The "News"

I do not subscribe to cable television anymore. I did this to save some money, but in large part because it hurts my head too much to watch the news anymore.You think being a journalism student, I would be an easy audience to appeal to. I do not idolize any of these news figures and I can't stand watching what is really just exaggerated opinion.

That is just fine if you want to lecture your audience about opinions all day. Just change the names of your networks to something more appropriate, because describing these cable networks as places for news is inappropriate.

 First of all, when I watch the news, I am not turning on the television to read. The networks just flash seemingly random things on the screen. Along with the rolling tape on the bottom, there is just too much information to comprehend.

 As if this wasn't enough, much of this information are rants from the news anchors and the "experts" brought on the show to yell at me and interrupt each other. Just because your voice is louder, doesn't mean you are correct. There are only so many times I can hear how much Bill O'Reilly hates my favorite hip-hop musicians or watch Keith Olbermann stroke his own ego.

As a student pursuing print journalism, I know the second I insert one of my perceptions into a news piece, that story will not run the next day. I ask, why is it ethical for professional broadcast journalists to get away with this on a constant basis?

 Maybe this is the difference between the two mediums though. I'm sure broadcast news has a bigger audience and this method of displaying information is what attracts eyeballs. What we as the audience lose are facts. Facts go out the window when someone is trying to convince us what is right or wrong. Our perception of what is right or wrong, soon becomes whoever is listened to the most must be correct.

 In 2004, Jon Stewart appeared on an episode of the CNN show "Crossfire." The show claimed to have debates about issues from the left and right sides. Stewart was not amused by the show and quickly called out the anchors.

Watch below:


I am not advocating Stewart to be the anchor for every news show. I think the checks and balances that he provided need to be preformed more often, by more people. Crossfire was canceled in less than a year in part to Stewart's appearance. The topics don't need to be changed, the format and discourse of the shows need to be improved. I understand that there is time and space that needs to be filled at a lower price. But what is the price of journalistic integrity?

 I think a good broadcast model is the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. He never yells at me, but rather presents information calmly and direct even in times of crisis.

 Many television news shows are doing the public a disservice and its time to change. I am disappointed that things are relatively the same as they were when Stewart made his appearance in 2004. This isn't an issue about the right or the left. They both do it. Confusing viewers and spewing banter is unethical, because it is not an honest discourse to inform our country.

Assignment #1: Blogging the Day - War then and now

Today is August 25,2011. Being the history nerd I am, I looked up the events that happened today in the world's history. While I noticed one of my favorite author's Truman Capote died on this day in 1984, the most significant event I found was
the liberation of Paris from Nazi Germany in 1944 in World War II.

The French and Germans started fighting in May 1940. Only a month later the French were defeated and a majority of the country was occupied. At the beginning of the war, the Nazi military seemed to be one of the most dominant military forces the world has ever seen.

Four years later, starting with the valiant efforts of the soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy France on D-Day ( June 6, 1944), French General Jacques Leclerc entered the free French capital of Paris. This victory showed that the evil Axis powers were limited and their decline was approaching.

Check out this day in history here.



As I reflect on the brave efforts of these troops, I think a overwhelming majority would support fighting against the Axis powers.

I suspect now that few can say they are fully behind the three wars America is involved in like they could during World War II. I think this is the most ambivalent our country has been about war at least since the Vietnam war. This ambivalence is not a question about supporting our troops and leaders. These brave men and women go through things I haven't begun to imagine and deserve a considerable amount of our thoughts and prayers.

Saying that though, my country has been fighting since I was in the seventh grade. Ten years later, I am starting my fifth year of college and I still know very little about these wars.

This fact disturbs me because, as a history major I know more about wars that happened over 200 years ago than I do about wars going on while I'm sleeping. I need to read more and the media needs to give us more information. Ten years of war is difficult to comprehend. More information may not change my or the country's ambivalence, but it will certainly provide a context so that we can begin to understand the significance of these wars and how they are affecting those across the world.

Portfolio Review

Mindy Rappoport Blog:
- The front page of your blog is very strong and I think this is due to your about me section. I learned a lot about you from this short description and I think potential employers will appreciate that.
- I also like the picture of the public market sign. I don't know where this is from so a little background information would be nice, but I think the picture compliments your site well.
- I think the way you incorporated your resume is beneficial. It seems easy to print and professional looking.
- The set up of your stories very clean and easy to read. I enjoyed your dumpster diving story. It was very informative. I find it incredible the amount of detail you have to provide at the Boulder Weekly.
- I would recommend that you include some of the photography provided by the Weekly and include them by your stories. The clips page, although clean and professional seems somewhat bland. I think adding pictures will liven up your site a bit.


Sara Kassabian Blog:
Along with Mindy's site, the wordpress designs make your sites a step above the rest. The professionalism of the website building site was a good choice for the both of you. Sara I like that you include photos along with your Boulder Weekly stories. The front page is a pleasure to look at which makes me enticed to read.

As I say that, I would like the first thing I see on your site to be information about you. I want to know immediately who these stories are coming from. I think your "about me" section of your site is just as strong as the Boulder Weekly section. I would suggest leading your site with your biography page and then follow that with your printed stories. Great looking site.

What a difference a week makes

At this time last week the only byline I had written for my internship at the Greeley Tribune was a story about a canceled beauty pageant in Windsor Colorado. Even then I had to be assertive and ask for that story and it didn't run in the Tribune. I was discouraged about driving to and from Greeley for two hours a day to be writing briefs.

Honestly now I am grateful that I was writing those briefs. My experience writing news is minimal at best and these short stories made me more patient and a bit more comfortable writing news.

Then my time came. My editor came over and and asked me if I wanted a story. I stood up and exclaimed with enthusiasm my gratitude for a story opportunity. All sorts of possibilities for my first story for the Tribune ran through my head. Will I get to cover the court room? Sports? I'd even be happy with covering an event where a group stood around and watched paint dry.

None of the above happened.

"Ben we need an update on the equine herpesvirus and how it is affecting Greeley business," my editor said.

All my hopes and dreams had been fulfilled. I could now tell my children the first published news story I ever wrote was about horse herpes.

Skepticism aside I buckled down and started writing the story. I found it incredibly difficult to get a hold of contacts for some reason and I think the story reflects this. I know now everything anybody ever needs to know about herpes. Throughout the day though I learned something very valuable. This story isn't about me. It's for the people and this virus affects a lot of horses and their owners and the competitions they compete in. I am providing a service for the community and hopefully informing them to make better decisions. The story isn't glamorous or ground breaking, but I am proud of it and thankful for the opportunity to write.

My first Tribune story: No new cases of EHV-1 good news for Greeley horse owners and event planners

Since that story I wrote last Friday I have written two pieces that have ran as A2 centerpieces.

One story was about a model train station that will be featured on the PBS series "Tracks Ahead." The people at the train station were very welcoming and answered every one of my questions. The station took five and a half years to build.

To give you an idea how detailed this station is, one scene in the display had a group of construction workers pouring cement. The patch of cement the workers were pouring was a darker gray than the rest of the strip of concrete. The dedication of the volunteers was inspiring and the musuem was much cooler than I anticipated. I also got the opportunity to take the photo for this story. I never thought I'd be able to do that and it was nice to hear that the photo editor's eyes didn't hurt after he saw my photo.

Also I had the opportunity to meet Spencer Christian who is the host of the train show. I think his life is absolutely fascinating. He worked on Good Morning America for several years and now is doing the weather in San Fransisco for 7News. He was a English major and journalism major in college and planned to write for newspapers. I don't feel as pressured to find a job strictly in print journalism now. On top of that he played college baseball and even tried out for the majors.

P.S. I think baseball is the greatest thing to happen to this country after freedom.

Read “Tracks Ahead” makes stop at the Greeley Freight Station Museum

Finally this week I wrote a piece on Jennifer Frances, a woman who drives around the country in her yellow school bus and hands out books to children in need. I talked to Martha, the person who got Jennifer out to Greeley. She said she saw a story about a child who was told to bring a book from home into class the next day. The child brought back a phone book. That is the only book he had in his house.

The power of reading is priceless and it made me glad to see that there was someone helping out the kids. It was also fun to see all the children getting excited about books. It made me excited to see books like "The Stinky Cheese Man" and "The BFG."

Read Bess the Book Bus tour aims to put books in children’s hands

After another week I am happy to be reporting and learning about the stories of the people in Greeley.

Loathing Lebron

One of my least favorite athletes lost the NBA Finals. Again. I don't like when people say Lebron is the greatest basketball player of all time. I'll have that discussion when he wins six rings, let alone one. Granted Lebron James is at a large disadvantage in gaining my favor because I think Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest athlete of all time. But what does it matter if I don't like the guy. If he ever read this he would probably laugh and go do laps in a solid gold pool filled with Benjamin's and fine champagne.

Regardless of my dislike for James, I don't think he will have the same fate as Dan Marino and never win a championship in Miami. I'm not rooting against the guy to never win. I can't imagine the pressure he has to face every day and he deserves to find success in the final stages of the season.

In the meantime I wish he would even pretend to act humble. Shake all the hands of the opposing team when you lose. Don't tell me about all your haters and that God doesn't think it is your time on Twitter at two in the morning. Tell me your going to regroup and work much harder to win next years Finals. Mr. James I want to like you but you're making it damn near impossible.

The following is some of the coverage reacting to the Miami Heat falling to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals.

LeBron James gracious in defeat? Get real by Tracee Hamilton

Strengths - A strength of the article is explaining why Lebron's image has been tarnished even more by quoting his comments about his haters. Also the article does a good job informing the reader of the unsupportive Heat fans. I had no idea that the franchise struggled to get fans and had to put an ad in the paper to get them to come out. Having a better big three than Boston should be incentive enough to come to the games.

Weakness- The weakness of the article is the lead. I wasn't hooked when i started reading and I will be honest I didn't know what chutzpah meant. The word means the audacity of something good or bad. Other than that I actually enjoyed the opinion of the story.

Mike and Mike
Monday June 13

On my glorious hour drive to my internship in Greeley, I had the opportunity to to listen to Mike and Mike in the morning on ESPN radio. Mike Golic with guest NBA analyst Chris Broussard.

The advantage of the show is to get analyst expertise on on how Lebron is trying to destroy his image even further. The show was able to bring in many different perspectives that a print publication could not.

The weakness I found with the broadcast was that there seemed to be too much opinion and not enough fact. I wanted to know more about what the Dallas Mavericks did right to win the championship and what the Heat did wrong. Not what the analysts opinions were of how Lebron's words further destroyed his image.

Heat should pull plug on Big Three by Jason Whitlock

I am considering this article more of a blog because it is almost exclusively opinion.
I enjoy Jason Whitlock's writing but I do not particularly agree with him with this article.

The success of this article is the name. It is shocking and it takes a strong stance which made me want to read.

I don't think that breaking the Heat up is the solution to the team's failures. If this was say the Heat's third Finals' series lost then maybe something needs to change. I think Whitlock is saying this just to sound shocking to gain readers. Breaking up one of the best line-ups in recent memory so quickly seems foolish.

I think Lebron needs to work on his mid-range shot and his handling of the media. If he does both the Heat will run away with the championship and maybe start earning the title of King James.

Rick Reilly & Nate Silver response

The main thing that I think Reilly and Silver agreed was in their point that journalism is an essential part of society and that new forms of media can never take that role. Both speakers advocated pursuing journalism through nontraditional methods. While Reilly advocated for journalists to always say something different, Silver found an approach to journalism through statistics.
A point where they disagreed was through the way they pursued journalism. While both thought it was important to seek truth and inform, Reilly was concerned about getting paid for the craft. Silver seemed to want to pursue journalism by any means necessary.
Reilly's speech resonated with me more and the thing I can do differently to become a better journalist is to say the unsaid and learn how to better defend an argument. I think this is the best way to seek and report truth.

Broadcast Re-Write

Journalism School Merger-PKG

Anchor: Due to recent national budget cuts, the University of Colorado is considering a money saving merger.

Voice Over: The proposed merger combines the School of Journalism and Mass Communication with The Alliance for Technology, Learning, and Society. This relationship makes sense academically considering the rise of digital media and the evolution of journalism.

(Images of various locations on the University of Colorado campus)

Voice Over: Dean of the Journalism School Paul Vokes says the school needs to cut nearly 8 percent of its $3.9 million dollar budget from the general fund. According to ATLAS director John Bennett, the institute needs to cut its $1.2 million general fund annual budget by 10 percent.

(Images of the Amory and the ATLAS buildings)

Video: Dean Paul Vokes – “We’ve got a faculty that is definitely aware and studying these changes,”… “In terms of all of the cutting-edge technical aspects, we see a wonderful opportunity with ATLAS.”

Anchor: Vokes says that beginning in fall 2011 the school will begin offering two degree tracks: “journalism and media studies” and advertising and media design.” This change will not affect current students who can now take “news-editorial,” “broadcast,” “advertising” or “media studies” degree tracks.

Anchor: Students have already been branching out from traditional tracks of the journalism school and taking advantage of ATLAS programs to gain technological skills. 118 of 403 enrolled in the ATLAS program are journalism students.

Video: Advertising student Lauren Brown supports this merger with the technology program.

“I think that with emerging digital media being so present in advertising and journalism, you have to have these skills to be a marketable candidate.”

Anchor: One drawback of the proposed consolidation could mean the elimination of at least one job, if not more.

Running Time: 1:40