http://shanemassey.wordpress.com/

The Meaning of Easter

Today I feel differently.

As part of my Communication 466 class I had to dive into Twitter and learn
how to follow and find people with specific skills.  I learned how to respond to groups and
specific users by using hashtags (#) and @insertnamehere, and learned that you
can promote people by using a feature called Follow Friday, or “#FF” to help
users gain more followers.  And if you
like a post from a fellow Tweeter, you can use a feature called Retweet or “RT,”
to repost their message on your Twitter page for your followers to read.

Communication 466 is a digital journalism class and Twitter is quickly
becoming the go to place for journalists and news consumers today.  It’s fast and free and can be accessed worldwide.  Take for example the recent riots in Cairo,
the protests were arranged via Twitter and brought thousands together to
protest the then current president’s decision to stay in office.  Once the Egyptian government found out that
people were using Twitter   ( #Jan25) to
communicate with the world the events that were taking place, they shut Twitter
down.  (http://read.bi/gMrDV6)
It seems to me that in order for a government to take such drastic measure they
must see Twitter as a huge threat, and I agree; Twitter is powerful.

Never before have we as a global citizenry been able to send and receive
news as fast as Twitter allows.
Journalists can reach thousands in seconds with the most current news
available.  Of course Twitter isn’t
without its downside, at only 140 characters per tweet, it leaves little room
for gross detail.  But, it seems that
many today are okay with only bits of information.  I see these bits as “bait,” and if people
want to take the bait then they’ll do more research on their own.  As John Dickerson states in his article, “Don’t Fear
Twitter,” “We can all agree that journalism shouldn’t get any
smaller, but Twitter doesn’t threaten the traditions of our craft. It adds,
rather than subtracts, from what we do,” and “As journalists we take people
places they can’t go. Twitter offers a little snapshot way to do this.”

I believe Twitter will continue to
serve as the go to place for news organizations and journalists to post bits of
information in order to keep interested people informed and to bait them into
visiting an organization’s website and be exposed to advertising.  Afterall, news is still about money for the
powers that be, but Twitter is ad free – another wonderful feature.

I, as a moderate news consumer will continue to use Twitter even after my class ends as it’s highly addictive and often fun, especially when you discover a journalist that speaks your language and seems to report the news as you would like it to be reported.  It takes a little “digging” to find them, but once you do, staying updated on world events will seem easier and more fun than ever before.

Watch it here

Story #2 comes from the Wall Street Journal and is entitled “Uruguay’s March of Silence.”  The 1:44 video is powerful and effective.  The video incorporates the 5 shot rule with the exception of any extreme close ups.  There are many shots of the march along with two interviews that detail the pain and suffering the people of Uruguay have experienced and why they are marching.

Watch it here

Story #3 comes from the Wall Street Journal and is entitled “NATO Bombs Libyan Warships.”  At first we see military footage of an overnight attack where missles were fired at the ships and explosions ensue.  Then the video shifts to the damage done to the ships which gave me the feeling of being there.  The story then shifts to a room full of journalists sitting through a news conference where government officials gave the “official” story.  At only 48 seconds, the story is effective and layered.  And while it doesn’t tell us everything, it was just enough to peak my curiousity and want to know more.  And that’s “good” in my book.

Watch it here 

All this and more in the “Cats are the real masters of the house!” presentation found here:

CATS!

My soundslides project is about a girl and her three cats.  That’s it.  She has three cats and they are all very interesting and unique, so I interviewed her and asked about the cats and why she loves them so much.  Oh, and her name is Tatyana. 

Getting animals to sit still for a photo is very difficult.  And trying to make it fun and interesting is also challenging.  Sure, it’s fun to watch cats in their natural environment, but to put that in picture form with just sound it doesn’t translate as easily. 

Going forward I would find a different and more newsworthy subject and would definitely have more than one back up plan.  I would also think about barriers such as  patient privacy and businesses not wanting pictures taken of their establishment ahead of time so that I could rule them out as possible stories ( Bah, humbug! Get over it!).

What I learned doing this project is that it’s difficult to line everything up as perfect as it is in your head.  There are so many variables and obstacles that one can easily become frustrated.  And my subject didn’t talk as loudly and clearly as I would have liked…and I forgot to ask her too, so it’s just as much my fault.  Now I know.

Four of us traveled from Seattle to meet up with Geoff’s father, also named Geoff, to participate in the race.  I began taking photos as soon as we left Seattle and once on the boat, I took a handful of photos of not only our boat and crew, but the other boats involved.  My goal was to capture the essence of a sailboat race which I anticipated would be quite easy – I was wrong.

Capturing other sailboats on the water doesn’t translate into “racing,” it just looks like other boats out sailing.  And there were no signs posted around the marina of which to take photos, so framing the story was very difficult.  In the end I had to edit the photos to reflect a day out sailing and didn’t include any elements of the race, as I don’t feel that I captured any of those elements.

If I were to do this again, I would have people pose for shots, before, during and after the race along with some sort of signage, even if I have to create it, to let viewers know what they are about to watch.  A sailing race isn’t easy to capture.  There is a lot of factors involved that I didn’t consider.  I learned that the hard way, but at least I learned.

The following eight photos document a sailing trip hosted by Mr. Geoff Baillie Sr., who had invited four landlubbers along to help crew his boat that day.  Unfortunately the landlubbers did not come prepared for the icy gusts of wind and water that left them chilled to the bone but learned a valuable lesson (or ten) on how to sail properly.   In the end the scenery made up for the chilly weather and nobody left griping about a day wasted.

Photo Captions:

1. Geoff Baillie driving the other three landlubbers – Shane Massey, Tatyana Pyarastari and Malcolm Lee from Seattle to Longbranch, WA.
2. About to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and that much closer to the fun and freezing adventure that lied ahead.
3. Entering the Longbranch, WA Marina.  Only steps away from the boat.
4. Prepping the boat for departure. Pictured: Tatyana Pyarastari (L) and Geoff Baillie (R).
5. Out on the water where it was beautiful yet very cold.
6. Powerful and icy gusts of wind tipped the boat while increasing the speed.
7. View of a fellow sailor, enjoying the arctic-like temperatures and friendly bursts of wind & rain.
8. Mission Accomplished!  Pictured from left to right: Shane Massey, Malcolm Lee, Geoff Baillie and Geoff Baillie Sr.  Photo courtesy of Tatyana Pyarastari who was also
   part of the crew.

I really, really, really enjoyed the assignment.  I had no expectations in the beginning but found myself eager to be more creative with each photo going forward even though time and location was a bit of an issue with work travel.  But hey, no excuses, right?!

I have given myself a new goal because of this assignment – post a photo a day for the next 365 days, using random words from the dictionary as my inspiration.  That’s right, the dictionary.  And here’s how that will work - each morning upon awakening, I will close my eyes, open my dictionary and point at a word.  And I MUST use that word as the subject of the photo.  If the word isn’t something that can be photographed, I will use it as inspiration and post my thoughts with each photo and how it relates to the word.

Also I began posting a “song of the day,” comment complete with youtube video (if available) on my Facebook page.  And while it’s not drawing any attention or “likes” from my friends, it is incredibly fun for me.

Overall this has been one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in a long time.  My only regret is missing two photos.  *Sigh* I wish I had a time machine right about now.

Bill Simmons @sportsguy33 – While I don’t follow any sports journalists, a quick glance at Bill’s Twitter page kept my interest. Shane Massey. #com466

Daniel Douglas @dandouglas – Is this guy a journalist? A comedian? I can’t quite tell, but he makes me laugh my arse off and that’s enough! Shane Massey. #com466

Katy Lee @kjalee – AFP (Agence France-Presse) journalist in London.  Tweets are informative, funny and diverse. I like. Shane Massey. #com466

Pedro Ugarte @ugartep – Pedro shoots for AFP (Agence France-Presse) and has some of the most amazing photos I’ve ever seen. Shane Massey. #com466