Week of blogging

YPSILANTI, Mich.- This project gave me quite a big, yet undeserved, headache.

When I first read the requirements and looked at the work involved in this project, the final, the quiz and the portfolio, I thought my head was going to explode.  It seemed like too much to do.

I stressed out about trying to find topics to blog about and what “breaking news” I could include.  But once I figured out those ideas, it turned out to be not nearly as hard I thought it would.  I found two of my three topics by Google searching different sports under the “news” tab.

I tried to focus on three sports/teams that are virtually unknown and tried to link them to EMU.  The school has a water polo and rugby club, as does the city of Ann Arbor.  I also added the Outbreak: Eastern club because I consider zombie nerf tag an awesome enough game to be considered a sport.  The guys get sweaty, running around chasing each other and there’s a definite winner and loser at the end.  Sounds like a sport to me.

I was also able to add a social element to my zombie story.  Since the campus is wireless, I was able to tweet on my laptop while watching the team shot zerf darts at each other.

The hardest part of the project was just juggling it with everything else.  Maybe if this had been assigned earlier in the semester, or not when everything else was assigned it wouldn’t have seemed so difficult.  But I did it and I like the way the three blogs turned out.

The video that nearly killed me

YPSILANTI, Mich.-  Better late than never, I finally have a few minutes to write about the black cloud that hovered over my head for far too long…also known as the video project.  This one nearly killed me.

First of all, I was not thrilled with the idea of a video project from the beginning.  I have always hated videotaping myself.  I think I sound funny.  Plus I was nervous about having to edit it and upload it since I had never done either before.

Actually recording myself took longer than I thought it would.  I kept stuttering when I tried to speak “off the cuff” and I kept having to redo it.  At first I typed up a script and had it on a split screen with my iMovie but I kept looking at the Word screen, not the camera and I didn’t like the way the videos turned out.  I even tried taping the script up on the wall behind my screen so it would be right behind the camera but I didn’t like the way that looked either.  I was looking above the camera, not at it.

After practicing a few times, I went back to speaking “off the cuff” and it was the best out of all the options.  Then came the fun task of editing and uploading.

Originally I was going to take Ben’s advice and use a Flip Cam to add in footage of my “writing routine” but for some reason, that I still don’t understand, I couldn’t get my laptop to read or accept the Flip Cam or its footage.  It kept directing me to download programs but when I did, it still didn’t work.  It’s still a mystery to me.

Plan B was to edit in some still pictures that went along with my video.  That was definitely another case of “easier said than done”.  I fought with my iMovie program for a few days and couldn’t get it to add in the pictures without cutting out the audio.  I kept google searching tips but nothing worked.

Finally, after days of frustration I found out that all I had to do was go into my preferences and check a box.  I was so irritated when I found that out- I screamed.  I could have saved myself, and Mr. Machniak, days of frustration if I had just clicked a box.  That’s still a little bit of a sour point, even now.

Once I checked that ever important box, I was able to edit my video.  I got nervous again when I tried to upload it on Youtube because at first it wouldn’t find the video on my laptop and then it uploaded the original file, the one without the added pictures.  But in the end, after some fits of rage and frustration I finally got it uploaded.

I don’t think it turned out all that great, but it’s done and that’s what I’m happy about.

Brainstorming ‘week of blogging’

YPSILANTI, Mich.-  I have homework and I need ideas to complete it.

I have to complete a week of blogging on my niche page, and one has to be “breaking news” worthy.  I can cheat and aggregate two stories from either national or local news sources, but that elusive third post must be my own creation.  Here are a few ideas I’m bouncing around:

1. I’m thinking of covering Outbreak:Eastern when they overtake EMU’s Relay for Life event April 9 with a zombie nerf gun war.

2. Ann Arbor women’s rugby is having a team vs. alumni game April 10.

A (wo)man, a plan, a pool…

YPSILANTI, Mich.- For my final project surrounding my niche blog, I want to write a profile piece on Eastern Michigan University’s water polo team.

We have a club team that is virtually unknown to the campus.  That should change; water polo, in my humble opinion, is one of the greatest sports people don’t watch.  It’s intense, hard, loud, crazy, fast paced and full of excitement.  Who wouldn’t want to watch girls trying to drown each other and skip a giant yellow ball across a pool?

I’m hoping to get some information about the team: how long they’ve been around, how their season is going, when their next game is, etc.

I have already e-mailed one of the players and their coach.  I’m going to observe one of their practices this week.  I’m hoping to shoot some video of them in the pool, take some pictures and interview a few of the players along with the coach.

Another idea for “Reconstruction of American Journalism”

EMU COMPUTER LAB-  The article, The Reconstruction of American Journalism, points out the continuing flaws in the world of news- declining readership, bankrupcy and job cuts.

22 pages later, Downie and Schudson lists six suggestions to completely fix these problems and save journalism, specifically print news.  His main ideas boil down to turning newspapers into government-funded nonprofits, philanthropic foundations and/or university funded news organizations.  While it’s a good idea to think outside the box to save our newspapers, I think they would be opening up a “Pandora’s Box” of problems if the government, community foundations and schools started footing the bill.

How could a newspaper write unbiased, “watch-dog” articles about government actions or controversies if the government was paying to keep that newspaper open?  If Eastern Michigan University was financially linked to AnnArbor.com (when it was The Ann Arbor News), would they still have been allowed to run stories about the 2006 campus murder or criticize how the school tried to cover it up?

Can newspapers still be objective and “dig up dirt” on the individuals/groups that are paying to keep the papers around?

My proposal

YPSILANTI, Mich.-  After some more thought and reading my classmates’ feedback, I’ve decided to officially declare my niche blog to be about the “lesser known sports” on Eastern’s campus, in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor.  I think it could be interesting and open up some avenues for students who don’t know these fun Intramural and clubs were around.  Plus, sports is one field that I am very interested in but haven’t had the opportunity to write about yet.

I would love to point a spotlight, however small it might be, on the other sports around campus.  Everyone knows we have a football team and a basketball team but most students don’t think twice about some of the other sports that don’t get as much attention, like gymnastics, water polo and lacrosse.

I can attend a few games and write news stories, stats and box scores about the competitions, run a few player profiles and maybe write an opinions’ piece or two about why these sports deserve more fans.  I could even introduce readers to a few of the intramural and club teams I bet most students don’t know we have (did you know we have an intramural bowling team or club roller hockey?).  I actually had an idea for a lacrosse article last year called “The best sport you’re not watching” but since I wasn’t a staff writer at the time, the Echo wouldn’t run it.

I would like to expand it beyond Eastern’s campus, if possible.  I bet a lot of residence don’t know Ann Arbor has a women’s club rugby league.  I could also peruse AnnArbor.com or the Ypsi Citizen to see what kind of competitions or sport events show up on their event calendars.  The idea was proposed that I can ask some of the players what magazines or websites they read on a regular basis to use as aggregate sources.  I doubt my idea is one-of-a-kind, so I’m assuming I can find some sort of other site to quote.

This I Believe

YPSILANTI, Mich.-  Here it is, finally…my “This I Believe” audio essay.

Writing the essay wasn’t difficult; it was everything that came after that threw me for a loop.  The essay is about my belief in higher education but that it shouldn’t cause students to go into tremendous amounts of debt in the process.

I’ve never played with digital recordings or audio files before, so I was flying blind through the entire project.  I will admit that the audio isn’t stellar (I couldn’t figure out how to edit out that buzzing sound or the girl walking by, but every recording had background chatter so I gave up), but it’s the best I could do with my less than limited knowledge.

Be kind when you listen to it, I beg of you.

This I Believe

I also created a Box.net folder where the mp3 is available to listen to and it’s on my people.emich site.

My proposal…in progress

YPSILANTI, Mich.- In thinking about a blog idea, I wanted to try something I haven’t yet attempted, content wise.  I have written opinion pieces and some politically based content for the Eastern Echo as well as a news feature of two.  The one field I would love to dip my toes into, but haven’t yet, is sports.

I’m toying around with the idea of an Eagles blog that focuses on news stories and profiles of the “quieter sports”.  Everyone knows we have a football team and a basketball team but I bet most students don’t think twice about some of the other sports that don’t get as much attention, like gymnastics, water polo and lacrosse.

I could attend a few games and write news stories, stats and box scores about the competitions, run a few player profiles and maybe write an opinions’ piece or two about why these sports deserve more fans.  I could even introduce readers to a few of the intramural and club teams I bet most students don’t know we have (did you know we have an intramural bowling team or club roller hockey?)

I might even be able to expand it beyond Eastern’s campus.  I bet a lot of residence didn’t know Ann Arbor has a women’s club rugby league.  I could also peruse AnnArbor.com or the Ypsi Citizen to see what kind of competitions or sport events show up on their event calendars.

This is just the beginning of my brainstorm, so any comments, advice or critiques are more than welcomed.

Fear more prevalent in Olympic Games

EMU COMPUTER LAB- This Olympic Games has seen traditions and expected outcomes: the usual “pomp and circumstance” during the opening ceremonies, under dogs and slotted favorites standing tall on podiums to receive their victorious medals and (at least so far) the United States standing on top of the medal leader board.  One thing no one expected was a death at the games.  Twenty-one-year-old Nomar Kumaritashvili of Georgia died on Feb. 13 after his luge crashed during practice.  Since Kumaritashvili’s crash, there have been more accidents on the Whistler Sliding Track.  The International News reported the four-man bobsledding practices were canceled after another crash.

While the games went on, amidst sadness, fear and protest, the athletes have begun to voice concerns and fears about their safety in the sport; something never seen during an Olympic game.  In an article posted today by sports writer Howard Bryant, he addresses the often unspoken fear that athletes feel but often choose to ignore.  He points out that Kumaritashvili’s crash has left other athletes nervous about making their Olympic runs down the track.

This article is not only in touch with current events, but it addresses an issue that often goes unspoken.  Bryant does a very good job of pointing out a problem that needs to be talked about, in the open, like any good public-service journalist should do.  I really responded to Bryant’s article.

Analyzing the news for secret meanings

YPSILANTI, Mich.- The Washington Post featured a news story on the Christmas terrorist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, after security officials released the chronology of that day’s events to the public.  The records show when FBI interrogators began questioning him, when he was taken to the hospital and when he was officially read his Miranda rights.

The article also details scrutiny that the Obama administration received from Senate Republicans who question the timing of that day’s events and how Abdulmutallab was treated.  Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Mitch McConnell are among Republicans who find the chronology misleading and claim the administration had a “faulty response to a terror assault.”

This news article reminded me of Brent Cunningham’s Take a Stand article.  While I see it as a baby step, this article uses other voices (Republican Senators) to point out the (potential) flaws in the security agencies’ handling of an attempted terror attack.

Writer Walter Pincus never pointed a finger or directly attacked the Obama administration, the FBI, Homeland Security or the FAA for mis-handling Abdulmutallab.  Instead he quoted other people who hint at those accusations.

However Pincus chose to go about it, it still led this reader, and I’m sure others as well, to think about how the agencies should have handled things differently and how safe we really are.  Getting readers thinking leads to readers questioning protocols and can start the ball rolling on changing a potentially flawed system, which was one of Cunningham’s goals of journalism.