Jon Ortiz is still at it with The State Worker. Averaging about three posts per day, Ortiz and The State Worker always make me ask myself why I don't visit this site more. Many of the topics interest and even benefit me, and with my recent stop I did exactly what I did the last time - thoroughly investigate the posts that are written.
Content and display still remain the same on the site - as it should. Recent posts are still easy to find on the right-hand side of the page, and the headline for the most-recent new story is still visible initial page load screen. Comparing the site now with the critiques I made in assignment one, I see the same format being used. This format works and is easy to get familiar with. I think it is important and useful that Jon Ortiz's picture and contact info is available on every page so that if something catches your eye and you want to respond to the author directly, you can send Ortiz an e-mail.
I think this blog works because it puts out brief, yet informative news pieces, followed by a hearty follow-up or in-depth piece every three or four posts. Ortiz does a nice job of separating bulky stories and sprinkling in quicker reads that still contain relevancy with the audience. Investigation stories that are put in the Sacramento Bee are also detailed on The State Worker - check out Ortiz's latest update on $5.5 Million dollar vehicle purchase made by the state. Not only does it give readers the news, it also gives the readers a chance to read the actual document, e-mail, or press release that they are referring to so that readers can get a full taste of what's being discussed, if they should feel inclined to do so.
Content-wise, Jon Ortiz and The State Worker still succeed in delivering relevant stories in timely, readable fashion. On the one hand, I would like to see more photos and video pieces on a blog, but on the other hand, I think the lack of these two aspects lets the depth and quality of good old fashioned reporting shine through. The State Worker, I choose you.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Andrew Sullivan- Assessment Still Works
Massing points out that Sullivan and a fellow blogger helped make popular “short, sharp, conversational bursts of commentary and opinion built around links to articles, columns, documents, and other blogs.” This format is very present today at The Daily Dish, and is something that I don’t see changing very soon.
When looking at The Daily Dish for the first time, I was trying to figure out exactly where thoig guy was coming from, because he seems all over the lot with his blog. Massing’s assessment gives it a description, that when I think about it, makes all the sense in the world when I read “The Daily Dish” now. Massing describes it as his “Idiosyncratic gay-Catholic-Thatcherite-turned-libertarian-radical mind”.
This description does work for the man and his postings. Massing continues to say that this view of Mr. Sullivan’s makes for an “Original take on the world”, and I would agree whole heartedly on this. I don’t agree with some of the things said on the blog, but I must say that it does make for interesting content to both read and to think about.
It was interesting to me that Massing pointed out that Mr. Sullivan slams the journalism done by others “While doing no conventional reporting of his own.” I looked at that myself in the beginning, talking about how he really used more of his opinion more then anything especially his own reporting. I didn’t really see that as much of a problem, and it appears that massing doesn’t either.
My original view of the Daily Dish is the same, for the most part, now as it was then when I first went to the blog. The only change in my view, would be that the view is a little more informed compared to when I was looking at The Daily Dish with fresh eyes.
When looking at The Daily Dish for the first time, I was trying to figure out exactly where thoig guy was coming from, because he seems all over the lot with his blog. Massing’s assessment gives it a description, that when I think about it, makes all the sense in the world when I read “The Daily Dish” now. Massing describes it as his “Idiosyncratic gay-Catholic-Thatcherite-turned-libertarian-radical mind”.
This description does work for the man and his postings. Massing continues to say that this view of Mr. Sullivan’s makes for an “Original take on the world”, and I would agree whole heartedly on this. I don’t agree with some of the things said on the blog, but I must say that it does make for interesting content to both read and to think about.
It was interesting to me that Massing pointed out that Mr. Sullivan slams the journalism done by others “While doing no conventional reporting of his own.” I looked at that myself in the beginning, talking about how he really used more of his opinion more then anything especially his own reporting. I didn’t really see that as much of a problem, and it appears that massing doesn’t either.
My original view of the Daily Dish is the same, for the most part, now as it was then when I first went to the blog. The only change in my view, would be that the view is a little more informed compared to when I was looking at The Daily Dish with fresh eyes.
Joanne Jacobs - Small improvements
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Mark Kleiman's Blog- Nothing Has Changed
Michael Massing listed Mark Kleiman’s blog “The Reality Based Community” as one of his picks for good journalistic work online. Unfortunately the only thing Massing says about it is “on drug policy, there's The Reality-Based Community, by UCLA professor Mark Kleiman.” Massing never discusses why he believes Kleiman’s blog is an example of good journalism. He merely mentions it in passing in his article “The News About the Internet."
In going back to my first post about Kleiman’s site, I see that I felt most of the blogs were very opinion-based and leaned to the left of the political scale. I also wrote that there was not much original reporting happening on the site. Unfortunately, not much has changed over the last month and some of Kleiman’s recent posts have been laughable. The most recent post, “Stay Classy, San Antonio,” isn’t even a blog or a real commentary. It’s just a picture of an ad for a business seminar and an embedded video. The goal of this post is to poke fun at the seminar’s lineup of people, which includes George W. Bush. In addition, most of the posts still relate back to reporting done by traditional media, eg. newspapers and television. However, some of the posts are commentary on fellow bloggers.
I’m not sure what Massing was referring to when he said that Kleiman’s blog discusses “drug policy.” Recently, the posts have been all over the place from the traditions of the Whigs to the energy industry. The only posts that relate to drug policy are one on medical cannabis and one a month ago that discusses some of the health care bill issues. Most of the posts are related to current events but there is not a specific focus on drug policy.
Overall my opinions of the blog have not changed from my initial viewpoint. I keep crossing my fingers that one of these posts will have some exciting new information but it’s not looking good.
In going back to my first post about Kleiman’s site, I see that I felt most of the blogs were very opinion-based and leaned to the left of the political scale. I also wrote that there was not much original reporting happening on the site. Unfortunately, not much has changed over the last month and some of Kleiman’s recent posts have been laughable. The most recent post, “Stay Classy, San Antonio,” isn’t even a blog or a real commentary. It’s just a picture of an ad for a business seminar and an embedded video. The goal of this post is to poke fun at the seminar’s lineup of people, which includes George W. Bush. In addition, most of the posts still relate back to reporting done by traditional media, eg. newspapers and television. However, some of the posts are commentary on fellow bloggers.
I’m not sure what Massing was referring to when he said that Kleiman’s blog discusses “drug policy.” Recently, the posts have been all over the place from the traditions of the Whigs to the energy industry. The only posts that relate to drug policy are one on medical cannabis and one a month ago that discusses some of the health care bill issues. Most of the posts are related to current events but there is not a specific focus on drug policy.
Overall my opinions of the blog have not changed from my initial viewpoint. I keep crossing my fingers that one of these posts will have some exciting new information but it’s not looking good.
Assignment 4
It's now time to revisit your assigned blog or site to see whether it lives up to Massing's praise. Go back to the Massing piece to see what he had to say about your site. Then, post a blog item here that evaluates, in your opinion, whether Massing's assessment is correct. Your post should reflect that you spent some time thinking about this, and not just an on-the-fly opinion posted on deadline.
If your assigned blog/site was not one of those reviewed by Massing, your assignment is to revisit what you had to say about the blog/site in Assignment 1. To what extent do your observations hold up? Have your opinions about the blog/site shifted?
Your blog post is due at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27. Late posts receive no credit.
If your assigned blog/site was not one of those reviewed by Massing, your assignment is to revisit what you had to say about the blog/site in Assignment 1. To what extent do your observations hold up? Have your opinions about the blog/site shifted?
Your blog post is due at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27. Late posts receive no credit.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Mondoweiss:Content Design
Mondoweiss, a blog about politics in the Middle East, has a pleasant user experience and layout. The text of articles are short and concise creating an easy read for the user. The 12 articles on the blog are organized in rows and give a blurb about each article. After clicking on the title the user is taken to a new page with the full article. There are also a list of related articles below the article itself.
The simple layout allows users to easily find an article and read it. The website has such short articles it's easy to scan through content.
The website uses chunking with articles. Longer articles have bigger chunks, which can look daunting to the eye. The site has a problem of using long titles, but they do fully explain what the article is about. Philip Weiss, the site's blogger, obviously copyedits well because there aren't any misspelled words or grammatical errors that I could find. This creates a pleasant user experience.
Weiss doesn't use the inverted pyramid in articles. He usually opens up with explaining what happened, who the key characters are and then quotes another source. He then leaves commentary at the end of the article.
Titles of pages are clear and concise and allow for quick scanning. This site has great legibility with black text against a white background and navy blue links along the right side of the home page.
The article above the fold was titled "BDS works" by Weiss, which didn't have as much opinion as the quote from Ron Ben-Yeshai's article. The article was about the solutions that need to be done to end the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. Weiss wrote, "No, Israel is getting isolated on the world stage, and it’s going to start to hurt the country. Notice in this excerpt that Ben-Yeshai says part of the answer is: We should alter our conduct." The posting didn't seem newsworthy but brought attention to Ben-Yeshai's article. It's as if Weiss let Ron Ben-Yeshai give the opinion and Weiss piggy backed on what Ben-Yeshai said.
Emptywheel - Assignment Three
Emptywheel has a very clean, straightforward and easy-to-read design. While the design may draw readers in, the lack of original reporting and somewhat unprofessional responses continue to make it tough to take Marcy Wheeler's blog seriously.
Length - Wheeler's posts are limited to a few paragraphs, which make for an easy read. The information is also organized well, as she separates information provided from other sources from her own personal responses. Doing so makes the information a less intense, shorter read.
Scanability - Emptywheel could use some work in the scanability department. While she makes it easy to differentiate between cited material and her own remarks, (different color schemes) she doesn't make use of different fonts, styles, highlighting or bolding.
Chunking - Other than direct quotes, which are separated through the use of indenting and a different font color, much of the Emptywheel blog consists of chunking. I'm assuming Wheeler did this in order to keep the information together, although hyperlinks and other separators would be nice.
Headlines - Wheeler keeps things very straight-to-the-point, as her headlines present information about the news being offered, not so much the nature of her responses. Snarky headlines are used on occasion, but sparingly.
Copy Editing - Emptywheel is very clean, and makes good use of AP style. It's clear that Wheeler is trying to make her blog as professional as possible, though she does approach it more from an English or creative writing background, rather than a journalism background.
Inverted Pyramid - This doesn't apply to the blog, as most posts offer the news through other sources and direct quotes, and then her responses. It's set up more like a comments section than a story or article.
Page Titles - The page title remain the same, which offers consistency and makes for good, easy-to-remember branding.
Legibility - The content is legible, but a bit hard on the eyes as is uses mooted blues and browns. The text is in sans serif.
Most recent post - There isn't much to say about Wheeler's most recent post, which reads as follows:
"Harry Reid is in electoral trouble in Nevada, he has a very competent challenger looming on the GOP side and liberal and union activists will not be supporting him if he continues his failure to lead.”
I'm assuming the post was intended to quickly inform her readers of what's going on, with a more detailed post to follow. This is one example - the first I've seen - where Wheeler includes the news and her opinion in the same paragraph or sentence. Because of this, I'm guessing she was a bit pressed for time.
Length - Wheeler's posts are limited to a few paragraphs, which make for an easy read. The information is also organized well, as she separates information provided from other sources from her own personal responses. Doing so makes the information a less intense, shorter read.
Scanability - Emptywheel could use some work in the scanability department. While she makes it easy to differentiate between cited material and her own remarks, (different color schemes) she doesn't make use of different fonts, styles, highlighting or bolding.
Chunking - Other than direct quotes, which are separated through the use of indenting and a different font color, much of the Emptywheel blog consists of chunking. I'm assuming Wheeler did this in order to keep the information together, although hyperlinks and other separators would be nice.
Headlines - Wheeler keeps things very straight-to-the-point, as her headlines present information about the news being offered, not so much the nature of her responses. Snarky headlines are used on occasion, but sparingly.
Copy Editing - Emptywheel is very clean, and makes good use of AP style. It's clear that Wheeler is trying to make her blog as professional as possible, though she does approach it more from an English or creative writing background, rather than a journalism background.
Inverted Pyramid - This doesn't apply to the blog, as most posts offer the news through other sources and direct quotes, and then her responses. It's set up more like a comments section than a story or article.
Page Titles - The page title remain the same, which offers consistency and makes for good, easy-to-remember branding.
Legibility - The content is legible, but a bit hard on the eyes as is uses mooted blues and browns. The text is in sans serif.
Most recent post - There isn't much to say about Wheeler's most recent post, which reads as follows:
"Harry Reid is in electoral trouble in Nevada, he has a very competent challenger looming on the GOP side and liberal and union activists will not be supporting him if he continues his failure to lead.”
I'm assuming the post was intended to quickly inform her readers of what's going on, with a more detailed post to follow. This is one example - the first I've seen - where Wheeler includes the news and her opinion in the same paragraph or sentence. Because of this, I'm guessing she was a bit pressed for time.
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