Thanks for stopping by. I wanted to create a place where I could talk about being an MC and about items that will help us be more-effective MCs. For me, I think if we improve our writing skills, we will improve our news stories, captions and other PA/VI products used to tell the Navy story and convey our messages. Your thoughts?
For example, today I learned the difference between "jibe" and "jive" after I incorrectly used "jive" in a sentence. Anyway, after learning of my error, I came home from the office and looked up both words. Thank goodness for http://www.m-w.org/:
1. Jibe means to be in agreement
2. Jive is slang for phony
This is also a good place to highlight great stories and photos as well. With that, I wanted to talk about a recent release by the MCs and PAOs aboard USS George Washington about a combat operations efficiency evaluation. This story can be found at http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=45448. This release received much praise from folks with several years of experience in the "reporting" world. It left no unanswered questions and the reporters were ready to print as is. Great job, GW!!!
Photo found here can be found at http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=72240
That's it for today. Have a fine Navy day!
Senior,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the initiative to start this dialogue. For your new job with Center for Service Support, this could be a great tool to shape where we need to go as a community.
I would submit to you that, in addition to strengthening our writing skills, we need an equal focus on strengthening our photo skills. In this new world, we need to catch our audience's attention if we want them to absorb the information, and strong photography is the key. While there are plenty of Sailors in our community who have natural eye for compelling imagery, it doesn't come as easily for all of us. I know it's something I need to dedicate myself to more if I want to be a truly well-rounded MC.
Senior
One of the highest compliments an MC can get -- a ready-to-publish piece that appears (with byline) in a commercial medium. It's not always easy to remain objective in our organization, answer all the questions and keep a good flow. The best writers make it seem so easy, and I'm honestly just a wee bit jealous.
ReplyDeleteSo what's the secret to success?
I agree absolutely that we should equally focus on imagery.
ReplyDeleteThe only key to success in my opinion is to write, write and write ... more specifically, write right, write right and write right :)
Write On!
ReplyDeleteThanks for starting this forum, Mel. Gunny Eck would be proud.
ReplyDeleteI think strengthening both imagery and writing skills are vital. Whether it is by the new scribbler in the fleet or the salty veteran, the fundamentals of both words and imagery are too often forgotten or sacrificed. Poor grammar or composition only muddles what might otherwise be a compelling piece. And after writing all that, I will be the first to admit I too often get lazy in my own work - so I am looking forward to reading these discussions about how we can make the craft better.
I also hope to read about how some of the MCs are pushing the boundaries with social media.