Sunday, September 7, 2008

Blog #2

Part One:
The outstanding profile that I personally chose was that of Miranda A. Watling who is an education reporter for the newspaper Journal and Courier. She focuses on all aspects of education in her articles whether it be on political viewpoints of our education system or religion in schools, she covers it all. From reading her profile, I can tell that she is a very honest person. She is not conceited by any means. She knows that she is a good writer and reporter but she doesn't flaunt it and even writes about how she still has a long way to come and even still has a lot to learn about journalism itself.
From her portfolio, I can predict a few items that may be in her mobile journalism kit. I got an "old school" vibe from Miranda in that she seems to not do so well with modern technology, especially when she says that she wouldn't want to deal with a so-called "smartphone" to do her organizing, she would rather use a planner. Therefore, I'm guessing that a "smartphone" like the one Jared Silfies uses would definitely not be in her mobile journalism kit. Other than this, I can see her using a lot of the same things that Jared Silfies uses such as a digital camera, note pad (just in case her laptop fails), a computer, and also an audio voice recorder. In comparison to Jared's kit, I feel as though her journalism supplies would be more dated.

A link to her profile is: http://www.merandawrites.com/resume
(Professor Atwater,
I couldn't find a picture on this particular portfolio. There weren't any that were really relevant to how I was describing her mobile journalism kit, or even a picture of her that I could find.)

Part Two:
In Jared Silfies mobile journalism kit, he has a copy of the book, "Elements of Style," by William Strunk Jr. I do actually own a copy of this book. My aunt and uncle got it for me two years ago on Christmas after I made the decision to major in journalism and college. I only skimmed through it upon recieving it but haven't picked it up since. It still sits at home but I will be sure to bring it back to Towson with me next time I go home to visit. I have heard from many people that it truely does help a novice writer better themselves.
Regarding Silfies as a writer, I believe the book says a lot about him. In "Elements of Style," the author stresses organization a lot. Also, how each paragraph should contain one topic and one topic only so the reader doesn't get confused. Along with this, the author also stresses introducing each paragraph with a topic sentence and ending with something to wrap up all ideas. Jared Silfies lacks this quality in the article I read by him. He tends to jumble his ideas together, and although it made fairly good sense to me, other readers may have problems understanding his ideas.
All in all, I think the author of "Elements of Style, would say that Silfies needs to put more organization into his work. Rather than jumbling his opinions all over the place, he should try to condense them.

3 comments:

Katelyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katelyn said...

I think you did a great job summarizing who Miranda is. You can tell that she is a good journalist when you can read through the lines and understand who she is. The fact that you said she doesn't flaunt that she knows she is a good journalist makes me more interested in reading her blog.

I also think it's a smart idea for you to have "Elements of Style" because it seems like this book could help you along the way. I agree with everything you said about Jared Silfie.. he does jumble his words.

The Girl Next Door said...

I got that same "old school" vibe as well from Miranda...She is focused around the writing rather than the visuals..