Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Blog 5: What does your news say about you?

Due Date: Sunday, April 17
Word Count:  500
Links: At least 2






You've spent the last 10 days being exposed to news that comes from sources you don't typically consult. You've hopefully learned something or evolved in your way of thinking about news in general.

When you think back on your experience, what conclusions can you come to about;

  • The purpose or biases of your news source,

  • The point of news,

  • The importance of news,

  • Your attitudes toward news,

  • Whether you'd keep looking for news,

  • Where people should look for news,

  • or anything else.

After reviewing your reactions to the news over the past 10 days, what meaningful conclusions can you come to about your source and about the role of journalism in society? Here are some potential questions that could get you thinking about news as it could relate to your source.

  • Why does news matter?
  • Why is news so depressing?
  • How much do you think following a specific news source affects a person's world view or perceptions of the world?
  • Why is “cute cats” news?
  • How much of news is entertainment? How much of your source's content has been entertainment?
  • Who defines "news" for your source?
  • Are you better off if you’re up to date on news?
  • Are you worse off following the news closely?
  • Why are there so many places to get news, why not narrow it down to five?
  • Does anything change when you’re looking at news?
  • How does news make you feel?
  • How does it benefit you?
  • How can you make others better through your knowledge?
  • Why do we get so interested in things that are none of our business?

Monday, April 4, 2016

Blog #4: A Good Story

Due: Friday, April 8
No minimum word count. 
No required links

Your task this week is to create something totally unique. You don’t have to link anything, find any outside sources, or process. Your job is simple, but it’s the most consistently challenging task for great journalists.

Go out and find a person with a story to tell and get a story from them. Pass that story along on your blog in the form of an extended quote. Challenge yourself to keep your post to only the quote and descriptions of their speaking.

You’re not allowed to do email/messenger reporting. Online video and audio reporting is acceptable. This should be a quote you get as a result of a conversation.  Think about relatives, teachers, siblings, bosses, or just interesting people who will let you talk to them. You do not need to put the person’s name in your post if they aren't comfortable with you using it.

The story could be sad, funny, nostalgic, powerful, or mundane. The most important thing is that you’re finding it and getting it down to share. Use your best judgment about what is appropriate to publish online and protect the identity of your source if the story is sensitive.

I can’t wait to read what you guys come up with.

If you want an example of people getting stories from people who they care about, listen to these excellent examples on StoryCorps.

If you want to know what StoryCorps is, check this out. There's also a great NPR story/audio about it.

If you would like to do your update as an audio file or video file, go ahead. I can help if you need it.