Sam I am

In the feature article "The Boy Behind The Mask" Tom Hallman, Jr. beautifully recalls the story of Sam. Sam was born with a birth defect called vascular anomaly. Which is a deformity that left half of Sam's face looking bloated or swollen. On the outside, Sam was easy to judge by bystanders and the general public, what these people couldn't see explained by Tom Hallman Jr. is that on the inside, Sam is a completely normal kid playing sports, attending school as a great student and making friends. Hallman jumps into the life of Sam describing his circumstances in a heart-wrenching way. The reader will have no choice but to fall in love with Sam and his story. Hallman depicts sam as a brave, amiable and fun kid who really just wishes to be normal and able to fit in. Hallman is able to write this story from so many different angles, going through Sam's struggles, ending in his overcoming them. Hallman describes how Sam didn't notice his own differences until he was 3 years old, and when he did, he cried. Sam, 12 years-old decides being different is too difficult, and he'd like to try to have a type of plastic surgery. Although the plastic surgery wasn't able to fix all of his deformity, Sam's first day of high school showed Sam's bravery and character; not willing to be the boy with a deformity, Sam decided where he belonged and embraced school and society and in return was loved and cared for. His story will not be one that is soon forgotten.

This feature article and Pulitzer Prize winner was definitely not by accident. What makes this article a feature is how Hallman gets a profile of Sam and his life, interviewing him and his family with beautiful quotes as well as getting behind the scenes or analyzing the story and life of Sam and his family. The way Hallman writes this article will leave the reader in aw, and quite possibly teary-eyed.

If you wish to read Hallman's feature yourself, you can find it at the following link: http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2001-Feature-Writing

Changed standards?

In response to watching the News War videos part three:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/view/

Reporting, writing, and all occupations incorporating providing the raw news to the public, used to be jobs of integrity and individuals held in high esteem. News reporters getting in the nitty gritty part of news, delivering the best stories, and even endangering their lives to do so used to be held as daily heroes. These days, not only have those reporters lost their view of heroism but there seems to be a very negative outlook on the character of these reporters. According to the public, reporters these days are associated with words such as: deception, liars, and quite frankly just people not to be associated with.

Not only has the view of reporters changed, but the news in general has changed in how they run things and the content that each news station delivers to the public. In all sections of the news the question that arises is: Has the standard for news changed? It seems as though in this decade, each year that goes by there is less and less hard news and more covering the latest entertainment story of hollywood movie stars. Has the news changed to strictly entertainment?

As said in the News War videos, to the producers dismay, the comedy show with John Stewart has become statistically the top news show for which Americans watch to gain knowledge. The producers don't see this as an accomplishment, but see it rather as the other news stations failure. So what seems to be the problem? How can a news station make people want to watch what's going on in the middle east rather than which movie star got a DWI this week? It seems as though local news channels have found their niche in entertainment and hard news; but has making money become more important than delivering the important details of what's happening around us? Some believe that the standard for news has changed; they believe that it has lowered, and yet others in the industry believe it has just broadened in what they report about.

How do these controversial topics affect the current college students who are hoping to work for the news/media industry, and what should they be expecting upon joining the industry? Well, first of all that yes, times have changed and the expectations and standard of news has changed as well. It's important for each student to realize this, and important to hold onto their passions if delivering hard news is just that, then chasing after truth at all cause should be their goal. Although society and other news channels have cheapened what they call news, it's important to continue the fight in finding different ways and creative ways to present the news.