Design assignment
Page critique
On the headlines page of the Nov. 11 issue, the Homecoming story does not follow the design rules stated in Harrower’s Newspaper Designer’s Handbook. According to the book, “the headline should touch the start of the story” (Harrower 55). Rather than doing that, I designed the page so that the headline was above the photo, and the text did not touch the headline as it should. Despite this, the page featured one large dominant photo, rather than having a small image, which may cause “faces and places [to] become indecipherable” (54). The size of the picture also shows the importance of the article, and the large photo of Kelly shows that the article is the main one of the page.
View the issue here.
As for page 5 of the Oct. 13 issue, the mug shots should have been more closely cropped. The people’s faces in the pictures were smaller than the size of a dime; “mug shots should fill the frame tightly” (Harrower 50). In addition, not all of them have captions, as they should. It would be nice to follow a specific format. The design handbook suggests having the person’s name on the first line and his or her description or title in the next line. On the other hand, the editor placed the pictures in good places for three out of the five articles. Two of them sat above the headlines in the one-column stories, while one was on the side of the article.
View the issue here.
Analyzing leads (March 2 issue)
“Students place in speech tournament”
Original lead: The Speech and Debate team was invited to the Richard D. King Annual Youth Speech Contest put on by the Niles Rotary on Thursday, Feb. 4 at Washington Hospital.
Weakness: Although it is specific, the lead contains information that can be placed elsewhere in the article.
New lead: The Speech and Debate team was invited to the Richard D. King Annual Youth Speech Contest, hosted by the Niles Rotary.
Strengths: The new lead isn’t as wordy.
“NUMMI closure affects student and family”
Original lead: The closure of the Fremont NUMMI Plant affects WHS students.
Weakness: It’s inaccurate. The article is about how the parent is affected, not WHS students.
New lead: The closure of the Fremont NUMMI Plant not just affects mere people, but a WHS parent.
Strengths: It’s more accurate, in terms of the information in the article.
“High school relationships lack longevity”
Original lead: High school relationships may be fun and exciting, but are they going to end in marriage?
Weakness: It sounds as though the relationship will end, not continue, in marriage. Also, the first two sentences could have been combined into one sentence.
New lead: Although high school relationships may be fun and exciting, they may not last as long as one would hope.
Strengths: Because the lead is more general now, it can be applied to those who choose not to marry their significant other.
“From the rack to the boutique”
Original lead: Have you searched all over the department stores for that perfect prom dress and still have not found anything that you like?
Weakness: I personally don’t like when writers start their articles with questions; they’re cheesy. Although Jenae was setting up the situation, she could have been more direct.
New lead: In order to find the perfect prom dress, check out places you wouldn’t usually visit.
Strength: It’s more concise and direct.
Leads – part 2
“A software engineer furious with the Internal Revenue Service launched a suicide attack on the agency Thursday by crashing his small plane into an office building containing nearly 200 IRS employees, setting off a raging fire that sent workers running for their lives.” (Feb. 18 issue, A6)
The summary lead answers who (software engineer), what (a suicide attack), where (the IRS building), when (Thursday) and how (by crashing his plane into the IRS building).
“On a flat-TV screen overhead, the women of an Italian village gossip about a sexy newcomer named Malena, whom they consider to be sin incarnate.” (Feb. 18 issue, E1)
The indirect lead is an observation because it describes what people can see on the TV screen in the North Beach cafe, which shows Italian movies.
Beat report
Beat: Mrs. Paris, school plans, future developments
Date of interview: 2-3-10
Time: 7:20 a.m.
This wasn’t an actual interview. Mrs. Paris just happened to see me, so she flagged me down to tell me seniors Lauren Floro and Cedric Lousi were going to commit themselves to colleges already. Lauren signed on for UC Riverside, while Cedric got a full ride scholarship to San Jose State. In third period, I asked Seth Neumann what time the signing ceremony would take place, and he told me during fourth period. Since I didn’t want to miss that class, I asked Kaylee Miu to cover the story; she would be present in the ceremony because she’s part of ASB.
Midyear
After being part of the calm fifth period journalism class of 2008-2009, I expected current reporters to be just as dedicated and quiet. Sometimes I wonder if I am to blame for people’s rowdiness and lack of commitment. But I guess the individuals in our class create that atmosphere, and we can’t change that without having completely different people.
I hoped we would be able to maintain the print edition, web edition and TP version of our paper, but after the first few months of disorganization, I realized this would all be too much to handle, even without TPs. I’m disappointed that people are starving for mere points, rather than the satisfaction of publishing solid articles. Both web and print articles aren’t as good as they can be because editors don’t push reporters enough. I caught myself slacking off when it comes to editing articles. After Yama asked us to pick his best stories, I tried to help him make his first column piece his greatest work by editing it thoroughly. Since then, I’ve been nit-picky about story content. (Thank you, Yama!)
Beat report #4
Beat: Mrs. Paris, school plans, future developments
Date of interview: 1-15-10
Time: 7:20 a.m.
Mrs. Paris told me about the freshman assembly that went on today. She offered to give me a pass for third period so that I could attend the assembly, so I took the opportunity. I am working with Brian on the article about this assembly.
The beauty of infographics
I wanted to add an infographic in the Nov. 10 issue, so I cruised the Web for inspiration and found this:
Originally, the New York Times published this to show the number of times certain words were mentioned in George W. Bush’s State of the Union address. However, I found the graphic here. Not only is the graphic clean, but it reveals interesting information that can’t be presented well in a written article.
I used this graphic as a guide to show health guidelines. A similar one can also be used to support an article that discusses state testing scores. The infographic can show the changes in scores over the years.
Beat report #3
Beat: Mrs. Paris, school plans, future developments
Date of interview: 11-13-09
Time: 12:10 p.m.
Initially, I only wanted to tell Mrs. Paris that we wanted to set up a meeting with ASB officers, her and the editorial board. She ended up elaborating on what ASB spends their money on. I’m not going to report what she said because we’ll obtain that information later on, when we have the aforementioned meeting.
Paris also informed me that every year ASB bakes cookies with special education students around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I believe ASB is doing that Nov. 19.
In addition, the Thanksgiving rally takes place Nov. 20.
Photography assignment
The WHS sophomores practice their spirit skit dances at Glenmore Elementary School, Oct. 18. The skit is based on the Disney movie The Little Mermaid.
This photo follows the rule of thirds. Sophomore Katelyn Clark is at the focal point of the picture. As one of the choreographers, she instructs the group of dancers. The sophomores practiced multiple routines for three hours.
Together, the onlooker, lunch table and overhang serve as a frame for the image. The sophomores initially dance without music because they must hear the choreographers instructions.
Leading lines help bring the viewers eyes to the subjects of the picture. In addition, the photo follows the diagonal rule. Katelyn Clark helps Cinthia Delvalle, Kerry Liou and Alexis Ricamonte with the choreography of one of the dances. They practiced on the side of the building as the other sophomores worked on different dances in a separate area.
The four girls display repetition of shapes. Delvalle, Clark, Liou and Ricamonte begin their dance routine, which involves contemporary and ballet steps.
This photo follows the rule of thirds. Richa Patel, Dominic Cesena, Angely Guevara, an unknown girl and Liam Sherian group together, as part of the “Under the Sea” routine. The rest of the dancers were also in groups of five.
As you can see, there are people in the background and foreground of the image, displaying depth of field. At this part of the “Under the Sea” routine, all of the dancers sit to allow the audience to see Ariel the mermaid (not pictured).
Not only does the picture follow the rule of thirds, but people act as the frame of the picture to make Samantha Steadman the focus of the photograph. Dancers surround Steadman, one of the choreographers, to hear her instruction and see which move they are supposed to do next.
This photo also displays depth of field, although it is slightly shallow. However, it is still clear that certain people are in front of others. Caitlin Yamaguchi waits as Steadman changes the song. She later proceeded to instruct the sophomores with the next part of the routine.
