Portfolio 4: It's the Final Countdown. DanaNAna...DanaNANANA...DanaNAna...

I'm not positive but this might be my last portfolio ever.  It's been a fun ride and as much as I've complained over the years, I've learned by blogging and interacting with my peers.

News writing has been an interesting class.  I have to agree with Greta on this one; I'm not the biggest news writing fan and I'm pretty sure that I could never be a journalist in real life.  I'm so used to writing academic essays that journalism was pretty hard for me.  I like the chronology of writing an academic essay.  It's organized and flows.  Nonetheless, journalistic writing definately has its place.  Nobody wants to sift through all of the flourishes of academic writing.  That just weighs down the paper.  People just want to get the information.  It's not chronological because sometimes the most important information comes at the end.

Here are the best entries from the end of this semester (which means all of them because there aren't that many)

Coverage:

Depth:

• I'm Gettin' Wired! gives an overview of the wired website and an article about electric cars.  The links function really well within this article, taking you to previous, related articles.
• Petland and Puppy Mills definately is one of my best.  I would consider it in depth because I worked really hard researching good websites that I could use in writing my article. 
• Too Much Freedom!? is a little bit of a rant.  I can't believe that someone, let alone 53% of Americans, would make the suggestion that journalists have too much freedom.  Even though it's a bit of a rant, I make some really good points.

Interaction:

• Freedom, Fairness, and Futility is Derek's blog.  I commented first and was a part of a really good conversation.  I also returned to comment on what was said after me.
• Harvard’s Good, the Cavalier’s Ok, But I Found Something Even Better is Greta's blog.  She brings in a third party paper that is better than the other two papers.  I comment on this paper's excellence.
• Greta flattered me by taking a page out of my book in “With great power, comes great responsibility.”  I commented on this blog, leaving a thoughtful addition (and, of course, relating it to superheroes).

Discussion:

• Pleasing the Eye is all about the aesthetics of online news.  Using multimedia adds another level to the story and gives online news the edge over printed news.  A few people had a lot to say about the subject and I returned to comment on what they said. 
• This is ok...I give it a C+ stimulated a lot of conversation.  I was really harsh on The Harvard Crimson's website and some people agreed and some disagreed.  I returned twice to keep the conversation going and give my readers feedback.

Timeliness:

• This Is Garbage! was turned in on time, as was all ov these entries.  I tried really hard to get everything done on time during the hell time of November.

Xenoblogging:

• I took the opportunity in Too Much Freedom!? to promote Derek's article because he made some good points in his entry and it also related to my entry.  Check it out!
• Freedom, Fairness, and Futility is Derek's entry that I mentioned above.  I was the comment primo on his blog.  The conversation was rolling well.

Wildcard:

• Dr. Jerz, I have a few questions about writing the investigative report is a blog that I used to ask a few questions about the investigative reporting article.  I figured that by posting my questions I may be able to cover the same questions that my classmates had.
• How to Not Have a Massive Heart Attack During Finals Week is an entry I wrote just for fun.  I know that finals week brings a lot of stress.  I thought that if I could just help one person calm down a little by giving some advice, it would be worth it.  I could do stuff like this all of the time.  I enjoy it.

Here are all of my portfolios for this class:

• Portfolio 1: What I've Done So Far 
• Portfolio 2, already? 
• Portfolio 3: My Journey to Higher Learning 

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