Newspaper Affiliation

In high school, I never really got interested in the news. Therefore I never read or even touched the newspapers save for the Sunday comics that my mother would toss in my direction. Occasionally, I would help my cousin deliver his share of the Rapid City Journal, but that was about it as far as that goes. However; I knew that I would have to touch such dismal looking material someday and during my government class in sophomore year I had to actually do an assignment for current events. For two years, the only thing I did was read a random headline article and comment on it. One day, in my senior year of high school, I was given the opportunity to write a small article for the Central High School Newspaper. I'd have to say that was rather entertaining to me and it sparked an interest in writing for the news.

Three years of college life passed by and all I knew about the news was that there was one in Aberdeen that wasn't even worth reading, there was the Exponent (the NSU newspaper on campus) and I almost signed up to write for that paper. After I transferred to DSU  though, I decided maybe it was time to try for some actual journalism. After all, I finally decided that if I couldn't make a lot of money selling my newly published children's book "Shadows Around the Corner" then I wanted to write for something that would make me some income someday. I was introduced to the Trojan Times by a friend of mine who had just gotten out of an interview for the paper. She told me that if I was quick then I could get a job writing articles for 300 dollars a semester. Sure, it's not a lot for a paycheck, but it was great for my future employers to see how well I could write. 

I've been a writer for the DSU Trojan Times for about a year now and have written over 15 news articles and continue to do so. It is an exciting job and I love the rush of having a deadline, doing the research and having the articles written well as well as quickly. 

This is the beginning of the diary of a man who is being poisoned. Most of the story is quite interactive. Sometimes the user must move his/her mouse over an object or a word within the journal in order to make something happen. For instance, the mouse moved over the circular object on the journal will create glowing lights that float around the page. When clicked, the journal will flip open to the next page where each disturbing dream is relayed.

Now, would I recommend this dark tale of a man who is slowly dying? If a person likes to read strange and dark dreams or journals in particular then yes. "Inside" is very interactive and interesting but it may place the mind into somewhat of a dark mood.  

New Media Video Project

Here's a video for my New Media Project. For my first time creating a video I don't think it's a bad one. I wanted to incorporate a meaning that romance in English is lost due to the New Media of today. Instead of writing a letter, people prefer to type out short emails in order to send a message faster. As efficient as this new way of sending a message is, there isn't that much effort and time put into a message anymore.

Too Much Media?

What would happen if all the Media in the world were taken away? What would happen if even HALF of the devices we use today suddenly just vanished?

From Cell phones to television and the computer the world has become a slave to such devices and the Media use this to their advantage. America is all about making money; advertisers and manufacturers constantly create bigger and better things to entertain the world so that they will make more money. The problem is; the devices that are supposed to make our lives easier and more efficient are actually quite useless. Sure, the internet is a nice tool to use to gain information in a quicker way than simply doing the research on your own and in a library. The unfortunate thing is that there are quite a few people who use things such as the internet in order to post "stupid" things and misinformation.

If cell phones were gone, people would have to get creative once again in order to get a hold of each other. Texting is a form of communication that allows even the shyest person to be bold in a matter of seconds. However; we could live without such devices. Think about it.

Some Digital Uses

The professor talked about Media surrounding our lives. In fact he told us to make a list of what kinds of digital devices that we use daily. After we listed some of the things we use so much, he asked us to write the approximate amount of hours that we use such things. Here are some of the things I use at least once a day:

1. Cell Phone 

2. Webcam

3. Laptop

4. Camera

5. PS3

These are only a few of the things I could think of on the top of my head. There are so many more devices that are used in the day to day lives. The question is...how much do we use these devices and how much is too much? 

...Time to Say Hello...Im Late Im Late Im Late

Ok so I did get off to a bit of a late start. I've been super incredibly busy these past couple of weeks and I may have accidentally procrastinated in certain areas of my life. Of course I plan to remedy this by keeping on top of my game from now on, but first I should probably talk about myself a little bit. 


As you probably already know, I like to procrastinate but as an English Major I'm sure that won't do me any good anymore. Someday I'd like to work as a writer for some newspaper while writing my books on the side. There's something exciting about being rushed to research and get a story together; I love the way I feel after I've done a good job. 


There's part of me that's not quite sure what to think of English for New Media...it doesn't quite make sense to me yet but there's a reason why Im taking the class right? 


I love to read and I love to write; if I could incorporate some of the silly stories that I've read and written into the Media today I would be a very happy human being. 


I'm quite nervous about posting my blogs, because this is my first time, but Im sure I will get the hang of it soon and do my very best to blog at least twice a week.