The Perfect Diet

I like the lead and introduction for this article. It gets straight to the point, the "meat" of the story... Like other how-to articles we've read, this article is not bogged down by number after number reciting the calorie counts of various foods.

Instead, I feel the writer does a great job in utilizing sources. She has interviewed real experts and the quotes reveal a lot of information.

The structure of the article works well in that a reader can quickly maneuver to whichever tips they wish to read. However, it did seem a bit monotonous to me. I became bored and found myself skipping valuable information. The recipes at the end also don't seem to fit. I don't know how this looked in the magazine, but I feel these recipes may have been better suited as a different section or some kind of sidebar.

Lastly, I feel that the writer should focus more on the impact this diet has on running. What makes this diet specifically better in regards to a runner? I feel like she just says it works "well for runners" but doesn't explain why.

Healthy Guide To Eating Out

I really enjoyed how Sari Harrer begins this story. It's simple and yet I was able to picture a typical Norman Rockwell-era family depart for a restaurant dinner. Those who don't know who Norman Rockwell is may miss the point, but I'd say that's their loss. The story then goes into an average nut graf full of startling statistics and facts.

The structure of the article works very well for a how-to. Reader's should have no difficulty steering to topics which interest them most. The content is also informative and effectively displays how one should go about healthily eating out.

One issue I had with the article did involve the use of statistics. There were times (specifically in Step 2) where the numbers almost seemed to outnumber the words. It just seemed so hard to keep track of all these numbers as I was reading. There needs to be something here to ground the writing so the reader isn't lost in the numbers.

Story 2 Outline and Sources

1. Introduction
a. Anecdotal lead of Aaron Swaidner playing a record and describing the experience
b. Nut graf – Explains the vinyl record industry. Include record sales vs. CD/digital music sales. Why do artists still produce records?

2. Story Bulk
a. Background/history on vinyl records. How a record works.
b. Interviews with record store owners. Why do they sell vinyl? Preference on how music is played?
c. Interview with musician who actually sells their music on vinyl.
d. Info on audiophiles who prefer vinyl records

3. Conclusion
a. Answer why records are still sold; better sound quality? Artwork? Listening experience? All of the above?
b. Return to Aaron Swaidner

SOURCES

Aaron Swaidner - Student who collects and regularly listens to vinyl records
Andy - Owner of Tracks, a record store in Bloomington.
Owner of another record store (i.e. Landlocked, TD's)
Mike Adams - Musician and founder of XRA Records

The End Of Men

This story opens with a lead describing scientist Ronald Ericcson's work on sperm selection methods. The lead does a great job of getting the reader's attention. I didn't get the impression that this article was about Ericcson though (which it isn't). This introduction is interesting, but I feel like it's length is a bit strained. Perhaps other info on Ericcson can be spread throughout the story. Finally after dwelling on Ericcson, Hanna Rosin states that, "Man has been the dominant sex since, well, the dawn of mankind. But for the first time in human history, that is changing—and with shocking speed." I felt like this was almost a worthless sentence. I gathered this throughout the introduction and didn't need retold.

Like the other Atlantic article we read, Beating Obesity, this contains a lot of information and statistics. Unlike Beating Obesity, I had more difficulty reading every line in this article. I caught myself skimming through the facts and figures. I hardly thought it was an uninteresting subject; as a man, I'm kind of worried now. I really just feel like this article could have been much shorter and still been just as good of quality if not better. I understand the Atlantic may feature more long-form stories, but this one seemed a bit too long for me.

How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong

I think this story opens very well with a lead which gives the reader an impression of how Steve Jobs acts. The anecdote explains how he would often park in handicapped spaces at Apple HQ. As Jobs represents Apple as a whole, this provides a stark contrast with the products which Apple produces.

I felt that Leander Kahney did well in explaining how other copanies handle their employees compared to how Apple does. I always knew that companies like Google and Microsoft and Facebook were very open to their employees ideas and freedom. It certainly surprised me to learn this about Apple.

This article contains a lot of information concerning Apple's history and at times it can seem very repetitive. Kahney is essentially listing off ways in which Apple does things wrong. I felt like this was a very biased article as well. Apple and Jobs are portrayed in a very negative light and I have trouble believing that Apple really is such an awful company. It almost seems like the article represents how Wired Magazine feels towards the company. The reader receives little positive about Apple apart from the point that Jobs is harsh, yet knows what he's doing.

Beating Obesity

This story opens with a long and fact-filled introduction. The reader learns why Americans are fat and what challenges they face. The author then indicates that a certain change must be made to combat this "epidemic."
This article contains a huge amount of facts, which at times, seem to get confusing. However, this is a long article which is dealing with a hefty topic. Learning about obesity and how to beat it is hardly a new topic. Marc Ambinder surely had difficulty trying to make this article different than others like it, and I feel like he did a good job. The article covers a lot. We learn about the history of obesity, and just about every way there is to beat it from diet and exercise to bariatric surgery. I found it interesting how blunt Ambinder was in his remarks. He has no trouble explaing exactly what the issue is regardless of how others may feel. Perhaps he can do so because he actually came from a similar place, being obese once himself. In the end though, I don't feel like I came away with a definite answer to "beat obesity." I suppose we learn that everyone must cooperate in order for change to occur by the end, but is that really possible?

Drinking Games

This article begins with a scene setter of a couple traveling to Bolivia to do some anthropological research. There's not too much regarding drinking in this first section and I was confused as to where the article was going. I did feel that this intro was written very well and it did catch my attention so it didn't bother me too much that there was no drinking mentioned at first. When the purpose of the story comes along, I found myself interested in the different ways people drink though.
This article almost reads more like an ethnographic anthropological article than a magazine article. Although this was not a huge problem, I felt like there were some points in the article where I just simply got confused at what was being said. Some of it just seemed above my head and I feel that the average magazine reader may have felt the same. I also feel like the article lacked actual quotes from sources which the author gets his info from. We get a lot of quotes from the Heath couple, but we get little else.

Seduce Any Woman In The World

It's hard to take an article comparing sex in other countries too seriously. It's almost like all those articles in Cosmo about "best ways to get an orgasm" or "69 ways to satisfy your man." It's important to note however that although articles like this aren't particularly high-brow (i.e. social issues), they are articles nonetheless and must be treated as such in being well-written.

I actually do think this article was well-written. One of my favorite points in the article was at the end of the introduction where the author states that, "Master their tips and soon you'll simply be able to say "G'day" and mate." I feel that it's clever wordplay like that which applies so well to articles like this and really any other article for that matter. Comedy is a great way to keep the reader reading. Another thing this author does well is in the quotes. She was sure to support each of these sections with a quote from someone actually from the country, even if half of them were from various Mens Health regional locations. Articles like this need to be taken for what they are. I think Lauren Murrow understands this will not win any Pulitzer Prizes, but she also knows that it must be well written enough to make the magazine and to hold the reader's attention.

The Courage of Detroit

This is just a nice, classic well-written sports article. I love when I read a sports article which ends up being so much more than just the sports. The lead opens the story wonderfully, setting up an environment in a homeless shelter in Detroit. Throughout the story we learn about Detroit's numerous sports team failures as we also learn about other failures, such as that of the auto industry. You really begin to emphasize with the city as you read the article. I know that I realized that the Lions really are the butts of so many jokes.

I enjoyed how the author continued to use the phrase, "And yet." The recurring phrase exemplified the resilience of the author and other residents of Detroit. It's used an awful lot throughout the article showing that these people have gone through an awful lot to still be holding strong. I would have liked to know more about the meeting with the four star Detroit players. It sounds like that may have been a part of a separate article, but I wonder what they discussed and whatnot.

"Without tennis, who am I?"

I'm not sure I liked this article so much. I had a problem with trying to figure out exactly what purpose the article was serving. Is it about Jennifer Capriati's recent overdose and the support she's giving? It would seem so at first, but I feel the author was pushing the situation by trying to get at a much deeper meaning which I never fully understood. Capriati's issues with being a teenage athletic star were never really delved into enough and by the end I felt confused as to why the issue was now one of identity. It almost felt like an anonymous letter that friends would write about someone hoping that he or she would read it. Overall, it just had a corny feel about it. I felt this really became apparent when the writer states,

"It might not be possible for Capriati to hear it right now, but what if the answer to her melancholy question -- "Without tennis, who am I?" -- is this: a happier, healthier human being?"

This quote just feels like the writer is really trying to gauge a deeper meaning to this issue than there really is. And even if that is the issue, that not playing tennis would make Capriati happier and healthier, does the writer really know enough to make such a claim?

Girl Who Conned the Ivy League

I enjoyed this article, not only because of it's interesting content, but also with the way it was written. I feel like Sabrina Erdely did a great job of storytelling throughout this article. In fact, this felt a lot less like an article and a lot more like a short story. Although the writer surely had to do plenty of background investigation as well as interviews, she never actually places herself in the story. This can be seen when she quotes individuals such as, "'For the first time ever, I was functioning!' she recalls." It would appear that Erdely got this information from an interview with Esther, but we never really know for sure. Erdely just as easily could have said, "she recalls as I spoke to her months later," however she refrains from doing so. In this way, the article seems much less journalistic and more actual story telling.

Arthur Kade Lead

Angelina Jolie is often considered one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood. Arthur Kade however, would tell you something completely different about the gorgeous starlet. "I've dated much hotter women," says Arthur, going on to say that he probably wouldn't initiate a conversation with her in a club, perceiving her as "mother hot" rather than "stripper hot."

Arthur Kade Profile

I think it really shows how well written an article is when the writer is able to make an interesting story out of a normally uninteresting story. I had never heard of Arthur Kade before, and probably for good reason. He's trying to be an actor but has never really landed any decent roles; basically he's known only for his blog and for being a "douchebag". I discovered that as I read the article though, that i became more and more interested in the person that is Arthur Kade. I believe Dan Lee did a fantastic job of portraying who Kade is and what he's all about. I particularly enjoyed how Lee incorporated actual comments on Kade's blog calling him such things as a "fucking idiot" and "the worst human being on the planet." It's comments like these that show how ordinary people perceive Kade and how he couldn't care less. However, Lee makes sure to not completely drown the article in hate towards Kade. For instance, when he finally introduces the reader to Kade's background, it's actually a more heartfelt turn towards Kade's family. There's also a sort of duel feeling towards Kade when you realize that he may be seen as a jerk, but at the same time he is pursuing a dream of his which is, in a sense, very noble. After reading the article though, I made sure to check out Kade's blog to see why people do think of him in such a way. I'd say they're mostly correct.

Good Morning, Megan Fox

Capturing the reader's attention is perhaps the most important thing a journalist should take into account as he or she writes an article. I think David Katz does a great job of doing this by starting the article with the single sentence, "Megan Fox won't kick her house." I know when I first read that sentence, I just assumed that was a metaphor for her stubbornness only to realize a few sentences later that Megan Fox literally was on a horse. Not that Katz had my attention, he continued the story providing a good journalist's usual vivid details and solid quotes as it progressed. Another moment which caught my attention particularly however was when the article switched to the topic of food. The interview had actually taken place at a restaurant called The Smoke House and Katz used this to his advantage as he wrote the article. As the article delved into Fox's status as a sex symbol, Katz was able to use include how she was eating her food to portray how she was not near as sexy in real life as she is commonly seen by the public. He explains that she eats her food like everybody else rather than, "licking her fork seductively."

I feel that this article showed how important the actual act of interviewing can be to your story rather than just the facts that are obtained from interviewing. The fact that the interview with Megan Fox took place on a horse is actually pretty interesting and really helps to bring to life the story. I think this also makes the story relate more to the reader, almost putting him or her in the shoes of the interviewer.

J342 Introduction

So I'm Nate Best, currently a junior at Indiana University in Bloomington. I'm double majoring in Journalism and Anthropology. I would like to somehow combine these two fields for a career. In the future I would like to travel abroad and write. A dream job of mine would actually be writing for a magazine like National Geographic which is why I am taking this course. This blog is for my J342 Magazine Reporting class as I respond to readings and assignments in the course.