CSUN On Point

The conflict in Syria has escalated into one of the century’s most deadliest civil wars. It started in March 2011 as a peaceful protest against Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, but violence erupted and spread throughout the country.

Nearly 400,000 Syrians have been killed and more than half of the country’s population has been displaced, many of them fleeing abroad, according to the United Nations.

CSUN Cinema Television and Arts major Dilek Ince created the student film “AMAL”, about an American volunteer doctor who witnesses a tragic event that leaves a young Syrian girl named Amal without a family.

“I did this story for children that feel forgotten,” Ince said. “I knew I wanted to make this film because I wanted to reach as many people as possible.”

Ince said she wanted to tell a story about what’s happening on the other side of the world, a story that people may not know much about. She wanted to show how the war is affecting children’s lives, and she wants to make people aware of what’s going on.

“I researched a lot of articles and I spoke with people who went through this war, because I wanted to make the film as authentic as possible,” Ince said. “I also spoke with some organizations that help kids.”

Fadia Afashe, an artist, activist and a refugee who left Syria, said it wasn’t easy to survive in that country.

“The minute you start to question things, the minute they recognize you are out of order and you start to demand any human rights, you are on the list,” Afashe said. “[When you’re on that list, it means] your life, your family life, everyone you know will be in danger.”

Afashe said that when she was growing up, even before the war, her parents would discourage her from speaking up or voicing her opinions on certain issues in public. They feared there would be dangerous repercussions towards their family if she did.

“I started to be a women’s rights activist because I was witnessing horrible things happening in my society and I wanted to change it,” Afashe said. “Even just asking for women’s rights … was forbidden, and they put me on the list.”

Afashe said she couldn’t invite people over and didn’t have access to the internet to share information on women’s rights.  Instead, she started using art to share that information.

“I started to think maybe art is the solution, because that is probably how I can get into every Syrian home, because Syrians love movie stars,” Afashe said. “I created my first movie in Syria about women’s issues.”

Afashe said she wasn’t able show her film on television in Syria, and she said people didn’t have access to the internet at the time. Now that they do, activism can spread more easily.

Both Ince and Afashe agreed that art can be used as a tool to educate the public on social issues.

“Definitely it can be used to spread awareness,” Ince said. “Even though it’s a fiction story, [the audience] get inspired by the real stories.”

Ince said films can also show people what they can do to help.

Moderator: Savannah Palacio

Producer: Son Ly

Anchor: James Farr

Social Media Editor: James Farr

Reporters: Karen Elle, James Farr, Kelcey Henderson, Son Ly and Savannah Palacio

Producers: Karen Elle and Son Ly

Anchor: James Farr

Social Media Editors: James Farr and Savannah Palacio

Reporters: Karen Elle, James Farr, Kelcey Henderson, Son Ly and Savannah Palacio

The news is important to a lot of us. It doesn’t matter if it’s a hard hitting piece about the Russia investigation, or the latest on a basketball player’s injury. People want reliable and current information.

“Journalism is fundamental to democracy,” freelance journalist Darlene Principe said. “I don’t think democracy can be successful without good journalism.”

But increasingly, newspapers are owned by chains not connected to the community of readers. For example, the company Digital First Media owns daily newspapers in 28 cities, along with weeklies in 48 cities, and many say this is not a positive development.

“I think, generally, the idea is that it’s a good thing for a local paper to be owned locally,” Los Angeles Times Reporter Tre’vell Anderson said.

“It’s small, local, community-type newspapers that are really ensuring that local governments aren’t corrupt,” Principe said.

“Families, parents and grandparents love to get the local newspaper,” former newspaper publisher and reporter Matt Thacker said. “You can see your kids and your grandkids [in the local newspaper], and there’s that whole community experience.”

“When you have newspapers that are owned by Wall Street bankers who have no connection to the places where the papers are located, it’s less likely that you’ll have quality journalism,” retired journalism professor Richard Hendrickson said.

Another issue facing newspapers is the availability of free information online. Some newspapers have been able to move their content online successfully, but others have not.

“Too many newspapers shy away from going online because it costs money,” CSUN Journalism Professor Benjamin Davis said. “They haven’t figured out how to make enough money to pay their reporters and to cover other costs that they have.”

According to the Pew Research Center, digital newspaper subscriptions at some major newspapers went up following the 2016 presidential election. For example The New York Times added half a million subscriptions in 2016.

But not all readers like online newspapers.

“There is some credibility,”  Thacker said, “with having an actual newspaper.”

“There’s something unique about print,” Principe said. “That allows you to cover something in a way that maybe [with] digital, you wouldn’t be able to.”

Another issue facing newspapers is the political divisiveness in the country, and the rise of what some call ‘fake news’. One way that people can combat fake news is to become media literate.

“I think more can be done on the media literacy tip,” Anderson said, “to ensure that, particularly [among] the people who are in the flyover states, who aren’t on the coasts, and who might not absorb as much news as we do on the coasts, that they are able to spot things that just don’t seem right.”

“You just have to be able to identify, or at least try and verify, whether something is credible or not,” Principe said.

Moderator: Son Ly

Producer: Karen Elle

Anchor: Kelcey Henderson

Social Media Editors: James Farr and Savannah Palacio

Reporters: Karen Elle, James Farr, Kelcey Henderson, Son Ly and Savannah Palacio

Cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin, has been making headlines recently, but its true meaning isn’t well understood by the public.

“Bitcoin is basically a digital currency,” said Alula Zeryihun, a CSUN pre-accountancy student who organized CSUN’s Blockchain Summit last year.

Consumers can use this currency to send payments from peer to peer.

“A person can send money to another person without the need of a bank or any centralized authority to facilitate the transfer of the fund,” Zeryihun said.

But it would be difficult to explain bitcoin without talking about blockchain. Blockchain is a ledger, or a record-keeping mechanism. It’s a way of keeping a record of where, and to whom, bitcoin is sent.

Morgan Steckler, vice president of CoinIRA, said it’s important to note that there’re different types of block chains for Bitcoin.

Steckler said one of the advantages of using Bitcoin is being able to transfer money without having to go through a middleman such as a banking institution. Similarly, for those looking to invest in physical assets, consulting a Brisbane gold specialist City Gold Bullion can provide direct access to valuable commodities without intermediaries. You may also access promising pre-IPO companies via upmarket here.

“You’re no longer tied to a bank account,” Steckler said. “You’re no longer controlled by these walls. You will become the bank, and you can go anywhere in the world and you can convert it [to physical currency] wherever you want.”

Steckler said Bitcoin is completely safe because it’s a one-way transaction. However, consumers still need to educate themselves and do some research before using this currency. When dealing with cryptocurrencies, platforms like kraken uk provide a secure way to exchange digital currencies.

Steckler said about 800,000 companies are using Bitcoin as a form of payment. These companies include Microsoft, GE, Amazon, Tesla, among others.

Zeryihun said he doesn’t think traditional financial establishments will completely disappear. “If anything I see some sort of integration of block chain technology into what’s already here today.”

Moderator: Savannah Palacio

Producer: Kelcey Henderson

Anchor: Karen Elle

Social Media Editor: James Farr

Reporters: Karen Elle, James Farr, Kelcey Henderson, Son Ly, Savannah Palacio