WLKY Covers Injured Lady in California

    When looking through stories on WLKY's website, I came across a story about a lady in California interested in becoming a police officer. She was on a ride along when someone shot at her through the car window. She was only slightly injured by broken glass from the window. According to this article published at 2:30, over a dozen shots were fired.
    When I first came across this article, I noticed that this unfortunate event had occurred in California. This broke one of the Seven Yardsticks of Journalism, Local relevance. This has no direct effect on the people of Kentuckiana. This may be very concerning in California, but the informaationt this story is lacking is the answer to the question, "why does this matter?". This would make more sense to be in a publication similar to the New York Times, that is meant for national news. Therefore, this story does not belong on the local T.V. news station.
    If you would like to know more about this happening, below is a direct link to the story on WLKY's website:

http://www.wlky.com/article/bullets-hit-california-police-car-woman-on-ride-along-hurt/7152957

WDRB covers Tiny UofL Fan Cheers for the Wrong Team

    When watching the 10:00 news on WDRB, I noticed a teaser for a viral video of a crying toddler. This ended up being the very last story on the news. This story was about a young UofL fan in tears apologizing in her fathers arms for cheering for "the wrong team". She cries, claiming that she had forgotten what they were named. So, she accidentally cheered for the cats, her team, the Cardinals, biggest rival.

    Why did this story make the news? It is a viral video that has no significance to the community. This video would more likely belong on "America's Funniest Home Videos" than the nightly news station. This story violates one of the most important Elements of Journalism, Make the Important Interesting, and one of the Yardsticks of Journalism, Newsworthiness.

    The yardstick, Newsworthiness requires the journalist to question, "will the story have a long lasting effect on people?". It is clear that this story has no effect on anyone whatsoever, other than a smile for maybe one minute.

http://www.wdrb.com/clip/12847155/tiny-u-of-l-cardinal-fans-tearful-confession-goes-viral-after-cheering-for-the-wrong-team

Peer Response

    Often you hear people speak of terms that you are uninformed of. However, once it is explained to you, you realize that you know exactly what is being discussed. This is what happened to me and many other of my classmates, including Patrick, during the lesson about TV news terminology. Patrick, in one of his blogposts commented that after the lesson, when watching the news, he recognized many of terms Mr. Miller had taught us earlier that day.
    For example, we knew that stations would often talk over a short video or picture, but we didn't know that this was called B- Roll. We were unknowning of the terminology for every part of the news. Patrick explained how now, when we watch the news, we would be able to identify things such as a stand up, voice over, and teaser.
    I understand Patrick's claim stating that he felt more informed when watching the news knowing all of the terminology that Mr. Miller taught us. When watching we can now more easily view the stations goals and how well they did. If you would like to read Patrick's passage about his understanding of this class discussion, there is direct link to the post below:

http://patricksperceptions.blogspot.com/2016/10/class-discussion-october-14-2016.html?m=1

The Parts of a Newspaper

    This class discussion about the parts of a newspaper was both very short and very helpful. For fourteen years, I have been looking at newspapers and noticed similarities between the layouts. However, I never knew the names of all of them. of course I knew the term "caption", but I didn't know it could also be referred to as a cut line. I was also unaware that the credentials of the photograph was called something different than the by-line. This is called the credit-line.
   Normally, I have a difficult time retaining information. However, during this class discussion, Mr. Miller told us a silly mnemonic statement that has surprisingly helped me a lot. To help me remember the locations of the kicker and the deck, I now think of someone being kicked out, onto the deck. This informs me that the kicker is above the heading, which is above the deck.
    I am glad I am retaining this information well, because I know these terms will be important in my future. Even though, this lecture was quite short, I feel like I got a lot out of it. This subject didn't require a very time consuming conversation. This goes to proof that length is not near as important than quality.

Peer Response

    Ella's perception of the media response task was different, I noticed, than most others. While reading my classmates' blogs, I noticed that they responded to individual stories they found on their news stations. However, Ella responded to her source as a whole.
    It is very well known that every news source has a remarkably high amount of crime stories. This is true especially compared to the other story categories. Ella admitted to knowing this is highly stated. However, she knows it is still important to talk about. Ella did very well portraying this information in a way that made it more interesting. She used details that most people usually don't point out when discussing the abundance of crime stories.
    Not only did she use mathematical data to support her claim, but she also explained her point of view about why this is so. Whereas most people say that there are too many crime stories and the media is just trying to blow up the subject, Ella believes these stories are important. It seems crime is becoming a more and more prominent issue and it is important that everyone is aware. Ella made a very valid point that many people take for granted that they live in a safe area and assume that no crime will ever face them. however, that is untrue, and people need to know that.
    I agree with Ella that we must be informed about the many fatal crimes in our area. Many people disagree. If you would like more information to form your own opinion, i suggest you read Ella Treinen's well written blog post entitled "Hiding From Reality".

http://newsviewsella.blogspot.com/2016/10/hiding-from-reality.html

WDRB Covers the Jim Beam Workers on Strike

    WDRB is usually a very creditable news source. This is why, when watching the news on October 17th, the story about Jim Beam's workers striking really caught my attention. This televised story by Jessica Bard was about the workers at Jim Beam who refused to work. One of the strikers interviewed claimed it was not about the money. Another said that it was partly because the lack of seniority. The jobs were unstable and the hours were very long.

    When watching this story on T.V., I noticed the lack of management investigated. No people of power at Jim Beam were interviewed. Three workers and one other stakeholder without power were interviewed. However, not one of the officials being protested against were asked about their side of the story. 

    This story breaks the seventh Yardstick of Journalism, Fairness. In this yardstick, it is explained that it is important that journalists find EVERY side to the story. In this story about the strikes at Jim Beam the only side that was obtained was the employees'. Even though this story was well sourced, it needed a better variety of sources.

    If you would like to view the story the direct link to the video is attached below:

http://www.wdrb.com/clip/12828245/Jim%20Beam%20union%20workers%20remain%20on%20strike

Peer Response

    Bailey's post covering the transition of the radio to television medium was very insightful. Not only did she recap the discussion from class, she explained what she thought of the lesson. Like many people, including myself, Bailey assumed that radios had always played music and aired talk shows. We were informed otherwise during this class discussion. We both discovered that this only occurred after radio's demassification.
    Bailey was also surprised that radio stars had left the radio for television. She had made a good point that even though only their voices were famous, radios had much larger audiences than televisions had had. This is due to television being such a new medium. She discribed the celebrities as taking a risk that in her opinion paid off. Now, these actors are much more successful. In the end, she is glad that radios demassified. I agree completely. After all, I couldn't imagine it any other way.

If you would like to read this informative blog, here is a direct link to the post:
http://baileysbeautifulblogs.blogspot.com/2016/10/class-discussion-transition-from-radios.html?m=

Introducing Mass Communication and Demassification

     Mass communication is a medium that has the potential to reach a mass audience, travels through both space and time, and is unable to receive immediate feedback. This includes magazines, newspapers, television, and even cave paintings.
     Demassification is when companies switch from targeting a large, national audience to a smaller, niche audience. Companies with a larger target audience will almost always make more money. So, why would any companies want to make this switch?
     Many companies do not demassify willingly. Demasssification usually occurs when companies loose audience, staff, or advertisers. Due to this happening, these companies do not have the money to continue serving a mass audience. In order to stay in business, they must target smaller audiences. This no longer classifies it as mass communication because it is unable to reach a mass audience. If companies didn't demassify, They would have to close down because they were unable to support themselves.

Class Response to the Binary Models

     There are four main binary models. These are hot and cool, information and entertainment, elitist and populist, and content distribution. These are all very closely related. These models are also merging. Information and entertainment has now turned into "infotainment". Similarly, content and distribution companies have now been preparing both. This pattern is occurring in binary models because companies want to make as much money as possible.

     Mediums can be considered either as hot or cool mediums. Hot mediums require your full attention to comprehend. Cool mediums allow you to multitask and still retain the information that the medium wants you to acquire. Some hot mediums include books, newspapers, and magazines. Most print media is classified as hot mediums. Television, and radio are two of the many cool mediums. Cool mediums are becoming more and more prominent for the very reason that it is a cool medium. More people want the quicker and easier to access information, especially as people come to be more busy. 

     Information and entertainment addresses the importance of Newsworthiness. Most information is newsworthy. However, it is a rarity that you will find newsworthy entertainment. Newspapers are one of the few mediums that are loyal to the information side of this binary model. Most mediums have transferred to the balance of both, known as infotainment. This binary model is similar to elitist and populist. Elitist knowledge is the information that People need to know. Populist knowledge is the audiences' wants. 

     This lecture, unlike others was quite easy to relate to. It is much more difficult to relate to the history of the printing press. As this lesson was being taught, I thought about how attentive I am whilst listening to the radio or reading a book. Can I read a book and write an essay at the same time? Can I listen to the radio and write an essay at the same time? Where do I find movies to watch? Does this place have original content? If so, about when did this merge start to occur?

Conglomeration

     Before this lesson, I didn't know what a conglomeration was. Now I know that is is a collection of companies owned by one large company. Conglomerations are a way for companies to earn more money. Conglomeration's main source of income is advertisements and circulation.  They also earn money from audience donations, government support, and corporate sponsors.
     To help us understand this better, Mr. Miller gave us the example of NPR radio. On this station, you will never hear any advertisements. However, you will many sponsors. This is when the radio hosts say something along the lines of, " This program was supported by...".
     Conglomerations sound very advantageous, don't they? This is true, they have a lot of benefits. However, these benefits are for themselves. Conglomerations are more profitable, and are higher quality. However, they also limits the diversity of content and opinions.
     Mr. Miller liked to use the Harry Potter reference to explain this. Harry Potter has been produced in almost every medium possible. This is because it is what is making them the most profit. Even though this is great for the people such as myself who love Harry Potter, this is not good for people who don't like it as much.
     So overall, conglomerations are much more beneficial to themselves.

Media Critique

     This week in the news, there was an article published by the Courier Journal. This news piece is about the University of Louisville's football team. It explains that, for this Saturday, when they play Florida State, they will be wearing different helmets. These new helmets will be red, chrome.
     This information may not appear newsworthy. What effect does the color of a football player's helmet have on me? However, there is more to the story. This is important because it will bring more money into Louisville. This is because this game will be nationally televised including on ESPN's " College Game Day". This article doesn't focus on the big picture. It focuses in on a smaller, less important detail. This violates the explanation yardstick. To make this better journalism, the journalist should focus on the bigger picture. Even though the color of a helmet alone will not change my life in the slightest, Louisville will gain a lot, effecting the citizens indirectly.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2016/09/14/louisville-football-wearing-red-helmets-versus-florida-state/90346426/

Peer Responses

     As I examined the list of blogs, I noticed a title that intrigued me. The title, Maple-Leaf-Mag was very creative. This is Maggie's blog.  http://maple-leaf-mag.blogspot.com
     I enjoyed reading Maggie's class response to mass communication best because she related the content to another class. She explained how she was learning something very similar in AP Human Geography. Maggie demonstrated the differences and similarities such as how diffusion barriers act as similar to filters and impediments. Specific details were included to prove certain similarities.
     Within my little time at duPont Manual High school, I have already learned that it is not enough to just memorize information. Memorization is not a measurement of understanding. It is essential to analyze and apply data. When Maggie explained the connection she made to AP human geography she was demonstrating her understanding.
     Maggie also expressed her engagement by describing how she is excited to find more similarities of Human Geography and Journalism. She included that Journalism and Human Geography are more related than she ever expected.

Student Response

     I decided to read a classmate's blog that looked unique. Most people's blogs are about class discussions. They are about full discussions that were explained during a full class period. However, Claire's post, The Zenger Case, follows just one part of a lecture.
     My peer's blog post explained the history of the Zenger case very well. She thoroughly explained the revolutionary effect that this case had on journalism. I also thought it was very interesting how she related this case to one of the Ten Elements of Journalism. She brought me to make a connection between two journalism subjects. This relationship will help me to become a more successful journalist in the future.

http://clairejwrites.blogspot.com/

The first Classes and First Impressions

     Usually, lectures don't interest me. I am not an auditory learner so, I often find it hard to focus. However, I find my Journalism One class very interesting. I am the kind of student who doesn't participate in class discussions. I am always attentive, but for the most part, I only observe the other students and their responses. However in Journalism One, somehow I always find myself with my hand raised ready to answer any question thrown my way. I can honestly say, this is the most engaging class I have had yet.
     During the first couple lectures, we discussed both the Ten Elements of Journalism and the Seven Yardsticks of Journalism. Even though the elements were written by journalists and the yardsticks were written by the audience, these two guidelines are actually quite similar. They both focus on portraying important and relevant information and being loyal to the publication's audience. Although it is important to remember these  guidelines prescribe, and not describe journalism. The main similar points of the Ten Elements and 7 Yardsticks of Journalism are, verification and context, watchdog and civic contribution, and make the important interesting and newsworthiness. 
     Verification and context are similar in which they both encourage journalists to make sure it is clear that their information is valid by supporting it with many sources. Without cited sources, the work is creditable. To the viewers knowledge, the work could be untruthful or unreliable. 
     Watchdog and civic contribution both explain how journalists should keep an eye on those with power. These people could be anyone from government officials or the president to board members or the school principal. I find this easy to remember as comparable to the Checks and Balances system. As journalists constantly check in with the people in power, the power is more balanced making sure the power is not being abused.
     Finally, make the important interesting and newsworthiness are corresponding because they both stress the distribution of elitist information. Although these two are more distantly related, they both explain the importance of relevant knowledge. It is essential to not only express the important, but to also explain why the news is important. Answer the question , "Why does it Matter?".
     Going into this magnet, I had the same question. However, after only a few classes, I already have a completely new understanding.