Evaluation of News Magazine Stories-

    The online magazine is a strange blend of classic and new media.  How such sites present their stories can inform a careful reader to any bias in the article.

Grabowska, Karolina Coffee and Magazine Jul. 30, 2014 via Pexels

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    The economist discusses the use of bio-fuels in this article.  Many attempts at developing a workable bio-fuel have failed to pan out.  It may be time to reevaluate whether to continue putting effort into their development.
    In this argument I'm most sympathetic to those trying to develop new fuels.  They come off as innovators, trying to solve a looming problem.  Showing the myriad approaches being taken by many groups gives me hope that bio-fuels may yet succeed.
    The article takes a less enthusiastic view overall.  A list of bio-fuel's many challenges fills the opening paragraphs with a sobered tone.  The final paragraph is used to cast doubt on the entire bio-fuel effort.
    Climate change has been thoroughly discussed, but the Times brings up a less often heard point in their article.  We don't often discuss the potential for climate change to expand the range of tropical diseases.
    Those arguing against  the likelihood of a dramatic expansion of mosquito ranges garner more sympathy from me.  The article portrays such people as Yale's Durland Fish as the more skeptical side, pointing out insufficiency of models.
    The portrayal of those who expect the expansion is less flattering.  Their arguments are presented as simplistic.  No one supporting the idea of a massive expansion is ever quoted directly.

Twitter and What I Found There-

    The sciences, especially physics, have an interesting relationship with various media.  Since a work is often only considered significant if published in a peer reviewed paper, other media are often somewhat unappreciated.  However, the sciences are filled with technically literate people who certainly use social media.

Linforth, Pete No Title December 2015 via Pixabay

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    Twitter is a unique platform for discussion.  It allows for casual public conversations on any topic.  It would seem that people must use it to discuss physics, but I've never met someone who used it for that purpose.
    Much of what I found while searching for accounts about physics on Twitter was simply links to other sites.  It seems that people in the field mostly use Twitter to spread information about items outside of Twitter.  Links to articles from popular science magazines were especial common.  There weren't signs of a robust dialog taking place within Twitter itself.
    I think that people in physics use twitter less than one would expect because the platform isn't well suited to discussing physics.  A 140 character limit can be extremely inhibiting when a conversation gets technical.

Evaluation of New York Times Stories- a narrative based

    The New York Times is one of those papers that I immediately recognize yet rarely read.  While I immediately register the paper as a significant piece of media, I really don't know anything about it.  I want to know how the NY Times presents its articles.  To learn how the NY Times operates, I've analysed two of their articles for a narrative framework.

Minge, Mark No Title Oct. 22, 2012 via Pixabay

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    What greater pest is there than the mosquito?  Man's insect nemesis has forced it's way into the news again, carrying a new outbreak of the Zika virus that has the potential to inflict nearly unbelievable damage mainly in South America.  A new technique is being used to fight this outbreak.  This article, from the New York Times, discusses the use of genetically modified mosquitoes to curb the populations of Zika carrying mosquitoes.
    The article does not focus on a single "protagonist", but instead presents a wide collection of people and places attempting to face a singular foe.  The main character of this story is its reviled villain, the mosquito.  The article uses the looming public health threat and the efforts to eradicate it for its narrative framework.
    The setting of this story is scattershot.  Focusing mainly in Brazil, the narrative jumps between cities, research labs, and test sites.  While it can be disorienting, this approach emphasizes the global nature of the problem at hand.
    The main point of discussion in the article is whether or not genetically modified mosquitoes should be used to control the recent Zika outbreak.  The stakes of the debate are the potential to cripple one of humanity's oldest enemies held against the feared consequences of releasing a modified version of that enemy.
    I feel that the NY Times chose an appropriate narrative for this article.  It explains a global problem and asks the reader to judge a particular solution without overtly supporting either side of the debate.

Lonaug, Marlon No Title March 2015 via Pixabay

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    Unlicensed gun sales are rarely one's first thought when Facebook is mentioned.  As an article in the NY Times explains, Facebook is trying to keep it this way.  Online gun sales are a point of contention in gun control, as they can be difficult to regulate and track.  As Facebook is moving to better accommodate e-commerce,  it is banning these potentially legal risks.

    The main player in this story is Facebook itself.  The story focuses on it's attempts to to navigate the goals of the secondary interests.  Gun control groups and gun sellers play the supporting roles and provide the central conflict.

    The setting of this story is the ever nebulous internet.  Without a concrete physical setting this story is able to jump between different players without causing a sense of motion sickness but lacks a grounding sense of location. 

    While the decision has already been made, the debate in this article is how thoroughly Facebook should regulate its user's sales.  While eliminating the potential for illegal gun sales is a necessity for Facebook, it doesn't wish to alienate legal gun sellers as users.

    I've never paid much attention to the NY Times, but I may now.  From what I've seen it does a reasonable job of responsible reporting.  It seems to use narrative frameworks to make news more understandable without skewing the presentation of the piece.

Investigating Genres- the complexities of

    The Podcast has a lot to unpack.  The genre is packed with unique tropes and forms.  With its net of means of distribution and defined style, it is nearly a medium unto itself.

Patrick Breitenbach "My Podcast Set I" Taken on August 8, 2008 via flickr 

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    To consider the podcast, it is useful to consider the role it plays.  It often plays in the background of some less than captivating task.  The drive to work and dinner preparations are standard environments.  Listeners are often long time followers, happy to hear a familiar voice.  The content of the podcast can range from management advice to discussions of social media, but the familiar easy to listen to quality is still there.

    Since they take the form of simple audio files, podcasts are remarkably easy to distribute.  iTunes and dedicated sites serve the same distribution as YouTube.  The most noteworthy trait of such a service is how it makes its money.  Advertising and merchandise often work around the difficulties of charging for something that can be so easily copied.  The rise of services like Patreon have made even more non-traditional pay systems possible.

    The simplicity of the podcast opens it to anyone with an internet access with out alienate less internet literate audiences.  If I had to define the podcast, and I do, I'd say that; It is a combination of the comfort of a talk-show with the possibilities of the internet's vast capabilities as a medium.

My Writing Process- the chaos that is

    I cannot say that I practice the best writing habits.  In fact, I can be a bit terrible about it.  I tend to write in a way that puts me under to much stress and pushes deadlines.  Writing can be a freeing and satisfying act, but much of the time, for a variety of reasons, it is an unpleasant and draining task.

Miguel Angel "What have I done!?" August 17, 2006 via flickr 

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    I prefer to think of myself as the Heavy Reviser writer, the kind of writer who goes over and rewrites their work until it bears little resemblance to whatever first draft they started with.  In my experience revision can transform a work into an entirely different, and better, piece.  I struggle with the obvious problems with this style, especially the need to delete a good, but superfluous paragraph.

    But, really I'm a procrastinator.  My ability to start projects is questionable.  A blank page is an intimidating thing.  Procrastination has cause me enough trouble in the past that I've tried to expunge it several times.  Still, I often find myself turning in a piece before I feel that I'm truly done with it. Then again I'd never stop tweaking my work otherwise.

    My writing process is maddening, draining, and distressingly effective.  The largest flaw in my writing is my procrastination.  Though, that largely stems from my overuse of revision.  When writing my projects often end up taking up as much time as I allow them to.  My writing process is draining, but it's how I work.

    Trying to change my approach to writing would be the obvious solution, but it hasn't worked.  My attempts to more heavily plan my work have had the same results with lower quality final products.  I'll likely learn how to write more like a sensible person eventually, but until then I'll keep trying to fake it.