STUDENT ENDS BLOG

I have taken more journalism classes this semester than I ever have before, and certainly more than I ever will again. Immersing myself on all sides in writing techniques, styles and media has been a valuable experience for me, but I'm ready for a break.
If I had to pick a favorite medium and style, it would have to be what I'm doing right now. I enjoy writing in a very conversational style with a little room for flair and humor. Probably my least favorite medium would be the press release. I'm not sure why exactly. Maybe it's that I'm just not used to the format and that I have trouble remembering where all the little extra things go.
Now then, a few shameless promotions are in order. If you just can't get enough of my writing and don't want my blog to end, then don't worry. I have another blog, which I haven't written in for about three months, but hey, I was busy. I'll admit that I don't cover newsy stuff in my blog, except for when something really important happens and I feel like I genuinely have something to add to the discussion. You can visit my blog here.
Also, if you're curious as to how I got started on this whole journalism thing, you can click here to see the blog I kept for a week at a high school journalism workshop.
Well, it's finally time to wrap things up. I would like to say goodbye to the professors and instructors who I will not be seeing next semester, as well as to anyone else who may have stumbled across this journalism project. Fare well.

http://sethouston.blogspot.com/

http://www.usmsethhouston.blogspot.com/

PUBLIC RELATIONS VERSUS ADVERTISING

Everybody knows what advertising is. Not as many know what public relations is.
I'm sure you've seen examples of both. It's easy to think of an advertisement, but to get an idea of public relations, just think of what BP did after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Of course, public relations is more than making commercials on television that improve your company's public image. It also involves writing press releases, organizing community programs and events, and other things to improve your company's public image.
Here's another way to think about it. Advertising is the promotion of a product or service, while public relations is the promotion of a company or organization. That's a bit of an oversimplification, but it will do.
The writing styles for these two kinds of promotions have similarities and differences. They are both positive, they emphasize benefits and ignore drawbacks. However, they are also different in many ways. Advertising is very rapid-fire, aimed at large demographical audiences. It is designed to be seen multiple times and fit into the constraints of whatever medium through which it is being expressed.
In contrast, public relations is usually much more specific and elaborate. Press releases, for example, are usually a page or more in length and are designed to be easily translated into print or broadcast news pieces.
For an example of these two promotional styles, check out the links below.

http://youtu.be/owGykVbfgUE

This is a press release promoting an event: http://www.prlog.org/12037736-heels-and-hip-hop-invade-the-atlanta-microsoft-store.html

U.N. PROPOSES GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF INTERNET

The United Nations has recently introduced a bill that would give power to governments to regulate the internet. The United States and the European Union plan on opposing this movement, which they say has troubling implications for internet freedom.
The treaty is being proposed by the International Telecommunications Union, a U.N. agency. The secretary general of the ITU, Dr. Hamadoun Toure, says that the treaty's purpose is to make the internet available for the underprivileged.
"The brutal truth is that the internet remains largely [the] rich world's privilege," BBC News reported him as saying. "ITU wants to change that."
In spite of the ITU's reassurance, some countries remain skeptical of the treaty's intended purpose, saying that there is no need to include language that could give governments power to monitor and censor the internet.
"There have been active recommendations that there be an invasive approach of governments in managing the internet, in managing the content that goes via the internet, what people are looking at, what they're saying," said Terry Kramer, the US representative in the U.N. discussion of this treaty.
"These fundamentally violate everything that we believe in in terms of democracy and opportunities for individuals, and we're going to vigorously oppose any proposals of that nature."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20575844

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/12/04/warning-un-is-coming-for-your-internet/

CLARITY NEEDED IN WRITING

I'm back again to talk about clear writing and the challenges it faces. I'll admit that I'm somewhat of a Grammar Nazi. Even though I usually don't vocalize it, it bothers me whenever I see glaring errors in things like bulletins, books, or billboards (no alliteration intended). Even when grammar is fine, people seem to have trouble expressing ideas in a systematic, logical way.
I don't know if any one part of society bears the entire blame for the way things are, but I can certainly say that public schools seem to be failing miserably when it comes to basic reading and writing skills. I didn't attend public school, so I can't speak from experience, but it's hard for me to imagine how teachers justify letting some kids move on from one grade to the next. I have a Facebook account. I know that most people can't spell or write worth a darn.
So how do you fix this problem? I'm not sure you can fix a problem like this without changing the rather lax attitude that teachers must have to allow this kind of thing. If I were more sappy, I would say that teachers should inspire their students to love writing, but I know better than that. There are going to  be people who just don't care where a comma goes or if their ideas have a logical flow. Teachers need to find a way to teach good writing to these kinds of students.
In almost every area of life, perfection is unattainable. Not so with grammar. There are plenty of writings that don't contain a single error. While there may not be any correct style of writing, clear writing is always desirable.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelellsberg/2011/07/31/why-trying-to-learn-clear-writing-in-college-is-like-trying-to-learn-sobriety-in-a-bar/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susannahbreslin/2012/06/12/why-you-shouldnt-be-a-writer/2/

PRINT VERSUS BROADCAST

There's a significant difference in the writing styles of broadcast and print news. Print is more formal. It usually has longer, more complex sentences and larger words. Broadcast is intentionally conversational, using more informal language, shorter words and sentences, and a laid back style.
Although most of the writing I have done has been for print, I have had quite a few experiences writing broadcast scripts. It really isn't much of a struggle for me to write broadcast, since I try to make even my  print writing as conversational as possible.
However, I do have a tendency to use long and complex sentences, so I'll have to say that print is a bit easier for me. The next time you watch news on television, stop and really listen to the sentence structure and phrasing of what's being said. I can't really say I ever thought about who wrote it, but someone must have.
For some good examples of print and broadcast, check out the links below.

Broadcasting with british accents: http://youtu.be/AH3a1gBHfSA

Print news: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/the-not-so-dark-side-of-earth/

TWITTER CHALLENGES FACEBOOK IN COMMUNICATION SHOWDOWN

Hello there. I'm suspending the more formal third-person of AP style in order to write a more opinionated piece about effective communication formats.
Speaking strictly from a journalist's perspective, there is little doubt in my mind that Twitter is far more useful for gathering information than Facebook. There are many reasons why. First, hashtags have the potential to be tremendously useful to journalists because by looking for a particular hashtag, writers can find all kinds of sources and loads of information that they wouldn't have otherwise.
For instance, by typing the hashtag "#justicefortrayvon" into Twitter's search box, you might be able to find testimonies of people who live in the area or maybe from relatives. Granted, all the information would be inherently biased, but you could just as easily look up "#justiceforzimmerman" or some other source.
Of course, it's also important to look for sources who are disinterested to cut down on bias, and to find sources from more reliable places than a Twitter hashtag, but I think that Twitter is still a good starting point for gathering sources.
The main difference between Twitter and Facebook is that Facebook is inherently limited to whatever group of friends you currently have. What, there's an uprising in Egypt and you don't have any Egyptian friends? Tough beans. Get on Twitter and search for "#morsisucks" or, to get the other side, "#morsi4dictator".
I think I've made my point. Facebook has its merits for personal use, but falls short for any real journalistic potential. Check out the links below for more information.

http://mashable.com/2012/11/30/twitter-political-journalism/

http://youtu.be/Nl9xI-kAE8A

STUDIES SHOW HOME SCHOOLED STUDENTS AHEAD

Homeschooling is not only growing rapidly in America, it is establishing itself as the most effective education option available.
Although homeschooling was practiced in America even before the nation declared independence, it has never been a very popular practice. Parents must buy and teach curriculum without support from any government sources.
Despite the extraordinary effort it requires, there were 2.04 million home educated students in 2010, and the population continues to grow. This is most likely due to the high return rate, since 82 percent of adults who were home schooled said they plan on continuing the practice with their children.
Another reason for the growth could be the stunning success that home schooled students have had academically and professionally. They consistently score over 30 percentile points above students with a public education on standardized tests.
For more information, check out the articles below.

www.nheri.org/HomeschoolPopulationReport2010.pdf

http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/home-schooling/

http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200908100.asp

PETRAEUS WILL TESTIFY

General David Petraeus has said he will testify to Congress Nov. 16 about the Benghazi terrorist attack which killed four Americans.
Petraeus's willingness to testify was put in doubt after he resigned his position as head director of the CIA because of a recent scandal uncovering an affair between the general and his biographer, Paula Broadwell.
The testimony is expected to shed some light on exactly what caused the attack in Benghazi, and why the embassy had almost no security or support after repeated requests for both.
"Gosh, we know mistakes were made," said Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. "At the end of the day, our committee is going to get to the bottom of this."
The testimony, which will be given to the House and Senate intelligence committees, will be closed to the public.

http://www.wvec.com/news/national/Petraeus-to-testify-on-Benghazi-attack-in-closed-door-hearing-179455241.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/gen-david-petraeus-testify-libya-attacks/story?id=17725775&fb_ref=abc-fb-recs#.UKZuK3g1bFJ

TEAMMATES CALL TEBOW "TERRIBLE"

Tim Tebow's transition to the New York Jets has been full of friction, especially when teammates recently called Tebow "terrible" in comments to the Daily News.
Last year, fans praised Tebow for taking the losing Denver Broncos team and putting them into the playoffs. However, after being traded to the Jets, he is still only the third string quarterback and hasn't seen much playing time.
When Matt Slauson, the Jets's left guard, was asked by the Daily News about the teams backup quarterbacks, Tebow and Greg McElroy he said, "We have Greg... and we have an athlete."
Coach Rex Ryan and other players have defended Tebow, but say they will stick with Mark Sanchez, their current starting quarterback, even though the team is in danger of losing a chance at the playoffs.

Tebow himself doesn't seem to be bothered by the comments. He told ESPN, "It's never fun to hear criticism. At the same time, it's something I've always used as motivation. You try to get stronger from it."

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/tebow-terrible-jets-mates-rip-qb-article-1.1201722

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/8631818/rex-ryan-says-new-york-jets-united-tim-tebow-report

BIAS EVIDENT IN MEDIA

Emails to government officials saying a terrorist group had claimed responsibility were written about by two news agencies, but with very different perspectives.

            Fox and NBC both reported on the emails, which said that a group named Ansar Al-Sharia had claimed responsibility for the attack on the American embassy in Libya, in which four Americans died.

            The NBC report had the headline, “U.S. officials: Benghazi emails reveal little new about attack response.” The first paragraph explains about the emails, while the rest of the article appears to be a thinly veiled attempt to make the reader doubt that this intelligence could be relied upon.

            The Fox headline read, “Lawmakers press administration for Libya answers after email release.” To their credit, the article did state that the group later denied the claims, but bias shows up here as well. The article didn’t spend much time on the emails, but instead spoke more about how the administration’s initial explanation didn’t match up with later intelligence.

            Overall, both sides appear to be trying to persuade the reader to believe something, instead of just reporting the news.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49528284/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/?ocid=twitter#.UIqcSHg1ZFL

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/25/lawmakers-press-administration-for-libya-answers-after-email-release/

NEW FUNCTIONS OF DNA DISCOVERED

A new genetic discovery has big implications for medicine and scientific thought.
Scientists previously thought that only one or two percent of the genetic code was actually used. The research group ENCODE (Encyclopedia Of DNA Elements) recently published findings that at least 80 percent of DNA is chemically active.
"The genome is just alive with stuff. We just really didn't realize that beforehand," said Ewan Birney, one of the leaders of the project, in an article of The Sydney Morning Herald. ENCODE discovered that the majority of genes act like switches which activate or deactivate a command to build a specific protein structure.
It works like this: cells are made of proteins. DNA tells the proteins how to fit together to build the cell. Activate certain switches and the DNA will tell the proteins to build a kidney cell. Activate a different set of switches and you will get a blood cell, and so on.
The research also indicated that diseases such as diabetes and some kinds of cancer have a lot to do with genes. That means that if scientists discover how to manipulate the gene switches, it could lead to incredible breakthroughs in medicine.
"Most of the changes that affect disease don't lie in the genes themselves; they lie in the switches," said Michael Snyder, a Stanford University researcher in an interview with The New York Times.
For more information, here are a few links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/science/far-from-junk-dna-dark-matter-proves-crucial-to-health.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

http://www.genome.gov/10005107

STUDENT BEGINS BLOG

My name is Seth Houston, and I'm a writer. For the next few months I will be writing about news and current events as a project for one of my college classes. I am studying journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi and hope to somehow make a living in that profession.

I suppose it would be helpful to say a little bit about myself. I was born and raised in southern Mississippi, home educated through grade school along with my two brothers and four sisters, and studied for two years at a nearby junior college. I enjoy thinking and reading, am about six feet tall with brown hair and a red beard, and prefer ice cream to cotton candy.

This is actually my third blog. The first was done only for a week during a high school journalism workshop which was held at the same university I am currently attending. The second has been ongoing pretty much ever since then. It's sort of an autobiography concerning my progress as a writer. I also publish some of my articles and other works there.

There are a few reasons I decided to do this blog separately from my other one. First, the content and style will be very different. Second, I'm required to provide two links in every post, so I figured for my introduction I could give the links to my other two blogs. Third, for this project I'm required to be professional, which I usually am, but sometimes it's good to have the freedom to be a little unprofessional, which I can do in my other blog.

Anyway, I hope I can be an insightful source for the news ahead. I'll try to make it as fun and creative as AP Style will allow, but it will probably get serious sometimes too. Happy reading, I'll see you next week.

First blog: http://www.usmsethhouston.blogspot.com/

Main blog: http://sethouston.blogspot.com/