There’s No Business like Journalism
Many of us enjoy the news. We catch it before we head off to work in the morning, we watch it after dinnertime or we catch any breaking news before we go to sleep at night. Some of us may watch it sporadically or all day long. Either way, people care about news in some form or another.
A journalist’s job is to make sure they report this news truthfully, quickly and keep it interesting enough where people want to keep reading about it. We tend to read what we are interested in so the more compelling the story, the more apt we are to read future articles.
In my own practice as a writer, reporter and journalist, I find the experience to be very fulfilling; getting an idea for a story, seeking the opinions of others and then putting it all down on a page so others can read about it. I was lucky enough to interview Abbe Smith, a reporter for the New Haven Register for a class last semester. Not only was she nice enough to meet with me on her busy schedule, she offered tips, answered my questions thoroughly and gave me good feedback on what to expect in the changing world of journalism.
ONLINE WRITING
While online journalism is on the rise, more and more of us are heading straight for the news source – we don’t even bother with the news anymore. We tend to use Google as more of an answer to everything. Who needs to pick up a newspaper or dial a phone number when your favorite search engine can do it for you in less than ten seconds? It’s very easy to see how online journalism is high on the rise with online conveniences such as this.
Know Your Audience and Think Differently
Unlike a newspaper, where we can flip the pages back and forth as we please, we are typically “hunting” for stories we are looking for when we seek news online. Understand your audience and what it wants. Whether it be a local, national or global audience, research, write and edit with their best interests at heart.
The Internet gives us so many options to make an article different and unique. Take advantage of them! We can now incorporate articles, blogs, videos, HD pictures and podcasts to give our reader not only the most information, but the best experience. If you want to integrate your readers opinions, add in a comment box so they can share their opinions on not only the article at hand but your writing style, etc.
Short and Sweet
Most readers just want a quick overview of the essence of the article. Don’t make them sit there and read paragraph after paragraph because they will become bored and disregard the article completely.
Remember the Competition
If a reader gets to your site, they either typed the URL themselves or they used a search engine for a specific topic and your article came up. Don’t make them guess what they are reading; computer screens are tricky to read from, so you should make your article night and light. They click on your link because they feel as though they might find something useful, if you let them down, they most likely won’t be returning.
Source: Cyber Journalist
Add a comment October 8, 2009
Will you be getting the Swine flu vaccine?
Pretty soon, the H1N1 will have a vaccine and this “swine flu” virus will be one of those viruses forgotten about like the mad cow disease — well hopefully.
With two different types of the vaccine available — a flu shot and a nasal spray — it will provide choices for the general public on what they deem comfortable for them.
The National Institute of Health say that so far, they’ve seen no serious side effects and that all study subjects have generated a good response to the vaccine.
Where to get it:
Check with the family doctor, schools, and local public health departments. As of right now, no list of the locations for the vaccine have been posted but there is a list planning to go on Flu.gov as soon as possible.
Since only six million to seven million doses will be expected in the first week, people may have to search around for it at the beginning or wait it out until there are enough. Within the first year, 75 million doses will be produced.
Who it is recommended for:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the vaccine for high-priority groups due to the fact that they will more than likely have complications if they were to be infected with H1N1. These include pregnant woman, caregivers and household caregivers of children younger than 6 months, everyone between the ages of 6-24 and people ages 25-64 with existing health problems.
Pregnancy and the H1N1:
Pregnant women are recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to get vaccinated for this virus. If a woman is trying to get pregnant, the team of experts that spoke to CNN.com are divided. Some researchers say to wait until a woman is pregnant and others say to get it over with and do it at any convenient date.
“Dr. Peter Palese, a professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City said, “any which way is fine.” It’s up to the person wanting the vaccine.
The National Institute of Health has already vaccinated up to 60 pregnant women as part of a study to see whether the vaccine was safe and effective and there are no reports of serious side effects.
Also, in addition to protecting the pregnant woman, studies show vaccines give immunity to a newborn for at least a few months as antibodies. This is important seeing as how newborns cannot get the vaccine until they are six months old.
While the “swine flu” is not deadly, it should be taken as a serious matter. Any new virus is cause for newer, different viruses to be among the world. While it seems a matter of personal preference on whether or not to receive the vaccine, it’s important for all to consider the option.
Will you be getting the H1N1? vaccine?
(polls)
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/30/h1n1.vaccine.decision/index.html
Add a comment October 3, 2009
Yawning to the Times
In the New York Times, everything is very clean and orderly. It’s a prestigious newspaper; it has to be clean and orderly to keep up its reputation. However, I find their articles to be monotonous and boring. While they attain a very clean arrangement, the articles are very long! And I find them somewhat strenuous to read on the computer screen.
If they subdivided them with subheads, I find their articles will be much more enjoyable — and easier to read. I lost interest well after the first two paragraphs – even though I was engaged in what the story was talking about.
The first article I looked at came from the article I saw first: the top story. It is about United Nations Security Council unanimously passing a resolution aimed at increasing deterrents for withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. I can’t tell you the rest because all I read was: blah, blah, blah.
The other two articles I had read were also of the same form. Mile long articles followed by no subheads and long sentences that made it hard for me to keep interest. The article on the HIV/AIDS vaccine showing interest would interest many people, but if they divided it into different sections or shortened it just a little, I feel readers would have gotten more of out of the story. For the third article, I thought to try an opinion piece, thinking it may have gotten better. I was wrong. Still monotonous.
I feel that if I read these articles without thinking of all the online requirements that make them “better,” I feel I would have enjoyed them a bit more. But…no. Sorry New York Times!
1 comment September 24, 2009
Young Man Shot & Killed on Street Corner
An unidentified young male between the ages of 18 to 25 was shot on the corner of Cherry and Armour Street Thursday night.
According to witnesses, three men were seen arguing prior to the shooting. 911 calls indicate that a fight and a single gunshot were heard; another call says two men were seen running down Armour Street after hearing the shots.
“I heard some carrying on,” witness Joanne Roberts of 92 Cherry St. said, “and men starting yelling real loud. It happened so fast.
“Kids play out there. It’s not safe anymore. This neighborhood ain’t what it used to be. Serial killers, and boys shooting each other in the streets, it’s just so sad.”
The young male was transported via ambulance to the hospital at 6:45 p.m. with a gunshot to the abdomen. He was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m.
HOMOCIDE LIST GETS LONG IN KANSAS CITY
In this year alone, there have been 82 homicides in Kansas City as of Sept. 15, 2009.
In 2008, Terry Blair, 48, was convicted of killing six women along Prospect Ave. in 2004. He now is serving six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Officers responded to reports of shots fired on the same corner of Cherry and Armour St. last August.
SUSPECTS IN CORNER HOMICIDE
According to Detective Phil Smith of Kansas City homicide unit, they are following numerous leads at the moment but they “are not ready to name any suspects.”
They ask the public to come forward with any information they may have about this incident.
1 comment September 17, 2009
A ‘mysterious, frightening, inspiring’ Web
When Jane Ellen Stevens describes the Web as “its own medium with its own characteristics,” I agreed. She also said that the Internet “is not newspapers. It is not TV news. It is not radio.” I also could not agree more.
Her post was enlightening and I learned more about the web from these few pages than I have from any other piece of literature thus far. It may have been her easygoing writing style that enamored me, but the information overall was very useful.
She calls the Web “mysterious, frightening and inspiring,” – which I think are three perfect adjectives for something like the Internet. It’s mysterious because we still haven’t figured out all of its amazing capabilities; it’s frightening because we know there are so many capabilities and it’s inspiring because the sky really is the limit in terms of the Web. We’ve done so much and there is still more to do and still more that can be done.
On the Internet, all stories are multimedia stories. On the Internet, there can be many different approaches taken; article, video, podcast, photo gallery or the story can be a combination of all those things.
Stevens’s advice on advancing an online site is surely helpful. She seems to know what she is talking about in terms of online journalism. She seems very keen on establishing a community network of thinkers, bloggers and setting up neighborhood sites where stories from community members and professional journalists appear together.
Stevens said that this list is just beginning but in my opinion, I don’t think we are every going to reach the limits of the Internet. The limits are infinite.
Source: “Taking the Big Gulp” By: Jane Ellen Stevens
1 comment September 16, 2009
NH Register: better than your average newspaper
Somehow the New Haven Register always ends up like K-Mart while the New York Times gets to be the Macy’s. It’s a bit of an unusual way to look at two newspaper publications but the metaphors are usually on point with how I look at things. One is always the front runner and one is always the under dog.
However, when I looked at the Register’s Web site I was very pleased with how they coagulated their online site.
It is very similar to CNN.com. They use the same colors; red white and blue but to me, it has a more humbler feel. They don’t bombard us with information but they incorporate enough without making the viewer feel cluttered and confused on where to go first.
What I liked about the site was that they showcased a main visual; a picture of the main story, which is usually the first thing we would see when we visit the site. Not only do they offer a picture but below it in bright red font they offer links to: warrents issued, audio slideshows, photos, case history, and multimedia. They put the article and its history right in front of the viewer. I thought this was awesome, for lack of a better word, because I can get the entire scoop on their biggest story without having to browse other sites or continue to other spots on the site to get further information.
Not only do they offer blogs, but they offer breaking news alerts that can be sent to your email, a daily poll (which makes the site user friendly), photo and video galleries and snip its of the top lead stories of the day by the minute. I would recommend this site to someone following local news for it is reliable, relevant and it supports what happens around our community. Who knows, in a few years, the person writing the future stories on this site, might just be sitting next to us in class every Thursday.
1 comment September 16, 2009
13abc.com
In Toledo, Ohio, there is an ABC television affliate called WTVG-TV and from that news channel, their online journalism adventures conspired something called, 13abc.com.
The director of internet services, Deb Weiser, joined 13abc.com because she “wasn’t afraid of technology.” She ran the small Web site pretty much as a one woman show until she spoke up and was able to hire an additional full time staff member to help keep the site currently updated so readers wouldn’t go and browse other sites.
What I found interesting was the struggle it took to keep the site updated and constantly refreshed. We don’t seem to realize the intense pressures people are under so we can get our news at the click of a button.
13abc.com works with a content manager system supplied by Disney (their parent company) which allows for other material to be allowed on the site. This hightens the users experience by exhibiting different works. I found this interesting because it could provide a variety to different people with different interests.
They also incorporate blogs which further allow opinons from various other reporters, who discuss music, travel and additional news footage not seen on WTVG-TV. As an online reader, you are able to get a little bit of everything, which is what we’re all looking for — the last thing we want to do is search from site to site to find different topics and with this site, you don’t have to.
As we read the case study, we find that the news station and the Internet site tend to promote one another — with the Web site promoting upcoming stories and the news anchors referring to viewers to the Web site for additional information.
Weiser says the Web site has increased significantly and its because of the work put into it and because the news business is starting to go in another direction — and it seems internet fans are going to follow where ever it seems to go.
1 comment September 10, 2009
Online Journalism 