Data Journalism Critique

http://thinkbstone.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/600px_MattBarkley_Infographic_final_061313update_20130613171554223_0_0.jpg

Why did I pick this particular data story?

• I chose this data story to use for this assignment because it seemed like an easy to decipher graphic representation of data.  There wasn't any specific medium that we had to use for this assignment, so I chose data that was displayed through sports because it was easy for me to interpret, and it's easier for everyone rather than something else. 

What did you like/dislike about the project?

• Liked: I liked the fact that each and every category was displayed thoroughly and in plain sight, so that I as the reader didn't have to search to hard for it.  I also liked the layout of the data, both sides of the data were in their own spots, meaning that they weren't overlapping, or mixed up in any way.  One final thing that I found nice, was the overall topic.  Matt Barkley, the person pictured in the graphic was arguably the best quarterback in the nation in 2012, and was projected as a top pick in the 2012 NFL draft, scheduled to make millions.  However he chose to stay in school in order to "get better", however his numbers significantly dropped off his senior year, and the millions fell through.  This graphic accurately displays the amount in which his numbers fell the following season.  
• Disliked: There wasn't too much that I disliked about this data visual.  If I had to pick something that I wasn't fond of, I would have to say that it could have been a little bit larger, and could have thrown in a few more statistics.  

Did the visualization tell the story better than another medium would have, such as video or photos or text?

• I think this visualization did an excellent job telling the story that it was trying to get across.  Its purpose was to show the decline in play and production, and how those stats affected the amount of money that Barkley lost.  Personally I don't see where a video would have done any better telling this story.  Perhaps text accompanying the visualization giving a little more background into Matt Barkley would have been nice, only to help the uninformed reader discover the story behind why these numbers are important.  Overall I felt that this data visualization did an excellent job.  

Podcast Proposal

Lyndon States Broadcast Club: For my podcast project, I decided to take a look at the brand new sports broadcasting club that is just underway. The interview will break down the bigger topics, such as how it started, and why. The idea behind the podcast itself is to give anyone interested the more important information, incase they themselves want to join or somehow get involved. The mini story that will accompany the podcast will be a break down of the more in depth information, that we wouldn't really have time to cover in a 5-10 minute interview, but would easily be able to be covered in a 400 word story.

Amber Alert Issued for Missing Sunderland Boy

**Not an Actual Emergency, Post made for a Class Project**

Vermont State Police have issued an Amber Alert for a missing boy, authorities claim was abducted by his mother.

12 year old Zachary Lee was reported missing around 4:45 PM on this date.

Lee was last seen being dropped off at his foster home in Sunderland Vermont around the previous stated time, however never made it inside.  According to a press release given by the Vermont State Police.

Lee is described as a white male, around 5 feet tall and weighing about 95 pounds.  He has brown hair down to around his shoulders, brown eyes and speaks with a French accent.  Last seen wearing a black puffy coat with a white stripe, jeans, a light colored sweater and black and blue shoes.

Authorities believe that Lee's mother Patricia Kane is behind the disappearance of the boy.  Kane stands around 6 feet tall, and weighs about 125 pounds.  She has blonde hair, brown eyes and also speaks in a French accent.

Police and Authorities are concerned for Lee's well-being, with he only being 13, and being new to the Sunderland area, moving here in late August.  Lee is absent under circumstances inconsistent with his regular behavior pattern, and with his mothers previous attempts to take the child.

Anyone with information regarding Lee's disappearance should please call 802-442-5421, or submit an anonymous tip to www.vtips.info<http://www.vtips.info/>.

Technorati Blog Critique:

• Like- it provides a lot of information
• Dislike- its hard to find different blog posts
• This blog is updated every couple of days, according to when the latest blog posts were written
• The comments do indicate that people are reading the blog because one of the comments states that this was a well written article.
• On certain blogs it does use video examples, some use pictures, however most of it is text. 

Ad first looks, big-time pub programmatic growth, and Forensiq fraud

• Knowledge Base
• Advertising Technology

by John Swartz - Aug 22, 2014

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Deciding which advertising partner gets first look isn’t easy, big-time publishers are putting more resources into their programmatic buying strategies, what’s helping find fraudulent traffic, how open systems are increasing performance, and find out what’s causing massive programmatic growth across display, mobile and video channels.

Here are a few highlights from some of the industry news we came across this week …

• Who Gets First Look? (MediaPost) — Publisher ad inventory is valuable, and every ad partner wants to get that first look — a look that can garner 10 times the performance, this article says. But who gets it? Read on for some solutions and tips on making that important call.

• A New Addition to the C-Suite: Chief Programmatic Officer (AdAge) — It’s only natural to look at the biggest and the best and hope for insights into how they got to be, well, the biggest and the best. This is certainly true for ad-supported online publishing. Take a look ad how top-tier publishers like AOL and WaPo are putting increased resources into programmatic buying.

• Fraud-day With Forensiq: Detection Requires A ‘Holistic’ Approach (AdExchanger) — Fraud is certainly a hot-button issue in online publishing. Check out how reporting service Forensiq is helping the online advertising landscape by being proactive instead of reactive about fraud detection.

• Open Programmatic: Let The Network Do Some Of The Work (MediaPost) — As programmatic companies are working closer with their data partners, performance is on the rise. Those new data-driven open systems are leading to the growth of premium programmatic. Also, find out how they can lead to transparency in terms of price, cost and performance.

• Programmatic Growing Fast in Display, Mobile And Video Categories, But For Different Reasons (AdExchanger)— Programmatic buying is growing by leaps and bounds, and many in charge of the spending say they’re going to see those budgets increased in the future. As growth is relatively consistent across multiple adverting channels, the cause for that growth isn’t as consistent.

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