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I realized I had a summary from previous chapters that I used for the quiz, so I decided to just blog it here. I did Chapter 1-5 too but I forgot where I saved it lol.

It might be useful for other students taking the class next semester!

CHAPTER 6 – Online writing styles
– Web news publication – has somewhat less, more commentary-driven feel. Many online-only journals take this more freewheeling, less “just the facts” approach.
– Two types of online journalism in early 1990’s: 1. professional product, produced by assorted news organizations and available through online services and 2. produced by less organized array of individuals and distributed via email over the text-based Internet and through earlier precursors to the Web.
– Only in the past few years, print news outlets have gotten on the internet, designed more sophisticated sites and attracted significant readership – at same time a new notion of news was emerging online, one that fused online chat with the informative function of news.
-WELL (the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) – began in 1985 – online discussions, where the traditional media were often the object of scorn because of their seeming lack of ability to connect with large segment of population – they began writing on the Web.
– Online news should influence the way you write for the medium
Weaknesses
– Computer screen us limited in size and cannot offer the sheer quantity of info in newspaper
– Limited amount of video with lesser quality
– Computer users tend to become uncomfortable when reading lengthy blocks of text online
Strengths
– You can use links to offer users chance to read more about a subject
– You can update stories instantly and regularly
– Allows great depths in reporting
– You can add audio, video, other specific content to stories
– You can keep online archives of stories
– “Bottomless pit”: when a reporter gets carried away and writes at far too great a length to be read comfortably online.
– Rolling deadline: you need to write everything as soon as possible.
– Quittner says, the traditional notion of how journalists survived is by working for large media companies that made lots of money from their ownership of the means of production and distribution of media content
– Each station provides different kinds of information- journalists must be aware of that.

CHAPTER 7 – Hooking and keeping readers
– Lead: conveys aspect of the story that are both informative and compelling.
– Summary leads: approach in writing leads by boiling everything down to the elements that are most often central to the story – it gets across the most relevant hard-news information quickly and efficiently.
– Inverted pyramid: technique of writing storied where facts are arranged in descending order from most to least important – requires you to decide on the elements that are most important to the story – useful tool for story organization.
– Feature story/feature lead: something that highlights the unusual or interesting nature of the event
– Elements of newsworthiness: timeliness, proximity, prominence, impact, currency, conflict, oddity.
– Goal of writing lead: grab readers’ attention and inform them enough to make them want to continue reading
– Hard-news stories tend to begin with statements of the basic facts of a story
– Soft-news stories (eg. Features and columns) often begin with descriptions or anecdotes to set the tone for the details to come
Points to remember when organizing stories:
– There is no set formula
– Organize the information in a way that explains the story to the reader (facts or storytelling)
– Identify elements that need explaining and those that don’t
– By organizing these elements well, the writing will be much easier

CHAPTER 8 – Revving up your writing
– In online world your writing must be vibrant and compelling to grab readers and engage them
– Active voice: writing sentences in which the subject acts rather than responds – 1. Energizes your writing, 2. Active verbs are generally clearer because they directly explain who is performing the action, 3. Result in fewer words, 4. Help you achieve smooth story flow.
– Passive voice often include a form of the verb “to be” – makes the sentence longer.
– Pacing: Useful story technique, which involves writing sentences of varyin lengths to vreate a rhythm within your stories.
– Transitions: points where your story shifts its focus or otherwise move from one section to another (word eg: however, later, meanwhile ; phrase eg: on the other hand, in contrast, the next day)
Common creative techniques in journalism (central rule is not to get carried away):
– Setting the scene
– Foreshadowing (using hints about what’s to come)
– Imagery
– Alliteration/assonance (using repetitive consonant or vowel sounds)
– Anecdotes (excellent way to personalize a story or explain in a compelling way)
– Figures of speech/clichés
– Figurative languages
-Dialogue: alternating quotes from different quotes – create a more diverse narrative.
– Chronology: recounts events in the order in which they occurred (sometimes called narration).
– Wall Street Journal structure: long descriptive lead, and a lot of details – common in features.
– Sidebar story: secondary story that expands on one aspect of a major story and appears nearby for readers who want more information (eg. Brief profiles, explanations of a complicated aspect , or other facet of story that deserves further study)

CHAPTER 9 – The Last Minute(s)
– Writers must be able to write stories quickly and get their facts staright.
– Online outlets have the potential for a continual, round-the-clock news cycle, and deadlines. There is a constant or “rolling” deadline, where getting a scoop of your competitors is not a matter of hours but of minutes.
– Final fact checking is important – analyze all the assertion in your article and determine whether they have been confirmed and attributed properly.
– Don’t be afraid to make an occasional last-minute change – make the entire package work.
– Make sure your links point to the proper sites
– Maximize the online potential of your story by making it textually, visually, and interactively appealing.
– Updates: rewriting an existing story if new information comes in quickly, or add a quick sidebar
– Follow-up stories: writing a completely new story if you get new material a few hours later or a day/two after the original event.

CHAPTER 10 – An Uphill Battle: Online Copyediting
– “Data smog”: refers to the information with which we’re overloaded everyday – this is troublesome because it can create a “dumbed-down” environment in which complex thought are not valued, rewarded or expressed.
– Eliminate data smog with clear, accurate, readable stories.
– Copy editors also need to look for factual errors, misleading passages or items that might get the paper into legal trouble.
– Online copy editor needs the ability to check links to stories and multimedia and to correct them if necessary – double-check any links.
– Copy editor’s job involves both proofreading stories and checking for content errors – for mistakes in spelling, grammar, links text and to catch anything incorrect or misleading in content of story.
– Copy editors need to get in the habit of reading each story aloud, word by word – don’t rely on spell-check.
– Consistency and accuracy are more important in online than print or TV.
– In mechanics – make sure subjects and verbs agree.
Things to remember in content:
– Does the lead misguide the reader
– Don’t convict a suspect
– Double-triple check headlines
– “Style” in journalism: refers to the accepted set of spelling, grammar rules, and other guidelines followed by news organizations – commonly used in all forms of creative and professional writing.
– As copy editor, your job is to clear the air at your own publication.

This is a rough draft for my audio script.

They say that Japan is the safest place in the world in regarding to crime, violence, and security. This fact is commonly known all over the world. According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of England, Japan is generally trouble-free and has relatively low levels of common crime. It is generally safe to walk about at night and to travel on public transport.

Asia Travel Tips also mention that Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, and while at times many Japanese do not speak English, most people are extremely hospitable and will go out of their way to help travelers find their way around, and make the most out of their trip to Japan. The actual crime rate is very low in Japan, and is not something that should concern travelers to the country. Of course common sense should be applied anywhere in the world, but it is rare for travelers to feel anything but safe in this beautiful country.

But the real question is why? What makes Japan different and so safe from the rest of the other countries. I have interviewed several international students, asking them which one is safer between Japan and their home country. Lets hear what all of them responded. (INTERVIEW AUDIO) 10/10 interviewed students answered that Japan is safer than their home country. Lets ask the interview participants what’s the difference between them (INTERVIEW AUDIO)

*Conclusion* (Not done yet)
*To be Continued*

For my third project I plan to do either a video or audio segment about the safety in Japan through different people’s opinion. I will interview several people coming from different parts of the world and ask them whether they think if Japan is safer than their home country or not. I will then combine them all together into one segment. Along with the interviews, I will also do my own research about the safety in Japan through Storify, hoping I can related the information with the interview results.

Here are some of the sources I got that I think will be useful:

I also particularly like this one paragraph from one of the Storify results that I might use because I think it is true to all foreigners:
“Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, and while at times many Japanese do not speak English, most people are extremely hospitable and will go out of their way to help travelers find their way around, and make the most out of their trip to Japan.
The actual crime rate is very low in Japan, and is not something that should concern travelers to the country. Of course common sense should be applied anywhere in the world, but it is rare for travelers to feel anything but safe in this beautiful country.” – Asiatraveltips.com

This is my final audio segment for project 2.
I talked about the TUJ dance club and interviewed the leader Rina Takahashi. I introduced the club by using their last performance at a Kokiji event in Roppongi as reference. In the interview Rina talked about the development of the club, including how she started it and also their past performances around Tokyo.
Hope everyone likes it!

The topic that Jean chose for his article is about war stories that are covered in both old and contemporary newspapers. His main points are about the visual aspects, story structure and organization.
As for the visual aspects he talks about how the old newspapers are lack of pictures, probably because of time and transportation difficulties. For the few of the newspapers that include pictures such as the New York Tribune, however, the images are more appealing visually that today’s papers. For one of its stories, the article included a picture of soldiers lying down on the ground. The use of pictures is considered important since they become a part of the headline for telling what the story is going to be about.
He also talks about the organizations and structure of the newspapers. In the old newspapers the stories are mixed together within topics, whereas in contemporary newspapers you can see that the pages are separated in topic sections, such as sports, economy, business, etc. This started to show circa the 1910’s where newspapers also developed their layout with more advanced pictures and new ways of story writing.

I personally enjoyed reading Jean’s newspaper project. I think the way of writing flows very well and it is easy to follow. The way he structured the paragraphs are also clear and organized. I like the layout for the first page, starting with the placement of the headline, pictures, and how the paragraphs are arranged visually. For the second page, however, the page seems more empty visually and I think the placement of the pictures could be arranged better. I also did not get how the picture on the right side of the second page relates to the article topic since it is about man’s furnishings such as hats and suits. Perhaps it shows how the old newspapers mix up story topics in a page. But since it is the only different one he used in the main war topic, it seems a little off. Other than that, however, I really liked the piece and I think he did a good job for the first project and worked on it very well.