In the evenings when I’m unwinding, I like to find things that make me laugh and things that make me think. Although I haven’t visited their website before tonight while composing this post, I usually keep an eye out for BuzzFeed videos on Facebook. Sometimes they post funny ones, like “Things Cats Do That’d Be Creepy If You Did Them” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUANIvNmYzQ), and sometimes they’re thought-provoking or status quo-busting, like “30 Days Without Shaving” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWTin-X4GrM) in which they followed several women at different time periods over a month in which they did not shave their armpit hair. Overall, these videos are enjoyable and entertaining. And seriously, if you need a laugh, check out that “Things Cats Do” video.
Tag: vertical
Vertical
I came across The Huffington Post’s “Health and Fitness Healthy Living” page (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/health-fitness/). It’s got a little bit on health (including mental health), a little bit on fitness, and occasionally the two together. One of the more humorous featured blog posts I found on August 24 was antisocial Nicholas Miriello’s “No, I Don’t Want to Work Out with You” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicholas-miriello/work-out-alone_b_4282236.html?utm_hp_ref=health-and-fitness&ir=Health%20and%20Fitness). However, they also included some material I thought was poorly placed, such as “This Bengaluru Engineer Decided to Drive a Car Without a Horn. Best Decision Ever” by Rituparna Chatterjee (http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/07/05/mansoor-ali-sharif-car-ho_n_10811096.html?utm_hp_ref=health-fitness&ir=Health+and+Fitness). The article touted better mental health (which is health-related) and better time management (which is not), but I still think it would go better in a different section of the paper.
Vertical
I chose Vice’s IMPACT as an example of the vertical pertaining to my own interests. New York Times might admittedly be the first thing I open in the morning, before I’ve spoken an intelligible word or consumed anything but coffee and a cigarette; VICE is consistently the most entertaining read of my morning. I’m most likely to recommend VICE to friends or share on social media. While there are issues with the slant/ethics of some of their documentaries (notwithstanding are still some of the most daring and edgy journalism I’ve seen on a popular site) I’ve found that IMPACT vertical does a really thorough job of covering important human rights issues and longer-running crises that may only get a hundred words once a week in other press outlets. It’s the kind of writing I envy.
Beat Vertical- Fashion and Lifestyle
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/fashion/
Interview Magazine’s fashion vertical may have some very basic “here’s lipstick colors for summer” kind of clickbait but it doesn’t take much closer examination to find articles that focus on couture fashion and showcase incredibly artistic photography by some of the greatest filmmakers in the world. They do a good job of exploring the historical contexts of fashion and examining trends through a cultural lens. I plan to focus my beat around Athens/Atlanta area but I like Interview Magazine as an example of what journalism around fashion and lifestyle can be. It also sprang to mind when talking about verticals because the graphic design on the website is absolutely incredible.
Schroder – Relevant vertical, website
The helpathenshomeless.org website provides information about homelessness in general and in the Athens area. According to a video resource on the site (found under “be involved” and “going home kits”), Athens has higher rate of homelessness than does Atlanta! I’m not one to accept most statements at face value and would investigate the source of that before quoting. Nevertheless, it is a problem of significant proportions and one that impacts downtown due to the number of struggling individuals on the streets.
This website also provides information about resources available to homeless individuals and families as well as ways in which community members can help. The “About Us” page lists directors and coordinators, potential sources for articles relevant to this series.
After some deliberation, I decided to also link an article from The Atlantic on how life story narratives can help people cope with adversity: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/08/life-stories-narrative-psychology-redemption-mental-health/400796/ (homelessness certainly being an aversive circumstance!). The ideas are awesome and I’m glad to share them. I’m not sure how or whether to incorporate them into the articles to be written this semester, but here’s a glimpse …
Note: figuring out how to name the hyperlink instead of having the long url …
Health and Fitness Verticals
EatingWell is a page on Facebook that I follow. They post tons of awesome, creative recipes that are healthy and (supposedly) delicious! I really enjoy following pages and sites like this because they help to spark a new idea for a recipe I would want to try, and most of the stuff they suggest is easy enough for a college student to do, but still intricate enough to have fun with. As I mentioned in a previous post, I don’t usually like sites or pages centered around fad diets and counting calories, so I think things like this are a great and happy medium. It helps people, or me at least, get excited about eating healthy foods, and excited to cook. You can check out the site here.
Eat-Fit-Fuel is a similar page to EatingWell, however, on top of healthy recipes, this page also posts work out plans that target specific body parts, advice from health and fitness professionals, general stories about people trying to get healthier or lose weight, and things of that nature.
I think that using Facebook for these verticals is really useful and a modern way to stay up to date on fitness ideas and a great way to get new recipes. The fast-paced recipe videos are especially helpful and much easier to understand than a regular cook book or written recipe. Its important for people to have easy access to this kind of information, to make it a part of a daily habit or routine, so that people can constantly get new ideas and new inspiration for themselves. While I do have some reservations about fitness trainer and diet pages, these kind outlets are ultimately a good thing.
Living Intown & Living Northside Verticals
I’m very interested in the “downtown life” portion of “downtown life and business,” and would like to explore that a little more. In thinking about what I would like to do with my beat, I’ve looked to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Living Intown & Living Northside.”
The focus of both is to “provide an insider’s perspective into the attractions and events in and around the unique neighborhoods of metro Atlanta, both intown and on the northside of the city…[and] explore the distinct neighborhoods, events and entertainment, and arts and culture that are unique to these exciting areas.” That is what I would like to do for Athens’ downtown area through my work—look at it through a broad lens and, in doing so, showcase its ‘something-for-everyone’ vibe.
New York Times- Modern Love
Though my interests have changed, sometimes going through phases: tech, business, fashion, etc. I have consistently followed the New York Times’ Modern Love vertical. The Modern Love column of the paper moves away from breaking news and politics. It becomes much more personal, and strikes a chord, especially with millennial readers who navigate new relationships and a new world of technology. The Modern Love vertical offers a snapshot into the lives of young lovers.
Through the years, several stories have stuck out to me. One talked about the complications that can come with navigating a new relationship and new type of relationship. It explained the nuances of having an open relationship. Another, focused on the fairly new phenomena of “ghosting” that occurs in the dating world. After communicating extensively with social media, sometimes the other person just disappears and stops responding. The piece did a great job of capturing the confusion and humiliation that sometimes comes with this experience. There is no closure.
Delish Vertical
Fashion and Lifestyle — Cline
I haven’t known for long what might be classified as a ‘vertical’ but it turns out that I’ve been following one for quite some time. I’m incredibly interested in the food arena of “lifestyle”. Though I know how to dress myself somewhat professionally, I certainly feel far more comfortable aligning myself with the culinary portion of this beat. In my free time, I often spend far too much time watching ‘Tasty’ videos on Facebook or exploring Delish.com.
Delish.com is very similar to the Facebook page Tasty, in that they specialize in putting out sped-up cooking videos. Who has time to sit and watch an entire cooking show just to learn how to make one dish? No one. That’s the entire point behind these one to three minute videos. Anything from boozie slushies to bruschetta pasta to four ingredient chocolate truffles can be found in accelerated video format.
These videos are paired with lively music and beautifully clear resolution to put forth an aesthetically pleasing final product for their website.
These recipe videos, though my favorite part of Delish, are not all the vertical has to offer. They keep up with weight loss stories, create entertaining listicles about kitchen renovations, and even have a category devoted entirely to the professional food industry.
It’s safe to say that Delish.com is a good example of not only a well done vertical, but a delicious one!
Vogue, Atlanta Magazine, and More
Fashion and Lifestyle
By Shelby Jarrett
I’ve been examining a few resources for inspiration on the fashion and lifestyle beat. The first of these is the charming and gracious Liz Best, who in fact began the master’s program at Grady at the same time that Sandra and I did, but decided to withdraw when she began getting crazy-awesome offers to do fashion styling for the likes of Coke and Atlanta Magazine (I mean, wouldn’t you?). Her Atlanta-based blog contains compilations of her favorite looks as well as her own photos of explorations in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and Portland. Her blog can be found here, and she was gracious enough to give me a few pointers over the phone as well.
One of these recommendations was to further investigate Vogue, not just skim it in the doctor’s office or at Barnes and Noble. In addition to all the pretty, pretty pictures, Vogue has some excellent pieces on travel, beauty/health, and what we might call “feminine interest” pieces such as this one exploring how Jennifer Lawrence became the highest-paid female actress in Hollywood. While most of these pieces are beyond the scope of what I could do in a semester, they are excellent examples in terms of format and story ideas.
Lastly, to help perhaps put a local(ish) flair on my pieces, Liz was kind enough to recommend that I check out Atlanta Magazine, which features many articles similar in feel to Vogue (new designers, new trends, etc.), but with a distinctly Atlantan twist–one example is an article on the Atlanta-based app Color, which helps women of color locate expert haircare to meet their specific needs.
Through these and other resources, I hope to ground myself in fashion and lifestyle and come up with story ideas that are relevant to Georgia readers.