Should the government provide vouchers for students to attend private schools?

If someone was going to write a story on a topic such as this you would want to know both sides of opinions. The Deseret Morning News believes that providing these vouchers will cause segregation. The American Civil Liberty Union of Utah provides their argument on this topic well. Not only do they tell you why they are opposed to the vouchers, but they provide background information to support their opinion. The Washington Times explains how the vouchers have become a good thing for families in Sweden. The Alliance for the Separation of School and State provides an entry for both of the opinions on this topic. They also provide multiple links for background information on the topic. In 2002 the state of Ohio had a case appealed to the Supreme Court to see if these vouchers violate the Establishment Clause. Zelman v. Simmons-Harris showed that the vouchers were indeed constitutional. A lot of the arguments made on this topic are regarding whether the vouchers should be able to be used for religious schools. The Americans United for the Separation of Church and State believe that the vouchers are constitutional, as long as they are able to use them at a wide array of private schools.

New West Knows How to Use New Media

New West is an online media source dedicated to providing information on the culture, politics, environment and lifestyle of the Rocky Mountains West. They describe themselves as a next generation media source, which in other words is new media. They wish to provide innovative journalism that evokes participation among their readers. Since their beginning in 2005, New West has been connecting the fastest growing region in the country. I am going to critique certain areas of their award winning website and explain why I think it works or why I think it doesn't.

Design
Upon first arriving at the website, I found the design to be a little busy. However, after taking the time to look deeper into it I was able to see that although it had a lot of information it was well organized. All of the information is placed in boxes and given some sort of heading. If you became familiar with the site and really liked a certain aspect then it is right there for you to find. One of my favorite things about the website is shown when you first log on. I like that they call their home page the Front Page. I think this helps people who are “newbies” to this kind of media source feel more comfortable. It gives it the style of a more traditional media source. All in all I'd have to say I don't love the design of the site, but it keeps everything organized and gets the job done.

Writing Style
After heading to read my first article on the site on the topic of wolves, I noticed another feature that I thought added to the new media aspect of the site. First you are exposed to the headline of the article, and then when you click the article you are given a brief bolded synopsis of what the story entails. I really thought this was a great idea because it allows you to get a general feel of what the story is about. The style of writing on this site is more conversational than a traditional media source. The authors do an excellent job of not burying the lead or the important information. The paragraphs are short and easy to read, however; many of the stories seemed to be lengthy. Another feature that I found useful was that they used links in the stories to go back to reference earlier stories. This makes it easy to guide a confused reader to the right direction.

Video/Graphics
I liked that each story had a graphic that went along with it. On the site they provide a link to look at graphics and video. This takes the reader to a page filled with pictures taken by the writers of the site and also community members. After each picture they have a link for comments so people can converse over the images.

Interactivity
One of the reasons why I like to get most of my news online is because of the interactivity. I love to provide my feelings on the topic after I've read the article. New West provides a link at the end of every article to allow the readers to strike up a conversation. New West strives for as much participation from their readers as possible. They provide links for input at any location they can. Another feature I find really beneficial is that they make it easy for you to share or e-mail the story which can help and boost them through social media.

Social Media
The Front Page of the New West site provides a live feed of their Twitter account. From what I can see they tweet a few times every few days. Their tweets are well written and provide just enough information to get the reader to want to read more. I also noticed that they use hashtags, this will help to gather an even larger Twitter audience. New West also provides a link to their Flickr account on their front page. They provide a featured photo, a slideshow and offer a group for people to contribute to. This is another great way to spark interactivity on their site.

Credible Online Sources for Eminem

I went into this assignment thinking it would be easy, because I was sure there was so much information about Eminem out there. This was true, but a lot of the stuff came from non-credible sources. Here's my top picks for credible Eminem sources.

1.) Fox News - I found this source to be credible, because it is written by a well known media source. Fox News is an outlet that many people use on a daily basis to get their daily news.

2.)Encyclopedia Britannica - I believe this source is credible, because like Fox News the Encyclopedia Britannica is a well known publication. This isn't a site that people are able to contribute their own information on.

3.)Billboard - As many of you know, Billboard is known for releasing it's Hot 100 music charts. They do their research to make sure that they have the correct Top 100 songs. They are well associated with music, and I believe them to be a credible source.

4.)MTV News - This site provides an actual news story that you could reference for interview questions. It provides something other than a biography. I consider MTV to be a credible source, because it is well established in the music scene.

5.)BBC News - Finally, to ask some more controversial questions this article and site could be used. Once again I used a site that a lot of people are familiar with. It is a well established news source.

And So It Begins...

You could say I'm relatively new to the world of blogging, but since this is my first post let's start off on a fresh note with no ambiguous thoughts and just come clean and say it, I've never done any blogging before in my life. Now is as good a time as any to get started, right?


My name is Emma Walter and I am a senior at Slippery Rock University. Like any typical college student I have a Facebook page, and like any Communications student I have a Twitter account. I've always wanted to try blogging, but was waiting for an excuse to get started. My excuse came this semester when I began studying New-Media Journalism. New-media is such a fascinating topic to me, because it is constantly evolving and the possibilities are endless. I'm excited to have the opportunity to not only blog, but also get a little work in my major of public relations, by promoting my blog through the use of social media.


One of the most interesting things in studying new media is to see how much media outlets have evolved in just a few years. ABC News is a great traditional media outlet that provides a variety of stories that reach out to a variety of publics, such as myself. It has a traditional style in its daily newscasts that is more appealing to some. It's website is actually starting to lean towards a new-media outlet. However, times are changing and sometimes people want things a little more informal. They are looking for something that tells them exactly what they want, and when they want it. They want to be able to relate to the story and the author on a more personal level. Take the new-media outlet, The Huffington Post, it provides multiple options for the most up to date news. Such as blogs, which are quickly becoming one of the fastest media outlets with the use of backpack journalism and of course social media. If you are interested on any certain topic, there is a blog out there to help you get the most information in the least amount of time.

I'm excited to begin my journey with new-media and look forward to sharing my details with you.