Portfolio Critiques

For this assignment I critiqued the two portfolios below me on the students list:

1) Katharina Langhart

Strengths: I think this portfolio site is very strong. I like the design as it is clean and easy to navigate. I also like her choice of colors as they add personality to the website without taking away from its professionalism. I like that the design is static throughout all of the pages and it is easy to find exactly what you are looking for.

Weaknesses: While this may not be a weakness, I might suggest pulling the links such as the SJMC and CU links onto a separate links page as they should not hold as much weight on the site as her resume or portfolio examples. Also while I really like the cursive font in the page headers and her name, I might suggest changing it in the attachment sections as it becomes a bit hard to read.

Otherwise I think the site is very professional and presents her and her work very well.

2) Lindsay Mc Clure

Strengths: I like the design, it is colorful and shows personality. Her resume is well organized and her writing samples are easy to read and navigate through. The navigation is also simple, clean and easy to see which makes it easy to find things.

Weaknesses: While I like the design, the flowers along the right side make some of the links hard to read. Also, as a portfolio site I would prefer to see something like the about me section on the home page rather than blog posts. I might suggest separating the two sites and linking to the blog on the portfolio. Also, it might be nice to have the original date of publication in the writing samples.

I think the site is colorful and gives readers a sense of her personality and showcases her writing and resume. I admire the use of color as I tend to be a little afraid of color in my sites.

Clips so far

I am currently in the process of scanning all of my clips pdfs that way they can be used for an online portfolio. I have fallen a little behind on this project, but I thought I would post links to the online versions of my clips here:

1. Coolberry frozen yogurt coming to Loveland
   


2. Fort Collins gets taste of Jewish culture
   


3. City rescheduling softball games after rainy weather
   


4. Truscott team heads to Odyssey of the Mind world finals
   


5. Loveland sculptor honors Texas firefighters
   


6. PEDAL Club Pushes Safety
   


7. Hank's Pet Food Market opens doors to pampering pets
   


8. Loveland Museum/Gallery exhibit dolls up history


9. United Way tips cap to volunteer efforts
   


10. PVHS, food bank to offer homegrown produce to low-income families
    


11. Garment Gal shop bringing old items back to life
    


12. One of Loveland's own on road to rodeo royalty
    


13. Loveland single mom starts outreach for other single moms
    


14. Relay for life raises $130k to fight cancer
    


15. Fireworks a hot item, still illegal
    


16. Injured Lovelander ready to finally move on
    


17. Loveland celebrates the flag, fireworks, freedom
    


18. Red Shirt Fridays
    


19. Children go on hunt for bugs
    


20. Celebration of cherry to be held July 23
    

News Comparison

For this assignment I chose to look at the John Edwards Indictment. On June 3 former democratic presidential nominee John Edwards was indicted on charges that he used 2008 campaign contributions to hide his mistress and their child. Apparently using the money to conceal the affair is not the issue: it is whether the money was used for personal or political reasons. If the affair were to have been uncovered it surely would have had a detrimental effect on his campaign, however Edwards says the funds were used to conceal the affair from his wife. If the money were used for political reasons, the donations were over $2,300, which is the legal limit.

Newspaper:

I looked at the NY Times article about the indictment (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/us/politics/04edwards.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=john%20edwards%20indicted&st=cse)

I also took a look at a Washington Post Article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/john-edwards-indictment-expected-today/2011/06/03/AGQwEuHH_story_1.html)

• Strengths
• For the most part, the article was written in a traditional format and focused strictly on the facts of the case. The NYT interviewed parties from both sides of the case and explained the federal campaign laws at the beginning of the piece for easier audience understanding. I like the fact that they afforded both sides a chance to tell their story and comment on the issue. I also like how they presented the facts and left it open in such a way that people could draw their own conclusions about the Edwards indictment.
• It was well researched and included insightful interviews well still remaining timely.
• I also like how they drew from the indictment itself to help explain exactly what the charges are.
• The Washington Post Coverage really resembled the NYT Coverage but the Washington post did include an infographic which was very interesting. The graphic illustrated the events leading up to the indictment by creating a timeline and including photos and descriptions of the key people involved in the case.
• Weaknesses
• The article was a bit long, but I don't feel that it could have been shortened up much and still fit in the necessary information.
• I am a bit confused as to when this story was published. It says it was published on June 3, however in the lede it talks about the events occurring Friday. June 3 was a Friday so I do not know if this was published the next day or the same day.
• It would have been nice to have some expanded coverage on what some of the other charges against Edwards are.

Blog:

For the blog I looked at a Huffington Post article: (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/03/john-edwards-indicted_n_867406.html)

• Strengths
• Even though this is a blog, they did a good job of sticking to the facts and not letting political opinion interfere with their reporting. They are detailed in the facts and background of the case and incorporate many of the same techniques seen in the NYT article.
• At the end of the article, they include a pdf copy of the actual Edwards Indictment, which is nice for readers who would like more information.
• Weaknesses
• Some of the facts seem to contradict a bit with the NYT article, as the NYT article said he rejected plea bargains where as the Huffington Post article said there were negotiations and that they couldn't reach an agreement.
• Also the Huffington Post uses unnamed sources, something which makes me as a reader question the credibility of the statements being made. In one instance attribute "according to people with knowledge of the negotiations." What people? Are they credible? How do they have knowledge of the negotiations?
• Another source is referred to as "An Edwards spokeswoman," but she declined to comment so why is this included in the article at all?
• Yet another is "an attorney for Edwards," and then it quotes him, why is he not named?

I also took a quick look at Perez Hilton's coverage http://perezhilton.com/2011-06-03-john-edwards-has-been-indicted

• Strengths
• Hilton's coverage was brief but it did include the basic facts of the case
• Weaknesses
• Perez Hilton is never shy about sharing his opinion about a topic or poking fun at someone, I don't know if this is a weakness since his site is a known entertainment blog and not a straight news blog. His attitude and opinions are what people like about his posts.

Television News

For this I looked at an episode of Nightline run on ABC (http://abc.go.com/watch/nightline/SH5584743/VD55129875/nightline-603-john-edwards-indicted?cid=abccomsearch_results)

And a video about the indictment on CNN (http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2011/06/04/ac.edwards.indicted.cnn?iref=videosearch)

• Strengths
• I fell that using images always helps to tell a story. The images and video clips used in the TV coverage helped paint a picture of the story. I also liked how the ABC News story used previous interviews with Edwards to aide their story. The previous interviews showed Edwards lying about the affair and the campaign money to the ABC news reporters.
• Anderson Cooper's coverage on CNN was good in that he interviewed a few experts about their opinions on the case. One of the men Cooper interviewed was in the courtroom during the indictment which gave an interesting point of view.
• I also like how Cooper's coverage was not just a cut-and-dry news report, rather it was more of a conversation about the news story.
• It was interesting that in Cooper's coverage, they mentioned the ABC News interview where Edwards lied about the affair.
• Weaknesses
• In his effort to create a catchy intro to the John Edwards piece, the desk correspondent at ABC news made some factual errors. He said something along the lines of 'while Edwards hasn't been convicted of any crime and may never be convicted the charges against him could have jail consequences.' Edwards can't go to jail just because of the charges, he would have to be convicted of the charges to serve jail time, so this was a bit of a factual error. Also, his puns with white house and big house were a little cliche.
• The ABC news coverage focused on the affair itself and the cover up, which according to the other reports I read, is not the issue at hand. The cover up was not illegal it was the amount of money used to cover it up which is in question, a fact ABC news did not talk about.
• In Cooper's coverage, it would have been nice to know who the experts were and what their credentials are. Also, although the conversational format was refreshing, a lot of what was being discussed was speculative and not hard fact.

Twitter

• Strengths
• Twitter is always great about breaking news and getting the word out fast. It depends on whose tweets you are following and getting the information from. I personally did not log on to twitter the day of the indictment, but most of the tweets I see looking back include links to various news stories about the indictment. I do follow a lot of news organizations however, which is probably why most tweets were straight news.
• Weaknesses
• Twitter can include a lot of opinion and you have to be careful that you do not confuse the opinion tweets with the actual news stories. It is interesting to see people from all sides of the political spectrum and their opinion on the indictment.

Digital Identity

"Each little update-each individual bit of social information-is insignificant on its own, even supremely mundane. But taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a suprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends' and family members' lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting."

-Clive Thompson, New York Times

A friend of mine posted that quote on Facebook, and it really resonated with me. Digital media really does shape our identities. Some people utilize social media for work, some for pleasure, and some just like to keep up with old friends. But everything that we put out there eventually
shapes how others view us, or in the media world helps to create our personal brand.

While there may very well be more to us than what meets the digital eye, the things we post and put out there shape how people see us--especially those individuals who do not know us on a personal level.

Whether we brand ourselves as students, parents, professionals, or just use social media for our personal lives every post--no matter how ordinary or mundane--contributes to our digital identity or personal brand.

For the full NYT see: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Commencement Speeches

While vastly different in their stylistic approaches, Rick Reilly and Nate Silver did agree on some main points in their commencement addresses. Riley and Silver both emphasized that the core of Journalism is to seek the truth, and present it in a "clear and accurate way" (Reilly) .

They both agreed that the new digital era of journalism is an exciting time to be in the industry. I particularly agree with Reilly's point that no matter the medium--internet, Facebook, Twitter, or traditional newspapers--someone is going to need to research and report the news. No matter how media changes in the future the Journalism profession will always be essential.

Both Reilly and Silver also agree that as writers and journalists, we should not be willing to work for less than we deserve. Silver gave the advice that we should all figure out what our time is worth and learn how to say "no" and that we should never settle for a job that we are unhappy in or that is not fulfilling. I think this advice is relevant in any field.

Reilly focuses more of his speech on the necessity of the journalism school and journalism education, which is something that Silver does not talk about. Reilly makes the point that while journalists are sometimes bloggers all bloggers are not journalists and that journalism education is necessary to teach reporters essential skills--such as interviewing. Reilly focuses some of his attention on this topic to address the current state of the Journalism School at CU.

Silver, based on his experience and his specialties, focuses on the importance of mathematics and statistics. He emphasizes that using the numbers and stats are ways to draw cause and effect conclusions and find story ideas.

The advice that I can start using today comes a little from both of the speeches. Silver specifically says that journalists need to be aware and read everything. Whereas Reilly says that you should "say sentences that you have never heard or read before," which also ties into the idea that reading is an important part of journalism. I have always been a firm believer that the more you read the better you write, but I also like the idea that you should read to gain information and insight on how to say something new, different, and profound.