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1

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2

1. BackgroundNon-commissioned editorial illustration for the Skagit Valley Herald. The piece will accompany an ar ticle called “Think Before You Tweet” that discusses the possible damage and dangers of twitter.

2. Target AudiencesBeing an editorial, this ar ticle will likely be read by the local newspaper subscribers, who t ypically var y in age from 30-60. The ar ticle will also be viewable online, thus the age range increases and targets a younger crowd (whom this ar ticle is written to). The age group drops to mid-teens (around 16).

3. ObjectivesThe first objective of the illustration is to get the appropriate age group to pay attention and read the ar ticle. A fun, recognizable character is something that has draw and appeal for younger targets. After the reader is lured in, the hope is that they will read the ar ticle and heed it’s advice about tweeting and Twitter.

4. ObstaclesThe largest obstacle is taking on Twitter. It might appear as a relatively harmless social network, but in realit y what is posted is available for public viewing and t ypically has repercussions.

5. Key BenefitThe reader will be able to actively think before posting something on the internet that could possibly have severe drawbacks (such as loss of job as read).

6. Support Statements/ Reasons WhyI think the real support boils down to the age-old Bambi quote, “if you don’t have any thing nice to say, don’t say any thing at all.” Under the scrutiny of the public eye a person bears a lot to lose. This ar ticle is simply an eye-opening opinion on the over-use of a social network.

7. ToneThe illustration needs to be recognizable to the target audience, but should set a negative mood.

8. MediaThe ar ticle will be printed in the physical paper as well as hosted online at the Skagit Valley Herald website.

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11

the next day...

That’s a line from the famous comedy of manners. Three young adults booted off of Capitol Hill this week may have learned that and more — the importance of being responsible and discreet. At least we hope.

That 20-somethings anywhere imbibe or misbehave in various ways even while on the job is not par-ticularly surprising. Not acceptable, but certainly no shock. Even those folks who never behaved that way certainly knew some who did. Many got away with it, and most eventually grew up to become productive members of society.

Few of them made national headlines.

Drinking on the job isn’t what made the fi ring of three congressional aides this week so newsworthy. It was their Tweets gone wild.

They were rude, they were brazen and they were stu-pid. Very publicly stupid. And now they’re jobless. And yes, drinking on the job isn’t a good idea either.

If they missed the sobriety lesson, they may have been drinking when they missed the one on the power of words and the damage that carelessly tossed ones can infl ict on others and on themselves.

In this case, damage to their “idiot boss,” U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen? Of course. As soon as the news broke, the critics pounced: How could he hire such irresponsible people? How did he allow such behavior? How could he not know what’s happening in his offi ce? Is he even fi t to lead? We’re not talking about that here. As a political fi gure, Larsen will naturally take that heat whether it’s his fault or not. He’ll survive this one.

Damage to themselves? Yes, and lasting. Maybe these young folks, including one with Skagit Valley ties, just thought it was funny. Yet, here these young people are all over the news, in a way people don’t want to make headlines. It isn’t just a congressional job each has lost. Imagine the next job interview.

Sadly, though, such public indiscretions are increasingly not a rare exception. People sit behind their desktops and their smartphones and they type little notes in 140 characters or less thinking that they’re just being funny or that it doesn’t matter. Maybe they think they’re anonymous or at least only seen by their chosen friends. Words are fi red at lightning speed, where they disappear into cyberspace with gazillions of comments from people around the world. Who will know?

No one, or as three congressional aides found out, maybe everyone.

Cyberspace is a very crowded, public park. Logically, people should know that, but something about electronic discussion inexplicably creates a short in human logic and responsibility. That’s why anony-mous commenting on blogs and websites can be so ridiculously vicious.

Twitter and so many other methods of communication are free and easy, but the cost can be high if used improperly.

Freedom of speech — in a public square or a private party — doesn’t come without consequence. Free-dom of that speech in print carries even more implication.

At the end of the day, there’s a message in all of this that will fi t easily into any Tweet.

Words matter.