Kyle's J2 blog
Just my views on given topics.
Creativity.
13 days
by Kyle Cole
in Uncategorized
Creativity can be defined in many different way by many different people. All across the globe being creative takes place every second of everyday. But everyone has a different idea of what “creativity” actually is. To me I define it as “making something from an idea, that is or isn’t cool.” pretty simple I’d say. It’s easy to create something, people create life by having kids. We create the way we approach each day of our lives, we create cards for mothers on mothers day, and we create smiles by saying things to people. I think everyone in this class over thinks all of the topics we are given. If you look at life like me its quite simple, and things make a lot more sense. Being creative is just another part of life, it adds excitment to living, and without it we would all get bored. Things would be black and white, box shaped. Cookie cutter boring ya know? To be creative is to live life, it kinda just happens as you go.
As we all get older our creativity goes away. As a child I remember having the best imagination, and I think that that’s the most important thing to being creative. Imagination gives you the spark you need to create something, and growing up sure doesn’t help at all. In school they expect us to learn from these boring ole books, and stick to the curriculum that each teacher is given on their topic. It forces us to be like one another, but then we have classes like Journalism where we can be as creative as we want. But for me it’s tough, because my creativity is so small now, and thinking of good ideas is impossible. As we age we get more boring and less creative, at least that’s how I feel. School teaches us how to be smart, how to fit in, but it also takes away being an individual. It takes away how we create new and exciting things because we have rules to follow. As we enter school even in kindergarten, they start slowly taking creativity away from us, and it’s not cool. Because now as a 17 year old I can’t even think of story ideas. The world is full of fun and creative things made by people, and those people are rare. Because they’ve made it through life being creative, and keeping their imagination.
Trayvon Martin Case
020 days
by Kyle Cole
in Uncategorized
Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old African American boy who lived in Pasadena Cali. While walking home from the store where he was getting snacks for him and his father to watch a basketball game, he was tagged as suspicious by a member of the neighborhood watch. The member is George Zimmerman, who is of the Hispanic ethnicity, which may have nothing to do with this. But some people feel as if race had a big part of how this was played out. People think that if Trayvon Martin was not African American, maybe if he was Caucasian, that he would have not been considered suspicious. Being that he was “suspicious” Zimmerman called 911 and reported as what he thought to be trouble. The police told Zimmerman to not take action, but he did otherwise and pursued Martin. Elegedly there was a bit of tussling, and Zimmerman claimed that he needed to defend himself and that’s why he shot Martin. But if he would have not thought that he was suspicious, none of this would have happened. Martin was simply going to the store for snacks, he was of no disturbance to the public. People think that Zimmerman only took this action because of the location, and race of Martin. And I think that is a load of crap that someone could let race play that big of a role in making a decision.
Why do people let race affect how they view people?
Do you think that Zimmerman was doing good by his actions?
Personally I think that none of this should have happened. People should chill out, and stop being so ignorant. It’s not fair to someone to be labeled as suspicious just because of their race, or the areas that they are in. Also, in order to call someone or something suspicious, let them do something to make you think that first, don’t just label them off the bat.
Story.
035 days
by Kyle Cole
in Uncategorized
“Domestic abuse can lead to many problems in a persons life. But the decisions of my fathers past has made my life a living hell.”
*Tears started to form in his eyes*
“From drugs and alcohol to beating my mom, I’ve seen my dad slowly but surely ruin the lives of many around him. Ruining the lives of the most important people to him, his family. No matter how many times he says his apologies it will never be OK with me, my mom, or sisters.”
*Deep breathes are taken in between each sentence. It’s tough for him to open up on this topic.*
“One of the only things that I remember from my childhood living with my dad is the time that he came home totally shit faced. I could smell the beer on him and at the time didn’t realize what was going on. He slowly made his way to the kitchen where my fish were sitting on the counter in there bowl. Running into the counter he got upset and threw the fish on the ground, sending water everywhere and my two fish flapping on the floor. The only thing I felt was the feeling of being terrified. I rushed to pick up my fish while he was raging through the house. He didn’t care at all about what he had done. And it made me have the worst feeling.”
“Multiple times these things happened, and eventually it was enough for my mom to leave him. Being beaten by the person you love is not an easy thing to do, and I give my mom tons of credit for the crap she dealt with. Not only did he affect us then, but now is just as bad. Child support is pretty much imaginary to us, and things around our house are hard because of him not being a husband or father to his family. Eventually, just maybe, I’ll forgive that SOB. I feel bad for him.”
I ended up having tears strolling down my cheeks, sitting through this story was difficult. And I felt sorrow for him.
Pursuit. Of. Happiness. The.
047 days
by Kyle Cole
in Uncategorized
Journalism- in my own idea/words, is anyone who is writing a story with information that people will either find entertaining, informational, or urgent. Anyone can become a journalist by simply starting a blog, or even posting a status on facebook. Being a journalist now days is a simple thing, we have technology. In previous generations they were stuck to papers, but we have the ability to type a story or status on a computer or phone. It’s simple now, easy and convenient. But to be considered a good journalist, you should first have a good idea of what truth is. Truth is important when it comes to writing stories. You want people to know the right information based on facts. Never should you make something up just so it’s more interesting. I feel the best way to get the truth through to people in a story is by quotes, interview people and have them tell the story. Or do research to make sure that you have correct information. Truth is important!
With all of this new technology coming our, the future of journalism can head in many different directions. Eventually I think that news print will be gone, and the way to get news will be from the internet and/or T.V. But with those new ways comes problems. On television, networks are owned by larger companies that only show what hey want to show based on their bias, and you would be more prone to watch the network that favors your opinion. And the internet will have problems with being able to find the truth. There are so many websites that have the same information, and so many websites that have false information. With all this technology coming out, be careful on what you believe in. And don’t create a bias, stay open minded.
Design plays a big role in our lives. Everything around us is designed at one point or another, and it is all meant to be appealing to the human eye. Pencils I use in school have certain designs so I think that they look more comfortable, and the phone I use everyday has a design to make it look sleek and “smart”. There isn’t one thing in this world that isn’t designed, we even design ourselves everyday with clothing. It may be one of the most important things that journalists, media owners, and producers have to deal with on a daily basis.
Who Owns Media?
053 days
by Kyle Cole
in Uncategorized
The role of traditional news print I feel has changed for the new era of people, but has stayed the same for the older generations. People like my mother and grandmother, father and grandfather still pick up the newspaper to read about the important news stories. But people like me and my sister, and our friends all will turn to the internet to get our news. The news on the internet and tv is all controlled on what they want us to see, or we go to the site that best fits our bias towards news stories. Each site will have only one side to each story, and we as people that have opinions, will only read the stuff that we would like to hear and read about. We only get one side to the story. Some of the danger that comes along with the internet and the sites available is that people can have a choice, and maybe too much of a choice. Being able to read only what we want to read isn’t always a good thing, sure it allows us to learn things that back our opinion up, but also we are going to miss out on the other opinions and ideas that people have. Getting to filter our news is not always a good thing, it can be a danger.
When i’m in college it isnt very likely for me to subscribe to a newspaper. What I said in the previous paragraph applies to me also, I don’t want to pick up a paper and read stories that everyone else is reading. I’m going to go on the internet and read only what I want to read, because that’s how people are. Stubborn and opinionated. Getting a paper once a month for stories that happened throughout the month isn’t a convenient thing, but opening up a laptop or booting up a computer to go onto the internet is a great thing. It’s quick and easy, just be careful on what you read. Although I wouldn’t get a newspaper, some still would.
I think that the job of a reader in the digital age is to try and read into both sides of stories. And to not ignore important things that are on websites. A reader in the digital age can be tricked into believing things that are not always true, or that are complete opinions based on the site that they are going to to get their information. Not only should we be careful on what we are reading, but we should be careful on what we believe. Because some stuff is just straight up bogus.
Newspaper of The Future.
062 days
by Kyle Cole
in Uncategorized
The idea that my group came up with didn’t come easy, after a few days of brainstorming we finally came up with our “newspaper”. Our product is a site that has a globe, it shows top worldwide stories, national stories, and local stories. You can zoom into where ever to want to in the entire world and specify the stories more and more depending on how specific the address is. For example if you just want news from the U.S. you click on U.S. on the globe, you will then get our national news. If you click on a state, you will get stories from that state alone. You can then click on a certain town or city to specify the news stories even more. So anywhere in the world has stories available at your click.
During this project I learned that in the future many ideas of presenting news can be invented, its just a matter of time. Also that it isn’t easy to think of things that will work and have good design and flow to them. These new ideas need to be usable and good looking for people to want to use.
One of the biggest troubles I think we had as a group was coming up with the idea as a whole. We all had these ideas and it was hard to get them all to work together and look whole. Getting the idea was one thing, but actually making the site and product was hard also, because we had to make it appealing to people and we wanted it to look professional so that advertisers would want ad space.
Most of the ideas that I came up with used technology for the future, because I feel like eventually paper news itself will just become a part of the past.
Design.
068 days
by Kyle Cole
in Uncategorized
Design is a huge part in every ones life, everywhere you look you will see something that has been designed for a certain reason. Since everything is designed, it is important that the designer there self knows what to incorporate to make the product appealing to consumers. If a product is designed poorly people will overlook it and move onto the next option, but if it is put together well and has something that catches the eye people are more likely to chose that product.
I’m a designer, you’re a designer, and your mom is a designer. Everybody in the world is their own designer everyday of their life. From when you wake up and put your clothes on, to when you decorate a room at home, you’re designing the things in your life to what looks good to you. When I got my breakfast this morning i had many many choices, and it was easily made because the muffin that I chose had a better look to it than the pop-tart wrapped in plastic. Maybe the pop-tart would have tasted better, but the way that the person designed the muffin and wrapping won me over because he made it LOOK good.
This dude is wrong.
A big thing that I hadn’t realized about design before is that it is everywhere you look. I thought that it was found in the magazines you read, the cars we drive, and the websites we go to. But as we have been talking about this in class I have noticed that everything, everywhere has a design and purpose to look good. Producers want you to make a decision based on how you think that their product looks, not how it may actually work or help you. The ceiling tiles have a design to look good, the pencils we use have designs to attract your eye, the stitching on jeans are even designed! To me it’s crazy and overwhelming to think that people have jobs to just design, and design, and design some more.
On another note, the difference between work and play has been taught to us since we were young children. I’ve always viewed work as doing something that makes you money or that makes you smarter, never once have I done something for fun that involved working. Even in the major league sports some players say that it’s not just a game, it’s their job. It’s how they provide for their family just as our parents do. Work is doing something you need to get done, or something that creates an income or provides a service. Play is doing something that relaxes you and makes you have fun. Sure some people can have fun doing their work, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it play. Would you?
Choice.
075 days
by Kyle Cole
in Uncategorized
With news now on the internet and technology, people are clearly going to favor the news stories that they click on, to their bias. If somebody sees a story “Nuke threat on U.S.” they may not click on it, because they’re more interested in a story with the headline “Twins are cautiously optimistic“. So with these people that bias the stories because they have more of a choice, they are going to miss some of the most important things they should know. Now that newspapers are being less frequently read, people aren’t always going to read that front page, business, sports, international news, or entertainment article. To me the right balance isn’t going to be found, not only are papers going to become less popular, but people are going to continue to bias the stories that they read. I’m pretty sure that if a story is important enough to know about intelligent people will read it! I think it’s good that we get to choose the articles we read now, because a lot of the news today is just depressing junk that makes everyone think of the worst. Not once have i read a happy article in the paper unless it was about sports. That’s why I don’t even bother to pick up a mainstream newspaper.
How many of these articles would you read?
Woman killed, suspect in custody in St. Paul
For example, I went to the Star Tribune website and the very top article was the one linked above. Why in the world would somebody want to read such a news article?
If I could tell the news companies how to give knowledgeable stories that people would want to read, I would tell them to actually MAKE THEM INTERESTING. I’m sure most of the big articles in news are important to know, but they are sooooo boring to sit there and read through. I’d rather read my blog that rambles on and on about nothing than sit there and read about someone in custody in St. Paul. News has always been important in the world, but I feel as if the way that news is brought to us needs to change. Personally I see the paper and walk right by it, but if i see a story with a catchy headline online, I might sit and read. The way journalists put their stories out there will change the way people make there choices on what to read.
Future.
186 days
by Kyle Cole
in Uncategorized
Newspapers have always been a reliable sorce for people to find the news, stories, and journalism that is needed and wanted in life. As time passes more and more people are putting down the newspaper and looking into new technology. This technology eliminates the hastle of getting a paper, and turning the pages, we can all easily tap on a screen or push a button to get journalism at our fingertips. With technology on the quick rise, papers are just as quickly going “out of style” and I think eventually they will just be a thing of the past. My ideas of the future are based on how the trends are now, with all of these new technologies coming up the paper and ways of getting journalism are changing day to day. New apps are coming out as well as people blogging on their own, although these new ways are convenient I think the idea of journalism is going to get a new meaning. New ways of getting the facts are going to change and the way the reporters report will change as well. I think we should just put microchips in peoples heads when they’re born that streams news and stories straight into the brain!
Anne Kaminski has a very good blog on this topic. She really gives a good idea of how journalism is changing and how it affects us citizens.
I feel as if in the future newspapers will struggle with just the all around sales of papers and making a profit. They will lose business to people that buy apps and use the internet as their source of news. In the near future they will struggle with getting people to buy their product, because with apps you get new stories at the second they are published, as for the paper industry you have to wait a day just to get yesterdays headlines. So everything is old and outdated by the time you are reading it.
The successful outlets stream news through apps and technology, they are finding new ways to bring stories and news to the new age of people. Reading a paper is old news, yes pun intended, the new age is tech savy. They like things that are read from a screen and they like to have the power to read something they want to read, when they want to read it. Not only is technology convenient for people, but it is changing the way people communicate, and the way people learn whats going on in the world.
Journalism.
195 days
by Kyle Cole
in Uncategorized
I feel like journalism is still in its high peek, but we are all just getting our stories from different sources. Sure we don’t all go out and get the newspaper daily or sit and watch the news, but that doesn’t mean we arent still reading journalism columns and it doesnt mean that the news is extinct. Everything that the “future” generations are getting in the journalism world is usually coming from the internet or phones and apps which is obvious. Journalism is surviving because people are finding different ways to get the information that they want and need in there life, newspapers are now found as a hastle or a waste of paper to some people. But just because they arent getting the old ways of journalism doesnt mean that they arent finding another thing to substitute in for it. The idea of journalism I think has changed entirely with technology, people at anytime can pick up their phone and tweet, post a blog or status, or even write a whole article on the go. Not only can you still pick up a magazine or paper and find news and journalsim, but you can simply log onto Facebook or Twitter and find mostly everything that you need to know and some. Having these new technologies at our fingertips is a very convenient thing. People are constantly fed news through websites and and apps right to there phones, its crazy to think about it. Although we do have these nice sources, people need to know that journalism can be easily misunderstood. The “news” networks can say whatever they want to say and feed you a load of crap to there bias. Journalism is a way of getting information that is important to know and is backed up with legit facts. On a Sunday morning at 10:23, I even find myself on Facebook where I’ve just read a story about how Whitney Houston died yesterday, I had no idea until the kids in my grade decided to be a journalist and post a status about it. Sure everyone has a different idea of how you can get journalism, but I feel that getting it on the web and through these technologies is a new and great way to do it. I feel that when you are using these new sources that you need to be more careful on what is real journalism. And what is false journalism. http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/11/the-jekyll-and-hyde-problem-what-are-journalists-and-their-institutions-for/ this is a blog that I have read and found it interesting, all of the links that he used is a great way to get his idea through. But is it journalism?