Extension

Thanks to Dr. Byers for the the extension on the project. With all the technology complications, this makes life so much easier and less stressful. Our projects and our sanity will benefit.

What to print?

Someone will always be offended.
We have to be prepared for that. As journalists attempting to print ethical, unbiased news. It’s nearly impossible. It may be our job to be objective, but that seems to be complicated by economics. We talked in class about if we would print a comic some may consider racist if we knew it would anger readers. Angry readers means people less likely to read/buy the paper. Particularly with the precarious situation of print newspapers in our society, it seems that playing to the reader is becoming more and more of a key aspect in what is printed. Retention of consumers is taking higher precedence over unbiased news reporting. As journalists, we should expect people to be offended. That means we are making people think. In choosing what news, do we choose what people need to hear, or what people what to hear? When put this way it is obvious, but when we look at it, as we did in class with the comic, it seems it isn’t quite so obvious and many factors often find their way into the decision, for better or worse.

Technology

It’s funny. You can think you know all you need to know to fit your purpose with today’s technology. But really, we are at the mercy of the machines. Our group went to the lab tonight to work on our project. We were ready to start editing the video footage we had taken. Much to our dismay, the footage wouldn’t load onto the computer. I don’t know how long we spent trying to figure out how to get the video to load, and in the end only accomplished a little on our project.
When did we become so dependent on technology? Sure, it makes life a lot easier, when it works as expected. But more often than not it is causing more stress and headaches than it might be worth.

Course evaluation complications

Many of us noted when we received the email for online course evaluations, that only one of our profs for this class was listed. I contacted the evaluation coordinators who apologized for overlooking that our course has two primary instructors. Since some of our class has already turned in their evaluations, they cannot switch anything officially. It was recommended that we mention the missing instructor and leave comments about Mr. Feyrer in the section for additional comments.

iWeb

I had no idea web-site design was so easy. I remember working in grade school with simple HTML coding for a web-site project. To enter all the coding seems tedious now, but from what I remember it was quite an accomplishment when the pages turned out right, being able to see all the code typed out, and knowing that you had actually put everything together for the page. It is amazing to me how simple web design has become. We don’t even have to look at the pages of code now, everything is done for us. Web design has become more of an art form and less of a technical skill. And while many people would say good riddance to the old style, and I myself am a huge fan of how many design options are available so simply now, sometimes I think a little nostalgia for the good old days of coding is in order.

Backpacks… benefit or bust?

We had a guest speaker in one of my classes who was adamantly against backpack journalism. I found it incredibly intriguing to get the other side of the story. While the backpack journalist has the freedom to work solely with himself, and one person is easier to get into certain situations, the point which was made to the class was that while one person can get the full story, there is a cost. Part of reporting is being able to be responsive to your interviewee and the situation around you, which is more difficult to do when you have to juggle a notepad (or voice recorder), a still camera, and a video camera. Elements of the story can be missed while working with or switching medium. Also a sacrifice to quality, our speaker pointed out that most current backpack journalists were only trained as reporters, not as photographers or videographers, which means the quality may not be that of someone trained on the technicalities of the equipment as well as the artistic aspects.

If backpack journalism is the future of reporting, that means reporters will need to be better trained and well rounded in writing, art, and technology. Until then, are news outlets cutting back on quality as they cut back on staff?

Nostalgia for the printing press?

For some reason working with InDesign creating front pages makes me think back to the movie Newsies. There is a scene when the main characters decide to print fliers about their workers union. They work all night with a printing press, setting type and such, to the climactic song of the musical.

Ok, maybe it is a stretch, but as we were learning InDesign it struck me how simple the process of putting together a layout is now. Artistically there is undoubtedly more leeway now than before. But the process is more of a psychological and economic art now. How will the eye flow? What will catch the most readers and get them to buy? So, it is still a challenge. But sometimes this technological age boggles my mind with how quick and easy previously tedious tasks have become. And it makes me wonder if we have lost some appreciation for the end product. Is there less of a certain kind of value added to the finished paper if the process does not require quite so much effort?