What A Tragedy
A week ago the most horrific university shooting of U.S history occurred at Virginia Tech University.
Seung Hui Cho, a student, shot and killed 32 people (students and faculty). This was a devastating day.
The crazy part about all this is that we as viewers were able to watch the whole story unravel before our very eyes. Student journalists took out cell phones and recorded parts of the event. Others stood in their dorm rooms and took pictures with digital cameras. All of these things allowed the news to travel faster than ever.
It is crazy to see how journalism is evolving. Anyone and everyone is a journalist these days. With the use of technology (cell phone cameras and video tapes), it is easy to spread word of breaking news.
If this event had happened five years ago, the news would definitely not have gotten around as quickly as it did.
I was sitting at my television watching the event, and with each minute a new death was announced or a new video clip was played. The news was almost instant. Does this mean that journalists will soon not be needed? I mean CNN received FREE pictures from students. No one had to send out a photographer because they were getting all the photos for free.
With such a travesty as this, its pretty selfish to even talk about money, but these news stations are loving all this new technology because I am sure it is saving them a bundle.
Even Cho used media to get his point across. He made a horrific tape and sent it to NBC to that the media could relay his message to the world. Cho got exactly what he wanted. He used media to tell his side of the story and the world watched. I am not going to say I wouldn’t have wanted to see it if NBC refused to play it, but I am pissed Cho got what he wanted. And he is such a wimp for shooting himself, he couldn’t even be man enough to keep himself alive to explain his anger? So he used the media against us. What a coward.
The sad part about all this, is that this will happen again. From a journalist perspective it’s interesting to see how each incident like this is dealt with by the media.
I saw a news piece of a young woman who was in the Columbine shooting along with the Virginia Tech shooting. She said that she really didn’t want to talk to the media because of the way they behaved with Columbine. She said they didn’t give the community any space. Although it is so true that after something like this people should want their space, but again with a story such as Columbine or VT, it is hard (as a journalist) to give people space. The news does need to be told and from as many different perspectives possible. But I do understand how that would be annoying at such a time.
With the Virginia Tech incident, so much media was put out. Here are just a few of the websites that made photo stories, and multi media packages etc.
Multimedia “CRY FOR HELP”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/VATech/?CMP=google&partner=google&gclid=CISJiejh24sCFSgNIgodVWNnXw
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/virginiatech.shootings/
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Kristof Discusses Darfur at SMU
Nicholas Kristof, a New York times columnist, came to SMU Tuesday to discuss genocide in Darfur. Although I wasn't able to make the speech, I hope I will be able to learn more from what he talked about.
Kristof has won 2 Pulizter Prizes on his columns. One on the trafficking in Cambodia, and the other for his coverage of Tiananmen square, a historical event in the world.
Apparently, Kristof uses tons of multimedia (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=Nicholas+Kristof&date_select=
full&srchst=m) in his search to fight for the rights for people that are being ignored. I feel that using multimedia tactics is a brilliant way to do so.
Yes, one may read a story on how some family was murdered right before one's eyes, but in this day and age, we humans are so immuned to "stories" of war and violence. We need to have a visual, we need to actually see that what is going on is not some bad dream, but a reality. With technology on such a rise, we should be utitilzing it in a way as to help people. Get messages across to people etc..
Kristof has traveled with a number of people to gain more knowledge of people less fortunate, such as with Jimmy Carter. They traveled to Etheopia to search for a cure for River Blindness and to gain a higher understanding of that the disease was and who was being effected.
We can talk about how we want to save the world all day long, until we are blue in the face. However, thats what we AMerican's are good at. We talk about making a difference, not so much get off our couch or stop watching reality t.v shows to actually make a difference.
I am not going to be a hypocrit, I talk about wanting to save the world all the time. But I am just "too busy" to actually do it. Its very sad to see such an amazing place fade away as it is.
I like how Kristof is trying to make a difference and I am thrilled to learn more about him and what he will do next.
Kristof has won 2 Pulizter Prizes on his columns. One on the trafficking in Cambodia, and the other for his coverage of Tiananmen square, a historical event in the world.
Apparently, Kristof uses tons of multimedia (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=Nicholas+Kristof&date_select=
full&srchst=m) in his search to fight for the rights for people that are being ignored. I feel that using multimedia tactics is a brilliant way to do so.
Yes, one may read a story on how some family was murdered right before one's eyes, but in this day and age, we humans are so immuned to "stories" of war and violence. We need to have a visual, we need to actually see that what is going on is not some bad dream, but a reality. With technology on such a rise, we should be utitilzing it in a way as to help people. Get messages across to people etc..
Kristof has traveled with a number of people to gain more knowledge of people less fortunate, such as with Jimmy Carter. They traveled to Etheopia to search for a cure for River Blindness and to gain a higher understanding of that the disease was and who was being effected.
We can talk about how we want to save the world all day long, until we are blue in the face. However, thats what we AMerican's are good at. We talk about making a difference, not so much get off our couch or stop watching reality t.v shows to actually make a difference.
I am not going to be a hypocrit, I talk about wanting to save the world all the time. But I am just "too busy" to actually do it. Its very sad to see such an amazing place fade away as it is.
I like how Kristof is trying to make a difference and I am thrilled to learn more about him and what he will do next.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
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!
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!
Thursday, February 8, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
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
Thanks
Ty
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