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.