Revising and testing drafts

If you have been in any type of any English class, then odds are that your teacher will assign some form of peer editing or reviewing. Not only must you edit and revise your own paper but it does help to have another person review your work. I have never been as thorough as the guidelines in the book suggest, but I think that it had some interesting and useful tips. To read your draft from the perspective of your reader and identify if your work is usable and persuastive (an underlying concept in the book). I also think it is helpful to step away from your draft for a specified time and read your draft out loud and very slow. This helps to pick up on any confusing sentences or organizational problems. One more tip that I thought to be helpful was to review your draft once for substantive errors and once for mechanical errors. It's hard to read through a paper one time and fix all areas of error. Reading through your draft at least five times and concentrating on five different aspects could help to eliminate different kinds of errors.

Something that I have never done is testing drafts. It seems like it would be very helpful in the workplace whether it be a document explaining a step by step procedure or for sharing information across departments. I thought it was interesting to read the different ways that you can test for usability. The performance test can actually test the reader on whether they can perform the procedure after reading the document. If the reader is close to your target reader this can help you decide to have more specified details in a step or eliminate unnecessary steps. I like the location step because it tests whether your work is organized in an effective way. And last, the understanding test which is asking questions to see if your target reader comprehends the information. I will take into consideration the steps from chapters 14 and 15 the next time I have to edit a paper.

Response to Amela

I liked that you brough up ethics and bias in journalism. I agree that it would be hard for journalists to put their opinions and strong beliefs aside to create an objective story. However, I do feel that some broadcasts are better than others at hiding their opinions than others. Jesse pointed out that sometimes he is tries to hide his opinoin so much that it seems that he is bias toward his own opinion. I think that it is good that he has someone check his work to be as objective as possible and I would like to think that all journalists take that extra step.

Ethics is a tough one. There are probably a lot of stories that the public may think are ethically wrong to report. However, is it the journalists and reporters job to report the news. It also makes sense to attribute a lot of their work. As long at they are reporting what the police or detectives have told them, then the public has a right to know. The blame is almost put more on the reporters rather then the police who are making the judements of the case.

Journalism

When I watched the news I always thought that the reporters did most of the research and script writing for themselves. It's almost misleading because the broadcast journalists, like Jesse, do all the script writing but it seems like they don't get the credit for it. The public watches the reporters and assumes that they use their own words and not someone elses. It doesn't seem fair that the reporters get the credit and the broadcast journalists do not.

It was also interesting that broadcast journalists write several different stories/scripts everyday by a deadline. Other journalists that write everyday are for the daily newspaper. Most other journalist write in a weekly newspaper or monthly magazine and have more time to make changes or do editing. It seem like a lot of pressure to do several stories in a day and may also take from the quality of the story. Where as journalists who write a story every week or several stories a month may have more quality, creativity, and thorough reseach or information. This may be why monthly magazines and the Sunday newspapers may be more appealing than the everyday news.

Resonse to Tayler

I feel the same way about watching the news, it can be so depressing! The only time I will watch it is if I am over at my parents house during dinner time. Sometimes the news does catch my interest but for the most part it's negative information that is irrelevant to me. The news I do watch is MSNBC because it is important to me to know about the economy and the current presidential election. These are important factors that I think effect me more directly, especially right now. If regular news programs included these subjects then I think more people would watch, including me.

Koin 6 News

The first thing I noticed was that the new station has to determine how much time each story is going to use of the alloted time. The first couple of stories were longer and seemed to have the most importance. Each report there on after were shorter and shorter. Another thing I noticed was the first stories were the horrible stories such as domestic violence and a death investigation. People want to hear all about the bad news right? The good stories were toward the end such as comic books or "Joe the plumber." The good stories seemed to be a little irrelevant, but I think it's good that they include positive stories in the news.

They also worked on keeping the viewers tuned in. I know a lot of people who watch the news only for the weather. A tactic they used was to talk a little bit about the weather towards the beginning and then viewers had to stay tuned to watch the rest of the weather segment later in the program. They also kept the good information for last. When I watch the weather, I want to see the seven day forecast. They saved that until the very end of the weather segment. Another tactic they used was before commercial brake they told you the stories that were coming up next, just like a regular television show. They even showed the next program that was on after the news to help advertise channel 6 network as a whole.

The rhetoric they use was logos to persuade you to keep watching their news, Koin 6. After every story the reporter/journalist repeated who they were and what show they represent, channel Koin 6 news. They used logos because they were objective and stuck to the facts.

Response to Inna

I was also surprised that a lot of magazines use freelance writers. I always assumed that magazines had all their writers on their payroll. However, with the Internets easy access to an array of articles on line its seems that its leaving magazines in the dust. Freelance writers cut costs for magazines and makes more sense to use them. They only pay them one time and they receive a lot of articles to choose from.

I also think it's cool that a lot of the students in the class would consider pitching an article for publication. I am not the best writer so that is not something that I would consider. I do think it would take some guts and tough skin to take rejection like that. However, if the article would be accepted it would be such an honor and something that you would always be proud of.

Freelance Writing

To tell the truth, I have never even considered what a freelance writer does. However, if people enjoy writing then it sounds like a good career. You don't have a boss, you can work on your own time, and work at home if you like. However, you would have to have tough skin to take all the critism. Some people wouldn't consider it a career but a way to get your foot in the door at another job. Freelance writers could be offered a career instead. Either way, I would love a job that I could stay at home and work in my pajamas at the same time.

Response to Melissa Dawson

I agree with Melissa that I tend to write as I would speak. Sometimes I forget that I have to be more formal when I am writing and there are certain rules that must be followed. It also depends how formal the writing is. Writing these class blogs is informal and we can write as we would talk, compared to an essay or memo where we must be more formal.
I also thought it was interesting that you brought up how the client/customer must always be right. This can be very frustrating. I work in customer service and it is very true. However, I feel like in these situations if people are understanding then a negotiation can be met. You are working for them for a reason and hopefully the client should acknowledge that. This is even more the reason for written agreements and thorough communication.

Ch. 8 & 19

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 discusses several ways that create an effective writing style. Things to consider would be to find out what is expected, the roles being portrayed, your attitude, being able to say things in your own words, and adapting to other cultures. I feel that as long as you have respect for your reader, along with a positive attitude, that all of these considerations will all come into play. Chapter 8 also discusses how to construct an effective sentence. I feel like the guidelines in Chapter 8 can help especially when proofreading. If a sentence doesn’t sound right then these guidelines could help figure out what needs to be changed, whether it be simplifying the sentence or using an active voice. Just by learning how to construct an effective sentence can influence your reader and improve your writing style.

Chapter 19

Chapter 19 focuses on how to manage clients. There needs to be a lot of communication and mutual understandings from each side and there are several ways to do this. The first is to determine what your client wants and why. How can you know what is expected of you if you don’t know what your client wants? Next is to develop your own assessment of the situation and determine a management plan. Once you have a plan, you can create a schedule and then write a proposal to make sure that you and your client have a mutual understanding. I feel that a written response from your client is appropriate so there is a written agreement if anything does go wrong. It can act as a contract. Good communication can prevent errors and keep everyone on the same page. Communication is the key.