Sunday, May 3, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Misteaks
1. The consultant was given $125,000 on Feb. 7, 1980 in Austin, Texas.
2. The temperature fell to minus 14 degrees after a blizzard struck Denver, Colo. in December 1982.
2. The temperature fell to minus 14 degrees after a blizzard struck Denver, Colo. in December 1982.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Fox News conservative with its coverage
The first thing that I noticed at the MSNBC site is the design of the page. The top looks similar to the flag of the front page of a newspaper. When I think of historic events such as this, I think of the headlines and the front page of copy that gets shown on television. It seems to me that the editor recognized the historical significance of today's events and wanted his page to reflect that.
When I clicked on the lead story, I noticed another thing out of the ordinary. The lede contains a quote. Using a quote in the first sentence is something that I've been told to shy away from. In this case, however, the quote is an excerpt from one of President Barack Obama's poignant speeches. It seems as though the history of this occasion was not lost on the writer either.
In viewing the Fox News site, I was surprised to learn that personal politics can play such a role in news coverage. The site seems to give as much significance to Senator Ted Kennedy's recent health issues and barely makes reference, in its side stories, to Obama swearing in today as the 44th President of the United States, the first of which being of African-American heritage.
It does feature a story on Michelle Obama's fashion sense. Everyone looks to Fox News for fashion tips, right?
Perhaps, the editor was not considering his own politics when deciding which stories to cover today. Maybe he was considering his audience but it seems to me that this event was worthy of better coverage.
When I clicked on the lead story, I noticed another thing out of the ordinary. The lede contains a quote. Using a quote in the first sentence is something that I've been told to shy away from. In this case, however, the quote is an excerpt from one of President Barack Obama's poignant speeches. It seems as though the history of this occasion was not lost on the writer either.
In viewing the Fox News site, I was surprised to learn that personal politics can play such a role in news coverage. The site seems to give as much significance to Senator Ted Kennedy's recent health issues and barely makes reference, in its side stories, to Obama swearing in today as the 44th President of the United States, the first of which being of African-American heritage.
It does feature a story on Michelle Obama's fashion sense. Everyone looks to Fox News for fashion tips, right?
Perhaps, the editor was not considering his own politics when deciding which stories to cover today. Maybe he was considering his audience but it seems to me that this event was worthy of better coverage.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Print is dying but journalism will live on - right?
For richer or poorer, this is the career path that I'm engaged to. I'd like to think that it's going to be all right and there will be a job waiting for me when I graduate. I thought that because I fancied myself as a skilled writer, but we're all good writers. I assume that's why we've chosen this path.
This first two chapters of “The Art of Editing” were somewhat of a review for me. The idea that today's journalism school student needs to have a wider range of skill sets is, sadly, old news to me. At least I'm learning this now and not after I've graduated. I have a little time to sharpen some of my duller skills.
I feel that given an appropriate word budget, I can capture the essence of the event that I was assigned. I try to make my story easy to read and this doesn't give me much difficulty. However, after I've written the story, I have to spend another 30 minutes trying to come up with catchy title that Jordan is going to axe for a better one that took him two minutes to create. I'm a hard one to frustrate, though. I keep trying. I get some strange satisfaction when Jordan says, “I liked it, but it's probably a little inappropriate.”
This class will, no doubt, sharpen my headline writing skill. I'd also like to be able to edit on-the-fly or in my mind before writing, like we discussed in class. The thought of being able to write 12 inches of copy in an hour seems like science fiction to me at this point.
This first two chapters of “The Art of Editing” were somewhat of a review for me. The idea that today's journalism school student needs to have a wider range of skill sets is, sadly, old news to me. At least I'm learning this now and not after I've graduated. I have a little time to sharpen some of my duller skills.
I feel that given an appropriate word budget, I can capture the essence of the event that I was assigned. I try to make my story easy to read and this doesn't give me much difficulty. However, after I've written the story, I have to spend another 30 minutes trying to come up with catchy title that Jordan is going to axe for a better one that took him two minutes to create. I'm a hard one to frustrate, though. I keep trying. I get some strange satisfaction when Jordan says, “I liked it, but it's probably a little inappropriate.”
This class will, no doubt, sharpen my headline writing skill. I'd also like to be able to edit on-the-fly or in my mind before writing, like we discussed in class. The thought of being able to write 12 inches of copy in an hour seems like science fiction to me at this point.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
JRN 375: meet a fellow UM-Flint student
My name is David Veenhuis and I know nothing about news editing. I do feel that I write using proper grammar and I try my best to adhere to Associated Press style, so maybe I know more than nothing. However, I've never edited anyone's work other than my own and I'm looking to get a lot out of this course. Also, as far as convergent journalism is concerned, I have little experience other than writing stories and taking pictures. Keeping a blog for an entire semester will be good experience and, hopefully, a lot of fun.
I write for The Michigan Times, where I've worked for more than a year. I started out covering sports and was even given my own column shortly after joining the staff. One year later, and I'm still doing both and I love it. Somehow, I haven't been fired over one of my columns yet.
My favorite weeks are when I am lucky enough to cover an entertaining sports story, recent events provide interesting fodder for my column and I am able to cover a hard news story. It's also important for me to expand my skill sets and they seem new to me, so I have fun with the hard news stories. Ultimately, I am a sports guy at heart and I wouldn't want to abandon my current post.
I have a light schedule this semester as I am starting to see the finish line. I expect to have a lot of energy for each of my assignments, whether it be this class or for the M-Times. That is, of course, if I can get over this holiday hangover.
I write for The Michigan Times, where I've worked for more than a year. I started out covering sports and was even given my own column shortly after joining the staff. One year later, and I'm still doing both and I love it. Somehow, I haven't been fired over one of my columns yet.
My favorite weeks are when I am lucky enough to cover an entertaining sports story, recent events provide interesting fodder for my column and I am able to cover a hard news story. It's also important for me to expand my skill sets and they seem new to me, so I have fun with the hard news stories. Ultimately, I am a sports guy at heart and I wouldn't want to abandon my current post.
I have a light schedule this semester as I am starting to see the finish line. I expect to have a lot of energy for each of my assignments, whether it be this class or for the M-Times. That is, of course, if I can get over this holiday hangover.
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