Post Election Analysis - Money In Politics

We always hear the rhetoric about money in politics. But, do we ever look into where the money is coming from or where it is going into. Here I work with NBC News' editor Michael Judge producing this news spot. 

Video: NBC News
Edit: Michael Judge
Story: Elvan Katmer

The Man Behind The Catering at Tempo Pizza

Tempo Pizza, located in Bethesda Maryland, serves Montgomery County, in store and with deliveries. The business owner Ugur Altintas has expanded the business into catering, and novadays the catering side of the business almost beats the store sales. In this video Ugur goes over some of the elements of his business.

 

Ugur has been in food and bevarage business for years, turning his dream of owning his own, into a succesful pizza and catering branch for more than 15 years now. 

How is Door made; Shown in Two Minutes

You open some doors everyday. Have you ever thought about the work put to make one? In this video, master furniture maker for specalized orders, Faruk Balikci goes through the process on camera.

It takes hours to make a door for your specialized needs, and here is how. Faruk is specializing this door, because the house he has been working does not have standard measures. So, the doors from furniture stores don't fit. Faruk works for about six hours to prepare a double door for indoor use.

President Trump's Travel Ban Protested at White House

On February 4, 2017, Saturday, hundreds gathered in front of the White House to protest President Trump's executive order banning travel from seven countries.

Protesters marched to the Capitol after two hours of protest at the White House.

Uber is Great, Isn't it? Listen from a Driver

by Elvan Katmer

Since Uber Has become a part of our lives, it eased transportation, made it cheaper to move from one place to another. Most of us enjoy the service, sometimes bashing the taxicab industry. 

Uber has also created a lot of jobs, giving oppotunity to many people. It even helps you lease a car if you want to drive for Uber. But, have you ever thought how it changes a driver's life?

In this story, I have talked to an Uber driver. 

Women in Sports - Podcast

Women around the world, not only in the U.S., are facing inquality from the many aspects of life. Women overall, get paid less, disrespected often, are not given same position when compared to men.

In this podcast we are looking into women in sports from various fields, and we are investigating how being a woman affected their careers in sports.
Audio, edit, production: Elvan Katmer, Selena Alexander, Emily Judd
Music: Creative Commons
Professor: Rolando Arrieta Audio Reporting Class, Georgetown University, MPS Journalism

Pay Inequality in Tennis

Elvan Katmer, Georgetown University, 2015

Some of the world's top paid athletes are tennis players. Still many of the professional tennis players do not make money, and yet have many expenses to complete a pro tour.

In this piece I am digging into a tennis player's pro tour journey.

Election 2016 - Donald Trump is the Presumptive Nominee

Elvan Katmer
May 5, 2016

Donald Trump won the Indiana Republican Primary on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, taking all 57 delegate for candidates to claim. Ted Cruz and John Kasich dropped out of the presidential race, making Trump the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party follwing Trumps win.

Democrats contiue their battle though Hillary Clinton secured more the 90 percent of the delegates needed for the party's nomination. Bernie Sanders wowed to stay in the race until the convention after winning Indiana Democratic Primary, acknowledging that the path to victory is narrow.

You and I

I published the original story on 10/20/2013 in Both Turkish and English as one post. Here it is in English only.

You and I

I am an unhappy one. I am lonely despite all the people around me. I am a grumpy one. Despite all those smiles I serve around, I am a grumpy one against myself. I am a hopeless one. Even if my dreams are beyond my horizons; I am the one who cannot think about tomorrow, cannot live in today never forgetting yesterday.

I cannot sleep. I get myself too tired; so I bury myself into the depth of darkness. I am insomniac; even when I close my eyes, my mind does not sleep, keeps thinking about about all necessaries and unnecessaries. I do not take rest at nights; contrarily, I sleep my eyes open my mind with you. When you look at me from outside, I am twenty-five; if you can see my inside, I am fifty.

I am amnesiac. I forget a lot; I forget what I am saying in my speech. Sometimes, I forget what i am doing; there has been times that I forgot who I was. I forgot my identity. Really, who am I? Who is my family, whom I love, whom I am in love with? For who would I die; for who would I live? Do I die? Did I die, am I alive??

I am sorrowful. To most, I have everything; some even considers me rich. I don't have anything; I don't have anyone, I am solitary. Am I anyone? I am no-one; like she says, I am the one unlike anyone. My soul is sad, my heart is filled with sorrow. My eyes are teary, they drop in my soul for the whole time.

I am sick. My body is sick, my soul is sick, my heart is sick. If my body decided to collapse, probably it has a good reason for it. My mind should have a reason; maybe it is a traveller like me, but likes to travel without me. I have a heart; it is tired, it is hardly beating lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub.. Dont stop my heart; keep working. Keep pumping that endless love; until my mind loses me, until my soul gets tired of my body, until my soul comes off your body..

Media Coverage of January 7, 2015

Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine came under a terrorist attack On January 7^th, 2015 in Paris leaving 12 people dead.

As the nature of the case was savage, and it was unexpected, the terrorist attack found exclusive space in every news outlet around the world. We are still watching, reading or hearing daily aftermath coverage from many news organizations.

World leaders condemned the attack, and they also marched against terrorism in Paris.

The protests against Charlie Hebdo attack reached a point where counter protests started as some found remarks offensive to their religious beliefs. People marched against the terrorist attack in Muslim countries, while some other people marched against the magazine’s coverage.

While some news outlets named the attack as Islamic terrorism and the attackers as Muslim terrorists, some reasonably separated Muslims from terrorism. Some journalists even held the Muslim world accountable for the attacks as the attackers were identified as Muslim French citizens.

On the same day, January 7, 2015, according to various news sources (AP, ABC News, NYT), a bomb attack in Iraq killed 12 people. A car bomb has killed more than 30 people and left more than 50 people wounded in Yemen. At least nine people some of them children were killed in Afghanistan when a bomb blasted. Same day, the US military officials have acknowledged that the air strikes against ISIS might have killed civilians too.

To find the initial information I wrote about Charlie Hebdo attack, I didn’t have to do much search as almost any news outlet I checked had some story on the case.

On the other side, to be able to find the information in the latter part, I had to go through several outlets, and compare data from different aspects. I certainly believe there are more, but it is so hard to find all as they are not covered as exclusively. Few news outlets actually covered the stories of people killed in the other parts of the world.

As well as news media, people strongly reacted Paris attack, while Middle East routine did not receive much coverage. What a shame, right? I said routine. Yes, terrorist attacks and killings in Middle East are routine. As they are not happening anywhere near us, or they are not directly affecting us, we do not even care. The deaths are such a routine that Jerusalem Post posted a story on January 8, 2015 about Syria with a headline “Zero killed in Syria combat for the first time in 3 years.”

One time, our news writing and reporting professor had said “If something is not interesting, it is not news.” We are at such a point that hundreds of people being killed is not newsy anymore. It is only newsy when they are unexpected or near us.

In that case, can we say the news coverage is fair, balanced and ethical?