Unfortunately, Michael Massing only mentioned Joanne Jacobs’ blog once in his article “The Good News About the Internet.” He said that Jacobs offered a “fresh perspective on education,” but I would not necessarily agree. Jacobs is good at compiling a variety of different stories on education, but when it comes to original reporting, the site simply doesn’t have any.
I’ve seen more original commentary from Jacobs, but it’s always limited to a few sentences about her personal life. She doesn’t analyze anything she posts, so I can’t tell if her perspective is fresh. When I first critiqued Jacobs’ page, I wanted to see more of her thoughts and opinions on the articles . She could still improve on this point because revealing her voice in the posts would give them more meaning and context to the reader.
The people who comment on her page, although anonymous, usually provide witty, informed conversation. This has been a constant on her site that I enjoy. My opinion of Jacobs’ blog has improved slightly. I still think she could improve her site’s usability.
Showing posts with label Joanne Jacobs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joanne Jacobs. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Joanne Jacobs: Thoughts on Education
The blog I'm following belongs to ex-Knight Ridder columnist Joanne Jacobs. Jacobs is now a freelance writer and she recently wrote a book about a charter school that prepares Hispanic kids for college. Her blog features almost no original reporting and instead relies heavily on citing news headlines or other people's blogs that are relevant to education. The blog layout is simple with a picture of Jacobs and a screen shot of her new book, but she has an incredible amount of links to other blogs and news stories. She doesn't seem to have a strong politic bias in either direction. It seems like she wants her readers to #1: buy her book and #2: get tidbits of information about stories she finds interesting so they can do their own research on them later.
Her top story is about a proposed city-funded plan to help San Francisco kindergarteners pay for college. Under the plan, every kindergartener would get a $50 college savings bond as they enter the public school system. Jacobs noted that the plan, sponsored by Mayor Gavin Newsom, would apply to any student regardless of immigration status. I thought the article was interesting, but Jacobs really didn't add any of her own commentary. The comments posted by her readers were more compelling than anything she added to the story. This top story reads like a news brief and is only effective because it's concise. I would've liked to hear what Jacobs thought about Newsom's plan, mostly because I think it sounds kind of silly.
It will be interesting to follow this blog and see if Jacobs adds more of her own commentary and original reporting.
Her top story is about a proposed city-funded plan to help San Francisco kindergarteners pay for college. Under the plan, every kindergartener would get a $50 college savings bond as they enter the public school system. Jacobs noted that the plan, sponsored by Mayor Gavin Newsom, would apply to any student regardless of immigration status. I thought the article was interesting, but Jacobs really didn't add any of her own commentary. The comments posted by her readers were more compelling than anything she added to the story. This top story reads like a news brief and is only effective because it's concise. I would've liked to hear what Jacobs thought about Newsom's plan, mostly because I think it sounds kind of silly.
It will be interesting to follow this blog and see if Jacobs adds more of her own commentary and original reporting.
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