I came across a story from The New York Times Magazine about three young students from Bronxville and their college application process.
The story, Tense Times at Bronxville High, had the stories from three high school seniors in New York. The writer, Susan Dominus, told each student's story separately, but wove them together. The first student, Maria Devlin, is what I like to call the poster child for perfection. She is good at everything - the kind I love to hate. The second student, Winthrop Rutherford, wanted nothing other than to go to Princeton. And the third student, Alex Likovich, thought she had nothing to worry about when it came to her early decision application at Middlebury.
This story, isn't hard-pressed news, by any means, but it was really interesting. Dominus told these students' stories in a way that made me keep reading. I felt like I knew these kids - like maybe I went to school with them. Dominus made them relatable. She described them in a way that reminded me of people I went to school with. For instance, she talked about Rutherford's SAT scores and his love of military history and I couldn't help but thinking, hey, that reminds me of Brad from high school.
What I'm trying to say is, Dominus wrote in a conversational manner and that is my favorite type of writing. Two thumbs up for her.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Video issues
After watching a video on the Orlando Sentinel's website in class last week, I was curious about other videos that they may have on their website.
I'm watching a video right now on Universal's Halloween Horror Nights and EPCOT's Food and Wine Festival. (If you go to the Orlando Sentinel's homepage and go to the video section, it's currently the fourth video.)
The movie is hosted by Matt Sokoloff, who, last time I watched him, didn't do such a hot job.
Well in this video, he seems much more relaxed and doesn't seem so much to be reading straight from a newspaper. He still is in the newsroom and the background is entirely too busy for a video like this. The only thing I can focus on is what everyone behind him is doing.
Another problem I have is the camera movement. On a video on current TV about shooting movies, they stressed more than once that it is important to stick with one camera shot and don't zoom all over the place. It is so annoying to the viewer. I would be very happy if the cameraman would park in one spot and stay put!
What I did like in this video, is all the information that was provided. I learned a lot of various tidbits about HHN and the F&W Festival. But, even though the information was good, I wish Sokoloff and the other guy, Dewayne Bevil, would have talked with just a little more enthusiasm in their voices. It was a little flat for me. Especially since the video deals with two really large Orlando events that are hugely fun.
I think someone needs to give Sokoloff a quick lesson in broadcast journalism.
I'm watching a video right now on Universal's Halloween Horror Nights and EPCOT's Food and Wine Festival. (If you go to the Orlando Sentinel's homepage and go to the video section, it's currently the fourth video.)
The movie is hosted by Matt Sokoloff, who, last time I watched him, didn't do such a hot job.
Well in this video, he seems much more relaxed and doesn't seem so much to be reading straight from a newspaper. He still is in the newsroom and the background is entirely too busy for a video like this. The only thing I can focus on is what everyone behind him is doing.
Another problem I have is the camera movement. On a video on current TV about shooting movies, they stressed more than once that it is important to stick with one camera shot and don't zoom all over the place. It is so annoying to the viewer. I would be very happy if the cameraman would park in one spot and stay put!
What I did like in this video, is all the information that was provided. I learned a lot of various tidbits about HHN and the F&W Festival. But, even though the information was good, I wish Sokoloff and the other guy, Dewayne Bevil, would have talked with just a little more enthusiasm in their voices. It was a little flat for me. Especially since the video deals with two really large Orlando events that are hugely fun.
I think someone needs to give Sokoloff a quick lesson in broadcast journalism.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
...
If you couldn't tell by some of the things I've blogged about so far, I'm basically a little kid. I like little kid things which is why I was drawn to this article in the Indianapolis Star. This story is about the upcoming Hannah Montana concert in Indianapolis.
For a quick background tidbit, Hannah Montana is a 14-year old singer from the Disney Channel. Her real name is Miley Cyrus and her dad is the country singer, Billy Ray Cyrus. She has a TV show where she is a popstar and this fall she is taking her tour on the road across the country. So far every show that has been on sale has sold out completely.
The writer, David Lindquist, addresses Indianapolis' problem witht he sellout and goes in depth about how ticket brokers get so many tickets. What I liked so much about this article was basically the topic in general. I admit, I tried to buy Hannah Montana tickets last weekend for her concert in Tampa and was disappointed to find that they were sold out before they even went on sale online. I wanted to know why and this article told me. Lindquist talked about how ticket brokers get so many tickets per concert and how many venues have a pool of tickets to sell, which I didn't know. I thought everything went through Ticketmaster.
I also liked the box he did within the article that gave some background on Hannah Montana and her dad.
My only issue, and it's not really with the story, is with their commenting feature. The Indianapolis Star has a place for readers to leave comments about stories and it says by the comment box that rude comments will be deleted, but it doesn't say anything about stupid comments. Several people on there are posting about how terrible of a singer Hannah Montana is. Someone tell me why they waste their time. I personally don't like commenting areas because they turn into a place where people post stupid, rude and offensive things. I tried to count how many people called Hannah Montana a crappy performer or a waste of space but I lost count. Why would you post that on a story about how popular she is? Obviously someone likes her.
For a quick background tidbit, Hannah Montana is a 14-year old singer from the Disney Channel. Her real name is Miley Cyrus and her dad is the country singer, Billy Ray Cyrus. She has a TV show where she is a popstar and this fall she is taking her tour on the road across the country. So far every show that has been on sale has sold out completely.
The writer, David Lindquist, addresses Indianapolis' problem witht he sellout and goes in depth about how ticket brokers get so many tickets. What I liked so much about this article was basically the topic in general. I admit, I tried to buy Hannah Montana tickets last weekend for her concert in Tampa and was disappointed to find that they were sold out before they even went on sale online. I wanted to know why and this article told me. Lindquist talked about how ticket brokers get so many tickets per concert and how many venues have a pool of tickets to sell, which I didn't know. I thought everything went through Ticketmaster.
I also liked the box he did within the article that gave some background on Hannah Montana and her dad.
My only issue, and it's not really with the story, is with their commenting feature. The Indianapolis Star has a place for readers to leave comments about stories and it says by the comment box that rude comments will be deleted, but it doesn't say anything about stupid comments. Several people on there are posting about how terrible of a singer Hannah Montana is. Someone tell me why they waste their time. I personally don't like commenting areas because they turn into a place where people post stupid, rude and offensive things. I tried to count how many people called Hannah Montana a crappy performer or a waste of space but I lost count. Why would you post that on a story about how popular she is? Obviously someone likes her.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Small town news chatter
Here's what you get in your newspaper when you live in a small town...Perfect reading score.
This story, like one I mentioned last week is from The Daily Record in Wooster, Ohio. I'm sure subjects like this make many small town newspapers. Apparently this boy got a perfect score on the reading section of the Ohio Achievement Test.
Call me somewhat biased, here. This kid is from Triway, which is Orrville's (my hometown) biggest rival, so I already don't like him. To make it WORSE, not to brag or anything, but I got a perfect score on the reading proficiency test TWICE. Not once, twice, and I never made the paper.
But here's the rub. Triway isn't really a town, it's a section of Wooster and a lot of the people who work for The Daily Record live in "Triway." Triway tends to get a lot more coverage in the paper for that reason because so many of The Daily Record's employees are biased and show that in the paper.
My senior year in high school, my cheerleading squad took first place (over Triway, by the way) at our big local competition, but whose picture was on the front of the sports page? Triway's! There was a picture of the Triway cheerleaders with a headline that read, "Orrville cheerleaders sweep competition!" Now, tell me how that makes sense.
It did later when someone informed us that the guy in charge of that section was from Triway.
To make my point here, The Daily Record has a huge tendency to show bias and I know that tends to happen, but it's annoying. This goes hand in hand with my ethics lesson this week which was about truth and objectivity. The Daily Record doesn't pay much attention to objectivity.
This story, like one I mentioned last week is from The Daily Record in Wooster, Ohio. I'm sure subjects like this make many small town newspapers. Apparently this boy got a perfect score on the reading section of the Ohio Achievement Test.
Call me somewhat biased, here. This kid is from Triway, which is Orrville's (my hometown) biggest rival, so I already don't like him. To make it WORSE, not to brag or anything, but I got a perfect score on the reading proficiency test TWICE. Not once, twice, and I never made the paper.
But here's the rub. Triway isn't really a town, it's a section of Wooster and a lot of the people who work for The Daily Record live in "Triway." Triway tends to get a lot more coverage in the paper for that reason because so many of The Daily Record's employees are biased and show that in the paper.
My senior year in high school, my cheerleading squad took first place (over Triway, by the way) at our big local competition, but whose picture was on the front of the sports page? Triway's! There was a picture of the Triway cheerleaders with a headline that read, "Orrville cheerleaders sweep competition!" Now, tell me how that makes sense.
It did later when someone informed us that the guy in charge of that section was from Triway.
To make my point here, The Daily Record has a huge tendency to show bias and I know that tends to happen, but it's annoying. This goes hand in hand with my ethics lesson this week which was about truth and objectivity. The Daily Record doesn't pay much attention to objectivity.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Video=goodness
It's amazing how much a video can add to a story. I was reading about EPCOT's secret garden and honestly, a story about lab work and science doesn't tend to interest me much. What drew me in to the story originally was the topic of Disney. I work for Disney and I love it as well. Throwing EPCOT in the headline was very smart.
So as I was reading the story I was getting a tad bored so I scrolled back up to the top of the page and watched the video instead. What a difference that made. To actually see the man mentioned in the story talking about this subject himself and showing the different labs in The Land attraction made me much more interested. He talked about a lot of things I didn't know, like that there's a backstage tour of The Land.
For me, I grasp some things better when I see them rather than read them. For a story like this with mixed topics, Disney and science, it was very smart to add the video that showed the attraction.
So as I was reading the story I was getting a tad bored so I scrolled back up to the top of the page and watched the video instead. What a difference that made. To actually see the man mentioned in the story talking about this subject himself and showing the different labs in The Land attraction made me much more interested. He talked about a lot of things I didn't know, like that there's a backstage tour of The Land.
For me, I grasp some things better when I see them rather than read them. For a story like this with mixed topics, Disney and science, it was very smart to add the video that showed the attraction.
Friday, September 14, 2007
The Daily Mistake
The newspaper where I come from in Ohio has been nicknamed "The Daily Mistake" by many people in the area. The article Volunteer Killed Responding to Fire Call, is not necessarily one full of mistakes but just one that makes The Daily Record out to be a not-quite-up-to-par publication.
This article is about a young man who was killed in while driving recklessly. The man, Jared Zimmerly, was a member of the reserve fire unit.
In this article, the writer references Zimmerly as well as his father. Rather than using their first names each time, she refers to Jared by his full name every single time. It almost makes the reader think his first name is JaredZimmerly. In Dr. Fedler's news reporting class he told us to just use first names when you have multiple people with the same last name. Especially in this case, since it is talking about the wonderful things Jared did and his untimely death, I think it would have been OK to refer to him as just Jared.
Another problem I had with this article was the lack of personality in some of the quotes. At the very beginning of the article, the writer quotes the fire chief twice and neither one is very strong. Since these quotes are so early in the story, they should be strong and really make a statement. The weak ones should be left to the end.
This story, sadly enough, is one of the better ones produced by this paper. It's published in Wooster, Ohio. It is the main source for local news in my hometown of Orrville. I found it frustrating while at home that so many things were constantly misprinted in this paper. They have even been known to misspell names of important people, such as the town mayor. Now that's something they should get right. Hence the nickname, the Daily Mistake.
This article is about a young man who was killed in while driving recklessly. The man, Jared Zimmerly, was a member of the reserve fire unit.
In this article, the writer references Zimmerly as well as his father. Rather than using their first names each time, she refers to Jared by his full name every single time. It almost makes the reader think his first name is JaredZimmerly. In Dr. Fedler's news reporting class he told us to just use first names when you have multiple people with the same last name. Especially in this case, since it is talking about the wonderful things Jared did and his untimely death, I think it would have been OK to refer to him as just Jared.
Another problem I had with this article was the lack of personality in some of the quotes. At the very beginning of the article, the writer quotes the fire chief twice and neither one is very strong. Since these quotes are so early in the story, they should be strong and really make a statement. The weak ones should be left to the end.
This story, sadly enough, is one of the better ones produced by this paper. It's published in Wooster, Ohio. It is the main source for local news in my hometown of Orrville. I found it frustrating while at home that so many things were constantly misprinted in this paper. They have even been known to misspell names of important people, such as the town mayor. Now that's something they should get right. Hence the nickname, the Daily Mistake.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Ooh, scandalous!
I consider myself a very devoted High School Musical fan. I love everything about it including all the actors. Because of this, I was a little shocked and disappointed to hear about the most recent sex/nudity scandal in Hollywood. This latest one involved Vanessa Hudgens, one of the main characters in Disney's High School Musical movies.
I have been reading articles about it all over the internet. The first article I came across was actually in National Enquirer in Wal-Mart. I didn't believe it because, well, it's the National Enquirer.
When I got home I heard it on xl1067, the local radio station. They said TMZ.com had confirmed the story was true. So, I looked into it more.
The article I found to be most useful was from The National Ledger. According to them, Hudgens shot photos of herself nude and nearly nude to send to her boyfriend and costar Zac Efron. Somewhere along the lines, though, these photos made it to the Internet.
Most of the stories on the web are of the same thing; the background story and Hudgens' apology. Not the National Ledger. They were the only site that I could find that actually posted a link to the photos in question.
I'm not saying I want to see nude pictures of Hudgens, but when that is what the whole scandal revolves around, I think it's extremely important to take the reader to them.
I warn everyone, though, the first photo this link takes you to is just a picture of Hudgens. It is up to you to click on and see the more scandalous ones.
I commend the writer at the National Ledger, Angela Carson, for posting the link to the photos, no matter how scandalous they may be.
My only question after this whole thing, though, is where did the photos come from in the first place? No one seems to have an answer for that one.
I have been reading articles about it all over the internet. The first article I came across was actually in National Enquirer in Wal-Mart. I didn't believe it because, well, it's the National Enquirer.
When I got home I heard it on xl1067, the local radio station. They said TMZ.com had confirmed the story was true. So, I looked into it more.
The article I found to be most useful was from The National Ledger. According to them, Hudgens shot photos of herself nude and nearly nude to send to her boyfriend and costar Zac Efron. Somewhere along the lines, though, these photos made it to the Internet.
Most of the stories on the web are of the same thing; the background story and Hudgens' apology. Not the National Ledger. They were the only site that I could find that actually posted a link to the photos in question.
I'm not saying I want to see nude pictures of Hudgens, but when that is what the whole scandal revolves around, I think it's extremely important to take the reader to them.
I warn everyone, though, the first photo this link takes you to is just a picture of Hudgens. It is up to you to click on and see the more scandalous ones.
I commend the writer at the National Ledger, Angela Carson, for posting the link to the photos, no matter how scandalous they may be.
My only question after this whole thing, though, is where did the photos come from in the first place? No one seems to have an answer for that one.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Is this really news?
I'm so confused these days as to what qualifies as news. It seems like no matter what Britney Spears does, it's newsworthy. I read on article in Us Weekly today and I can't figure out what is newsworthy about it.
I know the purpose of Us Weekly is to publish all entertainment related news. I know Spears is a hot topic right now because of all her crazy antics. (i.e. head-shaving, return to the music industry, custody battle with K-Fed etc.) In this article, Brit Goes Clubbing the Night Before Rehearsals, it mentiones what Spears was wearing, what she had to drink and what time she turned in for the night. Is that something so important to publish?
I like to read entertainment news as much as the next person but I don't think I really need to know that she was sucking on a lollipop the night before her VMA rehearsal.
I think even the entertainment publications need to take a step back and really look at what they're publishing.
I know the purpose of Us Weekly is to publish all entertainment related news. I know Spears is a hot topic right now because of all her crazy antics. (i.e. head-shaving, return to the music industry, custody battle with K-Fed etc.) In this article, Brit Goes Clubbing the Night Before Rehearsals, it mentiones what Spears was wearing, what she had to drink and what time she turned in for the night. Is that something so important to publish?
I like to read entertainment news as much as the next person but I don't think I really need to know that she was sucking on a lollipop the night before her VMA rehearsal.
I think even the entertainment publications need to take a step back and really look at what they're publishing.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Multimedia Mania
The Associated Press knows a thing or two about utilizing multimedia as they demonstrated in a story today.
MSNBC posted an excellent article today about Sen. Larry Craig's resignation over soliciting sex in a bathroom.
Yes, the story is thorough, but that isn't what kept me on the page. As I scrolled down I noticed different video and audio clips about Craig.
When simply reading a story, it is hard to visualize what is actually happening, but by MSNBC posting a a video of his resignation along with the audio from his arrest, you're drawn in and can get a better understanding of what is actually happening.
The site also has links to a political calendar as well as other political stories. The AP used what Dr. Collins referred to as "chunking" because they have a ton of related links all over the page that relate to the story. This way the audience can navigate around to other things of the similar nature.
MSNBC posted an excellent article today about Sen. Larry Craig's resignation over soliciting sex in a bathroom.
Yes, the story is thorough, but that isn't what kept me on the page. As I scrolled down I noticed different video and audio clips about Craig.
When simply reading a story, it is hard to visualize what is actually happening, but by MSNBC posting a a video of his resignation along with the audio from his arrest, you're drawn in and can get a better understanding of what is actually happening.
The site also has links to a political calendar as well as other political stories. The AP used what Dr. Collins referred to as "chunking" because they have a ton of related links all over the page that relate to the story. This way the audience can navigate around to other things of the similar nature.
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