Bloggy Blog Blog. Take 3.

This blog, entitled Freakonomics, is an online extension to the blogger's published work that analyzes how incentives drive today's economy in particular situations.

These situations addressed in the work range anywhere from the banal to the "freaky," as the authors put it, hence the name and the subhead of "The Hidden Side of Everything."

This blog appears as part of the opinion section of the New York Times and as such, it mimics the newspaper in presentation quite well.

While this can be an issue, as we have all seen with previously examined blogs, I believe that this blog takes enough of its look from its "big brother" paper to establish continuity and credibility, but distances itself in content to be its own entity.

It does this by removing some of the formality seen in the New York Times with sections such as "FREAK Shots," "The Opinionator," "Things We Weren't Paid to Endorse" and "Naked Self-Promotion."

These tags also serve to boost the site's accountability, making their own incentives and motives for writing clear to readers per section so that they make take the information for what it is, rather than expecting it to be the almighty truth.


The next site is Slate and I found it incredibly accessible and easy to navigate, which may be the most important aspect to me when reading online anything.

Slate also has a very well organized presentation that is clear and visually appealing, although I would hope so since it's really an online adaptation of a magazine.

Each of the posts is short with an accompanying image, giving the reader the option to read more into the story/post if they're interested in the topic. In fact, the posts are just short enough to make you want to read more on each section.



My final choice blog belongs to Jim Romenesko of the Poynter Institute. While this blog is highly praised by other journalists across the nation for Romenesko's clear, concise language and good reporting, and rightly so in my book, I have some issues with its presentation.

The panels on either side of the content tend to remind me of my immense claustrophobia, like I'm being crushed between the sides of my computer monitor.

Perhaps I would get a little more breathing room and visual enjoyment from the page if he removed the little mini panel that is set on the left side between the posts and the actual sidebar.

Despite my personal need for less clutter, this blog is one of the most well-written and most frequently updated pieces of online journalism, that is real online journalism, that I have come across yet.

Bloggy blog blog. Take 2.

Here's my second, and slightly more serious, installment of the Best of Blogs assignment.

WatchBlog: Political News, Opinion & Commentary
I don't formally categorize my political views (if you can call them that), so the appeal of this website can be readily evident at the first glance of it's home page. The fact that this blog presents a breakdown of the three major political affiliations, in glorious contrasting colors, is a very unique and refreshing idea.

I suppose, since this blog is the result of multiple editors, I assume each assigned to their own political views, I feel that this would be best executed if each of the editors covered the same topics per blog and presented them across the spectrum.

However, as far as I can tell, that's not what's being done on this blog, so I feel like it is a good start but can be taken to another level of balanced coverage.

Another plus for this blog is that is has short and consistent posts, with links to the remainder of the commentary, so that a reader can navigate multiple topics with ease.

Recovering Journalist
I suppose after two semesters of newspaper and magazine design/layout courses, despite my fascination with color, I enjoy this blog because it follows a cardinal rule of page design: "white space is your friend."

On the most superficial level, I am attracted to this blog because it is simple, clean and well organized.

As for substance, Mark Potts takes news related to the field of journalism and adds his own humor and poignant commentary, which is a knockout combination for me.

The Daily Gut: A Handkerchief of Hard News Soaked in a Sneeze of Thought Snot
First off, the subhead for this blog is fantastic.

This guy is truly creative with his daily "Gregalogues" and I am definitely a fan of his organization by colors within his sidebar.

However, I find his plain text as a font, like you see in html code, very difficult to read--to the point where I just assume ignore whatever it is he has to say in this font.

This blogger too, much like Potts, takes real news content and draws his own conclusions about them with a smattering of sarcasm thrown in.

Ross the Boss.

Former movie critic for the Tampa Tribune Bob Ross was laid off in 2007, "before it was quite the rage."

If that quote doesn't say something about the man, I honestly don't know what does.

Though I was soon informed that Ross had been a reporter for the St. Pete Times' Bradenton Bureau before taking his position as the Trib's movie critic, I must admit that I didn't expect our class discussion that day to be too rich in substance.

I also have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised.

I felt like Ross kept dropping little pearls of wisdom at random intervals throughout his visit to our class, all of which I rediscovered when I sat down to write this blog.

Ross noted that our society lacks any real broad range of rational opinion at this point and lamented that most people get their "facts" from a single news source or show.

More vividly, in this world of short attention spans, "it's like eating cotton candy all the time--mentally, you've got to have some kind of fiber in your diet."

While this is a recurring theme within our class discussions, Ross also had some plot twists that kept me guessing.

I suppose I always envisioned movie critiques to be strict analyses of all the important aspects in film and how each individual work ranks in regard to those aspects.

Ross maintains that while a good critique should incorporate those things, the work should also carry literary weight.

When he writes his critiques, Ross says that he strives to write a review that people will read from top to bottom without necessarily ever planning to see the film in question.

"A reader needs to get something out of reading a critique independently from the work," Ross said.

A movie review is, therefore, akin to a good column, where you use facts and solid reporting to construct a valid argument; the topic of conversation is the only real difference.

While Thelen said he recalled a time when people either watched all the movies or none of the movies that Ross ruled in favor of in his reviews, Ross said that it didn't matter whether people followed his advice or not, he simply served as a common, consistent point for lively discussion to revolve around.

"It's really a position of false power," Ross said, describing his work as "inflicting his opinion on all those people."

Whatever he wanted to call it that day, anyone in our class can be certain that Ross enjoyed his work as a movie critic for the Trib, so much that he pursued it even after being laid off.

"I loved it so much that I don't really want to do anything else," Ross said.

While his passion for his craft was evident, as was his sorrow for the direction that the film industry is headed.

Ross said that now we are constantly bombarded with movies programmed for the mass culture, and with numbers of newspaper critics dropping dramatically within the last few years, he feels that there are fewer and fewer people to stand up and call these films out for what they are: mindless.

Now, Ross added, if there are people reviewing movies, they're more snarky than analytical.

And with the mindset of today's film industry on "succeeding financially rather than artistically," as Ross would put it, we're seeing fewer low budget and independent films, further dumbing down our current movie culture.

As a final note, Ross told our class that whatever we find ourselves writing in the future, we should be mindful of our readers rather than ourselves--perhaps a change in that direction can dig us out of the cultural abyss we find ourselves in all too often...

...aaand cut.

Mission to Mears

The "retreaded," not retired, Walter Mears offered up some first-hand history of the newspaper and wire service as well as some poignant predictions for the industry's future.

Mears explained to our class that the early wire service, mostly a medium of exchange and creature of the American newspaper industry, soon found itself faced with the dilemma of "adapt or die" with the explosion of television and broadcast news.

These new mediums meant that stories from the wire would not always be the first time that the public would hear about certain news items, introducing an impending competition that it simply couldn't afford to ignore.

So adapt it did, and since then, the Associated Press has been responsible for most of its own reporting, striving to produce copy that extends beyond just the lead and gives something more to readers than what they could already know.

Currently, 50 percent of all stories found in any newspaper are from AP, but that's not the true success of the organization, Mears said.

While our nation's newspapers now struggle for survival due to an inability to properly adapt to the new digital age, AP has realized the digitization of news, created new products in response and priced them accordingly.

This proves to be a double-edged sword for newspapers, as not only did they not figure out a way to make money from the new digital mediums, but as a result, they are forced to pay the steep prices of the wire to fill half of their daily issues.

And now, these print organizations are succumbing to bankruptcy one after another, unable to reconcile incoming revenue against mounds of debt, often originating from these wire fees.

Amidst all this gloom and doom, Mears does have hope for the news industry, but he places the responsibility of its ultimate survival on our generation.

"As long as there are people willing to inform rather than argue, they can survive," Mears said.

He added that to do this, aspiring news journalists must adapt to be more entrepreneurial, use multiple media tools and be prepared not to work for a formal news organization, but rather sell their work out to those that want it.

Overall, Mears is confident that the basic structure of news organizations (in some way) will remain because we will find that we cannot function without them.

"If you lose the umpire, then you wind up with argument instead of information," alluding to our nation's current media diet of entertainers and echo chambers.

But more than that, any apathetic demeanor toward keeping these watchdogs serves as an "invitation to all the modern-day robber barons to keep doing what they've been doing that got us into this mess," Mears said.

In other words, if the umpire isn't looking, the players will steal the bases and the game, until they're called out and held responsible for their actions.

Cheating ruins the game for everyone--as we have seen--and I consider it a duty and a privilege to serve as a future umpire.

Bloggy blog blog. Take 1.

So, I decided that for this first round of "Best of Blogs," I would just jump right in to my freebie topic instead of delving into the world of serious, public affairs blogs, as I could use a laugh after this week.

In fact, the need for laughter quickly became my theme for this assignment, as all of my choice blogs for this round were picked because I generally find them hilarious for one reason or another.

The first blog, entitled "Tard-Blog", is a chronicle of the life of Riti Sped, a former special education teacher, as it applies to her students and the daily occurrences she faces in class. The blog seems to serve as a platform through which she can vent her daily frustrations in a healthy (according to me) way.
Despite numerous typos, a complete disregard for political-correctness and very informal structure, I absolutely love to read this blog. At times, I have sat down to read a post or two of Riti's rants, only to find that I was still reading hours later, until I simply ran out of material.
There is almost no post on this blog that has failed to make me laugh until I cried upon reading--laughing being perhaps my all-time favorite thing to do. And it is Riti's natural grasp of timing and knack for incredibly vivid descriptions that keeps the laughs coming and effectively keeps me reading and even re-reading her blog.

I have been a long-time fan and avid reader of the Dilbert comic strip and it didn't take me long to realize, in his short introductions to his compilations of strips or other office-themed books, that I would read anything Scott Adams ever chose to write. I enjoy his voice and how effortless it seems for him to write such cleverly funny things so much that I would read his grocery lists.
So when he started a blog and I found out, it was certainly a joyous occasion for me.
Adams' blog is equipped with various sidebars, connections to his comics and other interactive additions, unlike the blog of Riti Sped which is quite plain with just links to her archived posts, which makes for an ever more enjoyable online experience where a reader can easily navigate to other related interests.

For my final blog choice, I have recently become a fan of the poetry of Anthony Bourdain, professional Travel Channel "foodie" and host of the show "No Reservations." While I fawn over Bourdain's airy gift for verse while he does his voice-overs on the show, I always understood that it may be the result of the time he's allotted to carefully construct what he wants his audience to hear. But his blog revealed that his voice and grace for language is all his own and it's simply how he thinks, speaks and writes naturally. Even when he writes something I disagree with or I find a comment of his unnecessarily harsh, I still loved reading it because of his way with words and ability to turn a phrase.

I highly recommend you click on those links if you have a healthy sense of humor, a little time and an appreciation for the english language at its finest. Enjoy.

Finally Fennelly

I felt as though I had been struck by a crisp, clean breeze of fresh air when the first topic on the pecking order with Tampa Tribune sports columnist Martin Fennelly was not "What makes a good column?" but was, instead, death.

We finally had a real-life topic with a real guy--not some super-professional who's, at times, way too guarded or some over-zealous caricature of a human being, but a happy medium.

We finally had Fennelly.

He looked like a sports coach--maybe football or basketball--complete with a zip-up jersey sweater and press pass dangling around his neck which, whether due to my imagination or not, I mistook for a whistle at first glance.

While I don't really find joy in following sports, more often than not I would rather be playing than simply talking about them, I found common ground with Fennelly in his interest in people.

He spoke of the many times he covered the deaths of people, some of which he had been covering in life up until some tragic event. He was adamant that these stories aren't "obits," but "salutes" instead, where he strives to tell "a morsel about a person that lets readers connect with someone else" and just "bring it home for everyone." For Fennelly, details are everything.

Fennelly asked us to consider how many times any one person would be written about in a newspaper and revealed that he just tries "to get it right" when he's faced with the task.

Aside from what he actually said to our class, the fact that he was constantly trying to engage every person in the room at one point or another was a tribute to how vital Fennelly finds the human aspect to not only his work, but life in general.

At one point he even craned his neck as he leaned back in his seat just to be able to peek around a computer and make eye contact with those on my side of the room.

One of the best parts about Fennelly is that he isn't bound to these nostalgic "salutes" but is also a quick-witted, genuinely funny guy to listen to. After posing the question of how his own "salute" might be written, his reply was "a sports journalist also died in the crash," as a side bar or over-liner to the death of some famous athlete who found himself on the same plane.

Fennelly also finds humor in "taking people to task" when he feels they deserve it.

"If I wanna call someone an idiot, I don't just say he's an idiot--I'd rather make someone look like an idiot."

But what is most appealing about Fennelly, to me at least, is how you know he cares so deeply about what he does and the people he covers.

At one point, while speaking about a young athlete's death, whose story and family he had come to know quite well from covering her, his voice cracked as he strained to hide the tears that were welling up in his eyes, until he finally came right out and said how much her story affected him.

You could truly feel his compassion.

And then, as quickly as he had come undone, Fennelly recovered and moved on.

It was as if he was going through the stages of grief right before our eyes, moving swiftly from denial to acceptance, like a dance he's known the steps to for years...

Howard the Trox.

He began in his seat.

...and then he stood up.

He sat once again, arms gesturing frantically as if struggling to translate the world's fastest rap lyrics to the deaf, until he burst forth from his seat once again.

He stood, then he sat.
Stood.
Sat.

He stood once more, realized he was standing, and sat again.

This is Howard Troxler; Metro columnist for the St. Petersburg Times whose energy and enthusiasm of opinion can hardly keep him in Earth's orbit.

While his excitement can get anyone in the room revved up, the best part of his presence is that he follows his own advice: column writing isn't about just sitting around and being clever.

Well, not all the time, at least.

Troxler explained that the good columnist is always striving to present researched information to his or her readers. His "secret" for success, much like the concept of value in layout design, is that at least 50 percent of each piece should involve reading, interviewing, learning or just talking to people.

Again, Troxler doesn't just spout these pearls of wisdom to sound good--he follows his rules. He even keeps a spreadsheet on all of his pieces and which ones meet that 50 percent research quota.

Nerd alert, I know, but we'll forgive him for it.

Something else Troxler said put an old idea into new terms for me. He reminded us that people have limited time and because of that, they are looking for any reason to stop reading an article. I've spent at least the last seven minutes trying to figure out how to explain how that was an "aha!" moment for me, and I have come up with nothing. So, if you don't get it, that's fine.

What's most important is keeping this in mind when you are trying to convince someone of something that goes against their personal opinion.

"Nobody gets up in the morning and says, 'Today, I will abuse the public trust!'" Troxler said.

People have the capacity to make stupid decisions every day, and some, inevitably will. Especially our public figures, as we have seen all too often lately. But as a column writer, "if you say they're idiots, they're not gonna read."

So, Troxler says to convince people that what they have done is wrong, you have to bring them in; acknowledge their argument, their fear, their prejudice, their anything and then try to convince them.

Troxler's goal in all of this is for the subject to want to read it, and then actually feel bad, for the first time, when they've done something rather inane or unscrupulous and won't come to terms with it.

You've got to get in their head, see it from their perspective, even empathize with them, and then make them understand where everyone else is coming from.

If all else fails, "everyone should just be gay."

Damn, I loved that line.

This guy is an absolute trip and it was a great pleasure to have him in class.

In the Nick(ens) of Tim

The two men reclined in a comfortable slump between a row of desks, one against the counter top and the other on a stool.

One in a bow tie and the other in a necktie.

Formal, yet relaxed.

They exchanged opinions and ideas as if they were old friends making up for lost time, with playful quips and remarks thrown in for good measure.
It was as if they were alone together, sharing a cup of coffee or an impromptu meal.

But this was a classroom, and in it, students.

And despite the informal nature of these friendly conversations, there was much to be learned there that only time and experience could teach.

Tim Nickens is the editor for the St. Pete Times editorial section and he is certainly not lacking for such experience. Since 1983, Nickens has been a field reporter, front-line editor of metro and politics pages and now occupies the top chair for the Times' editorial board.

While he was prompted to explain the technical aspects of good editorials, Nickens' best advice resulted from open discussions with the other students.

Though Nickens agreed that the purpose of an editorial should be to provoke thought and incite action, he noted that they should aim to influence the opinions and actions of legislators as well as constituents, so that real change may result from the effort.

Unlike articles, where your intended audience is almost too broad as you attempt to get every one's attention, in editorials, Nickens revealed, "sometimes you're really aiming at one person in an effort to convince them that something is the right thing to do."

This idea blew my mind at first; that an organization would publish a piece intended for an audience of one. However, I quickly understood that if the action proposed by the editorial meant enough to the organization that was publishing it, I could see the logic behind this 'direct' address.

Our discussions also made light of certain news judgment values in our local newspapers that I had not noticed before. I believe it was Thomas who inquired as to why there is such a scarcity of international stories, unless they can be brought to a local level or are of the utmost importance to cover.

Nickens explained that, in the Times' case, they admit that they are not the experts needed to adequately cover such international topics.

More importantly, he added that the Times has the least impact on issues abroad and would rather focus on local and state matters where it can more significantly influence the results.

Gil made a nice point here about striving for balance, saying that too much of a local view makes news parochial and ultimately underestimates your reader's interests.

This has given me a new found preoccupation with asking myself what each of the news entities I read on a daily basis are really expecting of me as a citizen based on what stories they are willing to share...

In the case of some local papers, I'm rather offended to say the least.

But moving on, another of Nickens' ideas that struck home with me was that excellent editorials can be written on both sides of any issue as long as you strive to leave no doubt in the reader's mind as to your opinion and why it is your opinion.

This got me thinking about the relationship between writing your claims and backing them up factually and the daily amount of times I verbally defend something I believe in or something I would like to do.

When arguing any side to any case, I always ask myself what I would argue if I was on the other side of the issue and then focus on breaking those arguments down to strengthen my point.

This realization, that I already possess the critical thinking skills necessary to successfully argue a point, is very liberating, as I now find the prospect of shifting such ideas to paper much less daunting.

Hello Goudreau!

Don't say what you think; show how you think.

Then let your readers decide.

So was the main idea that Rosemary Goudreau instilled in me during her visit to share her input and experience on editorial writing with our class.

"Everyone has opinions. The value of an editorial is that it is an educated opinion and has something to say," Goudreau said.

This illuminates your readers to the point you are trying to make through sound arguments so that they may react to what you have said and make up their own mind about it.

At first, the idea of forming one's own opinion based on another's opinion, no matter how much evidence is presented, seems contradictory to original thought.

However, one of my favorite feelings in this world is when someone says something to me that sheds light on a new facet to an old story and leads me to reconsider my former stance on that subject.

If my writing can do this for even one person, that's the best result I could ask for.

In truth, I realized that I would rather incite a reader to act against my editorial view than for them to simply read it, agree passively and move on to the next part of their day without giving it a second thought.

This idea connects with another of Goudreau's more powerful points from our discussion last week that "a newspaper should be a champion for its community."

Within that context, an editorial should serve as a benchmark by which that community can test its own values over time. It should be an open forum that makes a connection to its public and builds on the conversations that occur every day within it.

Although Goudreau's discussion with our class will undoubtedly help me to write future editorials, or any persuasive pieces for that matter--for which I thank her--I knew all along that I would enjoy her visit.

After all, her name is French.