FEB 2, 2009/ CHAP 3 ASSIGNMENT
Lounging at Willow
Sunday afternoon, February 1st, 2009, a light crowd of people sit at Starbucks outside of Saks Fifth Avenue in the Willow Bend Mall. The open lounge area is filled with the scent of mocha-caramel spiced cappachino. The sound of chatter is heard through the sounds of “mall music”. Three women who appear to range from ages 27-47 are in the Starbucks line waiting to place their order. The youngest of the three women is on her cell phone, the oldest of the three is placing what appears to be her credit card and reciept inside her wallet. The other woman stares at the menu board with a look of uncertainty. The small black chalk board which is outlined in colors of pink, blue and yellow list the day’s special-Vanilla Bean Latte. Several strollers crowded the area as parents sat and chatted while sharing their afternoon latte’s. Each of the small computer stations are completley occupied. A little girl runs around the chairs wailing her arms screaming “Mommmy more strawberry.” A woman who appears to be the little girls mother reaches for the girl’s arm and whispers “Stop running.” Five laughing-teeangers exit Saks Fifth Avenue and walk towards the Apple store. The slow traffic may not only be attributed to it being Sunday afternoon, but it also being Superbowl Sunday. Three television monitors are above the Starbucks partisian featuring CNN news updates, NBC Superbowl Coverage, and ESPN sports. Each screen is muted as the caption appears on screen from each speaker. Two of the men sitting in the lounge area are paying very close attention to the Superbowl coverage on NBC. Twenty minutes have passed almost and the crowd has not broken apart any. The women have long ago finished their drinks, yet they are still heavily engaged in their coversations. With food, drinksl, shopping and conversation all one spot they may not have a reason to leave so suddenly.
To incorporate this as an interactive piece on the web I would show my observations un a VO format on the web. The video would begin with the orders being taken at the Starbucks counter, followed by the women talking while drinking their coffee. I would show the childless strollers then cutting to the little girl running around. The teeanagers and female shoppers would be used to show that there is actually shopping going on at the mall and not just socializing. My final shots would be the men watching the Superbowl on the t.v. screens. The entire time I would do a vo about the alternative way of spending superbowl Sunday. My piece would be entitled “Lounging at Willowbend”. The video would be about 45 seconds long, I would also have a written web story with the video feature link listed half-way through the story.
FEB. 5 IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENT Lil Wayne Leads Grammy Nominations
Lil Wayne may be bringing home eight new editions after next week’s Grammy awards. The Cash Money star has been nominated for eight Grammy awards.Some music experts say the lyricist may win them all. “It’s a sure thing he’ll take all the rap awards he’s nominated for this year,” Entertainment Weekly music critic Leah Greenblatt said.
He’s nominated for a total of seven hip-hop categories and album of the year. Nominations include Best Rap Song, Best Rap Solo Performnce, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
In the past 12 months he was named top-selling artist of 2008 and winning Best Hip-Hop Video at the VMA’s.
Homeless Palestinians Find Temporary Shelter
Israel’s three-week assault on Gaza has led thousands of Palestinians to living in tented camps. Aid workers say at least 16,000 people found temporary accommondation in 10 camps set up in districts. Medical officials say around 1,300 Palestinians are dead and more than 5,000 are wounded as a result of the war.
Aid agencies have handed out blankets for cold nights while camp residents gather around log fires.
FEB. 10 ASSIGNMENT
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/index- Philly News Ch. 6
http://wjz.com/- Baltimore News Ch. 13
http://www.baltimoresun.com/- Baltimore Sun
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/- Philly Daily News
Above I chose two t.v. station website and two newspaper website, each representing one from Philly and Baltimore. The most user-frienlier of all four websites was Channel 6. Stories are easy to find and there is always a slide show scrolliing with the most recent headlines. Whenever you place your cursor over one of the top stories, it pauses the slide show and enlarges the selected story, allowing you to review the headline in larger font.
Next to the top stories tab is the live video tab which streams in any live breaking news which is on the air. The site has excellent video quality. Each top story has a related link of video of the story from the most recent newscast.
Baltimore’s WJZ Channel 13 was a little different. It wasn’t as user friendly as Philly’s ABC 6. The top stories are not as noticeable when you log onto the page. They only list 4 top stories; one local. one national; one polital, and one economic. There is a tiny slid show with related vidoe options in the top right hand corner. The pictures are hardly visible and it’s easy to miss.
About half way down the middle of the page is another slide show without video. Unlike Philly’s Channel 6, this website requires you to scroll on your own whereas Philly’s Channel 6 was on auto scroll making it easier for you to just stop the story you were interested in. One of the biggest issues I have with this site is that the advertisements stand out more than the news stories. Yes, advertisements are important, but is it necessary for them to be more eye catching than the news itself which is far more important. The webmaster for this site has his work cut out.
To me newspaper sites are always less user friendly than t.v. websites. Not the case with either of these websites. I was actually shocked that neither required me to sign in using a “free account” to access the story. I find that is the case with the Dallas morning news which can be quite irritating at times. Both sites are some of the most interactive websites for a newspaper that I’ve seen in a long time. The Baltimore Sun seems to have more interactivity than WJZ Channel 13. The Sun has video access for the top 4 local stories, the top 4 Maryland stories, and the top 4 sports stories. The top 4 local stories tab is first preceded by the others.
The Philly Daily News had less interactive media but had features that the Baltimore Sun didn’t. When you select a story to read on the Philly Daily News website, a popup feauture with the option to increase or decrease the font size appears. Within this same feature is the option to add the story to facebook, igoogle, twitter etc. There is fewer videos on this page. Philly Daily News is set up more like a traditional newspaper and Baltimore Sun runs with more interactive media.
All four sources serve a useful purpose and just require a little navigation, some more than others, to find what your looking for.
FEB 12, ASSIGNMENT
I chose this website because it captures news through both facts and opioniated blogs. This website not only covers regional news site for Philly and its surrounding areas including New Jesey,it also covers national andworld news. The website does a good job of news blogging the hardcore news stories covered. Content Editor Jennifer Weilgus blogged about the damage in Oklahoma from last night’s tornado. The blog entry was factual and she even sited Yahoo News as a source. This wasn’t much of an opnionated blog but it was quite obvious the writing wasn’t broadcast style. The story is reader driven because it’s short to the point and descriptive. The story is actually about 200 words compared to the Yahoo News story which is about one page. Of course the extensvie version is more detailed but if you just want the basic facts of what happened the blog may not be such a bad idea.
FEB. 12 IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENT
Residents can now breath a sigh of relief when it comes to food safety. Georgia lawmakers have passed a plan requiring food makers to alert state inspectors within 24 hours if a plant’s internal test show signs of product contamination. Food safety experts and government groups say they don’t know any other state that requires food manufactures to share internal data.
This plan comes shortly after the Peanut. Corp plant in Blakely, Ga had a salmonella outbreak. Investigators say the plant shipped salmonella-laced products knowingly, after internal test showed they were contaminated. State law had no requirements for the company o share those test results. Officials say they may have been able to stop the outbreak if they’d known sooner.
The Peanut Corp is facing a number of civil lawsuits and a federal investigation has been launched. The outbreak sickened at least 600 people and may be linked to nine deaths.
The plan would exempt meat and poultry and other manufactures under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The bill now goes to full Senate and empowers Georgia agriculture to order plants to have their products tested at their own expense.
FEB 24, 2009
The University of North Texas is taking part in National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. UNT will host several events on campus the week of Monday, February 23 through Thursday February 27 in recognition of the event. The University’s Women’s Center hopes to bring a national issue to light locally.
Assistant Director of the Women’s & Multicultural Center, Uyen Tran, says by hosting an event like this, awareness will be raised about different eating disorders and healthy living. Tran says they will also evaluate body image, determining what is pretty, what is beautiful and how we come up with those images.
One of the UNT’s leading workshop during the week dealing with body image is titled From Barbie to Beyonce. Tran says an exploration of how the media comes into play of body image will be discussed.
The main worshop, which takes place on Thursday will have two of the University’s own psychologist, delivering a forty minute presentation about eating disorders. Following the presentation, Dr. King and Dr. Cogan will offer conseling and a question and answer session for participats of the workshop.
This event is open to the public and primarily reaches out to its target audience of young men and women ages 18-26. Tran says eating disorders are not just amongst one group of people, there are gender and cultural variances dealing with the issue.
National Eating Disorder Awareness Week is a collective effort of eating disorder professionals, health care providers, educators and individulats committed to raising awareness of the dangers surrounding eating disorders and the need for early intervention and treatment.
The aim of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week is to prevent eating disorders and bod image issues while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment. For information about eating disorders go to www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
MAR 4, 2009 B.J. Lewis Pros and Cons of Being a Multimedia Journalist
Online journalist have a multimedia tool box full of storytelling ideas. The combination of audio, still photos, video, graphics and words allows an online story to be told in multiple ways. One of the most important facts that B.J. shared with us is that video photography is pretty much a MUST in the news industry now. Being able to tell a story through film is one of the most important skill you can have a a journalist. For someone like B.J this part of the job is a pro, but for me it would definitley be a con since camera operation is one of my weak spots. B.J Being a multimedia reporter allows the journalist to get the best of both worlds. When he showed us a few of his news stories it allowed us to see first hand how interactivity works. Yes, we see it all the time on different websites but to have someone speak about it first hand who has done it allows you to see it from their point of view. Both the writing skills and camera story telling help to build skills that you can use to incorporate in your own personal projects. B.J. for instance, shared that he has an interest in film which anyone knows can lead to major opportunities. The videographer part of the job is definitley a pro. Especially since the eye is quick to view an image vs. reading words. I thought it was interesting in B.J’s Gorilla Girls video, how after watching I didn’t necessarily feel that I needed to read the story to find out what was going on. B.J stated there was an article that went with the story but once you watch the video you kind of know already what’s going on depending upon how well the video was done. When B.J. talked about the actual reporting I thought it was interesting that it didn’t sound as brutual the way we’ve been hearing about over the past 2 years. B.J actually sounded calm about the reporting side. He said he spends about 2 to 2&1/2 hours editing the shots and 1 hour to write the story. That sounds much better than the 20 minutes we’re alloted for writing a story and the 30-45 minutes we get to edit a story. Now I know we’re being prepared for the “real world” but its nice to hear that there can be a bit of breathing room while trying to put your best work together. The most important fact that B.J shared with us is to find your own personal balance. Being able to find your personal balance will allow you to discover what works best for you as a journalist.
March 5, 2009 In Class Assignment
Regulation of Tobacco Industry Passes U.S. Panel
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was passed as the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted 39-13 today in Washington.
“Regulating tobacco is the single most important thing that we can do right now to curb the deadly toll of tobacco, and FDA is the right agency to do the job” said Representative Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, the committee’s chairman and sponsor of the legislation for more than 10 years.
Dissenting Republicans on the House panel argued that the FDA is already spread to thin and overseeing tobacco would mislead consumers that any use of it can be safe.
Representative Joe Barton of Texas believes there are better ways to address the issue and hopes that as the bill moves forward members will reflect on the unintended consequences of the legislation.
The bill would restrict tobacco marketing to young people and larger warning to cigarette packages and require the FDA to police ingredients and the introduction of new products. Lawmakers have debated long about how to manage the public health risk of smoking which causes one in five U.S. deaths and leads to many health risks.
Regulation would be funded through fees paid by companies. The legislation wouldn’t allow the FDA to ban tobacco entirely.
March 30, 2009
Rape of a Nation by Marcus Bleasdale depicts the hardships of the people of Congo. Congo is a place where its natural resources hinder the people of the land. Bleasdale tells the story digitally by the use of video and still photos. This is one of those stories where the phrase a picture speaks a thousand words comes to mind. The music is captivating from start to finish and brings the viewer in. The upbeat fast tempo of African drums used at the beginning of the story lets you know that something is about to or has happened. This leads into the discussion of child military and the struggles encountered over natural resources.
There isn’t much video throughout the piece but the images of the still photos have just as equal of an impact as video. One of the most captivating videos of the story is of the woman who was raped by several men and became pregnant. She tells her own story of how her child was actually pulled from her body of the men who raped her. “The baby was torn to pieces”, this is more powerful coming from the one who faced the experience versus Bleasdale doing a voiceover the images of what happened. Here is where he uses the digital storytelling element of using your voice well.
One of the things I would change about the story is more video. People are always drawn in to a person that tells his/her story versus a storyteller of someone else’s story. This builds emotion in the viewer and keeps them in tune. Overall I thought the story was very well done and held my interest. It’s highly important to keep the viewer’s attention when the story is told at great length which Bleasdale did well.
When you have a story that deals with sensitive issues such as sexual violence and child military its pretty hard to reamain objective. Yes the story was told from one point of view but how can you show justification for the other side? Stories like this are what opens our eyes to what is happening around us. Bleasdale also has on the site a section that tells how you can help. He has an about section that reenforces what is shown in the video. I would make the site a little more eye catching. For issues so serious everything needs to be easy to read and easy to get to. This would probably be the only improvement I would make to the story. Again, overall well done.
April 6, 2009
The mystery of twitter-I still don’t understand the purpose of it. Apparently millions of people are getting something out of it. I was able to find all of the major news networks; CNN, ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS along with a few local stations. It appears that these news networks are using twitter to keep readers on periodic headlins throughout the day. The post all change frequently as news is consistently changing throughout the day. Twitter seems to basically be an instant messaging way for news networks to get the latest stories to consumers.
I could see how this could be useful for people who travel frequently and want to know what is going on in their hometown. It’s also a good way to find out what is going on in local news in other cities. What grabs the viewers attention is the tagline-if you like it you click on it then it links you to the news networks website
News networks can also use twitter to gain feedback from viewers. If you have a twitter account it is more convenient to post a comment about a particular story versus creating an account for each news site of your choice. It also allows consumers to converse about the latest news topics.
For now twitter may be a good social tool to get consumers more involved with news but what’s next? Will Skype be incorporated into media outlet for news next??
U.S v. MATTHEW
40-year-old Matthew Bagert was idicted in November 2008, accused of downloading explicit photos of nude boys. The former priest plead guilry to downloading the child pornography on a church computer in 2005. Bagert currently faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
Bagert was initially charged under state laws in Dallas County district court. In 2006 the case was dismissed because a judge ruled that two other priest at the church broke the law when they searched Bagert’s church computer without his consent.
The question of was this ethically okay for the evidence to be used against Bagert though it was illegally obtained. If something is important enough, breaking the law to get the story should be taken into consideration. Grant it Bagert was never charged with molestation, viewing child pornography may have led to inappropiate behavior with a minor.
If this were adult port it wouldn’t be necessarily considered a crime. It would have been an issue with the church and his morale with his role as a church leader. When children are involved it shouldn’t matter what extinct the evidence is obtained. Children are defensless and need a voice. Any act of harm done to a child when there is evidence should be addressed no matter how the evidence was obtained. In a case like this- and with all cases revolving children-morale before ethics. An adult can plead their own case, a child cannot.
PINK ESSENTIALS
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