MCOM 63: Weekly Blog Post

Not sure if this relates directly to the theme of these posts, but I thought it was very interesting. I read an article on BBC online claiming that a group which investigates war crimes, The War Crimes Watch List, is using social network site Facebook to track two men responsible for crimes in Darfur. This is a way of using these sites that I had not heard of before. In the article is a quote from Nick Donovan from the Aegis Trust who are behind the Watch List, "Wanted posters can only be seen by a few hundred people at most - the internet is used by billions." This is a very good point and it almost seems strange that this idea has not been utilized more extensively before. Certainly, this idea has possibilities far beyond this case.
The Internet and social networking sites in particular could be used for finding missing children, for example. Police should be given the means to send out a photo and information to the inbox, or bulletin board of every registered user in the area where the child has gone missing. I don't think anyone could question that this would be far more effective than the age old method of putting a child's face on a milk carton. It is one huge advantage to having such a large proportion of the population connected through an interactive medium, such as Facebook.

Read the article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7367634.stm

JOUR 61: Topical Post #2

In this country there was a founding belief that there should be a separation of church and state. Government funding of health education programs in schools that promote sexual abstinence until marriage would seem to fly in the face of that.

Of course, sexually transmitted diseases would be dramatically reduced if everyone were to abide by the Catholic rhetoric of abstaining from sex until wedlock. However, this is not a practical solution to the problem. We have to realize that teenagers today have sex; Planned Parenthood has estimated that two thirds of teenagers will have had sexual intercourse by the time they leave high school. The question is not how to stop them from having sex, but how to best ensure that they engage in safe sex. The government’s job isn’t to make moral judgments on the issue. Rather, it is their responsibility to provide young people with the education necessary to make mature, sensible decisions about sex.

America’s leading health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently revealed that one in four teenage girls have a sexually transmitted disease. This statistic has sparked an investigation by Congress into funding of the abstinence program. There can be no debate. Resources must stop being wasted on promoting this outdated, religion driven lifestyle choice and instead spent in a way that deals with the realities of today.

Piece inspired and facts garnered from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7368219.stm

JOUR 61: Focus Story

With the ball carrier hurtling towards him, Pete Stenhoff, a high school junior, charges towards the boy to make a tackle. This, though, will be the last tackle Stenhoff ever makes. His head careers into the ball carriers chest, cracking vertebrae in his spine. The 16-year-old will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

“I knew the risks involved when I decided to play football,” says Stenhoff, ‘I wish I would have known just how bad it could be.”

Unfortunately, this is a reality that is far too common for those who take part in high school football. There are 20,000 injuries each year at this level of the sport, 12 percent of which leave the victim permanently disabled. Thirty-five percent of injuries occurred to the head or neck. A large number of critics blame these statistics on the helmets used.

JOUR 61: Find that Lead

Both of my leads come from the April 25 edition of the San Jose Mercury News.

This first one is a Direct Address Lead:
"Angry about the price of gas? Just imagine paying for gas you don't get." (3E)

The second one is a anecdotal lead:
"Milan Michalek always is the last Shrak to leave the ice after pregame warmups. As the lights dim, Michalek still will be skating slowly, firing pucks into an empty net." (1C)

MCOM 63: Weekly Blog Post

The subject for my blog post this week comes from some articles I read in the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine. The magazine had a lot of news about how online technology is changing the face of the music industry; in particular how music is distributed. Over the last year or so some major artists have been dispensing with their record companies and distributing their music more directly to their fans. In the past artists have often bemoaned the level of control their record companies had over them; in areas such as creative control, royalties and album prices. However, in the past there was never a viable alternative for the artists. They needed the distribution and promotional power of the record companies.

That was before the advent of digital music and the ability to distribute music online. In the past year Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have all done away with their major labels and released music directly to fans via their website. They both made substantially more money than they would have done on a major label. Nine Inch Nails made more in a week than they have in total to date from their last album released on their major label. Radiohead went a step further by allowing their fans to decide how much they wished to pay for the album. Despite this, the band has still made $5 million.

Whilst Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead are major artists with established fan bases, this method of distribution is also now viable for emerging artists. Community sites like Myspace mean that an artist’s music can spread quickly over large geographical areas.

The result of this is that the record companies no longer hold all the cards. If they are to remain powerful in the music industry then they are going to have to make some serious adaptations to the new media world we now live in.

MCOM 63: Reflective Writing Assignment 1

I am very much looking forward to completing this project. My desired result of having a web page with links to videos, podcasts and photos is one that I am very eager to achieve. To know that I am able do something like that, something that before taking this class I didn’t have any idea of how to do, will be very rewarding. The project is different from in-class labs in that it involves an ongoing process with individual discipline and time management required. I feel that I am adequately equipped to deal with this.

I already have the majority of the material required for the project. I am intending to use the video segment I used for my video project, with a few minor alterations and I have the photos that I intend to use. The only thing I still need to get is my podcast interviews, which I will be doing tomorrow. The main work I need to do is on designing my web page. I intend to do some more experimenting on Dreamweaver first before I decide on a layout for my web page based on what I feel I am able to achieve and what is most suitable for my project.

JOUR 61: Topical Blog Post 1

The San Francisco Mayor may feel that the Olympic torch relay through the city was a success, but the truth is there were no winners. The purpose of the torch relay is to demonstrate the magic and history of the word’s greatest sporting event and also to showcase the city that the torch is traveling through. Of course, on this occasion there were extra interests involved. The Chinese government intended on the entire Olympic experience acting as one big Public Relations campaign for the “New China”. Then there were those who intended on using the event to inform the world of the “truth” behind China’s P.R.

None of these groups got out of the event what they would have liked. Perhaps the people we should feel most sympathy for are those people who went and got their spot on the road side hours before the event in order to simply catch a glimpse of one of the world’s great symbols. For many it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The question now is whether the subsequent cities on the torch’s journey will follow San Francisco’s example. If they do, then the best thing for everyone involved is to extinguish the flame and put the torch on the next flight back to Beijing.

JOUR 61: Magazine

The magazine that I’m going to discuss is Rolling Stone. The magazine has been running for over 40 years and is the bottom line in pop culture. The main target group of the magazine is young people, however not exclusively so. The content is primarily focused on music. They have regular interviews with some of the biggest names in music and include news on the industry and reviews of the latest releases. Whilst many of the artists featured are those popular among the 18-30 generation they also heavily feature artists that are favored by the older generation, such as the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

As well as music, Rolling Stone also covers movies, television and current affairs. The current affairs section is written in a way that is accessible to younger people who perhaps are not regular readers of political news in newspapers. Furthermore, the current affairs articles are certainly left leaning in their content and often focus on issues that will be of concern to the youth.

Today, the magazine focuses very much on the mainstream culture. In the earlier days it was more on the cutting edge of popular culture and getting on the cover of Rolling Stone was something that was highly revered. Some of the aura of the magazine has definitely disappeared since those times. However, I still enjoy it because of the cross section of popular culture that they cover and some of the interviews and features they have. I also think they do an excellent job of reporting and explaining the latest news within the music industry. This is very relevant at the moment because of how new media is currently changing the entire fabric of the business.

MCOM 163: Video Project

Here is my final video project. My project was on the Clef Hangers choir group.
To start off with a whole load of footage and then to be able to make it into a smoothly running movie was a very rewarding experience. I did not encounter too many problems along the way. The main issue I had was trimming the clips as perfect as possible to make sure the video flowed. I already had sound on the clips which I wanted to use, so I did not have to add in extra sound. I considered adding in sound to the titles at the beginning, but I decided to leave to make it more dramatic when the original sound from the clips comes in.
I definitely feel more competent at creating movies now than I did before making this movie. In the future, I will approach making movies with enthusiasm at the possibilities available, rather than with trepidation.

Click on the image or the link below to view the movie.

www.jmc.sjsu.edu/student/mcom63/lemiere/movieproject.mov

JOUR 61: Test Yourself

This week we were required to test our journalistic abilities.

I scored 28 out of 30 on the “Got what it takes to be a reporter” test, which is high. I think the questions on the quiz were certainly relevant to the basic skills and tendencies needed to become a reporter. To get a good score on this quiz is obviously very reassuring , as that is a career which I desire. I feel I have the basic ingredients to be a reporter and this test backs that up. However, it is going to take a lot of hard work and talent to make that come to fruition.

The next test required analysis of a recent example of my writing. This is what I used:

"The catalogue of programs available to users via the BBC’s iPlayer is currently far greater than any of its competitors. However, the BBC’s television programs are for the moment only available to users in the United Kingdom, although the BBC they are working to provide an international version. PBS also offers some of its programs in full online. Other media outlets such as CNN and MSNBC only offer clips of their shows. If the BBC provides international access to their shows then they will be clear at the head of this new online television revolution."

The test wanted to know the average amount of words I used per sentence, which was 19.2, and also how many "hard" words (words with 3 syllables or more) I used, which was 12. This gave me a FOG index score of 12.4.

My score is above the recommended 7 or 8. This doesn’t altogether surprise me as I am aware that I tend to make my sentences a little long. This is something I have been trying to work on of late and I certainly to keep doing that. As for the number of hard words used, it is something that I haven’t considered too much previously. In my future writing I will also pay attention to ensuring that I don’t use them excessively.

JOUR 61: Broadcast Project

AFTER THE CONTROVERSIES OF A WEEK AGO, THE SAN JOSE CITY COUNCIL ENJOYED A MORE RELAXING DAY IN THE CHAMBERS TODAY.

THE MAIN ISSUE ON THE AGENDA WAS THE PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT OF THE AIRPORT WEST AREA. THIS INCLUDED THE PROPOSAL FOR A SOCCER STADIUM TO HOUSE THE RECENTLY RETURNED SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER FRANCHISE. THE DEVELOPMENT WOULD SEE THE EARTHQUAKES OWNER LEW WOLFF FUND THE BUILDING OF THE STADIUM. IN RETURN THE CITY GOVERNMENT WOULD REZONE AN AREA OF LAND DESIGNATED FOR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT TO HOUSING INSTEAD.

WHETHER THE SOCCER STADIUM WILL RAKE IN ENOUGH MONEY TO COVER THE LOSS IN TAXES FROM THE INDUSTRIAL AREA IS THE DEBATABLE POINT. THE INITIAL FINANCIAL REPORTS EXCLAIMING THE VIRTUES OF THE STADIUM WERE ACCEPTED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE COUNCIL. HOWEVER, VICE-MAYOR CORTESE ADDED A WORD OF CAUTION. HE URGED PLANNERS TO FORMULATE BACK-UP PLANS IN CASE THE STADIUM SITE DOESN’T WORK OUT.

Click here for Podcast.

MCOM 63: Weekly Blog Post

The BBC recently moved to the head of the new online media age by putting almost all of its output online.

BBC workers and private media companies have been openly unhappy about this move. The workers are upset because 2,500 jobs have been cut, particularly in the news and television divisions. Director-General mark Thompson decided to handle the BBC’s budget cut by cutting funds to these departments in order to focus on online ventures. Private media companies are also upset because they feel the BBC have an unfair advantage in the online world because they are not beholden on advertisers. The BBC does not have the same problem of loosing out on advertising revenue because their financing comes from license fees and not advertising.

The pros of going online are that the channel’s content is more accessible. People who are unable to view the program via the conventional television method now have the option of watching online at their convenience. Furthermore, as we move more and more in to the online age, where people spend greater portions of their day online, the chances of people coming across and finding time to watch a station’s program are increased. The main downside to moving a channel’s content online is the loss of revenue from television. If people are able to watch a program at their convenience online, it decreases the value of advertising on television, thereby cutting reducing revenue to the media companies.

The catalogue of programs available to users via the BBC’s iPlayer is currently far greater than any of its competitors. However, the BBC’s television programs are for the moment only available to users in the United Kingdom, although the BBC they are working to provide an international version. PBS also offers some of its programs in full online. Other media outlets such as CNN and MSNBC only offer clips of their shows. If the BBC provides international access to their shows then they will be clear at the head of this new online television revolution.