Community
The California insurance marketplace has experienced a couple of events this year, in terms of the member registration and signing up for insurance covers. California has signed up more Asian-Americans and Asian immigrants than Latinos. The major method that these Asian communities are using to sign up for the Covered California insurance policy is through Certified Insurance agents rather than community groups. Fourteen percent of the eligible population in California consists of individuals from the Asian descent. Thirteen Percent of those signed up with Covered California is comprised of Asian individuals (Aliferis, 2014).
The news value evident in this story is that America comprises of individuals from different ethnicities and countries. From the story, we can gather that, in California, the population Asian folks are high in that region. The other Valuable information from this news is that these individuals value the state of their health especially those of the Asian descent. Through the Asian agents, one helps in pushing Covered California CA and helping them exceed their enrolment goal. The issue of being covered by the health insurance of the individuals in the company shows the representation of the issues, people and the events that happened or involved in the story. One issue that is being addressed in this story is the traditions of the Chinese people. From the story, we can get that the Chinese people are different from local Americans. Americans love to shop and buy things online, whereas the Chinese people prefer to buy their items in person. One reason for this is simply because they have a wider range of products to choose from, and they have the opportunity to chat with the seller in person. Through this method, these characters have a way of mingling with the rest of Americans and enjoying the benefits of the cover. This story is told through an online media that is a blog. The effect of this media on the story is that the story gets to circulate at a high rate and reach many people.
Alternative
The Danver’s family is one frustrated family and their frustrations are because of the Obamacare coverage. The four members of this family, the parents and their fifteen years old twin children, are all disabled. The twins together with their mother suffer from osteogenesis imperfect while their father suffers from cerebral palsy. Osteogenesis imperfecta causes the bones of the victims to be extremely fragile. The problem that the family faces is that the new Obamacare policy does not cater for the needs of their children, forcing them to take another policy that shall cost almost thrice, of what they were spending before in terms of out-of- pocket expenses. The parents have health insurance policy through Medicare from their income they receive from the Social Security disability payments. For the kids, the parents have opted for a different insurance policy through Blue Cross/Blue Shield since the coverage they applied for the twins through the federal government’s plan was declined.
It is evident that the new Obamacare coverage is not available for all individuals especially those that have disabilities. It shows some discrimination especially from these health insurance companies because the president allowed people to keep their old policies if they felt they were good but for this family, they are not allowed to keep the old policy for their twins. The story shows that these parents struggle to get the best Medicare for their twins despite their condition too. It also depicts the issues that surround the new medical coverage, issues that are not benefiting the common citizen. Such issues should be addressed to ensure that every individual, disabled or not, benefit from this policy. The medium used to tell this story is very effective as it is accessible to many people thus communicating the main message of the article. Through this medium, the story has circulated as many people have gained access to it. The spread of the story will draw the attention of the people to the problems that people are facing due to the new coverage and allow room for debates to come up with new solutions.
Independent
Edward Snowden worked for the largest security firm in the world, National Security Agency. He, however, had the final blow of the secret methods that the U.S government was using to spy on its citizens. In the wake of releasing vital government information that was highly classified, Edward moved to Hong Kong with a load of four computers that enabled him to access the highly- classified secrets of the government, Edward arranged for an interview with freelance reporters. According to him, he realized that the media houses were sleeping in the same bed with the government; only released any vital information about the government when they thought it was and were not true to the course of enlightening the public. Edward did not wasn’t to use big media houses, so he targeted small or not yet established journalists. Some of the details included a court order detailing information on how the government had forced one of the biggest telecom companies, Verizon, to hand in phone records of millions of American citizens. According to him, as much as the government is trying to maintain the security level in the nation, it is still illegal for them to invade the privacy of its citizens. After the interviews with the two journalists, Edward went missing in action, and he was believed to be in hiding as the U.S officials were aiming at arresting and charging him for treason (MacAskill, 2013).
The evident values in this piece of news are that the government spies on every American citizen and infringes on the right to privacy. It is also clear that any whistle blower cannot be safe whether they are right or wrong. This event represents one of the many issues that have rocked the lives of many American citizens; privacy. American citizens have the right to privacy and their privacy can only be invaded through a court order. When the government forcefully obtained the data from the telecom company without a court order, it shows that it was infringing on the privacy rights of its citizens. This medium has helped educating the people on the methods that the government uses to spy on thus. The effects brought by the medium to the story is airing it and giving Americans a chance to learn about the infringing of their privacy.
Not-for-profit media
Social media has become the best forum for non-profit organizations to seek supporters and fans. Many corporations have found their way through social media such as Facebook and twitter, attracting a large number of followers. However, it is important for these organizations to note that the number of followers they have on these social media accounts does not prove their success. The content of the material that they post is what determines the number of followers and true fans that they have. Information in the social media spreads at a fast rate and thus, these organizations should post information that benefits the followers or the fans. In the case where any erroneous information is posted, the company or the organization faces consequences as the information can be taken out of context and used to ruin the reputation of the company. One such company is the British Gas; the company attracted over 16,000 comments in twitter when they announced the steep price. All these tweets or comments were negative in terms of the image they portrayed concerning the company (Benady, 2013).
It is evident that the social media can be used a platform for marketing an organization and the activities that it carries out. However, there will be no fund donations through the social media, the organization are in a position of increasing its market base and can use the social media platform for marketing purposes. The story in this report shows that people can also gain by following up on these organizations through the social media as they are kept updated on the issues that go on in these organizations, how they can help and how they can gain from them. The medium helps in the spread of the story and helps in receiving the feedback concerning the story. Through the feedback, one can gauge the level of influence this medium has on the story.
References
Aliferis, L 2014, March 26, In California, Asian- Americans flock to health coverage, Health
news from NPR, Retrieved from
<http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/03/26/293882552/in-california-asian-americans-
flock-to-health-coverage>
Benady, D 2013, December 11, Social media: a message for not-for-profit organizations, The
Guardian, Retrieved from <http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-
network/2013/dec/11/social-media-for-not-for-profit-organisations>
MacAskill, E 2013, June 12, Edward Snowden: how the spy story of the age leaked out, The
Guardian, Retrieved from <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/11/edward-
snowden-nsa-whistleblower-profile>
Waterman, C 2014, January 21, Denied Obamacare coverage, Michigan family disabilities finds
alternatives much more expensive, MLive, Retrieved from
<http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-
