Gabrielle Chua

Photos by Gabrielle Chua

I was fighting a losing battle to a serious bout of the flu when I realized that I had procrastinated up to the very last day to make a trip to Sylmar. Achy, congested, and numb, I made the drive half-awake and reached the front of the complex, only to find out that those who were allowed inside were residents. No press, no photogs -- no one who was not personally devastated by the loss.

"Fair enough," I thought. I completely understood the restrictions. After all, these people lost their homes and were collecting any piece of char that they could call theirs, while I was taking photos for an assignment. It is what it is, right?

Yesterday, Dianne and I had the opportunity to experience autumn's first day of rain at LA Weekly's third annual Detour Festival. The all-day music event graced a whole block surrounding downtown Los Angeles' City Hall with four stages, dozens of bands, and streets lined with booths ranging from political organizations to exotic barbecue vendors. 

Analysis, interpretation, commentating...spin. Whatever one wants to call it, the media coverage surrounding Friday's presidential debate between Sens. McCain and Obama proved to be a balancing act for viewers like myself. Though I sat in front of my TV the whole day flipping between CNN, FOX, and MSNBC, everything seemed like an unscrupulous blur from beginning to end. Needless to say, I never found the substantive fulcrum point I was hoping for during Friday's coverage. I will tell you why.

As a frustrated graduate student under time restraints, I find it admirable when news junkies have the patience to sift through today's overload of online news sources. Given that there are now thousands of established outlets and blogs that are consumed daily, it becomes quite the daunting task to distinguish quality journalism from sensationalized journalism. The concern for users and journalists have led to cooperative efforts that help identify this difference. Among them are SpinSpotter and NewsTrust. I will dissect both sites to determine how helpful they are for users, like myself, that are constantly overwhelmed with the circus of a news world today.