of research on construction companies' usage on Twitter and have learned plenty in my journalism classes thus far to understand the importance of social media marketing and the competition that comes with it. Maybe I'll write another post on my opinion on that subject...Anyway, I pitched that idea to the department and am crossing my fingers that it can move forward. I think it's an important step in maintaining an up-to-date, innovative and successful brand. And if it can't, that's okay. I'm just happy to be in an environment where I can expand my imagination and knowledge to apply them to a real corporation. |
Renee Fleddermanncopywriter Archives
June 2016
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