Shonda Rhimes don't do me dirty!

     I have a love/hate relationship with Shonda Rhimes. I was a huge Grey's Anatomy fan, until about season 7. EVERYONE DIES! It kills me the relationship and bond I have with the characters of that show and every time I get hooked in, someone else leaves. It is hard to watch a show where you get invested and then BAM, the newest character that mended your last broken heart is the cause for your newly broken heart. 

    Ironically, in my last blog entry I talked about the show 'Bridgerton' on Netflix and how they have done a great job in showing diversity. Let me tell you though that show got me hooked because a lot of my friends told me I would enjoy that show. Well I did. Watched it all in one day... and then there was only one season. Now listen I get that it is a Netflix show and most that start like that only get signed for a season to begin with because they want to be sure people will watch it, and that the streaming service will see a lot of return from the show that put on. 

    But I need more... I need more! Again she did a great job of hooking me into the show and then only one season. I need to know what's going to happen next, but that is the kind of person I am. I am always the person that ask a million questions to get to the answer I want. 

    I just need the rest of the seasons to keep me going and not disappointing me like they did with Grey's Anatomy. As long as every character I love doesn't start leaving the show, I will be okay. I mean there is nothing better than a romance based in the 19th century. I'm sure Shonda will give us something we all will be talking about for weeks. 

Diversity behind the camera

     We all know diversity is a hot topic of the times right now! Many news stations and streaming services have been on the front line of improvement when it comes to including more diverse content on their streaming services. 

    Netflix has stated that they will be devoting $100 million between 2018 and 2019, to making sure they would hire and empower diverse groups to get more people recognized on screens. One of Netflix's recent releases 'Bridgerton' shows a diverse cast of an African American man falling for and swooning for Ms. Bridgerton herself. Don't think this seemingly bashful duchess doesn't have the same feelings for her man. It shows a good relationship between two leading actors both different races. I applaud Netflix on this show and hope they continue on for many more seasons. 

    Streaming services have done a great job in making their own shows and by casting actors and actresses of many races trying to show more diverse roles. 

    Peacock is one of the newer streaming services that does a great job at cycling through different films and tv shows every month to give people more chances to watch their favorite shows. The more streaming services like this try to change their content the more diverse their services become and the better it is for everyone in the long run!

Media Diversity

    Many know that the media can be greatly diverse. In what ways though does it become unpleasant to others and what could be done to stop it, or limit it? Being diverse in the media is extremely important, that way we are not just getting one side of the story. 

    Women have made a stunning trend in diversity in media. One source stating that women make up 44.2% of news station workforce. Although such a high number, men have nearly double those numbers between television and radio. 

    Within management, minorities make up 5.6% and women make up 18.9%. How can we make these numbers greater? There are over 50 different organizations that are committing to a change in diversity in media. Different types of organizations do different things. There are about four different organizations, which are: the membership organization, research, advocacy, and training. 

    The membership organization strives to serve a diverse group of journalist. These groups can host many annual functions including workshops and seminars. One group from the organization is Association of Women in Sports Media (ASWM). The research organization is clearly for research, quantitative and qualitative. They have annual surveys for their members to participate in. One group from the research organization is Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues. 

    Third, we have the advocacy organization advocate for various different causes within diversity in media. One group from their organization is Women's media center. Lastly, we have the training organization that educate and develop the skill of their members. The Emma Bowen Foundation is one of many training organizations that helps to educate media diversity. 

Applauding Regina King

     Regina King gets a full standing ovation and applauds from me! She is going somewhere and doing things. Her mission and goal is to employee 50% women on projects she produces. Although she said she wasn't able to make her goal happen for the film "One Night in Miami", the fact that she even has that as a goal and actively tries to accomplish it says a lot in itself on the person that she is. 

    Another actress that comes to mind when I think of those empowering others is, Reese Witherspoon. Reese has done an amazing job of producing films that have as many females in her cast as possible. She understands and gets the stigma that is put on women in that industry and has done an incredible job of building women up and employing them. 

    Now when it comes to African Americans, Tyler Perry has done an incredible job at employing men and women of color on his shows and movies. He is an incredibly giving and caring person and has made the Atlanta film industry boom.

    All three of these amazing named public figures have done in awesome job at building and uplifting their communities. I applaud all three of them for how much they had done to work with and continue building up others around them.  

YouTbe Sensations!

     Going off on a different note this week, hitting what peaked my interest! Can we talk about the highest grossing YouTube star of 2020 and how he is ONLY 9 years old!!! Okay so what am I doing wrong... It is crazy to me that someone so young can make so much money in one year, but also alarming. It strikes the question of what he is going to do with money like that, or what his family will do with money like that. 

    Don't get me wrong, I think it is incredible that he is a rising star and that he is taking his time to do school, but also enjoy himself by reviewing toys and going on day trips with his family. He seems like such a fun loving and intelligent kid. But we all know what the internet does to people. My fear with this sweet boy is that eventually what happens if things turn dark. Having a lot of money is sometimes not always a good thing. He can become a target to some, whether it is bullying him on his channel and putting him down with their own opinions. 

    It is not easy to be a rising star and to be so young. I hope that his family and him sit down to really understand what all goes on when it comes to the internet and how ethically and morally sometimes people are out to hurt others. It is so common to see younger kids, mainly in their teens, but younger people who become hard on themselves and depressed because of what people say to them on social media. I would hate for this extremely spunky and fun-loving kid to become depressed and down because people are jealous of him and think destroying him would help build themselves up.