Remember 2012?

By: Serena

There's no doubt that "Gangnam Style" has dominated 2012; but what were the other trends in 2012? Well, that's why I'm here to tell you.

                   Music

     There were many great songs last year. Many were so memorable. This includes Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Getting Back Together", Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe", "Die Young" from Ke$ha, Bruno Mars's "Locked Out of Heaven", Justin Bieber's "Beauty and a Beat", Fun's "Some Nights", and last but not least One Direction's "One Thing", "Live While We're Young", and "Little Things". But tune in to the Grammy's on February 10, 2013 for some awesome performances and see who wins what.

                                                                              Word Up                

"Swag" was a commonly used term, except no one really knows what it means. The proper definition for "swag" is actutally an ornamenatal festoon of flowers, fruit, and greenery. So when people say, "I got swag", they're really saying," I have a decorative bouquet of flowers". Or in other words, they can also be saying,"I got Edible Arrangments" if they were talking about fruit. Another abbreviation that people were using was "YOLO"; which stands for "you only live once". When "The Motto" came out by Drake feat. Lil Wayne and Tyga, people on Twitter were tweeting things such as, "Didn't do my science project #YOLO" or,"Gonna try to go on #16&Pregnant!#YOLO." This "motto" was basically an excuse for people to do stupid things. But thankfully some people took the motto to experience something that will benefit them, instead of trying to get themselves killed.   

                                          Fashion

Fashion in 2012 was a twist of 80's and 90's fashion. This includes light colored jeans, crop tops, the Aztec pattern, cropped jean jackets, and combat boots. As for the guys, baggy pants, hats and caps, and varsity jackets were in style.

                                                         TV Shows

Shows such as X Factor, Pretty Little Liars, The Simpsons, Modern Family, Glee and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo were favoured in 2012. But unfortunately, Jersey Shore ended.

Sports

The San Francisco Giants won again last year. We won 2 years before and before that we won in 1954. And for this year, we are going to the Superbowl. We'll be going against the Saints on February 3, 2013. Make sure you cross your fingers!

K-Pop vs. J-Pop: Coming to America?

     You probably have heard Psy's "Gangnam Style" recently. He has been in the K-Pop(Korean Popular music) industry for quite a while now. But have you ever heard of J-Pop? J-Pop is short for Japanese popular music .
 Now that "Gangnam Style" has come out, K-Pop and J-Pop is slowly coming over to America.
     "I think that K-Pop and J-Pop should come to America because American pop music is getting kind of boring." a source says. While another source says, " I think that K-Pop and J-Pop should stay in Asia because we can't even understand it!"
      A popular group of J-Pop is called AKB48. They have hit record sales in 2011 of over $200 million in Japan. They also have a total of 91 members! WoW! But can K-Pop compete with that? Well, with the group" Girl's Generation", the  K-Pop industry may have something going on. But it'll be up to America to decide if K-Pop or J-Pop will make charts here.

Interviewing

     Interviewing is a great skill to have when you're a journalist. It takes patience and practice to get it right; because you can't get everythng right on the first try. Interviewing is a discussion where two or more people talk about a topic; whether it is for a job or in journalism. Now first of all, you need to know your topic and who your going to interview. The person you're going to interview is very important because you have to ask yourself this: Is this person the best person to interview for this topic? Is this person's opinion going to benefit my story? Will this person be useful for any other of my stories?

http://www.jobinterviewtools.com/blog/job-interview/how-to-interview-/how-to-conduct-an-interview/

Secondly, you want to make your questions. Make sure your questions are logical and relate to your topic. Once you have reviewed the questions, you should set up a time and place to meet your interviewer. Now, during your interview you want to stay still, or else you may make your uncomfortable. But first, greet your interviewer! Now you can start.  Start with your questions and make sure you're listening. No one likes to talk to themself! Also, try not to stutter. You want the interviewer to understand you; instead of having your interviewer have dictionary in front of their face.

Journalistic Writing: Building the Skills, Honing the Craft

By Robert M. Knight

Lastly, thank your interviewer for their time. Be sure to shortly summarize why they were important to your story. Also, make sure you give a firm handshake to close your interview.

http://career-advice.monster.com/job-interview/interview-preparation/how-to-end-a-job-interview-hot-jobs/article.aspx

Inverted Pyramid

     Inverted Pyramid. What is it? Well, it's as simple as this. An upside-down triangle. Here, let me show you so you can understand a little better. So, as you can see the most important information is at the top of the paragraph. This is the most important paragraph because this is where you hook you're reader and include the most important information. It's kind of like the first date-you only get one chance to impress your "reader".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_pyramid

        Many journalists use this structure to their articles as a guideline or an outline. Just remember "the reader can stop reading at ANY time". Usually in news articles you'll see the writer write the not-so-important details in the middle. Then, have the least important details in the last paragraph. But sometimes, the last paragraph is important because you want to close your writing with a big finsh.

       The inverted pyramid is important to journalism because when your writing it's not always necessary to put excess information. "If a story was too long, and couldn't fit into the plot alloted the page, it had to be cut quickly, usually from bottom-up." says  Christopher K. Passante in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Journalism.This can get you off topic and your reader can stop reading. I will use the inverted pyramid in my writing by remembering this: the reader can stop reading at ANY time.
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/chip-on-your-shoulder/12754/writing-from-the-top-down-pros-and-cons-of-the-inverted-pyramid/

To Be Bias...

     What is bias? You may not know it, but we've all used it. To be bias is to pick a side or have an opinion. For example, in an election you have to pick a side (or representative). When you bias in journalism, generally it's not a good thing.

     www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias

     Using bias in journalism is also very important because you don't want to show how you feel towards your topic or else opposing readers may not read anymore of your articles, just because of how you feel. You also want your readers to have their own opinion and mind about the topic. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definitions/english/bias

     I will apply this in my journalism by being unbias when I'm with others. This will make me think of others equally. Anyway, just try to remember not to be bias when writing. But in the outside world, you can pick any side. I mean, everyone has an opinion, right?

Journalism:Who, What, When, Where, Why And How
By James Glen Stovall

Journalistic Integrity

     Journalism- to write, photograph, or report in news, magazines, or T.V. Integrity- to be honest, pure, and a good faith. Journalistic integrity is being honest in your writing. You don't plagiarise, you don't get off topic, and most importantly you are truthful in every story.

     This is very important in journalism because if you share something that's false, people would be spreading lies. This could cause you your career and possibly someone else's. You also want to be honest because no one likes liars, right? And if you feel that this is your true passion, you should always take pride in your work or have a passion for accuracy.

     In conclusion, I will use these definitions and life lessons in my journalism and my writing. I hope you will too. And you don't even have to be a journalist to follow these guidelines. You can be a writer or just a regular, average student. Just remember integrity-to be honest, pure, and a good faith.