18, 19, 20, 21

WOOOOH last of the chapters.
So chapter 18 deals with investigative reporting, which really pumps me up. When I think of this type of reporting, I think of people being all sneaky around politicians, listening to their every word or something to that extent. I think it would be a really fun aspect of reporting. It may get tiresome, but I still think it would be very worth it.
Chapter 19 is about television and radio reporting, which is something I would like more because I enjoy public speaking. I think it is much easier to talk than to write something down because you can show more emotion, which I like. This helps set the mood for the story, as well as allow you to show what is really happening rather than have to paint a picture for the readers.
Chapter 20 Web reporting seems like it would be the easiest. The internet is the best tool available right now aside from a personal video camera to shoot everything. I mean if you have the ability to get to anything you want on the internet, the story seems like it would be more in depth. It also seems like it could get monotonous because you are sitting in front of a computer screen all day. I would prefer to be out and about.
And finally chapter 21 is about reporting for public relations, which would be very boring for me because I hate politics. Though it would be fun because people would be able to get a better step into what is going on in the world. Either way count me out.

15, 16, 17

Chapter 15. I believe this is one of my least favorite chapters. I am not a fan of business, nor would I ever be good at reporting and keeping on track of a company's progress reports, money, etc. But for some this is actually interesting because they might find something going on that is interesting with the company before anyone else, which could be a very big break for a story.
Chapter 16 The sports stories. I love sports, but reporting it could get very boring. I mean for people whose lives are entirely for reporting sports, then it seems like a great catch. But for someone who is not into the stats, the players, etc. it seems like it could be very very boring. I mean don't get me wrong, attention to detail is key. But it seems the hardest thing about sports reporting would be that the writers have to keep the readers on the edge of their seats.
Chapter 17 seemed a little off topic to me. I mean I know that I need to think like a reporter, but I thought that it was already said in all the other chapters. You must adapt to your surroundings and pay attention to every little detail. One false slip up could mean the loss of great information all together. I feel this chapter could have been put a little more towards the beginning of the book.

Chapters 11-14

Chapter 11 talks about the news release stories. At first it did not really pop out to me as being an interesting part of the book, but it grew on me a bit. I think it is really interesting how they come up with stories, and they try to come up with stories that are most likely to affect a large audience. I think this is key because otherwise people are just plain bored. Who wants to hear about the county's biggest cockroach farm? Not me, I want a very powerful and interesting story.
Chapter 12 was really not my favorite chapter. BUT, after I began quoting people, I went back and reread it quickly. The chapter deals with speeches, correct quotations, how to cover speeches and quotations. This is key in journalism. One wrong word or phrase in your story could result in the loss of a job, or your credibility. Once I really went over it again, I found that paraphrasing can be shortened a lot more than I thought it could be.
Chapter 13 regarded the covering of disaster stories. It was in the chapter for many reasons I believe, one being that tragedy is quite common as bad as that sounds. You must be very delicate when talking to the victim, victim's family, etc. On the flip side you need to cover the story, so talking to everyone and anyone including cops, firefighters, etc. is very crucial as well. I believe that the more you talk, the more you get. The chapter also went over how to be delicate and take down as many notes as possible.
Chapter 14 It's all in the beat. Beats are kind of like the territory where reporters go for their stories. I feel that this would be a very good thing to work on, especially if you get a lot of stories in your "beat". This could be helpful because you know the area really well, and can get all of the details you need to get to have a great story.

Journalism Final Project

It seems a little bit more could have been spotted other than cute seals and in the ocean around Point Loma. On November 3^rd, a Point Loma Nazarene student claimed to have spotted a 10-14 foot great white shark. Though many have been skeptical as seen in the PLNU newspaper, The Point, those who do not attend or live near the campus may not have heard the shark sighting, which causes individuals to suspect a fake sighting.

Though very possible a great white shark could have been spotted, most people do not need to worry about being attacks when looking at the statistics of shark attacks near San Diego, as well as Southern California.. According to the International Shark Attack Files (ISAF) , founded by George Burgess, there have only been 15 attacks in California since the year 2004. Last year seems to be an exception after a 67 year old man was attacked off the coast of Solana Beach on April 25^th, 2008. Since the attack, there have been a few shark sightings, but no encounters have been recorded from the ISAF.

For those not around Point Loma or near the coast, the sighting may not have been as common to hear about.

Tommy Williams from San Diego State University said “No I did not hear about it. I have not been keeping track of the local news. It seems regular there are sharks out around Point Loma. I don’t see the problem with seeing them to be honest.”

Another SDSU student, Connor Miller, did not hear about it either, which raises some doubt of his own.

“No I did not hear about it, which to me says that it was not really official or they did not do everything they could to try to spot it,” said Miller.

For those that seem to be more comfortable with the water and the creatures that inhabit the ocean, the news did not seem to be very troubling. As well as in other environments, the ocean is the sharks natural habitat. Once we go into the water, it becomes the sea animal's world.

“I mean if I was going surfing, it may be in my mind, but come on, it is the ocean and they are out there,” said Williams.

Miller believes it is not to be of concern at all. Miller stated that, “They are not that rare. I would have tried to go surfing and find the shark had I known there was one that we can see.”

Miller also said that he does not think that the claim could have been false or a hoax.

“People who respect the water are not about to go and mess around with a fake shark sighting. They know that when someone hears shark, it really should not be messed around with and taken seriously,” said Miller.

Many consider the possibility of not entering the water for some time if the beach is not closed. What some may not realize is that you have a better chance of being struck by lighting twice, as well as hit an animal while driving and be killed than you do by a shark according to the ISAF. As said by Miller and Williams, the sighting might have caused more of an uproar than was needed. But for those who are wary of the sightings, there are many precautions that can be made, which may give a safer mindset to the individuals that may be bothered by the incident.

Frost/Nixon

As I sat down, anxious about my horrible amounts of homework, I decided last night to take a load off and watch Frost/Nixon which was wonderfully placed on my On Demand which worked out wonderfully. I figured I needed a break and it was time to bite the bullet and start to watch the video. Little did I expect that I would actually enjoy the movie!
First of all let me explain that I entirely did not get into politics until I went on the debate team this semester. I have constantly had my three Right-winged roommates shoving information down my throat, and callously I disregarded it because i am not familiar with much about politics. So when I got into debate, politics are a must. Having already been interested in Watergate when I learned about it when I was younger, the clashing of the two made it very easy for me to watch.
The Watergate scandal has for a long time been a little bit of a curious time in history, only because I did not know much about it, only that Nixon was the only president to resign. Now of course many people looked at Frost as some what of a talk show host, I thought that his job would be entirely too difficult for one to approach. The pressure, the time, the money that went into that interview, all the while as well was Frost so determined to get that interview. as a journalist it seems that one needs to go to the extremes to really buckle down to get the job done. Not only was Frost bashed by Nixon constantly, but Frost also had to outwit his interviewee on a subject matter that Nixon knew about more than him. Frost had to go above and beyond to really get down deep into the subject to outwit Nixon.
In the end, when Frost finally breaks down and out-smarts Nixon, Frost himself is astonished. Frost realizes how much Nixon's "confession" actually means to the American citizens, as well as people around the world. the movie shows how incredible the job of a journalist actually is; losing countless nights of sleep, being away from your family constantly, having the utmost determination. It was a great movie to actually show what journalists have to do to get down to business, and give the people a story worth while.

The 3 Stories Compared

I decided to do the news coverage on Obama's speech in China about human rights. Alright, well first of all, i was unaware that professional newspaper and news columns used "surfer" lingo in their writing. Foxnews.com used "stoking" (i.e. he was stoked) in their column and personally I find this hilarious. Fox did not really talk about censoring the speech, but more that the president was very wary of what he was speaking ABOUT. I also found this odd as Fox is more of a right-wing standing news station. It also had someone quoting that Obama's speech hardened the thoughts of China. The New York Times seemed to be a little more in depth, discussing the exact line that was thought to be offensive, as well as go into detail about how it was censored and why. This article seemed to be the most informative, whereas Los Angeles Times appeared to have more opinion. This to me was good as to get the opinion from two people in Hong Kong, but I did not feel it to be filled with enough facts. I thought that reading them all was very good because you got a sense of everything from just bland facts, opinions, and commentary in the articles. I feel it would have been very one sided had I just read one of them.

Chapters 9/10

Sadly this book needs more pictures, or something to spike my interest a little more, though it is informative. I suppose it is very logical to discuss the different types of ways to write stories, though I did not know you one was supposed to keep the reading and writing level to about someone in middle school. But in the end it makes sense, as the newspaper (though some may argue) is not for just the elderly retired in a rocking chair, or the mother and father reading it before work. This could help everyone to be able to read it more thoroughly. I think the narrative style is more for me. i like to make things interesting, that way people seem to be a little more into it. Facts upon facts is really not something that seems to be compiled into a story does not seem like a very interesting read to me. This could tie into the ways that most people view the story, and how it can relate to them. if something does not unterest me, or effect me in any way...then what is the point of writing the article, except to take up extra space?