This I Believe About Digital Journalism

Journalism has come a long way from daily newspapers, classified ads and the local police blotter. It used to be that if people wanted to hear about the goings on of another town, state or even country, they would hope to know someone living in that area that could report to them the news of that region. Or, let’s say a person with genuinely liberal views lived in a mostly conservative area. It used be extremely difficult, for example, for them to hear the views of a liberal candidate running for an election, because, other than what they heard around the community and what they could possibly get from neighboring communities, it was quite a burden to obtain information that was not readily available from their community. However, the way we news is reported and obtained today is severely different than what it used to be. Gone are the days of waiting for the newspaper to arrive on your doorstep. Gone are the days filled of miscommunication and misinformation. Today, with the vast digital news environment, news of all sorts is readily available and accessible.

This new system of reporting and obtaining news is changing the traditional definition of a journalist. In an age where many, many people have a working computer and even more people have Internet access, it has become so commonplace for an average citizen to report in a blog or on a webpage about something that is happening near their area, making them, to some extent, a journalist. This idea of “citizen journalism” is without question one of the more important aspects of a changing system of news. Without this ability, people would still be somewhat disconnected from each other regardless of the advancement of other technologies. Steve Outing, in his article The 11 Layers of Citizen Journalism, goes so far as to suggest creating websites devoted specifically to user-driven content, allowing a wide range of opinions and a variety of content. While citizen journalism is an important aspect of ever-changing digital journalism, I believe that the evolution of journalism is not about giving normal, every-day citizens the chance to try their hand at news reporting, but rather, giving them the tools to engage in the ultimate discussion.

The vastness of the Internet and the user-friendliness of websites gives anyone the opportunity to engage in something in which they believe. For example, in most cases, when a news article is published online, there is a feature that allows readers to post any comments or concerns they may have with the piece. So, if a person does not agree with what the reporter is saying, than they merely post a comment stating their issues. Then, another person sees that comment, disagrees with it, and posts yet another comment in regards to the previous one. Ultimately, this creates an ongoing discussion that would otherwise not be possible with conventional approaches to journalism. This does not just stop at online publications of newspapers. Blogs have also given individuals the chance to express their opinion without the restraints of a site moderator that could be found on various sites of newspapers. A person is able to create a blog, post their ideas, feelings, views and beliefs and let others read and comment on their work, creating, yet again, an ongoing discussion between people who otherwise would not have been able to interact. There are no editors who decide whether or not to publish said posts, and therefore, all opinions are welcome.

I believe that digital journalism has created the means for the ultimate discussion. With the ability to let individuals from all parts of the world participate and voice their own opinions, and the user-based format of the Internet, there are no more restraints to what can be read, and it is easier than ever for a person to develop their own ideas and voice them freely however they choose.

‘Bowling for Breaks’ raises money for EMU alternative breakers

EMU students and their families banded together to raise money for VISION’s annual Alternative Breaks on Wednesday, Nov 18 at the Ypsi Arbor Bowling Alley.

Alternative Breaks, sponsored by VISION, is an annual event that sends EMU students on spring break trips to various locations and gives them the opportunity to do charity and volunteer work in areas such as urban youth education, disaster relief and animal rights.

“We are trying to raise money to keep our trips on the cheaper side and help pay for our food while we’re on our trip,” said alternative breaker Chelsea Riley, an EMU sophomore.

For 10 dollars at the door, you could rent shoes and enjoy three games of bowling and also be entered to win door prizes and participate in various raffles. All the proceeds from the fundraiser, which was put on by the Alternative Break coordinators, and the raffles went towards Alternative Breaks.

Other than raising money for the event, Riley said that it was a great way to meet fellow breakers and get comfortable with one another. “It was great being able to talk to other alternative breakers because I got to see where they were going on their trip, and I got to meet people who would be going on the same trip that I would be going.”

“I was surprised to see how many people came out for the fundraiser,” said EMU sophomore and alternative breaker Holly Knick. “They place was packed and it was really cool to see that many people who wanted to go on these trips to help people and make a difference.”

VISION will be holding another fundraiser (time is still undecided) to try and raise more money before students jet off on their various trips.



This is a video to show the mission of Alternative Breaks and why it is an important cause.

Students think green with alternative Thanksgiving

Residents of Downing Hall at Eastern Michigan University had a not-so-traditional Thanksgiving dinner Wednesday, Nov 18. Jennie Rokakis, a freshman at EMU, put together an event to give students the chance to explore vegetarian- and vegan-friendly options before going home to a traditional turkey and stuffing dinner.

“I got the idea for an alternative Thanksgiving because last year at my high school, our animal rights club held a similar event that I attended,” said Rokakis. “I thought it would be interesting for people to come and check out other seasonal foods that aren't your traditional turkey and stuffing, but that still taste great and are vegetarian friendly.”

Along with EMU sophomore Rebecca Barton, Rokakis prepared such foods as “Tofurky” sandwiches, vegan squash risotto, vegan banana nut bread, whole berry cranberry sauce, soy milk and ice cream and sweet potato pie. All of the food had to be prepared in the lone oven and small kitchen space of Downing Hall, so Rokakis and Barton had their work cut out for them.

“It took about a month to organize,” said Rokakis. “We had to call EMU Dining Services and make sure we were allowed to have this event in our residence hall and then we had to allocate money at the Leadership Advisory Board meeting. The preparing of the food is what took the longest amount of time, though.”

With all the work that was put into planning and organizing this event, Rokakis said she would consider the alternative Thanksgiving dinner a success. “We had about 15 to 20 people show up, which I felt was a great number. Being a freshman, this was my first event that I had ever organized and I was hoping that the turnout would be good, so I was very pleased with the amount of people that showed up,” Rokakis said.

“Everyone tried the food, and many people were actually surprised by how much they liked some of the vegan and vegetarian foods. We all laughed, had a good time and enjoyed each other's company, and everyone said one thing that they were thankful, which I thought was a really nice idea. I would definitely do this event again.”


Alternative Thanksgiving host Jennie Rokakis





Residents of Downing Hall enjoying their Thanksgiving feast

Expanding

The future of the Web is very bright with endless possibilities for improvement. Sir Timothy Berners-Lee gives three ways the Web will become increasingly relevant in every day life.

First, it will become easier to manage and analyze data. Currently, it takes a lot of work to work with and analyze just one set of data. As opposed to many links that connect one central theme, the Web will become "more like a large database or spreadsheet," making it easier and less time-consuming when doing research or, as previously mentioned, analyzing data.

Second, the Web will become more accessible from different types of networks and different types of devices. Before, the Web was merely accessible on a computer through a dial-up connection. Now, we have WiFi and satellites accessed on a variety of devices such as computers, cell phones, game consoles (PS3, XBox) and iPods and MP3 players. This accessibility will only continue to grow.

Finally, Web applications will become more and more prevalent in every day life. Things such as refrigerators, car stereo systems and telephone docks all with display screens and Internet access. While these things are not so apparent right now, pretty soon they will become the norm in a typical household with WiFi.

Relating this to digital journalism, such availability and vastness will make it easier yet again for journalists to quickly and effectively publish news articles.

Looking toward the future

According to Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, the future of the World Wide Web depends primarily on two things: technological protocols and social conventions. The main difference between these two aspects of the web are that one is the interactions between the actual machines and the other is the interactions between the people using these machines and all of their capabilities (i.e. the Internet). Together, though, they make up what is called Web Science.

Web Science, as stated by Berners-Lee, is "the science and engineering of this massive system for the common good."

So how do these two factors create a technology that can be used for the common good?

From the technological aspect, the need for a protocol is imperative for obvious reasons. Of course, it is important to have computers that are functioning properly with systems such as the web and the Internet that function properly in order for them to be most effective. There is always room for improvement, so it is exciting to think about how far we've come in just a decade, and how far we can go in the coming decades with our ever-growing technological capabilities. In respect to digital journalism, technological protocol is important for providing readers with accurate and well put-together stories. There are always going to be publishing issues, especially when publishing to a virtually brand new medium such as the web -- things like broken links, coding errors or formatting errors. With the refinement of these technological protocols, the digital news environment can thrive and continue to explore new possibilities.

From the social aspect, it's pretty simple. With an every expanding realm of technology, the ability of people to communicate over the web is becoming easier and more efficient. We went from email to instant messaging to picture messaging to iChat and video messaging. However, not only does this idea encompasses the way we communicate through technology, but how we conduct ourselves when doing so. Again, this affects the digital news environment by opening up the possibilities of what is covered in digital news and how the information is presented to readers.

Overall, Web Science is a science worth studying, not only for digital journalists, but for anyone who owns and operates some type of computer on a consistent basis.

Video Editing Assignment- "One Step at a Time"

Check out my video editing assignment!

Pay up

It doesn't take much to see that newspapers are struggling to stay afloat, as are many institutions, in this downturning economy. In their article, The Reconstruction of American Journalism, Leonard Downie Jr. and Michael Shudson discuss just how problematic this is for newspaper circulation and what publishers are trying to do to stay competitive.

One thing that stands out to me about Downie Jr. and Shudson's article is their mentioning of newspapers seeking payment for some of the news they put online. Because of the digital news movement, many newspapers have had to start putting out an online version, and because they are losing readership for their print versions, they need new ways to make money, hence, subscriptions to their online versions. I have already started to see this take effect. Many online versions of newspapers that I have seen, while not outright forcing readers to subscribe for their news, have started charging readers to view their archives. If print news becomes obsolete, I see a few pros and cons with this. While, people do need their news, what's to stop them from simply watching their 5 o'clock local news or news channels like CNN and MSNBC?

Although, Downie Jr. and Shudson do mention that not all newspapers are at risk. Local newspapers are still maintaining some sort of readership because of the stories they cover. It's easy to get global news because everyone is reporting on it. However, with local news, if there is no source of it such as a local newspaper or website, than it is extremely difficult to obtain. For example, my local newspaper, The News Herald, is doing quite well. There is virtually no competition and without it, community members would not be able to get a lot of local information.

The Three Muskateers of digital journalism

Pierre Levy discusses three main components in his view of the changing world of journalism and its transition to the realm of cyberspace: listening, real-time democracy and community.

I don't think I can pick out just one of these aspects as the most important, rather, they all coincide with one another and allow each other to exist. Take for example "listening." According to Levy, listening "expresses problems, assumes a position and formulates arguments based on opinions." A journalist will LISTEN to the problems of the COMMUNITY and, within his or her article, will insight REAL-TIME DEMOCRACY in order to address said problem.

While the listening and community components can exist without the help of cyberspace, real-time democracy is difficult to garner without the use of something as high-speed as the Internet. This is what makes digital journalism unique. With the Internet and such things as BlackBerry's and other phones with WiFi capabilities, the concept of real-time democracy has never been so accurate. A journalist can have an article published, than, if they need to make any updates or changes, they can instantly do that from their phone or computer, keeping up-to-date with the latest happenings regarding that issue.

All in all, while these three components are found somewhat throughout the legacy system, it took a movement like that of digital journalism to really make these things stand out among other aspects of journalism.

Ecology

The ecological model of news goes hand-in-hand with the citizen journalism movement. This model encompasses many of the aspects of digital journalism, such as the Internet, blogging and video, and requires outside participation. The reason this model is so cost-effective is because of the new technologies available. A newspaper can run a story on their online version, and as opposed to running another follow-up story the next day or week, the reporter can just go online and update their previous story. This saves publishing companies big dollars because they do not have to keep posting follow-up stories, rather, they can use that space for other stories, ads and so on.

This model require much participation from readers and outside sources. Blogs are the number one way to do this. A story can link to a blog that goes along with that topic and allow readers to get many sides to an issue.

The ecological model is a product of the digital news environment and is very cost-effective in a time where saving money is everything.

Check this out!

Check out my article in this month's emYOU! The Magazine.

This I Believe About EMU

Listen to my "This I Believe About EMU" essay:

Where do we draw the line?

One of the main concepts emerging from the transition to a digital news environment is the idea of citizen journalism. Citizen journalism, of course, being the members of a community playing a role in the process of, ultimately, spreading news. In his article, The 11 layers of Citizen Journalism, Steve Outing says that "citizen journalism isn't one simple concept that can be applied universally by all news organizations," rather, it is more complex and has many potential variations.

On the whole, citizen journalism is a great concept. Who knows the community better than the residents themselves? Although, there is a responsibility that comes with being a "citizen journalist" and therefore, important to have boundaries for those who decide to contribute to the news. If news organizations that were accepting contributions from citizen contributers simply let those contributions go unedited, there would more than likely be inappropriate or unnecessary content getting published.

Outing's sixth "layer" would be a great way to allow citizens to contribute to the news while still maintaining the journalistic aspect. He suggests creating a news-oriented website where citizens can submit pretty much whatever they want and the site's editor performs modest editing in order to maintain some sort of integrity. It would then be the job of those editors to guide citizen contributers into making submissions worth publishing and educating them about what's useful to the community, eliminating all of the unnecessary "fluff."

With many of these sites aimed at providing news from actual residents of that particular community rather than professional journalists, there are going to be obstacles. This is why it is important for there to be some kind of editor who monitors submissions allowing only for quality contributions.

Making the veg pledge

Let me make a disclaimer: I am not here to try and convert anyone or ruffle any feathers. I am a new-found vegetarian (about 5 months) with a new outlook on life and I feel it's important for me to share some of these ideas I have adopted. That is all.

First, becoming a vegetarian was a sort of spur of the moment decision for me. While in Greece this summer, my sister convinced me to go green after seeing countless butcher shops that we literally could not bring our selves to enter because of what we saw. Now, she is 16 and has been living the veggie life for a little over two years, so that experience only affirmed her beliefs. Me on the other hand, I was semi-oblivious to things of that nature, so it was more shocking than anything. A few days later I thought, what the heck, let's try this out and see how it goes. I couldn't be more happy with my choice.

It's true, health reasons did play a semi-important factor in my decision, but probably the single biggest factor contributing to my new lifestyle is that of animal cruelty. Like I said before, I'm not trying to convert anyone, but I would like to share some facts and information --take them for what they're worth.

A lot of people eat meat or fish, but rarely do they know where it comes from.

Take, for example, chicken:

Did you know that chickens are given so many steroids that their bones, specifically their legs, can no longer support them and they break? Or that their organs simply cannot take it anymore and they quit functioning all together? Talk about cruel.

According to GoVeg, "Animals on today's factory farms have no legal protection from cruelty that would be illegal if it were inflicted on dogs or cats: neglect, mutilation, genetic manipulation, and drug regimens that cause chronic pain, transport through all weather extremes, and gruesome and violent slaughter. Yet farmed animals are no less intelligent or capable of feeling pain than are the dogs or cats we cherish as companions."

Just something to think about.

Also check out Kentucky Fried Cruelty.

My classmates Clifton and Glenn spoke about the pros and cons of being "self-made" or of one day being their own boss. While I do believe that there are benefits to being one's own boss, I agree with Glenn when he says that "we need each other."

As writers, we are always encouraged to make ourselves stand out from the rest with our writing style, or, as mentioned in some of my previous posts, to find our "voice" as journalists. Of course, this is important to us as journalists, however with the hundreds and thousands of writers out there, it is nearly impossible not to blend in at some point in time, making self- publication not impossible, but very difficult.

How are we to distinguish the reputable writers from, let's say, blogger Joe Schmoe? This is where the different agencies come in. Even Brent Cunningham, in his article "How jounalism can regain its relevance," says that journalism is not just a hobby you can pick up or a side job to another career. Not just anyone can write an article, book, etc. and call themselves journalists. We need the agencies to weed out the skill and we should not just rely on someone to "discover" us.

Don't get me wrong, aspirations and goals are extremely important to have, and it is admirable for someone to have such aspirations in a time where it seems that there is little hope for our profession. However, we as journalists need to stick together so that in the future it isn't so extreme to have a goal of being a self-published writer.

Journalism: getting back in the game

Brent Cunningham's article "How Journalism can Regain its Relevance" raises some very important issues regarding the state of modern journalism, or lack thereof.

Cunningham suggests that journalists shift the focus off of "breaking, event-driven news" to more " sustained coverage of ideas and-- crucially --solutions." This couldn't hurt. Yes, I suppose it is important to know each breaking news story occurring in one's community, but if we focus on more pressing issues, we could possibly, according to Cunningham, force an issue of consequence out in the open and onto the national agenda, forcing leaders and politicians to confront these issues head-on and uncover possible solutions.

However, Cunningham suggests that journalists not simply be record-keepers, but to include their ideas and opinions that could very well differ from those of their leaders and superiors. While this is all well and good, this so-called "record-keeping" still holds a valid place in modern journalism. As my classmate Wade Hooks said, it is crucial that readers take on the responsibility of being critical thinkers. The job of the journalist is to provide readers with the facts and let them do with those facts what they will. We are not here to spoon-feed readers the information they want to hear and share with them ideas that we know they will agree with. There is a reason that there is an "editorial" section and not simply a "news and facts" section.

There is one point that Cunningham makes that I could not agree with more: citizen-journalism could never fully replace professional journalism. Journalism is a career, not a hobby. I am a journalist because I am passionate about journalism, I am committed to it and because I do it well. There is no way that I could simply be a reporter as a side job to some other career. Citizen-journalism is relevant, there is no doubt about that, but professional journalism is also, if not more, relevant. It is important to have people out there who are able to gather the facts, then report on them and report on the well.

Sure, anyone can keep a blog or create a Twitter account, but it takes a true journalist to knowledgeably and effectively report the news.

You sue me, I sue you

This is in regard to a post by my classmate, Kathleen Monk, about the state of America "as we know it." In her post, Kathleen talks about many potential things that cause a lawsuit and absurd reasons as to why a person would sue another person.

I have to say, I completely agree with Kathleen. These days, especially with the economy being in the state that it is, people will sue for anything in order to make a quick buck. Take for example the teenagers suing McDonald's for making them fat. Is it not common knowledge that fast food is bad for your health? This is what our society has come to: suing a fast food company because you just simply could not resist their delicious hamburgers and golden french fries. Take some responsibility for your actions, people.

Kathleen says in her post that someone could potentially be sued if they attempt to perform CPR on a person and that person happens to not make it through. Honestly, if someone attempted to save one of my loved one's life by performing CPR, I would be grateful for their kindness and, although it would be unfortunate if my loved one didn't make it, there is no way I could sue someone for trying to save a life -- it just wouldn't be right.

Check out this lawsuit against McDonald's

A good sense of style

I realize that this may be going against the assignment, but I don't really know of anyone whose voice I would want to copy, and therefore I will not be copying a fellow writer's style for this post. Philip Agre says to "Choose someone you identify with and copy their voice -- not their exact words but their style -- until you get comfortable"-- that's just it, until you get comfortable. Personally, I am comfortable with my own voice. As Agre suggests, I laugh at my mistakes, I respond to others' discussions and I come up with alternate ways to say what I need to say. I don't think that it's necessary for me to copy someone else's voice because, although I may be relatively new to the professional writing world, I am comfortable with what I am saying and how I am saying it.

However, I do agree with many of the ideas that Agre suggests in his article "Find Your Voice: Writing for a Webzine." Agre says "Don't wait for your public voice to grow automatically, because it won't. Build it. Consciously choose to start out easy, get comfortable, and ramp up." Blogging is an excellent way to do this. With a blog, you can gradually build your voice with every post; maybe start slow than work your way up to more intricate and in-depth posts about more complicated topics. I can definitely relate this to my own blog. At first, I was hesitant about what to post, however, now I feel more comfortable with blogging and with my voice in my own blog.

When one door closes...

By now, it's clear that the new digital news environment has created opportunities that were otherwise not available to "normal" people. We are able to do things that, with the legacy system of journalism, we could never do before.

In the lecture notes for this week, Dr. Tracy discusses coverage of the London subway bombings of 2005. Survivors of this horrific event took video from their cell phones, and the clips were almost instantly broadcast to audiences around the globe giving them an up close and personal view of the tragic incident while remaining safely in the comfort of their own living room. This does not necessarily make the survivors of the bombings "journalists," however, it does prove just how advanced journalistic practices are becoming.

For now, we still have our regular newspapers, however few there may be left, which are still reporting the daily happenings of local communities and the major events affecting the global community. These newspapers still have reporters who go out and report on the news, editors who still edit the news and publishers who still publish the news -- these practices haven't changed... yet. Despite this, many people still feel that print journalism is dying, and whether that may or may not be true, there are emergent practices that are revolutionizing journalism.

Many of my classmates have discussed YouTube in their posts, and I feel that I must jump on that bandwagon. YouTube, specifically, hasn't revolutionized journalism, but the idea of including video clips in news articles or blogs, becoming an Internet celebrity or posting video coverage of a particularly important event were never even considered until recent years. Now, reporters of online news articles can include video clips to enhance their story or expand on the issue at hand. Many news organizations also use Twitter as a way of reporting before the full story is actually complete. At emyou! The Magazine where I work, we have talked about encouraging writers to create a Twitter account so that we can quickly and conveniently post updates about potential stories, then report on them later. This journalistic practice is completely new and is actually quite beneficial. It allows time for reporters, after posting a quick 140 character or less blurb about a lead, to keep audiences updated while still getting the full and complete story and reporting on it later.

What's important is that newspapers and practices that are still relevant today, with their online versions, are adopting the new technologies giving readers the best of both worlds: those who prefer to read print can still do so, and those who prefer to read online versions with links and video clips can do so.

Huh?

This post is in response to a post by one of my classmates, Wade Hooks, about the general intellect of the American public.

Not only are Americans not being taught about what is important, such as how to save and budget money as Wade mentions, the focus is totally off. Kids in school, even if they were learning the more important things in life, are not focused on the actual learning that could be taking place, but of the grade they will receive when they turn in their assignment. It's not about gaining an understanding of the subjects being taught, it's about memorization, and as soon as that exam passes, most of the information is simply forgotten.

I know that I personally was very concerned about grades in high school, and I would be lying if I said that grades do not bother me anymore now that I am in college, but is that my fault? All throughout our scholastic careers, the concept of "getting good grades" is constantly being hammered into our brains -- good grades equals success, bad grades equals failure. This is not only making learning a chore, but causing more and more Americans to focus on the letter on top of the exam rather than the content of it.

A change of environment

There digital news environment allows journalism to thrive, and there are some key characteristics that make this environment an ideal place to produce and distribute news. The most important characteristics are the unfiltered nature, the many-to-many model, the interconnectedness and the ability of of community members to participate freely.

Ultimately, the most important aspect of the digital news environment that differs from the legacy media system is the community/user-driven aspect. With the legacy system, news and journalism were mainly producer-driven, and there was really no way for the public to contribute to news being distributed to their respective communities. Today, with blogs such as this one, YouTube and sites like Demotix, it is fairly easy to voice your opinion and publish what you feel is newsworthy. Since the many aspects of the digital environment, such as the Internet, are virtually unfiltered, participants are able to say exactly what they want, making it not only a catalyst for free speech, but a way for readers to hear multiple opinions on various issues, not just the opinions of the few people controlling the news which was the case with the legacy system.

I have also posted this video to the class wiki, but I'm including it in this post as well. The co-creator of Wikipedia discusses the positive and negative aspects of the new digital news environment and if the Internet has "killed print journalism."

First class citizen editor

With the growth of the digital news environment allowing just about anyone to become a citizen journalist, the need for an editor, or even just some kind of monitor, would seem more imperative than ever. However, citizen journalism requires something a little different than your average editor in order to be successful.

Rich Gordon of Northwestern University said that the job of a "citizen editor" isn't just to give the readers what they want to read, but to encourage users to interact with each other and "solicit other people to provide information." I have to say, I'm on Gordon's side on this one. In order for citizen journalism to truly work there needs to be participants constantly updating information and encouraging other "citizens" to provide insight to the topics at hand, whatever they may be. The reason why most people have taken to digital journalism is because it is not dictated, for lack of better word, by one or two editors who control the content; It allows anyone with thoughts and opinions to create the news. If there is no citizen editor, than ultimately there is no difference between citizen journalism and plain, old-fashioned reporting. There needs to be that person, or people, who encourages others to get on board and contribute, no matter how small or large their audience.

Demotix is a site that boasts about being the "YouTube for news" in a blog on Telegraph.co.uk. This is a great example of citizen journalism with citizen editors. The site strictly publishes user-generated content and connects journalists and people alike in a place where freedom of speech and expression are greatly encouraged. It is sites like Demotix that thrive in the many-to-many model of journalism that we see today, and allow citizen journalism to reach its potential.

Forgotten about the U.P? I never even knew about it...

A classmate, Clifton, recently blogged about Michiganders forgetting about our own Upper Peninsula after he read an article from NPR. After reading his blog and checking out the article, I realized that I am totally disconnected from my home state's other half.

I have never actually been to the Upper Peninsula. I used to work with a guy who was from somewhere in the U.P. (I don't actually remember the name of the town), and everyone would always joke about how he was not really from Michigan, but from Canada. I think that might be the problem right there. Most people, unless they live there or have relatives or friends there, don't really recognize the U.P. as part of Michigan. Now, usually for my vacations, I like to travel South rather than North, opting for a more "tropical" setting, but after researching a bit about the Upper Peninsula, I would definitely like to check out all that it has to offer. Spring Break anyone?

Just plain, old-fashioned good writing

It's been recently brought up in one of my journalism classes that journalism today is "crap."

Whoa, back up, someone in a journalism class said journalism is "crap"?

Yes, it was my professor to be exact.

Now, let me clarify. He was not necessarily saying all journalism is bad, he was just making a statement to clarify that people going into the journalism profession need to making their writing more "reader-centered."

OK, so what does "reader-centered" mean?

In short, making journalism more reader-centered would be getting rid of all the clichés, keeping all the same style rules but making the stories new for the reader. I mean, how many times have we all been reading a newspaper in say, October, and come across a story about pumpkin carving? It's tired. Yes, people like to carve pumpkins in the fall months, but let's mix it up -- take it to the next level. We don't need to necessarily avoid those kinds of stories, especially since that's what a lot of people like to read about, and the readers are why we're all here in the first place.

There seems to be another problem plaguing journalism today -- the pseudo smart guy. We've all read stories written by these people. They contain hundreds of unnecessary descriptions and details and try to use "big words" to make us believe that they know what they are talking about. A journalist whose name escapes me at the moment said it best when he said that we are always trying to "muddy the waters hoping that someone will mistake us for deep." This isn't what readers want -- to be reading in circles until they get to the end and have no idea what they just read. No, we need to be confident in what we say and how we say it, and trust that people will care enough about what we're saying to read about it.

What we need is to get back to the basics, back to just plain old good writing.

Stolen Sidekick Sob Story

For those of you who have never heard of this story, I'll explain briefly (story can also be found here).

Basically, a woman named Ivanna lost her Sidekick in a NYC taxi cab, then recruited her friend Evan to help her get it back. Evan, in turn, created a media uproar of epic proportions about the lost cell phone, which was recovered by a 16-year-old girl named Sasha. Sasha refused to return the phone and even resorted to threatening Evan if he tried to get it back. Eventually, Sasha arrested for theft and the Sidekick was returned to its rightful owner, Ivanna.

So, if your head's done spinning, let's get back to right now. How did Evan manage to garner such an enormous amount of support for the return of his friend's overly priced cell phone? Well, first of all, who doesn't like to root for the good guy against the bad guy? But more than that, Evan was able to use technology to his advantage. Over a course of ten days, he posted many, many updates to his webpage, keeping his followers in the know of his ongoing quest for Ivanna's phone. It was easy for people to get involved with this because they were constantly being updated; They didn't have to wait around for more info till they lost interest. Also, these media outlets are more interactive, so people are allowed to post comments and talk to one another, making them feel that they are all on the same "team."

Truthfully, I don't think what Evan did was very ethical. He got millions of people against this one teenage girl, who clearly did not have the same means to fight back. Now, I'm not saying that I agree with stealing, and personally, I would have returned the phone to Ivanna, however, the cell phone provider was able to transfer all of the information from Ivanna's old phone to her new one, so why push the issue? Sasha was definitely not given a fair fight in this one, and I would almost go as far as to say that Evan took advantage of that.

Oh well -- you win some, you lose some. Better luck with your next stolen phone, Sasha.

The future of newspapers

After reading the article by Dr. Tracy and navigating through AnnArbor.com , it is clear that the site, aimed at providing info for people living in and around the Ann Arbor community, is a pretty good example of a hybrid form of news. What stood out the most was the "concept of the newspaper as the community's electronic publishing hub." AnnArbor.com is geared toward a specific community and is set up in a way that looks like blog posts rather than a newspaper, which, although I personally do not prefer as informal of a look, makes the site more accessible and reader-friendly. The News Herald, a newspaper covering the Downriver community, is, in my opinion, a better example of a hybrid source of news. It is a little more organized and has many more graphics.

What's most exciting about online news sources is the ability to contain links within the stories. Without having to go far in-depth, a reporter is able to simply place a link in there story and allow the reader to delve deeper into the topic if they choose. AnnArbor.com does do a great job of placing links within their stories. I was able to get a lot more information out of their stories than I would have been able to had it been in print. Overall, AnnArbor.com does a great job of providing reader-friendly news to the community it's covering and is a good example of the future of newspapers.

Talk about "Heartless"

I can't help but put my feelings out there, along with everyone else's, about the incident at the VMAs on Suday. When one of my coworkers told me one day that he read an interview with Kanye West, and that when asked "What is your biggest regret in life?", Kanye responded with "...not being able to see myself perform live", I wasn't too surprised; I've always really known that Kanye West was arrogant. However, his antics on Sunday just took him to a new level. I mean, what gives you the right to humiliate a young girl like that in front of millions of people. I could only imagine the lashing Kanye would give someone if they even dared to take a moment like that away from him. I just found the whole really sad and classless. Kanye, what you need is a very large piece of humble pie.

New in town...

So, being new to the whole world of blogging, I guess I'll just keep it simple for my first entry. I'm really not sure on how to go about doing this considering I never really kept a journal or diary of any kind my whole life... that's what these things are all about right? A means for us to post our thoughts, opinions, rants, ramblings and musings - only this time it's public. This time we're hoping someone will be interested enough to care about what we have to say as opposed to hiding our diary under our bed or in our sock drawer. So here it is - the world according to me...