interesting lead and bullets
i read the story “UMKC students win $15,000 ‘launch package’ to market inflatable party boat” by Mará Rose Williams from the Kansas City Star. She began the story with an interesting lead. it involves delayed identification but also is not a typical news lead. it adds interest to the story by bringing in humor as well as the college experience–one that many identity with. Williams then described the organization that awards the money and the purpose of it, before giving the names of the winners. she was, therefore, focusing on the “what” and the “why,” rather than the who (which i believe is appropriate in this case).
Williams also uses bullets towards the end of the story. i think they are effective because they add details that are not included in the bulk of the story. i would not have thought to wonder about the other winners, but the bullets leave me feeling satisfied with my knowledge of the situation.
the story: http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1247351.html
interesting lead
in the story i read today, the lead was not a typical news lead. in an article about Kansas City’s effort to recall its mayor Mark Funkhouser, reporter Michael Mansur began the story by listing numbers: “20,811, 20,962, 20,070.” these numbers alone create an interesting start to the story. when read after the headline “Three different signature numbers suggested on Funkhouser recall effort,” a reader is immediately drawn into the story. this is partly because of proximity, impact, prominence, and even a bit of conflict (because of competing numbers) that show up throughout the story. but i think the main draw of this story is the novelty. mansur plays on this by including quotations and facts that point out the craziness. it is, in reality, a serious situation that seems to have turned into a kind of comedy.
the article: http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1243645.html
joe biden is coming to my house!
maybe an exaggeration. but Brad Cooper’s piece “Biden will be in Overland Park for U.S. 69 ground-breaking Thursday” in the Kansas City Star reveals that the vice president will be visiting my hometown for a groundbreaking ceremony for highway construction that will directly affect my driving habits…the routes i take daily will be changed. (terrible news)
this clearly points to the importance of proximity. and while biden’s visit may not have a direct impact, the other vital information in the story certainly has impact on people in kansas city.
the story has a definite inverted pyramid style and uses short paragraphs that focus on certain topics. cooper manages to put tons of information into just eight sentences.
here is the link: http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1243066.html
following the kc star
i have decided to follow writers for the Kansas City Star to analyze their writing styles. i will try to read primarily J. Brady McCollough, but if this doesn’t work out, i’ll just watch the star.
today i read his profile of Don “Red Dog” Gardner, a long-time fitness pro who has changed the landscape of exercise in Lawrence, Kansas. briefly, i noticed McCollough began with an anecdote, outlined his life, and told of his business. the story includes many interesting facts about Gardner and his experiences, as well as heartfelt quotations from his friends and acquaintances. this creates emotions within the story and strong interest in his battle with cancer. conflict and proximity are also involved.
here is the link:
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1238955.html
caught in the world wide web…
for my final post for this class, i should probably talk about the final project: the total website. you can visit mine at https://people.creighton.edu/~sjg30403/. it’s pretty decent; i am especially proud of the headshots. but the point of this final step was coordinating all of our projects throughout the semester into one coherent website. now i never thought websites could be easy to create, and this component only reinforces that. Dreamweaver is one of the most complex programs i have used, and i know we did not even touch on half of what the program has to offer. and what we did was plenty complicated. i did learn a lot though. i’m sure i’ll have visions of divs and property inspectors dancing in my head over break (had to include a christmas reference…).
this did inspire me, though, to learn more about how to create fantastic-looking websites. as an example, i’ll write about my cousin-in-law Greg again. http://www.gregoryng.com/cant_stop_creating/index.html is his primary website and takes you to any of his other sites if you so choose. i love Greg’s website mainly because of how attractive it is. the colors are not overbearing, and the background makes the text stand out. it looks like a legitimate website, and you know you can take Greg seriously. yet the pictures of his face in the background reflect his goofy personality. the site is well-organized, and i think that the horizontal scroll (as opposed to a vertical one) adds interest to the site.
now, Greg is the most creative person i know, and i am very aware that i will most likely never reach his level of website-creation (he wins awards and stuff. i’m not lying), his sites do inspire me to be more creative with my own. i can strive to make my websites look more visually appealing, as his do. i guess it just takes practice. of course 
videos…?
Getting my video finished has definitely been the most difficult part of this class. sure, it didn’t help that i missed two classes during which we worked on videos (out of town, legit reasons, i promise…), but videos are much harder than they look. in addition to the creative factor–coming up with visual and audio ideas that are original and aesthetically appealing–you also have to be a perfectionist. timing sound to correspond to clips, adding text and timing and matching it well, as well as adding in appropriate effects and transitions…and all this by a deadline. i understand that that’s what the “real world” is like, but it makes it quite a bit more difficult.
but, regardless of how imperfect i think my video looks, i still am extremely proud of it. (https://people.creighton.edu/~sjg30403/tickets.html) it is the most complex thing i have put together before and it was something i really wasn’t used to. the mere fact that i finished it and that it isn’t absolutely hideous makes me feel like i accomplished something–no matter how much more work i need.
i’ve realized, though, that the type of video we created is only one kind out there. while tons of videos are, obviously, professionally put together, there are also tons that are nowhere near professional, yet are still educational and/or informative. take my cousin’s husband Greg. Greg runs several websites, some professional, some not at all. one of his most recent endeavors is a video blog that “reviews” frozen dinners. it is called Freezer Burns (check it out at http://www.freezerburns.com/wordpress/ -it is quite entertaining). and while the videos he posts do not look professional, besides the opening shots of the title and episode name, the videos are somewhat effective (if rather long). i learned a lot about, say, a Bertolli meal and laughed while doing it. this, i think, also works as an effective video.
so i guess it depends on the circumstances. both professional and fun videos are equally deserving of merit.
blast from the past with indesign
in high school i took a class (to fulfill my computer requirement, of course) called desktop publishing. the primary program we used in this class was Adobe InDesign. we made fliers, posters, a cd cover (Frank Sinatra, of course) and a travel brochure, among other things. i never thought that i would have to use the program again, but figured it was cool just knowing how to create some pretty fun (if i do say so myself) designs. as it turned out, i ended up using InDesign to create a magazine for a creative writing class that i took the next semester. i then did not use the program for about 3 years. when i found out we’d be using InDesign in class, i had mixed feelings. i was excited, of course, and felt lucky that i had used it before. but i was also secretly praying that i hadn’t forgotten everything i had learned in that high school class.
so i didn’t forget everything, but i definitely learned a lot more than i knew. maintaining links, color modes, and gradients were completely new–and, i’ve realized, completely necessary. luckily, my latest encounter with InDesign only made me appreciate and enjoy the program more, rather than discouraging me due to poor memory. because it’s kind of a vital thing to know how to use…particularly in journalism today.
this entry on Eclectic Mind is a Beautiful Thing points to the importance of being well-rounded when in comes to journalism: http://electicmindbeautiful.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/more-and-more-students-choosing-journalism-as-a-major-even-as-newspapers-face-troubles/. there are many, many people majoring in journalism, and if i want to be a competitive job-seeker (is that a real term?), i need to have as many skills as possible. knowledge of InDesign will certainly help me with this.
photoshop
i think photoshop has somewhat of a bad connotation. when i think of the word “photoshop,” i think of its use as a verb, as in “the picture has been completely photoshopped.” it insinuates that a picture has been altered to look better. but not just any picture-usually the picture of a person that looks too good to be true, through perfect skin, a perfect body, etc. photoshop helps magazines and other media create the false images that we admire and strive to achieve.
but after i started using photoshop, i was amazed at the many incredible things it can do. it’s more than just cutting pictures out and pasting them in new ones, and more than painting over blemishes. you can enhance color, add fun effects, and make pictures more visually appealing. while photoshop can be used in bad ways, it also can create art. or, at least, pictures worth talking about.
for example, i found this website called worth1000.com that features photoshop contests. most of the photography is obviously altered, but the pictures are nevertheless amazing…
it’s definitely worth checking out. if only to take away a smidgen of stigma surrounding photoshop.
website likes and dislikes
So for my first journalism class I have to blog about my experiences in the class. But as we’ve only had one class, I have very little to comment on. Hmmm…I do love that we use Macs. I’ve been using one for over a year now and whenever I have to use my family’s PC…bad news. I get quite confused and turned around. Beyond that, however, I’m not quite sure how the class will go.
For the first assignment, though, I must include one website I like and one I do not like. Well, my choices may be a bit unoriginal or too easy to think of, but I use them all the time and so have the best exposure to them.
We’ll go with the negative first and then end on a high note. I really cannot stand http://www.imdb.com/. It is essentially a website that provides information about Hollywood. Yes, it is quite useful; I visit the site at least once a week to look up various films, actors, directors, etc. I find imdb.com to be extremely helpful and knowledgeable. But I hate the design. I think, given the creative background of the content, the site should be a bit more visually appealing. Perhaps add some color and simplify the content; there is really just too much to look at. I find myself avoiding the home page of the site as much as possible so that I do not get a headache from all of the excess links. It needs to be better organized.
The site I love, on the other hand, is www.google.com. Not only is it horribly useful and easy to navigate, it is also easy on the eyes and very simple. For the function-to easily link users to other sites-the simple layout and colors work perfectly. I really have nothing else to describe it; I love Google.
Ok. Until next time, have a lovely day!
