2009-2010 Hatchet Pages Critique
Hatchet December 15 issue, Page 1
The front page of the December 15th issue has two articles set up as long legs of text flanking one horizontal picture above a story. The legs of text aren’t that good according to the harrower.
Harrower page 49 says that “Long vertical legs like these can get tiring to read. Headlines are harder to write when they’re this narrow. Pages full of these long, skinny legs look awfully dull.”
However, the middle part, with the picture and accompanying story, is very good. The harrower says “As we’ve previously seen with stories using mug shots, this vertical layout conforms to the way most readers scan stories. They’re attracted by the photo; they read down, through the cutline, into the headline; then, if they’re still interested, they read the text. Your design goals, then, are: 1) keeping all elements in the proper order; 2) avoiding long, gray legs of text; and 3) avoiding confusion with any other story parked beside the photo.”
http://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/2199203151847453/lib/2199203151847453/_files/3._12-15-2009.pdf
Hatchet October 13 issue, page 10: Sports
-Harrower page 59 lists “An airy design, one that can look awkward if all the proportions aren’t right,” as “swipeable feature formats” meaning that its not so good, and so are easily replaced.
Page 10 in the October issue has the story “Girls tennis team pushed for more heart” which has an airy design with a caption to the left of a picture, that doesn’t line up with the text of the story, and a small horizontal blurb butting up against a fairly large vertical photo, which detracts from the unity of the page.
The page also has good use of a horizontal story design with the “The 4-1-1 on running cross country” article. Harrower says “Horizontal shapes are pleasing to the eye. And they often create the illusion that stories are shorter than they really are.” (Harrower page 49).
http://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/2199203151847453/lib/2199203151847453/_files/October_13,_2010.pdf
Blog Post 7: Leads!
“More than 900 San Francisco schoolteachers, administrators and other staff members — nearly twice that of last year — are in line to receive layoff notices in the next few weeks as district officials prepare to cover a worst-case budget scenario next year.”
This lead answers the who, the what, and the how; in that order, and even compares it to last years similar issue.
“Nothing says punk rock like trombones, whistles, ukuleles and accordions. Just ask Polkacide, the San Francisco hard-core polka band that formed in 1985 to play one gig in front of a deaf audience.”
This lead uses observation, with a kind of cliche to make the reader interested. It makes an uncommon statement to make the reader want to find out more.
Blog Post 6: NEW SEMESTER
In my attempt to write a 150 word paragraph about my experiences in Journalism I closely examined all that I have learned and discovered. This first semester of Journalism, I learned how to properly write articles for a newspaper for both print and web. I learned how to write for news, sports, and opinions, and also learned many new techniques for all writing. My abilities have definitely improved but there is still room for improvement. The semester could have gone better however, I couldn’t get my stuff together before the end of the semester and get all my work done. Because of that, my grade suffered and I was/am not happy about that. I did not expect this class to be as fun as it is, but I also didn’t expect it to be as hard as it is. When I became an editor, then the entire class changed in terms of my involvement, my enjoyment of the class, and the amount that I care about this class. I am definitely proud to be a part of the Hatchet, and I’d like to get better at writing/editing, and get a good grade during second semester.
Blog Post 5: INFOGRAPHICS: Swine Flu!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rajkamalaich/3512001333/sizes/l/in/pool-16135094@N00/
This site shows a picture of an infographic about the swine flu, how it came into being, and how it spread into the US. This could easily be done for the Hatchet because the swine flue was on everyone’s minds only a few months ago during the supposed “epidemic”. It draws the eye with cute pictures of pigs and people and compares the treatments of the disease in the two species. It also outlines the symptoms and stages of the swine flu, as well as what it is composed of.
The Hatchet could take such an infographic and do a follow up article about how the swine flu has spread, whether or not it is still a danger to us here in the bay area and whether or not there is a cure for it as of now. Tell the people whether or not it is an epidemic and clear up many wrong ideas about the swine flu.
Beat Report
I believe that the school has the new budget in from the district now. I’m going to go talk to the school accountants this week, since we’re back from break now.
Cindy Audiat and Mrs. Jung are the two accountants. I also plan to talk to Mrs. Paris about how the ASB budget has changed since last we talked.
Things I hope to find out about from my interviews: the extra money from the new budget, the changes to the spending based on the new budget, where budgets were cut or added to. And anything else I can learn about the school’s money and how it is spent.
Beat report!
So, in the past month, I have talked to Ms. Jung the accountant, Mrs. Audiat, the secondary accountant for the school, and Mrs. Paris about the school budget.
Mrs. Paris told me who to talk to, and gave me an idea to do a story on the strength of the teachers union. I told my editor about this, but idk if its a good article idea or anything.
Both of the accountants told me that the next budget update will be sometime around December, so should check back with them then. And I plan to.
Blog: Photo Assignment!
Pictures of the Logan-Washington Girls tennis match. Logan won 4 games to 3. Here are my attempted action photos.
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- Good lighting frames Shelmi against the dark green of the background. The ball is also lit, bringing out both the girl and the action. I should have framed it better, so that the net is either more present, or out of the shot. She is centered with parallels to the posts of the fence. She looks peaceful watching the ball’s trajectory.
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- This picture is extremely dynamic, with the girl taking up much of the frame, but still emphasizing her movement with the rule of thirds. The angle shows her face and her entire racket. It is framed so that the foreground is slightly out of focus which brings attention to the sharpness of the subject. There is a parallel with the girl, and the fence post, and her arms create a nice diagonal in the frame. It also shows a peak of emotion just before she hits the ball. Overall, my best photo.
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- This picture simply shows a dynamic pose that looked good against the background. The angle shows how she positions her body to hit the ball, and how she lines up her racket.
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- This picture frames the girls within both the camera frame and the natural frame of the fence behind. It shows Shelmi’s concentration before she hits the ball.
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- This picture uses the rule of thirds and shows the solitary figure of the coach against the chaotic background of the Logan girls team. The angle emphasizes his stance and magnifies intensity.
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- This picture has very good symmetry and is framed to stress the difference between the girls, with each team at different ends of the viewing spectrum.
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- This picture shows repetition of patterns in the way the girls’ bodies are held, and shows action while using the rule of thirds.
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- This picture is taken from an upper point of view, angled down, which shows all the girls and allows the viewer to see the faces. This adds emotion to the picture. Also, the lighting is decent so that the girls are framed against the darker colors of the court behind them.
Video Casts: New Jersey High School?
http://sacramento.highschoolplaybook.com/video/423122.html
River City High School has a news blog that reports on school events such as rallies, assemblies, and sports. Their video blogs are interesting with lots of student and teacher interviews, and a lot of footage of the actual events being reported about. They also have a nice opening scene with some cool video effects that make it appear more professional.
They incorporate humor to tell about the rally with boys vs. girls, but still get the information out about what happened, who won, etc. They also had multiple reporters reporting on different parts of the rally, and even a bit about how the fire alarm was pulled twice in one day.
The reporters did a good job asking questions and incorporating those clips of responses into the video.
They cover a lot of different school news in one video which is good, and makes it more like a real newscast.
I don’t think i’m supposed to criticize it at all, so I wont say some of the flaws about it, however, the blog overall was great.
Blog Post 3: Africa in Oakland? “Attribution and Interviewing”
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_13396904
Cecily Burt, the reporter interviewed Roosevelt Tarlesson, who is a farmer who immigrated to the US from Liberia in 1976.
Cecily most likely asked such questions as: “What do you hope to accomplish with your farm.” “Why do you want to sell the products in Oakland?” “Why did you become a farmer.” “Are your sales productive and profitable?” “Where did you get your produce, such as seeds, etc?” And other such questions.
This reporter actually wrote a really in depth article about the farm, and background and the actual products, so I cannot think of questions to add to make it more interesting.
TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR “BLOG POST 4!!!!”
