Rob Insana, a financial analyst for CNBC, came to SMU on Monday as a part of the Tate Lecture Series.He speaks of his past, saying he never took an economics class and how he learned all he knows because he was thrown into the business. Insana was originally a music major before switching to a film major.
Insana started out as a producing assistant at Financial News Network and then he became a producer. By "accident," when both anchors at FNN called in sick on the same day, he had to take their place and has since spent 21 years on the air.
On Monday, Insana spoke of the market and being able to predict outcomes. Looking back, he says, there are examples of events drastically influencing the market. One example he gave was when President Kennedy was assasinated. Before the world knew that the president was shot, the stock market fell. Because of this Insana says that markets move seemingly in advance to events.
He also spoke of technology and how it influenced the market. He mentioned the iPod and HDTV and said the market could "explode" if the iPod found a way to become wireless.
Honestly, I do not know anything about markets and stocks. I've never had much of an interest in this area, and don't know if I ever will. The few majors I knew I'd always avoid were math, science and business. They just don't interest me at all. It was hard to relate to much of Insana's lecture because most of what he spoke about was foreign to me.
The one part I could understand and relate to was when he spoke about business journalism. He says that often business journalists will know much about politics and other subjects, but political journalists rarely know as much about business. Insana adds that the financial community often has the first word in news. Because there is so much money involved, the supporters need to be updated and kept up to date. Otherwise, the monetary support could be taken away.
I don't really know how much I enjoyed the lecture on Monday; perhaps it is because of my lacking knowledge of stocks and business. I thought I would be able to avoid delving into this area, but according to Insana, it's important for me and other future journalists to know. I don't like this idea, but I'm open to it. I guess it's time to crack open the Business section and try to catch up.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
Yolanda's Crossing
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2006/yolanda/
I first read this seven part series in the Dallas Morning News about Yolanda Méndez Torres, a young woman who was raped at the age of 11 and forcefully brought to the U.S by the man who raped her, Juan García Aguilar. I figured, since this was a special feature, that there had to be more information online (plus, there was a sidebar alongside every installment telling the reader to go online for more information). Sure enough, there is a special multimedia package that features videos, audio clips, and photos not available in the paper.
Yolanda's story was so horrific and detailed, even in plain writing. However, words sometimes don't do a story justice. There's something different about seeing pictures alongside the story that helps bring it to life. Instead of relying purely on one's own imagination, the reader is able to actually see photos that show places the victim has stayed, situations she was in. To make the story even more effective, the video is shown with Yolanda telling her own story. Her voice is calm, the high pitched, girlish tones showing her youth (she’s only 19).
Using a combination of video and audio is far more effective than the story alone. Reading the text forces the reader to use his/her imagination to create pictures as interpreted from the text. By using actual photos and clips from Yolanda's experience, the story becomes more real and the reader is almost sucked into the story. Real places and real people make the story come alive, and Yolanda's narrative makes it feel as if the story was told personally to him/her.
If the story had been broadcast simply all video without the accompanying text, it would be effective, but not as much so with the whole package. Images move the viewers, and this is what makes broadcast journalism more “emotional,” I suppose. However, broadcast news tends to be shorter, simply capturing the rush of emotions at the moment. It doesn't go in depth the way print does, doesn't analyze. Sure, a follow up broadcast could always be done, but it still isn’t as effective as having accompanying text to read at the moment, when the story catches your interest.
Another good thing about having different media on one page is that it appeals to different types of people. There is something for everyone. Some would rather watch a moving clip and “experience” the story in a sense, others prefer to let words tell the story and to use their imagination. The audience can choose one medium, or use them all, whichever is preferred.
In this package's case, the different media combine to powerfully tell a story. The site is laid out simply on a black background. Thumbnails of various photos are actually links that lead to text that was printed in the newspaper along with an accompanying video. For people like me, the video was first to catch my attention. I admit it: I'm lazy at times, and watching is so much easier than reading. I clicked on the link, and dramatic music immediately streamed out of my headphones. It was soon followed by a girlish voice speaking Spanish. While the video plays, English subtitles are displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Having these different media made my experience with this story full. I was intellectually stimulated and emotionally moved, a full experience I couldn't achieve with simply a newspaper or broadcast news. However, if every bit of media was not viewed, the viewer would not have this "full" experience. Simply reading the text would definitely be an advantage because it is so much more in depth and has information the video clips lack. One example would be in the last installment, the information about Aguilar. The video does not mention him in the last clip, and ends on a happy, warm, fuzzy note. The viewer feels happy for Yolanda, without bothering to think about Aguilar. Perhaps he/she will even think of Yolanda much as a saint, for being so forgiving. In this sense, it is somewhat unbalanced.
I'm glad media is converging, that sites are beginning to both text and video. It's definitely crucial at a time like now, when everyone should be accomadated for. With packages like this, I think everyone can be satisfied and enjoy reading/viewing news stories more.
I first read this seven part series in the Dallas Morning News about Yolanda Méndez Torres, a young woman who was raped at the age of 11 and forcefully brought to the U.S by the man who raped her, Juan García Aguilar. I figured, since this was a special feature, that there had to be more information online (plus, there was a sidebar alongside every installment telling the reader to go online for more information). Sure enough, there is a special multimedia package that features videos, audio clips, and photos not available in the paper.
Yolanda's story was so horrific and detailed, even in plain writing. However, words sometimes don't do a story justice. There's something different about seeing pictures alongside the story that helps bring it to life. Instead of relying purely on one's own imagination, the reader is able to actually see photos that show places the victim has stayed, situations she was in. To make the story even more effective, the video is shown with Yolanda telling her own story. Her voice is calm, the high pitched, girlish tones showing her youth (she’s only 19).
Using a combination of video and audio is far more effective than the story alone. Reading the text forces the reader to use his/her imagination to create pictures as interpreted from the text. By using actual photos and clips from Yolanda's experience, the story becomes more real and the reader is almost sucked into the story. Real places and real people make the story come alive, and Yolanda's narrative makes it feel as if the story was told personally to him/her.
If the story had been broadcast simply all video without the accompanying text, it would be effective, but not as much so with the whole package. Images move the viewers, and this is what makes broadcast journalism more “emotional,” I suppose. However, broadcast news tends to be shorter, simply capturing the rush of emotions at the moment. It doesn't go in depth the way print does, doesn't analyze. Sure, a follow up broadcast could always be done, but it still isn’t as effective as having accompanying text to read at the moment, when the story catches your interest.
Another good thing about having different media on one page is that it appeals to different types of people. There is something for everyone. Some would rather watch a moving clip and “experience” the story in a sense, others prefer to let words tell the story and to use their imagination. The audience can choose one medium, or use them all, whichever is preferred.
In this package's case, the different media combine to powerfully tell a story. The site is laid out simply on a black background. Thumbnails of various photos are actually links that lead to text that was printed in the newspaper along with an accompanying video. For people like me, the video was first to catch my attention. I admit it: I'm lazy at times, and watching is so much easier than reading. I clicked on the link, and dramatic music immediately streamed out of my headphones. It was soon followed by a girlish voice speaking Spanish. While the video plays, English subtitles are displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Having these different media made my experience with this story full. I was intellectually stimulated and emotionally moved, a full experience I couldn't achieve with simply a newspaper or broadcast news. However, if every bit of media was not viewed, the viewer would not have this "full" experience. Simply reading the text would definitely be an advantage because it is so much more in depth and has information the video clips lack. One example would be in the last installment, the information about Aguilar. The video does not mention him in the last clip, and ends on a happy, warm, fuzzy note. The viewer feels happy for Yolanda, without bothering to think about Aguilar. Perhaps he/she will even think of Yolanda much as a saint, for being so forgiving. In this sense, it is somewhat unbalanced.
I'm glad media is converging, that sites are beginning to both text and video. It's definitely crucial at a time like now, when everyone should be accomadated for. With packages like this, I think everyone can be satisfied and enjoy reading/viewing news stories more.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
the Homeless Guy
http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/
The blog I visited featured Kevin Barbieux, a man in Nashville, Tenn. writing about his experience being homeless.
Barbieux's entries feature stories of struggling to secure a warm meal, visiting various churches through the Room In The Inn (RITI) program, and being able to spend his birthday in the warmth of a friend's house. He also speaks of his life before entering “homelessland,” and the hurts and unfairness he felt.
My first thoughts upon reading his blog were the following: Is he still homeless? How can a homeless man be able to keep up a blog? Barbieux mentions going into Starbucks coffee shops and using Wi-Fi available with some churches through RITI. In an accompanying blog, Barbieux writes that he has been in and out of homelessness since February 1982. However, the post is dated August 11, 2006 and it is somewhat unclear whether he is still homeless or not.
In one particular entry on Thursday, January 11, Barbieux writes of his struggle in securing a RITI ticket for a meal the previous Monday night. He offers five dollars for a ticket and is laughed off by the other homeless. In the end, he is able to find someone to sell him a ticket, but he writes of how difficult it is to find someone who will take five dollars for a ticket.
In other entries, Barbieux writes of how different methods of trying to decrease the number of homeless are failing. In particular, he takes stabs at Nashville's Rescue Mission, a group the homeless call “the house of pain” or the “house of shame,” according to his post dated on Friday, December 29 of 2006. He writes that the mission is not successful because it has done little to help decrease the homeless population. Writing of other services, he mentions that they do little in helping a homeless person leave “homelessland.”
Reading through Barbieux's entries was intriguing, and my first reaction to his blog was shock. I've always had the mindset that homeless people were more uneducated, I'm sorry to say. In my mind, they had to be, or else, why would they be homeless? I would tell myself that if I were ever homeless, I would make more of an effort to work hard and try to get myself out of the mess. But a statement like this is easy to say because I've never experienced such before. Barbieux, however, seems to be a fairly well educated man. He lists art, theology and sociology as some of his interests. He reads articles, often listing ones that have to do with the issue of homelessness. He was definitely the opposite of my idea of a homeless person. Also, seeing homeless people on the street made me feel some pity toward them, but usually not enough to roll down my window and offer some cash or food. Like many others, I would grip my steering wheel and stare straight ahead, avoiding the homeless person's gaze and praying that he wouldn't linger near my window. Reading Barbieux's blog helped me to see from a homeless person's perspective. He writes of his struggles with the weather and finding shelter and meals. In his answers blog, he writes of how hard it was to find a job and how even people at rescue missions seemed cold and indifferent to how emotionally unstable he was.
Wow. Rereading over what I just wrote makes me realize how ignorant I can be. Sadly, I think my ideas of a homeless person are similar to others' ideas. Maybe part of the reason there are still so many homeless among us is because we’re so unaware of their plight. We don't know how to really help them. People think that handing out a few dollar bills or providing a meal is the only way we can help. I wonder how many programs there are that try to help homeless people to find jobs and get out of homelessness and how many of those programs succeed.
Honestly, without blogs like this, I wonder how people could get an idea of what a homeless person’s day is like, or the struggles they go through. Sure, we make assumptions and have “ideas,” but these are merely assumptions. We cannot tell what emotions they are feeling, what struggles they are trying to overcome, or even why they cannot find a job or a home. And none of us would dream of walking up to a homeless person and asking him how his day was or how he's feeling. I don't mean to end this post on a cynical note, but quite frankly and sadly, I don't ever see this problem going away.
The blog I visited featured Kevin Barbieux, a man in Nashville, Tenn. writing about his experience being homeless.
Barbieux's entries feature stories of struggling to secure a warm meal, visiting various churches through the Room In The Inn (RITI) program, and being able to spend his birthday in the warmth of a friend's house. He also speaks of his life before entering “homelessland,” and the hurts and unfairness he felt.
My first thoughts upon reading his blog were the following: Is he still homeless? How can a homeless man be able to keep up a blog? Barbieux mentions going into Starbucks coffee shops and using Wi-Fi available with some churches through RITI. In an accompanying blog, Barbieux writes that he has been in and out of homelessness since February 1982. However, the post is dated August 11, 2006 and it is somewhat unclear whether he is still homeless or not.
In one particular entry on Thursday, January 11, Barbieux writes of his struggle in securing a RITI ticket for a meal the previous Monday night. He offers five dollars for a ticket and is laughed off by the other homeless. In the end, he is able to find someone to sell him a ticket, but he writes of how difficult it is to find someone who will take five dollars for a ticket.
In other entries, Barbieux writes of how different methods of trying to decrease the number of homeless are failing. In particular, he takes stabs at Nashville's Rescue Mission, a group the homeless call “the house of pain” or the “house of shame,” according to his post dated on Friday, December 29 of 2006. He writes that the mission is not successful because it has done little to help decrease the homeless population. Writing of other services, he mentions that they do little in helping a homeless person leave “homelessland.”
Reading through Barbieux's entries was intriguing, and my first reaction to his blog was shock. I've always had the mindset that homeless people were more uneducated, I'm sorry to say. In my mind, they had to be, or else, why would they be homeless? I would tell myself that if I were ever homeless, I would make more of an effort to work hard and try to get myself out of the mess. But a statement like this is easy to say because I've never experienced such before. Barbieux, however, seems to be a fairly well educated man. He lists art, theology and sociology as some of his interests. He reads articles, often listing ones that have to do with the issue of homelessness. He was definitely the opposite of my idea of a homeless person. Also, seeing homeless people on the street made me feel some pity toward them, but usually not enough to roll down my window and offer some cash or food. Like many others, I would grip my steering wheel and stare straight ahead, avoiding the homeless person's gaze and praying that he wouldn't linger near my window. Reading Barbieux's blog helped me to see from a homeless person's perspective. He writes of his struggles with the weather and finding shelter and meals. In his answers blog, he writes of how hard it was to find a job and how even people at rescue missions seemed cold and indifferent to how emotionally unstable he was.
Wow. Rereading over what I just wrote makes me realize how ignorant I can be. Sadly, I think my ideas of a homeless person are similar to others' ideas. Maybe part of the reason there are still so many homeless among us is because we’re so unaware of their plight. We don't know how to really help them. People think that handing out a few dollar bills or providing a meal is the only way we can help. I wonder how many programs there are that try to help homeless people to find jobs and get out of homelessness and how many of those programs succeed.
Honestly, without blogs like this, I wonder how people could get an idea of what a homeless person’s day is like, or the struggles they go through. Sure, we make assumptions and have “ideas,” but these are merely assumptions. We cannot tell what emotions they are feeling, what struggles they are trying to overcome, or even why they cannot find a job or a home. And none of us would dream of walking up to a homeless person and asking him how his day was or how he's feeling. I don't mean to end this post on a cynical note, but quite frankly and sadly, I don't ever see this problem going away.
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