State of Play

In a society where reporters are supposed to be as unbiased as jurors, State of Play risks to portray journalists like the people they cover: disorganized chaotic personal lives that affect their work. The only thing that differs with the reporters in this from their subjects is simply the journalists' lack of authority and influence. State of Play is definitely worth watch, like ABC News puts it "Most important, like all good journalists, Cal follows the story where it takes him. He doesn't decide, in advance, what direction it should take."

Media Blog 2

Before focusing on the depths of the stories on the web news sources, what attracts the reader is the front page. Comparing three online news sources: Vancouver Sun, BBC, and CNN, I must give CNN the props for the most inviting front page. Unlike the other two sources with their titles in small font on the left of the page, CNN’s logo is centered at the top of the page and bolded in red. Also, when you go to Vancouver Sun and BBC, there are many advertisements right at the top of the page, but for CNN, not only do they have less advertisements, but they have two headline stories and their links right at the top. Even though I am from Vancouver, I have to admit that CNN’s online news web page layout is excellent and professional. Under their two main headline stories, they have a section filled with videos, and below are columns of news categories…even interesting ones like: Tech, Living, Justice, Blogs, and ‘Living With Technology’; everything is clear, precise, and convenient.

Embarrassed as I may be about the Vancouver Sun compared with the other two national and international news sources, I still must give credits to Vancouver Sun for keeping the online version as homey and heart-warming as the print version. Although the name of the paper is ‘Vancouver’ Sun, but it still tries it’s best to cover major news all across the country. One thing I really enjoy about the online Vancouver Sun, compared with the other two, is that it the advertisements are not just random supporters or companies, the commercials are actually beneficial and helpful to the city. For example, on BBC, the headline advertisement is “ING DIREC—HIGH INTEREST & NO FEES”, on CNN it is “VERIZON”, whereas on the Vancouver Sun, the commercials are much more personalized like “METROPOLITAN APARTMENTS IN THE CITY OF RICHMOND—Call (604)_____-__________” However, all this is just the appearance and surface of these online news sources, let’s get into the important part: news coverage.

When comparing CNN with BBC, I realized CNN still prioritizes national news, whereas BBC has the world news and their own news on an equal level. For example, on CNN the title of the top stories are: “Economy Better? So Where Are The Jobs?” and “BART police probe scuffle with passenger” but on BBC, the top stories (including their own national news) are: “Romanians face election run-off”, China Executes Tainted Milk Pair”, and even entertainment news “Four Posthumous Gongs for Jackson”. But at the same time, maybe it is because BBC needs to cover such a large amount of news in detail, when it comes to media quality (photos and videos) and ledes, CNN does a better job at it. It is obvious that the photos and videos on CNN have been nicely filtered and fixed, whereas on BBC, many of the pictures just look like they have been cut and pasted on.

These three online news sources are all very different in appearance and news coverage, however they do share the same goal: to provide the people with true stories.

Bureau Blog

It’s like a big puzzle with a whole group of people puzzling it together in unity. This is what the ‘Bureau Reporting’ experience felt like. As a team, we worked toward the same goal, we were diligent and productive.

I really enjoyed this experience running around interviewing people on this sensitive topic about finance. Luckily, I got to interview students of all grades and genders, and some of their stories were just overwhelming and amazing. The more I hear their testimonies, the more I am thankful for being at this university. I am sure that it is also because of the Thanksgiving season, the students I interviewed yesterday, whether they have next semester’s tuition or not, were extremely thankful for their present situation and they have faith that they will still be here next year. The fun part about this activity was that we needed to text our quotes and observations back to the newsroom, which I thought was a splendid idea since it made everything more interesting and quick. Even though the final writing was not written by me, when I read the article completed by our group, I still see and feel and big part of me within those lines.

Muslim in the United States Army

If I were a muslim in the United States Army, at the moment, I would feel nothing but unfairness and sadness. Yes, on behalf of my country and culture, I guess I could apologize for the shooting, but to be honest, in a way it has nothing to do with me...I am in America! Just like what Ingrid mattson said (the presidient of the islamic Society of North America), "I don't understand why the Muslim American Community has to take responsibility for him". Every since 911, I already had to face the disgrace of people's glares like I was a bad person, or I must have something to do with 911. Just because I am from that race, just because I look like them, just because I speak the same language, it doesn't mean I am PART of the plan. I am NOT dangerous, I will NOT bomb buildings. When can people stop labelling and being stereotypical? I was always proud to be part of the Unites States army, but now I feel singled out by my fellow soldiers for being Muslim. Also, for me as a Muslim soldier who speaks Arabic, I always cringe when I hear the American soldiers talk about Iraqis. I really want some fairness and justice.

Media Blog

Even when it is past midnight in the East Coast, the online version of the New York Times still has updates almost every hour on breaking news. While readers who purchase the print version see the same front page pictures and same ledes the entire day, the online readers are embracing radiant real life pictures or a live video, multiple times a day to keep them connected to the world. The pictures online easily lead the reader to the short and catchy lede under it and the rest of the news is just one click away. Even though the print version of the New York Times does not have videos or high quality pictures, but the ledes and the one sentence under the ledes grabs the reader’s attention to continue reading. On the online version, there are links on the front page to direct to all different categories (politics, business, health, technology, etc…) and links to related articles around every news story for the reader’s convenience. While I compared some major stories like “Obama Presses Senate To Pass Its Health Bill” and “In Twilight at 91, Mandela Endures as South Africa’s Ideal” I realized that the online and print version is the exact same, word for word, only the lede is slightly different and the online version has more pictures. Also, both online and print versions only have a preview of the news story on the front –page coverage, which requires the reader to either click in or flip pages. Unlike the online version where readers may comment, the print version of the news does not have commentaries, but it does have a section for editorials and letters.

Much alike the online version of the New York Times, the online LA Times also has a main picture and strong lede on the front-page however, there are some obvious differences between the sites. Compared to the NYT, the layout of the Los Angeles Times online version seems to be slightly more spaced out, clear, organized, and attractive. Maybe because the New York Times have too much information to squeeze in at once, and a little too many advertisements, not everything is as comfortably spaced out as the Los Angeles Times. Not only does the L.A. Times have a convenient and comfortable opening page with the time, date, login, and categories nicely presented, but also there are more videos and pictures posted, most viewed and top news have their own area, and there are even fun categories like ‘Odd News’, ‘Blogs’, ‘Holiday Hot List’, and ‘L.A. Times Magazine’. On the New York Times, one needs to search for places to comment, but on the L.A. Times, there’s even an area called ‘Your Scene Your Comments’ where readers are able to join discussions and leave comments. The ledes in both online version news are short and precise but I did realize that the NYT tend to have more serious and strong ledes, whereas the LA Times gives reader a fun and relaxing spirit.

In class activity

In today's class we were split into two groups: liberal & conservative and we had to blog and comment on two issues: healthcare & gay marriage in Maine. At first, many of us were unclear on what we had to do, however when it was clarified.. everyone was on the roll! We kept searching online (google, youtube...etc.) for links to support our topic and the side we stood on. It was so fascinating to see how excited everyone got and how it started to become a little competition between the two sides.

The Same Pooh Bear, But an Otter Has Arrived

The first authorized Winnie-the-Pooh sequel in more than 80 years is out on Monday; however, it is also inviting the question, “Why not? Why do it at all?”

Michael Brown, chairman of the pooh Properties Trust, said “Some people said it shouldn’t be done, and there will still be some of that now, this feeling that this is a gleaming jewel in the world of children’s books and don’t miss around with it. This doesn’t damage the original stories at all, though, and allows us to continue the stories in a world of kindness, cheerfulness, laughter, and fun.”

“Return to the Hundred Acre Wood,” contains of 10 stories by well known English writer, David Benedictus, illustrations by Mark Burgess, an English writer and illustrator of many children’s books, and published by Dutton Children’s Books. Dutton published the first four books in which Pooh appears.

The exciting thing is, readers of “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood” will find that time has not passed in that world. Christopher Robin is back from boarding school to hang out with the gang, Pooh still cannot spell, and there’s a new best friend in the circle of animals! A saucy, pearl-wearing otter named Lottie. Also, Eeyore may be a little more proactive (so he isn’t always the victim), and Pooh may have gained a little weight, but he’s the same old bear.

On the other hand, there has also been a splashy marketing campaign for “return”, with bookstore tea parties and “poohtiques”.

Lisa Von Drasek, the children’s librarian at the Bank Street College of Education in New York, said “the best-case scenario is that it’s excellent, it’s magnificent and it brings more people to the original Pooh books, not the Disneyfied version.” Welcome back little ole’ Pooh Bear!