OOTD planeedition > United Airlines internet witch-hunt over terrible fashion decisions Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor Frere knows that the internet is a place where those of the emotionally pent up horde can find things to be angry about. Recently, the focus of their anger was United Airlines. Calls for a boycott on the airline hit Twitter hard, as many people jumped to the defence of two women and a 10-year- old girl who were denied boarding because the gate employee found that their outfits were inappropriate. What could they have possibly been wearing, you may ask. Apparently, the three were dressed in leggings and other comfortable athletic wear. When they went to board, the employee told them that they would need to put a dress or tunic on overtop their leggings, or they would not be permitted on the plane. A witness saw all of this occur, and immediately went onto Twitter to report the events to the mass hive- mind that is social media. Many shot back at the airline, claiming that they were slut-shaming or being sexist. A EN -W-lOM(o(-t- Mich mB cela ee M lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca QQ minority among those who responded expressed confusion, one such being TV Host Chrissy Teigen, who claimed that she had boarded a United flight wearing “almost nothing” before, yet was still allowed entry onto the plane. Those who raised questions about the situation later had their inquiries answered, when it was revealed that the three wannabe passengers were actually companion or “buddy” pass holders. For those of you unfamiliar, | will explain. A companion, or buddy, pass, is a special ticket given to friends or SourceFed shuts down for good > Information about the YouTube giant’s sudden closure Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor he internet breathed a sad sigh on March 25 when YouTube entertainment giant SourceFed shut down for good. SourceFed was one of the only success stories to come out of YouTube’s 2012 Original Channel Initiative, which saw Google invest over 300 million dollars into growing “channels” instead of towards “creators.’ The difference being that the channels would be more of a collective effort with heavy production values, as opposed to user-driven content that focused on individual, independent creators. The initiative was an undeniable flop, with many of the channels going belly up. One thing that did manage to stay relevant was Phillip DeFranco’s brainchild: SourceFed, which focussed mainly on reporting news and commenting on technology and pop-culture. It catered to internet > geeks everywhere, featuring various programs that highlighting everything from music to engineering. In 2013 DeFranco sold SourceFed to Revision3, which was owned by Discovery Communications. This launched Discovery’s foray into digital media. In 2016, Discovery decided to back a merger that would have Thrillist Media, SourceFed Studios, The Dodo, NowThis Media, and Seeker all combine under the umbrella corporation of Group Nine Media, in which Discovery Communications would receive a 35 per cent stake. Group Nine Media is currently headed by the founder of Thrillist, Ben Lerer. On March 20, SourceFed announced that they would be shutting down within the week. Based off of reactions by SourceFed host Steven Suptic and former host Reina Scully, news of the closure was not communicated to the SourceFed team until shortly before the announcement took place. Many Photo via nbcnews.com Beauty on a budget: Katy Kat What will be trending this season What not to do with your résumé or cover letter And more! family of people that work for the airline. Almost every airline offers this as a benefit for their employees. An employee has a list of people that they can register as buddy pass holders. How many people they can add to this list varies with seniority as well as which airline they work for. Basically, it allows whoever is on the list to fly for free, or to simply pay flight taxes—which are minimal. The one catch is that anyone using a buddy pass is treated as an employee—to the point that—with some airlines—they are expected to help the flight crew clean up the plane after the other passengers have exited. So how does this explain the employee's refusal to let the three on board? Well, with any job, you have a dress code. If you use a buddy pass, you are required to abide by the dress code, which for most airlines request that you wear business-casual attire. This means no running shoes, no jeans, and definitely no athletic wear! United’s response to all the Twitter hate remained in line with these set precedents, and they defended their employee’s request for the three individuals to change their attire. They also stated that while regular passengers (i.e. ones that paid for their tickets) were welcome to wear whatever they wanted, the dress code for buddy pass holders would remain stricter. In the end, the 10-year-old was admitted entry after she changed her shirt, but the other two women missed their flight. So what have we learned? Try to make yourself aware of all the facts before engaging in internet witch- hunts, don't believe everything you read on Twitter—and lastly, if someone is kind enough to get you something really expensive for free, at least have the decency to abide by the rules. €¢ On March 20, SourceFed announced that they would be shutting down within the week. of SourceFed’s former employees— including program hosts, producers, writers, animators etc.—took to social media, expressing their discontent over how the closure was handled, and how they suddenly found themselves unexpectedly unemployed. Though Discovery claims that they had no say in the decision by Group Nine Media to shut down SourceFed, many people remain suspect due to a contingency Discovery acquired before their backing of the merger. In late 2016, before the merger occurred, Discovery agreed to receive the 35 per cent stake in Group Nine Media, as mentioned before. This placed them as the second largest shareholder in the company, right behind Axel Springer SE—a European digital publishing house. Discovery took the 35 per cent initially, but with a catch that they would be allowed to acquire a greater share in the company at a later date. This means that they could be the controlling shareholder within the next year or so, if they so choose. Knowing that, it becomes a little sketchy that Discovery would choose to sacrifice such a large aspect of their digital media branch to Lerer, who has a vested interest in promoting his own creation, Thrillist. Whether this is true—or SourceFed had simply found itself living on borrowed time—is unclear, and will remain so until the higher-ups at Group Nine Media choose to address the closure in a more detailed fashion.