Yesterday just happened to be the last day of school as well as my friend Rob's birthday. I had to do a final presentation in my mag class, which went relatively well despite what we had. I had an oral presentation in my Chinese class later and then I stayed around to help set up the banquet for our Communications department. I normally don't go to these things, mostly because I don't pay much attention to what goes on in the department.
I wasn't planning on going until a few days ago the chair sent out an email to a handful of people saying that we should be there because he might have some good news. I saw that a majority of the Pioneer staff was on it, so I thought hmm, maybe we're supposed to show up because they'll brag about the Pioneer.
After my professor got up there, I'm not even sure I remembered what he said, something about reporting everything except sports but she might have done it too if we told her to. I joined as a report in Spring quarter but they felt I did a good enough job to give me Report of the Year. :D I was super delighted because I haven't received an award in a really long time... well, I did get a PeopleSoft Overachiever (Outstanding Contributor) Award which made me feel uber special. My editor in chief, previous editor, the photo guy and a couple of other people all received awards too. The staff isn't very big, but I guess they like to honour the people who put time into the school newspaper each week.
So afterwards I had to rush home and get to Rob's birthday dinner. We went to a shabu shabu place in the city and he was totally wasted within like an hour. Two hours later, we're making sure he doesn't fall into the toilet head first, but everything he did ate, did come right back up again :p Way to go Rob, happy 26th.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Newspapers
So my big story of the quarter got published today. I put it in my other blog too. The web site version is available here.
I'm really happy with the story, and so is the teacher. I spent a lot of time meeting with him and contacting the various sources I needed to get the story across. It's difficult when lawyers, districts and unions won't talk to you but I did the best that I could.
I also asked the Hayward Daily Review if they'd like to run it, and I've submitted a shortened version for them. What sucks about news is that there are times where you're limited to 300-500 words and there is no way you can tell the whole story in so few words. You leave out vital information which either confuses the reader or gives them the wrong impression. They'd have to go out of their way to get the whole story, and even then, how many people would actually do that?
Anyway, it's kind of depressing that all Bay Area newspapers are owned by one media company. Except for the Chronicle, and they're losing a million dollars a week so it's only a matter of time before they disappear. So really, our news is being delivered the same way but under a different logo.
I'm really happy with the story, and so is the teacher. I spent a lot of time meeting with him and contacting the various sources I needed to get the story across. It's difficult when lawyers, districts and unions won't talk to you but I did the best that I could.
I also asked the Hayward Daily Review if they'd like to run it, and I've submitted a shortened version for them. What sucks about news is that there are times where you're limited to 300-500 words and there is no way you can tell the whole story in so few words. You leave out vital information which either confuses the reader or gives them the wrong impression. They'd have to go out of their way to get the whole story, and even then, how many people would actually do that?
Anyway, it's kind of depressing that all Bay Area newspapers are owned by one media company. Except for the Chronicle, and they're losing a million dollars a week so it's only a matter of time before they disappear. So really, our news is being delivered the same way but under a different logo.
I've been slacking
The important part about owning a blog is to.. well, actually blog. My finals are next week, so really I have no excuse anymore. After my magazine proposal presentation Friday, I'll be a lot less stressed. It's been a great quarter and I'm proud of what I've achieved. I've had several great articles printed in the paper. I haven't been posting them in my soapbox blog, mostly because they're news articles. I guess I should post anyway, what's the point in reading a blog that's not updated?
I'll be interning at a gaming studio this summer to give game design a try. I never really thought I could contribute much as a designer, since I don't draw or program, but there are other things that I could do like research and writing. I hope that I will learn a lot and that my skills will be useful. Otherwise, I am still quite fond of writing and I'd like to continue doing it.
After taking this magazine publishing class, I feel like I could expand my writing and look for jobs in the mag industry. I still want to be in the video games industry for sure, but there are days where I feel like I want to write about things that really matter, like giving a voice to the voiceless. Not that games don't matter, but no one will be hurt if a review doesn't come out for a game.
We'll see. I had a lot of fun writing up some controversial topics. When people are really grateful of what you've written, that's what makes writing worth it.
I'll be interning at a gaming studio this summer to give game design a try. I never really thought I could contribute much as a designer, since I don't draw or program, but there are other things that I could do like research and writing. I hope that I will learn a lot and that my skills will be useful. Otherwise, I am still quite fond of writing and I'd like to continue doing it.
After taking this magazine publishing class, I feel like I could expand my writing and look for jobs in the mag industry. I still want to be in the video games industry for sure, but there are days where I feel like I want to write about things that really matter, like giving a voice to the voiceless. Not that games don't matter, but no one will be hurt if a review doesn't come out for a game.
We'll see. I had a lot of fun writing up some controversial topics. When people are really grateful of what you've written, that's what makes writing worth it.
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