could tell a lot about this article and publication from the bio at the bottom about the writer. Dr. Lam is an expert and has a variety of experience and knowledge surrounding publication directed towards the Asian community. It is interesting to me that a reporter would have such a background of knowledge so specific to what they are reporting on. It's almost like beat reporting but writing for ethnic media requires special attention to all topics, but with the perspective of knowing the target audience very well.

What I noticed in reviewing stories from AFRO is that a story is much more likely to be covered if prominent African Americans are involved. Since the publication is geared toward the black community, an event is much more likely to be news if the main people are African American. It is interesting to think of how this story may have been covered differently by a traditional publication. I think the news also affects the events that occur because some of the political candidates discussed may not have made it past local papers, but because of the community the publication targets, it brings them into national media.

This medium works very well. I've never seen pictures of Kibera, and I think it is very helpful to see for myself through these photographs, how it looks and what they have done to put it on a map. In stories like this the pictures say more than the words could about the city's state of development. At the same time, it makes me wonder about how the photos that make it into the slideshow are selected, and how much of a feel we are really getting for the city. The photos of the maps are helpful too in showing the work that was done. The tribal sounding music with the voices in the background also contributes to a feeling of experiencing the city in a fuller way than a reader could with text.

This medium works extremely well for this topic. The photos tell a lot more about the way of life of these indigenous people than text ever could. It does more for the story in terms of bringing the reader into their world and showing him or her what it is like, and how their lives are being forced to change. The photos are beautifully done, and so detailed. It amazes me too how the photojournalist was able to take such great shots underwater. The audio selections are amazing as well, for setting the tone, and I particularly enjoyed the vocals when the photojournalist began talking about "Ibu Ani." I'm not sure if it was her voice singing, but it definitely made me feel more connected to her. This particular story has given me ... More »

The context used in the story is the backstory of what has been going on in the time before the demonstration today in Egypt. The article cites the facts of what happened today, and provides specific details such as what the signs read, and what people over in Egypt think of the whole ordeal. But there is also an analysis of what has been going on and what the reason behind it all is. The article cites credible sources like the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, a Nobel Peace Price opposition leader, the Israeli Prime Minister, etc. The article is both credible and effective. I thought it was really helpful to have links provided throughout for more information, and also the video so that a reader could see for himself what is happening.

This story provides some context for what is going on, but fails to really explain why Aristide was ousted in the first place. As a reader, it's important to know this information to assess what his return would mean for Haiti. The sources cited are credible, and the reporting is done well. The story could be developed further though and analyzed more critically.

The 10 most powerful women in Silicon Valley has a primary news value of prominence. In this story, multimedia is the most obvious of the three pillars. Although I think there could have been more photos, the San Jose Mercury News did provide two photos of two of the women in the article. Because this article is based on the element of "who?" and includes mini profiles, I think that it would have been wise to construct the piece as a gallery with the text as a caption, so the reader could scroll through and put a face to each of the women discussed. This also would have made it more interactive for the online community. On-demand delivery isn't as necessary since there is not any real timeliness to this story.

In this story, there are two key news values: timeliness, and impact. The timeliness is due to the fact that part of the story talks about a recent event, that is, the anniversary release of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation report on the Haiti earthquake. But this story is about more than just what the report said. It is about the promises and limitations of digital media in times of crisis. For this reason, impact is a major news value in the story. With this being said, text is a better way to tell this story. Impact is addressed better in the detail that text can provide than in pictures, video, or other multimedia/interactive formats. I would say because of the significance of what this analysis means for our ... More »

NPR did a great job with this story of utilizing the benefits of radio and the web. The full-length audio aired on the radio allows us to hear and connect with the voices of Jon Stewart, the journalist, and the audience. As listeners we are able to react to the emotions that they lead us into with their voices, pauses, and intonation. We can better understand the jokes and the sarcasm that are so key to Jon's personality and how he comes across. With that said audio alone leaves gaps in a listener's understanding of what the story means. An understanding of the bigger picture is better facilitated by reading a news article about the interview. Here the journalist pieces together the highlights and important quotes, and can draw ... More »

In this story, the traditional radio mission of conveying the news in an audio format is also tied in with presentation online. Online we can hear the story as it was aired on NPR, and we can also read the text and follow along, and see pictures as though this were in the newspaper. The classic way that the radio allows for a story to come alive through the voices of the person narrating, and the quotes from the sources, is also met with the ability to see and experience the story on text and in images. The most evident news value I see in this story is impact. Readers may be unaware that children are affected by the number of words spoken to them, and that it can be to their learning benefit to be spoken to more often. In ... More »

This story's most obvious news value in my mind is prominence. Gabrielle Giffords is an Arizona congresswoman, which makes the story about more than just a mentally unstable man going on a killing rampage at a supermarket. It also has the value of emotional appeal, in that tragedy like this always makes the news, and the author also only gave additional information regarding the 9 year old who was killed. The story is also timely, as the shooting occurred just yesterday morning. The media used the appropriate outlets to disperse the information. In this case text is very important because there is so much we as readers want to know about the victims, the accused, and the situation as a whole. There is also video footage and ... More »