Online judge's comments, March 2109
1. Coverage and Content
Strengths: "Debatable: The problems with the Princess Pocahontas Pageant and Ball" was probably the strongest read for me on the site, and one that hones in on the national topics of cultural appropriation and race a la Elizabeth Warren's Native American claim. Very good to see this sort of rhetoric being practiced at the high school level. This was also a top "trender" with 504 views. I wonder about the staff blogs. Good content in this area. I particularly enjoyed reading "Stop Slacking," because of its rawness and honesty, a piece that seemed to come directly from Angie Bravo's keyboard without staff editing. Conversely, the less intriguing "Rise and fall of Jahseh Dwanye Ricardo Onfroy" was published last year. The Texas Medal of Arts preview short was actually a slideshow with 24 images. The lead-in "VMT’s director, assistant principal, and nine teachers represented VMT as the school received its 2019 Texas Medal of Arts for excellence in Arts Education. Here is a first look at what went on. More photos and a story are coming your way" gave the reader a sweet taste of the event, as well as the promise of more coverage. Nicely done.
Recommendations: The special reporting for the school's anniversary was absolutely excellent and it would be great to see this news source tackle other issues, such as immigration, being positioned so close to the U.S.-Mexico border. Video is really strong on this site and could be used to advantage in another special package. News writing tracked well, but with the typical high school caution of over attribution. For example, in "Students split on whether AP or Dual Enrollment Classes" (an odd headline), the lede is: "Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment classes are different, course-wise and in difficulty, students say."
Total points: 80 / 100
Mark of Distinction:
2. Interactivity and Community
Strengths: There are certainly lots of entry points into content, with a slider up top, followed by School News, Features, Reviews, Opinion and News. A good design attempt with the discreet colored header announcing "Recent Comments." But, when I clicked, I didn't find the comment! That's a shame, because there are a fair amount of comments highlighted. When I scrolled through the entire front page of the site, I found one comment listed.
Recommendations: Unfortunately, the site really fell down in this category. Elsewhere I write about the poll and will repeat my thoughts here: The poll participation went up from two to four responses in the 12 hours since I last looked at the site. That's better, but speaks to a need to have polls that will draw more participants. In a high school, there are lots of topics that could draw responses. Also, try an embedded poll. Also, just found the very nice pie chart of results for previous polls. The hot chocolate poll received more votes, but because the number of votes to push hot chocolate into the top spot isn't listed, I'm not sure how many there were.
Total points: 75 / 100
Mark of Distinction:
3. Breaking News
Strengths: The print newspaper covered a debate, which I then couldn't find on the site. I'm not sure of the paper's frequency -- the latest on the site is from December, 2018 -- but there's a real opportunity to provide more breaking news online, as well as in the paper. At the school where I work, we've begun a Community News section, and from what I've read about Laredo, it would be a good beat for an ambitious reporter at The Magnet Tribune.
Recommendations: I didn't read any controversial issues and with a site of this ambition, I would certainly expect the student reporters to either dig deep within their own district, or, barring that, go into the surrounding community to report. For example, a quick web search revealed "Former LISD superintendent charged with marijuana possession." https://www.lmtonline.com/local/crime/article/Former-LISD-superintendent-charged-with-marijuana-13672044.php as well as notable mugshots. As a high school adviser, I realize how difficult it is to get these kinds of stories, but it would be a boon if you could.
Total points: 80 / 100
Mark of Distinction:
4. Design and Navigation
Strengths: The overall visuals of the site are impressive, with what must be school colors on the folio, main and secondary bars. The design element is further enhanced by some very good photography and by the addition of photo gallery embeds. These certainly captured my attention and held me to pages longer than just a print story would have. I also enjoyed being able to see at a glance and without scrolling which stories were trending. Tabs make it easy to write a letter to the editor, as well as to inquire about advertising. Good to see that Magnet Magazine has its own tab. I take it this is published either yearly or twice a year? Maybe an explainer about the magazine would be useful. All kinds of content here, from the struggle of lower-income families to the joys of owning a pet. Nicely photographed as well. Also very good to see the Rumination tab. I wish once I got to the site -- which was super colorful and fun -- it had been more user friendly.
Recommendations: I enjoyed reading the "about" tab, but I expected to find current staff listed as well as the accomplishments of the website as a whole. This could be a good bonding project for each year's incoming staff. I am a bit confused, however, why there are trending stories listed on the left- and right-hand sides of the site that both contain different stories. The scroll lists the date first, which is really a disservice to the site and makes it seem out of date. For example, the poll I mention below has been up since Jan. 11. If you want to have polls, how about having one each week? I'd also be careful about the "school news" tab. At first, I hovered over it and thought it odd that features, opinions and reviews came up, but no news. Then, I clicked on the tab and discovered my mistake. As an obsessive web reader, I love links! Get the staff to include at least one per piece.
Total points: 90 / 100
Mark of Distinction:
5. Interactive Media and Frequency
Strength: The eye never gets bored on this site, with a winning combination of colorful graphics, as well as many careful still photos and videos. The two slideshows I viewed each had an establishing shot, as well as medium and close-up work. #ohmy25 is an awesome tab with creative video and video podcast content. Also, lots of field work. I think this should probably be archived come fall. The "First look at the Texas Medal of Arts awards" held my interest with more than 20 slides. It's fun to see how many enjoyed the site in the week, and how many are online at any given time.
Recommendations: Very nice site that could be made better by watching content dates. For example, on your scroll, dates are March 7, March 5, March 4, March 1, Feb. 20, Feb. 20, Feb. 18, Feb. 13, and looking through different content areas there is a lot of material that should be labeled as archival. If you scroll down to the news tab, the first story you see is from Nov. 14. If these are indeed archival stories, than change the tab to reflect this fact. The Slideshow tab left me wanting more. Getting the inside scoop on how Hollywood makeup artists do their thing was a real treat. I wanted to find AP Style captions, however, and not to have each one of these images present as a stand-alone. "Slideshows" has one very good slideshow and that's it. Change the name to "Slideshow" and develop one on a regular schedule. If no one takes the poll (I did and got the ante up to two), then hide it for a bit. The lone Guestbook comment is from 2015. For the ITunes tab, why not expand the possibilities for readers? Some may want to listen to the content, but don't have an ITunes account. The Bluberry site is quite inexpensive for housing podcasts. Overall, for this ambitious site, less may be better than more. It's a gigantic task, even with a staff of 50-plus, to keep this much material current. The easy way is to archive anything over a month old, and keep it on the site with renamed tabs.
Total points: 82 / 100
Mark of Distinction:
6. Site Design
Please award up to 10 bonus points for original site design.
Estimate percent of work done by student staff: Site Design: 0 %
Do students design 100 percent of the site? No
If not, did students customize a pre-formatted template? Yes
Points: 0
of 10 bonus points possible
7. Summary
Judge's Summary Comments: This is an ambitious site with lots of excellent content -- words in stories, blogs; videos; and at least one video podcast; graphics; weather; site stats; article stats; trending articles. There is a whole lot to like here. I certainly learned a lot about the school and Laredo, and there was a vibrancy to much of the coverage. Yet, is it too much to manage with staff turnover and what appears to be varying staff commitment to content areas such as video (Great content, but from last year)? By clearly archiving content more than a month old, the site will look fresher than it now does, and with be more attuned to what this large staff can accomplish.
Score:
Coverage & Content: 80
Interactivity & Community: 75
Breaking News: 80
Design & Navigation: 90
Interactive Media & Frequency: 82
Site Design: 0
Total Score: 407 / 500
Marks of Distinction: (none)
Honor Rating: First Class
Judge: Jim Burns
Strengths: "Debatable: The problems with the Princess Pocahontas Pageant and Ball" was probably the strongest read for me on the site, and one that hones in on the national topics of cultural appropriation and race a la Elizabeth Warren's Native American claim. Very good to see this sort of rhetoric being practiced at the high school level. This was also a top "trender" with 504 views. I wonder about the staff blogs. Good content in this area. I particularly enjoyed reading "Stop Slacking," because of its rawness and honesty, a piece that seemed to come directly from Angie Bravo's keyboard without staff editing. Conversely, the less intriguing "Rise and fall of Jahseh Dwanye Ricardo Onfroy" was published last year. The Texas Medal of Arts preview short was actually a slideshow with 24 images. The lead-in "VMT’s director, assistant principal, and nine teachers represented VMT as the school received its 2019 Texas Medal of Arts for excellence in Arts Education. Here is a first look at what went on. More photos and a story are coming your way" gave the reader a sweet taste of the event, as well as the promise of more coverage. Nicely done.
Recommendations: The special reporting for the school's anniversary was absolutely excellent and it would be great to see this news source tackle other issues, such as immigration, being positioned so close to the U.S.-Mexico border. Video is really strong on this site and could be used to advantage in another special package. News writing tracked well, but with the typical high school caution of over attribution. For example, in "Students split on whether AP or Dual Enrollment Classes" (an odd headline), the lede is: "Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment classes are different, course-wise and in difficulty, students say."
Total points: 80 / 100
Mark of Distinction:
2. Interactivity and Community
Strengths: There are certainly lots of entry points into content, with a slider up top, followed by School News, Features, Reviews, Opinion and News. A good design attempt with the discreet colored header announcing "Recent Comments." But, when I clicked, I didn't find the comment! That's a shame, because there are a fair amount of comments highlighted. When I scrolled through the entire front page of the site, I found one comment listed.
Recommendations: Unfortunately, the site really fell down in this category. Elsewhere I write about the poll and will repeat my thoughts here: The poll participation went up from two to four responses in the 12 hours since I last looked at the site. That's better, but speaks to a need to have polls that will draw more participants. In a high school, there are lots of topics that could draw responses. Also, try an embedded poll. Also, just found the very nice pie chart of results for previous polls. The hot chocolate poll received more votes, but because the number of votes to push hot chocolate into the top spot isn't listed, I'm not sure how many there were.
Total points: 75 / 100
Mark of Distinction:
3. Breaking News
Strengths: The print newspaper covered a debate, which I then couldn't find on the site. I'm not sure of the paper's frequency -- the latest on the site is from December, 2018 -- but there's a real opportunity to provide more breaking news online, as well as in the paper. At the school where I work, we've begun a Community News section, and from what I've read about Laredo, it would be a good beat for an ambitious reporter at The Magnet Tribune.
Recommendations: I didn't read any controversial issues and with a site of this ambition, I would certainly expect the student reporters to either dig deep within their own district, or, barring that, go into the surrounding community to report. For example, a quick web search revealed "Former LISD superintendent charged with marijuana possession." https://www.lmtonline.com/local/crime/article/Former-LISD-superintendent-charged-with-marijuana-13672044.php as well as notable mugshots. As a high school adviser, I realize how difficult it is to get these kinds of stories, but it would be a boon if you could.
Total points: 80 / 100
Mark of Distinction:
4. Design and Navigation
Strengths: The overall visuals of the site are impressive, with what must be school colors on the folio, main and secondary bars. The design element is further enhanced by some very good photography and by the addition of photo gallery embeds. These certainly captured my attention and held me to pages longer than just a print story would have. I also enjoyed being able to see at a glance and without scrolling which stories were trending. Tabs make it easy to write a letter to the editor, as well as to inquire about advertising. Good to see that Magnet Magazine has its own tab. I take it this is published either yearly or twice a year? Maybe an explainer about the magazine would be useful. All kinds of content here, from the struggle of lower-income families to the joys of owning a pet. Nicely photographed as well. Also very good to see the Rumination tab. I wish once I got to the site -- which was super colorful and fun -- it had been more user friendly.
Recommendations: I enjoyed reading the "about" tab, but I expected to find current staff listed as well as the accomplishments of the website as a whole. This could be a good bonding project for each year's incoming staff. I am a bit confused, however, why there are trending stories listed on the left- and right-hand sides of the site that both contain different stories. The scroll lists the date first, which is really a disservice to the site and makes it seem out of date. For example, the poll I mention below has been up since Jan. 11. If you want to have polls, how about having one each week? I'd also be careful about the "school news" tab. At first, I hovered over it and thought it odd that features, opinions and reviews came up, but no news. Then, I clicked on the tab and discovered my mistake. As an obsessive web reader, I love links! Get the staff to include at least one per piece.
Total points: 90 / 100
Mark of Distinction:
5. Interactive Media and Frequency
Strength: The eye never gets bored on this site, with a winning combination of colorful graphics, as well as many careful still photos and videos. The two slideshows I viewed each had an establishing shot, as well as medium and close-up work. #ohmy25 is an awesome tab with creative video and video podcast content. Also, lots of field work. I think this should probably be archived come fall. The "First look at the Texas Medal of Arts awards" held my interest with more than 20 slides. It's fun to see how many enjoyed the site in the week, and how many are online at any given time.
Recommendations: Very nice site that could be made better by watching content dates. For example, on your scroll, dates are March 7, March 5, March 4, March 1, Feb. 20, Feb. 20, Feb. 18, Feb. 13, and looking through different content areas there is a lot of material that should be labeled as archival. If you scroll down to the news tab, the first story you see is from Nov. 14. If these are indeed archival stories, than change the tab to reflect this fact. The Slideshow tab left me wanting more. Getting the inside scoop on how Hollywood makeup artists do their thing was a real treat. I wanted to find AP Style captions, however, and not to have each one of these images present as a stand-alone. "Slideshows" has one very good slideshow and that's it. Change the name to "Slideshow" and develop one on a regular schedule. If no one takes the poll (I did and got the ante up to two), then hide it for a bit. The lone Guestbook comment is from 2015. For the ITunes tab, why not expand the possibilities for readers? Some may want to listen to the content, but don't have an ITunes account. The Bluberry site is quite inexpensive for housing podcasts. Overall, for this ambitious site, less may be better than more. It's a gigantic task, even with a staff of 50-plus, to keep this much material current. The easy way is to archive anything over a month old, and keep it on the site with renamed tabs.
Total points: 82 / 100
Mark of Distinction:
6. Site Design
Please award up to 10 bonus points for original site design.
Estimate percent of work done by student staff: Site Design: 0 %
Do students design 100 percent of the site? No
If not, did students customize a pre-formatted template? Yes
Points: 0
of 10 bonus points possible
7. Summary
Judge's Summary Comments: This is an ambitious site with lots of excellent content -- words in stories, blogs; videos; and at least one video podcast; graphics; weather; site stats; article stats; trending articles. There is a whole lot to like here. I certainly learned a lot about the school and Laredo, and there was a vibrancy to much of the coverage. Yet, is it too much to manage with staff turnover and what appears to be varying staff commitment to content areas such as video (Great content, but from last year)? By clearly archiving content more than a month old, the site will look fresher than it now does, and with be more attuned to what this large staff can accomplish.
Score:
Coverage & Content: 80
Interactivity & Community: 75
Breaking News: 80
Design & Navigation: 90
Interactive Media & Frequency: 82
Site Design: 0
Total Score: 407 / 500
Marks of Distinction: (none)
Honor Rating: First Class
Judge: Jim Burns