"This Land" and "We Choose the Moon" are both pretty advanced multimedia projects with a lot of information. They both use photos, videos, audio, and writing to tell a story. They both give you options as to what you want to look at and listen to or not look at and listen to. The stories they are each telling build up until they reach their climax at then end.
I am unsure if it was the actual story or the use of multimedia that made me like "This Land" a lot more. I thought it was a very captivating story of a journey just like "We Choose the Moon," but the personal part of it made me enjoy it more. You feel like you know the story teller, compared to the journey to the moon where you feel a connection to the ship. The fact that you had to watch the videos of the spaceship flying through space every time got a little old as well.
This Land was awesome in terms of multimedia because when you clicked on each day, you were first shown where they were geographically with a bird's eye map view, and then there was a photo from that part of the trip; along with a written summary and audio in the background. It just had everything you need to feel like you were there.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Multimedia
The New York Times article and the student article are two examples of the use of multimedia in journalism. The New York Times article is a story about the kidnapping of two journalists by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Student project is an awareness project about the post civil war in Sierra Leone, with the people there making a shift from diamonds to agriculture.
The multimedia aspect in the New York Times article is complimentary videos including one of the kidnapees' telling his story with graphics helping to illustrate it. These videos go along with detailed articles telling the same story. If you don't want to read the whole article the videos give you a good summary about what happened, and if you do read the article they help you paint a picture geographically. In the article videos that the Taliban made the kidnapees' watch are talked about, and in the videos they are actually shown. The best part about the videos was that they showed a computer generated version of where they were in Pakistan down to the exact roads. They are amazingly produced.
The Student project is a combination of articles and videos on the same page. Martin Ricard recorded the videos himself and uses them together with writing to tell his story about the rise of agriculture in Sierra Leone. First you read an article and then watch a video, and then you read another article to finish the story.
Both multimedia projects are nicely done. The only criticism I have is that for the student project you have to read and watch everything to get the full story (if that's a bad thing). The New York Times article allows you to watch the video and then go into the article for details you wish to know more about. If you have time to sit down and enjoy a full article like either of these then this isn't a problem; but the New York Times one gives you some options.
The multimedia aspect in the New York Times article is complimentary videos including one of the kidnapees' telling his story with graphics helping to illustrate it. These videos go along with detailed articles telling the same story. If you don't want to read the whole article the videos give you a good summary about what happened, and if you do read the article they help you paint a picture geographically. In the article videos that the Taliban made the kidnapees' watch are talked about, and in the videos they are actually shown. The best part about the videos was that they showed a computer generated version of where they were in Pakistan down to the exact roads. They are amazingly produced.
The Student project is a combination of articles and videos on the same page. Martin Ricard recorded the videos himself and uses them together with writing to tell his story about the rise of agriculture in Sierra Leone. First you read an article and then watch a video, and then you read another article to finish the story.
Both multimedia projects are nicely done. The only criticism I have is that for the student project you have to read and watch everything to get the full story (if that's a bad thing). The New York Times article allows you to watch the video and then go into the article for details you wish to know more about. If you have time to sit down and enjoy a full article like either of these then this isn't a problem; but the New York Times one gives you some options.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Never Disrespect the Garden.
This video is a commercial put out by the Boston Bruins. The Bruins have a series of commercials featuring their mascot "the bear" in which he teaches fans "Boston Bruins Hockey rules." My personal favorite is the one where a Bruins fan is on a date with a Canadians fan (the Bruins' division rival). When he buys her a beer, the bear looks down on him with disgust and knocks his beer out of his hands. Then the rule comes onto the screen reading "never date within the division."
The most recent commercial from the hockey rules series came about because a drunk girl kicked a hole in the bathroom of the TD Garden. The video of this vandalism came out a few days earlier on Barstoolsports.com. The commercial showed the Bear fixing the kicked in hole when someone walks into the bathroom, and then on the screen it says "never disrespect the garden."
This video is genius. It was first posted on the Boston Bruins website, and then it took off from there to other sites like Barstoolsports.com. This is definitely journalism. It shows a lot about the world of video blog journalism because you can be a Bruins fan and not understand the video when you sign onto the Bruins website; but if you are the type of person who reads video blog sites like Barstool, then this video can be great entertainment.
The most recent commercial from the hockey rules series came about because a drunk girl kicked a hole in the bathroom of the TD Garden. The video of this vandalism came out a few days earlier on Barstoolsports.com. The commercial showed the Bear fixing the kicked in hole when someone walks into the bathroom, and then on the screen it says "never disrespect the garden."
This video is genius. It was first posted on the Boston Bruins website, and then it took off from there to other sites like Barstoolsports.com. This is definitely journalism. It shows a lot about the world of video blog journalism because you can be a Bruins fan and not understand the video when you sign onto the Bruins website; but if you are the type of person who reads video blog sites like Barstool, then this video can be great entertainment.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
History of Daylight Savings
Post ancient civilizations Benjamin Franklin was not the first to propose Daylight Savings Time, but he was the first to get people thinking about it. He proposed in an anonymous letter that people wake up earlier so that so many candles weren't wasted.
Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson, and then later by Englishman William Willett who was appalled by all of the people in London who slept through a summer day.
Germany was the first to use Daylight Savings Time to conserve coal during World War 1. The United States starting using it in 1918.
Today some people argue that we don't need daylight savings anymore. The Candy companies have a different perspective:
One of the main arguments people use to back up Daylight Savings Time is to make better use of the daylight because this leads to saving energy. This is from the California Energy Commission:
Michael Downing, a teacher at Tufts University and the author of "Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time," says messing with the clock doesn’t really save energy. “Daylight saving is still a boon to purveyors of barbecue grills, sports and recreation equipment and the petroleum industry, as gasoline consumption increases every time we increase the length of the daylight saving period,” Downing tells MNN. “Give Americans an extra hour of after-dinner daylight, and they will go to the ballpark or the mall — but they won't walk there.”
For more on the on going controversy here is an interesting article.
Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson, and then later by Englishman William Willett who was appalled by all of the people in London who slept through a summer day.
Germany was the first to use Daylight Savings Time to conserve coal during World War 1. The United States starting using it in 1918.
Today some people argue that we don't need daylight savings anymore. The Candy companies have a different perspective:
"Everyone from factory owners to retailers embraced the change. Even the candy lobby supported the new system, figuring the extra hour of sunlight meant it would be safer for kids to go trick-or-treating on Halloween."
One of the main arguments people use to back up Daylight Savings Time is to make better use of the daylight because this leads to saving energy. This is from the California Energy Commission:
In general, energy use and the demand for electricity for lighting our homes is directly connected to when we go to bed and when we get up. Bedtime for most of us is late evening through the year. When we go to bed, we turn off the lights and TV."
Michael Downing, a teacher at Tufts University and the author of "Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time," says messing with the clock doesn’t really save energy. “Daylight saving is still a boon to purveyors of barbecue grills, sports and recreation equipment and the petroleum industry, as gasoline consumption increases every time we increase the length of the daylight saving period,” Downing tells MNN. “Give Americans an extra hour of after-dinner daylight, and they will go to the ballpark or the mall — but they won't walk there.”
For more on the on going controversy here is an interesting article.
The Big Picture-Boston.com
Boston.com's "The Big Picture is a section of their website that tells stories through pictures. One story was about the proposition of legalizing marijuana in the U.S. It started with a paragraph and was followed by thirty-two pictures. This is the paragraph:
The pictures showed every angle of the issue. The positives of marijuana in happiness and peace; the negatives in death and tragedy in Mexico. They show the struggle between the people who want it legalized, and the people trying to stop that from happening by arresting people and burning tons (literally) of marijuana.
The interesting part of this type of story telling is that the pictures aren't just telling a single story. They let the reader examine the photographs, and then put together a story in their heads. This is an extremely objective type of journalism because the photographs aren't opinionated, they are just photos depicting true events. Photographs don't lie, especially high quality ones like these.
With marijuana on the ballot in four U.S. states this November, most prominently California's Proposition 19, which would fully legalize the substance, the legalization of marijuana has become a hot topic of discussion in North America. If pot were to become legal in California, it is unclear how that would affect the ongoing drug wars in neighboring Mexico - whether it would increase, decrease, or have little effect on the widespread violence. What is clear is that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has declared that the federal Justice Department will continue to prosecute those who use or distribute recreational marijuana, regardless of any change to state law. Collected here are photos from the past year of marijuana in the news, for both medicinal and recreational purposes, and some of the legal entanglements involved.
The pictures showed every angle of the issue. The positives of marijuana in happiness and peace; the negatives in death and tragedy in Mexico. They show the struggle between the people who want it legalized, and the people trying to stop that from happening by arresting people and burning tons (literally) of marijuana.
The interesting part of this type of story telling is that the pictures aren't just telling a single story. They let the reader examine the photographs, and then put together a story in their heads. This is an extremely objective type of journalism because the photographs aren't opinionated, they are just photos depicting true events. Photographs don't lie, especially high quality ones like these.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Reid vs. Angle
10:05: The polls just closed in Nevada and this race is ridiculously close. From everything I have seen it is just about a split. Here is a tweet under the hashtag #Nevada:
somethingbanal: Raw exit poll data has #Nevada VERY close. 48-47 split between Reid (D) and Angle (R) #election.
Reported by the Washington Post, right before the polls closed Reid encouraged people to use twitter. "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada encouraged people to retweet, text, e-mail and instant message friends to find out if they voted."
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10:33: Apparently the lines for the polls in Spring Creek, Nevada are so long that the polls there aren't estimated to close until 7:45 Nevada time (10:45 Eastern).
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10:55: As of now reports continue to come out that there are still long lines all over the state of Nevada.
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11:10:"Nevada is so close because the two candidates are going against the only ones they can beat. If in either party there was someone other than Harry Reid and Sharron Angle they would win. There are no votes in right now from Nevada, and we'll take a break."-CNN Election Special (Television)
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11:20: All of the polls are officially closed now and votes are being counted. Here is a tweet from the #Nevada hashtag:
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11:29: Early election polls show that Reid is wining 53% to 43%.
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11:53: According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal 55% of the votes have been counted in Nevada and Reid leads Angle 50% to 45%.
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12:22: with 28% of the precincts reporting Reid is holding on with a 51.5% to 44% lead.
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12:48: Harry Reid was just projected to be re-elected as the Nevada State Senator. He gained 51% of the vote.
The Democrats kept the majority of the seats in the U.S. Senate with big wins in California, and West Virgina.
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1:45: LAS VEGAS (AP) - An Associated Press analysis of preliminary exit poll results shows U.S. Sen. Harry Reid won re-election with overwhelming support from minority voters
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somethingbanal: Raw exit poll data has #Nevada VERY close. 48-47 split between Reid (D) and Angle (R) #election.
Reported by the Washington Post, right before the polls closed Reid encouraged people to use twitter. "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada encouraged people to retweet, text, e-mail and instant message friends to find out if they voted."
_________________________________________
10:33: Apparently the lines for the polls in Spring Creek, Nevada are so long that the polls there aren't estimated to close until 7:45 Nevada time (10:45 Eastern).
_________________________________________
10:55: As of now reports continue to come out that there are still long lines all over the state of Nevada.
_________________________________________
11:10:"Nevada is so close because the two candidates are going against the only ones they can beat. If in either party there was someone other than Harry Reid and Sharron Angle they would win. There are no votes in right now from Nevada, and we'll take a break."-CNN Election Special (Television)
_________________________________________
11:20: All of the polls are officially closed now and votes are being counted. Here is a tweet from the #Nevada hashtag:
AmytheThompson:Numbers released say Reid ahead by 30,000 votes. Those are absentee & early voting numbers. #Election #Nevada
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11:29: Early election polls show that Reid is wining 53% to 43%.
_________________________________________
11:53: According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal 55% of the votes have been counted in Nevada and Reid leads Angle 50% to 45%.
_________________________________________
12:22: with 28% of the precincts reporting Reid is holding on with a 51.5% to 44% lead.
_________________________________________
12:48: Harry Reid was just projected to be re-elected as the Nevada State Senator. He gained 51% of the vote.
The Democrats kept the majority of the seats in the U.S. Senate with big wins in California, and West Virgina.
_________________________________________
1:45: LAS VEGAS (AP) - An Associated Press analysis of preliminary exit poll results shows U.S. Sen. Harry Reid won re-election with overwhelming support from minority voters
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Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear: Live Blogs
The New York Times live blog of "The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear" told a detailed objective story about everything that was going on at the rally, from demographics and crowd information to everything that happened on stage. This blog also updated what was happening every few minutes.
The Guardian live blog was also informative and updated every few minutes, but it was done in a non objective way. It did paint a picture of what was happening, but it was more of comedy article than the New York Times version; facts sprinkled with sarcastic jokes and puns.
The Huffington Post live blog was a video blog of the rally. This blog was most concerned with opinions of the people in the crowd. It did show videos of speeches and things that were going on in the rally, but the main concern was the opinions of the people.
All of these blogs were effective to certain interests of people, and I think the New York Times did the best job conveying the story, but they made one big mistake. They posts on the blog were posted in the form of most recent one at the top, which is fine if you are reading it as it is happening, but it is very difficult to read a blog post event backwards. The Guardians format is the "correct" way I am referring to. Post event the live blog needs to be switched to this format. The Huffington Post gave you the option of reading it both ways.
Other than the format the New York Times conveyed the best story because they left the opinions to the reader. They just told what was happening, with not too much bias.
As far as effectiveness in reading the blog live or post event, I think it is equal. Reading the blog during the event can make you feel like you are part of it, but reading it after gives you a lot more information than a one page story on the event or even a five page Time magazine article. Magazines should think about publishing live blogs of events after the events happen.
The Guardian live blog was also informative and updated every few minutes, but it was done in a non objective way. It did paint a picture of what was happening, but it was more of comedy article than the New York Times version; facts sprinkled with sarcastic jokes and puns.
The Huffington Post live blog was a video blog of the rally. This blog was most concerned with opinions of the people in the crowd. It did show videos of speeches and things that were going on in the rally, but the main concern was the opinions of the people.
All of these blogs were effective to certain interests of people, and I think the New York Times did the best job conveying the story, but they made one big mistake. They posts on the blog were posted in the form of most recent one at the top, which is fine if you are reading it as it is happening, but it is very difficult to read a blog post event backwards. The Guardians format is the "correct" way I am referring to. Post event the live blog needs to be switched to this format. The Huffington Post gave you the option of reading it both ways.
Other than the format the New York Times conveyed the best story because they left the opinions to the reader. They just told what was happening, with not too much bias.
As far as effectiveness in reading the blog live or post event, I think it is equal. Reading the blog during the event can make you feel like you are part of it, but reading it after gives you a lot more information than a one page story on the event or even a five page Time magazine article. Magazines should think about publishing live blogs of events after the events happen.
Harry Reid For Senator
Democrat Harry Reid is the majority senate leader in Nevada. He is in a dead heat battle right now with Republican Sharron Angle.
A lot of people believe that Harry Reid's influence over congress has kept the nuclear waste treatment from going into the Yukka mountain in Nevada, and if he leaves the United States could put the nuclear waste plant there. This is a big issue because the people of Nevada obviously don't want this nuclear waste in their mountains.
Harry Reid's main issue he is using to get votes is creating jobs. His new transmission line is going to create jobs through construction, and then jobs after it is completed; all while improving clean energy.
It is going to be a very close race, and the people of Nevada are more concerned than usual.
A lot of people believe that Harry Reid's influence over congress has kept the nuclear waste treatment from going into the Yukka mountain in Nevada, and if he leaves the United States could put the nuclear waste plant there. This is a big issue because the people of Nevada obviously don't want this nuclear waste in their mountains.
Harry Reid's main issue he is using to get votes is creating jobs. His new transmission line is going to create jobs through construction, and then jobs after it is completed; all while improving clean energy.
"Nevada Senator Harry Reid was joined today by Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, as well as many other top energy officials, to break ground for the ON Line, the first phase of a major north-to-south clean power transmission line. The new transmission line -- extending from Idaho to Nevada -- will create jobs in construction and maintenance, help the renewable energy industry expand in Nevada and improve clean energy transmission capacity in the West."
It is going to be a very close race, and the people of Nevada are more concerned than usual.
“Every time I turn on the radio or television they’re saying vote, vote for Reid. I don’t usually vote, but I feel its so important in this election,” said Lisbeth Hurtado, a 29-year-old Las Vegas resident who had just voted for Mr. Reid at the Fay Herron Elementary School in North Las Vegas. Ms. Hurtado recently lost her job as an administrator for an office supply store, and she said two of her cousins and her sister-in-law recently lost their homes to foreclosure. But, she said, she doesn’t blame Mr. Reid for the local economy. Nevada has the highest unemployment and foreclosure rates in the nation.“You can’t blame just one person for all of this,” she said. “He’s trying to make jobs and better opportunities.”
Project 2
"Randy Moss sounded Sunday like a man who realized he's made a mistake. Instead of running routes for a 6-1 football team that has legitimate Super Bowl potential, he is on a sinking Vikings ship that is 2-5 and taking on water. Moss, meanwhile, still hasn't gotten paid, still doesn't have big numbers, and still doesn't feel respected."
At this point I don't think Randy Moss is worried about getting paid or having big numbers. After spending three and a quarter seasons in such an elite organization and then going to such a poorly run one, he realized why Bill Belichik does what he does. Belichik cares only for one thing, and that is winning; and there isn't another coach in the league that knows how to do that like him.
If Moss was catching bombs from Favre and scoring touchdowns he might not have called out Vikings head coach Brad Childress in a post game press conference, but his admiration for Belichik shown in that same rant says it all. The Patriots organization makes it's players feel like they are part of something. Part of something bigger than themselves, making them sacrifice all individual needs creating a true brotherhood. This brotherhood is the formula Belichik has used the past decade to turn fifty three players into one solid machine. And Moss truly misses this. This is from his post game conference:
Translation: "Damn, I wish I was a part of that win with those guys. Coach Belichik gave me an opportunity to be a part of something special, and that's something I really took for granted. I now realize that coach Belichik is the main reason for the success they have because they are still winning without me, and I miss that success."
After listening to that press conference you can tell that Moss truly misses being a Patriot. I don't think he's thinking about catches or money, he's simply thinking about what he called "The team." It might be too late now for Moss to start thinking like a Patriot again. For three seasons he kept his mouth shut and was an exemplary Patriot; at the beginning of this year he lost touch with what it meant to be a Patriot in Belichik's system, and that press conference was Moss telling Belichik, "I truly respect you and I'm sorry for breaking your code."
At this point I don't think Randy Moss is worried about getting paid or having big numbers. After spending three and a quarter seasons in such an elite organization and then going to such a poorly run one, he realized why Bill Belichik does what he does. Belichik cares only for one thing, and that is winning; and there isn't another coach in the league that knows how to do that like him.
If Moss was catching bombs from Favre and scoring touchdowns he might not have called out Vikings head coach Brad Childress in a post game press conference, but his admiration for Belichik shown in that same rant says it all. The Patriots organization makes it's players feel like they are part of something. Part of something bigger than themselves, making them sacrifice all individual needs creating a true brotherhood. This brotherhood is the formula Belichik has used the past decade to turn fifty three players into one solid machine. And Moss truly misses this. This is from his post game conference:
"..So I kinda know what type of feeling they have right now in the locker room man and I just want to be able to tell the guys that I miss the hell outa them. Every last helmet in that locker room man...Coach Belichik, he gave me an opportunity to be a part of something special and that's something I really ta..take..take to heart. I actually salute coach Belichik and his team for the success they've had before me, during me,and after me."
Translation: "Damn, I wish I was a part of that win with those guys. Coach Belichik gave me an opportunity to be a part of something special, and that's something I really took for granted. I now realize that coach Belichik is the main reason for the success they have because they are still winning without me, and I miss that success."
After listening to that press conference you can tell that Moss truly misses being a Patriot. I don't think he's thinking about catches or money, he's simply thinking about what he called "The team." It might be too late now for Moss to start thinking like a Patriot again. For three seasons he kept his mouth shut and was an exemplary Patriot; at the beginning of this year he lost touch with what it meant to be a Patriot in Belichik's system, and that press conference was Moss telling Belichik, "I truly respect you and I'm sorry for breaking your code."
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