How We Read; How We Should Write

From Nieman Reports

Here is the link to the Nieman Reports publication and its articles on the brain and how people read and process information.  Thanks for pausing today for your own thoughts on how these concerns may power your research and curiosities this year.

This provided a good challenge to think deeply and research well. Consider these a starting point to drill down into other scholarly, scientific writings. Watch for the new book by Nass and Yen, The Man Who Lied to His Laptop, due out in September.

Coming soon.

The link above (and here again) is for the current issue. That means in another month or so, you will discover some new articles here. But the site has an easy-to-use archive, so you’ll have no problems finding these works when you need them.

Coyne Public relations

This seems to be a well designed multi-media site. Not only is this company’s directory easy to navigate it presents a very welcoming message to potential employees for the company.

The who we are section states the company has been in existence for 19 years, founded by Tom Coyne. A Self-made man.  The site goes on to list the numerous awards and business arrangements the company has with other  major companies such as Goodyear, Shell, and other well known brands.

The site also makes use of the most popular search tools such as Youtube, Flickr and Facebook. This seems to be an example of a well thought out site.

Complications with Arizona’s SB 1070 law

I’ve come across a video on USA Today’s website that details the controversial video being released to all police precincts in the state.

The story starts off as a straight news lede. The two anchors quickly state that the focus of the story is the discrepancies that are present in a new NB 1070 video for anti-illegal immigrant law enforcement precincts. The story flows with how the film itself is suspiciously absent of specifics regarding procedure. The kicker is a twelve year veteran stating that the video has “limited training value” and is geared more towards individuals unfamiliar with police tactics.

Israel Police raze ‘illegal’ Bedouin camp in Negev

The article I have chosen is unique in the sense that it relates to land settlement in Israel, but this time referring to Bedouin tribesmen as opposed to Urban Palestinians.

I have always appreciated BBC’s Narrative style as they provide direct information throughout the main body of their text. Many stories through this news provider are in the hourglass format. In the beginning the story is told in a series straight facts before pivoting into a narrative retelling.

To me this presents the contrast between an outsider’s analysis and a more poignant ground level view. I also like how the quotes from both parties of interest shape the kicker, showing the reader the uncompromising resolve present in this story.

How Did The Writer Do It?

Our quest as media writers is to study techniques.

I hope you will continue to analyze most everything you read this year with the aim of learning and sharpening your skills.

I like to read a piece twice: first to enjoy the information and then again to study a writer’s methods.   Constantly ask this: How did they do it? What choices did the writers make? And to what effect?

Taliban-ISI connection, fallout from Wikileaks

This article shows that, despite statements to the contrary, the Pakistani government has complex relationship in aiding the Taliban. Galbraith also points out the extreme difficulty American and NATO forces have in operating in the region.

The scope is vast as the article points out the connections between Washington D.C. and Pakistan’s government as well as foreign aid allegedly being used to fund the insurgency. The timeliness brings up the issue of leaked information compromising U.S. troops on the ground, especially during a time when the Obama administration is attempting to stabilize the region. The major selling point of this article is the conflict of Pakistan’s intelligence service supporting the Taliban.

Welcome iMedia Writers!

This will be one of our meeting spaces.

We’ll be spending time here posting our ideas, our analyses and our stories — and reading the works of classmates.   Blogs are handy.  They allow us to write and distribute our stuff for a few million other people.  That gets us used to writing for an audience.

Blogs also give us the chance to read each other’s works and to comment — to be interactive.  You will be creating your own blogs (probably more than one) in this course and no doubt in others.

Our mission this week is to focus on how to write so that others enjoy the read.