There are many news values that are present in every news story.  Proximity and timeliness are two that are the most common.  In lead paragraphs, one can find the where and when in which the story is taking place.  This is important because it can determine whether the reader chooses to continue reading the article.

My local newspaper back home is the MetroWest Daily News.  The first story I looked at is entitled “Framingham Man in Ashland Car Crash has Life Threatening Injuries.”  The title tells the who, what, and where.  It shows timeliness and proximity because the article went up shortly after the accident.  Although people may not know the person who suffered injuries, they will be interested in where the crash occurred and they will also know that there will be traffic around that area.

“Do You Love Barbie” is an interesting article on the website because it is a very short piece about an event that will be happening in the MetroWest area.  It shows timeliness and proximity and also an element of the bizarre because most wouldn’t expect to see that in an everyday paper.  It draws a certain reader in, and allows them to be a part of an event in the area.

Finally, “Framingham Pantry to Reopen” is a story with impact.  Many people have suffered some sort of loss since the pantry has not been open.  However, they will be relived to find out that it will reopen on March 14^th.  Those who rely on the pantry will again have a place to go, and this allows interest and relief for those reading this article.

Timeliness and proximity are the most important values in an article.  Conflict and impact are the important values in order to draw the reader in.

"Bad News"

One of the criticisms of the news media is that they emphasize “bad news” more than “good news.” People who believe this usually say that when they turn on the television to watch the news, or open a newspaper, there is most likely going to be sad news, or news that does not evoke smile or laughter. The news often consists of different news stories that are problems to be solved. The financial crisis, for example, is obviously a big problem in the country, and the stories based on this crisis consist of people who have lost their jobs, homes, and normal lives.

I would have to agree that most news is “bad news.” Although there is an occasional story that makes us laugh, smile, or feel happy, most of it consists of weather alerts, world issues, and things that need to be fixed and improved. The one medium that contains more “good news,” in my opinion, is the Internet. There is a time limit for television news shows, and there are only so many pages in a newspaper, so it is hard to fit “the good.” Online, however, has endless amounts of space, so there is room to fit everything.

My brother is a TV news reporter, and he often does “bad news” stories. He covers local stories, usually about places that have issues to be solved. For example, he covered a restaurant that recently had a fire, an intersection that had many accidents occur and needed a stoplight, and weather alerts for ice storms that would have a large affect on the area. Although these stories are considered “bad,” it is information that people need to know. Every once in a while he is able to do a feature story, which brings light to the news cast and allows viewers to relax and enjoy the story.

Interesting Stylebook Entries

After going through the AP Stylebook, I found many interesting tendencies in the entries and the way in which the book was formatted. Firstly, I thought the entry of "almost never" was intriguing. On page 13 it says that you should not use this phrase. Instead, one should say seldom or hardly ever. After reading this, I noticed myself trying to correct myself when I was going to use the phrase. Once one becomes aware of what they should or shouldn't say, they can correct themselves when it comes up in context.

I am terrible at spelling, so a few of the entries enlightened me on spelling mistakes that i commonly make. One of these words is "judgment." I always put an E after the G, so it definitely helped to read over that and remind myself again how to spell it. I also saw that on page 246 it says to not use the word "towards," only "toward." I find myself correcting my words after I say that sometimes as well.

The final entry that I found to be helpful was "odd" on page 174. It says to follow with a hyphen when you use it. For example, "odd-looking" and "odd-numbered." The is helpful because I never understood when to use hyphens, and now I am aware that this is one place where they are needed.

The Stylebook is definitely going to help me out when I'm writing my next paper, or my next blog. By having this reference, I can understand different parts of grammar that I haven't studied or remembered recently. It is a helpful resource that I plan to keep near me when working on papers.

Common Spelling Mistakes!

More commonly misspelled words

AP Style Entries

Image of Grammar

In grade school, grammar was drilled into the curriculum. The English teachers would always have many worksheets full of ways to use commas and colons and fragments and run on sentences. It always seemed that the teachers dreaded teaching this subject, and students weren't fond of it either. After a lesson of doing continuous worksheets, all that was accomplished was frustrated students and teachers. High school didn't contain any grammar work that I can remember. The focus was more on writing a good five paragraph essay, and learning the structure of a paper. Our grammar was not corrected, but our form was.

I still don't know perfect grammar. Punctuation has always given me a hard time, and when I write papers I always second guess myself. Commas and dashes and semi colons have been my issue. However, even in class when we had worksheets on them, they all seemed to merge together. I have always hoped that the more I write, the more it will make sense to me. I think that by taking a writing seminar Freshman year I was able to narrow down my problem and make corrections. Throughout college, I hope to discover and correct other grammar issues that I have yet to notice.

With the introduction to Word documents and spell/grammar checks, it became less important to know. When I was in high school I remember relying on spelling and grammar checks to correct anything that I was unsure of. After learning that these tools were not always right, I have learned to rely on myself to determine what the correct punctuation is. Although it is a grueling subject, it is necessary to know before writing long term papers and documents.

Grammar Rules!

Text Messages affecting Grammar

Helpful Rules

I came to Manhattanville College intending to major in Dance. Although I had an injury that set me back in middle and high school, I chose to ignore it and continue dancing. My freshman year I spent in all dance related classes, and spent little time thinking about other majors or activities. Half way through my sophomore year, I got injured again, and had to rethink everything. I started taking classes in many different subjects, including communications, science, and English. I enjoyed my communications classes, and thought about how I could integrate dance with them. From that point on, I have looked for different ways to relate the two, such as working at a dance magazine or doing something like PR for a dance company. By taking a wide range of communications classes, I have tried to incorporate dance into each one, and I am interested to see how this class will allow me to do that.

I am not sure what I want to do once I graduate college. My plan is to do different internships that allow me to understand the different worlds of communications, and to see which one fits me best. Right now I am doing a graphic design internship, which allows me to make posters and be creative around Manhattanville. Although I am enjoying it, I am not sure if this is the path I will choose. I hope to have another internship over the summer in a completely different field, to test my creativity in a different light.

This class will allow me to write about many different topics, and view another part of communications. It is different from many of the communications courses I have taken, and I hope to gain a new perspective of what the outcome of my career will be.

Mville's Homepage
My Old Dance Studio
My Favorite Dance Magazine