12 Comments

1. Luis C. Lopez
   01.22.10

   The most useful suggestion came yesterday, courtesy of Chips Quinn. I’m very bad with names so please forgive me in advance — I don’t remember who said it but the person said that Chips’ advice would be the following:

   Work hard
   Play hard
   Take your job seriously
   Don’t take yourself too seriously

   These words reflect my attitude toward life, and to be honest, I don’t want to over-stress myself and become a bitter person. I strongly believe that these suggestions smooth out the long and tiring days.

2. Alejandra Matos
   01.22.10

   Don’t be satisfied with mediocrity. Although those weren’t the exact words, every speaker hinted at this idea in one way or another. Ellyn Angelotti, interactive editor for Poynter Institute for Media Studies, gave us great ideas and resources to present stories in new and interesting ways. I found the suggestion of using maps and Vuvox extremely interesting. Those tools will be great for bringing more readers to any paper. I can even bring some of these resources to my school’s publications, not just the newsroom at Hispanic Link.

   Val Hoeppner, manager of multimedia education at the Diversity Institute, gave a great example of how multimedia has helped lure more and more readers and actually enabled her paper to break a news story that no one else had. The example spoke volumes about the influence that journalism can have, and also about the impact that new media can bring to a paper.

3. Kiah Haslett
   01.22.10

   The speakers today gave me a lot to think about, especially given that multimedia isn’t limited to photo slide shows with audio. I love the idea of data overlay through time lines and maps.
   I found the free Web site resources that make multimedia integration easy to be invaluable — or at least I’m sure they will be. I have yet to use them but am excited to try them.

   Thinking about the goals I want to reach while at my internship proved surprisingly insightful. I started with one, added some thoughts, and somehow now have 10. They include:
   3. Talk to three people on the street each week.
   5. Use more active verbs. Accomplish this by highlighting all “to be” verbs and deciding whether the sentence can be reworded.
   7. Never have a correction. Double check everything and clarify anything that I don’t understand.

4. Lisa Song
   01.22.10

   I especially appreciated the demo of Vuvox. As a science writer, I’m constantly looking for visual metaphors to help explain my stories. And there are times when the best way to tell a story is to build the text on top of a picture instead of the other way around. For example, I’m a big fan of geology stories. Rock formations are inherently visual, and attempts to describe layers of deposits usually fall short. I hope to someday run a geology story using Vuvox, by tagging captions that explain what’s going on in each section of a deposit. I could also see it as a great tool for archeology stories, or astronomy, paleontology, etc.

   I was also surprised to learn that not all news sites embed video and audio into their online stories. I guess I’ve been spoiled by The New York Times Web site and the use of Apture (apture.com) in the paper’s blogs. It’s something I’ve taken for granted until now, but as I continue in my career I’ll try to promote this kind of media streamlining if I ever work for a publication that doesn’t embed multimedia.

5. Elvia Malagon
   01.22.10

   Whenever journalists gets together, the subject of multimedia always comes up.

   On Friday we learned from Ellyn Angelotti, interactivity editor and adjunct faculty at the Poynter Institute, about multimedia and how to use the Internet to improve our reporting skills.

   With the new uses of social networks such as Twitter and Facebook comes the question of ethics and what is the right way to use these resources. Can we get sources from Facebook? Is it considered public information if the profile is public? No official guidelines have been established yet for the use of such Web sites by journalists, so these are questions we explored.

   We also looked at ways various media outlets have used the Internet and interactive tools to tell stories.

   The session made me think maybe there are more than one or two ways to tell a story. Now the challenge will be practicing those skills in my internship this summer.

6. Diane S.W. Lee
   01.22.10

   “Set goals,” said Chips Quinn Scholars Career Coach Colleen Fitzpatrick. For homework, she asked us to jot down a list of goals we hope to accomplish at our host newspapers this spring.

   That thought never occurred to me.

   I’ve held three internships: one in print and two in radio journalism. Aside from daily news and broadcast stories, I’ve covered breaking news, filed Freedom of Information Act requests for stories, compiled databases using computer-assisted reporting, built community sites using HTML and published photos online.

   I’ve always worked hard, sought advice and asked for feedback on my work during internships. But I never took the time to jot down goals ahead of time. I think that’s great advice.

   So this time will be different. One of my main goals is to brush up on my writing skills in print and online. I’m also planning to create some amazing multimedia packages using the skills I’ll pick up during training next week at The Freedom Forum.

7. Ashley Marchand
   01.22.10

   No one is going to arrest you for using your voice.

   Career Coach Mary Ann Hogan said these words this morning, leaving an impression on me long after she finished speaking. It brought back to mind the idea that diverse opinions in the newsroom are not only beneficial, but are also crucial for our readership.

   As young journalists, we have all had life experiences that are unique to us. We should be able to confidently state our opinions to our fellow journalists, knowing that doing so will likely provide greater understanding. We must be able to openly suggest story ideas and angles.

   After all, no one is going to arrest us for using our voices in our newsroom.

8. Nicole Norfleet
   01.23.10

   When you are really excited about a big project, you can get carried away and forget who you are writing or producing for. Keeping the needs and wants of your audience in mind may seem like an easy concept to remember, but I think we journalists often forget it. A story quickly becomes “your story.” Ellyn Angelotti, the interactivity editor from Poynter Institute, reminded me that a journalist must keep in mind the audience when he or she is deciding how best to tell a story. There are so many ways to use multimedia that journalists sometimes want to tell each story using them all. Just because you can do so doesn’t mean you should all the time.

   When I was the managing editor for online at my campus newspaper, I used to get wrapped up in large multimedia projects. For one project, on election day, we had more than 100 student journalists reporting from the Capitol, viewing parties in North Carolina and across campus. We contributed videos, stories and slide shows to our election blog. Unfortunately, we had not really thought about what our readers needed. Most readers were getting their national news about the election from sources like CNN, so we probably should have focused more on the local area than we did. We should have probably started the blog weeks before the election. We also should have allocated more resources to making sure our photographers in Chapel Hill could get the photos back to the newsroom instead of trying to produce several videos that were old news by the time we published them.

9. Richard White
   01.23.10

   The most useful piece of information I heard today came not from someone in the field, but from a Freedom Forum employee. Peggy Johnson, the most wonderful secretary I’ve met, had some kind words for me today.

   I met Peggy during the summer of 2008 at the Diversity Institute Multimedia Scholars Program. Off the bat, she’s as genuine and friendly as they come. If you don’t believe me, you should meet her and see for yourself.

   Now I’m back at the First Amendment for the Spring 2010 Chips Quinn program, and she hasn’t skipped a beat. I was ready to give and receive a hug from her. You feel the warmth, seriously.

   Peggy is soft-spoken but her words are deep. She enjoys seeing the youth, the smiling faces and the great people. She commented on my laugh and smile. But the words that I’ll remember forever are “Stay youthful and spread love, you’ll live longer.”

   It hit a chord with me. As adults, we get so caught up in the hustle of the everyday grind that we often don’t appreciate life, or take it for granted, and then we miss out on a lot that happens around us. I’m someone who enjoys life, loves to smile, play and have fun.

   With journalism, you have ups and downs like no other. With the way the industry is going, it’s important to carry a smile. When Peggy gave me that advice, I had no choice but to believe her. It’s no surprise she’s still spreading wisdom, even though she may not know it.

10. Kristy Chu
    01.23.10

    The life of a journalist — especially a “modern” one — is never easy. On any given day, he or she may have to wear a number of hats just to get a story. Interview a source, capture audio, shoot video, shoot stills, write the story, track a package, edit the video — the list goes on. As the world of journalism begins to fully merge with the world of multimedia, journalists must juggle a number of tasks to fulfill their expected duties as a public servant.

    Because I started on the broadcast side of the industry, shooting and editing video and audio is second nature to me. I am excited to learn more about it from Val Hoeppner, manager of multimedia education at the Diversity Institute, and the other seasoned professionals here, as I know they have a vast amount of knowledge to impart to us. However, it was the lecture with Ellyn Angelotti from the Poynter Institute that I knew the least about. During her short lecture, I learned about a number of helpful Web tools that can enhance any Web-based story including Vuvox, publish2 and a number of other interactive elements that can turn a good story into a great one.

    I am beginning my journey as a Web-based reporter, and simply having the knowledge of these tools will enable me to improve my stories and perhaps teach others in my newsroom about what’s new in journalism.

11. Veronica Cruz
    01.23.10

    As a print journalist, each time I report a story I’m constantly thinking of which quotes are the most dynamic, the details that would best describe a person, a place, an event, what my lead will be and how I will end the story. All are important things to consider but all that have to do with words, and writing fundamentals.

    While meeting with my writing coach, Mary Ann Hogan, one of the most memorable pieces of advice she gave was: We live in a visual world, so learn to think visually and not just with words. At my previous internship I pretty much relied on the other staff members to give my stories the appropriate visual element. The photographers sought and snapped the best photos, the page designer worked magic and created stunning layouts, but rarely did the visual elements go beyond that. Now, when we’re expected to be Jack-of-all-trade journalists, I will take a more proactive role in looking for interesting and unique ways to make a story come alive using more than words.

12. Tasnim Shamma
    01.23.10

    Today we discussed the First Amendment during a presentation by First Amendment Center Founder John Seigenthaler. One thing he said that stuck with me (and that I was ignorant of) was the fact that the Internet and online entities have as much protection as print and broadcast media because of the Communications and Decency Act of 1997. Seigenthaler went on to explain that electronic media actually have more protection because blogs and information sources such as Wikipedia are protected from libel lawsuits. He told us a story about his meeting with the founder of Wikipedia regarding his biography on the Web site that was full of errors and cautioned us against using it as our final source.

    After lunch, we met with Ellyn Angelotti, interactivity editor and adjunct faculty member at Poynter Institute. We talked about the responsibilities of online journalists and I appreciated her advice on dealing with online sources. She also cautioned us against using information from blogs and Web sites like Wikipedia without verifying information. Almost anyone can create a Web site or fake Twitter account and it’s important to verify the identities of the people behind such sites and accounts. While the Internet is still a great “first step” (for example, using Facebook to find sources for a news story), it’s important to make sure that our standards remain high. There’s no reason to publish false information on the Internet because there are more protections. It damages our credibility as journalists if we publish false information.