Week 29: Last March Post

It is March Madness, so let's go mad and talk about sports!!!!

1. A phenomenal article on an up-and-coming basketball player. There's only one problem: he's only 13. Eek. A great feature. Excellent graphics as well (try to look at the electronic edition, if possible) with great repetition of elements. What do you think?

2. Another solid profile piece, just a wee bit shorter. A long, long time ago, Harvard beat Stanford (the long time favorite and former champion) in the women's basketball final. This piece gets into how they won. What do you think of the perspective of the piece? The style? The structure?

Photoshop pictures

Big Hat

Dark Photo

Lexie

Shocker Shirt

Bouncing Kid

Old Image

Editor Application for 2009-2010

Here is the application for next year's senior staff.

If you have any questions, please see me.

mc

Week 28

As if California doesn't have enough problems on its hands, here's another one. This is a great piece on the two clashing cultures alive and well in the state, and what one group would like to do to fix the clash. The writing is tight, and the topic is well flushed out even in a short piece. What are your thoughts on the writing and the topic?

Another great piece but in the form of video story-telling. It's a topic near and dear to my heart because, well, this was what my dad did for quite some time: he was a photo retoucher. What do you think about the author's final challenge to the media? What do you think of this form of opinion "writing"?

Week 27

1. How is the media talking about Barack Obama's fiscal policies? Read this to find out. Is the media a pussyfooter when it comes to this issue? Might the media be trying to manage the public worry about the economy?

2. A bit old news now, but worth discussing. See this cartoon from the 2.18.09 NY Post. The big question: racist or satire? You can read about the Post's response and see what readers had to say as well. Quite a bot topic. For any newspaper, how do you balance intent and impact in a situation like this?

Because you love it

Folks

Great work on the on-line courses. We still have three more days of layout, so here is another course for you to complete. It's called Get Me Rewrite: The Craft of Revision. Please check in with Eugenie on Thursday as I will not be in class, again. I appreciate your work on these courses as they will make you stronger writers and editors.

Have a good week and weekend. Enjoy the Monday off. See you all back in action next Tuesday.

Mary

Week 26 — Welcome March!

1. Is this the future of journalism? Is this a way for a major newspaper to attract readers? Or a way to cut budgets and still cover small events? Could something like this work in the Bay area? Do you think the IJ or the Point Reyes Light would mind this kind of program in the area? Would there be a way to apply this idea to MA?

2. Here's a great review from the NYTimes. What do you think of the writing and style? Is it too negative? Too opinionated? Yes it's a review, but are reviewers supposed to maintain any objectivity?