I'm a news junkie. I always have been, and even more so while I was studying journalism during my undergrad years. And now, thanks to social media, my addiction to the media has grown.
2014 was filled with an abundance of news stories. Some happy, some horrific and some just mind-boggling. There are plenty that will stick in everyone's minds, while others just disappear into the endless knowledge of our brains. I am one of those people. So many things are thrown at us on a daily basis, myself included, and sometimes I just have a hard time processing it all. But since I'm a news junkie, I wanted to take a moment to recap the top news stories that have stuck in my mind, among the endless knowledge, since the beginning of 2014.
- The Missing Malaysian Plane (MH370): This particular story will forever stick in my mind. I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any means, but I've definitely found myself reading some of the theories on a few different occasions. How can I plane that large just disappear? Even if it crashed into the ocean, wouldn't something have been found my now?
- The Market Basket Protests: This began as a local story, but quickly evolved into one that made national headlines. It went beyond just boycotting the ousted CEO and into human rights and equal wages. I wrote a blog post on it, but more as a letter to the protestors who we could hear at all hours of the night. I fully supported their efforts, but many disagreed with my post. It was the first time I learned that if I wanted to blog, and write what I wanted, I needed to have thick skin.
- ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: With all of the horrible news happening, this was one of those stories that filled me with absolute joy. I actually waited for the day that someone would nominate me to participate. And I was more than happy to donate money to this cause. Especially with the local ties. To read more about my experience, and see the video, check out my blog post.
- The Gunned Down Malaysian Plane: I was in Spain when this happened. I sat in my best friend's living room, on a navy base, watching this unfold. And I was due to get on a flight in less than a week. I knew we would be safe. I knew we weren't traveling over any countries that have this kind of hatred and fighting. But I couldn't wrap my head around this happening. All 298 lives were lost.
- Ebola: Ebola is a horrible, scary disease and I can't even imagine what it's like with the threat in West Africa. Those Ebola fighters were named "Person of the Year" by Time Magazine. While the epidemic in West Africa was a story itself, the panic in the United States is the story that sticks out in my mind. The United States has seen 10 confirmed cases of Ebola, with 2 deaths, neither of whom had contracted the disease in the states. But the hysteria that came with Ebola entering the country was insane. People panicked. Flights were diverted. People who had the flu were contained. It seemed like for a good month, all you heard about was Ebola. With good reason of course, but it did show how the media can cause widespread panic when something like this enters our borders.
- Leaked Celebrity Photos: This story might be the most 'fluffy' that sticks out in my mind, but it was a serious matter that exposed how easy it is to get into our virtual lives. Hollywood stars had their photos leaked after an iCloud hack. Many people (not celebrities) thought it was great... for obvious reasons. But many didn't really think about the other side of this; our online safety. The majority of us who have Apple devices backup our data to the iCloud. Of course, no one really knows where or what the cloud is, but we know it's there and we can retrieve it when necessary. Our lives are on our devices, at least I know mine is. When this hack and leak happened, I think it made many of us feel vulnerable. If it can happy to those celebrities, it could just as easily happen to one us. It brought on many debates over the internet about the safety of the Cloud, and just goes to show that no one is really safe if the cyber world. I certainly learned. My photos are not backed up to iCloud; I store them directly on my computer and back them up in an external hard drive.
That's my round-up. Obviously, there are a lot more. I could write about everything in my head for hours, but this post would end up incredibly long, and you'd probably get bored reading it. So I stuck with 6. And some of them may not be the ones that are at the forefront of your mind.
Having said that, I want to know: What news stories stick out in your mind?
