This is where I will place my blog assignments for the Online Journalism course.
February 3, 2009/ Chapter 3 Blog Assignment: The University Union/ #1
The time is close to 12 noon on a Monday and dozens of students are rushing to the University Union between classes to grab a bite to eat or engage in conversation amongst their peers. There are several different ethnic backgrounds and cultures showcasing their own personal style and flair for fashion essentials. The lines in the food court are jam-packed and the Campus Chat is nearly overflowing with tons of people; it is nearly hard to find a seat in all the chaos. There aren’t any activities going on in the One c’clock lounge, which is astonishing because that is the hot spot for afternoon events on campus. Someone is playing music on the piano and several people are crowded around him as he serenades them. The brick walkway is covered with footprints and laptops are scattered amongst the green seats of the lounge area. There is not much walking room accept for a passageway behind the bell located near the staircase. Different organizations also have tables setup to publicize themselves to the student body, in response to recruit members for the upcoming Spring semester. There are also people in the Syndicate playing pool and lounging around in the rest areas. It is just an overall relaxing environment for the students of the University of North Texas to be surrounded by.
The type of interactive elements that would really bring this story to life would be digital video transported to an online slideshow. Online interviews of students discussing the “hot spot” between classes would be an additional feature. A University Union blog can also be incorporated to showcase upcoming events happening in the vicinity. The different organizations could partake in the blog as well and this would help them recruit more members since most of the students were on the internet to begin with.
February 10, 2009/ TV and Newspaper Website Critiques/ #2
Among the two newspaper websites analyzed, it was New York Times and USA Today. Both websites were voted as top 10 best websites in 2008, so there had to be something about them beyond the hype they both were receiving on the internet. New York Times exuded great content, making it easy to read and nice to follow. Although clunky in sections that could have been more spaced out, it still caught the reader’s attention with its condensed stories and multimedia interactive elements, such as flash slideshows, commercial advertisement, and visual scrapbooks.
The USA today newspaper was a favorite amongst the newspaper websites viewed. It had just enough color that was not too overwhelming, and it was even easier to follow with the simple navigation system. The attention to detail on this website was great. The content was exactly in the right places making it easily accessible to readers. It was not clunky at all, which came to a surprise from the original paper copy newspaper that uses bold colors and big color images to grab its reader’s attention.
The two television websites analyzed were ABC News and CBS News. Both of the websites exuded bold colors that stood out amongst their counterparts, and interactive elements were exhausted to the limits for this particular medium. CBS News was among the two the most basic in content. It used a lot of thumbnail images and video for many of their top news and feature stories. That was quite interesting for the sake of the reader to have to click on a little thumbnail to get to the most important news of the day. Something that CBS had that ABC did not was links at the top of the page to CBS’ programming.
ABC News was a favorite in this instance. The top news was arranged at the top with the slug line and an evolving slideshow that showcased important top news after the other. Impressively done and the colors were so bold they nearly engulfed the reader into the site with its deep reds and blacks. ABC News also made use of the thumbnails, but it was for different sequences of the broadcast, and it was much more tastefully done for the reader to easily navigate through. The use of videos and slideshows were once again abundant and accessibility was done in the manner specifically for the reader.
February 12, 2009/ News Blog Critique/ #3
The site analyzed for stories written with personal blogs were taken from the WFAA Channel 8 website. I read an old news blog from John McCaa about the coach who was fired for winning a 100-0 victory in late January of this year. The fine line between blogging and ethical issues is surely crossed when sepaking out about an issue that you find a bit personal. Although McCaa did an exceptional job at accrediting his blog (and he is known for honesty and loyalty to his viewers), the blog was not so much analyzed on the basis of ethical standards rather than newsgathering. He did include quite a bit of opinion in this particular blog, and it was clear he was rooting for the fired coach, but viewers will see this and side with him rather than go against him. Also, based on my analysis, the blog was written in conjunction with the story to allow more newsgathering on this then top news story.
The interactive elements of the blog were exeptional. From the standard type-written blogs, the WFAA News team decided to spice it up a little bit and include video blogs instead. It was an easy and enjoyable watch, and it is truly preferred over those that are written in reference to time that a viewer will be on a website clicking through search browsers to check out the different links to other blogs. Almost every single blog was done this way and it either matched up to a particular headline story or it was the reporter’s own personal blog. Whatever the case, it was done in the most efficient way for those readers who do not necessarily have the time to scope out every blog and are looking for a quick read.
Hometown Website Assignment/ Exercise #2/ February 17, 2009
Interaction and Involvement: The basic act of clicking icons or links to navigate through the news website was not a problem. The Acadiana’s Local News team (KLFY TV 10) website made it easy through navigate through the entire site with their easy scroll-over icons and highlighted bold colors, so that everything was very visible to the viewer reading the content. There was no video found for any of the top stories that could help give a more in-depth look into the stories. I was also surprised to only witness one blog for the entire site, and it was for the weather. The weather is a big deal in Louisiana, so it is no surprise that it is most important and easily accessible on this particular news website. There were maps for the weather and they were very detailed for the most part. Another interactive element was the Black History Month timeline. It was updated for each day of February and it showcased someone who left an impact in some way. It was not much of a slideshow, but more of clickable links that gave you more information on the particular person or event.
Immediacy: The stories in which were the most important were definitely posted in a timely fashion. The top stories most likely made it to the internet before it was aired during the television news time. The featured stories, on the other hand, were not so quick to be updated, but it would not be too long before the post was up and updated as well; at least before it aired on television , or maybe during the airing. I would not know because I do not get the station on my cable provider.
Integration: There was not a whole lot of integrating from the evening news to the internet because there were no video pieces streaming the website. The use of streaming video could have definitely taken this site to another level in media integration for the modern news website. One thing that the website did do was within-media integration. The stories were told on the news and then combined with the online reports of the story.
In-Depth Opportunities: There was also not a whole lot of in-depth opportunities besides the advertisements that had clickable links for them. There were a couple of streaming videos for different news topics, but that was about it.
February 24, 2009 News Story Assignment
Women and Binge Drinking: Women Empowerment or Distasteful Confusion?
Britney Darnell reports the rise of binge drinking for women and why they feel so strongly about it.
Cocktail party! It is Saturday night and you and the girls are chilling out on the sofa and getting caught up with the latest campus gossip. The girls begin talking about that frat party you attended last weekend. Yeah, the one you were super wasted at, remember? Or do you? You can’t remember a thing. Your disheveled look says it all! Everyone laughs and starts drinking some more. You laugh it off, but you know it bothers you. And it should. Results show that binge drinking among women was linked to unsafe sexual practices, such as multiple sex partners, sexually transmitted diseases, rape and even unplanned pregnancies. I bet you wish you could remember now, don’t you?
Many college students drink with one goal in mind―to get drunk! Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks in a row for men and four or more in a row for women. Among those women who partake in binge drinking suffered from alcohol poisoning in need of stomach pumping and others have endured fractured bones after drunken plunges. Why go through such physical agony? Many young women say it makes them feel empowered. Junior communication studies major Kiera Wade of the University of North Texas in Denton, TX disagrees.
“When people do things to show they can impress other people, it shows low self-esteem,” Wade says. “I think that’s foolish to impress a guy by showing that you can hang with them.”
Throughout the 90’s and midway through the 2000’s, fraternity boys were among the elite for partaking in binge drinking festivities. In recent years, women have nearly exceeded this growing trend. Respiratory Therapist Pashine Broussard, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Lafayette, La. says the numbers are equal nowadays between young men and women who binge drink.
“There are just as many young women who binge drink as there are young men,“ Broussard says. “The party scene of college campuses plays a major role.”
The process in which alcohol poison victims undergo is almost identical to a drug victim. When the stomach is pumped, it’s like pumping pills out of the system of an overdose victim. If problems increase, the liver and kidneys will suffer and the binge drinking victim could end up on dialysis.
Alcohol poisoning is only a minor encounter that young women indulge in―unsafe sexual practices tops the chart. Wade says drinking impairs the body and makes it easily accessible as well.
“When you drink you don’t feel as in control of your body and you are looser and do things you do not normally do,” Wade says. “They pay the consequences the next morning.”
According to recent statistics taken from the Journal of American College Health, there has been a tremendous increase in “unplanned” sexual activities, such as date rape and sexual assault. Alcohol completely takes you out of your element and bestows upon you the disability of memory loss. And with this disability, major consequences follow. Recent study has also released an increase in abortions due to drunken nights and unprepared parenting roles. This serious matter continues to be a hot topic because women are the most affected from binge drinking.
Although these taunting statistics are dramatic on instance, there are still those students who would just rather say “no” to drinking altogether.
“It is a personal choice for me not to drink. I have always been taught not to do so,” Wade says.
Wade states that the horrific advertisement of alcohol-related fatalities and viewing what others have gone through in situations where they were drunk, made it easier for her not to give into temptation.
“There are other ways to have fun and not get drunk, and that is just the way I like it,” Wade says.
In all reality, we are college students and drinking will happen regardless of what the most scientific medical expert says. Keep in mind your surroundings, environment, and your limits. Only you can be the judge of that.
March 3, 2009/ Crowdsourcing Exercise
