Less is More

While I have been very supportive of multimedia journalism, I do see a potential downside to it. The article about the Mojave Desert was a short article accompanied with a video.

The video, while informative, was reminiscent of an educational documentary that a student is forced to watch in high school. While some people may find this to be enjoyable and interesting others will also find it boring.

I felt that the short article provided enough information and was not highly motivated to watch the full length of the video.

While I do believe that multimedia is a great tool for helping to tell a story, I think that a large aspect of the effectiveness of multimedia is knowing which stories it will help and which stories it will hurt.

Sometimes, less is more.

Hearing Voices

The article, Jani's at the Mercy of Her Mind, tells the story of a six year old schizophrenic.

I saw how the article specifically relates to the main character in The Soloist, Nathaniel Ayers who suffers from the same disease. Both the article and the book try to illuminate mental illness and the effects it has on everyone around them.

Like Ayers, Jani has people around her who love her and want to help her, but she is having trouble fighting the illness. I found it shocking that such high doses of medication were not having as great of an effect on the voices in her head.

I feel that the article did a great job of portraying what it is like to live with Jani and what her situation is. The extremity of her schizophrenia caused her family to have to live in two separate apartments for fear that she would harm her younger brother.

The video was a great supplement to the actual story. The readers get a sense of just how severe her schizophrenia is and how great of an impact it has on her family. It also allows her parents to tell part of their story along with short question/answer periods with Jani. The reader can then see how the family interacts with each other and especially with Jani.

Use Media to Tell a Story

After watching the mini documentary, Wait for Me, I understand how effective multimedia can be in helping to tell a story.

The documentary tells the story of a mother whose son disappeared in 1985 while hiking in India. She is still hoping that he is out there somewhere and is waiting for him to be found.

I think the documentary does a very good job of telling the story through the use of video, music, pictures, and sound. I don't think it would have quite the same effect or be as interesting of a story if it was simply words written on paper. Through the use of the video, the reader can better relate to the story. I was able to see the hurt and worry and grief in the mother's face as she talked about her son and what happened to him. The video showed pictures of the women's son throughout his life and the postcards/letters he had written his parents during his travels.

I think that the use of different media to tell a story really helps the story to come to life and to make it more effective.

Multimedia Journalism

With the impact of social media on society, journalism is now taking a turn to multimedia. Journalists are using many different outputs for getting their stories out there as opposed to just the hardcopy of the newspaper.

Multimedia journalism is journalism through different types of media. With the new change story output, the rules change as well.

One thing that I found to be very interesting which was discussed in both Multimedia Standards and Multimedia Grid is the ethical dilemma of the use of music. With the new multimedia journalism, journalists can add music to help enhance their stories. One of the issues was whether a journalist should use music in their stories or not as it can "skew the narrative." Some journalists think it is okay to use music in feature articles but never on hard news stories.

I agree with that last statement. Hard news stories should be taken seriously and I think adding music to them will take away from the importance of the story. A feature story has a little more wiggle room and I don't think readers would mind having music accompany the story. I think it also depends on the story as to when to use music. In the end, the journalist has to think of the best way to tell the best story; if adding music to the article will help to better tell the story then I think it's okay to use music.

A Note on Social Media

For one of our assignments we had to write a column focusing on some aspect of social media. Here is my column:

"Be careful about what you post online"

With the emergence of social media it is easier than ever to find information on someone. Simply type a person's name into Google and with the push of a button, the link to that person's Facebook page or twitter account appears on the screen.

It is extremely easy to find readily accessible information about other people on the Internet, including information about yourself. By simply typing my name into Google, anyone can gain access to my Facebook page, and Twitter account.

After having it drilled in our brains for the past couple years, we know that potential employers look at websites, such as Facebook, to get general ideas about individuals they consider hiring. As the old cliché goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. A single picture can paint a person in a negative or unprofessional light, severely lowering the chances of that person getting the job, regardless of his/her academic credentials. Employers do not want to hire someone who can possibly taint their business image.

A few of my friends have pictures on Facebook, which could possibly mark them as unprofessional and irresponsible. In one picture, one of my friends is drinking straight from a wine bottle; in another, a group of people at a party are holding beer cans and red plastic SOLO cups. I would suggest taking pictures such as these off the Internet, untagging yourself, or tightening your privacy settings so that only friends can see such photos before future employers and coworkers see them.

Even athletic teams are starting to check on their players, making sure they stay in good standing. In my high school there were two softball players who went to a party one weekend and a few days later pictures of them at the party appeared on MySpace. The pictures were not incriminating in anyway. The girls were simply holding red SOLO cups (usually associated with alcohol) in their hands, which could have contained a plethora of possible beverages including soda or water. However, those girls were suspended from the softball team for potential underage drinking.

Students sometimes forget that everyone in the world can see what is on the Internet. It is not called the “World Wide Web” for nothing. Remembering to set your privacy settings and filtering your photos is extremely important. While your friends may know that you are a good student with an excellent work ethic, a future employer may see a picture of you at a party or with a drink in your hand and assume you are unprofessional.

Not being careful about what you allow others to see on the Internet can potentially hurt your future career and/or may even invite a stalker into your life. Make sure that privacy settings for your pictures, along with your personal information are set so that only friends can see them.

Next time you are putting information on the Internet, take a cue from Hamlet and ask yourself “to post or not to post?”

The Soloist: Movie vs. The Book

I think the movie did an effective job of casting a light on mental illness and homelessness in Los Angeles. However, I don't think that the movie did an effective job of portraying the struggle of the journalist to tell the story.

Although it seems to be an insignificant difference, one detail that is different in the movie than in the book is Steve Lopez's personal life. In the book, he is married with two sons and a young daughter. However, the movie portrays Steve Lopez as a divorced man with an estranged son. While I can see how making this change allows for the movie to be slightly more dramatic and gives Lopez the extra time needed to spend with Nathaniel I think there are benefits to showing him as a married man. In the novel, the trust that develops between Ayers and Lopez is shown when Lopez starts to consider Ayers part of the family and invites him over for Easter, allowing him to meet his entire family-wife and children.

Another change in the movie, is that Robert Downey Jr. does not portray Lopez to be as sympathetic of a character as I had pictured from the book. In the movie, it seems that Lopez spends most of his time just being aggravated by Ayers as opposed to genuinely trying to help him. Where as in the book, he tries to help Nathaniel at a much quicker rate. However, in both the book and the movie, Lopez's friendship with Ayers is portrayed as having immensely changed both their lives.

My Mission

If I were in a position to address some issue that is important to me, I would address the dangers of texting while driving. I know a few people who do this and am scared to be in the car with them. The second they start to text on their phone they are no longer looking at the road and they will start to swerve, or veer to one side, making the driver more likely to get into an accident.

Texting while driving is becoming the new DUI. A story or column talking about people who have lost loved ones due to "texting accidents" can help to make the issue known and inspire people to do something about it.

Ethics in THE SOLOIST

In The Soloist, Lopez sometimes mentions the possibility of exploiting Nathaniel Ayers. He wonders if it is possible to continue writing about Ayers without then exploiting him if he hasn't already done so. He concludes that he is just telling Nathaniel's story and he, Nathaniel, and the public benefit from it.

I think in the beginning of the book, Lopez, when he first meets Nathaniel, is trying to exploit him. At first, Lopez is simply intrigued by Nathaniel, but once he finds out that Nathaniel had attended Juilliard and is now living on the streets, he believes it will make a great column. I think at first, Lopez wrote about Nathaniel because he wanted the glory that would come with finding such a unique story.

However, as Lopez continues to talk to Nathaniel he stops exploiting him just to get a good story/column out of him. Lopez genuinely cares about what happens to Nathaniel and starts to consider them friends. After discovering that Nathaniel is schizophrenic, Lopez does everything he can to help get Nathaniel off the streets and attempt overcome his mental illness. The two men become so close that Lopez is "beginning to think of him as extended family" (220) inviting Nathaniel to his house for Easter Brunch and taking him to sporting events and orchestra concerts.

Although there are times when it is difficult to deal with Nathaniel, Lopez is always there for him. Nathaniel is no longer a person to exploit to get a good column. Nathaniel is his friend whom he cares about and wants to see get better. Everything he does after that is to help Nathaniel, to see him succeed and get off the streets and to overcome his battle with schizophrenia.

Unqualifications

In The Soloist, Lopez writes, "A column is a personal take, and as such, it's less dispassionate than a straight new story. But in telling Ayer's story, I have unwittingly taken on some responsibility for his welcome, a job I am clearly, demonstrably, and undeniably unqualified for."

It is every journalists job to tell a story, to give a voice to those who may not otherwise be heard. I believe Lopez did a very good job of doing just that. In telling Ayer's story, it shapes how the world perceives him so he has taken on responsibility for Ayer's welcome. Will the readers love him or hate him, sympathize with him or feel indifference? There is always a personal touch in a column and it gives more meaning to what the writer is writing.

Though Lopez is not qualified to help Ayer's, he gets involved in Ayer's life and completely turns it around. He qualifies as Nathaniel's friend and that was all that he ever needed. A person to provide moral support and believe in him.

Formalities of Informalities

In the book, The Soloist, written by Steve Lopez, Lopez is a columnist trying to help a mentally ill but musically gifted homeless man (Nathaniel Anthony Ayers) he meets playing the violin on the streets.

Toward the end of the book, Lopez shifts from referring to Nathaniel Ayers as Nathaniel and instead begins referring to him as Mr. Ayers. Throughout the book, while Nathaniel is slowly getting better, there are new problems that arise with each progressive step towards his recovery of his mental illness. Once Lopez has set it up so that Nathaniel's sister will be in charge of his finances, he gives Nathaniel a document to inform him of what is going on. Nathaniel does not see what the paper is about. Instead, he only sees a manipulative act by a trusted friend to try to have him committed. This prompts a furious outburst in which Nathaniel says to Lopez, "And I am not going to have anymore of this Nathaniel...I'm Nathaniel and you're Mr. Lopez, and there is not going to be any more of that" (258).

It is at this point when Lopez starts to call Nathaniel Mr. Ayers. To call him so while in his state of rage, seems to make sense, if that is what will calm him down. The short term change of name makes sense for the time being but when Lopez continues to call Nathaniel "Mr. Ayers" after Nathaniel tells him he doesn't have to, I was confused at first. Nathaniel apologizes for his outburst and says Lopez no longer has to refer to him as Mr. Ayers, but Lopez continues to do so even after the apology.

After finishing the book, I now think that Lopez does it out of respect. Nathaniel is older than him and it is ironic that Nathaniel is the one to call Lopez "Mr." as opposed to Lopez calling Nathaniel "Mr. Ayer." I did find it strange that they do not call each other by first names or last names, but Nathaniel is Nathaniel and Steve is Mr. Lopez. But Lopez changing the way he refers to Nathaniel shows that they are now on the same level. He now respects Nathaniel as much as Nathaniel respected him when they first met.

Blame it on the Poor

The article "In Hard Times, Americans Blame the Poor," discusses poverty and how people start to take out their anxiety and frustration on those people who are living off of welfare.

I don't understand why people take out their anger on the poor. People living in poverty are not the ones to blame for the recession. It is understandable that people who have just gotten laid off of a job or who are struggling financially would be somewhat hostile to people receiving welfare. From a working man's point of view, it is as if those on welfare are mooching off the government.

While there are some cases where people choose to depend on welfare, I think more often than not, the people receiving welfare truly need it. During a recession, those people on welfare are suffering just as much if not more than their wealthier counterparts. It doesn't seem right to blame the poor for something they have no control over. The recession affected everyone.

Even the Rich feel the Recession

After reading "Squeaking By on $300,000" I feel little sympathy for the Laura. While I do understand that the recession has hit all of us, she still has a job and is able to support her family.

One thing in particular that I found to be somewhat annoying, was that she complains of having financial concerns but can cut corners and attempt to save money in ways that she has not thought of. Instead of keeping her gardener or the man that plows her driveway when it snows on staff, she can do her own gardening and maybe get her children to help her shovel the driveway.

The live-in nanny is somewhat able to help save money. She likes to shop for bargains and sometimes buys too much pasta for Laura's liking. But the class distinctions between the two women allow for a good balance, Laura finds it hard to let go of luxuries that are a part of her daily life and the nanny knows to search for bargains and fix common household problems, such as a leaky pipe.

While it is understandable that Laura would not want to completely change her way of life, she needs to see where she can cut corners and save a little more money if need be.

Keys to Class Success

In Class Matters, there is a story about a woman named Angela who defied the odds and climbed the social ladder from being on welfare to a member of the middle class.

Angela is a mother of five who was able to go back to nursing school, get off welfare, and give her family a better life. In order to break into the middle class, Angela had to attend nursing school. She had met a man named Vincent who encouraged her to follow her dreams. He provided her and her family with a place to live and offered her encouragement and moral support, proofreading her papers and rewarding her for a good grade. She received financial help from Pellgrant awards and financial aid. She was now also highly motivated and wanted to complete the program quickly, fearing Vincent would change his mind and leave. Wanting a better life for her and her children and never wanting to end up back in the projects, Angela diligently studied nursing and biology. Her hard work paid off and she is now a nurse at an inner-city hospital making enough money to be considered middle class.

According to the experts interviewed for the story, Angela's key to success was that she found a "good man and a good job" (230). Vincent was there for moral support. He offered her encouragement and consoling and acted as the father figure to her children. She had a healthy relationship and the "support that comes from an encouraging partner" (231). According to the experts, upward mobility requires: education, job credentials, employability, emotional support, and encouragement. Angela fit most of these requirements and proved that they help in upward mobility.

I agree with the above assessment. Presently, employers like to see that you have both work experience and a college degree. Having an education, along with showing that you can hold a job are important aspects to gaining a well paying job. The higher education that you receive, the more money you will make and the better social class you will belong to. I also believe that in order to be successful at getting the college degree and job, you need to have a very good support staff. Whether it be family or friends, having someone close to you, who encourages you and doesn't let you give up makes handling the stress a little easier and success seem possible. When a person has a good support system, it is easier to be successful and get through difficult times as opposed to a person who is going it alone.