Ten Years Later

Twitter exploded with hashtags of #neverforget and #GodblesstheUSA on the decade anniversary of 9/11, as over three million tweets acknowledged the occasion.

We shared where we were, who we were with, what we thought on that Tuesday morning ten years ago. Various news and social media websites encouraged us to express our memories and describe our experience since. The New York Times, among others, created an entire addition to their website covering every aspect of 9/11 from the events of the day itself to the impact on American Muslims since. Television documentaries and films consumed practically every station from CBS to OWN, Animal Planet to the History Channel. Newspapers took the opportunity to bring out the biggest and best in front page illustration.

We were bombarded with images and sounds. Videos of the attacks themselves and the minutes after. Recordings of panicked 911 calls and final goodbyes to loved ones.

Was it too much? Did the hundreds of hours of anniversary coverage trivialize the events? Or honor those affected most by the tragedy?

Nevertheless, whether there was too much exposure or not enough, the media succeeded in helping us remember that tragic day and the lives lost. A plummeting stock market, the Presidential election, and debt reduction plans were slightly further from our mind as we took the time to tune in to the coverage or glance through the commemorative magazine. Through television specials and newspaper articles, Americans came closer together as a nation in remembrance, just as we were a decade before.

photo courtesy of pingnews.com via www.creativecommons.com

Read more...

Taking Care Of Business

With the sun shining and the busy time of finals approaching, many college students are feeling a lack of time to complete everything.

However, if a student wants to receive good grades for the end of the term, he/she must decide to prioritize what is most important to get accomplishments completed. With teachers piling on the papers, tests, stories, and quizzes, many students feel overwhelmed and unable to accomplish these goals.

Journalist students are not allowed many opportunities to get off track. To be involved in journalism, a person is constantly reporting, advertising, and researching for the next story he/she will deliver. How can a person maintain his/her focus consistent.

One good tip for students is to take advantage of writing lists. Lists benefit journalist students especially because writing a list of daily plans, homework, and meetings is a great way helping to manage his/her time. Seeing a schedule planned out for when there is free time to study or relax helps students know when to fit homework and other events in.

Another good tip is to not cram everything in at once. Whether it's allowing time to go for a run to clear the mind or watching a television show, taking small breaks in between tasks allows a person to tackle assignments with fresh eyes and a clear head.

One last tip is to remember to get enough sleep at night. Although it's the end of the year and people want to spend time with classmates, getting the right amount of sleep at night allows students to feel alert and more energetic throughout long days rather than simply going through the motions.

While receiving a lot of pressure from teachers, coaches, parents, and peers, students must remember that staying calm and balancing time evenly is the best solution to helping stay focused.

Although a person may feel frustrated, panic can take over a person's life and put him/her under additional unneeded stress.

Finishing the school year off with good grades and completed tasks can allow a person to feel great. Living a healthy lifestyle of rest and maintaining focus can allow a person to prevent stress.

So whenever you're feeling down in the dumps and like it's impossible to finish, always remember to take a deep breath and smile.

Photo Credit: Technical Significance via Creative Commons.

Read more...

Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, including journalists too. Although some mistakes may seem minor, they are all important because you can learn from them in the end.

The worst mistake that a journalist can make is to spell names wrong in some peoples opinions. Irene Epstein asks, "How would you like it if the newspaper misspelled your name?" She follows this rule so close to heart that if one of her students misspells a name they get 0 for that assignment. Another mistake with names is mixing up the names.

The next big mistake is to misquote someone. It is important to get what they say correct, especially since it is worth quoting in the first place.

Another mistake is mixing up the facts. Although, it may seem like a minor detail it could make or break the story.

The last common error I am going to bring up is AP Style Book errors. Typing email instead of e-mail or not capitalizing or capitalizing a word.

The most important part of making a mistake is correcting it as soon as you know it is wrong. This will keep you a crediable and respected journalist.

"Mistakes are part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from." -Al Franken "Oh, the Things I Know" 2002

Photo Credit Via: Creative Commons

Read more...

Reading Between the Lines

Newspapers are a major part of medium which people assume is becoming less important as digital is slowly but sturdily becoming king. The print side of media is losing in many, many ways across the board. The one way which I would like to focus on is in terms of readership, especially in the young demographic of 18 to 24 years old.

The State of the News Media report for 2011 released its findings this past week, and for most, the numbers do not surprise many. While the lines are going downward on the graph as they move to the right, the concerns for print are increasing.

One-fourth of young adults read the newspaper on a daily basis, according to this study. In 2009, the percentage was slightly up at 27 percent, and in 2008, the amount of readership was at 31 percent. The two-year drop off in readership was the second smallest among demographic groups. (The smallest decline was in the 65+ age range with a two percent drop, respectively.)

Many young people read the newspaper online. According to findings by the Newspaper Association of America (which is separate from State of the News Media), of the 69 million people in the 18-34 range who claim to read the paper, 17.7 million of those say they read the current day’s paper online or hard copy. Almost 45 percent say young adults read the paper on a five-day consecutive basis.

Take these stats how you want it, but I’m still not concerned. These numbers are better than zero percent. Even though it may be a small portion, young adults do care about their newspapers. As a future newspaper writer, I would like to see these numbers a little bit higher. However, we as college media students who have a strong passion for newspapers as I do need to find a solution, and we need to find one fast.

Photo Credit: Fotopedia via Creative Commons

Read more...

Learn How to Write an Effective Headline

What's the first thing that a reader sees when looking at a newspaper article or even a website? If you said the headline you would be correct. The headline is what can either make or break a story, depending on whether it catches the interest of the reader. Here are 7 tips on how to write an effective headline and not to have your headline end up on a list of worst headlines ever.

1.First off you need to understand the purpose of having a headline. It is to interest the reader enough to keep them reading further. The point is not to entertain them or to crack a funny pun. In certain occasions that is acceptable, but that should not be your goal.

2. Know your audience and target your headline specifically to them. Ex: "Conquer Your Smoking Habit Using this Simple Step" instead of "Stop Smoking Using this Simple Step"

3. Use active voice. By using active voice you will tap into the readers emotions making them want to read further. Ex: "Hitter Blasts Record Distance Homerun" instead of "Hitter Blasted Record Distance Homerun"

4. Summarize it all in one sentence. Ex: "Scientists grow human ear on back of mouse" instead of "Scientists conduct cell transplant experiments"

5. Possibly propose a question as a headline, but make sure the question is something your reader wants to know the answer to. Ex: "Is the Zune anybetter than the iPod?" instead of "Zune not much better than the iPod"

6. Use a list or bullent points to stress your main points. It will catch your readers attention more than just a paragraph. Ex: "Top 10 films of 2010" instead of "Great films released last year"

7. Lastly, do not capitalize the letter of every word in your headline. You should only capitalize the important words.

Hope these tips help you create headlines that will draw readers into your story.

Photo Credit: Via Creative Commons

Read more...

Photo Taking Tips

Something that catches your eye when looking at a newspaper, magazine, book, etc. are pictures. It has been said a picture is worth a thousand words, but that is only if the picture has meaning and is of good quality.

Combined tips from Kodak and hp, listed below give photographers tips to make their photographs more appealing.

1. Use a plain background. You don't want your background to take over what the main focus of the picture is about.

2. Use a flash outdoors and know your flash's range. Along with your flash, be aware of the lighting around you. Too much lighting can overexpose photos, while too little can underexpose photos.

3. Move in close and lock in your focus. Whether it be with zoom or physically, you want your focus to be the majority of the photograph.

4. Take some vertical pictures. Remember, your camera is able to turn, allowing you to format your pictures and some variety.

5. Move it from the middle. Instead of the typical focus being in the middle, have it off center for a greater balance.

6. Get down to their level. Do not tower above your subject, unless that is the desired effect for the photo.

7. Hold the camera steady as you shoot the picture, this well reduce blur.

Hopefully, these basic tips can help you take better photos, but remember creativity is important to.

Photo credit: Via Creative Commons

Read more...

Apps On Smart Phones

With many people turning to online sources to receive their news, phone applications are great for journalists to add to their cell phones.

Phones are able to have applications if they are labeled as a smart phone. Smart phones have been a great addition to the journalism world because they have many applications that journalists can use for finding news or helping enhance their story.

By the end of 2011, it is predicted by many computer software companies that smart phone mobile devices will hold the dominant position in the wireless device market.

With the popularity of smart phones increasing, journalists should be aware of some of the applications that are offered free to them directly on their mobile device.

Qik- An application for users to capture live video directly off their phones and enables them to upload news or Kodak moments right to the web. Qik can also be used to chat live with others.

Wordpress- This application is a great way for journalists to do simple blogging, along with the ability to add pictures and videos to their posts. Wordpress also allows users to comment on other blogs posted, which is a great way for users to receive feedback and give advice to other users.

Photoshop Express- As the quality of cameras are increased on phones, this application benefits people that want to edit their photos directly on their mobile. Photoshop Express is also a great way to upload a picture directly to Twitter, Facebook, or your online blog.

VoiceTask- When covering a story, it has to be a huge bummer for journalists realizing they left their voice recorder at home. However, with this application, journalists are able to use the microphone right off their phone to record whatever they need to. Afterward, the conversation can be directly sent via e-mail from the phone by simply typing in an e-mail address.

While I have only listed just a few phone applications, there are thousands of different applications that are offered free or can be purchased on smart phones for many different purposes.

People that have a smart phone should take advantage of the benefits that come along with having one.

I have a Blackberry and enjoy the different things I am allowed to directly do from my mobile device for classes, writing, or entertainment.

Whether it's checking your grades on Scholar, reading news for our weekly quizzes in BNR, or using one of the applications I mentioned above, having a smart phone is a huge advantage when it comes to being a journalist.

Photo Credit: Bind Apple @ Creative Commons

Read more...

Why Should We Blog?

At the beginning of enrollment in BNR class, a majority of Simpson College students had never contributed to a blog in their life.

Many students pondered about this whole blogging business at the beginning of this course. Why would we need blogs? What are we going to write about for our blogs? How are we going to know what we're blogging about is useful? How do people even use blogs?

Traditionally, blogs started out as being a sort of online diary for people across the world. However, as blogging became more popular, many businesses and journalists decided to contribute to the blogging world to gain publicly.

Blogging has helped the journalist world in all different aspects. Once writers have exposed their work online, they are easily able to catch reader's attention. In result, they can receive feedback and gain subscribers to read their daily postings.

As you continue to blog, you will notice an improvement in your writing skills. For those who have previously blogged, think back to the very first blog you wrote. Now snap back to the present. Your writing portfolio and skills have improved tremendously because of your frequent interaction with writing.

What if you aren't interested in blogging for journalist purposes and promoting business? There are still many different reasons you can post your blogs online.

One last pro of becoming a blogger is you can even make profit from blogging. A lot of people blogging have not found themselves becoming a blogger to make money, but find out later that will end up doing so.

An unknown author once said, "Blogging is the new poetry."

If you have never blogged before reading this article, please consider the benefits of blogging. Go ahead and give starting your own blog a shot.

Photo Credit: Tutor2U @ Creative Commons

Read more...

What's a Story Without Pictures?

Pictures in a lot of cases are necessary for journalism. For example, newspapers are never or very rarely seen without pictures. However because newspaper staffs are shrinking it is possible that if you are writing a story for a newspaper, you will also have to take the photography for your article as well.

Taking a photography class in highschool I learned some basic tips.

One of the most important things that you need to do to be able to take good pictures is to have a high quality camera if possible. The better quality the camera the better quality the pictures are likely to be.

Also, it is important to be familiar with your camera. For example, you do not want to buy a brand new camera just before going out to take pictures because you will not know how that camera works. The best idea is to buy a camera and go out and practice with it, even read the manual if you have time so you can learn how to get the best use out of it.

Also, when taking your own pictures, make sure that they match the emotion of your story. If your story is about rebuilding after a flood, you would want to show not only the devastation caused but also the hope that comes in the rebuilding process.

Pictures with people are also good typically because people show emotion which can help make your story more meaningful. Also, if it is for a local newspaper and the picture features local people it can be an attention getter.

Also, it's important to have a camera that has video capabilities in case you need to interview someone on the fly.

Another important thing is to have a phone with camera or video capabilties in case you do not have your camera with you.

There are still options for those people who are unable to take pictures of their own. A perfect example is this blog. Creative Commons is a fantastic website that allows users to access non-copyrighted pictures. As long as credit is given to where the photograph came from, they can be used.

If you have any more questions about photography feel free to ask.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

Read more...

Being A Freelance Journalist

Have you ever known somebody with a passion for writing but had another dream for his or her career? Talk to them about freelance writing.

A freelance journalist is a writer that can be self-employed and not committed to a specific employer for a long term.

With a passion and desire to be an Admissions Counselor someday, this has been something I have been taking deep consideration in for my future. Not only can you engage in a career you love, you can also continue to write about topics of your choice.

In the world today, there are billions of different people that will respond to situations in similar and different ways. As writers, many feel a good reason to write a story is because they have something relevant to say about a certain topic.

When writing a story, a journalist can always find at least one person that will feel what they wrote was newsworthy. A freelance journalist could write about something that engaged their interest and allowed them to specialize in their passions.

Another positive thing about being a freelance journalist is your hours are flexible, because you'd only be writing part-time. After a day at your job, it'd still be easy to go home and work behind your computer.

A person that is a freelance writer has the advantage of having profit to fall back on if something in their job went bad. While writing on the side, you can still make profit. There are many magazine and newspaper editors that wish to share other people's knowledge to their readers.

Many people associate freelance writing with freestyle writing. With many of us being college students interested in journalism, we should even consider starting a freelance writing career now to build our writing portfolios for future jobs and internships.

Photo Credit: Cambridge Who's Who Authors @ Creative Commons

Read more...

X, Y, Z, &

Hello fellow BNR students. If you where in class this last Wednesday, you would have learned why a comma looks the way it does. This got me thinking of why other puncuations marks look the way they do. Have you ever wondered why? Well, if that is a yes, you are in luck because listed below is a few of the common punctuation marks and how they came about.

The question mark. You know that little scribble and dot? Yeah, just like that. When Latin scholars wrote a sentence that was question, they would write the word "questio" at the end of it. As you can imagine writing that word got old and it was shortened to "qo." This got confusing too and it got changed to a q on top of a o. Very similar to what the question mark looks like nowadays.

The exclamation point. That super excitied dot and line! Well it is like the question mark. It is based off the Latin word "io," meaning "exclamation of joy. When written vertically, with the i above the o it begins to look like the exclamation point we see today.

The last punctuation mark was actually considered to be the 27th letter of the alphabet. "X, Y, Z, &." This mark is called the ampersand, but was orginally pronunced "and, per, se." It just got mashed together and is no longer the 27th alphabet letter.

If you would like to check out more punctuation marks and where I found this interesting information, check out the link.

Photo Credit: Via Creative Commons

Read more...

Journalism Is Not Dead

This past Thursday and Friday, Simpson College students traveled to the INA Convention & Trade Show to engage their minds in becoming better journalists.

On Friday morning, Michael Bugeja, journalist, author, and educator, talked to writers about his views on social networking vs. newspapers. He believes that in this generation journalism is gone. As well as Bugeja, many people feel that social networking has swept over the popularity of receiving news.

As a college student wishing to pursue a career in journalism, the possibility of wasting your time writing a piece of work readers may never read is a scary thought.

Although online data has become very useful and easily accessible, young journalists should not give up on their dreams of writing for a newspaper, magazine, etc. Writing in a newspaper can provide a lot of the same advantages online sources can today.

Still worried? There is a great solution that many writers are turning to today: combining the newspaper and social media together. Many writers at the INA Convention Show were taught the advantages of both traditional media and social media.

The common phrase, "Two is better than one," has been an accurate statement for many journalists and reporters all over the world. Writers from past generations just may have to set up a Twitter or Facebook account to see if it can help provide better publicity of their work. With the increase of social media, it is a great time for writers to research the pros of mutually combining the two and seeing the steps they can take to reporting the news today.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

Read more...

Vlogging Tips

Hello fellow BNR students. As all of you know one of the requirements for this class is to do a vlog. The main tip given for this assignment is to look at the camera and not the screen, so when your vlog is viewed it doesn't look like you purposely didn'took at the camera or didn't know where it was. Such as in the wonderful example Brian Steffen showed us of Michele Bachmann. I have a few more tips that can help you have the best vlog ever.

1. Choose a topic and stay on topic. Vlogs are not ment to be long. Address the points you want to in a timely and organized fashion.

2. Quality beats quantity. It is better for you to have a few quality videos than a large sum of boring videos.

3. Articulate, if people can't hear or understand you they are not going to want to view your vlog.

4. Avoid the use of ummm and like. It is plain and simple-just don't say them.

5. Avoid unnecessary distractions. This includes a distracting background scenery or noise.

6. Lastly, just like this blog it is important to add lables to the vlog describing what your vlog is about. It gives people a higher likely hood of being able to see your vlog and possibly getting more subscribers.

I hope these tips help and feel free to comment with more tips.

Photo Credit: Via Creative Commons

Read more...

Morgan Abel, Now Blogging Weekly

My name is Morgan Abel and I am a senior at Simpson College in Indianola Iowa. I am a native to the Midwest and have spent the majority of my life in Iowa. I am very passionate about traveling and have taken the opportunity to travel abroad through Simpson College.

Read more...

Amanda Hintgen's First Blog for BNR

I am Amanda Hintgen and I am a freshmen at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. I graduated from Maquoketa High School in 2010. I am currently enrolled in Beginning News Writing and Reporting.

Read more...

Erin Gerken's Introduction to Blogger

Hello, my name is Erin Gerken. I am currently a second semester freshmen at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. I am a member of the swim team, and I also participate in the Campus Activity Board, or CAB. I graduated from Cedar Rapids Prairie High School in 2010. This blog is being created for my Beginning News Writing and Reporting class.

Read more...

Charlie Sandvick, New Blogger

The name is Charlie Sandvick. I'm currently a sophomore at Simpson College majoring in IMC-Creative with a small side of Multimedia Journalism. I'm from a small town you've probably never heard of called Marengo, IA. When I left the population dropped severely. I'm on the softball team here at college. You can find me in the outfield. I like to hang out with my friends, participate in sports, watch football, and cheer on the Mizzou Tigers :)

Read more...