Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Blog No. 3
By first glance of the social media landscape, it’s amazing to see that there are so many different platforms to participate in. I remember back in 2006 when I created my first MySpace account and now just five years later, this landscape has grown tremendously. Web sites like Facebook, Twitter, Skype have kept people in touch with others while sites like YouTube, UStreamTV, Blogger and flickr have allowed for free expression. And even the Simpsons found the urge to create an episode dictated to social media. The writers’ firing of the old-school teacher and hiring of a “digitally savvy teacher” shows that they approve of the new wave of technology and think that it should be embraced even in our school systems. I completely agree.
In regards to social media’s effect on the current news media, I agree with Doug Fisher’s opinion on the public’s bias, but not to such a harsh extent. There’s no question the public’s contribution of valuable information and insight add to the debate, but like Fisher said, “it takes work to filter it and evaluate it.” Of that hard work includes cities with hyper-local news bureaus. I agree with Fisher’s notion that it’s over-hyped except in highly populated cities. Finding news may be an obstacle in smaller cities, but I think I would find stories more appealing in bigger cities than in smaller ones. In the end, involvement is key to keep such a movement working in the right direction. Ideally a from-the-ground-up approach is what is desired, but like Fisher said, having the man/woman-power to make it happen is just not there.
Case Study No. 6
Google Alerts is a great tool for those who use it because it’s the easiest filter for reading news that you care to read. It also exposes you to news that you wouldn’t necessarily find browsing the internet on your own. As journalists, this proves to be a useful tool with this week’s example. Former class student Gary Fineout got his hands on a great story that turned into a great read with his Jim Morrison pardon story.
As an aspiring sports journalist, I would use Google Alerts to point me towards not only news concerning the teams I cover, but blogs as well. Everyday bloggers have their respective points of view that could turn into newer angles and potential story ideas I could further report on. Because they’re bloggers, they don’t necessarily have the means to get into the press conferences or locker rooms to ask the questions they have. With those means, I believe it’s a journalist’s duty to have those questions answered because I’m sure there are others out there who have pondered the same thing.
Strat12
NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—Amare Stoudemire’s injury turned into Wilson Chandler’s opportunity—and a satisfying win for the New York Knicks.
Chandler replaced the injured Stoudemire in the lineup and scored 21 points, his first 20-point outing in nearly three weeks, and the Knicks beat the New Jersey Nets 105-95 on Saturday night to avoid falling below .500.
“It was very big for us,” rookie Landry Fields said. “We came into the game knowing Amare wasn’t going to play, so we needed that extra energy. I think Wil put it on himself to be more aggressive tonight and he had a great night.”
Reserve Toney Douglas added 19 points and Fields had 14, making three big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Knicks won for just the second time in six games and improved to 27-26.
Stoudemire missed his first game of the season with a sprained right big toe, but the Knicks overcame their All-Star’s absence by making 16 3-pointers, including Chandler’s that gave them the lead for good with 4:08 left.
Web summary: Amare Stoudemire missed his first game of the season due to a sprained big toe, but the Knicks made 16 3-pointers to beat the Nets 105-95 Saturday night. Wilson Chandler scored 21 points and the Knicks avoided falling below .500.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Derrick Rose’s latest matchup against one of the NBA’s top point guards left the New Orleans Arena crowd gasping at the Chicago star’s array of spinning dribbles, slashing drives and running jump shots.
Rose scored 23 points while holding Western Conference All-Star starter Chris Paul in check, and the Bulls turned a 12-point third-quarter deficit into a 97-88 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday night.
Rose’s dominant performance in New Orleans came one game after he scored 29 points—while matched up against Derron Williams—in the Bulls’ victory in Utah on Wednesday night.
Paul came in averaging 16.5 points and 9.7 assists and had 15 points on 3 of 10 shooting and six assists against the Bulls.
Rose downplayed his role in the victory and said his success against Paul stemmed from the team’s defensive scheme.
“I think I contested all his shots and just tried to make him work for it,” said Rose, who seemed more inclined to discuss the performance of the Bulls’ reserve unit, which contributed 30 points and 20 rebounds.
“They’re the reason why we won this game,” Rose said.
Web summary: Derrick Rose won the point guard battle against Chris Paul as the Bulls topped the Hornets 97-88 Saturday night. Rose, who scored 23 points, gave the credit to the Bulls’ bench, which contributed 30 points and 20 rebounds. Paul had 15 points and six assists for the Hornets who gave up a 12-point lead in the third quarter.
ATLANTA (AP)—Paul Silas kept telling his Charlotte Bobcats to just keep playing, no matter how bad their chances looked against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Bobcats didn’t give up when the Hawks scored 13 straight in the first quarter. They didn’t stop shooting when they missed their first 14 shots of the second period in Atlanta’s 16-0 run, and they
kept playing when they trailed by 22 in the first half and 18 in the third quarter.
The Bobcats’ determination paid off when Stephen Jackson hit a last-second jumper over two Atlanta defenders to give the Bobcats an 88-86 win over the Hawks on Saturday night.
Web summary: Stephan Jackson hit a game-winning shot over two Atlanta defenders to give the Bobcats an 88-86 win over the Hawks Saturday night. The Bobcats trailed by 22 in the first half and 18 in the third quarter but came back due to Atlanta’s 1 for 17 performance from the field in the first 9 minutes of the 4th quarter.
Strat11
The two stories I’m using for assignment #1 were published from The Gainesville Sun over the weekend.
The first is my crystallizing quote featured in the third graph of this story on UF point guard Erving Walker’s game-winning lay-up in Saturday’s game against Tennessee.
"My parents always told me, don't be afraid," Walker said. "You don't got to force it, but don't be afraid to fail. And I'm not afraid to fail. I'm just going to try to do the best I can and put my team in a situation to win."
Walker’s quote emphasizes the pressure all athletes face when in a do-or-die situation. And writer Kevin Brockway did a tremendous job placing this so high in the story.
As for a crystallizing quote that was placed too low in the story, Pat Dooley’s column on UF football coach Will Muschamp Friday.
The column’s intention is to showcase the hard work coach is putting into his new job, but uses the quote, “We’re working through the nights,” in the second graph when “The only negative thing is the time I have to spend away from my family” is much better, but in the eighth paragraph.
Although both quoted are from Muschamp, the second quote means so much more because of what he said. The quote was also placed after a graph explaining Muschamp’s son having to invite a family friend for “Donuts for Dads Day” at school, which added to the quote’s effect.
But most importantly, this quote shows the true sacrifice Muschamp is going through. You can always find more time to sleep, but you can’t make up for lost time away from your family.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Strat32
Tightening up Strat32- 100 words exactly.
Ten police officers will be added to the task force against underage drinking, which raids bars near the university without prior notice.
The force raided three bars during the fall semester and found 17 students with alcohol and fake identification cards, police said. Each student was referred to the university’s judicial affairs department, which is working alongside the police on this effort.
The police said it is impossible to determine which bars will have the most offenders, but they target the busiest bars on a given night. The new additions will make their first raid this month.
Case Study 5: Afghan
Both Afghan poll stories had their pros and cons as they where written from different points of view and presented the facts on different platforms. These differences made deciphering between the two difficult, and compiling them even more of a challenge.
USA Today portrayed the facts in a blatant manner, while getting some input from credible sources on the results of the survey. The story also sides with the Afghan people saying that they are “optimistic about the future, satisfied with their young democracy and rank security low on their list of every day concerns.” The story also established the survey’s credibility in the three paragraphs after the first one.
The Times’ story lacked outside sources but took the data and presented it in a way that was easier for readers to understand. The story is written with what I’ll call “an American point of view” because we so often hear and read about the negative aspects of Afghanistan, and this story is no different. The story states that “Afghans have lost a considerable amount of confidence” and notes the number of people with negative or mixed views on the country’s future has grown since a 2004 survey. The story also established the survey’s credibility after the most important results are presented.
Overall, this exercise shows how easy it is for two different organizations to report a survey. I appreciated the Times’ method of breaking down the results and when it chose to establish the credibility, but I would have preferred it paired with USA Today’s point of view and use of outside voices.
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