It's the final week of the semester, which means this will be my last blog post for #loweclass. Ever. There's a certain sense of accomplishment that comes as a result of finishing such a demanding class, but there's also a tiny bit of remorse. #Loweclass is that time of the day where my classmates and I come together to have a discussion. It's one of the few classes where we feel comfortable enough in front of each other to speak our minds. On Mondays and Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. we are treated as adults. We are held at the highest of expectations and for some reason it feels good. 

As Greg Kot from the Chicago Tribune said at the 2013 Marquette Alumni Award Ceremony on Saturday, "to be a great writer you have to be a great thinker." I believe Professor Lowe assigned us a beat assignment for the semester because he wanted us to take the time to think. Whether it be about news, culture, coverage, pictures or video, Professor Lowe wanted us to be creative and question what we value most in our chosen profession. For me, it's honesty. I value a media outlet that provides me with an accurate account of the latest happenings in the United States and around the world, and it's my belief the BBC does that the best. 

Looking back at my first media critique of the BBC, many of my opinions have stayed the same but there are a few that have changed. For the most part, I still value the BBC's not-too-busy website. I don't like being overwhelmed by content because it poses as a distraction from what I am searching for. I like that the breaking news stories of the day are taken from across the globe, and I especially value the simplicity of its articles. Straight and to the point, exactly what I need. 

Upon more exploration of the website, I was surprised to find out just how much the BBC offers. Podcasts, live broadcastings, radio shows, documentaries, features, news stories, pictures, blogs; You name it, the BBC has it. I'll admit it took me a while to navigate all of these resources, but as I became more familiar with the website it was easier to find what I was looking for. As a reader, the BBC grew on me and I now find myself logging on to the BBC's website every day just because I want to. It's rather shocking considering I was such a Yahoo advocate before. 

As much as I would love to continue to critique the BBC, the end of the semester signals the perfect time to put my opinions to the side. I've studied the website up and down hundreds of times, but now I think I'll take a back seat and enjoy the read, as I would say it. Instead of looking at things through a microscopic lens, I'll evaluate the content based on my feelings. I'm excited to see how different it will be. 

If all goes according to plan, hopefully in two years time I'll be back in London critiquing the BBC as an exchange student, or maybe even as an employee! I've turned into a life-long fan of the BBC as a result of this blog, and there's no turning back now. I'm determined to get to the top, and for me that means working for a media outlet that delivers above average content to a world-wide audience. 

Here's to chasing the dream.
Cheers! 

April has been a rough month. On the 2nd my friend's 20-year-old brother passed away from a long fight with cancer. That next Saturday, I got word from back home that another friend's Dad had lost his life in a fire Given that my father passed away five years ago, that one hit me hard. To top it off, the following Wednesday one of my idols, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of Great Britain, died from a stroke. Since I've always been told bad things come in threes, I figured that was it for bad news – at least for a little while. 

But on Monday, April 15, 2013 more bad news erupted while I was sitting in #loweclass. Around 2:45 p.m., two explosions went off near the finish line of the 117th running of the Boston Marathon. Three people were pronounced dead and at least 140 people were injured. It was a dark, scary day for Boston and the entire country, and the fear did not subside until the following Friday when the second suspect were found and arrested after a week-long manhunt. 

The media went on a frenzy with everything having to do with the bombings. So much so, that they barely covered the April 17 West Texas fertilizer plant explosion, which sources are saying has left 60 to 70 people dead. Each day's coverage of the Boston bombings seemed to reveal new information on the victims, the explosives used, the rumored suspects and the manhunt to capture them. In order to keep up with the latest breaking news, I tuned into CNN and the BBC. Based on my prior critique of the news sources, I figured they would be the most reliable and provide the best coverage. 

I was thoroughly impressed by the coverage the BBC provided of the Boston bombings. I preferred the content on their website compared to CNN's because their video footage was, how can I say this? Juicier.  When I went searching for the picture of "severed limbs," I found it on the BBC, raw and uncensored. When I wanted live coverage of President Barack Obama's address to the nation, it was broadcasted live on the home page. Everything I needed the BBC had. As I've said before, it is most impressive to me that a foreign news outlet delivers such wide coverage of an American crisis. I realize the BBC has representatives in the U.S., but it shows just how much they care about reporting the news of the world. 

Whenever I was infront of the computer, I was on the lookout for the latest happenings. I was inthralled, like the rest of America was, with finding the suspects. But since I was at Miller Park Stadium when the suspect was found in a Watertown man's boat, I wasn't able to hop onto my Macbook to watch everything go down. I loved that I could get the latest news from BBC's twitter account. By refreshing my news feed, I understood what was going on in that poor man's backyard even though I couldn't see it. It was almost more exciting because I had to wait for a new tweet to pop up with the latest 140 characters of information. 

Today, the BBC continues to provide coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings but not to the extent it was last week. Since the news is no longer breaking, I've seen a rise in the amount of features and profiles posted the last two days. BBC Magazine has written numerous editorials centered on terrorism, religion, and America's child death epidemic. As all of us sit here and wonder why such bad things have happened in our country, it is nice to see a news source criticize us and our culture in order to give us some answers. 

I believe I learned at a very young age that life is precious. All of us know it, but we fail to recognize its every day beauty until we see such tragic events, such as the Boston bombings, the Colorado movie theater shooting, the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting or the West Texas fertilizer plant explosion. When such events are so heavily reported, they hit close to home. They hurt. The whole country got rocked by the two explosions at the marathon on Monday. 

I know the media received a lot of negative criticism of its narrowly focused coverage, however I felt it was necessary. It was almost a coping mechanism. The television watchers, radio listeners, web surfers, and tweeters mourned the loss of the victims, hunted the suspects, and rallied together for Boston. The media connected everyone, and when it comes down to it, that's what we need most during these unimaginable circumstances. We need a network of support, and I think the BBC provided that. 

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of having Mira Lowe, CNN's Senior Editor for Features, guest lecture for two of my journalism classes. It was a treat to hear advice from an established journalist who has had success in the magazine, newspaper, and digital industries. In my feature writing class with Dr. Pamela Hill Nettleton, Lowe discussed the importance of branding ourselves professionally to attain a job as a freelance writer. In #loweclass, the conversation centered on her role as editor for CNN Digital and her advice for telling stories through the use of old media and new media. 

To prepare for Lowe's visit, last Sunday I was assigned to review the five channels Lowe is responsible for at CNN and then compare them to my beat, the BBC. Lowe began her discussion by addressing our critiques collectively. She agreed with many of the arguments we made and assured us she was taking our thoughts into consideration. Lowe introduced her channels as "verticals" because they run vertically across the home page, which Lowe says is the "door to the house" – a reference I had never heard before, but liked. She also introduced the terms "t'c and c's," which stands for top stories and center stories. It was fun to learn journalism lingo I had never heard before. I'm hoping it will help me sound more professional as I start to interview for jobs in the fall. 

After briefly touching on the five verticals, the conversation switched to blogging. Lowe emphasized that for a big company, like CNN, blogging is absolutely essential. CNN has three working blogs: a Belief blog, a This Just In blog and a Marquee blog. It also live blogs big events or events that are not featured on the site regularly. Lowe said the difference between writing a blog and writing a story is that blogs should be "enjoyable" and provide "insight, energy and voice." I much prefer blogging to writing news stories, so I was happy to hear that it still serves an important purpose. 

Next, we discussed the need for journalists to be able to tell stories on a variety of platforms. In #loweclass we have been working to expand our skill sets by telling stories through video, but I don't think I will ever be able to tell a story like CNN did with "The Gift of Charles." The eight minute video incorporated every aspect of journalism in one microsite, or what Lowe calls, "specialized templet." For my upcoming #loweclass project I am thinking about creating a microsite like the one used for "The Gift of Charles." I think it would provide my readers easy, in-depth access into the life of my subject. 

To better our writing, Lowe encouraged us to explore the iReport page on CNN's website because she said we would have a good chance of getting our work published, that is, if it is well written. The iReport page is a citizen journalism platform that is open to anybody. I am glad she pointed this page out to us because it is a perfect avenue for students to explore if they are looking for clips and cannot be a part of a writing organization on campus. 

I feel so lucky to have had Mira come to talk to us about journalism and give us advice as we enter the industry. With all she has accomplished in her career, she is a huge role model for me as a journalist, and as a woman. I am looking forward to hearing her speak again if she returns to Marquette next year. 

This week in #loweclass, my classmates and I will be introduced to Professor Herbert Lowe's wife, Mira Lowe. Mrs. Lowe is the senior features editor for CNN Digital, and we are all looking forward to her lecture on Wednesday. To prepare for her visit, our assignment this weekend was to evaluate the five CNN.com "channels" Mrs. Lowe is responsible for – entertainment, tech, living, health and travel. To do so, I compared each page to a similar page provided by my beat, the BBC. 

Upon first review of each channel on CNN.com, I was not surprised by what I found. Entertainment was focused heavily on celebrity gossip, tech included business and technology updates, health was centered on diet, exercise and recent health studies, and the travel page included a number of service pieces about traveling. The content was just as expected, which I like because I could easily access what I was looking for through the home page. The only page I wasn't a fan of was the living page. I found it unnecessary because a lot of the articles I came across were articles I had seen on other pages. I didn't understand its purpose. 

When comparing each channel to the BBC, I noticed a number of differences in news culture. Many people assume that since we speak the same language as the English, that life across the pond isn't much different than it is here, on the western frontier. But trust me when I say, it is. And I found that noticeable when evaluating these five channels on bbc.com. 

Since one of my biggest passions is exploring new cities, I thought I would start my comparison on the travel page of each website. While each of the five channels appear on the home page of CNN.com, the only channel to earn its own tab on the BBC's home page was travel. Each page included service pieces and list stories, which is good for travelers who are looking for quick answers before "taking a holiday," as the Brits would say. I found similar content on each site: CNN posted "10 budget friendly all-inclusive resorts," while the BBC posted "Five European castles to stay in." Each travel page also offered the latest news on ticket pricing, airport delays and airline news.  

A few differences I did notice was that the BBC included travel tweets and a travel blog, but CNN did not. I liked that they incorporated multimedia platforms. I also noticed the BBC travel page was formatted like a blog, although it is not called a blog. The BBC travel page was also much bigger than CNN's. At the bottom of the page there was an arrow button that leads the reader to more travel stories. If I had to choose, I would visit the BBC travel page because it provides more stories and a wider range of travel pictures. 

Next, I evaluated the tech channel. At first, I had a difficult time locating the tech channel on the BBC website, but I was quickly directed to the page by using the a-z directory, A whole lot more. On both websites, this page reminded me of the business section in a print newspaper. Since I have little interest in the business sector, I didn't find this channel interesting. One major difference I noticed was that CNN had multiple articles about Google, Apple and the new Facebook phone, but the BBC did not. It was clear to me that those companies are not as big in England as they are in the United States. I found the BBC's tech page to be a little bit behind in times, especially since I found out the actual page is called, "Future." The future section was packed with editorial about what is to come in 20 years, not what is happening now or in the near future.  

The entertainment page was the most obvious sign of a difference in culture between Americans and Brits. The CNN entertainment page was covered with celebrity gossip, photos, and breaking pregnancy rumors. In my opinion, it was another TMZ or OMG! While I can admit to reading US Weekly or People magazine, the last thing I want from my trusted news source is the latest celebrity buzz. I prefered the BBC's entertainment page because it offered news of broadway shows, operas, art galleries, and must-see films. The only sign of celebrity gossip was an article about Angelina Jolie's contribution to the young, Malala Yousafazi's charity for education. America's fascination with pop culture was prevalent through this comparison. 

I particularly enjoyed reviewing the health channels of each website because on top of traveling, my passion also lies in health and fitness. Again, I found these pages to be similar in content and layout. Both the BBC health page and CNN's health page boasted huge pictures to go along with their articles. This was something I found unique to the health pages, and I will be interested to explore this on other health-relate websites. I wonder what purpose these large pictures serve?

As expected, I could not come across a living page for the BBC. The closest thing I found was BBC Magazine because if offers a number of lifestyle articles in addition to longer features. Earlier in this post, I mentioned I did not see the relevance in a page dedicated to living because I ran into a lot of the same article I came across earlier through tech, entertainment and health. CNN's living page reminded me of Pinterest – without the pinning. It was a combination of everything: love and relationships, parenting, beauty and fashion, home decor, and there was even a section titled "cute and cuddly." Seriously? On CNN? That one really threw me off. Even though I love reading about many of those topics, I would rather go to Pinterest or HGTV.com. 

Overall, there were many similarities between the CNN and BBC websites but there were also a number of differences. If I was looking to find information on travel and entertainment, I would visit bbc.com. But if I was interested in health, tech and living, I would know to resource CNN's website. My decision would also fall on where I am in the world, because different cultures value news differently. It's something to keep in mind as a journalist if covering international news.  

I never understood Easter. Of course I love hunting for eggs and eating lethal amounts of chocolate, but the whole Easter bunny thing always bugged me. I was raised Catholic, so I was taught to believe Easter was the day Jesus rose from the dead. I've stuck by that belief my whole life, but the Easter bunny myth died quick. Why would a bunny have eggs if it is a mammal? At least Santa Claus is a religious reference. Maybe they should change it to an Easter lamb – for sacrificial reference – or a baby chick because they actually lay eggs. But we all know it's not up to me to make these important decisions. 

My important decision, today, lies in whether or not I believe the BBC provided good coverage of Holy Week. I have logged on to the BBC website every day leading up to Easter, starting last Thursday. Each day, more coverage was added, although it became increasingly difficult to find, which I found shocking. But when it came down to it, I was impressed by the BBC's overall coverage of religion and ethics, and its ability to stand neutral and not offend its religiously diverse audience.  

As I've said before, the BBC provides worldwide coverage by placing BBC representatives around the globe to cover the latest news. Since there are so many different religions, the BBC has to be careful to not overly express interest in one religion, such as Christianity. Just because it is the most followed religion in the world does not mean every BBC reader is a Christian. I think the BBC did an excellent job of not bombarding its readers with coverage of the Easter holiday, by not including religious articles on its home screen slideshow. 

For those viewers who were interested in reading up on Holy Week, there was a Religion and Ethics page that could be access through the homepage. This page featured a number of stories relating to religion and ethics, but this week, most of the articles I found were focused on Easter. I found this page after looking at CNN's Belief Blog and thought to myself, if CNN covers religion, then the BBC must cover it too. It was rather simple to find, and in my opinion, provided more interesting content than CNN's blog. 

What I liked most about the BBC's coverage of Holy Week is that there were little traces of the Easter holiday dispersed in every section: news, world, travel, future, TV and magazine. I thought this was a good and fresh reminder for those who wanted to learn more about the holiday that comes around every spring. My two favorite Holy Week articles were, "Jesus tweets the Easter story" and "The Society of Jesus: Who are the Jesuits?" Both of these article were light-hearted and informational. I highly suggest reading them if you've gone to a Jesuit University for three years and, like me, still don't know what Jesuit means.  

Easter is a holiday that is celebrated by millions of people, which means it is crucial media outlets provides newsworthy and appropriate coverage of Holy Week. I think the BBC's coverage was tastefully done and appropriate for its diverse audience. I hope to see future religious holidays covered the same way. And just because I love tweeting for #loweclass, below I've included a tweet from Jesus' twitter for your enjoyment. 

If you have already made it to my bio page, you may remember I like history. Growing up, I was exposed to all sorts of history. My father had an odd obsession with Indians, Egyptians and Africa, while my mother would read up on King Henry VIII's six wives and live vicariously through biographies of French and Russian princesses. On family drives to Florida, my brothers and I would receive a 22-hour regurgitation of the History Channel programming we were forced to watch two days earlier. As a pre-teen, it was torturous. 

But, like they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. In recent years, I have developed a passion for learning about the past, which is why I was thrilled to see the BBC's website had an entire page devoted to BBC and British history. This is a feature I found completely unique to the BBC in comparison to other media outlets. 

What I most enjoy about the BBC's history page is that it gives its audience a better understanding of what it is, how it got to where it is now, and why it is important. I think it establishes a certain amount of credibility and reliability. If it has been around this long, you can likely bet it's not going anywhere, like Newsweek Magazine or The Marquette Tribune's page count (too soon, my fellow MU students?). It's also a great resource for new visitors who are looking to find out more about BBC culture. 

One of the best perks of living in a historically-rich country is that when it rained – which it often did – there were always museums to go to. After reading through a few articles on the history page, I learned more than I ever could at a museum. As the reader, I am given the choice of what I want to read, whereas in a museum, each display window or artwork has a description. The BBC's history page is a great resource if I am looking for a specific subject to read or if I am writing a research paper for history class. 

Now, I do realize that not everybody enjoys history. There are plenty of people who are content with getting a brief overview of the day's latest happenings without any added mumbo-jumbo. But, the history page does not get in the way for these, as I like to call them, newsies. The page is there as a resource for people who use the Internet as a learning tool – not just a social tool. It was refreshing to see a web page I feel comfortable getting lost on for hours and not feel guilty, like I do if I am on Facebook any longer than ten minutes. 

I suggest you take a look at the history page if you are at all interested in English or BBC history. Like I mentioned before, I wasn't able to find any other news outlet that provided such a page, and made it so coorful and intriguing. I know I will be visiting the BBC's website more often now that I know this page is so easily accessible. As a history-buff, I couldn't ask for anything more out of my news source. 

After a two week furlough, I am back to my media critic of the BBC for #loweclass. This week's focus? Video coverage. My review of the BBC's use of video? Mediocre. 

One of the first things that stood out to me was the BBC's lack of video on their home page. When I entered the website, I found an identical page to what I've been seeing all semester: white background, black text, an off-centered rolling headline, and subjects divided into columns. Although I agree it is important to keep a website clear and consistent, I've become bored of the page and its lack of enthusiasm. I found other websites, such as Yahoo or NBC to have a more intriguing and interactive home page because they pop with color, plays on font size to create emphasis, and offer video as a first option for their visitors.

I only found two videos on the home page and they were difficult to come across. Since the rolling headline has a play button, I figured one of the images would play a video, but instead it played an image slideshow. I looked for other play buttons, and eventually came across a smaller one that played a video titled, "F1 in numbers," which I soon learned was about car racing. I would have preferred to see a breaking news video.

To further my investigation, I hit the news tab and was relieved to find a horizontal scrolling bar of videos. About time! I liked that each video I clicked on only provided a few lines of text to describe the video. Many times, when I am watching a video I find my eyes automatically wander to the text, which is word-for-word what is being said in the video. I thought the BBC's lack of text accompanying the video was unique and effective in keeping its visitors dedicated to the story. This sets the BBC apart from other American news publications, and now that I know this I will be more likely to watch their videos in the future. 

During my time spent living in London, I learned the BBC is a conglomeration of media outlets. It includes television, radio, podcast, motion pictures, documentaries and online news. I think it is a great convenience for the BBC to offer links to each of these different media outlets on its website, especially for those who live outside the UK. Since I am a college student living in America, I do not get BBC television through my cable company. If I go online, there is a TV tab I can access that brings me to a live showing of their television programming. I found this to be an effective strategy by the BBC to reach a worldwide audience. 

When comparing the BBC's website to others, I also found the BBC keeps its advertising minimal. On Yahoo's home page I am constantly bombarded with pop-up video advertisements. Since I began critiquing the BBC, I have yet to be interrupted by an advertising video. It is nice to see a news source that is dedicated to telling the news rather than making a profit. It's another reason why I will always stay loyal to the BBC. 

After watching a few videos, I noticed most of the videos are not live. The broadcasters do a voice over to tell the story instead of going to an event while it is happening. I liked that there was a voice over because it was like watching a short movie, instead of watching the news. I felt like I got a better understanding of the situation because there were no weather or noise interruptions. It reminded me of the video I was assigned to do for #loweclass, and it gave me ideas for how I can improve my video editing for future assignments. 

During my critique I have gone back-and-forth on whether or not I like or dislike the BBC's use of video. I dislike that video is not readily available on the home page for its viewers, but I appreciate the quality of the videos because I think they are well done, and just the right amount of time. As a tech-lagger and writer, I don't know if I will ever resort to video or television to get my news, but I do appreciate when it is provided for me. With that in mind, I would say the BBC could use to incorporate more videos into its site. 

I have always been a sports fan. I grew up playing sports, watching sports, and even spent some time coaching sports. From reading my bio it would be easy to assume I am a sports advocate who looks forward to each year's big events, such as Opening Day at Wrigley or the Superbowl. 

But those days mean nothing to me. The day I most look forward to is the Oscars. The lights, the music, the dresses, the stories, and the outpour of love and appreciation. To me, the Academy Awards is the most special day of the year. It's what I know. When a friend asks "who's that?" I always have the answer. When they ask, "what movie is she from?" I start listing them off. Movies are my specialty, which may explain where my passion to find and tell peoples stories stemmed from. 

Since my "bracket" consists of actors, directors, screen writers and costume designers, I consider myself a tough critic when it comes to evaluating news coverage of the Academy Awards. And I will be honest, if I was the academy and the BBC was Ben Affleck, the BBC would not be one of my nominees for best news coverage.  Although the Brits have provided a number of award-winning actors and actresses to American films, they are known to be perfectly content with their own film production companies, which is why I was shocked by the BBC's mass online coverage of the 2013 Oscars. 

The BBC was on top of its' game for the pre-coverage on the red carpet. As soon as my night started (5 p.m. CST), I logged on to the BBC's website to start my critique. When I got to the homescreen I saw a slideshow with the first story featuring a picture of Best Actress Nominee Jessica Chastain's face. As the night went on, more stories were added and by the time the award ceremony ended, each picture on the slideshow led the reader to a story in association with the Academy Awards. I was impressed by the BBC's emphasis on the importance of the award show seeing as there were no British films nominated for an award this year. 

In my last post I complained about the BBC's lack of feature stories, and nagged on about my want for feature stories to be easily accessible through the BBC's home page. The Web designers must have heard my request, because an entire sidebar was dedicated to features on the Oscars News tab. The addition of feature stories was a smart decision by the BBC because it familiarized its audience with the nominees. 

In addition to creating a large presence of followers through its use of feature stories and home page headers, the BBC did an excellent job of live tweeting from the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, CA. There have been claims that more than 1 billion people were watching the award ceremony tonight, but not everyone in England wanting to watch the Oscars could commit to watching it in the wee-hours of the morning. Providing live coverage from the event through twitter will provide a quick and easy update of the winners, scandals and falls that took place as many of their followers were sleeping. 

By the end of the show, every article and picture on the BBC website was centered on the Academy Awards. There were reviews of the winners, a picture slideshow, links to blogs and videos. In this particular situation, I don't have as much to complain about as I initially thought I would. The BBC delivered news-worthy content through the use of multi-digital platforms and created a tab specifically for that coverage. It was easily accessible, informational, entertaining, and enjoyable to be on the website during my five-hour long commitment to my couch. The BBC's coverage of the Academy Awards once again reassures me of its dedication to finding good stories and reporting them truthfully and objectively. For future coverage of the Academy Awards, I know I will be starting and ending my nights with the BBC. 

This week in #loweclass we focused on writing profiles by following the "show don't tell" model of writing to capture a subject's character. I especially enjoy writing and reading profiles because it allots time for me to get to know a person and find out what makes him or her unique. In my opinion the BBC delivers well-written, newsworthy profiles, but drives its viewers away from reading them because they are not easily accessible. It took a number of searches and mouse clicks to lead me to a page that listed profiles. 

The article I eventually came across, titled "Bus taunts that sparked Australian racism debate," did an excellent job of profiling Australian News Reporter Jeremy Fernandez. The profile began with an anecdotal lead that introduced me to both Fernandez and the subject at hand. The presence of an anecdotal lead reinforced what Professor Lowe had taught us in class on Monday, which is that an anedcdotal lead exposes the reader to the present, past and future of the character. It was good for me to see this in writing, and done well by author Nick Byrant. 

Speaking of Nick Bryant, this is the first time I have seen a byline on any article posted by the BBC. On a previous blog post I expressed my disappointment of the BBC's decision to not give a byline. It was nice to see a BBC journalist finally get credit for his work. This was smart on the BBC's part because Nick Bryant is a feature and profile writer. After reading this article the reader will know to search Bryant's name to find more profiles instead of wasting his or her time trying to navigate profiles from the home page. 

Another component of this profile that jumped out at me was Bryant's ability to make the profile newsworthy. Earlier this week when I was writing a profile on a guest speaker that came to class, I had a hard time intertwining his characteristics and the news of his arrival to campus. This article provided a great example of how a profile can reveal news just as effectively – if not more effectively – than a hard-news story. It tied Fernandez's story to a bigger picture issue that we aren't familiarized with regularly but should be so that issues like Australian racism are brought to light. 

For anyone struggling to write a profile, I would suggest reading Bryant's story to get a better understanding of "show don't tell" writing. While he was introducing Fernandez and telling his story, as the reader I felt like I was sitting on the bus with Fernandez watching his "Rosa Parks moment" take place. In my opinion, showing a reader what happened is much more powerful than telling a reader what happened, which is why I prefer to read profile stories. I think, depending on the story, it can cause the reader to form a connection to the character, and in the end may be more effective in persuading the readers to take action. 

Having enjoyed this profile so much, I hope to see more profiles show up on the home page of the BBC's website. Since the BBC covers such a large amount of global news I know it will continue to be hard for me to find profiles, but for me it would be worth it to keep digging. 

For those of you who didn't know this already, "Football" in England is soccer. Makes sense right? The players hit the ball with their actual feet. Why Americans thought to call a sport played primarily with hands "football" is beyond me. 

This whole football confusion has made many Brits quite critical of our most televised sporting event of the year. They just don't like it like they do their own football or rugby, and this was made clear to me through the BBC's lack of coverage of the 2013 Super Bowl. 

I was not surprised to find a picture of the Ravens running the ball on the BBC's home-screen slideshow, because they tend to be consistent with targeting their audience with worldwide news coverage. When I clicked the article though, I was disappointed by its central focus. It gave me a brief overview of the entire night – which included blurbs about Beyonce's performance and the power outage – but failed to go into detail about the happenings of the game. Seeing as I only watched the first half, I would have liked a little more detail to take me through the dramatical third quarter. There was no video coverage, no virtual scoreboard, and only two articles. One pre game article and one post. I wish the BBC would have provided more for their American audience, especially those living in the UK who could not watch the game live. 

I later found that their coverage was done right by most British people, or at least those willing to speak out. I got a good laugh from angry media consumers who argued the BBC shouldn't bother with covering American sports. I guess they must still be bitter about the whole football vs. soccer argument. But again, they do make a good point. What is the reasoning behind calling the winning team World Champions?