This font looks like something out of a horror movie. If I were to create a book cover for the book I’m writing in my head, Scary Moments in Parenting, this is the font I’d use.

I. Catalog Description of Course
This course will provide students with an opportunity to write and create content for publication on web sites and distribution through electronic media. Students will explore communication theories, trends and technologies and apply them to written work.

II. Goals
a. This course introduces students to current terminology, topics and technologies in electronic communications.
b. This course explores communication theories related to mass media, technology and convergence.
c. This course provides intensive writing experience with close attention to grammar, spelling, form, content and delivery.
d. This course permits and encourages students to develop professional-quality portfolio content.
e. This course will expose students to careers in electronic communication.
III. Objectives
The student will be able to
a. Describe, explain, and analyze current communication terminology, theories, topics and technologies.
b. Define and understand web site audiences and web site use.
c. Describe and explain web site architecture and search engine operation.
d. Write, edit and critique web site content, electronic newsletters, and related content.
e. Use current technology tools and software.
f. Choose and implement online marketing tools.
g. Publish written content.
IV. Outline of Course Content
a. Defining communication and media
i. Print vs. Web – how is web writing different than other types of writing)
ii. Geek Speak: technology terms
b. Theory
i. Describe, explain and analyze theories of media, technology and convergence
ii. Discuss Rhetoric, theory and practice
c. The 24-hour news cycle
i. Define current trends in media, communication and technology
d. Web site content and architecture
i. Define text content, graphic content, navigation, meta content
ii. Search engine operation
iii. Google bombing
e. Writing and Editing Techniques
i. Brainstorming
ii. Freewriting
iii. Organizing, outlining and chunking
iv. Scanability
v. Editing 101
f. Web site critiques
i. The elements of Bad
ii. The elements of Good
g. News and Reporting
i. Parts of a blog – content and comments
ii. Social media releases
h. E-newsletters
i. What makes for a good (or bad) newsletter?
i. Online Marketing and Promotion
i. Software
ii. Web sites
j. Careers in Electronic Media
i. Guest speaker(s) TBD
ii. Marketing Yourself Online
k. The future of Electronic Media
i. Content
1. Personalized Contextual
2. Customized
3. Immediate
ii. Delivery
1. RSS
2. Kindle
3. Cell Phones
4. Semantic Web

V. Suggested Texts
a. Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Usability, Steve Krug, 2005
b. Killer Web Content: Make the Sale, Deliver the Service, Build the Brand, Gerry McGovern, 2007

VI. Suggested Modes, Media and Techniques of Instruction
a. Lecture, in-class writing, blog writing, student discussion, multimedia presentation, individual presentations
VII. Instructor References

Benkler, Yochai. (2007). The wealth of networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Berners-Lee, Tim, Hendler, James & Lassila, Ora. (2001). The semantic web. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00048144-10D2-1C70-84A9809EC588EF21

Bernstein, Mark. (2002). Ten tips on writing the living web. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://alistapart.com/stories/writeliving/

Blood, Rebecca. (2000). Weblogs: a history and perspective. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html

Griffin, Em. (2008). A first look at communication theory. New York: McGraw Hill.

Fisher, Claude. (1994). America calling: A social history of the telephone to 1940. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Hourihan, Meg. (2002). What we’re doing when we blog. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/javascript/2002/06/13/megnut.html

Kilian, Crawford. (1999). Writing for the web. Bellingham, WA: Self-Counsel Press.

Krug, Steve. (2005). Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to web usability. XX: New Riders Press.

Lasica, J.D. (2001). Blogging as a form of journalism. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1017958873.php

McGovern, Gerry. (2007). Killer web content: Make the sale, deliver the service, build the brand. London: A&C Black.

Miller, Daniel and Slater, Don. (2001). The Internet: An ethnographic approach. Oxford: Berg Publishers.

So I’ve been watching the third night of the Republican National Convention, and did a little wordleing with the text, as prepared, of two speeches. The first, given by Hillary Clinton, at the Democratic National Convention in August, and the second, given by Mitt Romney this evening. I chose those two speeches because those two individuals were the also-rans, or losers, of the 2008 primary election.

Click on the pictures for a larger view.

Some observations:

One speech referenced “America” most frequently; the other referenced government most often. Just to pick on the GOP for a moment, for a party that espouses limited government as a main plank in the platform, one of their main speeches leaned on the term “government” as a rhetorical crutch in a major, public and national forum.

Liberal was mentioned more than conservative, and as often as government, in a speech by a self-proclaimed conservative.

Clinton’s speech used “Barack” and “Obama” frequently, which mirrors that campaign’s strategy of tending to rely on Obama, the person as opposed to Obama, the font of policy.

What are your observations about these two graphics?

Cross posted at medaillecommunication.com

Observe:

Michelle Obama’s speech to the Democratic National Convention, Denver, Colorado, August 2008.

As the political season heats up, take some time to see - through artfully designed word maps - what candidates are saying when they speak.

Content analysis, a field under which an application like this would fall, was at one time a favorite research area of mine, and one that I would love to talk to students about.

Crossposted at medaillecommunication.

I don’t want to like this font, but I do. The curly serifs make it look childish, but whimsical. I like how each of the letters seems to have a similar width and even heights. Not much else to say about it.

Precise lines, with precise squiggles, this font would find a nice home in a children’s book with some warped and twisted storyline about things that go bump in the night. Reading anything in this font would leave me feeling vaguely unsettled, like I left the stove on or I lost my car keys.

Hum along with the Jeopardy theme song as you read about this font.

I was watching that most excellent of game shows the other night and kept thinking, “Damn, I need to get on that show. I am getting every single question correct! Sign me up, Alex, I’ll show y’all how it’s done!”

Then I realized it was the teen tournament, and I felt a little less sure of myself.

I’ve worn it with a scarf that was a gift for all employees at a previous employer, and it happens to coordinate perfectly. That’s where the other colors have come from.

When I see this font, I think, it’s like the handwriting of a punk-emo artiste scribbling angsty poetry about how bleak and insignificant the world and life is, while sitting in a Starbucks drinking a $6 latte and wearing a $200 outfit straight out of Hot Topic.