My media project for this semester will be to construct a Michigan sports website with Ben and Greg from our ENG 417 class. Using skills obtained during our independent DreamWeaver study, Ben and I will be the primary web-designers, while Greg will focus on writing content.
The website will not necessarily report on what happened during games, but rather will critique, prognosticate, and analyze team match-ups. We'll attempt to break from the conventions of traditional sports-writing, and focus on many strategic aspects of football, baseball, basketball, and hockey.
We will also try to integrate a variety of media platforms into this project, including: video, images, audio, Flash animation, and Javascript. This project will allow Ben, Greg, and I to not only apply basic web-design techniques, but also to practice our sports-writing, which is something that interests all three of us.
During its infancy, our website will focus on the Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, and various college football teams. As we get closer to the winter months, we will include season previews for the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
PressThink Thoughts
There comes a point in any aspiring journalists' college career when they question how major media outlets cover the news. I reached this epiphany long before I first stepped foot on Ferris State's campus. In fact, I now find how the news is covered more interesting than the stories themselves. While I enjoy reliable news outlets, I occasionally find myself watching FoxNews and The Daily Show for the juxtaposition, and a few laughs.
If you're a news junky like me, you've surely notice the recycling of today's news. Maybe Capitol Hills is bogged-down in debate, or another bomb went off in X-stan, but it's usually a story we've read before. Writers often find new angles on the same old stories, but more often than not, they fail miserably. Instead, they strive for objectivity over the truth. This leaves many readers with an idea of each competing faction's stance, but ill-informed on the big picture. Looking beyond, to the causes of a story, seems the logical evolution of the information age and journalism to come.
The April post on PressThink (http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/) analyzes one of the cookie-cutter approaches to news writing that often arises in the current 24-hour news cycle, the "he said/she said" approach. Jay Rosen of PressThink offers great insight on many writers unwillingness to dig for truth on controversial subjects. His examples and analysis of the NY Times' A.I.G. coverage is a must-read. I strongly agreed with Rosen's assessment that prioritizing objectivity over the search for answers is dangerous for the populous, and democracy especially. Rosen believes this straddling of an argument, coupled with lazy fact-checking, has unfortunately become acceptable in many newsrooms.
I've yet to read more than a couple blogs on PressThink, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in the theories behind journalism.
If you're a news junky like me, you've surely notice the recycling of today's news. Maybe Capitol Hills is bogged-down in debate, or another bomb went off in X-stan, but it's usually a story we've read before. Writers often find new angles on the same old stories, but more often than not, they fail miserably. Instead, they strive for objectivity over the truth. This leaves many readers with an idea of each competing faction's stance, but ill-informed on the big picture. Looking beyond, to the causes of a story, seems the logical evolution of the information age and journalism to come.
The April post on PressThink (http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/) analyzes one of the cookie-cutter approaches to news writing that often arises in the current 24-hour news cycle, the "he said/she said" approach. Jay Rosen of PressThink offers great insight on many writers unwillingness to dig for truth on controversial subjects. His examples and analysis of the NY Times' A.I.G. coverage is a must-read. I strongly agreed with Rosen's assessment that prioritizing objectivity over the search for answers is dangerous for the populous, and democracy especially. Rosen believes this straddling of an argument, coupled with lazy fact-checking, has unfortunately become acceptable in many newsrooms.
I've yet to read more than a couple blogs on PressThink, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in the theories behind journalism.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Integration of Print and On-Line Media
As our syllabus states, "Students will integrate writing, editing, broadcast, and computer skills learned in other courses. This course will focus on web page design and its application to professional writing and will give professional writing students the opportunity to publish their work on the World Wide Web."
While many of us enrolled in the class are familiar with traditional document creation, the ascension of the internet has also made online publication vital to professional communicators. Traditional, grass-roots publications will always have a niche in delivering timely local news, but in our international community, web-design and and other computer skills are paramount. Because of our vast experience in writing, editing, and communication, our class is poised to apply the design conventions we've learned to the arena of web-design. To me, the above quote foresees the technological changes that face anyone involved in media.
For my background, this integration of on-line and traditional print skills has already begun. This summer, I began studying Adobe's DreamWeaver software package. While still a novice, I look to expand upon my experience, with the hopes of learning multiple HTML platforms. A focus on HTML would shape the course to my expectations and talents.
While many of us enrolled in the class are familiar with traditional document creation, the ascension of the internet has also made online publication vital to professional communicators. Traditional, grass-roots publications will always have a niche in delivering timely local news, but in our international community, web-design and and other computer skills are paramount. Because of our vast experience in writing, editing, and communication, our class is poised to apply the design conventions we've learned to the arena of web-design. To me, the above quote foresees the technological changes that face anyone involved in media.
For my background, this integration of on-line and traditional print skills has already begun. This summer, I began studying Adobe's DreamWeaver software package. While still a novice, I look to expand upon my experience, with the hopes of learning multiple HTML platforms. A focus on HTML would shape the course to my expectations and talents.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)