Pg. 4

We actually do a very good job in the way of formatting. According to the Harrower, the simple way is pretty much the best way to go about laying out a newspaper. The Hatchet, if pg. 4 of the October edition is any indication, does a good job of staying consistent and easy to follow.

The Hatchet does a decent job of making sure that pages are not just a giant wall of text, too. It uses its pictures in ways that can best break up the text and give a bit of color–metaphorically speaking, of course–to the pages.

The front page

Page 4 of the Harrower has an example of a page layout that is used on our front page of the October edition. We have two columns of text and then, at the same length, a “column” that consists of a photo and captain.

One problem on Page four of our October edition of the Hatchet, however, is the mugshot consistency. The images themselves are the same size. However, the students within the pictures themselves are not. Some of the heads are a bit small while others are much more zoomed in. For example, on pg. 4, Sandra Nijitanji and Chris Hom have completely different sized mugshots. Sandra’s picture is cut almsot to resemble a bust, ending; cropped slightly below her shoulders. Chris Hom’s picture, on the other hand, shows most of his shirt, down to about his elbows.

The article’s lead answers who (Israel’s air force), what (introduced a fleet of pilotless plans), and where (in Israel).

(From Pg. “A4″, Garment work may be the key to rebuilding) “PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Jordanie Pinquie Rebeca leans forward and guides a piece of suit-jacket wool and its silky lining into a sewing machine, where they’re bound together to be hemmed.

If she does this for eight hours, she will earn $3.09. Her boss will ship the pinstriped suit she helped make to the United States, tariff-free. There a shopper will buy it from JoS.”

Technically the article’s lead could be considered a “snapshot”, I suppose, into the direction of the story. By itself, the lead doesn’t really mean anything to us. It answers a “who” and a “what” but we don’t understand the importance of either until the second sentence.

I think I have improved at interviews. The tips we got on the field trip at the very beginning helped a lot. They pointed out things I had not considered, such as avoiding yes or no questions. And I am not afraid of interviews anymore.

I was surprised at how easily an interview became a conversation. I was reminded, time and time again, how much easier interviews were when you had planned them out and written loads of questions down, should the conversation slow down a bit or in case the conversation went in the wrong direction.

I expected to do the writing that I am doing. I expected to do a certain amount of interviews. I think those have been the most fun part of the course. I have been fortunate enough to have interviewees who wanted to cooperate with me. It is amazing how much they will tell you and how helpful that can be in not only giving you the information you want, but giving you other potential sources to further the story. This class is not 100% what I expected, but so far, I do honestly enjoy it. Sometimes the stories are really fun to work on.

The club’s president, Lisa Ramee, is teaching her fellow club members to make wallets out of juice cartons. They intend to sell them as a fundraiser for the club.

They want to invest in some recycled post-consumer paper for the teachers to use. The club also is taking on an endeavor to get The Hub and New Park Mall to add recycling bins to their facilities.

I think it might be interesting to do a graphic of the kind of sodas we’re consuming at school in the soda machines, how much we are earning from the soda machines, and how much sales must have dropped compared to last year.
It might also be interesting to see if last years’ soda drinkers are drinking less soda or just getting it from some place else now.

This is a picture of the students gathered at the Halloween Rally.

The image follows the rule of thirds. It is most prominently established in the background, where the trees help to divide the picture. In the foreground, there are students watching the Halloween Rally.

New Era performs at the Halloween Rally.

This image demonstrates creative angle, and was taken from the ampitheater, at the edge of the stage. The depth of field is in the center of the image, more specifically, on the lead singer of New Era. It draws the eye to focus on the middle of the picture.

A student from each grade participated in the bobbing for apples contest.

The depth of field is located at the head of the participant on the far left. The table and the grass draw the eye to the participants and serve as leading lines.

Kimberley Chattergee and Breanna Meagher announce the winners of the costume competition.

There is a leading line in the background created by the 2 different paint colors. It draws the eye to focus on the figures in the picture. The image was taken close up, at an angle from beneath the stage of the amphitheater, looking up at the figures.

The judges deliberate over who should win each category of the costume contest at the Halloween Rally. The corner in the background also serves to draw a little bit more attention to the second figure from the right. The picture was taken at an angle, tilted slightly to the left, in order to allow for all the figures to fit in the frame of the picture.

The table top and the bench attached to it serve as leading lines for the image. The lines draw the focus of the image to the judges.

The crowd watches the Halloween Rally at lunch.

The picture is taken at a creative angle. The depth of field is in the cobble in the ground. The tiles also serve as leading lines for the image, drawing the focus of the image to the crowd and the direction in which said lines are going in.

Students from each grade compete in a pumpkin carving contest at the Halloween Rally.

The depth of field appears to be on the student in the orange, next to Jordan. The table and the end of the wall in the background are leading lines which draw the eye toward the center of the picture.

Breanna Meagher encourages students as they ‘mummify’ their teammates in toilet paper at the Halloween Rally.

There are lines in both the background and foreground. Up front, the lines in the cement lead deeper into the picture. The lines from the top of the amphitheater draw more attention, though. It is taken at a creative angle, at the feat of the subject, titled at a slight but not overly dramatic angle.  The focus of the picture seems to be on Breanna Meagher, one of the “announcers” of the rally, and the subject of the photograph.

The first month’s topic was graphic novels. The second months was suspense/horror.

They’re planning on designing club t-shirts.

They’re also thinking about doing fund raisers in order to possibly have food at future meetings and, even, possibly draw more people in with that.

Fund raising for the club began last week.

In the distant future, they’re planning a possible trip to Yosemite.

They’re also going to start making changes to integrate some of the more effective aspects of the environmental clubs from other schools. This includes adding more environment-related clubs; among them, “New Leaf”.

http://whshatchet.com/features/2009/10/14/art-teacher-to-pass-on-artistic-passion/

I watched the broadcast made on Friday (Sept. 29th).

I thought this high school did a great job of delivering their news.

They had a lot of club announcements to deliver, and, rather than just read them straight through for five minutes, they broke it up a lot more. There were stories in between anything that could have been monotonous.

They added a lot of entertainment to it too; jokes that meshed seamlessly with the rest of the broadcast, and kept up the flow of their news.

They covered things both in and outside the community. I liked, for example, that they had a little section on colleges. While it’s not something very localized geographically, it pertains to the juniors and seniors.

They also set up the weather. I think that’s a neat idea. It shows off the technology that their program has.

Another really important thing they did was have a translator. In the bottom right corner, as the news was going on, there was a girl translating in sign language what was going on in the news.

They also had great sports coverage. They did videos on sight. And unlike a lot of news stories, it was a lot more personable. You saw the athletes competing and joking around. I imagine the viewers won’t forget that the people they are watching on screen are both their peers and friends.

They do a really good job of reaching out to their high school and making news both informative and entertaining.