Author Archives: Lenise Willis
Jamestown News Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Where is Jamestown News located?
How can I contact Jamestown News?
How much does the Jamestown News cost?
Where can I purchase a print issue of Jamestown News?
What are the classified or legal advertising rates?
What if I want to submit a Letter to the Editor, or a CHEER or JEER?
What if I have a news tip or other story idea?
What if I notice an error in a story?
How does Jamestown News handle factual errors and corrections?
Does the Jamestown News have any other websites, blogs or social pages?
Where are some good places to eat around Jamestown?
Where is Jamestown News located?
The Jamestown News office is in the old Bow Stafford building, 206 E. Main St., Jamestown, N.C., 27282. It’s a beautiful gray house that was built in the 1920s. We are located across the street from High Point City Bank, beside the intersection of Main Street and Guilford Road.
The Jamestown News is located at the intersection of Main Street and Guilford Road in Jamestown, N.C.
How can I contact Jamestown News?
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, or would just like to say hello, you can come by our office, located at 206 E. Main St., Jamestown, NC 27282
Other contact information:
- Telephone: 336-841-4933
- Fax: 336-841-4953
- General email: jamestownnews@northstate.net
- Website: www.jamestownnews.com
- Postal address: P.O. Box 307, Jamestown, NC 27282
How much does the Jamestown News cost?
A single print issue of the Jamestown News costs 50 cents.
If you’re located in Guilford County, then you can buy a yearly subscription to the Jamestown News for merely $25 a year. A subscription for residents outside of Guilford County is $35 a year.
Where can I purchase a print issue of Jamestown News?
We love chatting with our local readers and hearing their input, so if you’re nearby buy your copy of the Jamestown News directly from our office at 206 E. Main St. This is also the easiest way to buy multiple copies of the paper, and you can also purchase past issues that are no longer available in our boxes.
We also have Jamestown News racks located at:
(Jamestown area)
- Jamestown YMCA on High Point Road
- Guilford Technical Community College (Jamestown campus) on High Point Road
- Subway on Main Street
- Food Lion on Main Street
- The Shell Station on Main Street
- Perky’s Café on Main Street
- Kerr Drug on Main Street
- Dollar General on Main Street
- Miss Winners on Main Street
- Soap Lady on Main Street
- Henry James on Main Street
- Fresh Manna on Main Street
- Sheetz on High Point Road
(Adams Farm area)
- Sheetz on High Point Road
- Zeko’s on High Point Road
- Harris Teeter on High Point Road (Adams Farm Shopping Center)
- Yes! Weekly on Mackay Road
(Greensboro area)
- Sedgefield Post Office on Groometown Road
- Food Lion on Groometown Road
- K-Mart on Bridford Parkway
- Taste of Troy on Wendover Avenue
What are the classified or legal advertising rates?
The advertising rates at Jamestown News are as follows:
Retail Display Rates: $8 per column
Classified Rates:
- Open Rate (Display) $7.85
- Line Ads (25 words or less) $6 per insertion
- Line Ads (more than 25 words) .26 cents per word
- Obituaries: (with free web posting) $20 prepaid
- Wedding/engagement/anniversary announcements: $25 prepaid
Legal Ad Rates:
- Notice to Creditors: $100 prepaid (form available under legal section)
- Divorce/legal services notice: $140 prepaid (form available under legal section)
- Foreclosure sales: $11.50 per column inch. Call 336-841-4933 for a quote.
What if I want to submit a Letter to the Editor, or a CHEER or JEER?
Letters to the Editor must be 400 words or less and include your name, address and daytime phone number. Letters are limited to one per month per individual.
The Jamestown News reserves the right to edit or withhold any letter from publication. Letters to the editor represent the opinion of their writers, not that of the Jamestown News or its employees.
A CHEER or JEER comment must be limited to 75 words or less, and cannot run consecutive weeks or the same day as a Letter the Editor by the same contributor.
You may mail, email or fax any Letter to the Editor, or CHEER or JEER submissions.
Mail submissions to:
Jamestown News
P.O. Box 307
Jamestown, NC 27282
Fax submissions to 338-841-4953
Email submissions to jamestownnews@northstate.net
What if I have a news tip or other story idea?
Do you know an interesting person that you feel is worthy of a feature story? Know of an upcoming event you’d like for us to cover? We’d love to hear about it! Call us at 336-841-4933 or email us at jamestownnews@northstate.net if you have any story idea.
What if I notice an error in a story?
We at Jamestown News stand by our promise to provide objective, truthful information to our readers, and work to the best of our ability to do so. If you notice a factual error in a story, PLEASE let us know. We value both your input and our own content. Call us at 336-841-4933 or email us at jamestownnews@northstate.net.
How does Jamestown News handle factual errors and corrections?
We at Jamestown News stand by our promise to provide objective, truthful information to our readers, and work to the best of our ability to do so.
Corrections are not taken lightly and are always posted online at the time of their discovery. Online articles are simply changed to reflect the correct information.
A CORRECTION is then run in the next print issue of the Jamestown News, referencing the original article’s headline, run date and mistake.
Does the Jamestown News have any other websites, blogs or social pages?
Yes, the Jamestown News have a Facebook page, which you can also find simply by searching for Jamestown News while logged into Facebook. We’d love to have you as a fan!
Our only website, which is updated weekly, is www.jamestownnews.com.
We do not have staff blogs at this time, but are looking to add them in the future.
Where are some good places to eat around Jamestown?
People like to call in and ask us general questions about the town itself; after all, providing information is what we’re here for! We suggest visiting Southern Roots, Fresh Manna or Perky’s Café, all of which are great affordable family restaurants located on Main Street.
Actors take up for athletes (Online article assignment)
Actors take up for athletes
‘Dancing in the End Zone’ highlights issues in athletic programs
By Lenise Willis
In this article:
The strategy of the game isn’t the only thing that school athletes must contemplate. Despite the stereotype of dumb jocks, those students face a variety of hard decisions and circumstances. Bringing to light the issues in college athletics is a local theatre department with the play Dancing in the End Zone.
Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown presents Bill C. Davis’ Dancing in the End Zone Thursday through Saturday.
“It’s a beautifully written play and an incredibly timely play,” said June Guralnick, theatre program director. “I chose it very carefully because I really thought it had something to say to our students and to our community.
“I love the play. The characters are so real to life.”
In the play, a star college quarterback is pushed and pulled by his mother, football coach and tutor, who have varying opinions about him “going pro.”
While his mother and coach want him to succeed as a professional, his tutor is more concerned with the inherent corruption of organized athletics, believing football is just another metaphor for war.
Other issues the play touches on are drugs, injuries and team pressure.
Dancing in the End Zone premiered at the State Theatre in Miami before moving to Broadway.
On an autobiographical site, playwright Bill C. Davis says that the play was born out of an experience he had at his college, Marist, in New York.
A Vietnam vet, who was a student there, met with the college board of directors in his quest to abolish the school’s football team. The vet saw it as “a paradigm of war,” which he argued should not be a part of an institution of higher learning.”
Playwright says play is timeless, applies today
Bill C. Davis
The play is “pertinent to what’s going on, even more now than when I wrote it (about 20 years ago),” said Davis.
“It’s great for what’s happening on college campuses across the country.”
Guralnick had the unique and exciting opportunity to speak with Davis and even incorporate some of his edits into the upcoming production.
“The rewrites really sharpen the play,” Guralnick said.
The performance will showcase the talents of GTCC students, as well as local amateurs and professionals.
All four actors will certainly have their work cut out for them since they won’t get to leave the stage, except for a 15-minute intermission.
Marcia James
Marcia James
Marcia James, of Jamestown, will be performing as Madeleine Bernard, the star athlete’s mother.
She has been a gifted education teacher in Randolph County for 34 years. Since college, she has enjoyed acting as a hobby.
“It’s just something I do for me,” James said. “It’s an outlet. It’s enriching. I love to write; I’m a writer. And it’s like writing in that you become a character and delve into the nuances. I find it a very wonderful opportunity.”
She said she had always wanted to perform with GTCC theatre but didn’t know the auditions were open. “I’m glad they opened it to the community,” she said.
Her past roles include Mrs. Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank and Miss Maudie in To Kill a Mockingbird.
She also teaches piano and violin in her spare time.
Gray Bobbitt
Gray Bobbitt
Performing the role of Madeleine’s popular, athletic son is theatre student Gray Bobbitt, 21.
“It’s a huge thing,” Bobbitt said about getting to work with more experienced actors. “I’m here with people who have been in the professional realm, who give me a hint of what I’m aiming for, because this is what I want to do (as a career).”
“It’s a great opportunity because theatre is such a collaborative process,” he added. “It’s not just being straight taught; it’s working together.”
Bobbitt has been acting for the past five years with several companies in the area, including Fly-By-Night Theatre Co. in Greensboro and The Hot Flash Players of Lexington. He is currently working to complete his AFA in Pre-Drama at GTCC and intends to graduate this spring and transfer in the fall.
Matthew Ishee
Matthew Ishee
Student Matthew Ishee, 23, who plays the coach, has the difficult job of capturing the “touchy-feely manship,” he says.
Ishee, who is studying light design at GTCC, says most of his experience is in technical theatre, but he accepted Guralnick’s challenge to perform onstage.
He will also have to balance that dare with his job as the production’s technical director and assistant light designer .
Ishee also works as the stage and lighting manager for the Eastern Music Festival. His past technical experience includes being the stage manager for the William and Mary Symphony Orchestra and the audio/visual master technician for the College of William and Mary.
Lilly Nelson
Lilly Nelson
Performing the part of Jane Morrison, the tutor, is Lilly Nelson. Nelson studied theatre at Lees-McRae College, and most recently performed the part of Stella in A Street Car Named Desire. Other past performances include Boeing Boeing and an independent webisode series, Zombie Fried Chicken.
Nelson said she is very excited to take part in a GTCC production and to work with some of her past friends.
Stage design provides clever solution
Scenic designer Jessica Holcombe produced a clever set that allows for multiple scenes to take place at once. (Rendering by Jessica Holcombe)
The stage, a clever design solution by visiting artist Jessica Holcombe, is comprised of interlocking platforms, which means there are three different scene areas, all of which are clean, white and modern, presented at once.
“It’s expressionistic,” Guralnick explained. “There are 53 scene changes, so we needed a way to move quickly from locale to locale.”
Guralnick further explains the set as a surreal space that condenses time and emotion.
The stage beneath the set pieces is painted like a football field, which helps remind the audience of the world of athletics.
School uses forum to place play in context
To both advertise the play and put it in a larger context, GTCC hosted a forum Oct. 22 on the issues of college athletics.
“It was just a provocative conversation looking at some of the challenging issues that these programs are facing,” Guralnick said.
“Everything from business and funding issues and what that does to the culture of sports, to what role the media plays, and what happens to these athletes once they go through these programs.”
Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday at the Koury Hospitality Careers Center, 601 High Point Road (GTCC Jamestown campus).
Tickets are being sold through the High Point Theatre Box Office and can be purchased in-person at the High Point Theatre, by calling 887-3001 or visiting www.highpointtheatre.com.
Tickets are $15 for general public, $10 for GTCC staff and alumni, and $5 for GTCC students.
Contacted:
June Guralnick, theatre program director (email and in-person)
Marcia James, actor, in person
Gary Bobbitt, actor, in person
Matthew Ishee, actor, in person
(Lilly Nelson info is from bio–late to rehearsal)
Bill C. Davis, playwright, (emailed) (Still waiting on Q&A answers)
I wanted to add a link to a “Q&A with the playwright” article, but am still waiting on Davis’ answers to the emailed questions.
I also would have added a headshot for each actor bio, but I couldn’t get them in time.
Jamestown News Online Policies
The following are the new policies concerning the maintenance and value of the Jamestown News website and Facebook page.
New Policy: Changes and corrections to online articles
To maintain the credibility of the Jamestown News website, all changes to online content, including corrections and clarifications will be viewed as a top priority and will be made in a timely manner. All changes must be posted immediately after their discovery and confirmation.
The original article will be updated to reflect the change, correction or clarification, so that it reads clear and factual in its entirety.
In the event of a factual mistake, at the end of said article, an italicized note will explain to readers the change that was made, the date the change was made, and an apology by the Jamestown News staff.
Apology draft is as follows:
The Jamestown News apologizes for any confusion or misinformation caused before the above correction. The news staff stands by its promise to provide objective, truthful information to its readers, and works to the best of their ability to do so.
Corrections are not taken lightly and are always posted at the time of their discovery. Thank you.
New Policy: Concerning crowdsourced content
All content published by the Jamestown News will be attributed to its original source. Regarding content submitted by a non-staff member, submissions must be accompanied by the following information:
- Byline with first and last name (to be published)
- City (and state) of residency (to be published)
- A working phone number (for verification purposes only)
- Address of residency (for verification purposes only)
The Jamestown News takes responsibility for all content published on its site, so “crowdsourced” content must be fact-checked when possible and monitored closely.
However, for credibility and legal purposes, crowdsourced content will be filed under its own tab within the website with the disclaimer:
“All content posted under “My News” is submitted by non-staff members and does not reflect the credibility, responsibility, attitudes or beliefs of the Jamestown News.
Job description: Vice President of Social Media
The Vice President of Social Media’s responsibilities include:
- Monitoring content on all New’s social media websites, including Facebook, Twitter and any social sites that may be added in the future.
- “Monitoring” duties include deleting crude comments as defined by the Jamestown News policy, “Concerning social media comments.”
- Answering any questions that may be posted as comment.
- Referring commented questions and concerns to head editor when applicable. (For example, if a comment concerns the factual truth of an article).
- Ensuring all sites are updated every two hours between the hours of 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon-Sat.
- Updates should highlight published and developing stories, including both written and visual content, as well as, other added interactive content, such as quizzes, question of the day, opinion questions, photo albums.
- Ensuring all sites are updated according to the needs of a breaking-news event.
- Sending out email alerts to subscribers in the event of a breaking-news event.
- Collaborating with News staff and editors to create more interactive and innovative ideas for online visitors (VP of Social Media should have a good portrait of News visitors wants and needs).
New Policy: Concerning Social Media Comments:
The Jamestown News strives to keep a clean, safe and comfortable environment for its online visitors. The News website will not tolerate crude comments, and any comments falling in that category will be removed. Comments that are considered crude and must be deleted are those that:
- Are clearly racist, sexist or unnecessarily offensive to content subjects and/or other commenters.
- Include profanity
Haunted Trail live blog
When it comes to “professionally” stalking people in the woods and terrorizing them, there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes. Props and sets are laid out, actors are painted, chainsaws are fueled and oh so much more.
To show the fans of Eden’s Freedom Park Haunted Trail the frantic and creative work they don’t get to see in the woods, I’ll be live blogging our Saturday-night event. Look here on Sat., Oct. 13, from about 4 p.m.-2 a.m. for post updates.
Freedom Park Haunted Trail in Eden, N.C. runs Fridays and Saturdays in October from dark-until. Admission is $5.
The trail is run entirely through donations and volunteered time. All funds raised are donated to the city of Eden and go to help such organizations as the Boys and Girls Club.
Check out this zombie who roamed our trails last week, Oct. 6.
Sat., Oct. 13, 4:00 p.m.
It’s currently 65 degrees in Eden. Everyone is thankful for the relatively warm afternoon for setup. It’s expected to dip into the 40s later.
The makeup and costume crews have arrived at shelter #3 at Freedom Park and are waiting to begin the meeting with trail organizers.
Everyone is very excited to start setting up. Saturday night is always the busiest night for the trail.
4:12 p.m.
The picnic tables underneath the shelter are already filling up with Sheetz coffee cups and soda bottles, along with a dozen bins of costumes and props.
On the ground are five chainsaws (without chains) waiting to be fueled.
Hot dogs are thrown on the grill for actors and trail crew only.
The hot coals on the grill also feel really nice on cold hands.
4:15 p.m.
The setup crew has arrived at the shelter. Trail organizer Herbert Foster starts giving out the night’s instructions.
The meeting will cover instructions for the actors and makeup and costume crews as well.
4:30 p.m.
The set up crew has been sent out into the woods to hook up the fog machines and sound equipment throughout the trail.
Two crew members are driving pickup trucks into the trail to carry the prop bins to their appropriate stations.
4:35 p.m.
Makeup and costume crews start handing out costume pieces and makeup bags to actors.
Each actor has his or her own trash bag, which has a character name written on it, that keeps the character’s costume pieces and props together. Organization is important in the trail’s setup because things have to happen fast.
4:40 p.m.
Hot dogs are done and staff eat dinner.
5:15
The makeup team, which is composed of Lisa, Lenise and Karen, have begun “painting” a character.
Lenise begins mixing white and green facepaint to create “zombie flesh.” Daniel, 8, is the first zombie being painted.
5:30 p.m.
Lenise finishes Daniel’s makeup. His skin looks a pale green and his cheeks have been hollowed with gray facepaint. His lips and skin underneath his eyes has been painted black as well.
6:00 p.m.
Daniel, 8, decides he’s too afraid to be in the trail. His mom, Karen, attempts to persuade him to at least try it.
6:10 p.m.
Daniel wins. Lenise uses a Pond’s makeup remover cloth to clean off Daniel’s face.
6:15 p.m.
Daniel moves to the snack shelter to sell popcorn, candy and haunted trail T-shirts with his mom.
7:00
All actors have finished changing into their costumes and have gone through makeup. They are now sitting at the picnic tables until it’s time to move to the trail.
7:15
The graveyard, Jigsaw, and cannibal stations have all been set up in the woods. Snake prop’s sensor button isn’t working.
Herbert is sent to inspect the automatic prop. Setup crew has also called in that one chainsaw isn’t cranking up properly.
7:30
A crowd of about 20 is waiting in the admission line. There is still a lot of high energy with both crowd and staff.
8:00
Herbert reports back that the snake has been fixed. He moves on to begin working on the fifth chainsaw.
In the meantime, the trail will use the other four in the trail.
8:15
The temperature has dropped to the lower 50s and everyone is starting to feel the chill in their hands and feet.
First group is led through the trail.
8:17
Group 1 is going over the bridge to the giant snake.
8:19
Giant snake just popped up and makes a boy scream.
8:25
Group 1 meets roaming werewolves and automatic dog prop. A girl cries when the skin-less dog jumps out of its house.
8:32
A 12-year-old boy in the first group starts crying as he goes through the graveyard. He is the first crier of the night.
8:38
Group 1 is in the Jigsaw maze. The girl in the front of the group just ran into a wall. The maze is in pitch darkness.
8:40
Group 1 is walking to the cannibal house.
Meanwhile, crew member Brandon goes on a second Sheetz run. Pumpkin Spiced Lattes for the crew. 🙂
8:45
First group makes it out of the trail. Scott chased them out of the cannibal house and into the parking lot. Have a nice night, group 1. Thanks for coming!
“That was great,” says Tyler Bruins, who went through the trail. “Definitely worth $5. I loved the snake and dog!”
10:30
A pregnant woman and her friend have locked themselves in the bathroom at shelter #3 because they are afraid of the gory character who’s waiting for them outside the door.
Terry Vernon, a trail organizer, is dressed as a gremlin with blank eyes and has blood and “meat” hanging from his mouth.
10:36
Terry leaves the area so that the women will finally come out. The women come out and go to their car.
11:15
Crew member Joe accidentally pulls out the pull chain to his chainsaw. Herbert is called on radio to respond for maintenance.
11:20
Herbert shows up to try to fix chainsaw.
11:40
Herbert gives up on the chainsaw for the night. Joe takes it and runs after a group while making “chainsaw noises” like “vroom, vroom” with his mouth. The group still runs all the way to the parking lot, screaming!
12:00 a.m.
The last group is being led through the trail.
12:30 a.m.
The last group makes it out of the trail. Scott chases the group around the parking lot with the chainsaw.
12:40 a.m.
Trail staff meet back at shelter #3 for break-down instructions.
All actors have begun changing back into street clothes and removing makeup.
12:50
Lisa and Karen organize costumes and makeup back into bins. All bins are re-stored in shelter #3 closet.
Setup crew set out to drive through the trail and retrieve fog machines and sound equipment. Props are locked back up in each station (haunted house) in the trail.
1:10
Most of the props, costume, chainsaws, etc. under shelter #3 has been packed away. Trash has been cleared.
1:30
Set up crew has packed away fog machines and sound equipment. Crew disperses and heads home.
We had a great night with more than 250 tickets sold.
Press Release: Jamestown News to host party in honor of new website design
Jamestown News to host party in honor of new website design
Community celebration and updated website are hoped to close gap between staff and readers
Jamestown News Editor “Ogi” Overman
The weekly Jamestown News has finally decided to “get with the times.” After two months of reworking their website design, the paper is ready to present their new “interactive” website to their faithful readers.
A celebration of the new design will take place at the Jamestown News office, 206 E. Main St., on Friday, Oct. 12 from 5-8 p.m. Residents of Jamestown and neighboring cities, as well as local business professionals are invited to attend. No RSVP is necessary.
The event will include live music by local singer Chrissy Simpson, who will perform in the Jamestown News gazebo.
Soda, water and small appetizers will also be provided. The nearby Southern Roots is catering the event.
During the event, the Jamestown News staff will make several of their computers available for visitors to use to view the new website.
The web designer, Carol Brooks, who is also a staff writer, will also give a demonstration of the site’s new features. Brooks will also answer questions and help visitors navigate the new site.
The papers new website includes the following updates and additions:
- Easier navigation with across-the-top buttons
- A better search feature for archives
- More video and picture slideshows
- Interactive graphic for the ongoing road-widening project
After Jamestown News staff writer Lenise Willis took an online class for digital writing, the newspaper staff better realized the importance of transferring their print newspaper to the Web.
“The Jamestown News needed to get with the times,” said Editor David “Ogi” Overman. “We owe it to our readers to stay updated, whether that means giving the most recent up-to-date information or simply launching a new, more user-friendly website.”
“The party is just a way to draw attention to our new website, and it will hopefully help us to have a better relationship with our readers,” he continued. “Jamestown is a close-knit town, and so these small-town gatherings are really important.”
This isn’t the first time the newspaper has hosted a community event. Last October the staff held a community party at their office in honor of the paper’s 34th anniversary.
Now that the Jamestown News has a more up-to-date website, the staff plans to begin using social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, to further reach its readers.
The Jamestown News currently has a Facebook page but it is not updated often.
“Part of our problem is that we have a small staff that does everything from write, to layout design, to handle advertising,” Overman said.
“We’ve tried hard to add social media manager to our daily duties, but it sometimes gets over-looked. I’d like to see us updating our website and social media outlets everyday.”
Overman also said he hopes to gain more insight into readers’ opinions through discussion threads on the company’s Facebook page.
“Facebook is a great way to link readers with our staff,” Overman said. “We want them to be heard and we want them to know we’re listening.”
The Jamestown News was founded in 1978 and is owned by Publisher Charles Womack III. The paper’s staff includes Editor David “Ogi” Overman, staff writers Lenise Willis, Norma Dennis and Carol Brooks, and office manager Carolyn Lewis.
The paper publishes every Wednesday and has a circulation of 3,500, including residents in surrounding cities and counties.
In 2011 the Jamestown News staff won a total of five awards in the North Carolina Press Associaton contest.
A family industry, Womack Newspapers includes four newspapers and several specialty publications in Guilford and Dare County, N.C. The home office is located in Chatham, Virg.
Jamestown News’ sister publications include Yes! Weekly (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, N.C.), the Adams Farm Gazette (Greensboro, N.C.) and the Outer Banks Sentinel (Nags Head, N.C).
The town of Jamestown is a historical community founded in 1816 and has a total of 3,432 residents.
Contact Info.:
Lenise Willis, staff writer
336-841-4933
jamestownnews@northstate.net
Week 6: My organization and audience
I will be using the Jamestown News, for which I work, as my organization for this project. I will be using the style of Associated Press.
In this post:
The Jamestown News basics: What should be fixed?
The audience of Jamestown News
The Jamestown News is a small weekly newspaper with a circulation of about 3,500 and a staff of five. Its main focus is on the print version of the news, but it does have a very simple website. There are many issues with the website that I intend to fix, including:
- difficult navigation
- lack of visual style (few pictures)
- large chunks of vertical text
- lack of subheads
- lack of hyperlinks (none are used)
- lack of overall organization
- absence of a consistent and effective style guide
The Jamestown News also has a Facebook page, which has helped to begin linking its print audience to its digital outlet. Facebook provides the easy -to-follow format that the website lacks. Facebook is also very user-friendly for its managers, who are not especially tech-savvy. The newspaper focuses on both news and entertainment.
So who reads the Jamestown News?
The Jamestown News audience ranges in age from 35-65, and while they are not tech-inadequate, there are still many of them that are new to the digital world, especially Facebook. This is why it is crucial that the Jamestown News website be easy to navigate and user-friendly. A larger and cleaner text should be used on a website to aid the readers’ eyes.
Those readers that have “like”d the Jamestown News’ Facebook page respond most positively to photo albums of community events. (They are able to access pictures that the paper edition didn’t have room to print). They also subscribe to other print newspapers, such as High Point Enterprise (a neighboring city’s daily paper).
The news audience is incredibly involved as they belong to a small-town community. Local news is of their up-most priority.
There is no news competitor that covers the Jamestown community, so readers greatly rely on the Jamestown News for its local information. They enjoy hearing about their neighbors and local schools (There are five in the area, plus a community college).
They are also highly aware and involved in the Jamestown Town Council and enjoy weekly updates on its meetings and decisions.The audience’s greatest need in information gathering is a way to get breaking news fast.
Because the Jamestown News only prints once a week and doesn’t update their website daily, readers are not able to get fast-breaking news and updates. They need a way to get news fast and more easily. These stories should be presented in a clear-cut, objective manner online.
The residents of Jamestown vary in political stance, but most are republican. The majority of residents are white and live in single-family homes. They enjoy a higher-paying salary, as well as a decent amount of leisure time. Potential readers would thus be very interested in school news, entertaining features and more interactive web features.
Currently, there is a large, long-term road project affecting the town, so it would help readers to create a map graphic demonstrating the different phases (and dates) of the construction. The road layout has been confusing readers.
It would also be helpful to readers to create one or two online subject sections, where all information and updates regarding the road project (or a recent school initiative) could be posted together.
Week 5 writing assignments
I decided to submit my week 5 assignments collectively in this single post. To me, it seemed more organized. I’m also going to attempt to add in some visual design to both practice and help with visual organization.
Assignment 1: Three examples of poor online headlines (with links) and their solutions
Example 1:
Headline: Romney comments rock campaign, latest setback in shaky stretch
Problem: Awkward wording causes hiccups for reader. “Comments” can be misread as a noun or a verb
Solution: Romney’s offensive comments causes campaign setbacks
Source: CNN.com, September 19, 2012,
Linked headline embedded in article at…
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/18/politics/king-romney-how-bad/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Example 2:
Headline: 14 in trouble over Fast and Furious
Problem: Misleading, not descriptive. Fast and Furious is more well-known as a movie than a gun-trafficking operation
Solution: 14 blamed in botched gun-trafficking investigation: Justice Department calls for disciplinary action
or…. 14 blamed in botched gun-trafficking investigation
Source: CNN.com, September 19, 2012
Full story at http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/19/us/us-fast-furious-report/index.html?hpt=ju_c1
Example 3:
Headline: France wary over prophet cartoons
Problem: No verb. “Prophet” is vague.
Solution: France heightens security after Mohammed cartoons
Source: USA Today, September 19, 2012
Linked headline at home page http://usatoday.com/
Full article at http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012/09/19/france-ups-embassy-security-after-prophet-cartoons/57805422/1
Assignment 2: Article on the Web that could be improved by using lists
Source: CNN.com, “What is ‘clean eating?’ Tips from expert Tosca Reno,” September 19, 2012
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/19/health/tosca-reno-clean-eating/index.html?hpt=he_c2
Before:
Reno, the author of 13 clean eating books, says the secret to being healthy and happy is eating clean. Her popular “Eat-Clean Diet” encourages individuals to drink plenty of water and eat six small meals daily, including a combination of lean protein and complex carbohydrates.
Put simply, clean eating is avoiding all processed food, relying on fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains rather than prepackaged or fast food.
“It may sound counterintuitive, but eating clean allows you to eat more and weigh less because you are making smart food choices,” Reno said. “I sometimes get criticized for using the word ‘diet,’ but the Eat-Clean Diet really is a lifestyle change that leads to healthy, steady weight loss and healthy eating for life.”
After:
Reno, the author of 13 clean eating books, says the secret to being healthy and happy is eating clean. Her popular “Eat-Clean Diet” encourages individuals to:
- drink plenty of water
- eat six small meals daily, including a combination of lean protein and complex carbohydrates
- avoid all processed food
- relying on fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains rather than prepackaged or fast food
“It may sound counterintuitive, but eating clean allows you to eat more and weigh less because you are making smart food choices,” Reno said.
“I sometimes get criticized for using the word ‘diet,’ but the Eat-Clean Diet really is a lifestyle change that leads to healthy, steady weight loss and healthy eating for life.”
Assignment 3: Re-write headline for week 2 assignment
Original headline: Peace of place, peace of mind
Revised headlines:
- Peace of place, peace of mind: Farm town is serene life for residents
- Farm town gives sense of place and sense of being to visitors
- Chadbourn farm gives sense of peace
(I like #3 because it’s more specific and it would lead Google searches of “Chadbourn” to my story. Also, the first word is the most important)
Assignment 4: Write three different headlines for the given story fragment.
- Rivera assures he’s ‘coming back’ after knee injury
- Rivera hopeful of return to Yankees
- Rivera presses on after knee injury: Yankee ballplayer hopes to continue after 18 years
Wordle
| My top 10 words:
Carolina |
Peace of place, peace of mind
A Southern narrative
By Lenise Willis
Climbing over each mountain in the dirt road, the car putted along, passing a Dollar General, a few houses beside the train tracks, and then finally the quilted fields of corn, peanuts and tobacco.
It was a typical hot summer day in Chadbourn, North Carolina, a small Southern town where residents drink more sweet tea than water and spit chewing tobacco on any bleeding injury.
“Jus’ spit some ‘bacca on it,” was as good as any doctor’s advice.
Chadbourn is also “home of the strawberry.”
Back in her day my mother was actually the Strawberry Princess in the Strawberry Festival parade.
I imagine her sitting atop a baby blue 1957 Chevy Malibu convertible, waving to the crowds as volunteers walk alongside her and toss handfuls of small, chewy strawberry candies.
I was returning to my grandparents’ house, a place I spent every summer as a child, and although it seemed I had grown up so fast in the city’s working world, nothing here had changed at all.
It is still the same countryside town with an uneven dirt road that led to my grandparents’ house. There are still dots of cows scattered about the surrounding fields, moo’ing by day and sleeping to the sound of locusts by night.
Author Lenise Willis feeds her first cow, Rose. Why?
This is my second home, the place where I learned to drive stick shift by steering Granddaddy’s red Ford tractor in between hills of peanuts.
I look out my driver’s-side window, gaze at those rows of crops and remember how cold the black dirt was against my feet as I ran, at the age of five, to the other end of the field and exclaimed to my granddad, “I need $2. I’m going shopping with Grandmama.”
It has been half a year since my last visit, and yet every stranger I pass gives a cordial wave and a smile, a tip of the hat, because that’s what “good ole country folk” do in the South. We’re polite above all else.
I often wonder how different I would be had I spent my entire childhood here. I appreciate its friendly small-town charm, beautiful open landscape and peaceful isolation from the latest rave in technology.
I also appreciate, however, the exciting return to the bustling city. Having a taste of both lifestyles has made me the well-rounded woman I am today.
I have the strong Southern roots in genial hospitality, the appreciation and love for the outdoors, the center of a tight-knit family and its values, as well as, the fast-paced society’s eagerness to learn and adapt.
I awaken from my reminisces as my grandparents’ one-story brick home rests in my sights. I carefully steer my car into the driveway, as there is a dip in the dirt road at the front of my grandparents’ house.
“Hey Granddaddy!” I exclaim to my first visitor in the driveway. Granddaddy is always the first person to greet me. He peeps through the bathroom window blinds and watches for my arrival.
“Hey Sugar Pig,” a nickname passed down from his grandfather, “You been alright?”
“Yeah, I’ve been good. Tired.”
“Well come on in. Your Grandmama’s got a real nice meal cooked.”
I grin. When I was younger and riding in the car for three hours with my family of five, we made it a game to guess what our grandmother was cooking for dinner.
I guess it was a clever ploy by my mom to distract my two older brothers and me from arguing.
I sprint inside and inhale a delicious aroma laced with homemade biscuits and stewed beef and potatoes—my favorite. The table, only set for three, is sparse.
My grandmother’s kitchen is where all of our traditional family dinners are held, whether for get-togethers, Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter.
Usually the house is filled with boisterous chatter and hearty bursts of laughter. The table is often filled with chairs that are far too close together for any company other than family.
At these dinners there is always an odd chair, dragged in from the sewing room, that’s added to the other eight around the table.
It’s a frail chair made of pine and has a yellow wool cushion. It’s itchy to say the least. It’s also slightly lower than the rest and much less stable.
Traditionally this chair is saved, more like assigned, to the “youngin’” in the family. That would be me. But today I get to sit in an “adult” chair.
I grin and devour a long-overdue home-cooked spread.
Critique of “No Dad, I’m the Lucky One”
Hi Brian,
First, I really enjoyed reading about your dad and your connection with him. Your admiration for him is transparent in your writing, and so I think you accomplished your goal. To start, I want to point out my favorite parts in your story.
I like how the first sentence, “I won the lottery in 1959,” is short and catchy. It’s not only easy to read, but it grabbed my attention. It’s also a very creative way to say you’re a lucky man to have such a wonderful father. Way to think outside the box! This lead-in also sets you up to round off your story and have your ending sync with your beginning. So, I like how you nicely tied together your beginning and end. That is definitely a difficult thing to do sometimes as a writer, I think.
Second, I love your inclusion of dialog to help illustrate your father, his personality and his upbringing. The line “…or as he says, ‘at the south end of a north bound mule’” gave me a better picture of your father’s surroundings. It also made me smile.
I also found some great attention to detail. In the sentence “He courted and married the class valedictorian, my mother, in 1941” you effectively slipped in a detail about your mother without causing any hiccups for the reader. I’d also like to add that overall your story reads very clearly. There weren’t any areas where I had any major hang-ups as a reader.
I also liked the detail you added with “El Camino” instead of just saying his car.
That leads me to also comment on your sentence structure, which I believe is simple and clear. Your pace and tone is consistent throughout and very appropriate for you topic. I only found one sentence that seemed a bit long and sluggish.
That line being, “I grew up in Ramseur and Randolph County during the 1960s and early 70s, playing and going to school, only vaguely aware of politics, war, and social change coming from the civil rights movement.” It would read easier as two sentences, like, “I grew up in Ramseur and Randolph County during the 1960s and early 70s. Merely playing and going to school, I was only vaguely aware of politics, war, and social change coming from the civil rights movement.”
As for other suggestions, I noticed a few grammatical errors, most notably in the use of hyphens and apostrophes.
For example, in the sentence “I grew up in Ramseur and Randolph County during the 1960’s and early 70’s…” you should remove the apostrophe after 1960 and after 70. That used to be the correct styling, however, I believe that rule has now changed. 70 also needs a backward apostrophe before it to account for the omitted 19 that would normally precede it.
There should be a hyphen between 100 and acre in “100 acre Randolph County farm…” since 100 acres is working together to describe the subject of the farm. The farm could be 100 acres, but it is a 100-acre farm. This is also the case in “north bound mule.” It should be “north-bound mule.”
Overall, you also did a great job keeping your sentences parallel, and I didn’t find any mistakes in noun, pronoun, verb agreement. Great job! I did see one sentence that wasn’t parallel: “Dad was the local postmaster, a church deacon, and volunteered with several civic groups…” I would change “volunteered” to “a volunteer.”
Other corrections in grammar include:
Mob Squad, being a television show, should be in quotation marks.
There should also be a comma after Great Depression in “…the Great Depression and my grandparents” as there is a change in subject. You may also consider changing this sentence to “Dad’s teenage years paralleled the Great Depression, during which my grandparents regularly struggled to break even.” This gives more of a connection between your two points.
Also there should be a comma in Washington, D.C., as well as periods for abbreviation between D.C. I also put a comma after D.C., because a comma is needed to separate specific locations and times from the rest of the sentence. I noticed you used the Oxford comma throughout your story, as well. Although my newspaper doesn’t allow it, I didn’t take them out since they aren’t technically incorrect. You also were consistent in using it, which I think is the key point—being consistent.
And, finally, in both your title and in your last sentence there should be a comma before Dad as well as after to offset to whom you are talking. “No Dad, I’m the Lucky One” reads more like you have no Dad…well that’s not very lucky. “No, Dad, I’m the Lucky One” works more like you intended. Watch your capitalization here, too. When referencing your dad I would use “father” for variation, or you at least need a lowercase “dad.” But when using Dad as his name, then an uppercase D is correct.
Now that all of those picky points are out of the way, let me reiterate that I really enjoyed the sentiment and emotion that laces your writing. My only suggestion would be to continue to look for where you can add detail and description. Although I got a really great picture of your father and y’all’s relationship, I didn’t quite get a vivid picture of a place or scene. Maybe try including detail about your father’s appearance. (Although kudos on including a picture in your blog—already thinking with multimedia!) A description of the home in which you grew up in would be nice, too, and would help set your familial scene.
Overall I think you did a fantastic job and I hope you find this critique helpful. I’ll admit I was nervous about this assignment as I generally am always nice to everyone. I also am not as well-versed in grammar as I should be, so making edits was nerve-wracking work. Feel free to critique my critique!
lenisemedia 