S2, Blog 8

Franklin D. Roosevelt vs. Barack Obama
They are very similar.
Both are Democratic, attended Harvard and were on the track to become lawyers.
Both have persuasive, powerful forms of speech.
The public's response to the president is different with the times. Mentioned in Roosevelt's grandson's memoir, while he lived in the white house, he described what power the Americans had given the president. He states, "...Wall Street types were perfectly willing to give FDR dictatorial powers if he would cope with the financial crisis. Nobody's mentioned that with Obama, and you won't see it." Because of America's desperation to come out of this financial crisis, they found hope in the president's determination to solve the nationwide crisis.
With Obama, people are more critical of the idea of him leading an impractical "dictatorship" in this recession. Regardless, the two are taking similar action upon the country they lead going through a financial crisis (depression/recession) by creating stimulus packages to help the economy. In Obama's case, a $7billion bailou was approved, while Roosevelt created Social Security, the FDIC, and an array of other aid programs.

S2, Blog 7

Predict how companies or industries similar to the one that you worked at during internship would have fared during the Great Depression. Would your company have thrived or sunk? Why?

I worked at a local newspaper company, the La Jolla Light. Although it is a very popular newspaper nowadays, it would have probably "sunk," so to speak, during the Great Depression. During the 30's, most local companies shut down, most likely including local newspapers. Perhaps local newspapers that were centered more around the source of the Great Depression's cause, which would be Wall Street. Seeing as how La Jolla is all the way across the country from Wall Street, it wouldn't be too thriving. However, the La Jolla Light has been around and enlightening La Jolla since 1913, so in truth it actually survived through the Great Depression.

S2, blog 6

The preacher that Joad meets
"Lead 'em around and around. Sling 'em in the irrigation ditch. Tell 'em they'll burn in hell if they don't think like you."

"I went off alone, and I sat and figured. The sperit's strong in me, on'y it ain't the same."

"I says to myself, 'What's gnawin at you? is it the screwin'?' An' I says, 'No, it's the sin.' An' I says, 'Why is it that when a fella ought to be just about mule-ass proof against sin, an all full up of Jesus, why is it that's the time a fella gets fingerin' his pants buttons?' I says, 'Maybe it ain't a sin. Maybe it's just the way folks is. Maybe we been whippin' the hell out of ourselves for nothin'."

Most of the chapter where Tom Joad meets the preacher are all dialogue of the preacher that explain himself as a character. He was once a preacher, but found out that perhaps God isn't real, and the holy "sperit" is just one in himself, opposed to some holy ghost. These quotes are three of many exerpts from his dialogue.

S2, Blog 5

Madison's Photo Essay
http://mmhuman.blogspot.com/2010/02/photo-essay.html
The photos are high quality and correctly placed in the blog above the explaining paragraphs. The writing is clear and literature-like.

Ruben's first draft mentor interview
http://pcs-rock.blogspot.com/2010/02/mentor-interviewnot-complete.html
Although a first draft, it illustrates complete ideas

Photo Essay

This picture shows one of the signs put above the computer on someone's wall. It says "Our job is not to judge if they're right or wrong. Our job is just to lend voice to their stupidity." I took a picture of the sign the first full day of internship that I was here because it's true: The job of a news-writer is to give information about both sides of the story, even if one of the sides is, well, stupid. Since everyone has a different opinion, you can't tell right from wrong in the news business.



My time as an intern was a spontaneous experience. Perhaps fortunate for us, the unusual weather sported opportunities for weather-related news stories (i.e., some of the largest waves ever seen at La Jolla Cove, strong wind gusts blowing over king palms). Because of this, often, I’d be sitting at my intern desk, blogging or putting things into the San Diego Suburban News . The next thing I know I’m told to go to downtown La Jolla and photograph a breaking news story. Luckily, I had a car to assist me in taking me places, and a hand-me-down Canon Rebel EOS to take the photos needed for news stories. At one point I went out and took pictures of the gusted ocean, crashing against the wall at Children’s Pool. However, my side view mirrors were in the way, creating a self-portrait that I thought of as a fair depiction of my experience the three weeks.


Taken from one of the highest points in La Jolla, Mount Soledad. Depicted is the target audience for the La Jolla Light and San Diego Suburban News papers. The point of the La Jolla Light and any local newspaper office is to enlighten the target audience of their surroundings and current events.


A view from the La Jolla Light, which sits atop the Pearl Plaza, a 3 story building on Pearl Street, one of the busier streets in the La Jolla Village. From the view in the office, most of the village can be seen. News and current events can be seen while still sitting at the office. This is what made the La Jolla Light office more unique than the next newspaper office: by giving the office where the news writers and editors work more of a neighborly feel of who they are writing for.

S2, Blog 4

AMPERSAND!!!!1
Post your personal goals, hopes and ambitions for your class' production & publication of this book.

• I hope everyone does their job
  
• I hope no deadlines are missed
  
• I hope the book is not imperfected in any way. i.e., no pictures pixelated, no cut-off words, etc
• I hope the cover art is appealing
• I hope mine is in a spot in the book where it isn't skipped over (does that sound pompous?)
  

S2, Blog 3: Kathy Day, Mentor Interview

Kathy Day, La Jolla Light News Editor
La Jolla Light

A view of the business district of the La Jolla Village can be seen from the humble La Jolla Light/San Diego Suburban News office atop the three story building Pearl Plaza Building. With this a broad view of all that goes into the weekly newspaper can be seen by just looking out the window of the small office. The head of this local newspaper is Kathy Day, the La Jolla Light News Editor, the head honcho of the office, so to speak.

She sits at a large desk in the same room as the other editors, along with me, the intern, and the other occasional high school and college intern who would come in every so often. Her desk is positioned for her to see what all goes on in the room at all times, and the grand view of La Jolla Village. A few times every hour, a coworker would come in to ask a question or a small favor, to which she always had an answer or a response. She was the one person everybody would come in to talk to, and I usually the one asked where she was when she was absent. I ask to myself, and eventually to her, how she came to be in the trusted position she currently holds.

The climb up the ladder took more than just hard work. In order to be successful in her craft she occasionally had to be “bad cop” when it came to tough interview subjects and others she’d get her information from. Good relationships with people that she interviewed would be over in the drop of a dime if she was given the wrong information or lied to, from there a more assertive side of a news writer would emerge to get the correct story she needs. "You'd have to step back from being their friend for a moment," She told me. "Sometimes, you have to flat out say, 'You lied to me. Tell me the truth now.'" Even then, when all else failed, she would have to "go around the backdoor" for information for her stories.

SM: What made you interested in newswriting?

KD: I just started doing it in Junior High. I always liked it. It's a good way to get to know interesting people and talk to people, and you get to share interesting stories with readers and also give them information that helps them learn of the world around them.

SM: What'd you have to do in order to become where you are today?

KD: I had to have a degree in journalism. I had a summer internship that got my foot in the door during college and I got a job with it after I graduated. I was in public relations business, I've done freelance writing so I could great a broad view of the business. At first I was a copy editor, then a reporter, then a data reporter for a long time. Eventually, I worked my way up.

SM: Why are you interested in newswriting?

KD: I think it's important that people know more than what they get on a television, tv news, the internet, etc. In newspapers, you get to tell more of the story than tv news. It's always been my that people need to know what schools and government, etc. are doing. I really like being at the community level. Although I don't LIVE in La Jolla, I treat the readers like my neighbors. Readers and sources have to know about the readers to be on that level.

Sometimes, if you're working on a story and it's somebody you've known a long time and you have a good relationship with, but you find out they didn't tell the truth, perhaps broke the law, you've gotta step back from being nice to becoming the bad cop and wanting to push info out of them. Sometimes, you have to flat out say "you lied to me -- tell me the truth now." Sometimes you have to go around the backdoor in order to get information.

Sometimes you have to be hard nosed to get the story you need, you have to ask hard questions and the people you interview won't like it. But if you create a good relationship with your interviewees and they know you're just doing your job, then they're likely to open up to you more.

S2, Blog 2: Article

Kathy Day, La Jolla Light News Editor

La Jolla Light

A view of the business district of the village of La Jolla can be seen from the humble La Jolla Light/San Diego Suburban News office atop the three story building Pearl Plaza Building (?). With this a view of all that goes into the weekly newspaper can be seen by just looking out the window. The head of this local newspaper is Kathy Day, the La Jolla Light News Editor, the head honcho of the office, so to speak.

She sits at a large desk in the same room as the other editors, along with me, the intern, along with the occasional high school and college intern who comes in an hour at a time. Her desk is positioned for her to see what all goes on in the room at all times. A few times every hour, a coworker would come in to ask a question or a small favor, to which she always responded. I ask to myself, and eventually to her, how she came to be in the position she currently holds.

In order to be as successful as she is now, Kathy Day had to be "hard nosed" and "go around the backdoor" for information for her stories. Good relationships with people that she interviewed would be over in the drop of a dime if she was given the wrong information or lied to, from there a "bad cop" side of a news writer would emerge to get the correct story she needs. "You'd have to step back from being their friend for a moment," She told me. "Sometimes, you have to flat out say, 'You lied to me. Tell me the truth now.'"

During the interview with me, however, she finds nothing intimidating or incorrect about the way I ask things. She puts her assertiveness aside and sits down for a chat.
~~~~~~~

SM: What made you interested in newswriting?

KD: I just started doing it in Junior High. I always liked it. It's a good way to get to know interesting people and talk to people, and you get to share interesting stories with readers and also give them information that helps them learn of the world around them.

SM: What'd you have to do in order to become where you are today?

KD: I had to have a degree in journalism. I had a summer internship that got my foot in the door during college and I got a job with it after I graduated. I was in public relations business, I've done freelance writing so I could great a broad view of the business. At first I was a copy editor, then a reporter, then a data reporter for a long time. Eventually, I worked my way up.

SM: Why are you interested in newswriting?

KD: I think it's important that people know more than what they get on a television, tv news, the internet, etc. In newspapers, you get to tell more of the story than tv news. It's always been my that people need to know what schools and government, etc. are doing. I really like being at the community level. Although I don't LIVE in La Jolla, I treat the readers like my neighbors. Readers and sources have to know about the readers to be on that level.

Sometimes, if you're working on a story and it's somebody you've known a long time and you have a good relationship with, but you find out they didn't tell the truth, perhaps broke the law, you've gotta step back from being nice to becoming the bad cop and wanting to push info out of them. Sometimes, you have to flat out say "you lied to me -- tell me the truth now." Sometimes you have to go around the backdoor in order to get information.

Sometimes you have to be hard nosed to get the story you need, you have to ask hard questions and the people you interview won't like it. But if you create a good relationship with your interviewees and they know you're just doing your job, then they're likely to open up to you more.

Semester 2, blog 1

What makes a good interview?

• Having good questions. That's obvious.
  
• Creating a good relationship with your interviewee before interviewing. That way, when you start interviewing them, they won't seem intimidated by your questions, and you can be more friendly and open to them. By doing this, they'll be more comfortable giving you their answers to your questions.
• Obviously, when recording what they're saying, being sure that everything they're saying is recorded correctly is a necessity.