Muffled "Voice"

Site evaluation

I'm going to take a page from Tracy Swartz's book and review the site of the newspaper I used to work for: The Voice Ledger. I suppose it's the opposite of the assignment, because I don't think the site is a particularly good one. I used to place content on the site www.voiceledger.com and I think the system's flaws hindered both the producer and consumer. I have a lot to critique, so I thought it would be a good site to use.

The weekly paper uses a service called Zwire, and the Web site is managed by the newspaper's corporate owner in another state. The (small) staff of the newspaper simply load stories written for the hard copy onto the Web site by copying and pasting from word documents. This work is done by the writers and editors; there is no web specialist. The producers of the newspaper have virtually no input into the layout of the site.

I am fascinated by the variety of ways different newspapers utilize their Web sites and I want to write my final paper on that topic. For instance, the New York Times charges for archived articles, while other sites do not. Some newspapers' Web sites include all of the hard copy's content, while others do not. I would like to see if the size of the newspaper (circulation) makes a difference.

Back to the evaluation. I will try to read the site as an outsider, even though I know how it's put together. I think the newspaper was fortunate in getting to use the name as the Web site. When you type in the address, however, you're actually taken to the site through Zwire, so what appears in the address bar is this: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1721.

Since most, if not all, of the readers of the site live in the circulation area, I think it adds credibility that the site can be reached by typing the name of the newspaper. (The credibility of the site is only as good as the credibility of the newspaper.) The name could create problems, however, because the actual name of the newspaper is "The Voice Ledger." If you try typing www.thevoiceledger.com in the address bar, you get a message that the server could not be found.

The layout of the Web site looks nothing like a newspaper. Unlike www.nytimes.com, www.newsobserver.com, or even www.theonion.com, The Voice Ledger Web site doesn't use a masthead or masthead font for the name of the newspaper. Instead, it says VoiceLedger.com across the top of a bar with options such as news, classified, directory. The name does not imitate newspaper type. Also, the Web site does not use a central photo, like most newspaper Web sites do. Instead, there are sample photos and an invitation to "purchase photos online," (this is new since I worked there).

I'm not advocating a direct imitation of a newspaper's front page. The new medium calls for new strategies. That being said, newspaper layouts have been developed purposely to attract attention to the most important elements. For instance, the headline for the lead story is sometimes larger than other headlines and it is usually at the top of the fold, sometimes stretched over all columns. This layout helps the reader. Large photos attract attention as well, but as stated in the readings, words take precedence over images in this medium.

Below the name, there is a list of the top news stories. Each story has a headline, with a link to the article, available by clicking on the headline or "full story." It should be noted that one of the headlines has a typo: "Owners of historic buidlings recognized." Typos like this can hurt a site's credibility, even though we all know what the headline should say.
The text of the stories is the same as the full text article in the hard copy of the newspaper. Some of the stories are rather long and have subheads, but these aren't bolded, in color, or a different size from the text of the story, so they don't really help when scanning. I don't think the articles should be cut by 50% as some have suggested, but I think it would be good to include some sort of summary, with a link to the full text. The articles contain no hypertext. I'm not sure how it could be incorporated, but it may help when reading about an ongoing story to have a link to past articles on the same story.

I think it would be helpful if there were a link to the reporter's e-mail. There is a button to push to e-mail to a friend or send feedback. I wonder if anyone else has the same pet peeve as I do. When I click on someone's name, and the computer automatically tries to open up a mail server, rather than simply listing a person's e-mail address, it drives me crazy. What do you do if you are on a public computer, using Web-based e-mail, such as hotmail or yahoo? And why isn't that person's e-mail listed anywhere on the site? I think newspapers should have a directory of staff members with e-mail. There's probably a good reason they don't. Maybe they want to protect the reporters from unwanted feedback??

On www.voiceledger.com, only a few "top" stories are chosen for inclusion. Readers must buy the newspaper for all the news. The arts and entertainment section, Weekend, only includes brief snippets of articles, followed by this text: For the entire cover story, pick up a copy of Taconic Weekend, which can be found on newstands now in the Gazette Advertiser, The Putnam County Courier ... or call (845) 677-8241 to subscribe.

On the left of www.voiceledger.com is a list of links to sports and other sections, but links like business and community news have no content. I would add a button reading "contact us." As it is now, you have to click on "our newspaper," and then click on "contact us." Even then, if you are not sending an engagement, wedding, or birth announcement, you have to click on another link "contact us." This takes you to a form. (I don't know about anybody else, but I hate these forms. I'd rather write an e-mail.)

On the right, there is a row of cover shots from the local town guides. You can view one of them page by page by clicking on the cover. They appear to be PDF files loaded to the Internet. This format illustrates a lack of sophisticated technology, I think. If the people uploading the articles had some knowledge of the technology available, I think they could create a much more attractive, useable site. As it is now, it's a cookie cutter, generic Web site. I think the corporate owner is worried about losing circulation numbers if full text articles are published on the web. I tend to think a stronger Web site might attract more readers, both online and in print.

Passion play on words

My friend has a theory that what you wanted to do as a child is what you should eventually end up doing. For all those little boys who wanted to play professional baseball, I’m afraid her theory may not prove correct. For me, however, she couldn’t have been more right.

It struck me today as I walked across campus at UNC Chapel Hill, on my way to conduct person-on-the-street interviews, that I wanted to do this when I grew up. As a child I shoved my tape recorder in my relatives’ faces, asking “What would you do if you won a million dollars?” Of course, this time I asked about the upcoming election, and my interviewing skills have improved, but the idea remains the same.

I feel lucky. At 24, I have already found a career that makes me feel constantly refilled, rather than parceled out. Every day I learn something new as a journalist and I don’t think I’ll ever stop learning. Especially now, as a master’s student at the University of North Carolina, I feel like I’m constantly discovering things about the profession and my place in it.

I returned to school this fall because I felt like I had reached a turning point at my job. I had gained a great breadth of experience, but not a lot of depth. I also felt as though I had gotten a wealth of on-the-job experience, but I had little formal training as a journalist.

As a reporter for The Voice Ledger, I photographed NY Sen. Hilary Clinton speaking at an apple orchard in upstate New York. I wrote each week for the Taconic Press arts and entertainment supplement Taconic Weekend, and I interviewed such notable personalities as environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., illustrator James Gurney and reggae royalty Ziggy Marley.

As a writer for Weekend I reviewed local theater and preview performances, art shows and events. I have a passion for the arts, so I relish every chance to speak with artists, dancers, actors and musicians each week. In March I became the assistant editor of specialty publications, which includes Weekend and the bimonthly special interest magazine Dutchess. The thing I enjoyed most was writing people’s personal stories.

I met a woman whose husband had received the Purple Heart posthumously. He had participated in the Aleutian Island campaign in World War II and had been injured. Years after he died his children unearthed records proving that he had sustained the injury from enemy fire. The woman barely spoke a word of English. She had met her husband when he came to her door in Italy. The woman and the young American G.I. fell in love instantly and married. To me, this anecdote made the story that much richer.

I have written stories non-stop since I learned to read, but, when I entered college as a freshman, I thought I wanted to go to law school. It was not long, though, before I found myself compelled by my natural inclination to write. I soon learned that Gettysburg College offered a rather meager writing program. Rather than transfer, or abandon my goal of becoming a writer, I made my own opportunities.

I became a creative writing minor and took classes such as "Writing the Memoir," "Forms of Fiction Writing," and "Poetry." I received the Marion Zulauf Poetry Prize for one of the poems I wrote. I sought experience to fuel my writing by studying abroad in England, where I took a seminar called "Creativity in Art and Science." In the National Gallery in London, I sat with my notebook, scribbling notes about original Van Gogh paintings. Like the art students who sketched what they saw, I was practicing my craft. I also took notes on the train to Canterbury and the ferry to Dublin, recording the outlandish characters and the picturesque moments.

As a journalist, I continue to tell the stories of people whom I meet for brief blinks of time. I wonder if they read my portrayals, look at my snapshots and think, “That’s not me!” But, I hope, that at least some of the time, I capture them, as in a verbal mirror, and they think, “That’s exactly how I feel.”

Module One

Exercise 1.1

• The only thing to fear is fear itself.

• Men are from Mars; women are from Venus.

• In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.


Exercise 1.2
Ambiguous – The professor’s ambiguous answer left the students wondering whether or not they had homework.

Ambivalent – I felt ambivalent about his proposition of going to Vegas for the weekend.

Healthy – He felt healthy after losing those five extra pounds from the holidays.

Healthful – She ate a healthful snack after she came back from her run.

Conscience – Jenny’s conscience haunted her after she spread rumors about her friend’s bad hygiene.

Conscious – He made a conscious attempt to compliment his date on her appearance.

Apprise – I will apprise you of the parking situation once I get to school.

Appraise – She likes to appraise all the melons in the grocery store before picking one.

Disinterested – Some people say the objective, disinterested reporter does not exist.

Uninterested – The uninterested clerk could care less about her criteria for judging the melons.

Affect – I hope my silly sentences do not affect the quality of my exercises.

Effect – The long break from school had an effect on my ability to stay serious for extended periods of time.

Exercise 1.3
•After receiving the latest offer, the labor leaders decided they had no choice but to go on strike.

• She walked silently into the room, sat down and, without a word, looked straight at me.



Exercise 1.4
• As fat as a house
• As dumb as a doornail (what does that really mean, anyway?)
• It’s not over till the fat lady sings.
• The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
• As fast as lightning
• Going to hell in a hand basket
• Raining cats and dogs
• Sitting on top of the world
• I feel like a million bucks
• He wouldn’t hurt a fly.

Exercise 1.5
• Dialup Internet access seems like the pony express, compared to the efficient railway system of Roadrunner.

• My father views the Internet as a foreign country, and he visits too infrequently to learn his way around.

Exercise 1.6

• U.S. Airways offers a bounty of on time flights, convenient connections and well-balanced in-flight meals. (But they don’t offer refunds if you buy your tickets via Orbitz – I just found out the hard way!)

• Movie heroes always have money, get the girl, wear high fashion and arrive at the scene about two seconds after the bad guy has left.

• Speaking of movies, characters often knock over telephones if they wake them up, answer them after only three rings and tap them frantically on the cradle, shouting “Hello? Hello?”

Stranger in a strange land

Hi there. My name is Robin and I'm a master's student at UNC Chapel Hill. I'm experiencing the blogosphere for the first time and so far I've found it to be a hospitable place. Getting in was easier than going through security at RDU, that's for sure. I haven't met any natives yet, which is good (it will give me more time to brush up on the language).

I am taking JOMC 221 for a few reasons. I am interested in print journalism, but I think writing for the digital media will be a necessary skill in the future, whether I end up working for a newspaper or not. Before coming back to school, I worked for two years for a group of community newspapers near Poughkeepsie, NY, where I helped put information and photos on our Web site. I worked with a template and pretty much all I had to do was cut and paste. I am interested in learning more about creating Web pages and would like to look at how newspapers (big and small) use their Web sites.

I have several interests outside of school that keep me busy as well. I run long distance and compete regularly in road races. I have yet to run a marathon, but it's in the plans. Anyone know of a good one around here? I also play soccer and competed on the J-school's intramural team. I played intramural volleyball for the Journalism Junkies and I think my classmates may twist my arm and get me to play basketball. I love the outdoors, hiking and camping and all that good stuff. I enjoy music of all kinds and actually played trumpet in the jazz band in high school. Well, that's enough about me for now. I can't wait to hear about everyone else in the class!