Overview of what has been learned in MCJ102 this semester

This semester has been very interesting for me because I am finally getting to understand more about mass communications and journalism.  MCJ 102 has opened my eyes to what really goes into media writing. I will never look at another newspaper article the same or listen to an advertisement on the radio or television without thinking of the processes that went into making it.

I have learned so much about the proper usage of grammar and punctuation with the Associated Press book. It is true that this book will become your best friend.  Even with the book I still make mistakes. There is so much to learn.

I have learned how to create news leads, print releases, broadcast news, web writing, writing public relations releases,writing radio and television news stories, writing advertisements scripts for radio and television with a storyboard.

When I first started my assignments I had no confidence in myself, but as the semester is coming to an end I have developed so much more confidence in my writing abilities. I actually have enjoyed all the different types of writing. I like the creative side of making advertisements, but I have an extremely difficult time keeping the advertisement short.  I believe though that my favorite type of writing is the print news.  I can write longer sentences here.  If I can keep my words down I actually really enjoyed writing the 30 second radio ad script.

Before this class I had never blogger or used twitter.  At first I did not like having to do this. I found my self seeing or hearing about something and thinking that I should remember that so I can blog or tweet about it.  I enjoy the quick way that you can tweet information and how you can blog a lot of information.  I already have other news worthy information to blog about.  I believe that after this class I will be blogging and tweeting.

What I have learned about myself and this class is that I am a procrastinator but in a good way.  I found that when I would read the assignment I would have to mull it over in my mind for a bit of time before I could put my thoughts down on paper.  I would think of the different ways to write a lead that would draw my attention.  Usually it would hit me as I was typing the way the lead should read to hopefully draw the attention of the reader or listener in.

This summer I am going to become a better typist. Right now my typing skills are not the greatest. I need to increase my speed and use the proper technique. I look forward to next semester to put the skills I have been taught in this class to further use.  

Compare and contrast public relations and advertising. How are the two alike and different?

Public relations and advertising in some ways are similar in that they both bring the awareness of a company or a product in a positive manner. They actually complement one another. 

Public relations and advertising however are very different from one another. Advertising is a form of persuasion that tells people about the goods and services that they can purchase.  In contrast, public relations are not paid for and are a cost effective way of getting a story out. Public relations help an organization and its publics to adapt to each other, and its success is measured by the way public opinion is expressed.

In advertising one has full control over the message because you are paying for it. You will know exactly what is being advertised because you are paying the advertisement.  When you pay for this you have a say in what goes into the ad whereas in public relations you have no control over how your information is presented.

An advertisement can be run over and over again depending on what you want to pay for it compared to a press release which is only circulated once. In a nutshell advertising is controlled and paid for and public relation is not controlled. 

Public relations are targeted to a specific public and usually go through the media to reach a specific audience. In advertising the message is designed to appeal directly to the audience that uses that medium.  Advertising targets a particular market and public relations covers stakeholders, employees, community groups and even the media. It aims to generate awareness about the company as a whole and not just it its products or services.  

How is writing broadcast news different from writing print news? How are the two similar? Which do you prefer and why?

Broadcast news and print news are the two most common forms of writing that gets information out to the public.

Broadcast news is for the auditory senses where as print news is visual. Broadcast news is either for radio or television and the announcer has one shot at the target audience unlike print news that can be re-read. Print news uses the inverted pyramid format with the most important information in the lead and then tappers down to less important information. Broadcast news grabs your attention from the beginning with short declarative sentences to hold ones attention through out the broadcast. It does not use the inverted pyramid style but instead the uses dramatic unity.  Dramatic unity is concerned with climax, cause and effect of the broadcast and are necessary for a good story. Broadcast news is all about timing and is in a conversational tone where print news has a more formal tone with longer sentences. Broadcast news seems to convey a sense of immediacy and relies on simple stories that can be told in a straightforward manner in about a minute or less.

Even though broadcast news and print news are very different from one another there are some similarities. They both want to grab ones attention by the use of leads. They both inform about news just in a different format. Broadcast uses sentences with no more than 10-15 words in it where print news uses 20-25 words per sentence. Print news also uses the five w's (who, what, when, where, why and also how) to create the lead sentence.

Today people are on the go so much that they are more likely to listen to the news than read the news. I find that for myself I like both broadcast news and print news. I am always on the go and listening to the news keeps me up to date on what is transpiring in my community and the world. I do, however, like the tangible aspect of being able to hold a magazine or newspaper and read the news. I guess you could call me old fashioned in that regard.

Challenges to writing and communicating clearly in today’s world. Why and how can that be changed or should it?

Today people are able to access the news and what is going on around them in an instant with the use of computers, tablets, and smart phones.  In fact, one can be talking on the phone while texting at the same time. There are also applications that can keep one in tune with the breaking news stories from around the world.  Although these methods are quick, they are not always entirely accurate.

The challenges to writing and communicating clearly in the 21^st century have become more acute.  Different people, from young to old, communicate differently.  Poor communication  skills can interrupt the flow of information through these sources.

 

The problem with writing and communicating today, with the use of these forms of social media, is that sometimes it is hard to understand what someone is trying to say because the text lacks tone and emotion as compared with talking in person.  Messages can also be misunderstood because of a lack of proper writing skills.  This can lead to misunderstandings between businesses, friends, workers, etc. 

When there is a possibility of a misunderstanding and the message is important it is best to actually communicate verbally.

As to the communication devices that we are all so accustomed to using and cannot live without, they have actually allowed us to be more informed on the goings on in the world around us.  They often involve short snippets of information, however.  Also, when one learns about such information it can become complicated when the recipient, as mentioned above, then becomes the purveyor.

Can the problems with communication be corrected is a question many ask, and the answer is yes.  Where the information involves something important, one important safeguard would be to ask for clarification and to confirm the facts by telephone to make sure that there is no miscommunication.  The best communication would be one where both the visual and auditory were present, however. 
When this is impossible, communication  in writing is still important.

 

Current Event: Leathal Injection Blunder

 Current Event

Clayton Lockett after 15 years on death row received lethal injections Tuesday evening, but something went terribly wrong and he did not die right away.  His execution was halted by Robert Patton, Director of Corrections, because of possible vein failure.  Even though the execution was halted,  Lockett died of a heart attack a little over 40 minutes after the procedure was started.

 

Since the state’s new secret series of three injections  were not working correctly all executions in the State of Oklahoma have been halted .  People are up in arms about the inhumanity of the death sentence and they want it banned.  Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, ordered the Department of Corrections to review the state's execution procedures and determine what went wrong.

The question is why is this wrong? His execution began at 6:23 p.m. He was unconscious 10 minutes later, and apparently died 33 minutes after the drugs were administered. That includes the 10 minutes that he was unconscious.  He did, however, have a number of convulsions and those watching Lockett’s execution found it difficult to watch and after 16 minutes the curtains were closed so no one could see his discomfort.

He was convicted fifteen years ago of shooting Stephanie Neiman, a 19-year-old female, and watching her struggle while two accomplices buried her alive.

Wonder what discomfort these people would have felt watching Neiman being buried alive? Wonder how long did it take for her to die?

It is true that the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment says that one is not supposed to suffer cruel and unusual punishment, because this is wrong and not the American way.  The question is what is considered cruel and unusual?

This is a controversial issue but in so many of the articles written about the subject the victim’s story is mentioned only to make people feel guilty of secretly thinking that Lockett got what he deserved.

It seems as the victim is still the victim even when justice is supposed to prevail.

Communication Has Come A Long Way Since Cave Man Days

What communication formats are the most useful and successful today? Is Twitter the new Facebook? Is there a better way? What new media helps maintain the integrity of journalism?

Communication amongst people has come a long way from cave painting 30,000 years ago.  Messaging has evolved from sending smoke signals on the tops of mountains to the 21^st century where people can, in an instant, communicate with someone on the other side of the world.

Today many forms of communication are successful.  Whether one is conducting business or chatting with friends, the most common forms of communication are through emails, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other digital media, like Skype, and Pinterest.

 Of course, telephones are used all of the time, everyday to communicate for business purposes and with friends.  The newspaper, although antiquated, is still an effective means of communication although it contains “old news” by the time it arrives when compared to getting news from radio, television, Internet or digital devices. 

As of today Facebook and Twitter are the most popular forms of communication.  It seems as though Twitter is the new Facebook where information is passed on to others in short , concise snippets.  News can be instantly hash tagged on Twitter and tweeted.  Facebook is also fast, but is used mostly by friends to send pictures and information back and forth to one another. 

Communication is changing all of the time.  Besides tweeting  there are other ways, however, they take time, such as teleconferences and Skyping.  The news media has the mindset that the faster information can be released the better.   With the rush it becomes important for journalists to maintain their integrity.  Being the first to break a story is important but being a good, accurate journalist is what is essential.  Having journalistic integrity and the public’s trust is what is most important.

Twitter is a way for journalists to help maintain that integrity.  It is more professional than Facebook.Twitter is where the breaking news is located as compared to Facebook. Twitter has become the place where journalists come to report the news.  This has made twitter very valuable as a news source for journalists and viewers.  

Current Event: The Archaeology of Poop

Current Event 

     This is not quite what comes to mind when one thinks of archaeological discoveries.  The examination of ancient poop t is one way that DNA from thousands of years ago can be recovered. The proper archaeological term for the study of poop is called the study of paleofeces or non-hardened fossils.  Paleofeces are studied to determine how the people of the time ate, what their diet consisted of, their health, and even more about the plant and animal life that existed around them.  Yes, all this can be found in the DNA of poop.

      The process of recovering DNA from paleofeces involves a simple five step procedure involving liquid nitrogen, a diabetic drug, a polymerase chain reaction machine, and poop. The nitrogen freezes the poop so it can be ground into a fine powder, the diabetic drug is used to break down the sugar compounds in the surrounding DNA, and the chain reaction machine is used to make millions of copies of the recovered DNA to be compared to other DNA fragments from different sources found at the site.

The reason this is possible is because of the process known as the Maillard reaction, named after Louis Camille Maillard . What happens is that as the feces dries a hard crust forms on the outside . The sugars from the digested plant material begin to react with surrounding amino acids forming  larger sugar compounds.  These basically encase the DNA preserving it for future extraction.

      It is pretty neat to think that so much information can be found in paleofeces that is thousands of years old.  It was Hendrik Poinar and Svante Paabo from the Max Planck Institute in Munich who recovered the first successful DNA sample from paleofeces in 1998.  It was in 2008 that the first human DNA extraction was made by the Kristin Sobolik, archeologist from the University of Maine Orono.

Just recently archaeologists have unearthed 700 year old barrels filled with poop in Denmark.  Unfortunately, the Maillard reaction had not occurred since the waste was sealed in the barrels.  There was no sugar coating to keep the smell in.  Yet the discovery was remarkable and the waste found told a lot about the people who lived in Demark 700 years ago.  The archaeologists just had to endure the smell.  

     I wonder if our society today, with all the waste treatment plants, has inadvertently put an end to DNA sampling of our poop by future scientists?  Who knows, maybe each city will create a time capsule with a little sample of poop to let future generations know about how we existed.