September 2009 Archives

I know right from the start that spot news is not sopposed to be newsworthy or terribly important information.  Reading the first article, "Golden Gate Park Layoffs," I understood how un-important it can truly be.  Her first few lines dealt with information that I didn't even care to read nor did I care to read the rest of the story because of it.  I'm sure there are some people who would be interested in the story and as for the story as a whole, the big picture, it is definitely interesting.  However, the lead was not grabbing my attention and a lot of the quotes weren't until the end of the story; and it was a pretty long story.

The second article, "Ethanol IndyCars," had a more attention grabbing start but I didn't feel more strongly toward this article as opossed to the first article.  The story had some more organized and well-contructed quotes and paragraph entries so that made it more interesting for me.

In the end, especially after reading "Speeches and Meeting Basics", I think there is a challenge for journalists.  It is challenging to write stories that are not newsworthy.  Journalists take the opportunity because sometimes that is the only option.  Strong newsworthy stories are more then often not always available and if the journalist can't write that then what can they write?  Well, they can write the short boring stories that people will just skim over.  That is the challenge of a journalist.  The challenge is making stories pop out to readers even if they don't seem interesting.  Journalists have the ability to make them interesting.  It is not just about covering a story and writing down some quotes.  So much goes into what the audience is going to think about it.  I raise my hat to journalists who can do this well.  Especially because I am hoping to be one some day. 

See what my classmates think! 

EL227- Newswriting is into its 4th week of the semester and now it is time for us students to post our blogging portfolios to show where are weaknesses and strengths are.  I have tried to blog as proficiently as possible and as accurately as I could.  It gets to be a hassle when I am juggling so many classes, an internship, and other outside school work.  However, this early on in the semester I feel I have accomplished more accurate blogging then I had in a while.

 1.  Coverage.  Coverage is important.  Coverage means that I was well informed of the topic and I read and researched as much as I could about it in order to reveal an accurate explanation on my account.  Here is a blog entry where I wrote an informed response.

2.  Depth.  It is ideal to have as much information as possible in a blog.  Coverage and depth go hand-in-hand when I state my knowledge from texts and website's and write it down in my blogs.  Here is a blog where I showed an appropriate amount of depth.

3.  Interaction.  When blogging, sometimes it is good to link or comment on a peer's blogs whether I agree or disagree with what they are saying.  I find it useful to sustain a conversation that is well-informed on both parts.  Here are some examples of interaction with me peers.

4.  Discussions.  This is an example of some of my peers commenting on my personal blogs.  It is great to know that people are reading and taking into consideration what my thoughts are and what I have to write about.  2nd Example.

5.  Timeliness.  It is always important for me to post my blogs on time because it is a better opportunity for my peers to comment on my blog before they comment on others.  These are some examples of my blog entries being posted on time if not earlier then the respected due date.  First Example.  Second Example.  Third Example.

6.  Xenoblogging.  This means to be the guest on someone else's blog.  For example, being the first to comment on another's blog, writing a thoughtful comment, or writing a well-informed comment on a peer's blog.

7.  Wildcard.  These would be entries that focus on my ability to work my weblog and create well-written work.  Feel free to check out Seton Hill University's (SHU) National Holocaust Center's website to look at where most of my recent blogging has taken me and where I spend most of my blogging effort's.  Here are some specific entries.  And another one.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions that might be useful to my blogging then feel free to let me know! As long as it is good and informative.  Thanks!

When I looked at this obituary, I was surprised that it was as long as it was.  I have read many obituaries in the Sunday paper but they are never that extensive.  I suppose it depends on what the family wants it to say.  Many families do not want to open up so much information to the public.  Although from reading this, I see how it is helpful to add about religious backround and achievements of their life in order to celebrate them rather than mourn.

The obituary was very well-written given the cercumstances that nobody wants to read about death (at least I hope not).  The interviews were great and showed who the deceased person truly was to all of those around her.  This is a great lesson in how to interview for profile pieces because it is important to understand that you shouldn't just interview the key person to get all the interesting facts.

Back to what my classmates think.