Best of Blogs

I'm calling on the power of my "freebie blog" to relieve me from the more serious and sometimes stuffy public policy options.
My first blog of choice is the Black Snob. Its a Black female's perspective on politics and pop culture with heavy helpings of sarcasm and witty humor. I love that the author, Danielle Belton, keeps her readers involved in the makeup of her website, with polls asking readers which "snob"feature, such as incognegro or limits of Blackness, should be added back to the blog. I can read Belton's opinion on Obama's latest political move or his wife upsetting the black fashion industry by snubbing their designs. I was even able to get through her rather lengthy post on the term "hating" also known as "stop hating" "hateration", which are often used to trivialize and discredit valid analysis and criticism of someone or something that is lacking or is at fault.

I couldn't have a freebie blog without including a mouth watering site. The Fun and Food Blog completely rocks my world. The rich red background color works well for displaying all of the fun dishes and recipes they encourage visitors to try. The pictures of food are gorgeous and make me want to get up and head to my kitchen: curry chicken against bright green cilantro leaves, warm fluffy quick breads and other intriguing recipes are enough to get a little cyber drool going. The tool bar on top gives me easy access to their other categories, such as health and fitness, which is very appropriate considering readers theoretically stuffed their faces with fattening tasty goodness.
Suddenly Frugal is my final selection. I am a cheap woman and always looking for ideas to cut corners and stretch my dollars to the extreme limit. Although the site isn't all that trendy looking, the straight forward tips, such as using water with a little bit of vinegar and soap for window washing, still prevents me from running to the store to by actual window cleaner. What's more is that Leah Ingram, the writer, always finds a way to personally relate her tips to her own learning experiences and life lessons.

Bob Ross, the movie boss

The progression of our class guests have led us down quite a winding road. We've had our hard-core reporters turned editors. Visitors abounding with story telling talents, with flecks of poetry disseminated into their prose. Writers writing for a demographic and writers writing for an audience of one. Realists, comedians, awareness of confidence and admission of insecurities.

Then Mr. Thelen throws a monkey wrench into the equation. I wondered, how does a movie critic even begin to fit into the bunch?

Well even though I never got the chance to meet him up close and personal, I didn't have to google his name all that long to realize that Bob Ross is a tenacious, hardworking man in media who is making a way for himself.
Like most of our guests, he was a reporter. But he didn't transition into the more predictable news occupations such as an editorial writer or a columnist.

He pursued his passion of pop culture and became a movie critic. After an expansive 22-year career at the Tampa Tribune, he got the ax in April 2007.
What I am most impressed about with Ross, is his life, post Tampa Tribune.
He didn't take the news lying down.

Candid and vulnerable, he shared the blow of his job loss.
"Sure I'm hurt," he wrote in the Sticks of Fire Blog, but in he went on to say that life goes on and he announced that he would be posting his movie reviews on that blog. Although he was new to the blogging world, as he mentions, that didn't stop him from putting his craft to use. Many of his reviews got quite a few dozen comments and eventually he created his own self titled website.
Chocked full of multimedia applications and interactive features, Ross is ready to fight for his crown as the Movie Boss.
He has written reviews as well as created videos of himself discussing films with clips of pertinent movie scenes edited in between his comments. With a Google Ad on running on his website, it appears that he is getting his piece off the on-line revenue pie. He also has the freedom to do exciting and fulfilling free lance work. Not even a month ago, he joined the local Tampa Fox affiliate in making his predictions for the 2009 Oscar winners.

Alas, we have evidence to confirm was the others have been telling us all along: Us writers can land on our feet if we take advantage of the changing media around us.

Ross, older in age, and vibrant in spirit, is a great inspiration in the dismal humdrum of gloom and doom. If he can do it, so can we.

Mears' musings on the AP

Walter Mears comes from an indispensable yet under appreciated staple in the news industry: The Associated Press, simply referred to as the AP. My understanding of the AP was limited; I thought of it as the all knowing,trusted and independent entity that provided of the basis of many stories. Although I had been exposed to it for the greater part of my academic career as a journalism student, I never had an understanding of its origins, and its position in the world of news.

Mears, the most seasoned guest speaker my critical writing class has had thus far, has covered 11 presidential candidates, and been doing political reporting for more than half a century, to put things in perspective. According to Mears, the Associate Press dates back much further. Created around 1848, the AP was established by a few newspapers in the civil war era. He is a strong proponent from the old school paradigm of journalism.

" What is news? The closest I could come up with is a disciplined explanation, boiled down to fact, stripped from clutter," he said.

When Mears became a reporter for them in 1955, he along with his reporting peers created the news. They provided a uniform voice as well as a high standard in journalism. Only ten years later, the news fragmented somewhat when broadcast news presented itself into the picture.

"We had to change the way we looked at reporting...we no longer were always the first to give people the news," Mears said.

Decades later, media continues to divide and multiply like splitting amoebas. With the internet, multiple cable networks, blogs and other diverse news sources competing to tell the same stories, this forced the AP to challenge themselves and find an appealing and different way of reporting. At the same time, shifts in the digital information age and shrinking budgets of news organizations made it hard for them to support the AP, despite the fact that they created it.

But the fact that most papers cut down lots of international coverage means that they need the AP to do what they can't afford to do.
"The AP’s presence in bureaus overseas have become the real time eyes and ears of the news media." Mears said.
Evolving alongside the digital revolution, the AP found different ways to charge companies on the internet and otherwise as a news cooperative for their services.

When Mears was once told that he could be replaced by four reporters, he retorted, "but can those reporters make up more than half of the news paper content? "
And the answer is, of course not.
However, the AP did cut back it rates by 10 percent, in response to the dwindling finances of many news organizations.

Its likely that the balancing act on this teetering scale will continue to be a little shaky until the older forms of media figure out how to be relevant in the digital age.

However the cards may fall, Mears is confident that there will always be a need for the AP to fill in the blanks.
He believes that if a society loses true reporting, "it loses its democracy."

blogging on blogging: Round 1

The contestants for tonight's round up are:
1.http://www.dailykos.com/
2. Reuters' Front Row Washington
3. Donklephant!

I'm sure many people saved their favorite blogs for last but I will start of with the best blog in my opinion, Daily Kos. Of course, there is a lot of Obama blogging, but they're a lot of other topics to choose from, like climate change, global warming and other topics that can tend to get burried. But what I loved about this blog is that it cut straight to the point. Instead of writing mile long opinion that's part info, part, "let me show you how witty I am" the blogger's style tends to briefly state his problem, show an exert of what he's referring to and then he wraps it up in a paragraph or two. Visually, dailykos.com is clean and attractive. The blog is highly organized and user friendly, all while managing not to come off as an overly polished and pristine. There is a great simple graph at the top keeping visitor's up to date of the nation's approval of Obama's performance so far and imbedded videos to supplement the blog conversation. As far as I can tell, there are an unusual amount of poster's commenting on the topics, well into hundreds of comments are being made.
Reuters is more of a more newsy structured blog. Though some of these professional news blogs tend to miss the point of the more relaxed stylistic freedom that the genre offers, I can also appreciate that blogs are more in depth and well reported. The posts have lots of personality, humor and sarcasm at times that keeps them exciting to read.
I must admit, donklephant caught my attention because of the cute attempt to meld the Democrat and Republican "mascots" for lack of a better word. This blogger tries to keep objectivity no matter which topic or what side is being blogged about. The style is very matter of fact and seems rather careful not to demonize or praise, omitting any type of language that would imply a position.
All three are interesting in their own right and will give deeper perspective into the news and policies of the moment.

Martin Fennelly

Anyone who knows Kristal Roberts knows that sports is not my thing. I'm the punchline in all of those movies with the inept little kid that could(n't) pitch, punch, punt, kick,throw or catch. I'd sooner see two roaches reproduce than sit through a stinking game. So you could just imagine how I felt when sports columnist, Martin Fennelly walked into my Critical Writing class.

However, I knew that I had been pleasantly surprised before, so I decided to give this guy a chance.
Dressed down in a cozy green sweater, khaki shorts and weathered nikes, one thing that I could admire right off bat is that the man was comfortable in his own skin.

"I would never look back on these 24 years and wish I would have listened to mom and gone to law school” Fennelly said.

Through out his career, he has reported on six people dying. The first story was a death defying boating stunt turned tragic boating accident. The most recent story he's covered involved the young football players who disappeared at sea and for all intensive purposes can be presumed dead. In both instances, he had the painfully uncomfortable task of speaking to parents and loved ones to create coverage out of travesty. As he talked about those athletes, I could hear the care in his voice and I could feel the duty weight that each story left on his heart.
This guy couldn't help but where his emotions on his sleeve, and I loved him for it.
But in the midst of acknowledging the gut punching blow of unexpected, often presumed too early death, Fennelly honored the athletes by celebrating who they were. The hobbies that occupied their time. The friends that new the person behind the number and uniform.
To some, I'm sure that could come of as corny. But the last thing that Fennelly, as well as my self, would ever want is to be that monotone 6-inch blimp in the paper briefly describing bland, lifeless accolades dotting our lives; zip,that's all she wrote. After mentioning that most people only made it in the paper when they're born, married and dead, he feels obligated to make the last one, the best one.

Fennelly isn't a great sports writer because he can recall every play that had been made. He is a great writer, because he finds humanity in your garden variety sports story.
He looks at journalism as a snap shot. “This is what I learned, this is what I know, this is what I can tell you in this amount of time," Fennelly said.

The talented Mr. Troxler

Howard Troxler, a rather hard hitting St. Petersburg Times columnist, possesses a most unusual writing tool when it comes to telling wrong doers where to stick it: Sympathy. From the moment Troxler opens his mouth, it is plain to see that the gifts of sarcasm, conversational writing and well argued controversial view points are available at his beck and call. His brilliant columns with comedic yet poignant headlines such as “Stop Thief, or I’ll quote statistics” have the power to simultaneously embarrass officials and law makers while drawing a committed following to Troxler’s zippy and energized bouts on politics.

With Troxler's ability to cleverly mock,berate and motivate, I initially thought that getting the antagonist to feel the shame of a brutal verbal bashing would be the primary goal. But Troxler finds that you don't persuade change by flat out bullying, and they’re times when it’s more appropriate to take a friendlier route.
“Its important not to spew, ‘You morons, you nitwits’” he said as he explained his writing method.

“If it’s a complicated issue that I am trying to explain, I adopt more of a friendly and conversational tone,” he said.
But tricky Troxler doesn’t just go a little less harsh on his target based on a whim of good will, he chooses this route to tap into the target’s vulnerability.
“What I want is for the guy to feel uneasy.”
A columnist would be less likely to bring a feeling of unease if the writer rams the wrong doer’s wrong doings down their throats.

In a column directed towards Ray Sansom, speaker for the Florida House of Representatives, instead of calling Sansom a money sucking, unconscionable drain on tax payer's dollars for taking a cushy six-figure job at a community college , Troxler eases it down with a spoonful of humor and concern.

"Dear Mr. Speaker:
So, how's it going so far? Have you figured out how to fix our state's problems with insurance, taxes and the crummy budget?"

He then shows Ransom that he understands why he took the job, and that he doesn't even doubt he's qualified, but ultimately serves heavy doses of conviction and truth.This is a very effective method, because Troxler sounds more like the honest,in your face family member, someone a man like Sansom would lend his ear to rather than an a flaming self righteous columnist firing out judgments from a soapbox.

The layers of Nickens

I never thought I would hear a writer of any kind say, “Sometimes you’re aiming at one person,” but those were Tim Nickens’ words exactly.
Nickens, the Editor of editorials at the St Petersburg Times, delivered that boom rather unexpectedly.

Up until this point, it had appeared to be the most relaxed session that we had ever had with a guest speaker.
Unlike our previous visitors, Nickens didn’t quite take over the floor. Professor Thelen and Nickens engaged in conversation, looking to spark a dialogue amongst the whole class. But quite frankly, the class seemed so disengaged that at one point Nickens joked that he took requests.

When I heard Nickens say, “You’re trying to stimulate and provoke thought,”
I just assumed that there might not be much new to learn from this guy, this concept had been explored before.

But I soon learned that I had been hasty in my judgment.

After being taught to write in terms of targeting a certain demographic, or even a diverse community, he told our class that editorials could and should be aimed for one specific person.
At this point, he had my attention. I wanted to hear him explain this.

He clarified that this technique is usually designed for someone who has the power effect the most people, such as officials, members of government and head of corporations. He began to make perfect sense.
“You’re trying to convince them to do the right thing,” Nickens said.

As the class carried on, I became more intrigued. The layers of Nicken’s onion slowly began to peel. He discussed his start as an editorial writer.
“I didn’t think I could do it” he said, sharing a glimpse of his vulnerability.

Much like our other guests, after relying so heavily on reporting, he was scared to use his voice.

“Objectivity is a shield” he said.

After going through a mind shift, he became more comfortable with editorials and found them liberating.

He went on to say that most editorials can be argued on either side of the issue, and this was exemplified when I shared my topic for editorial three.

After sharing that I planned on writing against Obama’s desire to extend the date for the switch from analog to digital television, I received advice from Nickens on how I could write this argument, saying how it could financially affect stations running on both systems.

Then fellow class mate, Thomas King, argued that there should be an extension because people have received defective equipment for the digital switch. He also pointed out that having the switch too soon could negatively impact two sects of our society that are often ignored: The poor and the old.

Both arguments could make for an excellent editorial, but Nickens told us that whatever way we go, this must be clear to the reader.

“The worst thing is a mushy editorial, where you don’t know whether it’s for or against a point.” He said.

As he took the point one step further, he shared one of the best pieces of advice I’d heard from one of Thelen’s guest speakers thus far: First paragraph, hammer it home. Last paragraph, hit them again so you’ve left no doubt.

As I continue to find my way in the land of editorial writing, I’ll be clear on which side I am writing about, and who I am writing for.

Rosemary Goudreau

She's masterful, she's poetic and she's unemployed.
Rosemary Goudreau, a writer who made the transition from a reporter to a member of the Tampa Tribune's Editorial Board was fired about two months ago.
When she shared the news, I imagine I was more unearthed by her circumstance than she seemed to be at the present time.

It wouldn't have been so hard to swallow had Goudreau been some run-of-the-mill, clinical reporter but if her writing was anything like the words that leaped off of her tongue with a combination of warmth and authority, it nearly frightened me to pieces.

Considering the fact that I'd be graduating in a few months, I had coaxed myself into believing that drive and talent would help me find and keep a job, but the harsh reality was that the news industry wasn't immune to the blow that the economy had suffered and my peers and I have been reminded about this troubling fact over and over again.

Thankfully, Goudreau is not worried about her predicament at all.

"Not a lot of people are good writers that can make a point," she said.

When she said this, she reminded us that there will always be a need for writers to do what we do best: Effectively communicate a message. To do so, Goudreau gave us a few of her weapons in writing that assured her she would always have a place in her industry.

Finding a story is a lot like science, you have a hypothesis and you test it out to see if it sticks and share your discovery. She warns us that there is no "I" in editorials. She prefers to use the 2nd person, personalizing her stories with phrases like "You know...", making a point to talk to readers rather then at them, and advises us to write in short concise sentences, because they pack a powerful punch.

But most importantly, she told us to write about something that matters. As she listened to our ideas about our second editorial piece, she challenged us with questions that were basically saying, why should someone care? The objective of our writing shouldn't merely be to share interesting tidbits. The goal of a medium as Goudreau so elegantly worded it, is to illuminate issues to a community. A great editorial has something to say, and can have the power to influence the reader's behavior.

As the managing editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Goudreau led a city wide initiative to address racial tensions in her city. Her passion and words spurred an effort involving over 2,000 people getting off of their seats and out of their comfort zones to address the issue in the hearts of their communities, schools, churches and homes.


Though my writing is no where near the proficiency of Goudreau's prose, knowing the power of writing gives me peace of mind. I'm not saying all my fears have vanished, but I know there will always be a need for words to impact, influence and inspire.

Chachere's Visit

Young Reporter, Enlightened

With her torso slightly leaning forward and the focus of her eyes reflecting the intensity with which she listened, she couldn't have been anything else other than a reporter.
From the moment Professor Thelen introduced her, I saw her wheels turning as she took us in and began listening to my fellow classmates pitches on what they would write for their editorials.
Vickie Chachere, elegant in appearance and strong in presence, felt so familiar.
It wasn't that I had seen her somewhere or even read any of her stories; her persona resembled the way I envisioned myself in the thick of my future career: witty, articulate and fashionably refined.

Though the latter might seem nonessential, image plays into credibility, and Chachere had me sold.
Her dark hair was cut into the classic reporter bob, reminiscent of Katie Couric. Her make-up was light and fresh. She wore a vibrant teal blouse under a fitted gray blazer, a black skirt and modest heel shoes.

"Do your own reporting!" She said smacking her right hand into her left, driving her point home.

Chachere made it clear to never rely on another's reporting, whether its a trusted reporter, or a highly respected news source such as CNN. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that she knew what she was talking about. Shortly after graduating from Arizona State University in 1989, she landed a job with the Tampa Tribune where she stayed for 11 years, until she left for an opportunity to write for the Associated Press, the prized news wire responsible for many stories that reach newspapers, blogs and television news. After a 5 year stint with the AP, she returned to the Trib, where she landed a coveted position as an editorial writer, and through those years she had seen it all.

"I'll give an example..." She said as she began telling us about a study that came out and spawned a highly controversial story that generally went like this:
Working mothers' children behave worse than children with stay-at-home moms.
When Chachere decided to read the study for herself, she found that the news reporting had been rather inaccurate and caused a lot of unneccessary grief in the working mother, house mother dichotomy.

For every story we pitched, she found a way to advance the story.
Instead of focusing on a mother killing her child, Chachere advised a student to explore the apathy towards infant death in the state of Florida. She flipped a story about a school menu lacking healthy options to the history of the school menu's contents being based in an era of malnutrition and not being updated to address the obeisity epidemic facing American children.
I was also challenged to go beyond my initial feeling of Citizen's insurance being wrong for raising their rates in a poor economy, to inquiring whether their reasoning was valid.

Chachere challenged me, as well as my classmates, to be open to being proved wrong. Being commited to the preliminary thesis I have on a story idea can and will negate the real story from developing if I don't listen to facts as I uncover them.

As the class came to an end, she advised us to back up all of our opinions with fact that we've found. As an editorial writer, Chachere referred to the best, Pulitzer winning editorialists, and read their stories. The common thread among them was outstanding reporting. If all opinion was stripped out of the pieces, a well reported, well-written story could stand on its own. So I learned editorial writing isn't neccessarily a pass to blindly write on a topic with emotion as my primary source.

Chachere's passion for reporting really sung to my soul. The joy she described when finding a vital piece of information for a story was inspiring, because I thrive off of that feeling, too.

I knew her before I met her, because she's who I've always wanted to be.
In due time, I know I will see her again. I'll make sure to wave back to my mirror's reflection!