QR Codes For Dummies

One of the trends on Twitter this week has been QR Codes which is short for Quick Response Codes.

A QR Code is a matrix barcode readable by barcode readers and camera phones.

They can be found on magazines, signs, tv advertisements, websites, business cards or any other object that has information on it.

The QR Code has been around for a while now. It was invented in 1994 by a Japanese company, Denso-Wave.

The codes have been used in Japan for years, but they are just now becoming mainstream in the United States.

To be able to read these QR Codes you must download an app on your phone like RedLaser or Savvy Shopper.

Next, when you come across a code you turn on your camera on your phone and zoom in. It will scan the code and take you to a page with the information located on it.

If you would like to create your own QR Code for a business card or for other uses there are websites you can access such as http://qrstuff.com/.

There will be many other items that QR Codes will be used for that we couldn't even imagine now. They are going to be a way of finding information.

Photo Credit: Steve Hall via Creative Commons

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The Right Body Image

Journalism plays a key role in shaping many minds about what their body should look like.

Magazines such as Cosmo, Seventeen, and People demand writers to show readers what the "ideal" body shape is in our society. Many times, this body shape is pressuring young women to have an extremely thin body.

Media writers have a huge impact on shaping people's beliefs, ideas, and images of themselves. People that have exposure to any type of mass media have been given what the "right" idea of an acceptable body shape is.

Faces of celebrities such as Mary-Kate Olsen, Lindsay Lohan, and Jessica Alba are plastered on
many magazines so readers can see what "real beauty" is supposed to look like walking down the streets of America.

Often times a magazine may leave out that many celebrities have been diagnosed with some type of eating disorder on his/her journey fitting into that size 0 pair of jeans, such as the three ladies listed above.

Which leaves writers with the question: How do you write a piece for readers and not offend anyone by giving them a negative image about his/her body?

Last week, Brian Steffen showed us the different angles there are to approaching a story when it is assigned.

There are many different approaches that can be used when writing about body image.

Create a human-interest story that could involve somebody who suffered from an eating disorder or put together a how-to piece on how readers can lose weight in healthy ways.

Another great tip for writers is to simply report the facts.

Don't make your story about the 105-pound celebrity with the fancy car and underground pool seem like that is what every person has to be like in order to survive.

People come in all different shapes and sizes. Know what you are reporting to readers may influence the daily life of somebody.

Use journalism as a positive tool to make readers feel good. When writing about a topic such as body image, report reality, not the celebrity world.

Photo Credit: The Chic Fashionista via Creative Commons

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Is It A Newspaper Or A Magazine

On February 2, 2011 The Daily for the Apple iPad was launched.

The Daily has promoted itself as a newspaper exclusively for the iPad. Each day new articles are published and put out just like a print newspaper.

An iPad user downloads the app and pays 99 cents per week or a year subscription for $39.99. Then the user is set to read to his or her heart's content.

It has been speculated however that The Daily is not a newspaper but a magazine. These claims have been based on visuals more present than text.

In my opinion The Daily is neither one. Both newspapers and magazines have a large amount of context bewteen the pages.

An issue of The Daily only has a handful of stories. And once those stories are gone they are gone unlike newspapers and magazines which can have stories from months or years gone by.

To me The Daily is ridiculous, why pay for news when it can be read online for free with an unlimited amount of stories?

I feel this application is really just a bulletin highlighting a few stories.

What's your take?

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

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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

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Thousands of Online Newspapers!

With all the chatter of online news, and its effect on the newspaper industry, I thought I would share a website that gives you the opportunity to find thousands of online newspapers. This gives you the opportunity to find U.S. newspapers, world newspapers and magazines. You can even update the site if it does not contain one that you know of.

According to http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/, these are the current top 10 of the top 50 newspapers in the United States.

1. The New York Times (New York)

2. The Washington Post (Washington D.C.)

3. The Los Angeles Times (California, Los Angeles)

4. The Daily Fulki (Dhaka)

5. New York Post (New York, New York)

6. Daily News (New York)

7. Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia)

8. The Boston Globe (Massachusetts)

9. Detroit Free Press (Michigan)

10. Chicago Tribune (Illinois)

This is an interesting site to check out! Who knows, this site could be used as your future career lead list.

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