Chapter 3
A city guide in 48 hours
Posted: May 3, 2013 Contents: Chapter 2, Chapter 3 | Tags: Bill Addison, national geographic, national geographic traveler, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel research, travel writer, travel writing Leave a comment »Chapter 2 makes a claim that guidebooks are essential to the tourism process. Taken a step further, Chapter 3 discusses the essential skills and knowledge for a travel journalist creating a travel guidebook such as: find the “hidden,” secret” attractions that “nobody knows.” Bill Addison a National Geographic traveler has offered his version of these valuable guides.
Here’s what’s good about Addison’s post: one, which is reflected within the title of the article, Addison tackles a city in 48 hours. He breaks down the article in sections depicting activities ranging from the historical MLK house, Oakland cemetery, & historic eateries to contemporary museums, hangouts and restaurants. Two: each day is broken down into morning, afternoon, and evening segments. Each segment is filled with activities that seem to ensure a complete Atlanta experience.
However, the traveler should use this guide much like other travel guides, as a suggestion to how to…
Memphis civic and cultural lift
Posted: May 3, 2013 Contents: Chapter 2, Chapter 3 | Tags: cruise, Kim Cross, Kim Cross Southern Living, Southern Living, travel journalist, travel writer, travel writing Leave a comment »The text explores the benefits of city guides in Chapter 2; the text calls the guide a “crucial part of the tourist process.” Kim Cross of Southern Living.com has combined the advice of Chapter 2 and the lessons of Chapter 3 — creating what could be read either as a news story type, a destination, or journey type story. Cross shares news of the new expansion to “one of the world’s most visited music streets onto a mile-wide stretch of the Mississippi.”
This news appeals to the journey & cruise goer as with the expansion comes a relatively massive river cruise ship that is set to sail up and down the river in the near future boasting stops and natural sights of the Mississippi River. Cross does an excellent job of sparking intrest in the mixing of traditional and contemporary culture in the short piece for Southern Living.com. The new expansion will highlight and preserve historical Memphis culture and its staples while building new attractions to draw…
Food and wine — or moonshine
Posted: May 3, 2013 Contents: Chapter 3 | Tags: food and wine travel, matador network, matadornetwork.com, moonshine, Tereza Jarnikova, Tereza Jarnikova matador network, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel writer, travel writing Leave a comment »Tereza Jarnikova begins her piece with a confession — “I FEEL a bit strange to be writing an article about moonshine (or homemade alcohol) while living in Czech Republic.” However, Jarikova can feel more comfortable knowing that about 65 percent of travel editors interviewed in the text responded to a survey stating “food and wine” is an important niche’ topic to readers.
Tereza Jarnikova of the Matador Network takes her readers around the world, via an “incomplete” list of countries and their respective traditional homemade alcohol practices. In her article Jarnikova lists a common name for a homemade alcohol then lists the country it’s known for. She starts with Slivovice from the Czech Republic, followed by a description of its ingredients and creation process. Jarnikova also explains in brief the history of the alcohol and its significance for the home country. The travel journalist can use Tereza Jarnikova’s article to gain unique angles when covering…
Tourism is your destination’s villain
Posted: May 3, 2013 Contents: Chapter 3 | Tags: Eco tourism, green tourism, Nomadic Matt, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel writer, travel writing, www.nomadicmatt.com Leave a comment »Chapter 3 of the text teaches the travel writer how to reach the audience for travel journalism. Nomadic Matt is a renown travel writer and blogger; he writes for his own website www.nomadicmatt.com. A few days ago Matt wrote a piece explaining why and how travel writers and subsequently tourists often destroy “those off the beaten track destinations, those little local restaurants and quiet parts of the city where you are free of tourists.” Within the article Matt argues compelling points, even including a before and after picture of Ko Phi Phi, a once beautiful lush island that is now “overdeveloped.” Matt expresses such logical concerns as, “By driving people to the next ‘undiscovered’ place, do I just ruin it? Will I be that guy who returns and says, ‘Man, this place used to be cool 10 years ago.” Matt eventually passes the brunt of the blame off to tourists; specifically Matt blames those tourists who “end up supporting unsustainable tourism practices,”…
The quest: Brett Rogers’ India
Posted: April 3, 2013 Contents: Chapter 3 | Tags: Brett Rogers, Ganges River, national geographic, religious pilgrimage, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel writing Leave a comment »Brett Rogers of National Geographic provides a proper example of other niche topics worth considering: Religious pilgrimages. Chapter 3 of the book explains, the value of the religious pilgrimage lies in the search for moral or spiritual significance — the quest. Roger’s quest begins with descriptions of the gripping landscapes of the mystical Ganges River in India before reverting to the reasons for his personal journey.
Here’s what’s good about Roger’s piece: The author uses journalistic techniques to compare and represent Western ideals against (Eastern) Indian culture. Through observation and interview Rogers seem to have completed his experience gaining a deeper understanding of death through the eyes of foreign culture….
Wine over ice
Posted: March 13, 2013 Contents: Chapter 3 | Tags: ice age trail, laurentide ice sheet, national geographic, sally younger, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel writer, travel writing, Von Stiehl Winery, wisconsin Leave a comment »Chapter 3 claims food and wine is an important niche’ topic to travel journalism consumers. The text details information on the audience, angles to pursue, an example of best coverage, and where you can learn more. Sally Younger of National Geographic pursues her wine story from an unexpectedly unique angle. The author describes in vivid details her surroundings as she catches a rest from her adventurous Ice Age Trail journey. What starts off as an adventure/ journey piece describes a destination as remarkable as the historic Ice Age Trail itself. A town with underground tunnels, grand fishing and more importantly great wine is set in a historical Ice age Trail.
Younger utilizes all of her travel journalism skills beyond observation by offering quotes from the locals that add validity to her story. The author uses sounds, feels, color, and descriptions of taste that takes the reader out of his chair and into the tavern in Wisconsin. Younger provides a prime…
Video and heritage travel in Australia
Posted: March 13, 2013 Contents: Chapter 3, Chapter 6 | Tags: australia, australian art, australian street art, culture, foreign culture, local culture, lonely planet, lonelyplanet.com, melbourne street art, street art, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel technology, travel video Leave a comment »Chapter 6 explains the intersection between two growing trends. The first discusses travelers who book their trips online while the other is the audience for travel video. Chapter 3 then breaks down topic niches’ for travel journalism stories including the heritage niche’. Lonely Planet posted a video that intersects the growing online travel video trend with the heritage niche’ topic. Their video titled “Melbourne’s artistic underbelly” features a part of Australia’s culture that is often over looked because of it’s lack of mainstream luster: its street art.
The video depicts a growing niche’ topic for travel journalists to explore. The street artists in Melbourne are now taking it upon themselves, much like the advice in the text, to lead groups of tourists as tour guides of Australia’s most overlooked artistic gems. The relatively short video encourages visitors to engage with and participate in these street art tours. The tour guides highlight the fact…
Premium parking
Posted: February 26, 2013 Contents: Chapter 3 | Tags: King Richard III, king richard skeleton, London, Matt Bolton, new york times, new york times travel, Paul Theroux, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel research, travel writer, travel writing, university of leicester Leave a comment »Chapter 3 of the text discusses “Destination” as a major story type to reach the audience for travel journalism. The chapter includes a quote from Paul Theroux which states,
Today, the destination story means looking for places that have changed, or places to visit in a new way.
Following that notion, Matt Bolton, of NewYorkTimes.com, writes an article for the New York Times online travel section about the recent discovery of King Richard III’s skeleton under a local English parking lot. Here’s a tidbit from Bolton’s article:
Since Feb. 4, when researchers from the University of Leicester announced that a skeleton found during an archaeological dig at the parking lot in September 2012 was indeed that of Richard III, a monarch immortalized by Shakespeare, Mr. Jones [security] has been fending off…
Volunteering properly
Posted: February 5, 2013 Contents: Chapter 3 | Tags: jade keller, matador network, matadornetwork.com, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel research, travel volunteer, travel writer, travel writing, volunteer, volunteer traveling Leave a comment »In Chapter 3 volunteering is listed as one of the twelve important niche’ topics. Assuming volunteer writers, well volunteer — Jade Keller of the Matador Network advices the aspiring volunteer on how to be a helper any NGO wants. First, Keller breaks a few assumptions. Take a look at an excerpt of her article,
I’ll start by dispelling the myth that nonprofits should bend over backwards in gratitude for your offered time. Most people, for valid reasons like they need money to eat, cannot afford to donate much of their time. So they can only put in a few hours a month, or, if they want to work in developing regions like South East Asia, Africa, or Latin America, they will come out for a few weeks or a few months, ready to go pedal to the metal…and then leave.
There are some organizations that have short-term volunteering programs, but they are…
Evolving niche’ market: PANKS
Posted: January 22, 2013 Contents: Chapter 2, Chapter 3 | Tags: digital women influencers study, nadine godwin, pank, travel journalism, travel journalist, travel weekly, travel writer, travel writing, weber shandwick Leave a comment »Chapter 2 points out that the audiences for travel journalism aren’t static; they change. Likewise, Nadine Godwin of Travel Weekly introduces a new niche’ audience for travel writers: the PANKs. According to Digital Women Influencers Study, researched by Weber Shandwick, PANK is defined as an acronym for:
professional aunt, no kids.
However, Godwin and the research includes all single career women who enjoy sharing travel experiences with young relatives or acquaintances in the PANK category. In the Digital Women article, research shows women are having less children than only several decades ago and these PANKs make up 1 in 5 of the US population. As the article appeals to marketers with a new angle to approach…
