Seeing & Writing 2

"Big stories change media," wrote writer and cultural critic Jon Katz on the webzine Slashdot after the events of September 11, 2001. "Radio's highwater mark was World War II, and TV news came of age after John F. Kennedy's assassination. Elvis and his death gave birth to modern mass marketed tabloid media. Increasingly, it appears the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and the shooting war that began last night [in Afghanistan] have made more distinct another evolutionary leap in information: The Net is emerging as our most serious communications medium and clearly the freest and most diverse. Conventional journalists are still obsessed with hackers and pornographers; still fuss about whether the Net is safe or factual. But increasingly, they steer readers to their web sites for more in-depth information and conversation."

To what extent do you agree with Katz's assertion? How does online news coverage differ from print, radio, and television news coverage? What, in your opinion, are the significant advantages and disadvantages of each? How have the events of September 11 altered the media? Argue for or against Katz's point of view, using your news story as a case study.

Chapter 3. Capturing Memorable Moments
	Visual Exercises for Chapter 3

	Research Links for Chapter 3

	Re:Searching the Web

Use the boxes below to work both exercises and e–mail your response to yourself and/or your instructor.

Start by searching the online archives of CNN, Washington Post, or the New York Times. Part of the assignment requires you to assess the validity of the sources you find. Most English composition handbooks have materials on evaluating online sources, and increasingly college libraries are offering short courses on how to evaluate such materials.

More and more Americans are publishing on the web the ordinary and extraordinary moments from their daily lives. At the Jennicam site, you can watch the events that take place in a woman's living room. Other sites allow Americans to share humorous first date successes and failures (Dating Fun), and favorite family stories (Bubbe's Back Porch). Choose a web site that captures a memorable moment of some kind. You might decide on a common category of a type of moment–weddings, first job, proms, grandparents' stories–and search for these on a search engine. Write a one-page characterization of the ways in which the medium of the web enhanced or inhibited the presentation of this moment. How does the medium affect the telling of this particular story? How would you understand the moment differently if it had been narrated to you in person? written in a book? published in a magazine?

To e–mail your work to yourself and/or your instructor, enter the e–mail addresses below. You can then print a copy from your e–mail program.
Your name.
Your e–mail address.
Instructor's e–mail address.

Bedford/St. Martin's | About this Book | Order a Book | Contact Us