Senioritis anyone?

Well my Senior year is finally here, well it's been here, but I guess I'm just now announcing it. This year has been crazy already. If it's not for a million projects in my classes, it's drama caused by people around me. When will this be over? I almost can't take anymore. The only problem is I won't be graduating until the summer or fall. The sooner the better is all I can say. I need a break and I need to get far away from the people who cause problems in my life. It's becoming really ridiculous. I just don't understand why certain people want to cause so many problems. Anyways back to the school situation. Just to get myself closer to graduation next semester I plan to take 21 hours!! Can you believe it 21 hours!! You're probably wondering what I'm thinking? I Want To Get Out Of Knoxville. I want to move on with my life and experience a more adult part of my life( details later). Well since I have been going on and on about things that are happening in my life, I am going to sign off and try to relax. Thanks for listening to me.

Still looking for love?

Leaving without the man of her dreams in her first reality show, Tiffany Pollard better known as New York is still on the prowl looking for her man. In her new Celebreality show that can be found on VH1, New York has 20 new contestants looking to steal her heart. These men range from the ages of 21-36 and were either chosen by her mother, the online fans, or the best men from the casting calls. Each week, New York dismisses 2 men until she is gets to the finale. These men perform tasks to try to win New York's heart. Obviously they have no other hope of getting with a woman if they are looking to get with New York.

I believe this reality television show is nothing but a joke and a hoax. These men are probably only on this show to receive popularity and could care less about being with New York. Just like 12 Pack and his friend/lover Heat from I Love New York Season 1. They both used their advances of being on the first season of I Love New York to form their own "Party Boys" club tour. The party boys have their own myspace pages that list the different stops they will be making on their tour. This is a perfect example of how reality television shows can produce celebrities out of anyone that would like to make a fool of themselves.

With the drama that the show has already brought, I'm sure that's the only reason why the show is being watched. More people would rather see New York fail and have to find love again than to see her fall in love with someone(like that's going to happen). The mastermind behind all the drama is no other than Tailor Made the egotistic male of the group. This man has so much ego that just looking at him makes him explode with more ego. Tailor Made has already been called a snitch and a backstabber. What a great way to start the season off.

The person that makes the show whole is New York's mother better known as the evil Sister Patterson. Without this crazy mother this would just be another crazy show with little or no direction. Sister Patterson tries to keep her daughter New York in good hands,but she is more judgmental than a good listener. She is another person that is just there to be showcased. Without her daughters faulty ways, she has no authority or need to be on the show. Sister Patterson is there to help New York make a good decision on finding a man, but she is probably trying to find a new man herself.

The main problem with the show is the question of, is it real or fake? Most including me would consider it a very fake show that is only there to support the acting careers of New York and her "so called" mother. Some of the arguments or violence that occurs on the show is obviously fake. Reality television isn't considered real anymore it's just a show that tells how stupid some people really are. Everyone knows that these men are putting up a front and are using this television show to try to up start their careers.

Sorry New York, it looks like you may be out of love again this season. Good luck to you and I hope the best actor, I mean contestant wins your heart.

Please comment on how you feel about New York and her men.

Trip to the News Sentinel

My trip to the Knoxville News Sentinel started off a little rocky as me and Kelly J. entered the building extra late. As we past the News Sentinel building on the interstate we could see how beautiful the building looked, but we knew we were going the wrong way. Finally we pull up to the building and we were at least 20 minutes late. The building from the outside looked outstanding. It was built to perfection and a made a big statement on how they feel about news.

The people in the newsroom seemed very nice and hard at work. The areas where they worked all had their own special touch to them that showcased who worked at that station. The news room was phenomenal. They had state of the art everything. I don't think anything in the entire News Sentinel was out dated. The had plenty of meeting areas and tools that could be used to produce the best news.

Sadly to say I was late and didn't get anyone's name except for Jack Lail. I remember how Jack was telling us about how it was to write for the paper back in the early 80's. He said they used type writers and had big sheets of paper that would connect everything together for the story. From the way he was explaining the early days of journalism, I'm glad things have advanced.

The online producers said that the things that we are learning in our journalism class today will be outdated by the time we graduate. This shows that technology is ever changing and has to get more advanced every year. It seems that more information is going to have to be learned in different job areas to keep up with the changing times.

The online producers also talked about the different features that the Knoxville News Sentinel has to offer. Not only do they have a website, but text messaging, and blogs are used to get news to all types of people. The News Sentinel is trying to get their news out to everyone by using the technologies that most people are using to get news. Everyone may not want to look a newspaper, so the News Sentinel has made it possible to get news to everyone, anywhere.

I believe that the Knoxville News Sentinel takes the news more serious than any other news paper that I have heard of. I could tell by the people that worked there and the way the building looked that the news being reported was serious business. The multimedia manager even said that other news papers across the country didn't stack up to the News Sentinel.

User Content: Good or Bad?

After watching the video about the decision making for the online editor, I finally realized how much the news is becoming based on materials that are received from the viewers that have opinions or just happen to be at the right place at the right time. This new realization makes me understand how much news content is always changing and how everyone is always eager to find the best angle of a story no matter who it comes from.

I think that user content is very useful to news, but it often scares me as I think of the stories that may be lost to journalist, because of the people that are actually at the scene of a story. On the other hand, without personal stories or videos, most of us would never be able to get a feel of what exactly happened at that point in time. For example with the shootings at Virginia Tech, there was no way a reporter could have gotten a video of the guy in action in that classroom. In order to offer the people what they want sometimes measures have to be taken so that a story can feel more real. User content is a new way that viewers can feel more apart of the news stories that develop.

I have never contributed to user contents, but I would like to be of any help with shaping a news story if I'm ever in a situations where more news is needed. It would be great to have my day of fame knowing that I was apart of adding to a news story.

News to me is a conversation. Anytime I actually watch the news, I feel like the reports are there to answer all my questions, tell me a story, and keep me informed on any information that may come later. That's exactly what a conversation is, it's someone telling you as much information as you want to hear and the ability to answer questions in the end. I may not be able to actually hold a conversation with a reporter, but they will probably answer all the questions that may come up.

I think main stream media will probably change the way they produce news by adding some contents of local people who have videos or photos that may be useful for different stories. This way news will continue to have conversations with their viewers at home. I believe this content is for the better of news. It makes news seem more personal when someone has video footage from a crime scene or an event. It's a different angle that is not always seen in news.