Spring 2011 student blogs

Alysha: Thirsty For Beer!

Amber: Sunshine & Serenity

Drew: Heat Fandom

Elyssa: Good Food for the Soul

Jenna: Insight into a dancers world!

Jillian: College Night Life

Kaley: Off Atlantic

Kayla: The Plastic Feminist

Mara: Tips for Fashionable College Students on a Budget!!

Matthew: South Florida Car Spottings and News

Mercedes: Curl My Lashes

Michael: Eye on the Owls

Rachael: Lady Angler

Shannon: The Single Working Female

Vanessa: Sharkin'

Alternative Story Forms

Alternative story forms aren't limited to use online, but they work particularly well there.

Sara Quinn has an interesting intro to the concept, which begins with this:

Q: What are alternative story forms?

A: They’re tools that quickly engage a reader’s attention: a timeline, a checklist, a fact box or a graphic — anything that doesn’t fit the standard model of most newspaper narratives. You’re reading one right now in this Q&A.

Here is a list of just a few types, each with a link to an example:

• Map
• Timeline
• Checklist
• Quote box
• Fact box
• By the numbers
• Glossary
• Dos and Don'ts
• Bio box
• Database

Captions to look at in class

Here is an example of captions that tell a story:

Is there a farm in your future?

Hiking in Kurdistan

Childbirth in Afghanistan

Some examples of databases in online journalism

Here's a list of a few database-driven projects recently featured in online sites.

• Immigration patterns from the New York Times
• Violence in Afghanistan from Wall Street Journal
• Faces of the Fallen from Washington Post
• U.S. Congress votes database from Washington Post