Week one complete!

Sorry this post is a little late guys. I will do my best every week to get Friday's paper comments posted on Friday.

Chris Lusk has started posted his thoughts on the blog, which is great. Lusk is a veteran of newsrooms, so he knows his stuff. He will be attempting to post twice a week. One on Friday and another on Sunday. Make sure you read it.

Anyway, on to the paper!

PRAISE


The photo illustration on Friday's front page was awesome. It was an idea born out of a discussion between the editors, but Kingsley Burns executed the idea well. This photo goes to show that we can have great ideas, but without proper follow through, ideas maintain their intangible state. This goes for any desk. No matter how great you think your idea is, it is nothing if nobody executes it.

I want to throw some praise back to the sports section for Friday and Thursday. On Thursday, RJ Young and James Corley wrote two excellent features about players. These are always interesting stories because most of the time athletes have to surmount certain odds to achieve glory. It's conflict at its best. Humans LOVE conflict. Friday's sports section was filled with some newsy content (Venables left) plus great coverage of the smaller sports. Check out the sports page, it has some great stuff.

Rachel Cervenka's Pinterest story was great. It was fun and it had students getting married talking about their experiences with the website. I love music and movies a lot, but that isn't the only thing we should be writing in the Life and Arts section. We need to get more stories about the lives of students and their struggles and triumphs. This story is a good start.

Ana Lastra and her multimedia desk have been doing an excellent job getting videos up on the site. There are even some audio slideshows! I love slideshows like nobody's business. Keep up the good work and keep that content rolling in. Using videos and slideshows effectively will make our web presence stronger.

All in all, and Chris covered this in his post, but this whole week has been filled with things we could praise. I can't believe how smoothly (even though there were some bumps) this week has gone. Let's keep it that way.

MULTIMEDIA HOUSEKEEPING


While the multimedia desk has been doing a great job, there are a few things that could be cleaned up. During the puppies on South Oval slideshow, the there are no nameplates that help people figure out who is who. I think there were some attempts to do so in this video, but the wide shots made it difficult to orient myself and figure out who was actually talking. Sure, they say their name, but being able to read it at the same time might help. This also means the slideshow needs to have easy to define shots of the people talking when there is audio. Make sure whoever is taking photos and whoever is taking sound are coordinating so the editor can  line up the photos and audio of any slideshow to produce a more entertaining, clear and informative product.

Also the "man on the street" videos need a bit of work. I understand the concept of running around and making a fun video, but what is the value to the audience? Are we trying to entertain them by being funny and off the cuff ? Or are we trying to inform them about the resolutions of their peers? I think the video attempts to do both, but the mash-up is awkward and doesn't seem well planned at all.

DON'T TELL ME HOW I FEEL


Friday's caffeine column tried to tell me I was addicted to caffeine and I and everyone probably needed it to function. Who are any of us to tell people what they are addicted to, how they should handle things and how they feel? If you are writing a column about anything, try and relate to situations (and this column did this to some degree) by telling your story or a story you are familiar with. I would bet that people respond better to new information when they can relate to it, not when they are being told they feel or think a particular way.

FINAL THOUGHTS


Tomorrow starts a new week. We've all read our syllabi and had to sit through those frustrating intro where everyone wants us to play icebreakers and hold hands. Now it is on to the nitty-gritty of math problems, essays and a myriad of responsibilities from our professors. Remember to balance your time and communicate with your editors and co-workers when you need to take care of schoolwork or if something is causing problems with your stories.

My capstone professor encapsulated democracy in a five-word phrase that I think works well when thinking about our organization and its mission to its readers and its workers.

When you are feeling like its too much or you just need to talk about your work or anything else, don't think of it as "What shall I do for you or me," but think of it as "What shall we do together."

We are all in this together.

Enjoy the rest of your evening.