Quote 1 -
“So much of what comes out of Hollywood is horseshit. Because these people live in West L.A., they don’t even go to East L.A. The only time they go downtown is to get their license renewed. And what they increasingly know about the world is what they see on other TV shows about cops or crime or poverty. The American entertainment industry gets poverty so relentlessly wrong. . . . Poor people are either the salt of the earth, and they’re there to exalt us with their homespun wisdom and their sheer grit and determination to rise up, or they are people to be beaten up in an interrogation room by Sipowicz. . . . How is it that there’s nobody actually on a human scale from the other America? The reason is they’ve never met anybody from the other America. I mean, they could ask their gardener what it’s like.”
Well in terms of reporting, I guess you could get from this is don't be afraid to say what you think/or feel and put it out all on the table. He was to the point, when he said this, where he could say what he felt. However, I wouldn't do that as a rookie journalist, but if someone offers you an opinion piece or column, then go for it. However, maybe keep the language PG-13. I think how it works in terms for me is say what is on my mind and don't be afraid, not really afraid of what to say, but use it as don't be afraid of a challenge and whatnot to speak my mind or just go and do something.
Quote 2-
"To be a decent city reporter, I had to listen to people who were different from me,” Simon explained. “I had to not be uncomfortable asking stupid questions or being on the outside. I found I had a knack for walking into situations where I didn’t know anything, and just waiting. A lot of reporters don’t want to be the butt of jokes. But sometimes it’s useful to act as if you couldn’t find your ass with both hands.”
I think this is a rather important quote because he is basically giving a golden rule. It would be hard, for example, if a racist reporter was out there and refused to interview an African American (if it where important for a certain story), that would be a part of the story that was much needed but wasn't used because the person was stubborn. What I mean by all this is basically what he said, which is pretty clear, ask any question, and just try and learn what you don't know. Getting outside of my comfort zone is key for this profession. By doing this, it will allow me to succeed in really whatever I want, especially in the job world.
Quote 3-
“I’m the kind of person who, when I’m writing, cares above all about whether the people I’m writing about will recognize themselves. I’m not thinking about the general reader. My greatest fear is that the people in the world I’m writing about will read it and say, ‘Nah, there’s nothing there.’ ”
Even though he is talking about authenticity, this is saying he wants (as should any writer) his work to connect with the reader and audience. He doesn't want people to skim over what he has written and can't connect with them in the piece. I think if I apply this to myself, then I can write and connect with an audience, so people don’t just skim over or even skip what I have written.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Lopez Write Up
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez26oct26,1,3435455.column
Katrina comparisons are a different class of wrong
A quick summary of this story is he is comparing the differences between the Katrina evacuation and the San Diego wildfire evacuations, and how people are thinking these ones are going easier and how San Diego has more people be evacuated (they are wrong obviously, according to the story). He is also being critical of all political parties, saying, "Republicans are better at evacuations than Democrats. This seems to be particularly true when the Republicans in question can flee down the highway in Yukons while Democrats wait for buses trapped under water," & "And I hate to break up the back-slapping party President Bush, Gov. Schwarzenegger and various local officials staged Thursday, but the equipment shortage in the state's wildfires was indisputable."
This story has just about all Murray's narrative ideas = Character (obviously his style of writing and his sarcasm at points), Dramatic Action (what is going on…the wildfires), External and Internal Dialogue (external being the quotes, and internal being his one word sentences and his other thoughts, reactions, and whatnot), Place (San Diego vs. Katrina), Person (him, and all the other people in the story), his (Lopez's) Point of View, his (Lopez's) Narrative Voice, not much Exposition (because he is writing with an incredible amount of bias), Scene (San Diego, New Orleans, etc.), some Chronology (the time of the wildfires and how it is a current affair as well as the Katrina ordeal), and a Theme (the theme is summed up in the top of the article, “So much is different, and so many people want to overlook the differences”).
Lopez does a great job putting all the Narrative Themes in this piece, and the piece is not even very long. One part I really like about his writing, just like some other authors do, is how he breaks up graphs by using one word sentences as other graphs, it kind of makes things flow better and really emphasizes a point. It is really interesting to see how he uses long quotes, and a good amount of them, and doesn't just make it a news story, but is also making it a reading, narrative-type of a story.
Katrina comparisons are a different class of wrong
A quick summary of this story is he is comparing the differences between the Katrina evacuation and the San Diego wildfire evacuations, and how people are thinking these ones are going easier and how San Diego has more people be evacuated (they are wrong obviously, according to the story). He is also being critical of all political parties, saying, "Republicans are better at evacuations than Democrats. This seems to be particularly true when the Republicans in question can flee down the highway in Yukons while Democrats wait for buses trapped under water," & "And I hate to break up the back-slapping party President Bush, Gov. Schwarzenegger and various local officials staged Thursday, but the equipment shortage in the state's wildfires was indisputable."
This story has just about all Murray's narrative ideas = Character (obviously his style of writing and his sarcasm at points), Dramatic Action (what is going on…the wildfires), External and Internal Dialogue (external being the quotes, and internal being his one word sentences and his other thoughts, reactions, and whatnot), Place (San Diego vs. Katrina), Person (him, and all the other people in the story), his (Lopez's) Point of View, his (Lopez's) Narrative Voice, not much Exposition (because he is writing with an incredible amount of bias), Scene (San Diego, New Orleans, etc.), some Chronology (the time of the wildfires and how it is a current affair as well as the Katrina ordeal), and a Theme (the theme is summed up in the top of the article, “So much is different, and so many people want to overlook the differences”).
Lopez does a great job putting all the Narrative Themes in this piece, and the piece is not even very long. One part I really like about his writing, just like some other authors do, is how he breaks up graphs by using one word sentences as other graphs, it kind of makes things flow better and really emphasizes a point. It is really interesting to see how he uses long quotes, and a good amount of them, and doesn't just make it a news story, but is also making it a reading, narrative-type of a story.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
4 Questions
1) What letter is filed off the old manual type writer in the Boston herald newsroom when Don Murray went to work there
2) How well would that work in a newspaper in Illinois
3) How well would it work in your own writing, esp. feature writing
4) Paragraph about the way you approach feature writing, the way good writers approach feature writing
Post to blog
1) Capitol “I”
2) Probably not as well as one would think, because there are a lot of opinonated pieces in Illinois, esp. Springfield
3)I think fairly well, except here, but I am not the type of person that uses "I" in a lot of my pieces, esp. in the Bulldog or for class assignments.
4) Feature writing, to me, is approached just like any other writing. However, it gets put off a little more, because there is a deadline. This gives me time to really think about what to write and gather my thoughts. Plus, when working under pressure, my work becomes better and it allows me to think better and quicker. For some reason, my thinking is always better under the gun. I tried not to use I in this, except for there.
2) How well would that work in a newspaper in Illinois
3) How well would it work in your own writing, esp. feature writing
4) Paragraph about the way you approach feature writing, the way good writers approach feature writing
Post to blog
1) Capitol “I”
2) Probably not as well as one would think, because there are a lot of opinonated pieces in Illinois, esp. Springfield
3)I think fairly well, except here, but I am not the type of person that uses "I" in a lot of my pieces, esp. in the Bulldog or for class assignments.
4) Feature writing, to me, is approached just like any other writing. However, it gets put off a little more, because there is a deadline. This gives me time to really think about what to write and gather my thoughts. Plus, when working under pressure, my work becomes better and it allows me to think better and quicker. For some reason, my thinking is always better under the gun. I tried not to use I in this, except for there.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The Eat This Reply...
1) I think he kind of acts like a comedian who likes to insult his audience (readers), and yet I found myself wanting to read more, because I don't eat fast food at all...I found it interesting as well as very humerous (I must admit I do like fast food commercials, because they try to one up each other in stupidity).
2) I like his insulting, big-brother-style of picking on you (meaning the fast food consumers), he uses big words at the start to draw you in, because your thinking what the hell is he trying to talk about...but then he just goes with it. I like that I loved was "Oh my, yes. It's like a giant middle finger to your heart." IF I where a fast food consumer, I would think twice before eatting there again after reading this...
to eat this food in order to eat."
3) People in his town would like it, because that seems to be the attitude it reflects on the city...just like the writer from Chicago (the thug, tough guy attitude there), people flock to that because they can relate to that...However, an average fast food online consumer probably is thinking "where does this guy get off talking like this...my day is so busy, I have
4) His column would not fly here...maybe in a big city like Chicago or St. Louis, but not Springfield...to many people would be insulted. I think they should look at it through a humerous, satire style story.
2) I like his insulting, big-brother-style of picking on you (meaning the fast food consumers), he uses big words at the start to draw you in, because your thinking what the hell is he trying to talk about...but then he just goes with it. I like that I loved was "Oh my, yes. It's like a giant middle finger to your heart." IF I where a fast food consumer, I would think twice before eatting there again after reading this...
to eat this food in order to eat."
3) People in his town would like it, because that seems to be the attitude it reflects on the city...just like the writer from Chicago (the thug, tough guy attitude there), people flock to that because they can relate to that...However, an average fast food online consumer probably is thinking "where does this guy get off talking like this...my day is so busy, I have
4) His column would not fly here...maybe in a big city like Chicago or St. Louis, but not Springfield...to many people would be insulted. I think they should look at it through a humerous, satire style story.
Feature story
It won't let me past the full address so I will just put it all on here...
2nd story, the follow up is this...
AG helps girl see Hannah Montana
Nine-year-old Destiny Hendrix will get her tickets to the Hannah Montana concert in St. Louis after all, her aunt said today.
Aunt Stephanie Abdullah credited Ticketmaster and Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon for agreeing to allow Destiny to pick up her tickets at the St. Louis box office of the Scottrade Center.
They waived a rule requiring that the person who reserved the tickets online -- in this case, Abdullah -- appear in person to pick up the tickets.
Abdullah is an Army sergeant stationed in Los Angeles. Her sister lives in St. Louis but couldn't get tickts for her daughter because she doesn't have Internet access or a credit card.
Abdullah was on KMOX radio this morning along with Joe Freeman of Ticketmaster.
""We have to take care of her," Freeman later said of Destiny. But he added that "the rules will be complied with so that the people in St. Louis who bought tickets get them.
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"I said on the air that we're not going to make any more exceptions," Freeman said.
The original story is this...
Hannah Montana puts aunt in bind
Our earlier story: The saga just won’t end for those in search of the elusive Hannah Montana concert tickets.
Stephanie Abdullah is a staff sergeant in the Army and a veteran of the Iraq war. She was one of the lucky ones when 1,900 more tickets were released for Hannah’s sold-out concert Thursday in St. Louis.
The additional tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday on Ticketmaster’s website. Abdullah started at 9:55 a.m., clicking over and over and over "so when 10 o’clock came I was in there."
But now she can’t get the tickets because she’s not here. Under rules announced Friday, anyone buying the extra tickets must show up at the Scottrade Center box office here before the show with a credit card and ID.
Whoever shows up must be the person who reserved the tickets.
"That’s ridiculous," says Abdullah. She’s stationed in Los Angeles and says she can’t get to St. Louis to pick up the tickets for sister and her sister’s daughter, Destiny.
The tickets are a birthday present for Destiny, who lives in St. Louis and recently turned 9.
Abdullah had never heard of Hannah. "But it’s important to me" because "It’s important to my niece. Apparently Hannah is a very big deal for her."
"Hannah" is actually a 14-year-old girl named Miley Cyrus who portrays the Montana character on the Disney cable channel. Her tour kicks off in St. Louis and was sold out in all 54 concerts.
Abdullah knows a thing or two about the media. She is a former Hollywood publicist who is assigned to an Army public affairs unit. She is recovering from an injury in Iraq.
She sent what seemed like hundreds of e-mails to the Post-Dispatch, all the other St. Louis media she could think of, Ticketmaster, the Scottrade Center, Disney and Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon.
Nixon is investigating ticket scalpers and announced last week that extra tickets would be availble to the St. Louis concert.
Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said the attorney general had announced as early as Oct. 4 that any additional tickets would have to be picked up in person.
"Everyone else that we heard from understood the conditions and accepts those conditions in order to be able to buy those tickets at face value," Holste said.
He said the idea is to discourage scalpers.
A father who reserved two tickets for his daughter at Saturday’s sale says the rules will cause trouble for parents who aren’t able to pick up tickets in person.
The father didn’t want his name used — he plans to take a "sick" day at work to pick up his daughter’s tickets.
Ticketmaster and the concert promoters couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
"That is unreasonable" and discriminates against a class of people, Abdullah says. She’s referring to her sister and others who don’t have credit cards or the Internet. That’s why Abdullah got involved.
2nd story, the follow up is this...
AG helps girl see Hannah Montana
Nine-year-old Destiny Hendrix will get her tickets to the Hannah Montana concert in St. Louis after all, her aunt said today.
Aunt Stephanie Abdullah credited Ticketmaster and Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon for agreeing to allow Destiny to pick up her tickets at the St. Louis box office of the Scottrade Center.
They waived a rule requiring that the person who reserved the tickets online -- in this case, Abdullah -- appear in person to pick up the tickets.
Abdullah is an Army sergeant stationed in Los Angeles. Her sister lives in St. Louis but couldn't get tickts for her daughter because she doesn't have Internet access or a credit card.
Abdullah was on KMOX radio this morning along with Joe Freeman of Ticketmaster.
""We have to take care of her," Freeman later said of Destiny. But he added that "the rules will be complied with so that the people in St. Louis who bought tickets get them.
Advertisement
"I said on the air that we're not going to make any more exceptions," Freeman said.
The original story is this...
Hannah Montana puts aunt in bind
Our earlier story: The saga just won’t end for those in search of the elusive Hannah Montana concert tickets.
Stephanie Abdullah is a staff sergeant in the Army and a veteran of the Iraq war. She was one of the lucky ones when 1,900 more tickets were released for Hannah’s sold-out concert Thursday in St. Louis.
The additional tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday on Ticketmaster’s website. Abdullah started at 9:55 a.m., clicking over and over and over "so when 10 o’clock came I was in there."
But now she can’t get the tickets because she’s not here. Under rules announced Friday, anyone buying the extra tickets must show up at the Scottrade Center box office here before the show with a credit card and ID.
Whoever shows up must be the person who reserved the tickets.
"That’s ridiculous," says Abdullah. She’s stationed in Los Angeles and says she can’t get to St. Louis to pick up the tickets for sister and her sister’s daughter, Destiny.
The tickets are a birthday present for Destiny, who lives in St. Louis and recently turned 9.
Abdullah had never heard of Hannah. "But it’s important to me" because "It’s important to my niece. Apparently Hannah is a very big deal for her."
"Hannah" is actually a 14-year-old girl named Miley Cyrus who portrays the Montana character on the Disney cable channel. Her tour kicks off in St. Louis and was sold out in all 54 concerts.
Abdullah knows a thing or two about the media. She is a former Hollywood publicist who is assigned to an Army public affairs unit. She is recovering from an injury in Iraq.
She sent what seemed like hundreds of e-mails to the Post-Dispatch, all the other St. Louis media she could think of, Ticketmaster, the Scottrade Center, Disney and Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon.
Nixon is investigating ticket scalpers and announced last week that extra tickets would be availble to the St. Louis concert.
Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said the attorney general had announced as early as Oct. 4 that any additional tickets would have to be picked up in person.
"Everyone else that we heard from understood the conditions and accepts those conditions in order to be able to buy those tickets at face value," Holste said.
He said the idea is to discourage scalpers.
A father who reserved two tickets for his daughter at Saturday’s sale says the rules will cause trouble for parents who aren’t able to pick up tickets in person.
The father didn’t want his name used — he plans to take a "sick" day at work to pick up his daughter’s tickets.
Ticketmaster and the concert promoters couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
"That is unreasonable" and discriminates against a class of people, Abdullah says. She’s referring to her sister and others who don’t have credit cards or the Internet. That’s why Abdullah got involved.
Feature story
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/CBFB9BE976B98FDF8625737600654823?OpenDocument
This story has a feature story (the feature story and a follow up) for a child celeb. concert named "Hannah Montana", it is about a girl's mother who ordered tickets to the show, but coudn't get them due to a Ticketmaster rule...read on.
This story has a feature story (the feature story and a follow up) for a child celeb. concert named "Hannah Montana", it is about a girl's mother who ordered tickets to the show, but coudn't get them due to a Ticketmaster rule...read on.
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