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James Stovall’s (The guy to the left) Web Journalism, after the preliminary chapters, delves further into the unlimited potential of online news reporting. Chapters 5, 6, 10, and 12 combine tips for old-fashioned reporting with advice on how to apply such techniques to internet reporting.

Chapter five focuses on the basics of news writing. Whether you are writing for print copy, a television news program, or a blog, there is a uniform writing technique according to Stovall:
-The writing must be precise and accurate as best as possible.
-The writing must be clear and readable
-Get to the point. Write concisely and don’t use too many words.
-Know your audience. Cater to their needs.
-Use the inverted pyramid to list information (most important info at the beginning)

This chapter was helpful because Stovall did review the basics, but also gave interesting web advice in terms of using hypertext, links, and graphics. He explained that the internet allows a reader to see more forms of media so we as writers should exploit that.

Chapter six discusses editing. A print editor has the most important job because he or she decides what stories should be printed, whether the structure and grammar of a story are proper, and what appeals most to a reader. An online editor has many similar responsibilities, plus additional ones. The editor must decide on the headlines for the site as well as sidebars. He must decide on sidebar information as well what links would properly aide a story. This was an interesting chapter because it explained how technology not only changed the median in which news is reported, but it changed the roles of those involved in news reporting as well.

Chapter ten focuses on web design. It is so important, as it is with print media, that the presentation of a website or weblog is aesthetically appealing to the reader. The color of the background and text could affect the reader’s eye. The layout should be easily accessible to the reader in terms of finding links and archives. The print should be large to highlight what an author would want someone to read. An editor should utilize graphics, texts, and blank space to make the site as appealing to the reader as possible. This was informative for our own work in this class so we can figure out what is most aesthetically pleasing to readers.

Chapter twelve discussed the major legal issues concerned with web journalism. Decency, privacy, free speech, and intellectual property are all hazy fields which have created many legal battlegrounds that are unsettled. There are few definitive laws regulating the internet which has caused major unresolved legal issues. Decency was an important issue because youths have access to inappropriate materials which the government is trying to regulate. This chapter was interesting because the internet is a relatively new medium and the government has not clearly defined its limitation. It will be interesting in the future to watch how law will affect the future of web journalism.

Journalism is no longer confined to the pages of a newspaper of the screen of a television. The internet has opened up a whole new forum for mass communication, education, and news. James Stovall, the head of the journalism program at the University of Alabama for the past 25 years, has seen first hand the transition of journalism onto websites. In his book, Web Journalism: Practice and Promise of a New Medium, Stovall shares his vast knowledge of journalism in all its facets. As an English major, I found his insights enlightening and refreshing. The first four chapters of his book exude these qualities.

Chapter One discusses the benefits of using web sites as a news medium. Specifically, the web has a limitless capacity, great flexibility, immediacy, permanence, and interactivity.

These ideas clicked with me because it is a combination of all these aspects that make the internet the primary source of my news. Web sites have a distinct advantage in terms of immediacy. Newspapers have to wait until the mornings or sometimes late afternoons to print news. News shows have to wait until they air.

The internet can provide immediate information as soon as it is published. It is quick and can provide pictures, video, and link to more information.

As an English major, the capactiy issue is a major one. A writer is now not limited to a set amount of type space and a newscaster is limited to a certain number of minutes to report on a story. A writer can write as much or as little as he or she chooses. There are few structural rules that bind a blog writer providing a truly freeing writing experience.

CNN.com is my main news source and this exemplifies everything Stovall was speaking of. The site is well-written, limitless in terms of information, provides media in all forms (e.g. pictures, video), and most importantly it delivers quick and accurate news. It has all the feautres chapter one speaks of.

Chapter two goes on to speak about the varying types of news websites. There are sites that are updated frequently, several times a day, like CNN.com, which could be the consumate news source. There are also moderately updated websites, like on a weekly basis, also. As Stovall states that blogs are a form of reporting, I have my doubts. My blog post consist of me talking about books I exclusively have read and people I have interacted with. I have not really reported on politics or social events. MY news is not important to many and I do not consider it reporting.

Chapter three delves into the major differences between web journalism and other forms of journalism. The elimination of deadlines was perhaps the most intriguing comment Stovall made. He states that with the easy of publication on the internet, news can be published at any time and would not have to wait to be printed on paper or read aloud on the 6 or 10 o'clock news. I find that to be inheritantly true. Online writers do not have to rush their work. They can pace themselves, fact check extensively, and make their work public when they feel the work is ready. It is a definate positive to be an online journalist.

Chapter four reverts to the fundamentals of journalism and how a majority of them still apply to web journalism. There should be quick, interesting paragraphs that draw the reader to keep reading. The author's words should be sharp and well-written. Headlines, summaries, and polls are still a major component of journalism.

Overall, Stovall's opinion was a proper one in my opinion. His old-school journalistic style has obviously had to adapt to this technological revolution, but it appears to be a smooth transition. He appreciates the benefits of web journalism, warns of the risks, and appeals to some traditional standards to still be in effect.

Blogging has been used to discuss issues such as Desperate Housewives, how to make a soufflé, and how Kobe Bryant single-handedly ruined the Lakers. This, for many, suggests that weblogs are created for trivial and trite purposes only. These people have not come across Radley Balko’s blog. Balko is addressing a court case in Mississippi that sentenced a young man to death row.

His site, the agitator.com, has used this form of expression to potentially save a man's life.

Balko is researching and discussing the case of Cory Maye (pictured right), a man accused of shooting a police officer during a drug raid at Maye’s house which killed the cop. Balko, an analyst for the Cato Institute, has done tremendous amounts of research regarding obtaining court documents and referencing the prosecuting and defending attorneys. His goal is to get the attention of mainstream media.

The word is spreading through Balko’s blog and others are taking to his cause. A blog called Battlepanda is tracking the coverage of this case around the country. Although there are not many credible news sources reporting on the article, one can find several weblogs on the issue.

May sites have been created to proclaim his innocence or to simply question the legal system's swiftness in making such a decision.

This demonstrates the power blogging potentially has. A young, black man on death row who thought his life would be an afterthought, if thought of at all, by most is now the subject of an internet revolution. Instead of television shows or cooking, blogs can address justice and human liberties. A man’s life could be saved because one eager writer decided it would be an interesting topic to write about.