Stealing Life

Some of the quotes that I liked from “Stealing Life” that showed a reporters way of thing was “In the season opener, Haynes provides a bitingly funny introduction to newsroom culture.” This quote would only be used if the writer was of the newsroom culture. I also like the part when Talbot said, “Finely tuned as Simon’s ear is for the newsroom, it is perhaps even better calibrated for the street corner and the precinct, having been sharpened by thirteen years of daily crime reporting. Viewers of “The Wire” must master a whole argot, though it can take a while, because the words are never defined, just as they wouldn’t be by real people tossing them around.” I especially like that quote because I am a viewer of “The Wire”, and that Quote is very true. You can tell that the creator of the show has had a lot of courtroom experience. Especially when there are courtroom scenes in the show, it is as real as being in court right then and there. I also like the part were Talbot was saying “Clark Johnson, had been giving some of the kids the chance to say “Cut!” and they’d bellowed it like drunks at a surprise party.” If you ever watched any part of the show were the kids are involved, you could see them yelling and acting out on the set.
I think that all of these passages are good examples of reporters thinking, only a reporter knows about newsroom culture, and a reporter also knows that the public is also interested in this as well. The other quote is a good example of making “The Wire” sound appealing enough so that the people that had not ever seen it want to watch it. I think Talbot does that in a very good way. He paints an overall view of what the show is about but he also leaves the reader with a wanting to know more, and if I can learn that then I’m good to go.

What letter had been filed.....

The letter I was filed off the typewriters way back when Murray work at the Boston Harold. This was the newspapers way of not letting the journalists type if first person. Even when I am, say the “letter I” in my first sentence the computer is telling me to correct it because it is use the first person. To the question that would it work in Ill., yes I think it would, but generally you do read writers even in the State Journal using first person a lot. Would it work in my own features, now I do not know about that? I tend to use first person in many things I write. I guess I have a lot more to learn. On the other hand, there are many good ways to write a feature it all rather depends what kind of feature story you are writing.

Why I (want to) write about sports for a living

I like this story for a couple a reasons. First J.A. Adande in my mind is one of the best sports writers of this area, second I like the way he relates real life into his stories.

“I write about sports because when I was a fourth-grader a rookie guard named Magic Johnson made me fall in love with basketball and the Lakers, and I decided I wanted to play for them. I write about sports because as an eighth-grader I realized that wasn't going to happen.”

I also like the way he gives his descriptions a face, and relates humor into his columns.

“The woman glanced at my business card -- the one that said "J.A. Adande, Sports Writer" -- and she looked completely indifferent, like Bud Selig watching Barry Bonds' 755th home run.” “ Is that all you do?" she asked with disdain. "Write about sports?"

Being one of the best sports writers of your generation doesn’t mean that everyone is always going to agree with everything you say or think (keeping the lens clear). However, if you believe something then you should stand up for it, and that is what Adande does. He stands up for what he believes is right and seems to appear to know what he is talking about when it comes to a lot of issues Adande writes about.