Friday, October 29, 2010

Please return my calls!!!

Being a journalism student is hard enough. Getting used to pitching stories, working on a hard deadline, and working equipment are just a few of the difficult tasks we have to get used to. But when story ideas fall through because we cannot tout our years of experience at an established station, things get even more difficult. That situation was my experience this week. My attempt was to cover a story on voter fraud, and what Missouri representatives planned to do in order to prevent voter fraud in Columbia and Boone County. Not only did my initial attempts to obtain an interview with the County Clerk and the Secretary of State fall through, but I never received call-backs or email responses. I had to scratch all of my plans and start over from square one. I understand that I have to "pay my dues" within the journalism world, and I'm not going to score some of those interviews that a more experienced and established journalist would. I just wish I could at least get an official rejection, rather than no response! I really enjoyed the piece I came up with this week, as I believe my scripting, voicing, and editing techniques were much better.

In terms of what I saw this week in journalism, a lot of the news stories were related to midterm elections. While I personally think citizens should stay generally knowledgeable on political events and issues, I hate pre-election coverage. I can't stand the commercials, the articles written from pure speculation, and the never-ending segments of political analysts trying to hypothesize on election voting numbers. In my opinion, journalists need to do a better job of really examining election issues, and discussing candidates platforms, rather than boring listeners with statistics from polls and surveys. CNN, FOX, and MSNBC are all guilty of this problem, which I think needs to change.

This week also provided a prime example of the impact news coverage can have on decision-makers. With the "Faurot Field Thirty" incident last weekend, the news coverage of their arrests this week and the negative publicity and growing conversation about the students' arrests no doubt played a role in the University's decision to drop charges. After the University received negative attention for selling field-rush photos to students and alum, the pictures were quickly removed from the bookstore website. It reiterated to me how much impact journalism can have on people's lives and the overall sentiment of the public.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Week 3



      Searching for a newsworthy story is still a work in progress for me. I have taken the suggestion of keeping a folder with all of my submitted story ideas, so when the time comes I will have ideas to pull from. This has worked decently well, although some of my story ideas were dated, and I can no longer use them. A story idea I proposed that seems really interesting to me is looking into the caseloads of the public defenders for Boone County. Many public defenders are receiving an obscene number of case -loads, and the fear is that the defenders will eventually have to turn away cases. I would love to look into humanizing this story with finding an individual whose cased was turned away. Initially, the idea seemed very simple, but I now realize how much work a piece like this would take (if done well). So if we are required to do a longer feature for the end of the semester, this may be my topic. Overall, I feel I have progressed from the beginning of the semester in my ability to spot a potential story, and to work an interesting angle into my story scripts. I know I have a LONG way to go, and I'm not great at it, but I honestly feel I am improving! Finding a good story idea and scripting a story well are definitely the hardest parts of producing a great story, but I am taking steps to continue getting better. 

As per usual, news coverage this week affords me an opportunity to critique what works well and what doesn't work well with for a variety of stories. The readings and lectures we have had over the past 8 weeks gave me a more critical eye in viewing new stories and coverage, and hopefully I can avoid similar mistakes in my own news, and emulate great practices from talented journalists. The other day, I arrived home from school and was watching television. "Inside Edition" came on, and I watched the entire segment, in order to pick up on what key things NOT to do in news. A key theme I noticed while viewing, was leads crossing the line between presenting an element of surprise and misleading a viewer. I remembered a lecture we had earlier in the semester where we discussed how to surprise a viewer/listener and create suspense without misleading. 

One show I look to for inspiration and a great example is a show I have honestly watched for years. Every Sunday night when I was living at home, my family would gather around and watch 60 minutes  and 20/20. Each news story is quality, and starts out peaking my interest to keep me hooked for the entire segment. The two shows have an incredible balance of hard-hitting news, investigative reporting, heart-warming features, and stories with celebrities/stars to stay current with entertainment news. 
When a story is complete, the lead for an upcoming segment (ex. "Homeless Veterans" for next week on 60 minutes) is always outstanding, and creates suspense for the viewer. 

As time goes on and I gain more experience reporting, I hope my news stories will be ethical yet exciting, and NEVER cross the line of misleading my listeners/viewers. 

Friday, October 1, 2010

So I can use big words? No one cares...

This week, the theme of being conversational hit me time and time again. As a journalism student, I have taken many writing classes, and know all the best SAT words. But all of that practice and preparation counts for nothing when you are writing a story that will be aired in a station where thousands of ordinary people will be listening. They won't be impressed by my grandiose vocabulary, they will just be bored. As I was listening to "This American Life" this week, I was again impressed with the extremely comfortable and conversational newscast I was listening to. For some reason, when I get to the voicing studio, this desire to be exciting and fresh comes over me and I talk in an obnoxious, sing-song voice. In watching the news this past week, I couldn't help but notice television anchors who do the same thing, and how annoying that gets, and also confusing to listen to. But watching some of the greatest anchors of all time on shows like 20/20 and 60 minutes, I am truly inspired by their ability to report on a huge story all the while talking like you are their closest neighbor. As we watched interviews and pieces by the late Ed Bradley with 60 minutes, poise and confidence are key elements in being an outstanding reporter or anchor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em3MsLkk3wk

I know it will take some time, but hopefully soon, I will be able to show the confidence I have interacting with people in my stories and as I voice.