What I like about this class so far?

For one, I appreciate being (practically) forced to read the news. For once, I was the one informing my co-workers of the most recent news instead of being informed by them. I feel like current events are becoming a bigger part of my life, and like any other type of learning, it gives me the thirst for wanting to continue to learn about the world around me. I found a pretty cool way to do this too. Check out the link bellow for an interesting way to look at headlines, both national and world-wide:

http://newsmap.jp/

I also like our in-class discussions. I'm learning a lot of new tips I hadn't caught on to before. Being in this class has given me a chance to really ask myself if maybe reporting and news-writing might be of more interest to me than to just round out my resume and my skills as a technical producer. Maybe it's because Reisner feeds it to us like such a cool career choice. I may be biased because I find it ridiculously cool that he took his daughter to a Paramore concert, and therefore anything he does must be cool?

O.k, I'll stop, for now.

:)

Two Ledes, which one is better?

o A man robbed a local gas station last night after holding up the attendant with a switch blade knife only to escape on-foot with $14.37, said the city police.

o Last night a man held up a gas station attendant with a switch blade knife, only to escape on-foot with $14.37, said the city police.

SO. WHICH ONE IS A BETTER LEDE?

Here are the notes we were given.

· a. There was a holdup at a gas station last night.
b. A man armed with a switch blade knife held up the attendant.
c. The amount taken was $14.37.
d. After the robbery the man fled on foot.
e. The gas station is at 610 Mobile Ave.
f. All information came from city police.
g. There was a potted plant in the main office

h. The robber was white.

Second Look-Through

After our discussion in class, we were asked to go back to the same article and review it with a fresh mind and new ideas of what makes any article a good or bad one.

As I reviewed my article once again (link on previous post), I realized I found it is well-written, indeed. I found it to be very clear and interesting. It gave enough detail into the topic at hand to inform the reader without boring him or her. It was concise and to the point, touching on most potential questions the audience might have about the topic, which was the new education curriculum offered to students in different languages.

One thing that this article did particularly well on was showing, not telling the audience what this different approach to education is. The author resorted to quoting students and school staff about the programs in order to show why these students are interested in this program, or what they find appealing about what they are doing within the program.

This article was more informative than anything else. It proved to have reliable sources, including a participating school's principal as well as the administrative director of the MDPS division of bilingual education and world languages, Joanne Urrutia.

I liked this lesson because it gave me a chance to judge a piece for myself, and then I was able to go back and view the same article with new lessons learned in the classroom.

Well-written Article

More High School Students Learning in Other Languages

The article that I chose is about education. It was published on August 31, 2010, and it was written by Tania Valdemoro. The name is “More High School Students Learning in Other Languages.” This article caught my attention due to its topic. As I read into it, I liked many things about it that made it work for me.

One of the attributes that stand out about this article to me is the way in which it starts. The title of the article gave me an idea of what I might find inside, and it became the hook that made me take the time to read it. The lead is one that guides me through different programs that exist in different parts of Miami, but it purposefully leaves out the “how it works” or “why this is allowed” part for later reading. I was interested in reading the article because the lead was more of a hook to the topic at hand.

I liked that through the introduction it is very vague on the why and the how of the newsworthy topic, but as it goes on, it answers these questions not only with facts, but it is accompanied by responses by students of these new programs. I also liked that it is divided into sections with titles, so I know what the section deals with as I continue reading.

This article is successful in informing me about this alternative way to learn in different languages. It is much unbiased about the topic, being careful to stay away from controversial ideas such as these programs, especially the ones in Spanish, becoming a crutch for students who come from Latin America and won’t need to apply themselves to learn the local language, English. Another issue it stayed away from, and therefore becoming impartial about, is that education in these programs might be better because it is more challenging and more hands-on and varied than traditional education in Miami-Dade County.

I think that being impartial about news is important because it can be very easy to sway from the newsworthy content and move into feature and editorial forms of writing when working on an article. This article served as a good example of how to not do that.