Its over?

When I found out about this assignment at the beginning of the semester I was pretty nervous. As stated in my first blog I disliked writing for the public, especially when I was expected to be creative.

While I may not love writing now, this experience has changed my outlook. I learned to enjoy this assignment every week. By embracing the fact that this assignment combines researching the ideas we learned in class and some creativity I was able to find a happy medium.

Another part of this experience I really enjoyed was being able to read my classmates blogs. I thought that us all learning together and from each other was cool and a very important part of the college experience. I think that as a student I have learned just as much from my peers as from my professors.

As far as how this experience will help me in the future, I think it is very important as a student looking to go into the public relations field to expand my writing world. Meaning, that by learning how to blog I am now able to more effectively communicate to the current public. Social media has become the most important and effective way for advertisers and public relations writers to connect with their audiences. You have to learn how to efficiently write as many ways a possible, ie blogging, tweeting, facebooking to be able to stay afloat as a writer.

All in all I feel as though this class has put public relations writing into perspective for me and was a positive experience. 

Ditch Meat

When it comes to controversial print ads, non-profit organization People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (commonly known as PETA) takes the cake. From “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” to “Ink Not Mink”. Both campaigns feature celebrities, the first as its name proclaims features them naked. “Ink Not Mink” features celebrities supporting the cause saying their sleeves will always feature ink, never mink.                                                         

While I think both these campaigns do a great job attracting interest and increasing awareness for PETA’s amazing cause, my favorite is “All Animals Have The Same Parts”. 

Pamela Anderson’s ad received particular attention. The ad features the star scantily clad in either a bikini or lingerie (its hard to tell). While the serious skin she shows is an attraction in itself, what really catches your eye is that she appears to have been tagged by a butcher. The ad is supposed to make you realize that all animals, humans included are made of the same parts. We all have skin, blood, bones and organs. By showing this on a human it should make the audience realize that if Anderson was chopped up on those marks it would not only hurt her by making her feel pain, but also all the people in her family and others she has relationships with. The ad encourages viewers to “ditch meat” and go vegetarian. While it might not work for everyone who views it, I believe it does a good job making people think.   

The ad is esthetically pleasing. I like the simplicity of it and the use of one simple image (Anderson). Besides her image there is a white background, which does a great job making the image pop without cluttering the ad. The only text is simple, the name of the campaign “All Animals Have The Same Parts”, the goal “Have a Heat, Go Vegetarian”, and her proclamation for PETA “Pamela Anderson for PETA”. 

"Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, everybody"

The op-ed piece “Saving Lions by Killing Them” is featured on The Opinion Page of The New York Times. It is written by Alexander N. Songorwa, director of wildlife for the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. Songorwa is the highest-ranking wildlife official in Tanzania.

The title of this piece automatically catches the reader’s attention by making them wonder “how can you save lions if you are killing them??”

He immediately states his claim that American trophy hunters are essential to protecting Tanzanian wildlife because of all the money they spend to go on safari. This money goes towards financing wildlife management areas, game reserves and conservation efforts. He goes on to say that if the United States Fish and Wildlife Service list the African Lion as an endangered species this money would be lost. This would make it illegal for American trophy hunters, who make up 60% of Tanzania’s trophy-hunting market to bring home their prizes. Therefore Tanzania would lose millions of dollars, which they use to protect these animals and lands. He backs up this point by saying “The lion population in Tanzania is not endangered. We have an estimated 16,800 lions, perhaps 40 percent of all lions on the continent, the biggest population in the world.”  He then goes on to state that Tanzania has been regulating lion hunting for years.

Songorwa does acknowledge the opposition; the lions are a tourist attraction. Tourists bring in money to help support the economy as well, just not as much as the trophy hunters and not as much as is needed.

At the end of his piece he restates his position asking “on behalf of my country and all of our wildlife: do not list the African lion as endangered. Instead, help us make the most of the revenues we generate.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/opinion/saving-lions-by-killing-them.html?ref=contributors

After choosing my first op-ed from The New York Times, I decided to give the Los Angeles Times a try. I read a bunch, some interested me some didn’t. Afterword, one stuck with me. It is actually just a long cartoon with a paragraph underneath it. I choose this for my second editorial because although I may agree with the message I do not agree with the one-sidedness of the “article”.

“Keeping bars open till 4 a.m.? It’s a bad idea” written by Ted Rall consists of a cartoon portraying a headline of what he foresees happening if California passes the bill to keep bars open until 4 a.m. in some Cities. The first imaginary headline reads “Bill would add two hours of drinking in California: Last call at bars would go to 4 a.m. in some cities.” It is then followed by three headlines “Police arrest ‘inebriated’ man in spousal abuse, Motorcyclist killed by drunk driver, Beverage assn.: New bill would let state compete for tourists.” He ends his editorial asking, “Do we really need two extra hours of drinking?”

Now as I previously stated, I agree with Rall’s message; I don’t think any state needs two extra hours of bar time. However, I do not agree with the manner in which he goes about it. I believe that messages are better heard if you inform people, rather than throwing your ideas at them without reasoning.

Although Rall does briefly acknowledge his opposition with his fourth and final fake headline “New bill would let state compete for tourists” he does not provide evidence to back up his claims. If he had included some statistics for drunk driving and spousal abuse being more likely to happen in the later hours of the night he would have more credibility.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-bars-open-to-4-am-bad-idea-20130320,0,2933896.story

Comparing Central and Eastern

Sponsor: Both Eastern and Centrals domain name feature an abbreviation of its name (easternct.edu and ccsu.edu). Also, both homepages make it very obvious that the websites are meant to be for academic use.

Verifiable Information: I believe Eastern’s website does a better job of identifying itself than Central’s. On the bottom of Eastern’s homepage it identifies itself as “Connecticut’s Public Liberal Arts University” and gives the address. Central does not do this.

Authoritative Information: Eastern’s homepage has a disclaimer ad available to explain who is responsible for the information website. Central has a feature where you can email the “webmaster” with any questions about the website and content.

Objective Information: Both websites are obviously Universities offering objective information about their respective institutions.

Up-to-date Information: Eastern’s homepage has an announcements and events section that is up-to-date. This allows viewers to keep up with everything happening on and off campus. Also, the Presidents annual report is up-to-date. Central on the other hand does not seem as on top of maintaining its website. The bottom of their homepage states that it is “2009 Central”. Maybe this is just an error, either way it looks sloppy.

Comprehensive Information: Both websites do a good job of explaining what is going on, on their campuses. Also, both do a good job of explaining their degree programs, which is very important for current and perspective students.

Audio Visual: I think Eastern does a better job in this category. Everything on Eastern’s page is eye catching. They have a picture slide show along the top of the pages, as well as quick links that have pictures. Although Central’s homepage has a picture, it is stationary and not as appealing.

Quick Loading: Both websites work at fast speeds.

User Friendly: After clicking around both websites, I think Eastern’s is easier to use. The quick links section is great, and everything is very well labeled. With Central’s website I became confused on a number of occasions.

Accessibility: Once again, I think Eastern’s page is easier accessible. It offers options for students, faculty and staff, perspective students, alumni parents & friends, but also visitors. Central offers these options as well, but they are harder to find and not as well organized. A con for both schools is I do not see a see a section for those with disabilities.

Cultural Consideration: Both Universities try and display themselves as diverse campuses. I do not see either to be non-sensitive.

After comparing both websites I think that Eastern’s is much more user friendly and appealing to the eye. It is very easy for a student to navigate the website to find exactly what they are looking for immediately.

Central’s website gets the job done as a University, but as a visitor to the site I had hoped it would be easier to navigate. It is a turn off as a perspective student to not immediately understand where crucial information is located. 

My take on a commencement speech

We have discussed many types of media writing thus far in our class. Our least discussion about speech writing made me realize that I not only was pretty clueless about it, but also very intrigued to learn more.

            When researching what type of speech I wanted to analyze I decided that an epideictic speech would be best. I thought it would be the easiest to distinguish the introduction, body and conclusion as well as each elements key components. I then decided I wanted to analyze a commencement speech, not only because I will be graduating in May but also because it is always interesting to see what speakers choose to pass on to new graduates.

            Doing what college students do best I googled “most memorable commencement speeches of 2012”. Seeing James Franco’s name pop up for The University of Texas Arlington’s 2012 graduation sealed the deal for me. I mean who doesn’t love James Franco?

            For his introduction Franco did the whole funny act, “Seth Rogen helped me write this, so blame him if it is bad.” He then got down to business saying what an accomplishment it is to graduate, to have a feeling of accomplishment within your self. He went on the joke, “Now why would you want to listen to me” seeing that he is a famous actor. He has been fortunate enough in his life to experience a lot of things, and he only hopes for the same for every graduate.

            The body of his speech expanded on his initial point of wanting every graduate to be able to experience as much as possible, that they should not put all their eggs in one basket. He read a quote that apparently Rogen helped him with, “I say spread your eggs around…some of them may crack, or break along the way, but many will stay intact. Probably more than you think.” He went on to explain that he dropped out of UCLA as an 18-year old, putting all his eggs in one basket to pursue his acting dream. Although he ended up with a very successful acting career, he was left with a sense of emptiness, a feeling that he had only experience one aspect of life. This helped him decide to reenroll in school and pursue other interests, allowing him to feel a real sense of growth within himself.

            School allows you to make choices for yourself, both right and wrong. These choices shape us as individuals so always make them with confidence.

            His conclusion effectively wrapped up his speech. He emphasized that although many new graduates will be feeling uncertain, it is ok. Entering a new chapter in life allows for you to try as many new things as you want, “choices are yours, take them, make them.”

            Overall, this speech was fairly straightforward. The way he spoke made it easy to distinguish the different components the speech, it felt very conversational. Although he is a celebrity you felt a connection with him as he gave his advice. This to me is exactly what you want from a speech, to feel connected to the speaker. Public speaking can be our most powerful form of media is it is done correctly.