Final Blog Post

This semester upon entering the commenting culture of journalism has led to many ups and downs. I had trouble getting through to radio stations and posting things onto the internet, but eventually after tweaking some settings most would eventually work. I enjoyed doing the little assignments such as adding to the Wikipedia page (even though my post got removed after a couple hours) and contributing to Yelp.com. Those were the posts that I felt like I was really diving into the commenting culture and adding my voice. I like knowing that I gave positive feedback to where it is deserved and to a business that does a good job with customer service and helping them attract more customers.

The big projects weren't always a success, yet they did give me a firsthand glimpse into the world of commenting and viewer feedback. The first project, "Letters to the Editor," was my favorite. Although none of my letters were printed, at least to my knowledge, I enjoyed voicing my opinions and sending them in with the tantalizing expectation that they may be printed and that other readers could read what I have to say and that they might agree with me. For this project I tried to change my voice, depending on what publication I was sending it in to, and what topic I was writing about. This project was a high moment for me during this semester.

The second project, "Calling In," was perhaps my most frustrating moment during this semester. I would try to get on and then wait, and being an impatient person, that did not go over well with me. Finally, when I did get on with "Matty in the Morning," I either got hung up on or disconnected and after that I admit I did lose my enthusiasm for getting on to talk radio. However, I can say that as a listener I do enjoy when other people are able to get on and offer their opinion or request.

The third project I thought was fun, and a bit frustrating. I can say that Pictory.com is a frustrating website and I will probably never use it again. I ended up using youtube.com and this finally worked once I had a camera that I could upload a video with, since youtube.com wouldn’t accept any videos that I already had on my phone. Unfortunately, I did not receive very many comments on this video as I would have liked, and I think that unless you have a very popular video with a specific title it can be hard to draw in commenter’s.

Overall, I enjoyed the commenting experience and I will continue to be a commenter because I feel that it is important for people to comment on stories and videos that they find intriguing or worthwhile. People can comment and add to the interest of any story.

Third Project

I am having some trouble either finding a video that will be accepted by youtube.com or finding a picture that has enough pixels for pictory.com. I first tried to make a slide show off of a separate website that I could upload to youtube of a Coldplay concert that I was able to get great close-up pictures from. However, that website ended up wanting to charge me 50 dollars after I created the slides how. After that I turned my attention to pictory.com and tried to upload a picture from the same concert. The first setting that I chose to try and upload a picture to was the phoot camp 2011, however, that one didn't work. Then I tried the setting local legends and that one said that my picture would be accepted because it wasn't 1000 pixels wide. Then I tried to email two videos of my dog after a bath from my phone to my student email address and then try and upload it to youtube.com. However, neither one of the video URL's were accepted by youtube.com, so now I think I'm going to have to try and take a video from my camera and then try those to upload to youtube.com.

I was finally able to upload a video that youtube.com would accept and here it is! This is my roommates dog who has come up to visit for the week. She is sore from all the playing and swimming that she has been doing this week but gives it her best to do the tricks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_14Fej37d0

Here is the picture that I was trying to upload to pictory but it wouldnt be accepted...

Yelp Blog

Here are the two links to my reviews:

1) http://www.yelp.com/review_share/o0TAwpCisYySjkIEn9iJvQ/review/ERAPD2w8YTbeXvKioB_TVg?fsid=5ZvElwyw15e0DM5igAJJMw

2) http://www.yelp.com/review_share/YI4U5Qew95gxkbs_RjO89g/review/77c3k9tkRTcJ5ZNSa5MHFg?fsid=tYRR1a5PF2A8-of9lwj1gA

I wrote a review for two places within Amherst, Ma. I thought that the experience of writing a review was easy and not difficult at all. I actually enjoyed writing the reviews. I liked being able to say whether I liked something or I didn't like something. I was able to tell the public whether or not a restaurant/ clothing store is worth while or whether its expensive and what the parking is like. I chose to write two positive reviews about places that I have recently discovered due to my friends or other online reviews. I thought that other people should be exposed to theses places because they are fun to go to and a great way to spend an afternoon or night.

Digg Blog Post

When interacting on the website Digg.com I would look at the recently posted links and either contribute to the up- voting or down -voting of the links that people put up. I noticed that certain themes and other types of links would get the most comments. They were not necessarily the best, most interesting links; they could have been silly, miscellaneous links that did not seem to have any true value. Those types of links seemed to have a lot of comments. However, I also noticed that some of the links that are political or have to do with politics would attract a lot of attention as well. The comments left on these posts would range from a highly educated person who you could tell researched the facts about the link and added an informative comment to the link. However, there were also the posts from the people who would take the link as a personal attack towards their political views and would then write a personal attacking comment back on the link. I never really found a story that grabbed my attention. I would browse for a while and look in the entertainment section to see if I found something that appealed to what I would like to read about, and sometimes I did see something that I wanted to read but mostly I would see links such as the "top 25 best scenes from a movie" and while those are fun to read they can only hold their appeal for so long. I also noticed that links that had a certain city or banning of an item would also get a lot of comments. I think that people wanted to voice their opinions if they were from that area or if the ban or stopping of something would affect them. The commenter’s wanted their opinions to be heard and they figured the best way to do it would be to comment on a link.

HW Post 4/6/11

A new video that has recently gone viral is the video of the twin baby boys who are having what appears to be a full conversation between them. They seem to completely understand what the other one is saying and they use similar mannerisms that adults use when having a conversation with a peer.  I wouldn’t necessarily consider this video content "compelling," however; it is hard to find a hard hitting news youtube video, considering most people put up videos purely for entertainment value. Nevertheless, I will say that the content in this video is adorable and I believe that that is the main reason as to why it went viral and became as popular as it did so quickly. I also think that it went viral because of the maturity that the babies seem to show, and the way that they are acting as though they are having a conversation that only they can understand. Society seems to have a strong interest in cute kid/babies doing things that are either funny or weird, since children are so innocent that they can be funny and cute without intentionally trying to do so. I think that people can become entertained by videos that get them to laugh and two babies having a conversation definitely can do that.

HW Richi Jennings

After reading the story of anonymity on the internet, I felt that a person doesn’t have to stay anonymous. If someone had an important note or comment to say but they don’t want to reveal their identity then they should be able to use a different name or user name in order to feel secure about posting online. I also liked the way that he put the story together by taking different links and posts by online contributors.  He did not take it upon himself to tell the story, and say whether or not anonymity is okay or not. He used other people and their thoughts in order to tell the story, which makes the different arguments more authentic because it takes the opinions of real people who may or may not want to be anonymous online. I also like how there was a video incorporated into the story because it offers different media into the story telling. Although stories want to provide the facts, they also want to be visually interesting so people will read them and this video offers that. Regardless, if people believe that anonymity is bad or good, the option should always be available.

HW Flickr Pictures

I chose the Flickr pictures that cover a St. Patrick’s Day parade http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmiers2/111693966/in/photostream/. This Flickr page tells a story of a community coming together to celebrate the Irish holiday. It didn’t matter if someone wasn’t Irish, or 100 percent Irish, it is a day when people get together to enjoy the weather and drink a couple of beers. I thought that this Flickr helped tell a story of an event because the photographer took pictures of the parade, which was the event and he took them of the progression of the parade. If the photographer had just taken pictures of the people he was sitting with, such as his friends or family then it wouldn’t be telling the story of an event. However, because the photographer took pictures of the actual progression of the parade then he is telling the story of the parade through his photographs. He also took pictures of the people watching the parade because they were a part of the story and the event. I think that the strengths of this Flickr story are that he took a wide range of pictures, and was able to capture the faces and expression of the people watching the parade and the people in the parade. However, I think that the weakness of his photography was that he seemed to stay in one place during his picture taking. The story telling would have been more effective if he had moved around the parade and captured different moments of the parade in different areas. I also think that the limited amount of pictures that he chose to take was also a negative part of his story telling.

HW Wikipedia Post

I posted about John Lennon on Wikipedia, I had been struggling with trying to figure out what to add. I had never really realized how detailed the contents on Wikipedia were, and every time I thought I had another fact to add, I would discover that it was already on the webpage. Finally, I was watching a television show that was talking about John Lennon and I realized that they had mentioned facts about him that was not already on his Wiki page. I decided to add them. It was a lot easier than I expected it would be, all I have to do was create an account, scroll down to the section I wanted to add the facts to and just type them. Then I just hit the save button and there on the Wiki page was my addition. It had been accepted and so far no one has made changes to it.

Project 2: Calling in to a Radio Station

My quest to call into a radio talk show station was a difficult one. I rarely listen to talk radio if it's about politics or other hard topics. I tend to listen more to music talk shows. I tried calling in to local Amherst radio stations, such as 94.3 and other music stations, but none of those would take my call or I couldn’t find a relevant topic to talk with them about. I tried calling into the Ryan Seacrest show to comment on his popular music countdown and about the Lady GaGa song, "Born this Way," but much to my dismay and frustration I waited for my call to be taken for about 45 min. and then I wasn’t able to get on air. Finally, over spring break I was dog sitting for a family friend who lives 20-25 minutes away from my house. I would have to get up early to drive and walk the dog. Therefore, I got into the habit of listening to Matty in the Morning, whose show is from 8 am to 10 am. They were talking to Matthew Morrison from Glee and they were talking about his new single that he was promoting. I kept listening and they played the Lady Gaga song and how it was being compared to a Madonna song, I figured I would give it a shot to call in and comment on the song. I got disconnected the first time I tried calling in, and I decided I would give it one more shot, before the topic would become irrelevant. I called in again and was put on hold for about 15 minutes, and then to my surprise I was going to be passed through. I said that I didn’t hear the resemblance between the two songs, and was probably on-air for about 10 seconds before I got cut off. I don’t know if my cell phone dropped service or if they cut me off, but the connection died. Overall, my experience with calling in to radio stations was not a good one. It was frustrating trying to find an idea to talk with the hosts about, getting passed by the producer, and actually getting on air, and then if I got on air, I had to stay on air without being cut off. Unless, I have to call in to a radio station again for another class assignment, I probably won’t be calling back in to talk unless I am very passionate about the topic being talked about.

Talk Radio: Is It Journalism?

After listening to the talk radio clips, I feel that only two of these clips could somewhat classify as journalism. The two clips that I think are journalism are the last two ones, "Charles the against the grain caller," and "Mark Levin." The reasons why I think that these could be considered journalism is that they are covering topics such as health care and politics, and they are not just trying to entertain the public. Charles is a caller who is educated in what he is saying, and although Mark Levin could be considered a radical, he does offer a counterpart argument in his show from an Obama supporter. The reason why I don't think that Michael Savage is a true journalist reporter is because on his show he is ranting about how Obama is bad for the United States, yet offers no other counter argument from someone else. The questions that Michael Savage would want to ask Obama are all about him and whether Obama would take him off air. The other two radio stations, car talk, and whiner line, I don't think are journalism. I believe that these two are not journalism because they are more for entertainment purposes and not hard topics, such as politics.

March 2 HW assignment: Part 2

I completely agree with this comment. I think that it is a radio hosts job to be stimulating, and like I said in my last post I think that a radio station will gather more followers if the host doesn't focus on being politically correct, but rather focuses on stating their opinion, whether it is controversial or not. Their job is to support what they say, even if the general public does not agree. That particular host will gather a dedicated following that agrees with what they have said and what they will say in the future. Talk radio needs to be stimulating, and they will do anything to be that, in order to stay on air. It is a difficult and competitive world, and in order to have the advantage over your competitors you need to be stimulating. If a talk show host worried all the time about what they are saying on air, or if they were editing out their own opinions or beliefs then they would die as a radio station. Listeners want to be entertained and listen to stimulating and interesting talk radio, therefore radio talk show hosts need to give them what they want. That is why I agree with this statement.

March 2 Assignment: "Host" by DFW Response

In the piece by David Foster Wallace on John Ziegler I noticed that Ziegler seemed, at least to me, to be similar to other talk show hosts that I have listened to. I am not the type of person to listen to talk radio, however, the times that I have listened the hosts seems to feel the need to have strong beliefs and ideas. In order to gather a following and an audience I think that they need to be a little extreme in their views and ideas. They need to be slightly controversial. If a radio talk show host is boring and never has an opinion that they feel the need to defend, then no one will want to listen to their bland show. However, like Ziegler, a controversial and opinionated host will maintain a following because people will tune in to hear what they are going to say next. They are interesting. Ziegler seems to fit the same type of hosts that I have listened to in the past because he is controversial. This proves that controversy and opinion increases the popularity of a talk show host.

Comment Culture HW

I commented on three different online stories/videos. My first two were on youtube videos, specifically the Christina Aguilera super bowl mistake video recording and a random vlog that someone had created. The third was on the Red Sox Spring training and the future season predictions. When I commented on the youtube videos I felt that my language could be more relaxed and if I wanted to pass judgment on the videos I could because my name wasn't going to be associated with my comment. I found that what we discussed in last weeks class held true. I was more relaxed about what I said in my comments because I didn't have to worry about being held responsible for them. However, when I commented on the Red Sox predictions story I was more careful with what I said. Maybe it is because I genuinely care about the Red Sox and I wanted to voice my opinion on the upcoming season. Even though I didn't choose to use my real name for this comment, I still wanted to sound educated and not ignorant on the topic, regardless of whether or not my name was on the comment. I looked back on these comments and none of them really started conversations. I think that for the Red Sox comment it was because people were doing what I was doing and were posting their own opinions based off of the story, and not about what other people wrote. The youtube videos were the same way, especially the Christina Aguilera video because people were just preoccupied with bashing her in their own words. When I commented on the three facebook posts I had a different mentality than when I was commenting on the other stories. These comments were between my friends and I and that made the commenting much more casual and relaxed than the other stories. The comments that I left on the facebook posts did spark conversations but they usually came from my other friends who were commenting. Commenting on the facebook posts came more naturally and felt less pressured than the comments I left on the youtube and Red Sox stories because I am more accustomed to commenting on facebook than I am on other news and youtube stories/vlogs.

Why I Think My Letters Could be Chosen

Firstly, I chose to write my letters on topics that I know people are interested or invested in. I came across the Boston Sunday Globe article in my apartment and I knew that the topic of job economy would be a good article to write a letter to the editor. I also chose this article because as a college student who will be graduating soon and looking for a job, I am able to write this letter to the editor with a passion and first hand experience dealing with the job market. I did not want to take this letter to the editor too seriously, in terms of language. I wanted to take a different approach, using upbeat language and sayings in order to possibly catch the eye of a Boston Sunday Globe publisher. I also think that my letter could be chosen because I am a college student, who goes to school in Massachusetts. This is a large demographic that the Boston Globe tries to reach with their articles.
In my other letter to the editor about the protesting taking place in Egypt, I wanted to take a more serious tone with the letter. Partly because this was being sent to the New York Times and another that this is a more exposed and current topic. I think that I could be chosen to be published because what I said in my letter is agreed upon by many other students and adults that I have talked to about the topic. Another reason why I wanted to write a letter in response to this article, is because I wanted to voice my opinion in that we should take our time in dealing with the friction taking place in Egypt.

Letter to the Editor #2

Boston Sunday Globe
January 9, 2011

After reading the article, "After a grim year, employers are once again optimistic about hiring," written by Megan Woolhouse, all I can say is FINALLY! As a junior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst all I have been thinking about or talking about since freshman year has been jobs, jobs, jobs. One month it seems the job market is improving and than the market plummets. The yo-yo of the job market can cause stress on anyone, but as a college student who will be emerging into the workforce with no jobs available it can be especially difficult. Although, the article cautions that it will take years before the job market is back to where it was before the recession, at least it is improving. I am thankful that these article are being published and are giving reliable facts and figures. I realize that my expectations of getting my dream job straight after graduation are naive and unrealistic, however with articles like thisI am starting to feel hopeful again.

Letter to the Editor #1

New York Times
In the article, "Allies Press U.S. to go Slow on Egypt," by Mark Landler and Helene Cooper, the countries surrounding Egypt are saying that they want the U.S. to take caution when dealing with the controversy of political leadership in Egypt. As a reader and a U.S citizen, I have to agree with this. Although, we might feel that as a powerful country it is time to step up and take drastic measures, the affects of our actions will not be felt on our home front. However, if the U.S. intervention were to be too harsh or abrupt it will be the surrounding countries and the citizens of Egypt that will be feeling the ultimate pressure. Considering that the the current pressure that is being placed on Egyptian officials seems to be paying off, I think that the United States government should allow for this issue to run its course. The last thing we should want as a country is for the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan to repeat itself with Egypt.  Hilary Clinton says that, "the best way for Arab countries to protect themselves was to begin addressing the grievances of their people." I fully agree with this statement, a country will eventually face problems if the people of that country don't take the problems of the people seriously. Overall, I feel that the United States should take their future actions with caution. If they choose to take drastic measures and disregard the request of the countries surrounding Egypt then the United States could end up facing scrutiny that we could have avoided.

Impressive Letters to the Editor

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/opinion/l02egypt.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

I chose the first letter to the editor which was written by Michel Barsoum. His letter caught my eye because he was originally from Egypt and he was providing the readers with a first hand response about the environment there. He wrote this letter the way that I feel is most effective in getting a point across. He was short and concise, yet the message he was trying to show is apparent. The reader of this letter doesn't read it and wonder what point he was trying to make, instead it is very clear. The set-up of his letter is also something that caught my attention. He starts by saying something personal, for example his personal connection to this story. Then he leads into telling a few facts  and figures about the situation that is going on in Egypt. Then he says what he believes is the wanted solution to the problem, and that is will be a difficult project for whoever gets it. Lastly, he ends with something inspirational for the reader to hold on to and continue to give support to the people of Egypt.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-110124biladeau_briefs,0,6594186.story

This is a letter to the editor from the Chicago Tribune, about health care reform written by Arthur Biladeau. This letter first caught my eye because it was more of an annoyed reader responding to an article that he disagreed with. Although the letter comes across as the reader being annoyed they still offer points within their letter that they use to back themselves up. I think that this is important in an opinionated letter to the editor if you want to come across as knowing what you're talking about, instead of just writing on emotion. If a writer simply rants in their letter to the editor than readers will just see them as venting and annoying and disregard what they have to say. Therefore, the message that the writer is trying to share will be forgotten. However, I liked this letter because he combined a sense of emotion with facts and it made the letter more viable.

Feb. 2 HW Reaction

I think that this quote is a quote that all editors should follow when considering the letters to the editor. I agree that in order to have a flowing and accurate conversation between people about a story or issue there can be no intervening on the part of the publishers or the newspaper. However, they need to be able to ensure that letters which have no relevance are not published, so there needs to be some weeding of stories in order to provide the public a letter worth reading and sharing. This is demonstrated when the quote says, "they are also eager to show that ethical aims of fairness, accuracy, and balance underpin the letters page." I fully agree with this statement, because I think that a newspaper wants to attract more letters and comments and in order to attract readers they need to have an intelligent and informed conversation via letters to the editor.

January 26th HW Reaction

I think that the first quotation is the view point that older journalists held when reporting their stories to the public. Before newspaper articles were posted on the Internet, and before the public were able to comment on the stories people would write letters to the editor. The newspaper was able to choose which letters would be printed, but today anyone could comment on a story. This means that in the past, journalists would guide rather than engage the public in conversation. However, I think that the public should have a right to voice their opinions on a story without limitations, and they should be able to have a say in what news they find relevant to their lives. I find that the second quotation is also a reporting style that journalists should not follow or consider when reporting their stories. An advertiser should not be the controller in what news stories are published. I think that a newspaper should print the stories that they feel relate to their overall goal in sharing the news with the public, and an advertiser who connects with that newspapers production will then want to share their ads with them. It should not be the other way around. Overall, I feel that the public should have the right to share their feedback and comment on a story. The act of journalism should be an interactive experience, instead of one source leading the other. In addition, I think that newspapers should not edit their content in order to please or gain advertisers. A paper should stay true to the content that they determine is news and an advertiser should mold to the paper.