I have definitely learned a lot this semester about writing. One of the main things that sticks with me is how to draw someone into the paper I’m writing. Writing a good lead is one of the most important parts of writing a paper. As an accounting major, I will have to do research papers and write articles on what I find, and I know that being able to write a good lead will help my paper stand out.

Also, now I know what it takes to make an article good. So now I can critique articles that I read, therefore, I can judge the author better and figure out just how bad they are at writing.

My topic is gun laws and relevant events. On the Al Jazeera website, there are a couple articles about recent gun. There’s also an article about the new 3-D printers that can make plastic guns.

On the BBC website, there’s an article about the US gun debate called, “US gun debate: Guns in numbers.” This will be helpful in learning about what other countries think about the US gun debates.

On the The Guardian website there are some articles that will give our project some good more information on gun laws and tragedies that have happened recently.

Overall these websites were helpful, however, most of the articles did not tell me anything I did not already know. But they will be helpful in my media project.

For our my media project, my partner and I are covering media coverage on gun law debates and news stories. Some of the stories that have happened this semester include the LAX shooting and the naval base shooting. We are collecting sources from different media outlets, such as Fox and CNN. One organization we have looked at on gun issues is the National Rifle Association website. It has videos with arguments for guns. We have also watched some broadcasts on gun stories. For instance, when the LAX shooting occurred, Austin and I watched the coverage on CNN.

I will be starting up a paper selling company called Dinder Mufflin. It will be located in Edmonds, Washington. My company needs to research what would cause people to want to buy our paper. Being a paper company in a liberal, pro-environment part of the country, my company will focus on building our image as an eco-friendly company.

Our press release would be about restoring what we have taken. We will use a percentage of our profits to plant new trees in the wild, where we have cut down trees to make paper, and in the community as well. This press release would be sent to the Seattle Times, which is the major newspaper in that area.

We will announce online that if a customer buys a certain amount of paper in one purchase, we will donate a specific amount to our tree planting initiative. This announcement will be on Facebook and Twitter.

My company will host events where people can come out and volunteer to help in planting trees, whether it’s in the wild or in a community park. We will also have a fundraiser to raise money for the tree planting events.

If the Seattle Times wrote an article about us, I think it would help greatly, because our name will become more positive in the public eye.

For this media blog post I listened to National Public Radio segment from Friday, November 1. It is definitely a media outlet for professional and cultured people. It includes news about politics, business, entertainment, and international news. I liked the outlet because the stories were short, but they gave you the most important information that you needed to know about the stories.

The first story I heard was “Food Stamp Benefits Set To Shrink.” It said that 45 million Americans on food stamps will have to make due with less. The officially name Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program is losing $5million in funding. Kate Maehr, executive director and CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, says that there is a continuing struggle in obtaining food for families.

Another story I heard was about the new book to movie, “Ender’s Game.” The story was titled: “‘Ender’s Game’ Movie Shows Hero’s Lasting Appeal.” The movie shows how the rise of a teenage hero is appealing to teenagers. It is an inspiration to bullied kids, because Ender is just a child who has to rise above his superiors to win a war Ender’s Game is set in the future where children are trained by computers to fight off evil alien bugs. The movie deals with issues that we feared in the ‘80s (when the book was written) and that we still fear today: crone warfare, preemptive strikes, and child soldiers.

The other story I’m writing about is “Fannie Mae Sues Big Banks.” Fannie Mae sued nine of the world’s largest banks, which include Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, on Thursday. Fannie Mae accuses the banks of manipulate interest rates between each other, which has cause Fannie Mae to lose about $800 million.

I had no idea how serious copyright is. The fact that someone can be sued over using another person’s photo, even if the user take the photo down immediately, blows my mind. All the fees and legal trouble someone can get into is worth too much to use copyrighted material. When finding pictures on the Internet that you want to use, make sure that they are public domain, creative commons, or something along those line. It must be specifically stated. Assume that everything is copyrighted until proven otherwise. That is a great way to go about using the Internet.

coffee

I can use this image, because it is in the public domain.

café

I can use this image, because it is in the public domain.

cg2

This photo was taken by Jeremy Doyle

Here is a link to a song: http://betterpropaganda.com/player/player.aspx?songId=7. It is okay to use, because I am using it for educational purposes.

This week I read the Dallas Morning News website. This media outlet seems to be targeting people who are interested in what’s happening in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. However, it does include some state and national news. The types of articles it focuses on are: news, business, sports, entertainment, and life. The website even includes a video section, so people can watch, instead of read, the news. I enjoyed looking through this website and reading some of the local articles, which I talk about later in this post.

http://res.dallasnews.com/interactives/2013_October/lauren/day7/#.UmwlUpTEr6k

The first article I read this week, “The Girl in the Closet: Falling into valleys, making her own peaks,” really takes its readers on an emotional roller coaster. Lauren Kavanaugh’s had a tougher life than most children. For years she lived in a closet, starved, suffered from sexual abuse, and only had a urine soaked blanket to cover her. But at eight years old she finally found freedom.

Since then she has suffered from deep emotional issues, another case of sexual abuse, and bullying at school. However, she has made the same, difficult decision time and time again…to live.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/headlines/20131025-spotlight-may-shrink-for-big-12-champ-prize-could-be-fiesta-bowl-vs.-fresno-state-or-n.-illinois.ece

The next article I read is called “Spotlight may shrink for Big 12 champ; prize could be Fiesta Bowl vs. Fresno State or N. Illinois.” This article explains why neither Baylor nor Texas Tech would make it to the BCS title game. It’s a heart-wrenching article for a fan of either school, but it makes a valid point. However, each team has had a great season and will continue to thrive the rest of the season and be in a bowl game.

http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/north-texas-builders-still-struggling-to-find-workers.html/

This last article was “North Texas builders still struggling to find workers.”  It expresses the desperateness for workers to enter the residential building sector, which includes carpenters, plumbers, and welders. When the housing market fell in 2008 most workers switched over to the energy industry to work in oil and gas, since that industry was booming. Now with most of the current building workers nearing retiring age, residential builders are fearing a future without a sufficient supply of builders.

This week I used the Washington Post as my media outlet. It has a wide array of topics from world news and politics to sports and business. It seems like an outlet that can be used by anybody looking to read up on any sort of news. I liked the website and thought it was very easy to navigate through it

After reading “Watergate: The long shadow of a scandal,” I realized just how much of an impact that the Watergate Scandal had on America. I knew it was a big deal, but I did not realize that it changed the people’s opinion of the government into a distrustful one. It makes a little more sense no why people are so skeptical of politicians and why citizens call politicians “crooks.” The scandal, also, changed the relationship between politicians and news reporters. Afterwards, politicians were constantly watched and followed by news reporters, just waiting for a slip up, so that they could get a good news story.

Seeing how the story would have been covered on Facebook was pretty cool. With social media being such a big part of people’s lives these days, the story sure would have had an even larger impact on people. It really shows how far journalism has come since then.

I watched the video “Woodward and Bernstein on Nixon’s criminal enterprise.” Journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward sat down to discuss the Watergate Scandal 40 years after it occurred. They expressed that they enjoy working together, but there’s a tension between their partnership. However, this tension causes them to have a different view of the world and news that creates better journalism. It is really cool to see that these two journalists still work together. Bernstein talked about just how big the crime was that Nixon committed and how much bigger a deal it was that he covered up the crime.

The story, “Searching for Gary Smith,” is about Gary Smith’s life and career. It was written by Sarah Perry. The story covers the different people he has interviewed, his career as a journalist, and some of his personal life.

The author uses an anecdotal lead.

The nut graph is “Gary Smith, big shot sportswriter, is a four-time winner of the National Magazine Award, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the magazine world’s most celebrated writers. Gary’s first “Ellie” award arrived in 1992 with “Shadow of a Nation,” the story of Jonathon Takes Enemy, a Crow Indian basketball player pulled apart and put back together by fortune, family and generations of loss. Gary struck again in 1997 with “Crime and Punishment,” about another high school basketball star convicted and branded as a sex offender. Then, 2000, for the infamous Texas Christian University football team, and — bam! — in 2003, one more time, for George O’Leary, the Notre Dame coach who had the world at his fingertips, and lost it all because of a lie on a resume.” It is recognizing Smith’s excellent career as one of the world’s most celebrated magazine writers. He has won multiple awards and has been recognized for his writings.

The bigger issue behind a personal profile is that he always treats people as if he is interviewing. He always seems to analyze people and figure them out.

An example of descriptive copy is, “A balmy day in L.A., lanes of traffic, horns blaring. The car dances over the lane markers. Clack, clack, clack. The car weaves in and out, next to this car, then another.” The writer describes traffic on a hot day in Los Angeles. The writer uses the feel, sight, and sound senses.

I counted six sources in the story.

I thought that the part of Gary Smith traveling around Europe was a little boring, but it was helpful it learning about how he found himself.

I liked the ending. It ties well with the beginning, because it returns to the story about Muhammad Ali.

I think I got a lot of knowledge about Gary Smith. I learned more about him than I know about any other writer. It was interesting about how he conducted his interviews.

I liked that the story was really informative. It gave me a lot of information with which to work.

I did not like that the story seemed to jump around from topic to topic. It did not seem to flow as well as it should have.

I read the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, September 26. The outlet covers various topics from world news and business to sports and entertainment. Its coverage of such a wide array of topics is why it would appeal to many adults young and old.

The top story on the website was “21-year-old man arrested in Dodger fan’s slaying, S.F. police say,” which was about the capture of a murderer. Michael Lodi slayed Jonathan Denver after the Giants-Dodgers game Wednesday night. After the game the two started in a back-and-forth about the game which led to a physical fight. After the first fight there was a second altercation, and that was when Denver realized he had been stabbed. He died later at San Francisco General Hospital.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-suspect-arrested-dodger-fan-20130926,0,1542965.story

The second article I read was “Riverside County considers law on sterilizing pit bulls.” The discussion of this law came about primarily from the mauling of a 2-year-old boy on Monday. This ordinance would affect pit bulls that are 4 months or older and not owned by a licensed breeder. Many unlicensed breeders raise pit bulls to kill, and these are the breeders that the law would restrict.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-pit-bull-laws-20130925,0,2085696.story

The last article I read was “Martina Hingis and her mom are accused of attacking estranged husband.” The title says it all. Martin Hingis, her mother, and current boyfriend have all been accused by Hingis’ estranged husband for attacking him. The article also mentions Hingis’ intent on returning to doubles, but that she “has no plans to return to singles.” The competitiveness at the singles level is too much for her.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-martina-hingis-20130926,0,5785697.story#axzz2g3V1P23S