Going into this week it was clear that the Arizona and Michigan primaries were going to be a close contest between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.  In the days leading up to the primaries Santorum made strong efforts to boost support in Michigan even attempting to convince Democrats to cast their vote against Romney.  Interestingly, Santorum’s efforts seemed to pay off as Romney only narrowly won his home state of Michigan.

These last couple days the Chicago Tribune had strong coverage of the primary results.  Where as in previous primaries there were only about six different stories offered by the Tribune, these past couple days there were many more stories before, during and after the primary votes were being cast.

Prior to the voting results, the stories focused on the opinions of the different candidates (mainly Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum).  There were a couple stories related to Santorum’s “robocalls” and how each of the candidates felt going into the primaries. There were stories related to the feelings of people on.  Two stories gave graphics about whether or not people were giving positive or negative feedback about the primaries on Twitter.

When Tuesday passed and Wednesday morning came story content began to shift to candidate response and how these primaries would affect the momentum leading up to Super Tuesday.

In relation to social media, the Chicago Tribune did very little tweeting about the event.  There were a couple of tweets that said Romney won and tweets providing links to the stories they had about the race but they also had quite a few tweets related to other things (such as the Midwest hurricanes).

Although the Tribune had strong coverage of the primaries it is obvious that its political focus is shifting to local elections.  The elections page now has a section entitled Illinois congressional races.  However, I think this has only made their political coverage stronger because it shows that the Tribune is able to balance national and local political coverage.

Recently I blogged about my disappointment in the Chicago Tribune's political page.  I reported on their lack of social media (asside from a link to the L.A. Times Twitter feed) and interactiveness as well as a low level of graphics. Today, I am happy to report that their page far exceeded my expectations.  

When I visited the site I expected to see the same format with a scroll of stories on the left and a slew of advertisements on the right.  However, this time things have changed.

To begin, the Tribune changed the title of their political page from "Politics" to "Elections."  This is not too significant but it was an interesting alteration.  More importantly, at the top of the page there is now a section entitled "Delegates to date."  This section provides simple information about the primaries.  It shows a picture of each of the four GOP candidates and the number of delegates they currently have.

The right side of the page has undergone massive change.  There are less advertisements and more hard news content. They have added a sections including a calendar of political events and sections for television videos, pictures and graphics related to political opinions.

Finally, as you scroll down to the very bottom of the page there is a "Political Video" section.  This section contains various clips of political speeches.

In my Journalism 4953 class on Feb. 16 Sharif Durham, director of social media at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, discussed the impact that social media can have on politics. 

It is no secret that the importance of social media has increased in recent years.  Everything from thoughts to breaking news can be posted immediately on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook and in an instant they can become viral. 

In his presentation, Durham discussed the importance of upholding the principles and ethics of journalism while immersing in social media.  As a journalist, this idea really struck me.   The past few weeks I have become aware of the impact social media and blogging can have, but listening to Durham speak made me think of these things from an ethical standpoint.

Even though journalism today is immediate it does not mean that it has to be sloppy or error prone.  The beauty of journalistic writing is now being able to write something that is quick while being accurate and meaningful. 

Ultimately, anyone can write quick information, but that does not make him/her a journalist.  What distinguishes journalists from the average human is being mindful of the impact words can have. As journalists we need to be prepared for news at a moments notice but we also need to double-check our work to make sure that we are not being inaccurate or misleading.  

When I began this semester I knew very little about blogging. I’ve been required to do it for a couple of my classes but I never really understood the significance of it. In fact, from my perspective, blogging just seemed like a glorified platform for people to rant and get attention. Recently, my perspective on blogging has changed.

Now, I’ve learned from my Journalism 4953 class at Marquette University that blogging can have both positive and negative serious consequences.  It can be used as a way to get noticed by perspective employers or it can cause the blogger to get into trouble.  What distinguishes a good blog from a bad blog is how much time the individual takes to create the blog.  Taking time to create a thought out and quality blog will create a professional level of respect. 
 
The biggest thing I have had to learn and remember about blogging is that it will be read by other people professionally and privately. Even though I am not a widely known blogger, my blog could potentially be read all over the country or even worldwide. Therefore, I have a responsibility to myself and to the wider public to be accurate, truthful, and professional even if my blog is just for a class. 
 
I’m not sure if I will continue blogging after I complete my education but I am excited to learn more and see how I develop as a blogger. 

Republican attention was redirected this past week as Rick Santorum swept the Colorado, Missouri, and Minnesota primaries.  Until now, Mitt Romney appeared to be the presumptive nominee with Newt Gingrich following in second.  In fact, Santorum has received little to no media attention however, voters proved that it doesn’t matter who was previously favored because they control the future.

The concern presented by the Chicago Tribune in its article “Turnout low in latest round of GOP contests” was the lack of voters as compared with the 2008 primaries.  According to the article, “Turnout in Nevada’s caucuses last week was down 26% from 2008… turnout in Minnesota was down 23%.”  Looking at these significantly lower numbers poses somewhat of a concern for the Republican Party. 

The coverage of these primaries for the Chicago Tribune was rather typical.  There were a few stories about the primary results and a few other stories about the response to those results but the Tribune was quick to redirect its focus.  Being from President Obama’s home state the paper concerned itself with voter feelings about Obama in a story entitled “Poll: Obama Remains popular on home turf” the Tribune presented the feelings of the Illinois public in this upcoming election.

Overall, the Chicago Tribune coverage of the primaries seemed to be the same story different candidate.  There is no real excitement in the Chicago Tribune’s website and it once again lacks in photos and interactivity.  

The Chicago Tribune’s coverage of the Florida primary results on Tuesday was much more in depth than it had been during the Jan. 26 debate.  The Trib provided stories for its readers related to the effects of a Mitt Romney’s win on each of the candidates and what is to come for the GOP. 

One way the Chicago Tribune amped up its coverage was by explaining how Romney might have won the Florida primary and the future of the elections.  For example, in an ad “The Florida primary, by the numbers” the Chicago Tribune provided different figures related to the Florida primary.  For example, it spoke about how much money Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich spent on advertising and how many delegates were on the ballot.  This article provide information that was short, easy to understand, and informative. However, the one letdown of the Chicago Tribune is the lack of social media and interactiveness on the website.  Although readers are able to make comments to different stories through Facebook and Twitter, there was no live tweeting during the voting coverage.  In addition, there are very few pictures or supplemental video associated with each story.  Before clicking on the story it appears that there will be a picture with it but once the story is clicked on there is no picture.  In fact, the only significant social media is a Twitter feed that is linked to the L.A. Times

When comparing the Chicago Tribune’s social media and interactiveness with CBS News, there is a huge difference.  The politics page on the CBS News website has large pictures associated with each story.  Also, as you scroll down on the CBS homepage there are about six different videos related to the elections.