COMM 337: Read this, you @#$%!

As we read good writers -- other good writers (see yesterday's blog below) -- to improve our own writing, we not only read them, but read them for style ... read them analytically, asking ourselves questions like, "How did they do that? And how can I do it better?" Here, to get us started, is a column by Mark Morford on the SFGate.com website. He comes out twice a week in the print edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, but he's primarily an online writer. "His writing," according to Wikipedia, which hits the nail on the head this time, "is sometimes controversial and almost always non-journalistic in style, attitude and tone." How can it be non-journalistic if it's on a journalists' website?

Read the linked column. It's about fast food ads, and it's headed "Eat This, You Fat, Sad Idiot." Ask yourself the following questions: (1) Is he insulting his readers, or giving them a sly pat on the back? (2) What things about Morford's style of writing appeal to you, and what things turn you off? (3) How well suited would you guess his style is for readers in San Francisco? For online readers irrespective of location? (4) How would Morford's column fly in a conservative, Midwestern town like Springfield? With older readers? With people in your demographic? Could it be toned down without losing its appeal? We'll discuss them in class, and you'll write an analysis for your blog. Link to the column, and post your thoughts between now and Monday. (That way you'll have the weekend to catch up.)

Morford, according to Wikipedia, has taught Vinyasa yoga classes and is a two-time winner in the online segment of the annual contest of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.