Monday, October 13, 2008
The Official Relaunch
After a considerable hiatus, and a seriously busy year of major changes and transitions, I have decided to relaunch my blog. Though posts may not be as regular as in the past (after all, as a magazine editor with no set hours my schedule gets a bit crazy) but this will be a forum for my personal expression. From current events, politics, the latest fashion trends, and meandering thoughts, this blog is my perspective: a girl raised in the South and living in a big city.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Writer Critiques
After writing something, whether it be a poem, short story, expose or feature article, it's always good to have someone else read it before submitting it for publication. A fresh pair of eyes often catches the mistakes that we as the writers miss in our own work. Recently I found two great sites for just that: FanStory and Critique Circle. Each of them allows you to read other's submissions, review books, poems, stories, etc. and submit your own work for review. In addition, if you don't have time to sit at a computer and read others' works, FanStory allows you to print out the pieces. Then later, you can return to the site after having read the work and comment on it.
A few things to know:
1. FanStory does not require you to be a member, but Critique Circle does if you want to submit work (it only takes a few minutes to sign up though don't worry)
2. As with any site on the web, be cautious about material that you post. Anyone can comment on your work, so I would advise you take all comments into consideration, but remember that not everyone who reads your work is your target audience. So don't get discouraged.
3. The sites are very user friendly and full of other writer's who need your help. Even if you don't have something to submit, it could be a great way to get your creative juices flowing and help out a fellow writer in the process.
http://critiquecircle.com
http://www.fanstory.com
A few things to know:
1. FanStory does not require you to be a member, but Critique Circle does if you want to submit work (it only takes a few minutes to sign up though don't worry)
2. As with any site on the web, be cautious about material that you post. Anyone can comment on your work, so I would advise you take all comments into consideration, but remember that not everyone who reads your work is your target audience. So don't get discouraged.
3. The sites are very user friendly and full of other writer's who need your help. Even if you don't have something to submit, it could be a great way to get your creative juices flowing and help out a fellow writer in the process.
http://critiquecircle.com
http://www.fanstory.com
Monday, April 16, 2007
2008 Presidential Campaigns
The War in Iraq, medical care and insurance, global warming and the search for alternative fuel sources are just a few of the most hotly debated and important issues to Americans. They are surely to be the focus of the upcoming presidential campaign. Each of the presidential candidates has their own ideas of what is best and why they are the best person for the job. Our job as journalists is to take those ideas and present them unbiased to the public so that it can make the most educated decision possible as to who is the best person to lead our country into the future.
In order for us to inform the public about the candidates and campaigns of the 2008 election, it's important for us to know the issues and people as well. Below is a list of the campaign websites for the top candidates in the upcoming election. On their sites you will find messages to the voters, summaries of that candidate's stance on key issues, contact information, the candidate's political and personal biography and more.
Hillary Clinton: http://www.hillaryclinton.com
Barack Obama: http://www.barackobama.com
John Edwards: http://www.johnedwards.com
Rudy Giuliani: http://joinrudy2008.com
John McCain: http://johnmccain.com
In order for us to inform the public about the candidates and campaigns of the 2008 election, it's important for us to know the issues and people as well. Below is a list of the campaign websites for the top candidates in the upcoming election. On their sites you will find messages to the voters, summaries of that candidate's stance on key issues, contact information, the candidate's political and personal biography and more.
Hillary Clinton: http://www.hillaryclinton.com
Barack Obama: http://www.barackobama.com
John Edwards: http://www.johnedwards.com
Rudy Giuliani: http://joinrudy2008.com
John McCain: http://johnmccain.com
Friday, April 13, 2007
What's important to Americans?
A few summers ago I had the opportunity to intern at one of the most prominent market research and polling companies in the business, Zogby International (http://zogby.com). Based in Utica, New York, and with and office in Washington D.C. Zogby polls the country to find out what is important to Americans and what they are talking about now. While all of their polls cannot be accessed without being a client, on their website, there is a section entitled "Trends Over Time" that is quite beneficial.
As journalists, we need to know what is going on in the world, and in our country. What are Americans talking about now? Have our opinions and stances on certain issues evolved or regressed? To answer these questions, Zogby has created a list of questions and issues and taken them to the public. A group of skilled writers and communication specialists create the questions; employees in the call center talk to the people, and the results are complied, analyzed and sent to every major news source in the country.
With such a thorough and unbiased work ethic, who wouldn't want to benefit from such information?
Another important, and more widely known, site used to pick Americans brains is the U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov.) Here you can find all the information for the censuses conducted on American households. Information such as annual income, population statistics and racial and ethnic diversities can all be found here. In addition to the reports and statistical information, which can be overwhelming for some, there are maps, charts and graphs to easier illustrate the results.
Recent press releases and news from the bureau can also be access on its site.
As journalists, we need to know what is going on in the world, and in our country. What are Americans talking about now? Have our opinions and stances on certain issues evolved or regressed? To answer these questions, Zogby has created a list of questions and issues and taken them to the public. A group of skilled writers and communication specialists create the questions; employees in the call center talk to the people, and the results are complied, analyzed and sent to every major news source in the country.
With such a thorough and unbiased work ethic, who wouldn't want to benefit from such information?
Another important, and more widely known, site used to pick Americans brains is the U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov.) Here you can find all the information for the censuses conducted on American households. Information such as annual income, population statistics and racial and ethnic diversities can all be found here. In addition to the reports and statistical information, which can be overwhelming for some, there are maps, charts and graphs to easier illustrate the results.
Recent press releases and news from the bureau can also be access on its site.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Need a job?
When the time comes each week for me to create a new topic to blog on, sometimes it takes a bit more research to come up with something worthwhile. However, while contemplating this week's blog, I realized that I was completely overlooking the obvious: job sites. As Southern grandmas tend to say, "If it had been a snake it woulda bitten me!"
As a senior about to graduate college, I am scanning the job market daily looking for employment as a journalist in the next month. There are two main sites that I use regularly and have been beneficial in the past when I was in search of an internship or summer job.
The first site is http://www.craigslist.org. Essentially, Craig's list is the Internet version of the classified pages of a newspaper. Anything and everything you could want are listed on CL, including jobs. Whether you are looking for a job in advertising, writing, television, public relations or a myriad of other fields, CL has a section of jobs for you to comb through. Employers form all over the globe post openings on the site on a daily basis. From Madrid to China to Ft. Lauderdale or New York City, there is an individual page for each city.
In addition to having jobs broken down by industry, they are also listed by part-time and full-time. Plus, if you happen to find a job that requires you to relocate, then you can also use CL to find a new home. There is an entire section devoted to apartments, flat-shares, house swaps and roommate searches.
I have used CL for both of these reasons and been very successful on both accounts.
More recently, I was introduced to MediaBistro (http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/). This is THE site for the media industry. Book publishing, PR, television, magazines, newspapers, etc, MediaBistro has it.
Just like CL, the site has new job listings every day. You can even customize your search by city, industry, date of post, full-time, part-time, freelance and internship. Plus, once you sign up for a free membership (which is required to few multiple job postings) you can customize your email settings so that you receive the latest job postings for the industry and location of your choice.
After many hours of combing the web in search of the most valuable media job sites, these two have proved themselves to not only be easiest to use, but also the most relevant.
As a senior about to graduate college, I am scanning the job market daily looking for employment as a journalist in the next month. There are two main sites that I use regularly and have been beneficial in the past when I was in search of an internship or summer job.
The first site is http://www.craigslist.org. Essentially, Craig's list is the Internet version of the classified pages of a newspaper. Anything and everything you could want are listed on CL, including jobs. Whether you are looking for a job in advertising, writing, television, public relations or a myriad of other fields, CL has a section of jobs for you to comb through. Employers form all over the globe post openings on the site on a daily basis. From Madrid to China to Ft. Lauderdale or New York City, there is an individual page for each city.
In addition to having jobs broken down by industry, they are also listed by part-time and full-time. Plus, if you happen to find a job that requires you to relocate, then you can also use CL to find a new home. There is an entire section devoted to apartments, flat-shares, house swaps and roommate searches.
I have used CL for both of these reasons and been very successful on both accounts.
More recently, I was introduced to MediaBistro (http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/). This is THE site for the media industry. Book publishing, PR, television, magazines, newspapers, etc, MediaBistro has it.
Just like CL, the site has new job listings every day. You can even customize your search by city, industry, date of post, full-time, part-time, freelance and internship. Plus, once you sign up for a free membership (which is required to few multiple job postings) you can customize your email settings so that you receive the latest job postings for the industry and location of your choice.
After many hours of combing the web in search of the most valuable media job sites, these two have proved themselves to not only be easiest to use, but also the most relevant.
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