Algonquin College Journalism Portfolios

Author: jadegreenwood

  • Digital Safety Plan

    Jade Louise Greenwood

    Questions:

    • What surprised you, if anything?

    I did not know about location settings. Mine was already turned off, but I did not think about it to begin with. The options are really nice to have if I wanted to share my location. On every post that I do, I typically add a location where the pictures were taken, but I wouldn’t want other people always seeing where I am. I also have it turned off on all my other social media apps.

    Secondly, I had no idea about nudity protections. Once again, I did not think about it. It was actually turned off before I saw that it was a setting. I was surprised that this would even be an option for Instagram because I thought it was illegal to post nudity. This was a surprising aspect to see.

    • Did you change anything? What was your reasoning — convenience, safety, habit?

    I turned off nudity because I have no reason for seeing other people’s bodies. I didn’t know that it was an opinion, as I said above, but it was weird that it was something to even consider.

    I also had my account as public because I wanted more people to see my work, although I feel more comfortable when it is just friends and family seeing what I post and where I am.

    It is my convenience that I turned off my location because the only people who need to know where I am are family and friends.

    • Using Week Six’s lesson as the backdrop, how might your current privacy setup affect your personal safety if you faced harassment?

    I feel that I wouldn’t be harassed because all my settings are off. Although if I were I turn my profile public again, I can report them and delete the comments/messages. I would go back and ensure my location settings are off. Overall, I feel that everything I am doing right now is working and will continue to unless I change something. I feel comfortable with my settings and will keep them the same.

  • ‘All animals out’: Protesters confront Shrine Circus in Ottawa 

    Protesters want animals removed from the Shrine Circus

    As the Shrine Circus was setting up at the RA Centre Friday afternoon for the first of its seven weekend performances, protesters shouted their objections to the treatment of animals involved in the act. 

    Approximately 30 protesters gathered nearby, with much of their rallying cries revolving around the use of whips and bullhooks in training. 

    Due in part to pressure from spectators, elephants in circuses across the world are being phased out. World-famous circus acts Barnum Bailey and the Ringling Bros. announced in March that they would stop using elephants starting in 2018. 

    Slowly transitioning out… 

    Michele Thorn, who organized the protest with the Ottawa Animal Defense League, said elephants represent only a part of the problem. 

    “They’re also not getting rid of all their animals — they’re still going to use camels and other animals in those circuses,” said Thorn. “However, what it tells me is that we are … having an impact.” 

    In 2013, the fifth year Thorn had organized circus protests, she shot video that led to charges against the then-chair of the Capital Shrine Club after he put a protester into a headlock. The charges were dropped after the official wrote a letter of apology.

    Protesters working to stop construction of Shrine Circus at the RA Centre.
    Protesters working to stop construction of Shrine Circus at the RA Centre.

    Lexy Scott, an attendee who planned to protest all seven shows, agreed that the removal of all animals is the goal. 

    Animal Cruelty? 

    “Even the horse and ponies, which some other people may not object to in a circus … we want all animals out of the act,” she said. “They whip the ponies, they train them just as harshly to learn tricks.” 

    “What values are parents teaching their children by bringing them to a circus to basically laugh, be entertained and sometimes even mock beautiful wild animals for being tortured and ‘trained’ to perform tricks that they would not normally do in the wild?”  

    But Richard Curtis, ringmaster and performance director of circus facilitator TZ Productions, said the elephants were not captured in the wilderness. 

    “There’s a lot of misconceptions that they’ve been taken from the wild,” he said. “They were born and bred in captivity, captive breeding programs, conservation programs.” 

    Two Asian elephants owned by Shrine Circus. 

    He said the circus makes a point of acting as an “ambassador” for the two Asian elephants it uses, informing the crowds that the species has been in decline, with two-thirds of the population “vanishing in the last five years.” 

    “We like to think we’re doing our own little part to support them,” Curtis said. 

    Although admitting that the two elephants, the miniature Stallion, the Gypsy Vanner and six Arabian horses they have are “staples of the circus,” he said the majority of the show involved human performers, including a flying trapeze act and motorcyclists riding in a “giant ball of steel.” 

    “This”, said Thorn, “is exactly what the circus should showcase.” 

    “They could certainly have a nice show without animals,” she said. “Animals don’t deserve to have that kind of life.” 

    Group Members:

    Mila Leclaire, Jade Louise Greenwood, Bradley Richards, Nick Korim, Jaiden Martin

    Push Notification

    Stop animal cruelty!

    When was the last time you went to a circus and saw a trained animal meant to be free?

    Social Media Post

    Protesters appear during the construction of the Shrine Circus Show at the R.A Centre. Their goal is to have animals removed from the circus for animal cruelty. Learn more at (Insert Link).

  • Jade’s Pictures

    Indigo, South Keys, where people walk around picking up books and collecting knowledge.

    A man sits across a woman, both reading in one of the nooks of Indigo.

    Bags amongst other accessories sit upon a counter where magazines are displayed in the centre of Indigo.