Blogger Schmogger

Blogs have become one of the best ways to keep an increasingly Online audience captivated. Writers have more freedom to try different techniques and styles within the blogosphere, which many readers seem to be liking nowadays.

But sometimes a writer shouldn't just publish a blog entry for the sake of getting the 'scoop'; It can be the downfall of good writing and leave a blemish on a journalist's career.

So getting to the point...

Yahoo's Omg! ran a blog article today about Maria Menounos of Access Hollywood's recent interview with singer/songwriter John Mayer, who gushed about his collaboration with 19-year-old country/pop star Taylor Swift.

Interesting enough, right?

The timing of the article is relevant with the release of Mayer's new album and Swift's sweep of the CMAs, however the entry is far from well-written.

The most glaring issue is the lack of writing. The article features quote after quote where paraphrasing and back-story could have provided depth.

Quote attribution is extremely informal, referring to Mayer as "John". It seems as if the writer was trying to make up for lack of creativity by using "explained" and "smiled" instead of "said" when attributing quotes.

That is not to say that the quotes are not interesting or relevant. In fact, the opposite is true. The quotes selected are great and provide an interesting twist on what could have been a blase entry. After gushing about Swift, Mayer was asked his thoughts on the Kanye West outburst at the VMAs.

"It's the MTV Video Music Awards," John continued. "It's not the G8 summit. Kanye West got in more trouble than the guy who yelled, 'You lie!' to the President. The guy who yelled 'You lie!' in the middle of Congress got like a two-day slap on the wrist and Kanye West -- his entire career is in escrow because he jumped on stage at the Video Music Awards."

PopEater posted a similar article Thursday, Nov. 12. However, it would be a crime to put omg!'s blog entry into the same category of news sharing as PopEater's. While PopEater's coverage is as concise as that of omg!, writer Dan Reilly paraphrased and used bits of information on Mayer's career to tie the story together.

However, PopEater stacked quotes with as little shame as omg!, and both articles seemed to be written in a rush, without any response from Swift. One short quote, however small, would have added a completely different and interesting dimension to either story.

Say Anything: On Tour and On the Record

Photo by Noah Kalina (from The Village Voice's article, "Say Anything Calm Down")

On the verge of releasing its third full-length album, emo-pop punk band Say Anything has been in the spotlight lately. Its self-titled record -- set to drop this coming Tuesday, Nov. 3 -- is receiving critical attention due to public knowledge of changes in the mental health and spiritual life of frontman Max Bemis.

Bemis pulls from his experiences, failed relationships, and struggle with bipolar disorder to create the band's material. Critics and fans alike have worried that his current happiness and recent marriage to Eisley's Sherri Dupree, the visionary would lack his signature style and edge, putting Say Anything in danger of being placed on the alternative chopping block.

However, the majority rules that's not the case.

Max Bemis sings to a sold out crowd at Vic Theatre in Chicago Oct. 23.

Time Out New York featured a story on Bemis as a preview for Say Anything's album release and live shows in New York City. The article is noticeably short, but sweet, and includes a playlist of some of the band's most-played and most-recognizable songs at the bottom of the page.

Start with the lead, a quote from Bemis:

“If you looked at my life on paper during the last couple of records, you’d be like, ‘This guy is messed up—he needs to get his stuff together,’?” says Max Bemis, leader of the uncommonly innovative emo-punk outfit Say Anything.

It's an unmistakably great quote that should be in the story.

But is there a reason for starting with a quote? And a grammar error (note the random question mark)?

Quotes are not set-apart in the story either, and the paragraphs are long making it visually hard for a reader to notice a change in thought.

Also accompanying the article is a link to a "related article" titled, "Five Emo Bands That Don't Suck." One would think after reading the story that Say Anything might be included... It's not. It is beyond explanation why a link would be provided to a story that implies almost all emo music sucks when the article itself is about a "beloved emo outfit" that is not included in the list.

The Village Voice did a similar article detailing Bemis' journey. Right away, this story takes a different tone; A tone that is more likely to appeal to Say Anything fans.

Village Voice reporter Mikael Wood uses slang and Bemis' own lyrics to describe the change in him.

The last time we heard from Max Bemis of Say Anything, on the Los Angeles emo band's 2007 double-album doozy In Defense of the Genre, dude was giving all his Hot Topic homies a master class in emotional blackmail. "Cater to me, or I'll punch myself until my face is blue," Bemis demanded on "Spay Me," some kind of fucked-up mash note from "an arrogant prick shitting out heart attacks" to "the queen of the damned--feelingless, devoid of tact."

Sure, it includes expletives and some bold statements ("Hot Topic homies"), but the lead is more attractive than Time Out's, although it could certainly be shortened.

Not only that, but the story uses much more visual detail and humor... and a source other than Bemis. It is clear that Wood has spent some time with Bemis and Dupree and did work to add another side to the story by interviewing Coby Linder, Say Anything's drummer.

Neither one of these stories, however, thought to quote Dupree. As Bemis' wife and a figure significant enough to mention--however briefly--in both stories, she must have something to say about the changes in him.

Metallica Mama

The St. Petersburg Times out of Tampa, Florida recently published a feature on 85-year-old Margaret Priebe, cancer survivor and... Metallica fan.

On Saturday, Priebe attended her first Metallica show with her 48-year-old son, Jim, and met the band due to the article's popularity.

Despite an intensely fascinating subject with a personality to match, the article itself wasn't all that. Sean Daly, the Times' Pop Music Critic, missed the mark.

One spot in the story in particular was rather disturbing, and borders on inappropriate assumption:

After inspecting plane engines during WWII — B-24s to be exact — Margaret met the man who became her husband. They moved to Cleveland, then Florida, and enjoyed a 44-year marriage until his death.

Well, mostly enjoyed it. "He didn't like the hard music. I couldn't turn on the stuff when he was around."

Is Daly assuming that Priebe resented her husband for not liking the same music as her? If her marriage was unhappy and she said so, this would be a different story, but from the way the story has been reported, it doesn't seem to be the case.

But Daly further pushes the point:

Now it's just Margaret and Jim. They share a house in the buttoned-down Lakeside Estates neighborhood. About nine years back, Margaret turned on the radio and heard Metallica's 1999S&M album, recorded with the San Francisco Symphony. She bought it; she blasted it. For the first time in her life, there was no one to tell her no.

Does Daly want us to assume that Priebe is relieved to not have her husband there to suppress her musical tastes?

However, from the article, the reader really gets a sense of Priebe's personality. Daly obviously spent quite a bit of time with her judging by the amount of backstory he included and details of her living space:

At home, on a table next to her favorite chair, are an Art of Knitting DVD, a giant magnifying glass, The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal and a magazine devoted to the four men in Metallica: singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo.

While the story claims to focus on Priebe's cancer battle and how Metallica helped her through, there is really minimal detail of her struggle. The description is limited to the photo tag and one short paragraph in the story:

Mother and son have tickets to Metallica's show at the St. Pete Times Forum on Saturday. They wouldn't miss it — not after last year, a hard year for Margaret. She battled lymphoma and chemo and lonely nights in the hospital when the only thing she could do was untangle the headphones of her MP3 player and tune out: Enter Sandman, Bleeding Me, Devil's Dance.

Alternative Press: Paramore

Alternative Press Magazine issue #255 (October 2009) features one of the most currently beloved pop-rock bands of the music world--Paramore. AP's headliners always jump out at me from the pages, but for some reason, this one did more so than others.

Source: Altpress.com

It could be the photography that drew me in. The presentation of the story is eye-catching, to say the least. AP's signature goofy, brightly-colored photo shoots certainly appeal to its target audience. And although it is by no means obvious, the bowling theme adds a layer of complexity-- that Paramore was/is in the midst of an internal struggle, a game.

Knowing the magazine, you would assume that the story is about a band, but the pictures don't exactly give that away. One killer stage shot ties the whole piece together.

Despite the fact that it's obviously not-at-all related or important to the story, the lede is beautifully done. It draws the reader in, and manages to say a lot about lead singer Hayley Williams:

"Whoooosh! A pint-sized, blond-haired blur whizzes past the doorway of Paramore's dressing room backstage at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis and is followed five seconds later by a frazzled 20-something nanny, panting while wearing a Harajuku Lovers T-shirt and designer jeans. "Kingston...Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiingston...Get! Over! Here! Giggles and high-pitched squeals ensue but Hayley Williams doesn't bat a blue-painted eye. In fact, she doesn't even look up."

The content is mainly about the recently revealed terminated relationship of Williams and guitarist Josh Farro. However, Leslie Simon doesn't tell the story in a tabloid-like form, a risk that any journalist takes in talking about relationships among celebrities. Rather, the story focuses more on the effects the split had on the band.

Simon executes with incredible detail; It puts the reader there at the scene. The lede alone exemplifies this, but much of the first half of the story is saturated with details. While this could be distracting from the real point of the story, it makes the reader feel closer to the subject and really draws you into the lives of these musicians.