Week 1

It's been a long first week, but I am feeling confident about my classes this semester. I have a good schedule, interesting courses and strong professors it seems. I am looking forward to J2100, even though I anticipate a lot of work. We all probably need it. I read several books about writing this summer and all of them stressed the importance of consistent reading and writing to improve your skills.
I interviewed Katie Kelly on Friday and I found my story angle developed quickly. Since we had limited time to ask questions, once I picked up on a theme, I latched onto it and directed the rest of the interview along those lines. From then on, everything she said fed into my story. On the walk back to my dorm I had pinned down the lead. For me, once I have the lead, the rest of the piece falls into place so I was lucky this came to me so soon.
I read an interesting column in the business section of Sunday's New York Times called "Words of Wisdom vs. Words from our Sponsor." It was about a new company, Freeload Press, which offers digital textbooks with advertisements. The e-textbooks are free, but students are faced with ads for double bacon cheeseburgers and other products between pages. The company has only 38 schools as clients this year, and a name with a connotation that might turn off others, as the article points out, but its mere existence brings up some interesting questions. Do corporate ads have a place in classes? And where else will companys find to push their products? Freeload Press attracts advertisers by highlighting how grades motivate students to read the text often more than once, meaning they are exposed to ad messages multiple times. I imagine having ads between pages of study material would be distracting. Not to mention the distraction of being online as you try to read the book. I wonder what type of professors would select these textbooks for their students. I would rather pay for a hardcover book that I can highlight, take notes in and easily carry around campus than download a temporary copy online that bombards me with advertisements as I read.
Another great article yesterday was "To Fill Notebooks, and Then a Few Bellies" about the ethics of helping sources, particularly poor, hungry and sick ones. Many say journalists should separate themselves from their subjects, but others know how hard it is to resist wanting to help. The writer, Michael Wines, tries to maintain his journalistic integrity without compromising his compassion for the human race. As long as he waits until after all interviews to lend a hand, I don't see much of a problem with it. But to give aid beforehand would be wrong because it could affect your interactions with a subject and therefore change your story.