Well, for this issue, I was very dissapointed with Zephyrus. I felt as though that there were a lot of redundancies and the articles seemed awfully monotnous--which in journalism is definetly not the goal. The point is to be concise and explain things quickly. However, in this issue, Zephyrus failed at that. Two smoking articles along with two 'Bee Movie' articles. How in the world in a highschool newspaper can you let that happen? With the limited space that we already have, why would you waste the inadequate amount of space that we already have? For future issues of Zephyrus, I think the staff (myself included) need to speak up and let writers know if we're not going to use their articles because of space issues.
Also, the response to the editor's letter was ridiculous. There was a name on the letter which should have been published and there should have also been a name addressed to the response. Personally, I don't think that that should have been published in the first place becasue it was extraneous to anything else in that issue. Since we're a monthly publication, wasting the already limited space with a blurb that people have already forgotten about is not being very consciencous with your space.
Hopefully we can improve for the next issue.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
News Story Idea #2
Slug: How smooth the homecoming week/weekend went for staff, students, and the community.
Section: Features
Element 1: Prominence because the students care about the whole homecoming event. It's important because it is a fun time for everyone and anyone can get involved.
Element 2: Timliness because it happened only last week. The memories of the weekend are still fresh in everyone's mind.
Element 3: Human interest becasue it relates to people's emotions.
This story will be about how smooth the homecoming week/weekend was. In particular, how there were no events that involved police, no troubles at the dance, and nothing during the week prior. It's unsual for this to happen becasue during homecoming week, students generally get roudier.
Interview 1: Eric Nelson because he runs the student body.
Interview 2: Dr. Locklear because he is responsible for the actions of the school.
Interview 3: Officer Limbeck beacsue he knows the student population more than he probably should.
The information I need to gather are reviews of the week from people and staff.
Questions I need answered are how smoothly people thought everything went and/or didn't go. Also, what problems arose--if any.
Photos would need to be taken during the dance, or parade because this shows the spirit of the school at its finest. Anyone could take these pictures.
Concerns I have about this article would be getting accurate reports from everyone because no one is there really inspecting everything. People go to have a good time, not to be detectives.
Section: Features
Element 1: Prominence because the students care about the whole homecoming event. It's important because it is a fun time for everyone and anyone can get involved.
Element 2: Timliness because it happened only last week. The memories of the weekend are still fresh in everyone's mind.
Element 3: Human interest becasue it relates to people's emotions.
This story will be about how smooth the homecoming week/weekend was. In particular, how there were no events that involved police, no troubles at the dance, and nothing during the week prior. It's unsual for this to happen becasue during homecoming week, students generally get roudier.
Interview 1: Eric Nelson because he runs the student body.
Interview 2: Dr. Locklear because he is responsible for the actions of the school.
Interview 3: Officer Limbeck beacsue he knows the student population more than he probably should.
The information I need to gather are reviews of the week from people and staff.
Questions I need answered are how smoothly people thought everything went and/or didn't go. Also, what problems arose--if any.
Photos would need to be taken during the dance, or parade because this shows the spirit of the school at its finest. Anyone could take these pictures.
Concerns I have about this article would be getting accurate reports from everyone because no one is there really inspecting everything. People go to have a good time, not to be detectives.
News Story Idea #1
Slug: Edina Hornets Football team begins section game 1 vs Shakopee
Section: Sports
Element 1: Prominence because it is extremley local to our school because it is our school. Students care about the success of the football team.
Element 2: Timeliness because it is happening tomorrow and would be the most up-to-date sports story that one could do that is timly, and prominent.
Element 3: Consequence becasue of how significant this is to Edina sports. The football team hasn't one a conference title since 2002 and weren't expected to have as good a season as they did this year.
About: This story will be about how the team has prepared for their first section game against Shakopee. Specifically, how has the team stayed excited about the conference championship, while at the same time, kept focused on the task of beating Shakopee.
Interview 1: Kim Nelson becasue of his significance to the football team.
Interview 2: Mike Rallis because he is the most important piece to Edina Football.
Interview 3: Reed Boltmann because he trains all the athletes and what his expectations were for this season.
The information that I need to gather for this to be a good article would be statistics for both sides (i.e. offensive production and defensive totals). Also, the records of each team and how that could play a factor in an "under-dog" role for shakopee.
Photo oppurtunities would be tomorrow night during the game. Or after, or before.
Who could take the photo could be anyone. However, I think that it would be most effective if it were taken from ground level and during the game.
Concerns about getting this story put together successfully would be gathering all the correct statistics and presenting them in the right format.
Section: Sports
Element 1: Prominence because it is extremley local to our school because it is our school. Students care about the success of the football team.
Element 2: Timeliness because it is happening tomorrow and would be the most up-to-date sports story that one could do that is timly, and prominent.
Element 3: Consequence becasue of how significant this is to Edina sports. The football team hasn't one a conference title since 2002 and weren't expected to have as good a season as they did this year.
About: This story will be about how the team has prepared for their first section game against Shakopee. Specifically, how has the team stayed excited about the conference championship, while at the same time, kept focused on the task of beating Shakopee.
Interview 1: Kim Nelson becasue of his significance to the football team.
Interview 2: Mike Rallis because he is the most important piece to Edina Football.
Interview 3: Reed Boltmann because he trains all the athletes and what his expectations were for this season.
The information that I need to gather for this to be a good article would be statistics for both sides (i.e. offensive production and defensive totals). Also, the records of each team and how that could play a factor in an "under-dog" role for shakopee.
Photo oppurtunities would be tomorrow night during the game. Or after, or before.
Who could take the photo could be anyone. However, I think that it would be most effective if it were taken from ground level and during the game.
Concerns about getting this story put together successfully would be gathering all the correct statistics and presenting them in the right format.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Ethics of Journalism
After reading "To Be A Successful Reporter", I've selected which I feel to be the most important aspect of such. For me, hands down, it has to be honesty and the integrity of reporting honest facts and facts with respectable claims.
"A good reporter is honest. He seeks the truth and acts independently. He does what he says he's going to do, and doesn't do something he promised to avoid. He returns his calls, and he's willing to say no. He's obsessed with accuracy and double checks his facts with call-backs. He sees both sides to every issue. He doesn't treat people as a means to an end."
What this means to me is very straightfoward. Think of it this way: If all reporters created their our sources, and weren't concered with the integrity of their facts, how would that reflect upon the media and news and information as a whole? Not too well. However, that's not too far from a reality. It seems to me, in reading the newspaper, or reading factual books trying to prove a point, that the ethics of journalism have gone down significantly. It's not so much about reporting what happened, but sugarcoating what happened to the point of explaining a story that has no relevancy at all. Also, reporters, and not all of them, but a select few ruin the images and and gained reputations of respectable reporters by creating a source and presenting it as fact. It's sad what it has become.
However, another ethics of journalism that upsets me that doesn't directly portray to honesty, but is HONESTLY ignorant, is that Ms. Britney Spears makes front page news being on MTV over the War in Iraq, or the 2008 Presidential election (by the way, the latter two actually matter to the future of this country). It blows me away.
"A good reporter is honest. He seeks the truth and acts independently. He does what he says he's going to do, and doesn't do something he promised to avoid. He returns his calls, and he's willing to say no. He's obsessed with accuracy and double checks his facts with call-backs. He sees both sides to every issue. He doesn't treat people as a means to an end."
What this means to me is very straightfoward. Think of it this way: If all reporters created their our sources, and weren't concered with the integrity of their facts, how would that reflect upon the media and news and information as a whole? Not too well. However, that's not too far from a reality. It seems to me, in reading the newspaper, or reading factual books trying to prove a point, that the ethics of journalism have gone down significantly. It's not so much about reporting what happened, but sugarcoating what happened to the point of explaining a story that has no relevancy at all. Also, reporters, and not all of them, but a select few ruin the images and and gained reputations of respectable reporters by creating a source and presenting it as fact. It's sad what it has become.
However, another ethics of journalism that upsets me that doesn't directly portray to honesty, but is HONESTLY ignorant, is that Ms. Britney Spears makes front page news being on MTV over the War in Iraq, or the 2008 Presidential election (by the way, the latter two actually matter to the future of this country). It blows me away.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Television Wiki Link
The television wiki link is to my wiki page dedicated to the history of TV and it's impact on our society and our media.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
The bathrooms at EHS.
Above all else, what bothers me the most at EHS is the bathrooms. However, I find that to be somewhat of a positive because it is only the bathrooms after all and there could be much worse things to complain about. What upsets me the most though, is how students conduct themselves in them. They're trashed. You'd be hard pressed to distinguish the difference between a trash dump and our bathrooms. It is no wonder why the nicest bathrooms in the school are locked except for special occasions. I don't blame the janitors, or the school for that matter (although it would be nice to be able to experience cleanliness at EHS). Now, I know it isn't every student that disrespects the bathrooms, it is a select few, and they know who they are. But, why do they do it? What's enjoyable about trashing a bathroom? Have some respect for not only the school, but above all else, yourself and how people percieve you.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
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