Newspaper Critique

Pros of Newspaper this year:

Articles are good, and stories are unique, they represent Akins well, and they're interesting. There are a lot of infographics, which makes the paper a lot more lively and tempting to read. It also presents information in a fun way that readers like to read. There's more hand-drawn cartoons and less "google" pictures, which also makes the paper look good. The "5 things to know", briefs, and etc. catches a lot of people's attention, and makes them want to read on further. The fact that we're doing a lot more investigative-type articles is good for the readers and lets people know that we're serious and not scared to do write about risky stuff. The fact that the entire thing is in color also makes people want to read it.

Cons of Newspaper:

Story ideas are good, but as I read the paper, I noticed that there are way too many grammatical errors and sentence problems. Even though that's only a small thing, it really makes us lose credibility, and readers may not take us that seriously. I think that the opinions pieces could be less cliche. Quotations for some articles could also be less cliche. For me, it seems like some articles seem like they were just copy and pasted from google, like the health article; this article could be more interesting and use more contemporary language.

What I hear students/teachers saying:

I've never heard anyone say anything bad about the paper this year. If anything, most people in my classes want to read it when it gets delivered to the classroom. I think students are most attracted to the Photo Essay section and least attracted to the News section. Most people complain that the FML's aren't that funny, but that's probably the only negative feedback that I've heard.

What we can do to improve:

Get someone good at english and proofreading to read over the article carefully, so that these errors can be reduced, and we'll look more professional. There's a lot of bs going on at this school, and I think more investigative and honest-account type stories should be written about them, even if it takes 2 to 3 people. We should conduct more surveys; readers like them, and it makes an interesting infographic. It also makes us look more professional. More interesting takes on opinions pieces; most of the time, I feel like they're just repeating what everyone already knows.

Infographic Ideas

It's important to use infographics in newspaper because there are a lot of subjects and articles that are better explained to the reader visually than writing a long article about it. Infographics help the issue at hand come alive and relevant, and it's a funner way to communicate information. It's a lot easier to see patterns and connections, its easier to make sense of, and it focuses on the information that's really important.

Infographics are also important because there are a lot of people out there who don't like reading the newspaper, but most people like reading infographics because it's a graphic. Because of infographics, more people would be interested in grabbing the paper rather than if it was a newspaper with just a lot of articles and no pictures.

Deadlines

STORY QUESTIONS

Ms. Simmons/Project Paradigm Article

MS. SIMMONS

1. Where'd you go to college? What's your degree?
2. What were you before being the CCC Counselor?
3. What is your favorite part of the job so far?
4. What's your biggest goal this year?
5. What do you think students most need help with?
6. Is it difficult doing this for the first time?
7. What is, in your opinion, the best part about college?
8. How do you like being a cheer coach?
9. Biggest goals for cheer?
10. Any interesting facts about you? (Hobbies, free time)
11. What exactly is the situation with project paradigm struggling to get senior advisories to the CCC?
12. Anything else you want Akins to know about you?

PROJECT PARADIGM STUDENT

1. Why is it getting so difficult to get senior advisories to the CCC?
2. How would it benefit seniors?
3. Steps being done to fix this problem?
4. What do you think will make this whole process easier?
5. Anything else on this issue that you'd like Akins to know?

2 STUDENTS

1. What and how many times have you gone to Ms. Simmons for college help this year?
2. What do you like about Ms. Simmons?
3. How do you think the CCC is different this year than last year?

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Vegan/Snack Line

KATARINA CORTEZ

1. What inspired you to start this whole process?
2. How do you think Akins will benefit from this, and do you think most people will actually eat it or continue to eat meat options?
3. I heard that you talked to Mr. Girard about this issue; what did he tell you?
4. What has been the most challenging part of the whole process?
5. Do you think that this will actually carry out?
6. Who else has been actively involved with you in the process?
7. What is the recent update on this issue?
8. Anything else you'd like Akins to know?

"MEAT-EATING" STUDENT

1. If there were to be a vegan line, would you eat from it?
2. How important do you think it is for there to be a vegan line?
3. Do you have friends/teachers who are vegan/vegetarian?

VEGAN STUDENT

1. Do you feel that it's difficult for you to pack your own food being vegan?
2. How would a vegan line change your life?
3. How challenging is it for you to find vegan food?
4. Do you think most people are still oblivious to the needs of vegans?

Do the write thing!!!

Slide 2

Story Idea: Ms. Simmons the person.

Possible Theme: Freshness and new excitement in the College and Career Center; CCC has a new face.

Interesting way we could write the story for the first issue: I'm going to try to open up with some interesting and unique facts about Ms. Simmons and, throughout the article, put quotes and info about Ms. Simmons that students could really relate to and find interesting. I might also compare her next to Mrs. Oliver, such as differences in both of their personality and counseling focus, as well as comparing students' opinions about both counselors.

Slide 20

This slide suggests that a bad way to write articles is to rely on cliches and statements of the obvious. I can avoid doing this by not thinking about what the person who I'm writing the story about would want to have said about him/her, but what the readers really want to know. I can also try to choose diverse and interesting viewpoint of the story, which will automatically eliminate the problem of writing the story in a cliche and obvious way.

Slide 21-27

The first story picks a very cliche story - football coach used to be smoker; he had a heart attack, he was inspired to quit smoking; he's now cigarette free. The quotes used in the story are also very cliche and unoriginal - absolutely any coach who used to smoke could have said those quotes. The story isn't interesting at all - I wouldn't want to keep on reading this story after a while. On the other hand, the second story isn't cliche at all - it's very rare that a football coach has been coaching at the same school for 63 years, and it isn't something you hear about everyday. It's also interesting to know that he's only missed one day, and that too because he was about to be a father his senior year. His quotes are very original and really show his personality - I can tell what type of person he is and his style of talking just by reading the quotes. It was an interesting article that made me keep on reading. Because of these reasons, the second story is much better than the first one.

Slide 37

A good story is one that doesn't write about something very common and cliche - it should give a fresh viewpoint and style to the issue. A good story should show the personality and ways of thinking of the people being interviewed in the article, of the issue being written about and, if it's an opinions/review article, of the writer himself. It should also explain what something means instead of just leaving the reader confused. I could incorporate this into my writing by writing about a story from a different viewpoint/focus, interviewing a diverse amount of people, and try to leave out as much cliche statements as possible. I'll also get readings from other people, because if the common reader doesn't understand something, that means that I should change some stuff in the article.

Slide 44

To be a good article, it must be written truthfully and accurately, have smooth quote transitions and paragraph transitions, be understandable/not confusing, not have any unnecessary words, & not digress from the story. ACCURATE - I'm going to focus and this and include it in my work by getting better at taking precise notes and quotes from my interviews with people, as well as clarifying something that I don't understand about the story that I'm writing about.

Improving our publication

POINT 1: RESPECT DIVERSITY

"Newspapers should mirror the racial, cultural, religious, economic, lifestyle and ethnic diversity of their communities . . . Newspapers need to give all residents a public voice. What's more, newspaper staffs should mirror the diversity of their communities."

We can improve this year on this area by interviewing a broad range of students and faculty for our articles instead of just interviewing our friends or our teachers. Instead of a senior staff reporter just interviewing his/her senior friends and teachers, he/she should interview freshmen, sophomores, juniors, & seniors that they may not know, as well as teachers that they've never had. In the entertainment section, instead of just writing about one genre of music/movies that only appeals to a certain group of people, it should reflect a wide range of music/movie choices. Same thing goes for all sections of the paper: we should try to not write about something that only interests the staff, but something that interests everyone in the school. We could also interview students who come from really interesting backgrounds, religions, cultures, or special circumstances. These things will help represent the diversity of Akins.

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POINT 2: FOSTER INTERACTION WITH READERS

"Newspapers need to establish consistent, two-way communication with readers and the community at large. This includes involving residents in the reporting of information and the dissemination of information using new and emerging technology. Two-way communication between residents and readers can break down the image of the arrogant newspaper and help to establish newspapers as a 'member of the family' in their communities."

To make the readers interact with the paper, we should really advocate the fact that readers can write letters to the editor, and at the end of each article, we can maybe put the writer's professional email address or put a small note encouraging them to write a letter to the paper, reminding them that they can stay anonymous. We can also put small contests/competitions somewhere in the paper for the readers. We can really advocate our facebook group for the entire school, and post breaking headlines/important info for everyone, which will also foster interaction.