Advocasy or Analysis

The author, Andrew Romano, wrote the article "How the Media's Real 'Bias' Works in McCain's favor.

I think that Romano is adovating for McCain in this article rather than analyzing the facts. The article seems to be very opinionated and one-sided and I can't see where he is being objective.

"I don't fault individual readers for seizing on isolated reports as evidence of the MSM's overarching ideological bias. It happens to me all the time. One week I'll write an item critical of McCain and a commenter will call me a "degenerate marxist." The next week someone else will say I'm a "FOX News butt boy" for criticizing Obama. Neither reader has weighed both items in their analysis--let alone the 1,400 others I've posted since last September. That's more than understandable--and it's exactly what happens on a larger scale with the media as a whole. Still, it's worth noting that groups that keep track of this stuff for us have found that the claims of pro-Obama, anti-McCain bias are wildly exaggerated" - Andrew Romano

***ATTENTION DOC***
I WAS ONE OF 3 PEOPLE IN
COMM 386 ON WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 24, 2008
******************************

Class 9/22/2008

Reading the “Wisdom of Crowds” didn’t leave me with a definitive answer. One of our countries founding principals is that the decision making powers should rest in the hands of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the government. This system works for us (most of the time). This article talked about how crowds make good and accurate decisions, but I believe this can only be true in certain situations like “guess how many jelly beans are in this jar” as opposed to letting a group of people figure out how to fly a plane.

It’s a toss up and there is no clear cut way to say this is when a crowd should decide vs. a single person.

Class 9/17/2008

Read "the wisdom of crowds" for Friday's class. Read the homepage

Feature Story Topic

I would like to write a feature story on the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon and it's impact on Springfield. I will focus on the Carillon's events and the way it brings money into Springfield. I will focus mainly on the next upcomming event the Jack-O-Lantern Spectaular. I will interview the people who come out to carve the pumpkins for the festival and I will interview the people who attend the event the following weekend.

Doc's Class 9/15/2008

Read Sarah Palin and the Critter story on the Mackererl Wrapper.

Feature Story Discussion

Editorial guidelines are 1 or 2 page sheet of what they are looking for and is addressed to writers and it’s going to vary by the publication.

A lot of them are online…or you can write to the magazine and ask for them.

It’s very unique to the market. The market can be a town or in this case a magazine or newspaper.

How do you go looking for a feature?
-You have to know what's going on.
-Access (who do you know that's a good story? What do you know that's a good story?)

Write Doc a querie once we've discussed a potenial topic for the feature story and it has been approved by Doc.

A querie does the same thing as an outline for a research paper...but it's also a sales pitch for your feature story.

For Friday read or re-read chapter 1 in "handbook of magazine article writing".
Chapter 3 in Don Murray's book.

Craft and Art

Craft is the know how and the skills to create - but once it's created, transforms itself into art.

~Claire Keldermans

2nd Group of Class Discussion Questions

When Murray talks about "craft" he's referring to the skills it takes to be a good journalistic writer. He calls it a "craft" because you can teach someone how to be a journalist. When you refer to journalism as an "art" it means that you are naturally good at it.

Anyone can write a story about their 90 year old grandma's birthday party at the old folks home....but it takes a skilled writer to "craft" a story out of a situation like this and make it appealing for someone to read.

Class Discussion 9/3/2008

When Murray is talking about surprise he list the "Writer's Ten Senses"
1-Sight
2-Hearing
3-Touch
4-Smell
5-Taste
6-Change
7-Effect
8-Conflict
9-Context
10-Self

Knowing how to effectivly use these "senses" in writing can make your story more appealing and make more people want read your work.

When you are reporting you're trying to tell the facts of the story or event in an objective way. You're just telling people the basics, who-what-when-where-why-how. When you are writing a story you can add your own personal touch and extra details to help the story stand out or get your point across.

Murray lists on page 123 "Attitudes That Encourage Surprise"
-Know and respent yourself
-Welcome difference
-Connect
-Play
-Confront your fears