PART ONE: CHAPTER 12
First things first, here are my thoughts on chapter 12:
I'm still stuck at this question ... HOW do we revolutionize the news in the ways that chapter 12 suggests?
What is the benefit to constructing a news story in a non-linear fashion rather than in a linear fashion? Obviously it serves readers better - they can view what they want rather than the entire story - but what benefit does it have for journalists? Our stories are just getting chopped into "chunks," and some of those "chunks" may never even be viewed.
What role does javascript play in Joomla and other such things? Does it just supplement like HTML? In applying for jobs, I've found that a lot of companies and organizations are using Joomla templates. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Joomla. I like knowing HTML because when Joomla really pisses me off, I just go into the code and change whatever I want to change. Unfortunately, my knowledge of javascript is basic at best. In high school, I learned to do simple things like create scrolling text and a cursor tail. A cursor tail of hearts is fun for a teenage girl, but I've found that it doesn't serve me well in the professional world.
This is a random question that doesn't apply to anything except something that was said in the chapter. Why would I want to update my Twitter and Facebook with the same thing? Most of the people who follow me on Twitter are also my Facebook friends. I get frustrated when I see the same things on Twitter and Facebook. To me, it doesn't make sense to link the two. If you do that, why even have Twitter?
Random note: I appreciated the use of the word "gobbledy-gook." I feel that it's way underused, probably because most people aren't aware that it's a word.
PART TWO: MY NEWEST UPDATE
I'm still working on getting crime reports faxed to me. I will go to Whiteville, but it will not be this week. I tried an e-mail fax service, but each one I tried was not free. Receiving one fax doesn't seem like it's worth $69. I have reason to believe my apartment complex has a fax machine in its office. I haven't asked yet, but I may be able to use that one. The problem is going to be scheduling. I will need it to be faxed to me while I'm there obviously. But I don't get home before 4:30 any day except Friday. I'm sure it can be worked out, but it's something I'll need to think about.
That's all I have for now.
Wow your journalism class sounds cool but mine is all about yearbook :( I read your other blog too, very interesting!
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about the benefit to readers v. journalists. Remember, if journalists are just out to get benefit for themselves, well... they shouldn't be surprised when the audience vanishes. But I'd argue that the benefit for journalists is efficiency - your gather a lot of information once and provide the most relevant pieces of it to a broad audience over a variety of time.
ReplyDeleteJoomla is a content management system like Drupal or several other proprietary options. You can use JavaScript to add interactivity to the page. There are a lot of good free tutorials on JavaScript, starting with http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp. Also, the Lynda.com suggestion I made in the syllabus is also a good, but more expensive place to start learning this and other tech skills.
You'd want to update Twitter and Facebook if/when you don't have high overlap between the two. But you may not always want to. These are editorial decisions that require discernment.
We're learning a good lesson about public records, aren't we? They aren't really available to the public that's not nearby. A question for you: How high or low is it appropriate for a government to set the barrier to access for records like this?
In a Utopian community, I think a government could restrict records completely because it would already be totally transparent about its actions. However, this country we live in is far from a Utopia, and for that reason, I think the government has very little right to restrict access to records.
ReplyDeleteThe public has a right to know what's going on; in the case of crime reports, knowing what's happening could protect citizens and maybe even prevent something similar from happening elsewhere. I'm all for openness and honesty; in very rare cases, the victim my be harmed if his/her name were revealed, but generally I don't think there should be any restrictions.
Perhaps being a journalist has changed my view on the subject a bit. Four years ago, I might have said I think the government has a right to keep things under wraps. But I don't think it's just journalism. It's becoming an adult, specifically one who thinks for herself. My views are entirely my own, and although my profession may change my outlook a little, I really think open records is the only policy that makes sense.