Telling Stories With Video ( Briggs Chapter 8)

While reading chapter 8 I found it very informative in a number of ways. I learned about the importance of visual journalism, and the effects of incorporating video in order to convey particular emotions to the viewer. The chapter began by talking about the digital video revolution and its contribution to journalism. I found it impressive that the digital age has evolved to the point where YouTube reported in 2012, that one hour of footage is updated every second on their site. Video production on the Web has created many possibilities like jobs, entertainment, news source outlets, etc. As a result, a versatile form of journalism has been bored into the telecommunication industry.

When it comes to shooting videos there are many steps to take and consider when conducting the story structure. According to Briggs, it is extremely important to practice storyboarding, which is “a visual sketch of the story, separated into different parts so it can be organized” (Briggs 205). It is also important to be aware of the type of shots you take while shooting. Wide-angle shots, close-ups shots, and medium shots are just a few of the examples Briggs gives in chapter 8. These several shots all work together to create dynamics within the story, which essentially keeps the audience compelled. Ultimately, I found it insightful to learn about how film and journalism correlate in order to bring about a better effect when providing news.

Lastly, Briggs made it clear that good equipment is a necessary attribute in providing the best video quality. The most important piece of equipment is probably a “tripod”, which is used to get reporters the necessary static shots (still frame shots) they need when recording. Likewise, with important equipment comes important software. The software is used to provide the postproduction edits that are needed to actually create the video reel. After shooting, the software is the program that will piece all the recorded visuals together into a finalize presentation. Briggs touched on many important points throughout the chapter. As a result, I was able to learn dire information to better my understanding of journalism and its attributes.

There Are Such Things as Bad Blogs

 Good Blogs That We All Can Appreciate:

1.  Mymodernmet.com is a great blog site for those interested in art, photography  and modernizied architecture.  My reasons for categorizing this blog as a good one is simply because of its enormous online interactive community. The blog is essentially a space for users to post pictures relating to the several interests I listed earlier. For example bloggers will post pictures of vintage furniture that they may have seen while traveling to the mountains for the weekends with their partner. The most interesting thing about this is that the bloogers leave information about where they find these items, as well as occasionally leaving small video clips showing off the piece. If you happen to be a vintage connoisseur this is a large community of people who you can reach out to in order to find more items to collect. This blog is a good blog because it adequately provides readers with information, as well as leaves options for comments. In addition, it is beneficial to those who and provides a sense of “public interest”.

– According to Briggs, ” a good blog is a continuing conversation.”

2. Another great site to check out is whowhatwhy.org . This is a blog that is centered solely on investigative reporting, specifically on controversial topics.  The site’s motto ” We don’t cover the news, we undercover the truth,” is just an example of how determined this blog is on providing its online community with information related to many concerned topics. This is a great blog because it is very informative, and to navigate. They provide great pictures that embody each individual topic, as well as provide a section under each post for users to comment. This blog is great for those who love debating, as well as communicating personal  ideas and thoughts with others across the board.

– Briggs explains that blogs are posts that should contain links, summaries, and analytical attributes. 

There ARE Such Things as Bad Blogs:

3. Tumblr.com is not necessarily a bad blog in the sense of not being adequeatly presented, and structured. Tumblr is a great way for free users to post anything, and I mean ANYTHING. The thing about tumblr is that you can find either the things you are really searching for or the things you really are NOT looking for. Meaning that, this site contains a lot of inconsistenceies when it comes to providing users with the specific content that they are interested in looking up . This being because many of the free users put any number of tags across their photos, which causes a problem for those looking for certain types of things. If you type in the words “tennis shoes” you can easily be taken to a feed of not only tennis shoes, but gang related post, and even pornography. The point is that who ever posts these photos , may have used the words that you typed in within their tags . As long as a pornstar is wearing tennis shoes in her most recent production, there is a good chance that you may stumble upon it. It kind of makes you wonder what your 8 year-old kid might find by typing in “cat,” or  maybe even “candy”. Believe me, these types of words could possibly introduce you to a world you may not want to see. This site does not have a particular purpose, and it does not have a sole market audience, but many people love tumblr so again it is not as bad as it seems.

4. If you are interested in finding out  gossip about your favorite celebrities, then Bossip.com is the site for you. When comparing its criteria as a blog overall, it pretty much gets a failing grade.  Bossip is a site that posts all the juicy stories of celebrities and their current issues. You can find any amount of stories about Drake and Nikki Minaj dating, to the recent stories about Bill Cosby and his sexual assault charges. The bad thing about Bossip is that they area  “rumor based” blog , so they tend to post a lot of inaccurate information. The site’s purpose is to draw readers in through entertainment, so either way the site meets its overall goal. In comparison, this site/blog is like the cheap magazines with the crappy title covers that you see on the racks in the grocery store aisle. Nonetheless many people love entertainment news and tend to spend much time on this site.  However, if you are looking for a blog with reliable information, I would not recommend Bossip.com.

The Journey Into Digital Broadcasting

Introduction: JournalismNEXT

While reading chapter 1 and 2, I learned many things I did not know about as far as the journalism world is concerned. Although we talked about several points in class from the “Introduction” section in the book, I still gained much insight on the evolution of journalism and its importance. Examples of the points we discussed, as well as what I read, were about the many jobs that are available for journalist in this day and age. Seeing as how the print business is a declining market, I was quite surprised to find about successful independent companies like “Voice of San Diego,” “ArtsJournal,” and “paidContent.org”

Chapter 1: We Are All Digital Workers Now

Moving further into the chapter, I gained knowledge on several computer components such as “cache,” and “RSS” uses and essentials. I also found it interesting to see how modern technology like “apps,” have help innovate Internet use as well as further aid printing business’ and its transition into the digital community. This in itself is a huge contributor in creating a long-lasting relationship between consumers and their favorite magazines, and newspapers. Co-founder of Storify, Burt Herman, made a great point by explaining how for the first time in history, everybody has free access to the press through the Web. The possibilities that are presented in the virtual community are almost limitless. In addition to reading the “web-design basics” section in Chapter 1, I was completely blown away by how extensive web design code is. As an aspiring journalist, I was not aware that learning web code would be essential to my career.

Chapter 2: Blogging for Better Journalism

When reading through Chapter 2, I gained a much better understanding of blogs and their contribution to publishing. Blogs not only bring together a community of like-minded individuals with certain types of interests, but it also helps journalist find an outlet to hone their skills, as well as way for them find their niche market and audience. In addition, Briggs talks about how the creation of blogs have changed journalism for the better. I found it interesting how he related the tragic terrorist attack on September 2001, to the growth of blogs and user interaction. At the time this was a great way for those to vent and share their thoughts about the incident, thus creating a much wider participation in independent blogging.

According to Briggs a good blog is ..

1. One that has a great appearance

2.  One that knows its audience and puts the reader first.

3.  One that has links , and organized summaries

4. One that posts often and stays updated

5.  One that has a catch title

6. One that has photos and videos