How Apple dictates the world...and why it stinks to be an early adopter

This break, the battery on my Macbook Pro of 3 1/2 years died. Not only would it not hold a charge, but it would not even turn on when plugged into a power source - so it was time for a new computer. When I went to the Apple store, I was presented with two options - a MacBook Pro computer like I have now, or a MacBook Pro with a high definition retina screen that is lightweight and "cool." After a lot of discussion with the Apple salesman, it was clear at the time that the Retina screen would be the better option. Not only was high definition and lighter to carry around, but it launched applications faster and had a quicker operating system than the other MacBook Pro.

This purchase cycle, I was very cynical and not in the mood to pay $2,000 for a computer - so plenty of questions came up. I often sighed at the answers because now that I have gone through this so much, every choice was explained by Apple trying to make more profits or control technology in the US. Here were three differences that automatically made me upset, but that I didn't have a ton of other choices on:

• The retina screen computers (and MacBook airs) have no disc drive. They say it's because "society is moving away from CDs." While this is true, Apple is forcing CDs out by not letting you use them. If you don't even have the option to put a CD or DVD in your computer, they think you're going to buy it from iTunes. 
• There is less gigabyte space on the newer computers because they're trying to make them more portable, so the salesman encourages you to "store big files on an external hard drive" and "keep your computer running fast." The point of computers and their size used to be to hold everything you need, but now - they're just encouraging us to buy more devices and have more things for the same operation. So none of my photos from the past 7 years are on my computer and I'll have to watch file space very carefully. 
• None of the cords- the computer charger, dongle to hook up to projectors, etc are compatible with the MacBook Pro with retina, so you have to buy all new supplies. So not only are my 2 chargers defunct with the new computer, but I have to buy an HDMI cord to hook up my screen to a projector. Another way Apple is trying to make HDMI necessary and get some money on all new devices. 

After jumping through hurdles, the cost and functionality still led to buying the Retina. They make the wait on a regular computer so frustrating with the spinning disc system that they don't leave you a choice. But shortly after getting it and setting everything up, I learned another lesson:

Being an early adopter stinks.

No external applications (Microsoft Word, Twitter, Firefox, Adobe, Photoshop, InDesign, etc) can be seen clearly on the high definition screen because they haven't made themselves compatible for it yet. FOR REAL. So when I opened up Microsoft Word, the screen was grainy and blurry. And when I asked the Apple technician, she said "Well they don't have an update yet so there's nothing you can do about it."

So not only is Apple trying to get you to use their proprietary applications, but they made it virtually impossible for you to use the other ones "until those companies come out with updates." Overall, I probably should have waited for these bugs to be fixed before getting the computer, but no one at Apple even mentions these issues when you buy the product. I had to search intensely to find a way to make Microsoft Office clear, or even see these listed as an issue by product reviewers. 

And the Apple customer service was absolutely horrible this entire time. They don't acknowledge these as flaws, they just talk about how Safari is a great solution. It's not a solution, it's the only choice.

The conclusion here- Apple is trying to run the world more than we already know, so unless you are SUPER loyal to them, hold off. Or you'll be as frustrated as I am and searching for updates, writing this blog post at the Apple Store at Northbrook Court and anti-high definition screen computers. 

The social TV phenomenon

One innovation tactic I have found interesting to follow is the idea of "social TV" - the notion to encourage interaction on social media to discuss thoughts and ideas about TV shows while they are live. It's fascinating because when we were growing up, we would watch a TV show live (and maybe record it if we had to miss its appearance), and now we have moved so much farther than that. Television shows have a hashtag in the bottom corner, you can DVR or TiVo them to fast forward parts that you don't want to see and watch your Twitterfeed or Facebook newsfeed to see your network's every thought on each character, scene, episode and more. There are measurement companies that analyze the conversation before and after these shows, submitting reports to advertisers and TV ratings companies so they can see what is being discussed and adjust content accordingly.

One of my favorite TV shows this year, Revenge, has integrated into this pretty intensely. Besides a hashtag, they have a variety of Twitter accounts that retweet the shows' followers and discuss what is happening as it appears. @Gabriel_Mann, the character who plays Nolan Ross and tweets about the show live, has nearly 80,000 followers. The main character - Emily Thorne - has a website called http://emilythorne.org/ - "The Infinity Box: Hampton's Exposed! Ultimate site for ABC's Revenge." This site links to each character on the show to the personal actors and actresses websites, or their character's blogs. Because the show proved so successful in the social sphere, Target & Neiman Marcus even did a huge advertising partnership with it that was heavily discussed online on both Twitter and media publications.

What keeps me following these tactics are that they are luring consumers like me in. I made my Twitter public so @Revenge could retweet me. I read the character blogs and looked at all of these Twitter accounts just to see what the characters are saying. And there are even this many: @Revenge, @TreadwellReport, @TheNolanRoss, @TheAmandaClarke, @EmilyThorneOrg, @VictoriaGraysn, @KaraWallaceC, @HamptonsThorne, @CharGrayson and @RevengeWriters. As a media student, I'm constantly curious about who is running these accounts, what their guidelines are and how much they are getting paid. Another show, Girls on HBO, is one series I see becoming an early adopter to this phenomenon (@GirlsHBO). With its audience of 20something talkers, they already have an active presence on YouTube and Twitter. And it's changing the way we watch TV to be able to read blogs, see what fictional characters might say and be looking at two > one screen while watching TV.

 Do you utilize social TV? What do you think?

Multimedia journalism: not as easy as you think

I have never considered myself a shy person. Being involved in high school journalism gave me the confidence to call or approach sources, interview them and write the information into a story. So when I came to Mizzou, I had no problem interviewing and writing stories in my pre-sequence journalism courses. Although I chose to study strategic communication for my undergraduate emphasis, I took an introductory class that teaches the basics of video editing, audio reporting and photojournalism. And it was probably the most difficult class I took in college.

The class required pitching story ideas, reporting on one story all semester through each medium (photo, audio, video) and a final project that combined all of this. At the beginning of the semester, I followed a children's theater group and my final project, with two other students, explores private deer hunting reserves.

While learning about both of these unknown territories, I got some great material. There were excellent sources, awesome stories and excellent background they had to share. But this became a problem...because I couldn't just write about it. In multimedia reporting, they can have the greatest story in the world and be the perfect source, but if you don't have good b-roll, interview framing, sound levels or detail photographs, it means absolutely nothing. I had a hard time looking at the children's theater group and admitting - although you're letting me observe and test this equipment here, mind if I stand three feet behind your actors and students while they practice so I can get photos? Mind if I rerecord this so I can have this sound?

It's an uncomfortable thing to do, and really required a lot for me to step out of the safe zone. Different settings, angles, interviews, etc were not easy to obtain. By the end of the semester, I can happily say I know what is needed for multimedia stories and to always have a reason WHY a story is being reported visually and with audio - which will help the journalist be more comfortable getting up close. The group project with me and two other graduate students, from St. Petersburg, Russia & Hong Kong, spent all of deer hunting season tracking down private reserve and produced the following website:

Private Deer Hunting Reserves in Missouri

We went out at least four times to report, edited all the audio, video and photos and one of our group members built the website from scratch. Check it out! All in all, this convergence course added a lot to my graduate studies that I hadn't received prior in the Missouri School of Journalism and I am more than excited to apply what I know to manual cameras, DSLRs, recorders and video cameras! 

Downtown activities

To continue on with some fun lists, here's one I came up with based on what I did today! It's nice to be back working downtown and without all of my friends interning right next door, there's plenty to explore!

Things to do when you're bored in the city during the holidays

• Walk into all the hotels and big companies and look at their Christmas decorations. They're ridiculous! This is my building's! 

• Go to a major street on a lunch break or just for a breather and look at everything you could buy
• Find random festivals on the street - there are plenty! 
• Count how many places you pass where there is a Santa. I walked by 3 today!
• Eat dessert. It's fairly inexpensive and always a luxury :) Plus there are plenty of coffee shops, cupcake stores, bakeries or just Potbelly's with good cookies. 
• Walk around with a bag of change or box of food and feed all the homeless people on a stretch of streets 

 More to come after another week of working downtown! 

Convergence challenges

Reporting on a multimedia story is a difficult task, and doing it with a team of three students this semester has taught me a lot. What I call "convergence stress" is a type of stress I've never felt before--an anxious feeling where you never know what's next or what you have until you arrive back. Here are some lessons I've learned from the experience:

The idea must be everyone's
For everyone to be fully committed to the story idea, it has to be something everyone is invested in. The way my group achieved this was by discovering the idea together. When we brought in individual ideas or curiosities, there was a disconnect in the communication of the idea to the other group members. Therefore, brainstorming together has been a strength of working in a team.

Step over barriers

I have taken a much stronger project management role than I would have anticipated this semester, as two of my partners come from other countries and English is not their first language. They are incredibly talented and intelligent girls, but we have gone through some hurdles together that I never would have experienced otherwise. Many times, we will all be on the same page but can't communicate it in language that resonates with all three of us--with one being from Russia, another from Hong Kong and me from the United States. Overcoming these barriers has been a challenge but one I can say we happily step over and make progress on every day. 

Team members help you where you fall weak
My team members might not communicate as quickly, but believe in the definition of team more than any American students I've worked at in college. Rather than silo-ing off into work, they take on the work right then and there so the team does not fail. This not only comes in the form of compiling pieces, but also when we want to ask sources all of the questions. Having a partner assures that someone will see what you are missing, which was one thing missing in the indiviual convergence assignments at the beginning of the semester!

Benefits of teamwork
Overall, we benefit by each getting to play up one of our strengths in an area where it was most needed. One of my partners, Margaret, has excellent web design skills and started the design for our website as early as she could. Another, Barbara, has rigor and curiosity keeps us motivated to always keep moving forward even when it's difficult. I look forward to cranking out our project in the next 10 days and having a nice, final product!

Read scripts: the bane of our existence

When you mail someone a letter, the post office does not notify you when the addressee receives it. When you leave someone a voicemail message, your phone does not beep to inform you when the person called has listened to your message. So why do Facebook, more and more email servers and iPhone text messages feel the need to notify you with the day and time the receiver opens your message?

We live in a world where we’re provided with too much information. Knowing when someone receives something does not help us any more than it does hurt us. It’s not even overinforming- it’s stalking when you’re following someone’s every click within their personal communication with others. Having this technology is like putting a recording bug on every human being and turning us into machines instead of real people, who have real commitments in their real time.

What decisions do these read scripts help us make? With confirmation that the other party has seen something, we don’t know if they have actually read the entire message. People can glance at text but not ever digest it until they are more focused. Part of the power of email and text messages as a medium is the time you have to craft a good response, so expecting immediacy is no good. You might as well have called them and asked their opinion in that moment if you’re going to text/email, then expect a quick reply. Therefore, if you want to live and make well-informed decisions, don’t rely on the “read” message at the end of an iPhone text or email. Respect the person you’re communicating with to respond on their own time—the power you gave them by writing to them instead of calling—and adequately answer what you needed. 

A trivial list of things I’m looking forward to after graduation

 -Three-day weekends and federal holidays with time off of work to travel!

-Having time to read novels

-Catching up on the library of movies I’ve never watched the past 22 years

-The comical musings of corporate America

-People-watching in public transportation

--Scrapbooking the past three years

-Visiting my sisters at their schools

-Getting frequent flyer miles on the same airline and using them to go exciting places

-Actually attending weddings, showers and fun events

-Coming back to Columbia for Mizzou Homecoming

-Joining college & sorority alumni associations

-Spending time with my goddaughter

-Choosing a church to go to and meeting the community there

-Watching live TV

-More to come. 

Lessons from graduate school

This semester has probably been the most challenging time in my academic career. Graduate classes create an environment where you’re not competing with other people, but you’re constantly competing with yourself to make you a better learner, researcher and writer—growing your overall intelligence. When I was younger, I thought grad school was an excuse not to get married, and now I know how exciting and rigorous academia is. You’re not in school because there are no job options; you’re there because there is so much information out there that you want to digest.

Now that I have an entire week off for Thanksgiving, I’ll be writing a series of blog posts of some of the important lessons from my past semester under the “grad school” tag. Each class, job, meeting and daily interaction has taught me a lot, and I want to share it with you! To start off, here are some takeaways:

The proportion of time you spend reading to the time you spend writing and discussing what you read is 10:1.

Grad school is all about reading. More than 1000+ pages a week about what professionals, academics and research studies have said about a variety of topics. But instead of reading to learn about a subject and be tested on it, you’re reading to learn about the inherent issues within that topic. So when you read a text, you know you should want to comprehend it and it’s not even worth your time to skim. Therefore, I’ve learned a lot from the various studies and authors we’ve read, even if there is no outlet to discuss it because three hours of class is simply not enough.

Being with international and nontraditional students provides a rich learning experience.

The format of most of my classes is discussion-based, and rarely do professors lecture in journalism graduate coursework. A lot of what you learn comes from other students in the room—and many of them bring international background or work experience to the table. Like I said in my election posts, teachers value and are interested in this experience—as it helps grad students decide what to research or what areas have potential. Hearing about people’s travel, jobs, grandkids and countries has taught me a ton.

Grad school is more cliquey than middle school.

Most incoming grad students are taking classes at somewhere they didn’t do their undergrad, and come to Mizzou knowing no one. The only other people they know are the other grad students in their program, because there is no established way to meet others when you have minimal activities, and need to spend all of your free time reading and writing. When a study group, emphasis area or group of people within a class forms and becomes acquainted, they like to showcase that they made friends. You have to constantly remind yourself that they’re not trying to exclude others, but rather—prove to themselves that they have a community they can rely on in this city where all they do is study.

You have to be well-versed in political humor.

Especially since it’s an election year, political conversation is everywhere. And where else would you find such strong debaters than in academia? Being in classes with people constantly discussing politics has driven me to follow the election and debates closely so I can understand and know when to contribute to conversation. Even if you can’t follow everything, you have to understand the viewpoints on key issues and have rationales for both if you want to be a good conversationalist.

Know what you want to get out of it.

Why are you spending money and an extra year (or two) to receive your masters? It’s hard to construct one answer to this question, but being aware of reasons drives your motivation to read those studies, reports and books each week. To keep yourself interested, think of subtopics within your emphasis that you want to know more about.

Every day is a reminder of what you don’t know.

Each day I read or sit in a discussion, I think of how much more there is out there that I have not and will not get to read or learn. Whether it’s international travel and what a region is like, Pew research studies on how Americans change or all the masters theses and doctoral dissertations out there, there is always information you’re not exposed to. Take this time in your life to learn what you can and use what else is out there! 

Targeting audiences in journalism

As consumers view the news with less interest, journalists inadvertently have a role to adjust their traditional practices to better connect their stories with news audiences. What are some ways they can go about achieving this?

• Journalists don't just write or film stories, but must question in the pitch who their target audience is. You can no longer assume that the audience is anyone who reads the newspaper or watches the TV station. Who has a vested interest in this subject? Who will be attracted to the story because of their hobbies or news interests? As much as election stories serve the public, the target for how an election story is compiled is based on its audience. A 50-year-old businessman's news habits differ from those of a 19-year old first-time voter, so journalists need to cater to a target when compiling stories.  

• A new role is developed in sharing the news story with where this perceived audience is. Do these people check the publication's website often? Get all of their news on Twitter? Read news from blogs on specific industry categories or email wrapups? Journalists need to place the news on the right platform in the right location, or else the story is overlooked.

• Authors must actively attend to comments on their story to show the audience they care and respect their opinion. More than continuing a conversation, this small act of kindness from a journalist shows that someone appreciates that a consumer is engaged in the news enough to comment on a story. Therefore, a response encourages audience members to pay attention to news and gives them hope that they are being heard. 

So the real question here is, why should the journalist gain so many responsibilities because consumers are changing? Why do we put all of the blame on those trying to serve democracy and do a public good, rather than the crisis of Americans with declining interests and care for the news? As we brainstorm what journalists can do to better connect journalism to audiences, the next discussion to have is what news organizations as a whole should do to avert this crisis. One of these tactics could include educating and training journalists and staff to better engage the public, but the tactics overall should focus on converged newsrooms and innovation into multimedia news to serve the public in a manner where they will pay attention to stories--ultimately, keeping journalism in business.

Donald W. Reynolds Foundation announces gift to RJI

This morning, University of Missouri announced a $30.1 million endowment gift to the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation funded the gift, which is the largest gift specifically for endowment in the state of Missouri. Donald W. Reynolds is a 1927 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism

Chancellor Brady Deaton said this gift provides media researchers a continuing role in serving the citizens and democracy with their journalistic work and cutting-edge research projects.

Roger Gafke, Director of Program Development at RJI introduced Steve Anderson, president of Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, to give remarks. Anderson said that endowment funds are unusual for the foundation, and the gift is given to continue RJI’s mission to change.

“Smartphones and blogs weren't even talked too much about when we made the grant on 2003,” Anderson said. “Who knows what will happen in the next few years.”

Hannah Watts, Stewardship Coordinator at the Office of Donor Relations, said it is monumental to receive such a gift.

“When you have a gift that’s to endowment like that, it’s a huge commitment and shows their investment in the future,” Watts said. She explained that they invest it and that RJI can use a portion of it each year.

The gift announcement ended in an anecdote about over-pouring maple syrup across the table when Missouri School of Journalism educators heard about the last announcement. As a takeaway, pure maple candy from Maple Grove Farms was distributed.

Here are 3 photos from the event:

1.  Portrait of Hannah Watts

2. Roger Gafke introducing Steve Anderson

3. Pure maple candy basket

International views on the election

In my Mass Media Seminar today, my professor singled out our International and Fulbright students to see what they thought it was like being in America during the election. They had some pretty interesting reactions:

• Shock about how much people brag about exercising their right to vote. 
• “I went to the car shop and the woman was wearing an I vote sticker, I was like, whoa.”
• Surprise at how excited we were for the outcome.
• "In Russia, every time there is an election it’s the disappointment. It’s like the black day."
• Amazement that we are allowed to vote on so many issues we may or may not be informed on, and how long the ballots are with judges. 
• “It would be a big mess in my country if people have to make so many decisions and have that long sheet of paper. So many decisions, one day, it’s crazy!” 
• Indifference at the idea of a new president, because America won't change.
• "I didn't even pay attention to the election coverage because I don't think the outcome of voting will change what actually happens in America." 

I can't even imagine what it would be like to be in another country with a different electoral system! 

Seeking validation from political social media statuses

As my roommate and I camped out in our living room last night watching election coverage last night, we were also engaged as to what journalists, our friends and classmates were sharing. Social media contributes such a quick flow of information - we were watching statistics being reported as they happened. As Laura had TweetDeck open, and I had Facebook and Twitter up, statuses were being posted by the second. A Pew Research Study titled "Politics on Social Networking Sites" conducted just this fall states that 25% of social network users say social networks are important to debating or discussing political issues with others, and 25% say they're important to finding other people who share their views. Based on my observations last night, these numbers skyrocketed and I project that these percentages will be much higher in the upcoming months.

I kept wondering, what motivates us to post about our political reactions on Facebook and Twitter? It appears that people are seeking validation for their viewpoints, and only some wish to argue with the opposers. Does posting your view reinforce the idea that you are educated and involved in political issues? Or do people post to accommodate for their lack of involvement and understanding of what's actually going on?

Needless to say, I was pretty fascinated at how much my Facebook friends' and Twitter following's viewpoints radically differed. With a variety of friends from Mizzou, Chicago, the Greek community and church, there was a huge variety of statements made. Check out some examples of posts I saw, with overarching themes including:

• Democrats, excited for Obama 
• Republicans, specifically focusing on economic suffering because of Romney's loss
• Rejoicing in the completion of election results, focusing on Ohio's close race
• Acting fed up that people even post so astronomically on social media sites

These are real statuses I saw last night, in the above categories:

Democrats

Viva Obama!

proud to have re-elected a president who values human rights!!!

WOO OBAMA!!!! SO PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!!! CELEBRATING FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA!!!!!!

Thank the good lord Barack Obama is my president again!!!

Republicans
Well I suppose I should go to sleep before I vomit everywhere.

Great. Another 4 years of being dirt poor.

GREAT...but we're still f***ed

Here's to another trillion dollars down the drain at least each year for the next 4 years... I'll drink to that, natty's of course, since that's all I'll be able to afford from this point out.

One Big Ass Mistake America...round two.

Trusting in the Lord that His plan will prevail over any politicians plan for this country. With that being said I will be making a very concerted effort to save money for my future and hope that after the next four years our government will be prosperous again.

Rejoicing in results- especially Ohio

God I love the people of Ohio!

Ohio is like the glen coco of all the states right now

WHAT UP OHIOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! THAT'S MY STATE AND MY PREZZZZZZZZZZZ

Fed up

Seriously, I don't want to see another election status until 2016.

Convergence feedback

This Friday, my multimedia project went out on our first field reporting experience for our final project. We drove 70 miles away to a private deer hunting reserve, and learned a lot. The only reason we were able to report on our topic, deer hunting, with so many different pieces of equipment was because of the amount of time we spent practicing at the beginning of the semester. Here is some of the feedback I received on our so-called 'practice' assignments and how my team applied it this weekend:

Audio

• Obtaining natural sound of activity related to the topic: The first audio story I compiled didn't have as much nat sound as it could have, so I paid extra attention to details we could record when on the reserve. One piece of nat sound I'm happy we obtained was the setup of a rifle, and the actual rifle being shot.
• Continue clear voicing and use descriptive narration: This will come into play when compiling the story, but my group will make sure we use descriptive narration, especially when we create an audio-visual slideshow describing what was on the premises. 

Video

• Watching out for unintentional camera movement: We used a tripod at all times and Margaret, my team member who did a lot of the video recording, kept the tripod in between her legs to keep it balanced. 
• Apply the "visual cha cha" by getting close-up shots: While navigating the hunting reserve, we tried to film detail shots of the various equipment, plants the deer eat and clothing worn. 
• Telling sources not to look directly into the camera: We always had the interviewer off to the side of the camera and another student filming, so the interview was authentic and the source was not staring into the video camera's lens.  

Photo

• Use aperture settings to assure the photos are well-exposed: I made sure the ISO, shutter speed and aperture were all at good settings manually by taking some practice photo and ensuring the best settings for each photo. 
• Keep an eye on what's behind the person in the frame, and don't cut off people's bodies: In my previous photo assignments, the edges of people's arms or feet would be cut off because of how I framed the photo. This weekend, I made sure that wasn't done by securing the full frame in the photo and taking a look at the context so nothing distracting was in the background. 

Warning: Google reads your emails

There are few things more embarrassing in the business world than forgetting to attach a document to an email. In Google's effort to take over the world, they are trying to correct human error too.

Check out this notification I got on Gmail yesterday: 

I don't know how long these have been active, because I usually write emails on Apple mail and not on an internet browser. But I'm pretty impressed. The fact that pure scripting and search codes can track the text in your email moments after shocks me. Who knows what's coming next! 

Pay attention to phone use

Having an iPhone for almost 10 months now, I feel like I can't even distinguish when I'm using my phone and when it's away. With so many young adults, students and teachers using iPhone during the day, there is barely a delineation on when we're using our phones and when we're not. When they are in use, are we texting? Using applications? Searching information online? Responding to email? Or...actually making a phone call?

With journalism classes, meetings and assistantship work filling up business hours, responding to texts, calls and emails is like autopilot Monday through Friday; I don't even take note of the pace I'm moving. Living on the same floor as five of my closest friends at Mizzou, I find myself making a lot less phone calls to those friends than I have the past three years of college, since we can talk in our apartments. So I felt like I was using my phone less for actual usage purposes and more for data and email, and wanted to check this perception.

Out of curiosity, since I don't have a phone bill mailed, I called my Sprint account information code yesterday hear a account summary of my monthly phone usage. Surprisingly enough- this perception was pretty inaccurate. It's probably a rare case compared to other college students, but here's what I learned:

• Between Sprint to Sprint, anytime and night/weekend minutes, I've used 1300 cell phone minutes in the past 20 days. I know I like catching up with people on the phone, but this averages to 65 minutes/day. Looks like I'm going to need to assess how much I'm on the phone and when that time is - because apparently those hours are adding up! 

• I used 430 text messages in the past three weeks, averaging about 20 text messages a day. Not bad, or alarming, especially compared to the volume of people I'm in touch with for work on campus.

The takeaway here: Don't live so automatically when making calls, sending texts and using data. Then, I might start to realize what I'm doing for an hour per day on the phone. Is it while I'm walking back and forth from class, or is it taking away time from homework? Am I calling recruiters for the Career Fair, or family and friends from home? When other college students and I start to pay attention to these things, maybe we'll be more productive or assert more thought into what we're doing. 

A new kind of Homecoming

Each Mizzou Homecoming has been special. Freshman year of college, it was the fascination of the campus decorations, campus-wide spirit and watching all of your hard work and "pomping hours" pay off. Sophomore year, ESPN Gameday came, Mizzou beat Oklahoma and we rushed the field. Junior year, it was the Homecoming Centennial, bringing thousands of alumni back, and I had the opportunity to serve on the committee and celebrate with my family. So how could all of that be topped this year? As a senior, technically 1st year grad student, I can't say I was very involved in the preparations. I didn't pomp or put boards up all night for house decorations. It was my first year watching the parade instead of being in it. And I haven't been working since last March with preparations for Homecoming weekend like I did last year.

But Homecoming gained a special meaning this year; it was the first time alumni that I'm close friends with all came back. All of my best friends at school's families come into town and tailgate together, and my mom was able to come in too. I got to meet up with my Mojo team who I spent so much time with last semester, sorority sisters and other friends from activities who I now realize I won't get to see too often in the near future.

Me, Chris, Lexi and Natasha having a Mojo reunion at Big 12

All of this makes it one of the best weekends of the year. It's nice to break apart the phrase and think about it literally: all of the alumni and families come home - to see their friends, kids, alma mater. Everything else is just the icing on top of the cake- with the tailgating, house decorations, parade and nights at the bars- facilitating all the fun. I look forward to coming back next year and seeing not only campus, but my best friends and their families!

Mom and I tailgating before the game

Twainers and families in town at the tailgate

Convergence Final Project

Now that we are done with the upfront work in my convergence class, we end the semester with a final project applying all of the multimedia lessons learned. For this project, I am in a group of 3 students that will produce a multimedia project on a story topic of our choice. As we approach the end of the semester, here are my goals for the finished product:

• Keep all reporting with a journalistic purpose. In class, we have been talking a lot about having a journalistic mission. While multimedia reporting, it's easy to get distracted from the story's purpose and acquire the best footage. Therefore, I aim to keep each multimedia component of our story on track. 

• Improve my video recording skills. Video reporting was particularly difficult for me- especially filming sequences. I hope to practice this and walk away with some solid video. 

• Shoot photos and capture good moments. After learning a lot about photojournalism during the beginning of the semester, I hope to apply these skills and really contribute some good visuals to our project. Both of my partners' strengths are in video filming, so I really see this being somewhere to take charge. 

• Be a patient reporter and team member. I'm working with two international students, and English is their second language. Because of this, I am not only producing a project, but acting as a liaison between our sources and my teammates. Sometimes, they think of a word or description in their native language, but can't think of the phrase in English. Usually, once we discover the message intent, it's something great that will really help our project. Knowing how our group meshes together will be a driving force for patience and an excellent completed project. 

I'll measure how I attain these goals at break points the rest of the semester to assure they are being accomplished. After we field report once, twice and start creating the website are good check-in points to measure the status on these. Wish me luck!

Video reporting

In my convergence journalism class, we put together our first broadcast stories in video package form. Multimedia reporting was a lot more difficult for me than I ever could have expected, because you can't redo events if what you filmed isn't exactly what you want for the video package. My first package portrayed the impact of children's theater in Columbia, with interviews from a theater dance teacher and two students who have acted in many local musicals.

The biggest thing I've learned and will do differently in the future when compiling TV stories is referencing. Referencing is when the verbal narration of a piece is aligned with what visually appears on the screen. This is especially important in broadcast journalism because it is common for TV viewers to look at the screen but not fully listen to what's being explained. When they do choose to tune in, the narration must match the visuals so viewers understand the news and digest it accordingly.

One way to counteract the issue of referencing is to acquire as much "b-roll" film as possible, with a variety of shots. Then, you can set the scene with a good variety of shots and reference each one. Therefore, in my future video projects, I will set the goal of getting as many shots as possible so I can reference what's going on when I put together the package.

What do you call members of society?

In my qualitative research class, we are currently discussing when to use certain labels for the audience. The audience refers to people in a society, but the way they are depicted has a huge impact on how we envision who they are.

Is it an audience or consumers? Consumers or media users? Audience or "the public"? The public or the masses? Citizens or people? Readers and viewers and listeners, or users?

All of these conscious labeling decisions are important for semiotics and word selection in writing. Each term carries implications and definitions of who the term incorporates. While some choices might be easier than others, it's rare that one is wrong--but vital that the word you choose is most accurate and representative of who you want to portray.

The simplest choices are describing an audience as readers, viewers or listeners because those refer to the manner in which something is consumed. But deciding whether an audience is a consumer or a user becomes tricky. I encourage you to think about how you reference people in your writing, especially in media, and how it influences the holistic meaning of the piece!

Journalistic video: A crowded Mexico City prison

On Time.com's video stories, I came across a news video story titled Inside Mexico's Overcrowded Prisons. After learning about good qualities of journalistic video stories in my convergence coursework this week, I paid attention to the video's attributes to analyze if the correct types of shots were retrieved, how the interviews are framed and if using multimedia for the story contributes something new to the stories that photo, text or radio cannot add alone.

I think this video is a good example of TV journalism because it takes the viewer on a journey through the jail. The reporter takes viewers through the largest penitentiary in Latin America in Mexico City, discussing how its 12,000 inmates are crowding the property. Video reporting allows various parts of the story to be told and portrayed- such as the overall atmosphere, exercise therapy, and the different programs and recovery classes that the Mexico City prison has. A variety of wide, medium and tight shots are used wisely and work together to portray the story of an inmate's daily life inside this packed prison. While a photo slideshow would also be powerful, the background sound as we observe the prison and interviews contribute to the significance of this prison and its newsworthiness.

There are more than three interviews, and the interview shot framing does a good job of focusing on the sources. The interviews showcased are not just thrown into the story, they add detail and personal stories to the package by discussing the inmates' situations, explaining how one man has not seen his son in years.

One way I observed that the video could have improved upon was using a tripod to film shots. Some of the film was bouncy - meaning someone carried the camera around instead of keeping it still on a stand - and it diminished the story's credibility.

Check it out yourself:

Lessons from graduate school: be careful how you write

This year, I am completing my Master’s degree in convergence journalism at Mizzou this semester through May. In the next few weeks, I’ll be publishing a series of posts of some of my most interesting observations from graduate school.

One of the biggest realizations made is how many different writing styles I have learned and read throughout my education. The nature of being in journalism grad school, studying strategic communication and learning research methods to write a thesis exposes me to different writing methods each day. Let’s review three distinct types of writing:

• Writing for business: This is how creative briefs and points of view are written in the advertising industry. Business language and fancy words are acceptable, and each sentence must be clear, crisp and concise. A lot of bullet points and rationales are used here, but each individual word chosen matters.

• Writing hard news stories: News is written in the inverted pyramid style, providing the most important facts at the top and moving down from there. Hard news is very factual, with information given and quotations from reputable sources used to support or exemplify it. The story is written with language you would use conversationally; for example, I would write "he said" and not "he exclaimed" as in literature. One of my professors describes news writing with the goal of describing what has happened, what the implications are and if it could happen again. 

• Writing about research: This one baffles me the most because the writing style is full of jargon, obvious transition phrases and often in first person. For my qualitative research and mass media seminar courses, I read articles that fit this description every day. They begin with an abstract, which usually states something like “In this paper, I will review the eight ways you can accomplish these three goals in journalism. The theory I propose implies that there is a relationship between x and y, and we will look at 5 interviews showing how.” Writing is pretty much an outline with subheads, descriptions and a lot of foreshadowing. Overall, writing for research is explaining a method for research, providing your findings and analyzing the implications from your perspective.

My favorite part about reading writing for research is the amount of words that authors and researchers make up. Interactionism, operationalize, cathection…none of those are in the dictionary. The amount of times I have to switch between both reading and writing styles on a daily basis is absurd. I will write a paper on interviews as qualitative research one hour, write a news story for Missouri Business Alert the next and then review Mojo Ad's creative briefs for this semester's campaigns. 

My biggest tips for managing different reading and writing styles on a regular basis as a graduate student are getting in the zone and considering your audience. Remember what the assignment is and which type of writing is best. The mindset needed to read research is a lot different than reading a news story. Be prepared to write to your audience: whether it's undergraduate students, other master's students, adjunct professors or professors with doctoral degrees. Each will ask different questions about what they read; some want the rationale clear and specified, others want it grounded in your writing. 

I've also noticed that my email writing sometimes incorporates all three of these unintentionally.  Technically, email should be categorized as writing for business, but sometimes I'll write my emails in outline for if I have just read some research stories. But then you have to remember- emails are supposed to be brief and get the point across, not become an outlined paper! Therefore, if you're going to be a grad student, be aware that each of these writing styles requires a different mindset to comprehend and express yourself.