Kanye Speaks Out About His Display At Th Grammys

Being the aspiring publicist that I am, I like to keep up to date with the happenings of pop culture and what the members of the entertainment industry are up to. As such, I frequently take to MadameNoire for a lot of my updates in popular culture. This particular site focuses on an African American audience who is also interested in staying up to date with the latest celebrity happenings.

The particular story that I chose to focus on is entitle “Kanye Defends Himself, Says He’s Working With Taylor Swift”. In the article the journalist gives a brief background on the incident that occurred at this past weekend’s Grammy Awards as well as quotes the statement that West made after the show in regards to Beck being awards “Album Of The Year”.  After his comment, West went on to do a radio interview with Ryan Secrest to defend himself and clarify what he meant by his comment. 

In this piece, the author includes his own introduction to the story, the Youtube video that gives the audio from the phone interview and a section at he bottom of the article that allows for readers to comment on the piece that they have just read.

The strength of the written article gives readers a sense of voice from the author. One can tell a lot about a writer’s point of view based on the words they choose to use in their articles. Although many readers do not seem to take note of he effect that a writers point of view can have on them, it is this very aspect that causes an emotional reaction from the audience. If a read decides that at the end, they disagree with the author, it inspires them to go out and publish a piece with a rebuttal, disputing what they have just come across. However if a reader decides that they agree with what they author says then they will repost it or share it to then help to spread the information.

The audio interview provided in the article gives readers who are not familiar with the story a chance to not only read a piece based off of someone else’s views, but to gather the facts and allows them the opportunity to then formulate their own opinion.

The last form of media used is audience interaction. The comments section at the bottom of the article not only allows for readers to comment on the article but to respond directly to one another based on what other’s thoughts and feelings are. Features like this can also inspire readers to share stories or created posts of their own.  

http://madamenoire.com/510753/voices-head-told-go-kanye-clarifies-comments-beck-backlash-says-hes-working-taylor-swift/

STD Smart - Assignment #1

The blog/article I chose came from the website, iflscience.com. I picked this website because I am a huge science nerd; anything about animals or science really does intrigue me. I love to learn because I truly feel that knowledge is power. The greatest thing about this blog, hands down, is the author's authority of voice. The author fact checks everything before she posts it and that gives me great trust in that what I am reading is scientific and accurate. A huge issue we deal with in regards to science in society today is that there are so many false medical claims and so many people claiming to be doctors or health gurus, when really, that is far from the truth. Another thing that makes this blog so great is that it is very informative, yet diluted enough for an average person to follow along; you don't need a PhD to enjoy these articles. It is science with a funny twist. 

This article has interactivity, photos, and print. I actually originally found out about this blog through Facebook, so every day I check it out and find something to like and share on my Facebook or twitter; seriously every day there is something that catches my attention. The option to comment is also important; and on this site it's not over abused and trolled by many people which can be something refreshing. This is mainly due, I think, to the fact that admins have the option to close the comment thread down. But if I have a question about something and I don’t want to email the author, (which is definitely still an option), I can ask in the comment section and get some helpful insight, or read up on views that differ from my own. I also like that you can stay on this website and read other articles, which are neatly organized by several categories of your choosing, on the right hand side of the site.

The author also includes a photo, which with most things scientific or technological, is of very high importance. Not only is a picture worth a thousand words, but visual aids help a lot, especially when an audience is reading something that they may not have such a strong suit in. The photo is at the very top so I don’t have to do a lot of scrolling to see first what I am working with, is a big plus. Also it is a decent sized photo that is detailed enough but isn't too huge that I am waiting eons for it all to fully load and ruin my reading experience. Also, the amount of ads can be annoying at times, but I guess the audience has to keep in mind that it costs money to make a site and keep it up and running; luckily I have not encountered any pop-up ads, because those are the absolute worst. 

The last aspect of multimedia I want to touch up on is the text/print part of the blog. I like the spacing between paragraphs, visually it makes the article seem less agonizing and like the reading flows nicely; set up really is important because if there is too much text for too long without a physical break in thoughts or ideas, it becomes like a chore to slave through. I do appreciate the simple layout that does not overwhelm me. The next part of the text I like is the way it is written by the author; like I said earlier, when you read these blogs from this website you will learn something; but it will not be too much for you to be able to keep up with and follow until the end.  It is light, well researched, well written, educational, yet fun to read and learn from. The author answers the who/what/where/when/why/how/so what/who cares questions in a quick manner. The target audience is of someone my age, how it can help me and work for me, what is to be created, how is it made, where and when the research took place, and why I should be caring about this scientific breakthrough. 

The one area of improvement I would point out would be to add more photos, a gallery of photos of the device from different angles, or a video of showing this incredible device in action. For me, one picture at the top of the page simply will not cut it. All in all, I think every blog and article is captivatingly entertaining, consistently educational, and dangerously addictive.

The link to the particular article I chose is:
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/cheap-smartphone-dongle-diagnoses-hiv-and-syphilis-15-minutes

Kyrie Irving drops 55 points against the Portland Trailblazers.

The article that I picked title is “Kyrie Irving Drops 55 points, Hits Game-Winning Walk-up Three” and I chose it because I love sports. Another reason why I picked this article is because I love Kyrie Irving’s game and I have been following him since his freshman year in college playing for the Blue Devils (Duke University).  This article is about Kyrie Irving, who is a NBA point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers scoring 55 points against the Portland Trailblazers and hits the game winning three a couple of weeks ago. This was an historic night for Irving because it was his career high in points and it also shows why Kyrie is one of the top five points guards in the NBA right now. 

There are three different media’s used in this article, they are print, video/audio, and interactive. The strengths of print are it allows to me to take my time reading if I want to, I can come back to it whenever I want, it gives me the info about the article quick and easy. The strengths of video/audio is it allows you to see  live video and it also allows you to see video of something you might of missed the night it was on. A strength of interactive media is that it allows people to give their own opinion and review about a persons article, story, and video. This video/text/sound/interactivity works so well because people all over the world can sit on at home on their computers and get their news update, and access almost anything they want to with internet. This websites specific audience would be sports fans and anybody who likes big news. 

I like the print in this article because it allows to me to choose and pick the information I think is most important in the article. The video/audio in this article is my favorite part because it shows the live footage of the highlights of Kyrie scoring 55 points. I liked the interactive media because I read the comments and some of them actually gave interesting opinions on the article and Kyrie Irving. I also didn’t like the interactive media because some of the comments were just plain negative, for example I kept seeing comments like Kyrie sucks, and the cavaliers are trash. A thing I would change would be that who ever runs the cite deletes all the negative comments in the interactive media section, overall I liked the article. 

Source: http://deadspin.com/kyrie-irving-drops-55-points-hits-game-winning-walk-up-1682452480

Nintendo shuts down club rewards program

Just as the title says, Nintendo is shutting down their rewards program on July 1, 2015 in North America.

The story on the shutdown of Club Nintendo's rewards program is short and basic. Reason being so it because the story has a link to Club Nintendo's website, on the formal address of the rewards program shutting down, in the text.

The story is just text and one photo of a Mario statue with the Nintendo sign in the background. The text gives a brief explanation of what perks the members of the program from Club Nintendo (games, posters etc...) gain.  . It also shows that even though that the rewards program is shutting down, Club Nintendo has plans to launch a new rewards program ( I expect Nintendo will make announce about the new rewards program before/during the E3 tradeshow).

The story didn't go into much detail due to it having a link to Club Nintendo's website where they explain in great detail what would happen, deadlines, and answers to frequently asked questions. It could have been shared onto different social media platforms. Readers could also comment on with their opinions on the shutdown. Readers also have the option to print out the story to own and have on their person. There is nothing I would take away from the story but I would have added the dates on when the rewards program was shutting down in other countries along side North America since the rewards program effects everyone who is a member of Club Nintendo.

I like reading stories on video games or video game corporation's on USA Today because they keep the stories basic. They give brief explanations, links of the source of the story and videos to watch (if it's on a video games then it would be a trailer or gameplay), photos from the game itself. It's also a bonus if there is a short interview from game developers or the corporations themselves.

I was a member of Club Nintendo when it first launched in North America in 2008. To hear it closing 6 years later but another rewards program being launched is confusing. Why would Nintendo close down the rewards program just to launch a new one? I guess I would have to wait for the announcement on the new rewards program and how much of a difference it would be compared to the rewards program shutting down.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2015/01/20/club-nintendo-discontinued/22040057/

Pediatricians Pressured To Drop Parents Who Won't Vaccinate - Assignment #1

In wake of the recent measles outbreak in Disneyworld, vaccinations have been a big talking point in the media, my story is one of doctors in California refusing to see children who haven’t been fully vaccinated. The story is Pediatricians Pressured To Drop Parents Who Won’t Vaccinate by Patti Neighmond of NPR. The story contains a print element of a summarized audio for radio, and a comments section at the bottom of the page, along with links to share the story on various social networks.

The audio is a better choice for this story because there is nothing that the audience needs to see in this story, the story is being told and there is no action that would be desired to be seen on television. This story adapted for television would consist of mainly b-roll footage of the waiting room of a doctor’s office with a few shots of interview footage. The print media is an abbreviation of the audio, not a word for word transcription which makes it more entertaining to read, with one picture of one of the two doctors interviewed in the audio piece, Dr. Eric Ball. The important quotes from the subjects of the story are included in the print text. There is also a comments section that contains intelligent and relevant conversation in relation to the story. The social media share buttons are also of importance in this case, because this is how I found the story, on social media.

For the most part, the media coverage was well done and I have nothing terrible to change. I would either add a few more pictures of the subjects of the story as opposed to the one of a doctor performing a check up on a patient. The radio segment is well put together and I wouldn’t make any changes there. The comments sections is well written out and for the most part civil which is a change from many other sites that offer commenting on their stories and assorted posts.

While I may not usually go to NPR for news, I chose this story because I found it on social media, which I thought was important when analysing the effectiveness of multimedia when producing a story for a vast audience. The story was about a topic I cared about in great amount, and I was also biased as my personal beliefs fell in line with the subject in question, that is, doctors refusing patients that aren’t vaccinated.

Story: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/02/04/383796532/pediatricians-pressured-to-drop-parents-who-wont-vaccinate

Assignment #1 - Tough Love Gone Wrong

The story I chose is US family 'stages mock abduction of boy, six, for being too nice', which is a story about a family pretending to kidnap this boy that's within the family, to teach him a lesson about strangers. Their plans go totally wrong, as the boy tell his school of what had happened and now the family members involved are being charged with "kidnapping and neglect of a child".

The story is from BBC News, a site that reports on world wide news and current affairs, and consists of a worldwide audience. I chose BBC News for this assignment because I often use the App version of the site to inform myself on what's going on in the world. I prefer it over many other news sources because I find it's layout and format on it's app very easy and simple to use.

Now, the story is mostly text with two pictures included. The text is describing the story which seems to be very clear, in detail and right to the point. The two pictures are of the people that were involved in the "kidnapping", one having the boy's aunt, and the other having the aunt's colleague that kidnapped the boy, which I thought was very useful as it gave us, the readers, a visual on how everything went down. The only interactivity on the page, is that you are able to share the story on social media via facebook/twitter, but you cannot leave a comment, which I thought was something that readers should be able to do, so that each person reading the story is able to express their opinion on the story and whether they thought it was wrong or right what the family did. There is also no video on the story page, but rather you would have to look for it in a different page of the site, which I thought was a mistake to do that, and instead they should've put everything related to that story in one place to make it easier for the reader. The video basically was a reporter summarizing the article, while it also included an interview of a lieutenant from the sheriff's department that was involved in the case, and what his thoughts were about the situation.
Overall, the I found the page to be lacking in interactivity and correct video placement, but I found it to be good enough for anyone who is just curious and wants to know about the story.

Story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31170169

Video: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31207615

A Bad Time to be Bruce Jenner-Assignment #1

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/08/jenner-phone-records-texts-could-be-issue-during-crash/21140353/?cps=gravity_1967_6108025869088936892


I chose to write about an article that I read about Bruce Jenner who was recently involved in a deadly car accident. Jenner, who's more known for being part of the Kardashian clan than being an olympic gold-medalist, rear-ended a car into oncoming traffic, causing that person to die. The article is about how Jenner's cell phone will most likely be investigated to see if texting may have been a factor in the accident. And conveniently, this took place in the middle of the current allegations concerning Bruce Jenner's sex change to a woman. I chose this article from aol.com because I usually go on aol to get a quick scoop of what's going on in current events. The layout of the website is very basic and is very familiar to me because I've been using it for so long. Also, the articles featured on aol always have multiple ways of interacting. I think the main audience of this website is anybody from young teens to adults, just because almost everybody is familiar with aol and I think the website appeals to everybody for something or another.

1. This article uses text, photo, video and interactivity. When I first clicked on the article, before I could even see the words, a video started playing. It was a reporter explaining the accident and it showed video footage of Bruce Jenner at the scene of it. In the same slideshow as the video, there were over 50 pictures to flip through with detailed captions. Underneath the article that explained the story in depth, there is a comment box and options to share this article on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

2. I think that all of the forms of media used in this article are beneficial to the reader. The video works well because it's a quick one minute summary basically of what the article will be about. The text also works well because it's a longer, in-depth description of what happened in the accident and what's going to happen next to Bruce Jenner. It also contains quotes made by authorities at the scene. The interactivity portion worked well because there are over 60 comments, all of which seem to be extra harsh, but some that talk about how texting and driving is a mistake made by many drivers. There were also a few shares on Facebook and Twitter.

3. The only media coverage that I would change about this article is the amount of pictures in the slideshow. As I previously stated, there are over 50 pictures to view, however after viewing the first few pictures of the scene of the accident, it seems that the rest of the pictures were not about the subject of the article. There are a lot of pictures of Bruce Jenner in his younger days, and though I see that as important to whoever doesn't know Jenner's history in the media or as an athlete, I think that multiple pictures of him receiving a gold medal at the 1976 olympics is a bit unnecessary.

Smartphone Addiction - Assignment #1

I am writing about this “smartphone addiction” because I think that it’s just crazy how much time we spend being on our phones on a daily basis. Day by day, we spend most of our times on our phones and we just miss out on the things around us. 90% of Americans fall into the category of being addicted to their phones. I find that to be unbelievable. 98% of people that were being surveyed said that texting while driving is dangerous, nearly 75% admitted doing it. Wow. That’s just crazy. It seems as if we’re all just obsessed with our phones that we just don’t know what’s going on in the world. Some people tend to live on their phones and when you ask them what’s going on, such as the news, they don’t know. There are some tests and questions in this article that will help you in knowing whether or not you use your phone way too much. Social media has a huge impact in why we are consistently on our phones. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. These social media apps are the reason for smartphone addiction in my opinion. We cannot go a day without checking these apps. It seems like they’ve been a priority to some people, if not most. We can’t change this even if we tried, it’s just the way technology has an impact on our lives.

            The different media used in this article are: video, text, sound, and interactivity.

1.      The video attached to this article tells and shows people the impacts that smartphone addiction as on their lives. It demonstrates the negatives on phone addiction. In this video, it tells that using your phone too much can make you lose sleep, or it will simply make you unable to fall asleep. The strength of this video is strong to its audience. By watching this video, they will visualize the effects of phone addiction.

2.      The text in this article will give its audience persuasion in to stopping themselves when it comes to using their phone. Every single text in this article explains to why being on your phone all the time is bad. It’s a good read and I think it will help others with it’s strong text.

3.      The sound in the video will help you to hear in why you need to lower, if not stop your smartphone addiction. I think that the doctor was being very persuasive when it came to explaining the negatives on always being on your phone.

4.      This article is for everyone. We can all share the video by itself, or the article. There is a lot of interactivity here. Everyone and anyone can be able to see or read this. It’s out there for the audience.

There isn’t any other media coverage that I would like to add. This CNN article has it all. 
http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/25/living/10-signs-smartphone-addiction-digital-life/

What we already know about kids and electronics

When searching for a story for this assignment I specifically looked for a story that had a video component to it. I figured this was the smartest route to take because many online stories use both print and video. I choose to use Yahoo news for this assignment because I find the site visually appealing, and it is less regimented in its layout. Yahoo news does not separate the stories by topic, they just give the viewer a plethora of different headlines and you can choose which one you would like to read. In my opinion this makes the experience of reading the news a little bit more enjoyable because you are not bombarded with negative stories all at once.

The story I ultimately chose is one about teens, their use of electronic devices, and how it affects their sleep. The article itself is very compelling as it relies heavily on statistics and reports from a study based on child health. The purpose of the article is to be informative and to present the view that use of electronics should be limited by teenagers. I believe the article does indeed accomplish this goal. The video also has the goal of being informative and presenting a view on the use of electronics by adolescents and the link to their poor eyesight.  The video is compelling in that you can see how enraptured the child is with the device, and you can get a sense of the mother being sincerely worried about the child. The video also presents an interview with an optometrist, someone who is considered an expert on eyesight and we would be more likely to listen to. The article also had the added interactive component, as it had links for the reader to post the article to other websites and leave comments. At the time of me writing this there were 82 comments left on the article. There were plenty of comments from people complaining about how different their childhood was compared to children today, and a few comments that had nothing at all to do with the topic.

The use of print and video in some ways bolsters the point the article is trying to make, in other ways it creates confusion for the reader. As separate parts both the print portion and video portion are equally strong, but when added together they are not as cohesive as I would like. It was not until the end of the clip that I realized what my confusion with the clip was based on. It was not just the children’s age, it was the topic of both the video and the article. The article specifically focused on teenager’s sleep patterns and their use of electronic devices. While the video was based on young children and the link between use of electronic devices and their poor eyesight. The comment section of the article is effective because it draws people into becoming active participants in the article. Whether it’s to agree, complain, or even go completely off topic. It’s important to note that when presenting any story to the public that there is some measure of continuity. I feel that the article as a whole would have been more effective if the print portion was based on the negative effects of electronics on children as a whole. Otherwise, I feel that each component did exactly what it was placed there to do.

You can take a look at the article by clicking the following link:

http://news.yahoo.com/doctors-confirm-screen-time-affects-teens-sleep-002322199.html

Assignment #1 - Super Saturn

The story of my choice is Monster Ring System Circles Giant Alien Planet by Ian O’Neil from Discovery News. This article is about scientists discovering a planet similar to Saturn nearly 420 light years away from Earth, and nearly 200 times its size. The article consist of social media interactivity, text and video usage.

There are three components to this article, and that is the text, a video and interactivity. The text describes and includes how and when scientist came across a planet similar to Saturn nearly 420 light years away and 200 times its size. Because there is no actual photo obtainable of a planet that far from Earth, scientist used what they call a light curve- a tool that captures the brightness and dimness as a star passes (or rather rotates). This helped them come to the conclusion that what they were capturing are giant rings along with a giant planet; and because of the video, it helped me, as well as the viewers, better understand how this planet and its size were determined. The social activity on this article included sharing it to Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Google Plus and StumbleUpon. The strength of this would be to bring in more traffic and hope to gain more subscribers. The more shares this article gets, the better for the website and writer. There is also a comment section below, leaving individuals to post respectfully and freely whether that is to state their opinion or reply to someone else. Some of the comments showed users skeptical of their findings, saying “...they forgot to mention that they haven't actually seen images of this ring system.” Mike believes only what he can see. Silly Mike, doesn't he know a vast amount of discoveries in space have come from a light curve? I, as well as many others, disagreed. Some comments started off debate-worthy, but ended up being a colossal amount of arguing. Regardless of what many comments say, any news regarding space or the universe is usually opinionated due to the lack of evidence, which makes reading most comments worthy of viewing.

I find myself on Discovery News quite often, and that is mainly because it is the news that is most interesting to me. It is not eye candy or political, just very entertaining. They have articles regarding earth, human nature, space and history. The writers are great and are always enthusiastic about what they are writing and exploring. Each article is always up for opinions, as the comment sections are usually filled with individuals with the same interest as me, which makes it enjoyable to interact with them. It is always nice to talk to such individuals with different thoughts about the things I find most interesting.

If there is any type of media coverage I would change, it would be to do a follow up story sometime in the future if applicable. For example, I would love to know any more information on this Saturn-like planet 420 light years from Earth if more information arises.

Source: http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/monster-ring-system-circles-giant-alien-planet-150126.htm

Assignment #1 - Facts and Insight

Identify ONE multimedia journalism story that you think is effective from a site that you already frequently use; be sure to include a working link to the specific story and basic info about the media types, who you think the website's specific audience consists of, and specific reasons why you choose to traffic this particular website - it's not enough to simply say, "I like it"...you have to tell us WHY you like it.

Use the following questions as a guideline for your response:

1.) Identify and specify the different media in use by actively consuming it

2.) What are the strengths of each type? Why does this video/text/sound/interactivity work so well?  Partake of each media type fully and completely and address your experience in your response.

3.) Is there any type of media coverage you would add and/or change?

Feel free to give your response separated into the questions above. There is a 400 word minimum total (not 400 per section/question).

I want you to focus on the presentation of a multimedia news story from ONE site as opposed to pulling the elements from different places. For instance, don't reference the video from one site, the article from another, and the interactivity from another - be certain you use a story in which all the main elements are presented on the same page.

Be prepared to share with class - DUE 2/8/15 BY MIDNIGHT - POST YOUR WORK ON THE CLASS BLOG WITH A UNIQUE TITLE AND THE LABEL "ASSIGNMENT #1"

The purpose of this assignment is for you to start analyzing your existing web activity for good (and bad) examples of multimedia journalism, as well as explore your existing understanding of what "multimedia journalism" is.