Sam Criscola's Blog

 Somehow I've gotten myself into a Journalism class that focuses on Math, and now I've heard a lecture on Science in Journalism-who would've guessed, and on my final term too. I joined Ed Yong's lecture on Zoom through the University of Oregon today 4/20/22. My first takeaway came early in his lecture, and stuck with me because it's something I need to get way better at. He emphasized the importance of having a plethora of subjects and interviews. I'm lazy when it comes to this and figure I have all the information I can get at certain points, so trying to go above and beyond to get more information is something I need to work on. Another thing that's really interesting that Ed didn't touch on too much was the fact there aren't many people telling stories in a way that truly makes the reader feel a certain way. There are thousands of stories written about Covid, but ti really makes you thing-how many of those stories touched the reader in a way that ...

 Numbers provide more context in stories than we journalists originally think. I read Scott R. Maier's article  'Interviewing the Numbers' and it dove into the concept of how numbers play a role in journalism. There's no escape to numbers as they're evident in every story waiting to be written. Journalists are meant to make it easier for readers to understand a story as they most likely aren't an expert in the field, but journalists aren't experts either. Using experts as sources can be as difficult as numbers because it can seem as though you're experiencing a new language, but creating an environment for yourself as a journalist that allows you to understand the topic, and then produce it in a way that the reader can comprehend is critical. Numbers can help add to the story and while it can look like data bores the audience, it can actually liven the story up with information that can make a base layer of understanding, or an element of surprise for th...

My name is Sam Criscola and I'm a Senior Journalism major and comics and cartoons studies minor at the University of Oregon. The UO has helped me expand my knowledge on every day material, but also more specifically inclined for my major. I'm interested in writing in sports-whether that's basketball, lacrosse, football or soccer. I'm not picky, but I just want an opportunity. My favorite hobby outside of writing is lacrosse where I'm in my final season playing at the UO. I'm excited to learn more about wordpress and spread my blogging portfolio!