It took a little bit of a search to find this blog post in TheBuzz section of TampaBay.com.  In fact, I did use the search tool and the keywords "Romney" and "Michigan" to find their coverage.  While the post addresses Romney's less than a landslide win, I didn't see any "passion" for the subject matter.  Hopefully the Super Tuesday results will garner more input and enthusiasm from their writers.

Instead, the site is heavy with commentary on the Florida Supreme Court reviewing redistricting arguments.  Much like Wisconsin's redistricting woes, Floridians are facing arguments over fairness that cannot be agreed upon. Redistricting due to the 2010 Census results has been causing a commotion in many communities, and raising even more bi-partisan animosity.  District changes are going to change the complexion of several upcoming elections across the country. My concern is the overpowering disregard in neighborhoods being seen as minority groups whose votes need to be split into pieces. The communities that are doing the absorbing are the ones that are most out of touch with the people that they will now represent - whether they like it or not.

Florida voters are quick with their opinions.  An article posted today on TampaBay.com at 7:06 AM discussing President Obama's focus on Florida fundraising efforts got readers reacting on the website within the hour.  Most with strong comments and a clear understanding of how national politics are impacting their state. While not all posts on the site inspire a high volume of participation, it is inspiring to see that the Tampa Bay Times is able to motivate their readership.

Posted on February 20th for print on the 21st, Alex Leary and Adam C. Smith's article highlights Obama's interest in Florida votes, "President Barack Obama is rewriting Florida's advertising tagline: Come for the sun and soak up the electoral votes." Historically, complaints have always cropped up concerning election campaigning by incumbents and whether they are justified in using taxpayer funded resources for travel and speaking engagements.  One reader captured it best...

I think it's exciting that readers are taking a personal interest in the commentary from their reporters and feel strongly enough to get involved. You never really consider the fact that people can interact with writers on an article that hasn't gone to print yet. How much does that change or influence their editing and what they publish?

Last week my class met the Social Media Editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sharif Dunhams.  I was interested in learning what his role was in the newsroom and how extensive his online responsibilities were.  Dunhams divided his job into three parts. He described himself as a reporter, director of their social media efforts and as the person that had to "see what's coming."   Coordinating blogs, the @NewsHub Twitter account and Facebook page for the paper would be enough to fill anyone's day.  

While I was taking in all the aspects of his role at the Journal Sentinel, I realized that what he was talking about could be an Internet Marketing job description for any organization - including political campaigns.  Here are the reasons why... 

1. Web Analytics -  Traffic numbers are important, but knowing how visitors are coming to your site, how often they visit and what they are looking for are fundamental.  80% of the traffic to JSOnline.com are returning visitors and the majority are in the Metro Milwaukee area.  With a strong retention rate, a website can increase the revenue they draw from advertisers.  Today's newspapers need to drive online success to perpetuate their print circulation. Journalists need to know how their website is performing.
2. Research - Marketers use research to make a variety of decisions and to understand their target audience. Investigating a story involves the same research.  The Internet can give you insight into a story, a person of interest or an industry.  By using Twitter, the Journal Sentinel staff were able to identify sources for a social media extortion story that was much deeper than they expected.  
3. Content Management - Journalists continually provide content.  Managing content online is a whole different arena.  Once a story is ready for JSOnline it will have to be published on the site, shared on Facebook, Tweeted to followers, listed on the NewsWatch block, updated as needed and reworked for print. Online marketers have been managing these same elements for new products, sales, events and industry news updates.
4. Expanding Reach - By reach, I mean potential audience or customers. Building a following for a news site or a reporter results in greater reach/more readers. Reporters and social media editors need to interact on Twitter and Facebook to get more people linking to their site.  They also need to find niche markets that they may not have reached yet.  Perhaps Pinterest will help JSOnline gain more female readers that would be interested in the paper's Fashion reports. New social media sites allow journalists to market to new audiences.
5. Affiliate Marketing - One method marketers use to drive sales is by partnering with other websites that focus on industry specific interests.  These partners promote their audience to purchase products or follow a brand. Engaging readers and turning them into advocates is the same powerful tool.  By sharing a story from the Journal Sentinel's Facebook page, readers encourage friends to engage with the paper online.  
6. Experts - Reader retention is built by familiarity with a writer's personality. An engaging journalist's body of work establishes them as an expert in their subject area, beyond their role at a specific news organization.  A faithful following of readers give a journalist the authority and respect that people will turn to when they need to know specific information.  Marketers have to establish themselves as brand spokespeople and knowledgeable experts in their industry to help promote their organizations. Oddly enough, they're generally trying to promote  brands to journalists for story opportunities.
7. Leaders - Innovating within their field, online marketers look to scoop their competition by being first to use the latest technology. Journalists need to have a social media presence in order to actively report and be aware of developing stories. New methods of combining these social media tools are at the forefront of online journalism. The Journal Sentinel incorporated Storify to cover a local accident, putting them ahead of the curve in reporting.

The fact that he always had something to do because non-breaking stories should always be in development struck a chord with me.  There really is no such thing as a bad news day.  Many thanks to Sharif Durhams!!

Tuesday's discussion about the pitfalls of student blogging assignments really got my gears grinding.  Looking at the comments from professors regarding the problems they found with student posts raised several flags in my mind. Assignment. Beat. Required. Minimum. Those were the worst motivations to write anything that would be interesting or help me to develop better writing skills. Something came to mind about excitement and creating a freshness in anything you are assigned to write. The photo above is from 1989. I was a Junior working on the Brown Deer High School newspaper, The Falcon. I'm the one on the right, trying to look professional with a notebook and pen. It was student media day with the Milwaukee Admirals and we really just went to stare at the players. Hockey is fun to watch, but I wasn't a sports fan.  What I could be was a good journalist and find a way to make the subject worth writing about. Why had I forgotten that?

Over the years friends have suggested I write a blog. Funny stories about my Mom are the biggest request. (She's Korean and intense - but that's a whole other story.) Once in a great while I've posted some rants on Facebook.   I love making lists and used to post them. The commitment of a blog was a little more responsibility that I felt ready for. Professionally, I use blogs all the time to stay current on techniques, technology and business. Forums are another tool I depend on. Before I wrench on my Jeep, I consult the JeepForum and post questions or let others know if their advice worked out. All of these things are what I should have been using to motivate my blog for class with perspective and enthusiasm.

The problem is that calling it "student blogging" implies less authority. Is a lower level of writing acceptable because it's from a student?  No.  Bloggers have a responsibility to the Internet as a whole.  Not just their classmates and instructors. Change the mindset, improve the quality. 

After identifying my faulty logic, a couple other things became clear. Having assigned subject matter shouldn't be stifling.  It's an opportunity to demonstrate your creativity in how you approach your topic and the different ways you can incorporate your knowledge. Thank goodness for due dates!  Structure is hard to create on your own.  The time I set aside to write my obligatory post should really be a chance to share something insightful with others. 

Success! The whole reason I signed up for #JOUR4953 was to improve my writing and become more productive overall. I was curious to see if I would make any progress over the course of the semester. Mission accomplished.

With an active week in Florida's state government, The Tampa Bay Times has stayed very focused on state politics. Governor Rick Scott was the highlight of an interesting article about his attempt at getting input from Facebook followers.  Monday night the Governor posted the following "If you could use one word to describe Florida's 2012 legislative session, it would be _____. COMMENT below!" Hundreds of responses flooded in.  Some of the most notable included "Racist", "Underachievment" and "Criminal".  Careful what you ask for.

Voter turnout in Florida was the focus of a primary recap by Times Political Editor, Adam C. Smith.  The 14% drop in participation of the Florida Republicans was noted as disinterest in the overall election.  In 2008 voters had more on the line than with the current candidates. "Also, any lack of enthusiasm for the candidates this year might be because of the 10 days of overwhelmingly negative TV ads." 

As the Republicans turned their attention to the West, the Tampa Bay Times provided well-rounded insight into the results of the Florida primaries.  After a campaign that increased the gaps between the GOP candidates, big spending and a negative attitude are what the Tampa Bay Times say won Florida voters over.  Romney's win was also tied to the fact that 40% were absentee ballots.  Gingrich's team scrambled to address early voters weeks after Romney had already made an impact.  Certainly a factor to think about for the Presidential campaigns.

Citing a memo of concern from Newt's camp on Wednesday, the possibility of challenging Florida using a winner-take-all vote to the National Convention was introduced.  The article questions whether the Florida delegate vote will be a unified 50 for Romney. If a Florida voter contests Florida breaking from the convention's rules by holding their primary on January 31st, the delegation may have to take a vote of 23 Romney,16 Gingrich to the RNC in August.

Florida's final Republican Presidential Debate offered a strong opportunity to see more of the differences and personalities of the candidates.  Wolf Blitzer's controlled but dry mediation of the debate kept the aggressive energy flowing in spite of an ocean of boos to his topic choices.  

Once again we return to a Gingrich/Romney conversation, luckily Wolf Blitzer reminded everyone that Ron Paul and Rick Santorum were on stage.  Even the cameras needed the reminder.  When Santorum was able to get face time he tried to show himself as a more passionate and aggressive.  Ron Paul maintained his light-hearted attitude and assured answers that should seem so simple and obvious to everyone - in his opinion.  

The Tampa Bay Times did not offer coverage or live updating at the CNN event.  Political Editor, Adam C. Smith, and reporter Alex Leary provided a recap of the debate in an article that noted the debate being focused on Romney and Gingrich's continued sparring.  PolitiFact has the best recap with a fact check of the debate.

Loading the TampaBay.com Home page there is a very traditional news feel.  Content on the site is strong and they provide a deep analysis in the Political category. From 1884-2011 the paper had been known as the St. Petersburg Times, making the change to The Tampa Bay Times to better reflect their impact on the region.

As the page loads, heavy banner advertising and a paid press release ticker also detract from category and article links. Web usability experts would be able to offer an ocean of advice on the layout of the Tampa Bay Times website.  Aesthetically, their site is lacking in the smoother edges and crisp design that makes navigation easy.  According to Alexa.com, the site is loading slower than 88% of websites.  

On the flip side, the Tampa Bay Times does have it's PolitiFact site to show us they value infographics as much as we do.  Keeping the content simple, covering all the political players comments and making clear points, the PolitiFact portion of the Tampa Bay Times is a real winner.