In #Loweclass last year, I was blessed by Professor Herbert Lowe when he assigned me NPR as my beat assignment for the semester. The music lover in me was overjoyed to see how many different music articles they published on a vast variety of genres. This semester I will be covering The Miami Herald.
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper that is headquartered in Biscayne Bay, Florida. It's circulation includes three counties, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Over the years the Herald won 20 Pulitzer Prizes.
I was not jumping for joy when I was told which publication I was assigned. I was also saddened by the lack of variety in the music articles it publishes.
My initial reaction was about the overall layout of the website. I like the different colors at the bottom signifying different categories of stories. I think it was a smart decision on the newspaper's part to place the multimedia section as close to the top of the website as possible. The multimedia elements help generate views to a newspaper's website, because it enhances a viewer's experience in a way a print newspaper cannot.
The articles are all very well written, each article follows AP Style. I can learn a lot from this publication based off their use of grammar and other important journalism concepts. It provides me with many examples of strong journalism and inspires me to write with more clarity.
There are a few issues within the website. It cause a glaring red flag that someone on staff needs a better understanding of web design. The first problem is the orginzation of the web pages. All the pages are very cluttered and resemble massive chaos. The newspaper tries to show too much on each page. One way this problem could be resolved is to remove the links to articles published by other publications besides it's own such as the Associated Press. The links to other news sources take up too much space.
The majority of the articles about National News are all written by the Associated Press. That leads me to believe that they do not write any articles about National News. The newspaper most likely does write it's own articles about National News, but it is hard to tell based on their National News category links. I do not believe that the Herald wants to give off that impression.
Overall, the only problem I, personally, had with the newspaper is the lack of music articles that I find intriguing. The top music article was about a jazz concert, I honestly have no interest in jazz.
Miami is the home of a huge music festival called Ultra and it is rapidly approaching. The electronic dance music festival starts in March. Yet, there is no mention of the release of the lineup or tickets selling out. The lineup for this music festival is jam packed with the biggest names in "EDM". This concert is huge for Miami it hosts thousands of people attending the festival each year because colleges have spring break during that time.
I will be greatly disappointed with my beat assignment for the semester if they do not have better music and entertainment articles. I will throw my macbook at a wall if there is no piece about Ultra Music Festival when it is going on. The big newspapers in Illinois run stories about Lollapalooza each year. I will be devastated if The Herald does not do the same.
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper that is headquartered in Biscayne Bay, Florida. It's circulation includes three counties, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Over the years the Herald won 20 Pulitzer Prizes.
I was not jumping for joy when I was told which publication I was assigned. I was also saddened by the lack of variety in the music articles it publishes.
My initial reaction was about the overall layout of the website. I like the different colors at the bottom signifying different categories of stories. I think it was a smart decision on the newspaper's part to place the multimedia section as close to the top of the website as possible. The multimedia elements help generate views to a newspaper's website, because it enhances a viewer's experience in a way a print newspaper cannot.
The articles are all very well written, each article follows AP Style. I can learn a lot from this publication based off their use of grammar and other important journalism concepts. It provides me with many examples of strong journalism and inspires me to write with more clarity.
There are a few issues within the website. It cause a glaring red flag that someone on staff needs a better understanding of web design. The first problem is the orginzation of the web pages. All the pages are very cluttered and resemble massive chaos. The newspaper tries to show too much on each page. One way this problem could be resolved is to remove the links to articles published by other publications besides it's own such as the Associated Press. The links to other news sources take up too much space.
The majority of the articles about National News are all written by the Associated Press. That leads me to believe that they do not write any articles about National News. The newspaper most likely does write it's own articles about National News, but it is hard to tell based on their National News category links. I do not believe that the Herald wants to give off that impression.
Overall, the only problem I, personally, had with the newspaper is the lack of music articles that I find intriguing. The top music article was about a jazz concert, I honestly have no interest in jazz.
Miami is the home of a huge music festival called Ultra and it is rapidly approaching. The electronic dance music festival starts in March. Yet, there is no mention of the release of the lineup or tickets selling out. The lineup for this music festival is jam packed with the biggest names in "EDM". This concert is huge for Miami it hosts thousands of people attending the festival each year because colleges have spring break during that time.
I will be greatly disappointed with my beat assignment for the semester if they do not have better music and entertainment articles. I will throw my macbook at a wall if there is no piece about Ultra Music Festival when it is going on. The big newspapers in Illinois run stories about Lollapalooza each year. I will be devastated if The Herald does not do the same.