Multimedia story critique: week seven

For this week's best story, I chose Kelsie Soward's Military men will never forget their tours in Iraq.

This week, the journalism world was turned upside down with the news of Osama bin Laden's death. Newspapers across the country have run a number of bin Laden stories this week. I thought that Soward's story touched on the topic, without beating a dead horse. Soward's piece is deeply personal and reminds us of the sacrifices that service men and women are making everyday to keep us safe. Soward took a fresh and interesting angle to a story that is very big this week. I love it!

Soward's story tells the tale of three Marines whose lives changed while they were overseas. Where Soward shines is her ability to find subject matter that will resonate with people. I commend her ability to find three Marines to talk about their personal issues with her.

The video was the perfect multimedia complement to the written piece. Hearing Cpl. Anthony Carter speak about his divorce, tours of duty and reasons for joining the military was emotional and real. I think this was the singly best piece of multimedia I've seen all semester!

Multimedia story critique: No. 6

For this week's review, I chose Aubrey Nodine-Montoya's "Proposed noise ordinance spurs neighbor involvement, documentary."

I will admit that I have a personal interest in this story because I am a fan of country music, and I regularly attend free summer concerts at County Line BBQ. Reading about the proposed noise ordinance and the possible end of the summer councert series made me personally sad and a bit angry.

Nodine-Montoya took the story one step further to interview a documentarian who is producing a film about the controversial noise ordinance. I thought that Nodine-Montoya's ability to interview the right people and also find an interesting angle made her story the week's best.

My only criticism of the piece is Nodine-Montoya's multimedia element. I don't know if it was just on my computer (which doesn't have external speakers connected to it), but I could not hear any of the audio. Overall, great story and great job though!