EL200: News Analysis, New Media Journalism website
I: Useful News Links
I’ve found this site useful because it has a link to journalism resources. The sources include journalism tools from the Committee of Concerned Journalists, a list of good journalism schools, ethics codes, and advice for journalism students.
2. American Copy Editors Society
This is a very useful site that contains links to a multitude of journalism blogs, such as the Writing Coach and Copy Editing Corner. There are also tons of links to tools such as an online spelling test, grammar guide, and links to several style books and dictionaries.
This site is a page dedicated to the work the editors do. It includes stories with real world editors as the sources. Today, the front page articles included headlines like “The Value of Editing” and “The Brains of Reporters, Assigning Editors and Copy Editors.” The site emphasizes the importance of copy editing.
One of the best site’s I have found for the budding journalist. The site’s webmaster, Julian Sher, is an award-winning tv producer as well as an author and internet trainer. Sher shares (no pun intended) tips on how to cover every type of story pertinent in the media, from the economy to the war on terror. Also on JournalismNet are links to job tools and updates on search engine technology.
5. Journalism
Wikipedia has been a Godsend to me ever since I was introduced to it freshman year. This is a great source because it’s not necessarily a teaching of the skills of being a journalist, but rather a write up on the history of journalism. It’s broken down by every type of journalism. The wiki also includes information on the legalities of being a journalist, and segments devoted to both online journalism and the use of blogs as a journalistic tool.
* I found all of these links starting at one site, clicking through, and picking the sites I felt were valuable. I was happy to see when I Googled for ‘journalism,’ some of these sites were on the first page. I just thought that was pretty cool, for lack of a better word.
II. Online College Papers
1. The Gazettehttp://www.gazette.uwo.ca/staff-2006.cfm
The Gazette is published by the student council of The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. Given the size of the staff, I’d say it’s an extremely large university; there are at least three editors per section. The first thing that caught my eye was how streamlined the site was. It was primarily white with shades of grey, black, and areas of interest in purple. On the right hand side, a poll, the local weather, date and time, and links to recent articles broken down by section were included. The bulk of the page included vivid pictures with a caption or article snippet, and a link the full article- all front page content from the most recent issue.
The site also included a link to places on campus where the print issue could be found, staff contact information and profiles, a full production schedule (which I would love to be accessible online!) as well as links to advertising information. The site was easy to navigate and professional.
The news content included the local news of London, not only school news, which I found impressive. The A&E section I found to be particularly inspiring, and just the thing I would like to do but was too scared to voice. It included an article on the way scent affected sexual attraction, which was interesting and entertaining. I would love to have this type of editorial in the section. Also, there was an album review, a concert preview, and a preview of a local director’s movie release.
Yale’s student newspaper, The Yale Daily, has done a fair job with the layout for their online version. The header contains links to the paper’s sections, information about the paper, as well as advertising. Two small pictures appear, and news headlines and article blurbs are so plentiful that it makes the home page seem jumbled. Also on the front page are links to the Daily's most read articles (The Gazette had links to their staff’s favorite articles) and archives.
The best part of the front page was the way their Arts and Entertainment, or as they call it, Scene, articles are displayed. There is a box with several tabs that can be clicked, each click automatically takes you to a subsection which contains links to it’s articles.
The content for Yale’s A&E section was also innovative. It is called “Scene- your guide to arts and living.” The sections include Scene cover, Music, Film, Performance, Scenic views (a collection of witty editorials) and Living. One hilarious article I found was about a paid massage therapist who had come to Yale on three different accounts, for $1.50 a minute. I suppose at Yale, this sort of thing is a real possibility, at first I thought I was reading a satire! Students were probably asked a question like, “would you let a massage therapist into your dorm?” The resulting quotes were priceless. In the news was also a mixture of student and national news, mostly on policitcs. One things I noticed, Yale Daily doesn’t use “a sophomore.” It’s “‘10" for them.
III. NMJ site proposals
I think the NMJ page could definitely use informational links to journalists tools and tips, as we’re trying to complete. Also, I think the site could be tied into the school more, perhaps links to the University catalogue descriptions of the NMJ major and it’s required courses. Maybe the site could link to the blogs Dr. Jerz makes for each of his classes as well. A sort of, “What is New Media Journalism” page or blurb on the site would be useful also. I think there should be a short description on the main page about what the site actually is- how it came to be. The Setonian should have a link to their online version, too.
gracias, amigo. haha.
Nicely done compadre.