Assignment #1 Renno Jeon

Assignment#1

   http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/21/world/videos-isis-recruits.html?ref=world


  This article is about how ISIS recruits, containing three short videos of how young people become extremely radical and join ISIS. There are 3 types of media observed: Text, Video, and Interactivity. Each works greatly its own job to help readers better understand its content. Text, though little, is seen at the introduction, giving a sense of what will be talked about in the article. Because one of the strengths of text is that it can articulate in detail and can be re-read at any time. In addition to that, the three videos featuring people who either have friends that have joined ISIS or almost fell into their recruiting) strongly hit me with reality. Because we can virtually see the people who have fallen victim to the extreme group. For example, when I was reading and watching the story, I found the story so compelling that it put myself in their shoes and I just sympathized with them for their losess. Also, by clicking the share button on the side of the page, people could have discussions with friends, exchanging thoughts regarding the story. Though the story itself was good with the videos, if I was the journalist, I would open up the comment section so that readers could have an open forum offering ideas of how other people think of this matter.

  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/15/world/middleeast/egypt-mexican-tourists.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

   The second article is about the Egyptian military that accidently killed a dozen people on a Mexican tourist trip. As with the article above, there are three types of media observed: Text, Video and Interactivity. This article is quite long and dense. It clearly shows the basics of journalism: Who? What? When? Where? Why? Since it’s lengthy, it takes time for people to absorb the information of the article because people are required to literally read, whereas people can just flow with the radio or TV. The message, however, may be more accurately understood and more thoroughly received. Along with the text, there are pictures and a video embedded in. They give us a clear idea of what’s going on beyond what we can see. As for the video, it shows how the authorities are responding in regard to the killing. It brings up the credibility of the article by showing the appearances and voices of the actual people involved in the situation. Also, since it’s a video, we can just flow with it without having to pay as much attention as we would have to when reading. What’s more, the comment section is available here, unlike the article above, enabling us to share thoughts with others. Reading down some of the comments, I picked up a deeper insight into the stances that the both sides (Mexican government and Egyptian government) are taking. If I was the journalist, I would add more pictures not of the dead bodies but of the bombed (airstrikes) site in an attempt to deliver a message of what really the situation was like.

  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/world/middleeast/palestinian-youths-israeli-police-clashes-al-aqsa-mosque.html
 
 In this third article, the writer talks about a clash between Israel police and Palestinians. As with the two articles above, there are three types of media seen: Text, Video, and Interactivity. Text tells readers what happened with other detailed information. Since it was text, for people like me whose native language is not English, not only did it make me able to refer to my English dictionary as I was reading the article but I was free to read, over and over again, this religion based battle that I, as a person with no religion, wasn’t familiar with until it came clear to me. Aside from that, the video delivers the intensity of the clash and it’s a lot better than somebody describes the clash his/her heart out. Though the comment section is not available, the share buttons are there for people to share the story and discuss with other people. If I was the journalist, like I said, I would open the comment section.