My quarter in a Nutshell

El Numero Uno, the Grand Poobah, the Secret to Success of Journalism that I learned? 

It takes a ton of work and time!!!!

I knew that journalism hinged on reliability and consistency, as well as a level of immediacy. What I wasn't fully cognizant of was the amount of time and work that must be spent on even the smallest of blog posts. The effort it takes to maintain the necessary reliability is incredible. One wrong stat or fact could cause weeks of re-earning reliability and trust of readers. Of course the writing must be entertaining and make people want to read it, but a wiz with words is nothing without his readers trust. So the main thing I take away from this class as it pertains to journalism in itself is a new found admiration for what journalist must do. It is a young man's game or at least a bachelor's game if you ask me.

As for the class in general, I have learned quite a few things that I will take away. I do quite enjoy journalism and if this was about 10 years ago I could most definitely see myself developing a passion for it. I gained a new love for Mac's. Well love may be too strong, I do love iMovie and what I can do through that, as for the Mac as a whole, it is still secondary to PC but with its inclusion of a right click, it was won over a small part of my heart. I do so love iMovie tho and will continue to use that in many areas of my life, as a matter of fact, I have already used it to make the invitations for our Baby Shower!

I have learned that my views on that dirty word "Ethics" still push the edge and my desire for an actual definition of it continues to go unfulfilled. Other than of course, it meaning whatever the masses at the time say it means. I have learned about framing photographs and looking at the world through slightly different lenses. I have began looking at news stories differently and looking for things I never looked at, such as sources or how reliable the author is.

Overall I enjoyed this class immensely and feel I have developed many new skills and views. I do feel its definitely a class directed in a far left journalistic direction but with the books being heavily influenced by NPR and MSNBC that can only be expected. There will always be two sides to every story, a great thing I take from this class is to look beyond those two sides and try to write about the truth.

Final Project 2nd Interview (me) Longboarding Guide

This is me talking about the upcoming final project of creating a guide to longboarding everett.

late assignment

When America Gave Up. The death of morality

Final Project Ideas

In sticking with the theme of my blog both of my final project ideas are, of course, sports related. The first being to continue to delve into the world of Longboarding and its increasing popularity. Longboarding being the subject and maybe the risks and rewards being the story. From financial penalties to injuries there are plenty of risks involved. The question then being do the rewards outweigh those risks and why? Maybe a deeper look into how longboarding differentiates from skateboarding and the subculture within the subculture. Overall, a deeper look into what longboarding really is.

The second idea I've been playing with is to do an ESPN Sportcenter type highlight reel of a pick up basketball game. Done in similar fashion to actual sports broadcasts I would include post game interviews, video highlights of the game, pregame rumors and thoughts. This idea fascinates me given my obvious interest in sports journalism. The idea of taking a regular pick up game between friends and turning in a top quality segment that peaks the interest of people who don't have any clue who the players are.

Juggling these ideas has been a fun part and either direction this race takes me I am sure the crowd will enjoy!

Storyboards

Storyboards- credit of creation to Howard Hughes in 1930- are the vision of the mind of the creator of a piece. A storyboard is a board of specifics, not generalities. Instead of an idea of what the film is going to be a storyboard shows exactly what will be seen. Each shot, each angle is defined in a storyboard. Tweeks and adjustments may be made but the core of the brain of a film is displayed in a storyboard. Even in Sports Journalism storyboards are quite important. Whether it be a documentary on a specific athlete or event rife with interviews and film clips or if its a highlight show with newscasters and highlights of the nights action. The concept is created for what the film or show is going to consist of, but that is not enough.

A storyboard takes that general concept and gives you every individual shot or angle. It presents the nuances of what the creator wants the audience to see and feel. A smirk, a facial expression, the "dunk of the night", a great play, a tear falling, any single moment that will bring the overall feel of the story alive. To highlight a game you can't just pick and choose random plays and hope that those plays express the feel of how that game went. You have to be able to tell a story with each image that will convey what was going on. Peeling away the layers from a 48 minute game into a minute and a half highlight and still expressing the true suspense or aggression of that game needs careful thought. Taking an hour of interview footage and 3 hours of highlights and properly bringing them alive in a 2 minute clip cannot be randomly done.

Every look must be carefully set in place, often even before you have the look on film. A story board gives you the map in which the journey of your film must go. 

World Peace Vs. Ron Artest: Interpreting Intent

A malicious, devastating strike to the head or an unfortunate accident while caught up in the emotion and celebration of a great play. That is the hot topic this week after what took place in the midst of a great game between two of the top teams in the western conference of the NBA- the LA Lakers and OKC Thunder.

After a great dunk over Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant, Metta World Peace skipped back down court pounding his breast in triumph. James Harden, who plays for the Thunder, was coming up court and brushed against MWP and slightly impeded the path MWP was taking and directly following the chest pounding MWP cocked back and threw a big elbow which landed firmly in the back of Harden's head sending him plummeting to the ground. It was later discovered that Harden received a concussion. From the video you can see the whole incident play out, but its not what you can see that is in question here. Its what you can't see that has everyone up in arms-

Intent.

In a sports age where the line between analyst and reporter has been blurred and nearly erased, this is a perfect opportunity to show where a news story and an editorial both differ and relate to each other. In one aspect you have the news story of what happened and the game as a whole. Very factual and straight to the point. Highlights of the amazing double overtime game between two great teams full of superstars, emphasis on the return of Derek Fisher to Staples, and the elbow and ejection of Metta World Peace. This type of sports journalism is the backbone. This is pure journalism. There is an event, and the facts of that event are displayed. When you watch this, you know what happened. But now what?

Well now is everyone's favorite part, now we get to say what we feel about this. We get to come up with implications and answer those questions of the unseen. We get to become experts and psychologists and doctors and judges. We make sides and then choose which one we are on. All in the name of objectivity, fairness, and balance, of course. After all we are honest journalists. So we find evidence to support our theory and debunk the other "side". In this story we make our editorial about how Metta World Peace went back to his Ron Artest days where he has been suspended 13 times in his career and has a knack to end up on the giving end of violence. Or we talk about how he hasn't been suspended in nearly 4 years, recently won the citizenship award, auctioned his championship ring to earn money for high risk youth with mental health issues, and yes changed his name to Metta World Peace (metta meaning "goodwill or nonviolence)

Editorials are important don't get me wrong. If News stories are the backbone, editorials are the meat and flesh. This is where we start to "see" beyond just the obvious facts. This is where we delve into the world of "why's". Opinions are great but what makes an editorial more than just opinions are reasons. They aren't just blind assumptions, they are derived from facts. Carefully done editorials can give a story more life and explain to laymen why something is significant or important. Improperly done, editorials are where a journalist will lose all of his or her credibility. If people disagree that is fine as long as you have reason to defend your points, if you are just off base and don't have valid reasons no one will want to listen to you or trust you.

In this story editorials have gone wild. Below is a great example of what I feel is a form of editorial on this same subject. Although not a traditional editorial, the video holds an example of what editorials do. And you get both "sides" presented all in one show. A perfect example of how people can watch the same thing and see two different outcomes. Did MWP mean to hurt Harden? Did he deserve a more or less severe punishment? The only person who really knows is Metta World Peace. Intent like anything else can be interpreted in many ways and none are fully right or wrong. Credibility doesn't get achieved by merely stating facts alone, it can also be achieved by sound opinions and educated guesses. Editorials go beyond the facts and get inside the story. And often raise more questions than they answer.

Interpreting intent - your guess is as good as mine... but do you have as many reasons to back yours up as I do?

ESPN First Take Does Punishment fit the Crime for Metta World Peace

Sports Are More Than Just Games

Sports are more about life than just about playing a game. Sports teach children how to work together, they give people something to look forward to and they give the people playing them a sense of value or worth. Sports aren't just about winning a game, they are about winning in life. The New York Times had an article about a day school in Tennessee operated by the Carrol County Juvenile Court, Carrol Academy. Online the the Times had posted an audio slideshow that reaches out from the computer screen and clutches a readers heart in its grasp.

The Lady Jaguars

This slideshow introduces you to a coach and players that you may never have had interest in and lets you know how important sports can be. With the use of natural sound, it brings you into the games and locker rooms. With its images of not only the basketball play but of the security within the school, of the struggles some of the girls face and the emotion shared between them all; It holds you close and shows that some of those delinquent kids you drive by on your way to work with a scowl on your face and disgust in your mind aren't what you think they are. In a brief time and through this slideshow you are introduced to troubled young ladies living hard lives, that just needed someone to give them hope. They had nothing and no one, but thanks to the Carrol Academy they leave with hope and a sense of camaraderie and accomplishment.

This is news to us all because most of us wouldn't have agreed with or thought a good idea to have children sentenced to juvenile facilities play organized sports against local high schools. This slideshow gives emotion to the Times' article and opens peoples eyes to the humanity of these young girls. They did an excellent job at taking us from just seeing some basketball players to seeing troubled young ladies on a journey from hardship, with the use of sports, to a sense of redemption.

We saw that for these girls winning on the court wasn't the only goal, winning in life was.