Added: Sensationalist media

I've just added an article called sensationalist media to the wiki. The article is in its working stages. It will be my breakdown and analysis of sensationalism in the media, why it's used, and what purposes it serves.

Frankidealist35,

Congratulations. Great initiative -- this topic is, I believe, very important and central, and also extremely relevant to so many of the types of things that tinWiki is about. And what I have seen so far of your article looks good and interesting. I am very much looking forward to your coming additions to the article.

As you may have noticed, I did go in, a little bit, and somewhat stepped on your toes, so to say, concerning some fairly small details. Comments should not appear in the page, but can be, as I learned from someone's comment here, "commented out", which means you can still have them in the wiki code, but surrounded by < ! - - this - - > (no spaces). I have rewritten contractions to be spelled out, so that for example "don't" becomes "do not", "isn't" becomes "is not", "aren't" becomes "are not", and so on. Words should always be spelled out in encyclopedic articles. I also rewrote the word "you" -- the writer should not address the reader directly, but should only present information with no particular "address". The encyclopedic writing style means that the information should not be as if from the writer, but as if from some 'camera' floating out in the air, if I can explain it like that. It shouldn't be *your* view that is read, but simply *view*. That's important. This also affects, not only the language style, but also the claims made in an article: no personal opinion should be conveyed in an encyclopedic article. I have also rewritten a couple of wordings that seemed somewhat 'bombastic'. An encyclopedic article can in no way claim that the reader 'should' or 'will' take this or that point of view. However, an encyclopedic article may say that some people 'may' or 'might' see things this or that way. Neutrality is always important. That's what separates an encyclopedic article from, for example, a forum post or a blog post. This is also why it is said that tinWiki is not a 'soapbox'. I want to encourage you to consider these thoughts, and make the final fine tunings in your writing style.

I'm looking forward to seeing your coming additions to this very important article. Keep up the good work.

Optimist


edit: comma, typo, and smiley . . .

[edit on 12-9-2008 by Optimist]