It's Time for Work at KOMU8 News

I'm not going to bluff you, I'm in a trance.  I've been slightly sleep deprived due to multiple exams this week.  Not the easy, "oh-that's-a-joke!" exams; these are serious, "please-don't-give-me-another-one-like-that-again" exams.  So far I've been doing well on the exams, but I have a Communication Law exam in t-minus 3 hours from now, and I have prepare minimal for it.  Why?  I simply have not had the chance this week to study just that material.  I'm worried, and that's an understatement.

Anyways!  On to a good note!  Since the last time I wrote about my progress through my broadcast 2 class, I have begun working at the University of Missouri Journalism School-owned television station, KOMU8, this week! I finished my shadow shifts and last night I went out to shoot video on an event. The event was "Name That Tune", an event the Moog School of Columbia hosts to raise money for the organization. KOMU8's anchors Sarah Hill and Megan Murphy attended, so I was able to get some footage of them. Since this was technically my very first piece of work for the station in broadcast 2 class, it wasn't that stressful.  I'm actually very glad I received something like this story in the beginning just to get my feet wet and become more experienced.  I felt comfortable going out and shooting video by myself (I live for that!  It's exciting!), but I just wanted more experienced with minor things at the station.  For example, I wanted a little more experience uploading the video and writing on deadline in the actual newsroom. As I said before, things went well and I definitely felt more comfortable with many things after my shift last night.  I especially got a feel for what it's like in general before tackling a large story.

Last night, my story was the kicker in the newscast.  That's the very last piece of the show.  Sometimes there's video for it, sometimes the anchors may just speak about it or build it up for the next show. Although it was at the very end of the show, it seemed less stressful, especially for my first story at the station.  One of the main reasons why I was slightly nervous last night before my shift was the fact I didn't feel 100%.  I hate going out to do a story or trying to make progress on a story when I'm not feeling the greatest.  All in all, it's that I need more sleep.  So that leads me to Halloween! Right now, I'm just ready to start the weekend so I can sleep.  That's all I want. I'm counting down. Approximately 16 hours from now, my head is homebound for that feathery pillow.  Wow, that seems like a long time from now...

Seriously? People Believe Strawberry Milk Comes from Pink Cows?

So I have seen multiple stories lately regarding farming and gardening.  I believe the recent flurry of garden-related articles is due to Michelle Obama's promotion of an organic garden.  A few articles I've read speak about the first lady doing her own garden work to cultivate an interest in today's youth to learn more about farming.

Here is one article from the LA Times that I found interesting:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-daum29-2009oct29,0,2987190.column?track=rss

So, is it true that farming is becoming more popular in today's generation?  If you define popularity based on more attention, then yes.  With multiple issues that have arisen in the news, farming is without a doubt an important factor in life.  It always has been.  Without farmers to produce food and other resources that help in our existence, society would be at a loss.  Coming from a small, rural location dominated by farms, I've seen and heard stories of people working around the clock to make even small ends meet (such as waking up at the crack of dawn just to check the farm and begin the daily process of farm work). Moreover, since I grew up in this environment, I knew farming is important to life.

So why is it now gaining so much attention?  Well according to this LA Times article, social sites are a main source of gaining popularity.  After all, now facebook has FarmVille, where everybody can be a farmer. We can't forget Michelle Obama utilizing publicity to promote gardening. Is this enough for people to become interested in starting their own farms or working on a farm?  I doubt it. These online games such as FarmVille are merely that:  video games.  Some people may actually use it as a get-away from their life to raise cows in a virtual world.

I noticed that this article didn't really bring up any issues of people not showing interest in farms. It did speak about how today's culture may be convinced that strawberry milk is actually produced from pink cows (this brought great laughter to my morning when I read it...and at the same time, it startled me).  However, that small joke didn't really make it seem like much of an argument.  I would have liked to have seen this author ask people on the social networking sites or just somebody on the street if they play farming games and if they would ever do it for a living.  This would be an interesting aspect to the story. I also think this could have given the story a little more depth (although the awareness of farms and a slight look of what happens in farms is portrayed in the video games was a nice piece).  I was just looking for somebody's opinion on what it's like to raise a virtual cow.  I would also like to ask the people playing the games, "So where does strawberry milk come from?"

This Is A Scary World for Banks

So I came across this interesting article about Bank of America suffering from a large loss for this year.  Here is the link to the story I'm talking about:

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE59F1TJ20091016

Although this is a good story, I didn't learn much about one important question that I've asked myself recently:  Do people still have faith in banks?

This question is often something that is brought up when I'm speaking with my parents because I find it interesting that banks are financially hurting, but I haven't heard if many people are withdrawing money from distrusting the strength of banks.  As this article states, Bank of America has been financially strained for this entire year.  As many banks across the nation are announcing their losses during this recession (or during this current time in America's history), I'm surprised I haven't heard more stories about people and their thoughts about banks.  I would like to have heard what customers of Bank of America are doing about this announcement.

If You Say Broadcast 2 Class, I'll Say...CLEARED!

So let me begin by explaining what I mean by the title.  In my Broadcast 2 class, once my peers and I meet the expectations that we can find and create good stories under a deadline, then our professor approves us to begin working at the local television station owned by the Missouri School of Journalism, KOMU8.  Anyways, on the last package/story I did two weeks ago (wow, it does not seem that long ago) for class, I heard the best three words..."good to go".  Those are the words of Greeley Kyle, my professor for Broadcast 2, approving me to begin working at KOMU.  I seriously wanted to hug Greeley after hearing those words.  So, in other words, that's what my post title means by "CLEARED".  No, I'm not a nurse...but I may be doing a story on a nurse in the coming weeks.  You never really know what good story will come up in a few days (hey, even a few hours!).

So, you may be asking yourself, "Daniel, what have you been working on since that last story in class two weeks ago?"  Okay, maybe you're not asking yourself that question.  Nevertheless, I've shadowed multiple news people in the last two weeks.  This is another requirement for Broadcast 2 class.  We have to shadow four people working as 1.) a live-truck operator, which is the person who controls and shoots the video for the reporter who is reporting live, 2.) a reporter, 3.) a producer's sssistant, which gets video from the national news to put on KOMU newscasts, and 4.) a producer.  I actually just finished shadowing Becca Habegger, a student producer for KOMU, last night.  Additionally, that was my last shadow shift.  Honestly, I really enjoyed all my shadow shifts.  I found it strange that most of the people I shadowed said that many of the students who shadow them are usually quiet and don't try to get that involved.  I found it somewhat of my responsibility to ask as many questions to familiarize and get comfortable working in these positions at the station.  Moreover, I asked Becca many questions regarding producing because I'm interested in becoming a news producer.

For the shadow shifts, we have to ask particular questions and write a one-page reflection on the shadow shift.  For the most part, I answer those questions just by observing the people work.  I also ask questions that I'm wondering about, and this is how I've learned a lot on my shadow shifts.  I thought it was funny at the end of my shadow shifts when the people I shadowed asked me "Don't you have any questions you have to ask for class" and I reply with "No, I've already answered those questions."  I suppose this is just me being a journalist, but I ask the questions in a conversational way, usually when I'm just speaking with the person about their job and asking what all they do.  This is how I've learned that if you're talking with a person, you can ask questions and sometimes they may not even notice you asked a question.  However, if you read from a list of questions and sit the person down in front of you like it's truly an interview, I feel like you get somewhat of a staged, or preconceived answer.  It's our role as journalists, in my opinion, to paint a picture of somebody's life and those candid moments that go along with it.  We get real answers if we converse with people.  Alright, I think that turned into more of a Posey's Philosophical moment than I expected.

Well, that's all for now.  I'll see you all in the not-to-future.

Talkshow Headline: Sex Scandal Revealed!

So I'm sure the title of this post is something that everybody has witnessed before.  If you're like me, probably more times than once.  I'll share the link to the story I'm talking about:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/10/02/2009-10-02_david_letterman_sex_extortion_plot_the_story_of_a_career_jesters_private_transgr.html

There you have it, David Letterman is accused AND confesses to some saucy activity during his late night show.  Growing up, I can't remember the Late Shows ever becoming the pedestal for major announcements.  The first major news-related story I remember to stream from a late show was when Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his run for the California governor.  Since that point, it's seemed that politicians, activists, and even comedians use the late shows to make major headlines, or address them.  Has this always happened?  Well, speaking with my parents it seemed that even on the Johnny Carson Show, people made major announcements.  It just appears to me that it's becoming more popular, mainly because that news is reaching people in a different way.  This seems to be a trend that we can expect in the future.  Just as "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" uses an entertainment value to spread news, so will the late shows.  And David Letterman will continue to make major headlines, whether it's upsetting the former Governor of Alaska or sex scandals, take it away Dave.

The Trials and Tribulations...Another Week

Well, here I am.  Just as I said two weeks ago, I'm sitting in the same spot:  typing away at my desk, glancing outside every once in awhile to notice the rising sun.  This seems like it may be a tradition.  At least for now.  I honestly enjoy getting some sleep and resting before I write a blog.  It definitely helps me wake up.

So, I put the final touches on my new story/package last night.  My third package is finished for Broadcast 2 class.  I am much more fulfilled to watch my 3rd package compared to my last one.  This week, my story is on the "Miracles for Kids" Radiothon hosted at the MU Health Care Hospital.  Although I wanted to do another story, this event just so happened to be occurring in a timely manner, so I decided to snatch it up.  Last week, my 2nd package was about homeless shelters and how the occupancy is rising at the shelters.  I tried to turn the story into a feature; however, as everybody in class witnessed, it was a train wreck.  My largest problem with that story was that I tried to cover too many aspects of the story.  Instead of focusing my story and trying to tell the major things about one homeless man's life, I tried to tell it all.  As I said, my classmates were able to see this is my weakness.  The story telling is just so sloppy because I have so many things I throw into the equation, it's confusing and vague.  That story was one of the few that after I watched over and over, I continued to dislike it.  Why? I could see all the faults with every viewing experience.  That's a feeling I hope never occurs again, because it makes your work look bad.  It also makes you look like you don't know what you're doing/talking about.

So, moving on since last week, I've gotten much sleep and concentrated more on broadcast class.  I had two exams in the middle of last week and I spent most of my time studying and preparing for those exams.  Needless to say, my work decreased in broadcast class.  I even found myself last week going out to shoot the footage and not really thinking about the video until later in the week because I was completely in exam-study-mind-set.

Therefore, I feel much more happy with this week's story.  The hardest part about this week was actually shooting all the footage.  I shot my story in between my classes, and I made it work.  I wasn't late to any of my classes, and I wasn't late to any of my interviews.  Lucky?  Of course.  I did plan ahead, but still, that was very lucky on my part that everything went so smooth.  I thought about Peterson's Law - "Murphy was an optimist, everything that can go wrong WILL go wrong."  While shooting went well, I just had to worry about writing and editing it all together.  How did that part go?  Tune into lab, today at 1pm...but for those of you that can't, it's better than last week.

Well, I will return to my perch in another two weeks.  Until then, I'm going to enjoy a doughnut, some ice cold water, and a view at the lovely sun on a beautiful Friday morning.