Here's the link to our "online Web site" for The Morgantown Daily: http://www.thisisdaveryan.com/english
Dave and I created a satirical publication as our mixed-reality project. In order to reflect the mixed-reality, we used mostly real people, and most of our stories were inspired by real events. We had hoped to include stories inspired by things that had happened to our classmates, but we did not receive e-mails from them. Dealing with issues by incorporating satire is a great way to say things, question things, and maybe even reveal thoughts people may have about events.Consider Jon Stewart and Steve Colbert, for example. They both manipulate news; they both make fun of current events and public figures; yet, they both are making statements about behavior and society.
Our top story, written by Dave, about the presidential search, reflected the very real problem that our University currently faces in finding a qualified president. Many jokes have been made about the HeatherBresch situation, and much criticism has fallen upon the University as a result. To diminish a presidential search to the level of an American Idol-style talent search is just absurd. At the same
token, though, itexaggerates the ways in which the degree controversy has hurt the integrity of our University.
The other three stories shown on the page reflected real people/events I have encountered in Morgantown. These bring to the forefront issues that students face rather commonly on the WVU campus (with the exception of being hit by Spam--that probably doesn't happen to many other people). But, to be true, who hasn't dealt with
drunkards and students who think they know more than the professors?
The guy threatening to impregnate people on the PRT happened fairly recently, and of course the entire back story was made up. I found the guy's behavior so odd that it seemed too good to pass up--sadly, though, this type of idiotic behavior happens constantly in Morgantown, so perhaps the story is an even larger part of reality than our pseudo-newspaper reveals.
The "Douchebag" story was inspired by a kid, whose name actually was Ben, in one of my English classes. It seems that in nearly every class there is that student that even gets on the teacher's nerves because he/she does not know when to just be quiet. While this story was ratherexaggerated, I'm sure someone has felt the wrath of a "Douchebag Know It All" at many times in their school careers.
Finally, the Spam story was based on real events as well. Writing about yourself in a news story certainly questions journalistic integrity--but hey, if it's satire, why not? This is perhaps the oddest thing that has happened to me since I moved to Morgantown. Who carries Spam in their car to just throw at passersby? What is the motive? These are the types of questions the satirical story attempts to address.
Dave also wrote a story, which we did not have room to include on the front page, but Dave should be incorporating it into his blog. It deals with the drastic changes that have taken place with gas prices over the past couple months. It takes the absurd viewpoint that gas prices have become too cheap, leaving Americans with too much money that they don't know what to do with. It seems that if we wish to analyze the story to find a societal critique, we could reach the typical conclusion that Americans (or humans in general) are never really satisfied.
Here's the link to our "online Web site" for The Morgantown Daily: http://www.thisisdaveryan.com/english
Here is the link to our pdf:
http://clc.as.wvu.edu:8080/clc/Members/center/morgantowdailyupdated-1.pdf/file_view?portal_status_message=File%20changes%20saved.
