Hello, and welcome to my first Web Blog Portfolio of News, Arts, and Sports Writing, in which I will show you exactly what I think about homework.

Because sharks are cool and homework isn’t.
But even if I am a lazy student who would rather google shark facts than analyze readings, I have still put a lot of effort into my web blog. Here are its highlights thus far:
Depth:
My post on NM: The Past (3 of 4) is my longest analytical post so far this semester, where I talk about different journalist attitudes that lead to objectivity over time. My post on The CRAFT of News Writing also goes in depth on two subjects, news categories and famous journalist Nellie Bly. A third lengthy post would be When People Laughed at the Idea of Donald Trump Actually Being Elected President, where I analyze the reactions of the different types of people in the video and the results and motives for these reactions.
Riskiness:
My very first post of the semester, Caution: There is a Phony in this Class, was probably my riskiest, because I admitted that I had no journalism experience nor did I take much interest in the craft. It ended up being well-received, and Dr. Jerz assured me that even if I felt out of place, I could still brush up on some important writing skills in this class. My long post on NM: The Past (3 of 4) was a little bit risky because I claimed a trait exaggerated by the journalist stereotype actually contributed to the rise of objectivity in journalism. Overall, I should strive to be riskier in my analytical posts.
Intertextuality:
My post on the News Story vs. English Essay referenced several outside sources: Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, children’s movies, and romance novels. These were references to show the contrast between my background in English writing and what I will have to do in news writing. My post on The CRAFT of News Writing also referenced popular “clickbait” news sites as well as a picture book on Nellie Bly that I read in elementary school. I can probably work harder to include more intertextuality in future posts.
Discussion:
My post on What is Newsworthy garnered two comments from the student editors, who confirmed that my article choice was a newsworthy local story. They along with Dr. Jerz also liked the cartoon I included in this post. My post about the reactions to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign also received a comment from a classmate who appreciated my insights on the difference between reaction styles of talk show hosts and regular news broadcasters.
Timeliness:
I struggle the most with timeliness. Many of my posts are either just barely on time or somewhat late. My first post was very timely, as I submitted it early. On the other hand, my post on NM: The Past (4 of 4) was submitted several days late. However, in both these instances I feel like I put a lot of thought into my responses, which I think can justify a little bit of lateness.
Coverage:
Many times, I have submitted posts just to turn them in on time without engaging very deeply in the topic. For example, my post on The News Media: What Everyone Needs to Know was very short and just gave my basic thoughts about our history of journalism textbook. On the same day, I submitted NM: The Past (1 of 4) and NM: The Past (2 of 4), which included fun cartoons along with very short paragraphs about topics from each reading. As I settle in to the workload of this semester, I will try to offer more thoughtful discussions of topics while still including cartoons.
Conclusion:
The semester has just begun, so I have not submitted my best blog work yet. However, I am getting used to the schedule of this class and the expectations for each type of assignment, and my past experience with keeping a web blog lets me know what I am capable of in this section. I will continue to go more in depth and take risks in my analyses this semester in order to better my writing and add to my knowledge about journalism.

Source: Portfolio 1