EL200 Final portfolio- My 100th entry!

This portfolio marks my 100th entry since I entered the blogosphere at Seton Hill University.

p.s. I forgot to publish this after I finished the entries. I knew I set my entries to automatically publish for a reason- Sorry!

1. Lab Report (Editorial style)

This semester, I set many goals for myself, one of which was to devote more of my time to being present in the office during production of The Setonian.
For production on the semester’s final issue, I devoted over 10 hours of my time: two on Monday, two on Wednesday, and over six hours on Friday. This may seem like a small accomplishment compared to some of our dedicated staff members, but previous to this semester, I was rarely in the office during production.

After achieving my short-term goals of being present during production at least two days out of the week, I came to a realization. There is not always going to be a task that needs completed as soon as I enter the office. I used to feel like I was not being helpful because I would stop in, copy-edit a few articles, then leave if there was no more work I was capable of completing. I realized that by devoting more than two hours at a time to being in the office, I can complete work as it comes in, and learn to take on new tasks independently. Work for a news publication does not arrive in lump-sums; it comes gradually, which is why some of our staff members rarely seem to leave the office during production.

During my extended stay on Friday evening, I was able to relieve Amanda of pesky things such as running to get a photo or calling to see where late articles were. Aside from my feature article and gathering the police blotter, I copy-edited several articles as well. I placed the police blotter and several other corrections in the layout when the rest of the present staff went to dinner. It’s hard to tear Miss Schumacher away from the G4, and that’s why our layout looks spectacular, but I jump on any chance to help. I also placed a "pop up quote" in an article, another new skilled I learned in Quark this production.

When the final issue hit the stands, I felt please with the goals I accomplished this semester. Not only did I learn more about how The Setonian is produced, I wrote some feature articles, and bonded with the staff also. It’s not everyday you find a news editor comfortable enough with you to lick you at random. Valerie, you make my day. Our staff is like a family. We’re all quirky, and stressed at times, but we share a common love: the news. My college career would certainly be lacking had I not joined the staff freshman year.

2. Peer Review of Leslie's EX 4

3. Class action item- New Media Journalism site

We've been discussing this project frequently in class. Lori and Val are working in conjunction in a way, by adding links to writing resources that they themselves have created, or found online. Leslie will also be adding her tips on sportswriting, and I now intend to write some arts and entertainment guidelines as well.

Aside from writing the guidelines I still plan to publish a page or series of pages (not quite sure how I want to organize them) on "What is NMJ at SHU?" Ideally, I would still like this to be in a Flash presentation, but that project may have to wait until school is out or next semester. Holiday hours at the mall are here, which means I'll be working until 1 a.m. or later 4-5 days a week. This restricts my nocturnal work period!

I want to include a page about The Setonian, the catalogue description of the NMJ major, the classes that are required and their descriptions, and some NMJ major student and/or alumni testimonials. Also, these pages will cover what new media journalism actually is. These are still sketchy ideas that I will hone as I begin to write the content.