Storify Attempt

This is my storify attempt at recreating Rebecca Skloot's #creativenf live twitter chat.

Byliner Writers I'm Reading

The first writer I selected was Jason Fagone, due in no small part to the recent article "Does God Have a Tim Tebow Complex" that originally ran in GQ.  It's hilarious.  Fagone properly pairs snark with stats in a way I can only dream of mastering.  And dream I will.

I first heard of Stewart O'Nan a few weeks ago when I attended a reading by Chuck Palahniuk.  O'Nan introduced Palahniuk and was the moderator of a Q&A session.  I thought he was absolutely charming and wanted to read anything this guy decided was worth writing.  Thank you, Byliner, for allowing me to further literature-stalk a writer I hope to soon count as a favorite.

Devin Leonard is far more straight forward than the other two writers I selected.  He doesn't rely on Fagone's sharp wit or O'Nan's charming phrases but rather allows his facts to do the majority of the talking for him.  Leonard resembles the traditional view of a journalist, a resemblance that is harder to find as infotainment takes over.

No Place Like Home(wood)

I spent a significant part of last weekend volunteering with Operation Better Block in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood.  During my time there I saw a presentation from one of Better Block's community organizers about the "evolution" of one of Pittsburgh's most dangerous and economically depressed neighborhoods.  That's the story I want to tell.

Idea 1: Before and After Image
    Homewood Avenue was once one of the city's most vibrant business districts.  I'd like to blend images of a few blocks on that road before as well as the boarded up version that exists now.  Ideally, it would be one image with the black and white businesses interspersed between their boarded up counterparts of today.

Idea 2: An Oral History
    Homewood's "better days" aren't that far behind us, so I'd also work on an audio/video interview with someone who remembers what it was and can explain what it is now.  Ideally, this documentary-style project would take viewers through Homewood while simultaneously sharing stories about days before the busway and Hill District relocation.

Idea 3: Charts and Graphs: Homewood vs Point Breeze
    Directly adjacent to Homewood is one of Pittsburgh's wealthier neighborhoods:  Point Breeze.  Using charts and graphs to illustrate literacy rates, drop out rates, murders per square mile and the sort I think this visual and fact-driven presentation would be incredibly interesting.

Backup Quarterbacks and Online Writing

    While perusing The Atlantic this morning I had what I would consider my best experience with online journalism to date.  I read the article "Tim Tebow, Messiah: Why Do NFL Fans Love Backup Quarterbacks So Much?" which I found to be absolutely fantastic for multiple reasons.
    The first of such reasons is that the content is something I've found myself pondering a lot lately.  It seems every time Pitt loses a football game, my Facebook news-feed is fraught with demands for the head of quarterback Tino Sunserri on a silver platter.  Moreover, everyone seems to be in favor of starting his backup, Trey Anderson.  While the college mentality is clearly different from the NFL mentality, a deeper look of what's really going on here was appreciated.
    In addition to it being a topic I was incredibly interested in, I very much appreciated the structure of the piece.  Giving each writer a page in which to discuss his/her views on this phenomena both made for an interesting and quick way to read the piece (and in online journalism quick is king) and added some feelings of credibility.  If they're willing to go through four writers, they can't all be wrong, can they?
    I also really appreciated the way each of the writers acknowledged what was before their piece by referencing the other contributors by first name.  This conversation feeling was enhanced by each writing ending their section of the piece with some sort of request for input from the next writer.

Canadian Supreme Court Ruling

I know this isn't in the states, but I still thought this was particularly interesting given what we discussed earlier in the semester.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111019/10203016414/canadian-supreme-court-says-no-liability-linking-to-defamatory-content.shtml

In Class Lab- 48 Hours

What I've Learned

Cover:

It will be styled to look like a notebook with handwritten font.

Content:

Some smaller articles to begin coupled with essays about a wide range of topics dealing with lessons learned (ex: 'What I Learned in College').

Classrooms

Teaching

Personal stories

Talents

Family/Traditions/Crafts

Feature Article (sponsored?) - in-depth piece on the educational climate in Homewood Neighborhood, Pittsburgh, PA.

Commentary on schools in Pittsburgh ('Did you know: Barack Obama Elementary School')

Art: for an article such as the Homewood piece, it would be more aesthetically pleasing to have graphics of the neighborhood (gritty, raw photography). And for the lighter articles a mixture of cartoons, photography, and assorted quotes about what they have learned.

Nonfiction Facebook pages

I "liked" Rust Wire and This American Life on facebook.  Rust Wire is an online nonfiction blog about rustbelt cities, such as Pittsburgh and Youngstown, which I'm from, that discusses issues facing the region.  This American Life is the facebook page of everyone's favorite PRI program.  They're both really different, but I find both of them to be endlessly fascinating.