I chose CNN’s “This Just In” for my blog to follow for COMM 337. I chose this blog for a number of reasons. One being, I like to keep up with what is going on in the world. This blog is updated regularly. Whenever breaking news occurs, you can be sure that it will be on the blog. Not only does the blog have the breaking news, but it also has a number of other articles that I find interesting and/or entertaining.
I can appreciate the bloggers’ voices throughout this blog. There are a number of writers who write on this blog which gives the readership a good variety. It allows for the style of writing to be mixed up. I think this is refreshing. The first article I read was about a republican college group at UC Berkley, and their bake sale. They wanted to protest reverse racism, regarding the cost of tuition being more expensive for white students than for minorities. They charged $2.00 for Whites, $1.50 for Asians, $1.00 for Latinos, $0.75 for Blacks, and $0.25 for Native Americans. This is an odd article that I wouldn’t have probably seen if not reading the blog. They also allow for reader comments. I don’t normally have much of an affinity for this concept but then I read this comment regarding the bake sale story; “ Cobbscout said, "I'd get one Native American woman to buy all of the cookies for free ($.25 for Native American – $.25 for being a woman = $.00 or free), thus shutting down these jerks. Then set up my own table and resell all the cookies for $1.00 each to anyone who wanted to buy them. That's American enterprise at its best."” I wasn’t expecting a CNN blog to have any content on it that was going to make me laugh. The next article I read was about SNL’s spoofs of politicians. This was another well written article in which the writer’s told you about something they thought was funny, and showed the video clips. This was a good example of the writers using their voice to show you how they feel about something that makes them laugh.
The next post I read was about Fidel Castro coming out from behind closed doors with an essay about President Obama’s speech regarding the United Nations. Castro accused NATO of monstrous crimes in Libya. The post was 5 paragraphs long, providing a brief summary of what happened with a link to a longer essay. This is a great structure for a blog so you can see all the articles, and still find the articles you are really interested in. When you choose a certain article the blog will recommend similar articles that it might think you might have an interest in.
My biggest problem with the blog is the fact that it pulls in articles from Nancy Grace. I absolutely despise Nancy Grace. I think it is almost insane that CNN uses her as an anchor on one of their networks. Almost all news on cable has some sort of bias to it. The worst thing about Nancy Grace is that she doesn’t try and hide her bias whatsoever. Not only is she biased, but her show covers stories that aren’t really what I would consider newsworthy. Her show is all about people dying and being murdered. Nancy is a retired lawyer and she jumps at the chance to point the finger at people even when they haven’t received a trial yet. She doesn’t care about the idea of a person being innocent until proven guilty. I look at her “voice” is the essential of what I would not want to read.
Although Nancy Grace is affiliated with CNN, I think their “This Just In” blog does a great job at staying away from her style. The blog is great about giving you the facts on all the stories. I can appreciate this. When it comes to the big issues the writers do a great job at eliminating a bias. While keeping out the bias in the news, the writers are still able to show you what they like and how they feel about things. They show you what they think is funny; they pick the articles that they believe are interesting, and they use their own writing styles. I really think this is a very interesting blog and a good way to keep up with what is going on in the world.
