CNBC's Ron Insana comes to inform us Journalists...

It is crazy to think that a music/film major whom after college worked at a vitamin shop is now one of the most brilliant business journalists in Journalism.

Ron Insana went to Loyola Marymount University to study music (which is where I went to school before SMU), and then transferred to Cal State Northridge to study film. He had taken NO business classes prior to his first job. He worked at the Financial News Network and really got his start after he covered the 1987 stock crash.
Although Insana does not anchor, his plate is still very full. He was written three books, and still appears once a month on "Squawk Box" and other NBC shows.

I, personally, was extremely happy to hear from Insana, although I pretty much know I need to work a lot harder if journalism is what I want to do. What a brilliant man. He not only reaked of intelligence, but he was very funny. Although a lot of what was said went over my head somewhat...I still learned some things that I really would never had thought of before. I learned that as a journalist, we need to know both current events and buisness oriented events...he said they effect eachother.

I never even really thought of a category in journalism called business journalism, but now, as I read the "business" part of the news, I feel pretty dumb that I have no clue about stock market type news. Its pretty good to know that business journalist find out about political news before even political journalist because money is so interconnected to everything, if that makes sense. "Markets move first, news comes second," he said. How true that is now that I think about it.

Insana pushed us to realize we need to "use the maket " instead of just watch it...which I do neither...yikes. Maybe business news is not my "thing," but regardless of that, Insana has made a little red light come on, inspiring me to become more informed. So what if I want to write for a health or travel magazine? I don't want to be the dumb blonde journalist at some cocktail party that can't discuess stocks with other journalists or associates. I want to become a more well rounded journalist that can hold my own and atleast be able to keep up with the business "jargon."

Insana says the stock changes are what we need to be paying attention to, man I wish I were taking some sort of business class so I could actually understand the stock. I am definately going to buy a book for dumbies to figure out the "jist" of the stocks...because as Insana said, the stocks effect the markets which effect major political events. That idea now, makes total sense to me.

Insana said he just "got lucky" with his first job, ya, I would say that is a little bit more than luck. From working at a vitamin shop, to tearing down sets, to producer, anchor, busines journalist...amazing. It really excited to me see that not everyone knows exactly what they are going to do in college, but somethings will just fall into place.

Also, its good to see a speaker with a sense of humor. Although I was lost with some of the concepts, he definately kept me on my toes by throwing out his bald jokes. Love this guy!

Multimedia Michael Mason FBI

This multimedia is about an African American FBI agent. It showed some really good "day in the life" photos that allowed the viewer to see what this agent does on a day to day basis. Michael MAson is one of the highest ranking FBI agents and he explained how some may look down upon him because of his color. The Washington Post most likely put this mulimedia up because it is Black History month.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/interactives/blackmen/blackmen.html
I think this is a nice way to profile someone. We get to see pictures and hear his voice. It seems as if it is a quicker way to interview someone. It is mearly his voice, and no reporter voice asking him questions. I like this way better than maybe just watching this on T.V. for a number of reasons. This is short and sweet. It gets all of the interesting stuff, including background information on Mason. He goes through a sort of, timeline of his life, speaks of his trials, and also speaks of his successes. This slide show did a great job not distracting me while I was listening, and it followed what Mason was saying. The slides each connected with what he was saying, so as not to distract the reader.
I also like this because I just saw a profile that I most likely would have never seen or read on T.V. It was an easy "click" for me to find a little bit more about Mason and his life. If this were a news show, I probably would have switched the channel because for one I would not know who this guy was so I would lose interest before I was told who he was, and two the broadcast would have probably been far too long, making the piece lose alot of it's important qualities.
All and all I think these multimedia slideshows really give the reader or viewer something new. It is a simple way to learn a little something extra that one may not have seen or read on the news. And having the pictures along with the voice with no reporter asking questions is kind of nice, its as if Mason was telling us a story.
I have a feeling mulitmedia slideshows will be more common in the coming years. I do like watching interviews on 60 minutes or on other news shows, but for a quick profile that I probably would have missed reading in the paper or news, I think is a great idea. I especially enjoyed this one. I feel like I know Mason through this quick 2.32 minute show.
The biggest strength here would be the brievity of the profile. The weakness here would be, sometimes people do like to see the mouth moving, it gives more emotion and allows people to connect to the subject. I don't think I would like to see the news turn into this, but again as I have said above, for a profile like this, it is perfect. I now know about Mason, the top african american FBI agent. It is a fact I probably would not have known prior to this multi media show.
The only thing excluded was what I mentioned above. The small movements of the mouth. Here, I don't feel it takes anything away, but I think it may in a different type of news cast.

What is a blog

So today I am writing to figure out what a blog is. Am I supposed to ask questions and someone out there will answer? If blogs are so popular these days, why have I not read one? Or maybe I have read one and just don't realize it. I consider myself an educated person, I have not lived in a cave, but blogging seems very confusing to me. I created this account for two reasons: One, for a class, and the other, to see how these things actually work. It will be interesting to see is someone writes back or makes a comment about what I have to say. The worst part about this is, my professor asked we write about a blog, now I wasn't even sure if that meant the idea of a "blog" or a certain blog that is already out there...I promise I am no idiot. In my journalism courses I hear that blogs are going to take over newspapers etc...I am a journalism major and I don't eve know how to write one! I am thinking blogs may be those small paragraphs on, online newsites...but what do I know. That is why I am taking this course. I will learn about the digital world of journalism. I have heard so much about blogs, but I was never forced to put the idea into practice. After I write this blog, it will be very interesting to see what happens. I hope this is considered a blog, and I will learn more about this new (well new to me), idea.
Thanks
Ty