9-1 Blog: Multimedia Tools

I am a firm believer that multimedia tool enhances our messaging. Without multimedia online pages and blogs would just be all text and that is not appealing to the eye nor does it make the reader more interested in any given topic. Multimedia is necessary if someone wants to bring attention to their content. I have a sports blog and without pictures, gifs or videos it would just be boring even if the text is about how amazing the game was. Blog sites such as Blogger, Tumblr and WordPress allow for multimedia to be added with ease, you do not have to be a coding whiz.

There are some cases were multimedia can take away from the content and confuse a message that is trying to be conveyed. The article about President Obama's speech shed some light on how graphics can be over simplified to make the content not seem important and also how it can be a distraction from the original message. The producer just has to be clear on the point they are trying to get across or the message they want to be received. The chart referenced in the article about job losses and gains can be a bit confusing because of the coloring, red and blue, the colors that represent the political parties should not have been used for that chart. It might have been more effective with other color so the reader would not associate the numbers with the political parties.

My blog wnbalove.tumblr.com need multimedia to make the reader want to read about what is happening in the league. If I did not include multimedia it would be more like a report of the game instead of an interesting take on it.

Reference:

NPR Staff. (2013, February 14). Chart Check: Did Obama's Graphics 'Enhance' His Big Speech? Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/02/13/171935151/chart-check-did-obama-s-graphics-enhance-his-big-speech

8-2: Best Practices in Blogging

Of course the blog I chose to examine is sports related. SBnation.com is a sports blog that is led by contract writers that are passionate fans about sports. There are over 300 blogs on this site and they cover almost all sports. I chose one blog post in particular to analyze as it is near to my heart and it was a historic moment in NBA history. A few days ago the San Antonio Spurs became the first team to hire a female assistant coach, Becky Hammon who currently plays in the WNBA with the San Antonio Stars. I have a blog about the WNBA and when this story broke I was the first to post it on my blog. This is the link to the blog post about this story: http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/8/5/5971931/becky-hammon-spurs-coach

In my opinion the best practices in blogging is to be honest and as accurate as possible. If the author does not know something that should be honest about it. For me it is better to be short, sweet and include a picture or graphic. People usually do not check out blog post and want to read a long essay or watch a video that is longer than five minutes. On this blog the author include facts about Hammon's career and the steps that were made that led to her getting this job. It was not long and it got a lot of people talking about whether or not the gender qualifier should be a factor. I saw so many stories about this and this blog was able to keep it short while understanding that the moment was historic. I like blogs are have a professional edge to them while still being a bit informal and personal. To me, those are the best practices in blogging.  

7:2 Blog: Press Release

                                               Joe Paterno Passes Away at Age 85

 

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we inform you that on Jan. 22, 2012 Penn State lost its most important and prolific icons. Joe Paterno dedicated half of his life to college football, Penn State and beyond.

His legacy will forever be carried on and he will always be in our hearts. Our deepest condolences to the Paterno family and others that Joe Paterno touched. During this difficult time we will not hold our heads down, but lift them up and celebrate his life. There will be a candlelight vigil held later this week so all can pay their respects.

There will never be another Joe Paterno as he exemplified dedication, longevity, integrity, toughness and love. He will never be forgotten.

-          Penn State Athletic Department

Facebook Post:

Sports Icon Joe Paterno Passes Away at Age 85

On Jan. 22, 2012, Joe Paterno had lost his battle with lung cancer. The Penn State family has lost one of its most important members but he will never be forgotten. Paterno dedicated his life to football and Penn State. He will ever be forgotten as he will always be in our hearts and his legacy will continue on forever. Paterno exemplified excellence, dedication, longevity, integrity, toughness and love.

Patnero ranks as the most winningest coach in Division 1 football which he achieved during his final victory at Penn State on Oct. 29, 2011. Regretfully, Paterno was let go by the Board of Trustees on November 9^th because of the charges filed against former assistance coach Jerry Sandusky. Regardless it will not take away from everything Paterno has done for the university. During his 46 years as head coach he led our program to two national championships, 24 bowl victories and coached five undefeated seasons.

The Paterno Family released a statement Sunday morning:

" It is with great sadness that we announce that Joe Paterno passed away earlier today. His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled. He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he believed he had to leave his Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.

He has been many things in life- a soldier, scholar, mentor, coach friend and father. To my mother, he was and is her soul mate, and the last several week have shown the strength of her love. To his children, he is a shining example of how to live a good, decent and honest life, a standard to which we aspire. When he decided to forego a career in law and making coaching his vocation, his father Angelo had but one command: Make an impact.

As the last 61 years have shown, Joe made an incredible impact. That impact has been felt and appreciated by our family in the form of thousands of letters and well wishes along with the countless acts of kindness from people whose lives he touched. It is evident also in the thousands of successful student athletes who have gone on to multiply that impact as they spread across the country.

And so he leaves us with a peaceful mind, comforted by his "living legacy" of five kids, 17 grandchildren and hundreds of young men whose lives changed in more ways than can begin to be counted.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family request that donations be made to the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania or the Penn State-THON, The Penn State IFC/PanHellenic Dance Marathon."

Joe Paterno, gone but never forgotten. A candlelight vigil will be held outside of Beaver Stadium Thursday at 7 p.m.

- Penn State Athletic Department

6-2 Blog: Social Media Tools

I have always wondered what an RSS feed was, I  did not really get it until this lesson. I signed up using bloglines.com. I always thought that it was an actual feed running on your computer and phone to so you can see all the information relevant to your taste, like the bottom line on CNN on ESPN. Upon signing up I realized that it is basically a way have all of the information from your favorite spots in one place. I thought there would be an app for it but there is not. I would say that RSS is probably the least effective way to reach an audience because you still have to log into a site to see things from other sites and it only shows the main stories. I am a sports fiend so for me I need to know more than just the latest headline. I created an account anyway and this is what I created: http://dashboard.bloglines.com/#295150455 I was able to add TMZ, ABC13 for my Houston news and ESPN. You may have to log in to see it.

I have never really been big into podcast until recently. As I mentioned I am a sports fiend so throughout the work day I am listening to podcast from ESPN. One of the biggest is First Take and Numbers Never Lie. These are two awesome debate shows that I never get to see because they come on Monday through Friday from 9am to noon. This is the link to the podcenter: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/index. There is something there for everybody no matter what the sport. Some of the time I listed to the podcast from people working in sports media talk about my favorite shows. My favorite is the Grantland Pop Culture: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/archive?id=9179868 that is a link to the archive.

The third social media tool that I have become more used to is the blog. I was never big on blogging about myself and putting all of my business on the net for the world to see. Okay, I know the whole world will not be checking my personal blog. I barely use it for personal expression anymore, but my favorite blog site to use is Tumblr. I actually created a sports blog about two years ago to create a buzz about the WNBA which can be found at wnbalove.tumblr.com. It gives me something to do in the summer and it allows me to talk with other WNBA fans because there are not many in the non WNBA city I live in. I have enjoyed it and I have a few gained a decent following.

It was good to try something different but I think the best way to reach a target audience or to get more exposure is through social networking sites. Over 1 billion people have Facebook and it is easy to promote via the site by creating a page for people to like. I have used Facebook and Twitter to promote my WNBA blog for those that do not have Tumblr. News and information travels fast via social media. I have gotten more news and information from social media than I have via the traditional media, like television and newspaper. Social networking is the best way to reach an audience, next to that I would have to say photo sharing then blogging because those tools are the most used of the list.

3-2: Unrestricted Web Publishing

Unrestricted web publishing is very dangerous. These days anyone has the power to create content without any restrictions, even if what we create is true or false. It is one of the main reasons that gossip sites are so popular and are not being shut down for reporting false information are using/altering pictures of celebrities to "prove" that their story is fact. Unrestricted web publishing is one of the reasons that there are so many false stories, news or otherwise, that are floating around on the World Wide Web. Below I referenced a NY times piece regarding the current state of the job market. According to the guidelines listed in the assigned article the source within the article are from the labor department.

The author was not biased in any way, and they were not trying to sell anything. If they were it would have been in the opinion section instead of the politics section, all of the information was fact. The New York Times is one of the few credible sources on the internet these days. However, if they wanted to publish with no ethics unrestricted web publishing would allow them to do so. People are now allowed to use photos without giving credit, publish what they say are facts actually be lies. Most readers are not aware that unrestricted web publishing will leave them subjected to stories that are not true, this class has allowed us to be able to tell the difference between a true story and a false one. The information from the article I read and was deemed credible based on the guidelines was current and the author was simply stating how the numbers could effect voters. Had there not be any improvement the voters may not have been swayed to vote Democratic. If the author was intent on trying to convince the reader of anything it is that, she placed the facts before us and lets the reader decide.


Reference:
Calmes, J. (2014, July 3). Democrats are hopeful improving job numbers will sway voters in fall. New York TImes.

2-3 BLog: Social Media and Truth

I know what I now what the internet. If it is on the internet it must be true right? Okay, I am just kidding. However, the majority of the information that I know comes from the internet some comes from books. I have been in the habit of checking the facts of everything I see on the net unless I believe the source to be reliable. Much of the information I come across on a daily basis is usually via a social media site. I found out about Sean Lee's devastating injury through Twitter because his name was trending.

I also found out about the recent trade that allows for Tyson Chandler to come back to Dallas. I believe that the information is true that I find out through Twitter is because there is usually a link attached to the tweet that leads to an article from a credible source like ESPN, for the Lee injury, or Fox Sports news that had the details of the trade that involved Chandler.

"(Social network sites) are ways of conveying information, but they do not dictate the nation of the content conveyed" (Kovach and Rosenstiel, 2010, p. 55).

On every break from work the first place I go is either Twitter or Facebook. It is not that the social network itself is the credible source, it is that they usually have a link to a credible source to back it up. I just do not believe information that some just tweets or post through a status. The times where the information if credible from social media is when there is a link leading to an article from a news source that gives more details. It is just like the links that the professor sent us in the email, one was she retrieved via a post from one of her friends. Even though the information was acquired through social media it was linked to an article from the AV Club. If it were a friend just stating through a status or tweet about the news I would not see it as reliable, I would want to have more information and most times it is provided through social media.

References:

Kovach, B., & Rosenstiel, T. (2010). Blur: how to know what's true in the age of information overload. New York: Bloomsbury.

1-5 Blog: Influence of the Media

Image Credit: iRep Marketing

New media is a part of my everyday life. I stream radio from all across the country to hear what is being played in different areas. I also listen to a mix of news and everything through iHeartRadio and the day is not complete unless I hear a full cycle of Good Morning America. I do not spend much time watching television news and I rarely pick up a newspaper. I listen to multiple podcast to get me through the work day, most of which that talking about the current events and important sports news. Without new media my days at work would be really long and it has changed the way I live as mentioned in the picture. My phone is an extension of my hand like everything I look at is important.

 Social media has influence my perspective of events by getting them to me so quickly. Most of the "breaking news" I find out about is through Twitter. Of course, from Twitter I check to see if it is posted somewhere else. There are many stories that get passed around through social media that is not true. Twitter as killed many celebrities, some times twice. So in that way it is a negative influence. The positive is that information is always ready and available.