Archive for briggs
March 22, 2012
Briggs Chapter Nine: Data Driven Journalism
This chapter took me back to my tenth grade year at Freedom High School. I was taking a Computer Information Systems class with my favorite teacher in the entire world, Kathryn Cossa. In that class I was taught many of the things that this chapter taught. It makes me feel like I’m ahead of the curve to know that I have already been taught these things.
I meticulously organize my e-mails and my computer, which eliminates plenty of the difficulties that I face with my scheduling. I’m extremely lucky because I have a pretty good memory, which means I very rarely have to write things down to remember them. I remember assignments and due dates after hearing about them a couple of times. Not many people can do that…
I found it interesting that this chapter seems to be a combination of the skill sets we’ve learned and completed in class while adding in a few new concepts. For example, the location in your smart phones. Playing hookey has never been more difficult, has it? Because your phone will be the betray you every time… Unless of course, you just turn the GPS locator off.
Briggs Chapter Eight: Telling Stories with Video
Throughout the semester we’ve been learning about the importance of video in today’s media and journalism world. I came into the class with a decent pool of knowledge only to realize that there was so much more I could learn. Between this chapter and the workshop with Jake, I’ve learned what is and isn’t important when it comes to video.
People in our society are much more visual than anything else, and video helps to capture and keep attention more than a piece of paper would. Moving images are more stimulating to the brain and keeps us interested… To a certain extent. Videos longer than three minutes tend to make viewers stray unless it’s something that your audience is extremely interested in learning about. In reality a video should capture the audience’s attention within the first thirty seconds.
Video is often used as a supplement to the print form of media, which is a good journalistic element because your audience receives different stimulus from the different medias leaving them with a full sense of completion.
March 8, 2012
Briggs Chapter Eleven: Digital Audience
This chapter is essentially a supplement to the search engine optimization seminar I did with Aram. I found it interesting that so many of the topics overlapped. You know what they say? People retain information better when they’ve seen it multiple times, and this is certainly true for me and SEO.
I sat through the seminar twice and then read this chapter. I’m not complaining though. This is a valuable skill to possess. Whenever I Google my name, Jarrod Wadsworth, from Australia comes up as the top result. But now because of the lessons I’ve learned on SEO I can easily bump him from the top spot. One unfortunate thing for me though is that my Myspace is still the top result for me, and I haven’t used that site in years. So, I’d really like to get rid of that.
I was pleased to find that my LinkedIn and this blog were both some of the top returns when I signed out of my Google Account.
Briggs Chapter Ten: News and Conversation
I think that it is beneficial to have news as conversation. For so long the news was an unquestionable media. People just received, but very rarely were given the opportunity to contribute or state opinions. Outside of sending in letters to the editor. Maybe it’s just the 21st century kid in me that doesn’t like to just ingest things without being able to question them.
I personally prefer to be a part of the news that I’m getting. I want to know where it came from and I want to be able to ask questions about it. I must not be the only one because now there is a full chapter dedicated to that subject in Briggs. I think it’s interesting how the news world has changed to incorporate the opinions of its readers/viewers.
Of course it could compromise the integrity of the story, but I think that’s alright. I’m probably in the minority for that particular thought process, but I don’t mind. I think that it’s beneficial for a person to be a part of the news that they’re receiving because then they have a higher retention rate. Or such has been the case in my life.
February 22, 2012
Briggs Chapter Six: Visual storytelling with photographs
The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures are an essential part of journalism because they allow the audience to have a visual representation of what they’re reading. As humans we are primarily vision based. Seeing something with our own eyes is more impactful than creating our own image mentally.
Steve Buttry taught us that it was possible to have our environment create a story for us. I believe that to be true. As much as a person can sit behind their desk throwing around ideas, nothing compares to actually going out and being a part of a situation. Being a part of something is a different experience than just hearing about it. That is another reason why photos are so important. It makes the reader feel like they were actually apart of the event, rather than just a passer by.
This chapter gives insight on how to capture, use, and manipulate photographs in order to tell a story. I’ve trained myself to use programs such as Photoshop, so that portion of the chapter was another refresher for me. A chance to hone a skill that I already possessed.
Briggs Chapter Five: Going mobile
We live in a world where it’s possible to capture the best and worst moments of life. With items like tablets and smart phones, everyone has the capacity to report the news. A bridge collapse or Kim Kardashian falling off a curb. With these devices we have the power to dictate what is news. With these devices we have the power to publish this media in a matter of moments.
At first it seemed that only civilians were using their gadgets to get information to their social network. Not anymore. These days journalists are using these gadgets for their stories as well as soliciting the non journalists to send in their media as a means of supplementing a story. No longer is there a wall between the journalist and their audience. There are many opportunities for the two titles to mesh.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Brad Kalbfeld taught us that mobile media had completely disrupted the levels of filtration. Meaning there is now a chance that an audience is receiving information that is less than credible. It teaches consumers to be more self sufficient when it comes to making judgments about the news they consume.
All of this because people have the world in the palm of their hands.
February 16, 2012
Briggs Chapter Four: Microblogging
This chapter on microblogging made me think back to the class where Steve Buttry came and spoke to us. He explained to us that stories could be told in tweets, 140 characters or less. That we, as journalists, are only limited by our own creativity and imagination when it comes to digital media. For me, that chapter reinforces that.
It explains that microblogging is a quick and effective way to grab reader’s attention and pull them into a story. I believe that to be true. Speaking from my own experience, I am curious when I see a link. I have an urge to click it. Almost like a subconscious need to know what’s on the other side. I guess I’m playing into what the journalist wants…
Microblogging also forces journalists to become more creative in their taglines, titles, and/or bylines. While microblogging allows you quick access to an article, your initial reaction will be to the title. So, if that’s not interesting I’m going to keep on scrolling in my ChromeBird.
February 9, 2012
Briggs Chapter Three: Crowd-Powered collaboration
This chapter has introduced me to several new terms that I hadn’t heard before. The first being crowdsourcing. The concept of crowdsourcing is one that I was familiar with before. With websites like Tumblr and DeviantArt, it is easy to see how a community can out perform a paid employee. I’ve seen amazing mock posters and other media that vastly surpasses their legitimate counterparts.
In the journalism field it seems to serve as something of a focus group as well. The chapter states that crowdsourcing is often used as a means of answering specific questions via different viewpoints.
It seems to me that open-source journalism was an inevitable circumstance. With websites like Twitter and Facebook it’s hard to simply ignore the feedback of the audience. Consumers will always have opinions and with social media and networking sites it’s foolish to try and deny people their opinions. Hence open-source. Journalism’s way of officially opening the floor to the audience and using their opinions and feedback as a means of creating better and more interesting stories.
We’ve talked about the importance of linking in class. Being able to move seamlessly from one subject to another is an intergal part of online journalism. With links people have access to a deeper wealth of knowledge, whether it be expanding on what they’ve just read or taking them in a completely different direction.
Links are important.
With Pro-Am journalism it’s difficult to essentially tell the “real” from the “fake”. If everyone amateur and professional are allowed to post, how can you tell which has the proper credentials to direct you on a subject? In my own experience, I’d rather have the journalist who actually went out and researched a topic tell me what to do than someone with a laptop and a lot of feelings.
February 2, 2012
Briggs Chapter Two: Advanced Blogging
This chapter teaches you how to create and maintain a fully functional blog. I found this to be extremely helpful because I currently blog for an online magazine called Chaos where I post twice a week on the top trends of men’s fashion.
After reading this chapter I’ve thought about reevaluating the way I write for my blog posts. Sometimes I get wordy and write more like a novel than a direct piece of work that persuades a consumer to do or not do thing. Other than that I didn’t really learn a lot of new things from this chapter. I’ve run and maintained more than one blog in my past and I know how to explore different widgets and settings to optimize my experience as a blogger.
It was certainly a great refresher though!
Briggs Chapter One: We are all Web workers now
I like to think of myself as a very technologically driven person. My Macbook is always within arm’s reach as is my smart phone, but when it comes to the super technical things I tend to have a bit of a struggle. Case and point — the use of code. To clarify, I don’t have a problem with coding things once I know it. It just takes me forever and a day to retain the information. So, needless to say I saw those beautiful code boxes in this chapter and clutched my pearls in fear.
Fortunately for me, a lot of the concepts mentioned are skills that are already present in my little bag of skills. I’ve taken several computer classes in the past so this material isn’t anything new to me. This chapter has just provided me with different platforms to look at, which is probably force me to step out of my comfort zone a bit. I am a loyal user to programs and software. When I find something I like, I stick to it. But this chapter has shown me that I should at least attempt to experiment with other readers so that I have a stronger wealth of knowledge.
