Thursday, December 28

My 2006 Top 10 List

This is the time of year when everyone puts out their top 10 lists and year enders, as TIME magazine has for several categories such as television shows.

Here’s mine for what I was watching in 2006. Actually
, I sharing two lists. The first is my favorite shows of 2006 and the second list is my Top 20 TiVo Season Passes. The second list includes influences from the family, but I admit I am very guarded with TiVo's remote control.

My Picks for 10 Best TV Shows of 2006
  1. Battlestar Galactica
  2. Lost
  3. Heroes
  4. Studio 60
  5. Rescue Me
  6. Scrubs
  7. Ugly Betty
  8. How I Met Your Mother
  9. Entourage
  10. Medium
Top 20 TiVo Season Passes @ Our House
1. Battlestar Galactica
2. The Amazing Race
3. Grey’s Anatomy
4. Lost
5. Heroes
6. Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends
7. Scrubs
8. How I Met Your Mother
9. The Class
10. Project Runway
11. Nip/Tuck
12. Dr. Who
13. Avatar
14. Cyberchase
15. That’s So Raven
16. Phil of the Future
17. Smallville
18. Boston Legal
19. The Shield
20. My Name is Earl

Thursday, December 14

How to Make Neoguri

ANOTHER MINI-MOVIE PROJECT FROM BC 251

I'm showcasing another mini-movie project. This one is from Woosub Lee. He produced this five minute short film for his BC 251 course project. So what do you think? Please leave a comment and I'll pass it along to Lee.

Sunday, December 10

Wrapping Up BC 601

Students are now reflecting/reviewing senior projects. Their final two blog entries this semester will focus on addressing what they accomplished with senior projects and selecting an outside resource for feedback.

They're identifying outside professionals they will connect with over the winter break to assess the projects. Some will likely go back to the Westminster alum they featured in their alumni project. Others will go beyond the WC family.

When the return for BC 602 at the end of February we'll step back and see what can be done to enhance what they have done and focus the transition to the next step after graduation.

Mike Wolenski had some interesting comments about capstone presentations for the spring including the idea of allow students to chose alternatives to the lecture showcases that we now use. I think it would help the course if the class deconstructs the current model for presentations and rebuild it. We can make it better.

Tuesday, December 5

The Best of the BC 251 Mini-movie Showcase


THE BC 251 MINI-MOVIE SHOWCASE WINNERS



We gathered on Monday for the BC 251 Mini-movie Showcase and the audience voted. The fan favorite of the showcase was Woosub Lee's RACIST FART. Lee also had a hand in producing the runner up mini-movie, A DAY IN REVERSE. Lee co-produced/co-directed that project with Alex Hines, Nicole Piszczor and Christina Roseto.




Our guest judge, Jimm Needle ('03 Broadcast Comm alum/BC 251 success story) was kind enough to take the day off from his busy schedule. He's a digital media producer and director and traveled back to New Wilmington. He offer his expert opinion on the mini-movies. Jimm selected TOOTHBRUSH by Megan Alexander, Tom Benoit, Amanda Conway and Shayna Marti as the best group mini-movie. He gave the judge award for individual project to NIGHTMARE ON CAMPUS by Shayna Marti.




You can see all the mini-movies submitted for this showcase at the MINI-MOVIE SHOWCASE WEBLOG.

Wednesday, November 29

Student Mini-movie Showcase



BC 251 students will present their mini-movie projects to an audience next week. You're invited!

2005 Lunchtime Mini-movie Showcase
Monday, December 4
@ 11:45
Mueller Theater/Lecture Hall
McKelvey Campus Center
Westminster College

Students will premiere 16 one-minute mini-movie projects and four group projects. The goal is to transfer the skills, experiences and professional practices learned from shooting and editing sports, news and commercials back to the domain of the home user. I want students to shift back to consumer products such as video cell phones, digital cameras and typical video editing software found on most PCs. I want them to apply the video production techniques and approaches learned in BC 251 to the digital technology now available to everyone.
This one is from Tom Benoit made with his pocket DV cam entitled "Procrastination at Work."


Here's a sample of one of the early submissions. It's "The Last Chip" from Katie Hilliard.

Wednesday, November 15

Capstone Presentations (Fall '07 Edition)

Chris Zinkham, Kirstan Gides & Steve Bring complete their degrees in December. Each of them offered their senior presentations to an audience in the McKelvey Theater on Wednesday night.

Things I learned from these presentations:
  • Steve Brink has family connections to journalism, writing and media. He revealed he has relatives who served as writers and editors for national publications, including his grandfather at Newsweek.
  • Chris Zinkham realized making the client happy is the top priority in commercial production. He proudly showcased his CCCS commercial he produced for BC 410.
  • Kirstan Gides revealed her own, personal checklist for students studying communications closely resembles Dr. Barner's "Checklist for Success in Broadcasting."
What's left for this bunch?
  • Each student will now shadow a working professional connected to their career goals.
  • These three will also put together a time capsule for the Spring BC 602 class to bury in the quad in May.

Saturday, November 11

Successes, Misteps, Assessment & Course Adjustments



















Five Mistakes
Seniors Make in Capstone
  1. Taking on too much for a senior project.
  2. Taking on too little for a senior project.
  3. Waiting until the last minute to work on a senior project.
  4. Discovering you didn’t save enough of your work: air checks, television news packages, writing samples, scripts, storyboards, etc.
  5. Failing to set up your outside review of work well in advance. This is where you gather important feedback needed to tweak their portfolio materials.

I’ve tried to address #5 in the syllabus. Students will identify, solicit and secure off-campus feedback during the winter break. When they return for the second part of Capstone they can begin integrating that feedback into their portfolios. Will it work? I’m crossing my fingers.

Wednesday, November 8

BC 311 Student Lands a Celebrity Interview

Titan Radio's Danielle Adams has done something no other Westminster BC student has been able to do in the past six years-- land an interview with Amber Brkich. Below is the web story and links to Danielle's coup. Great hustle, Danielle!

Reality Television Turns Into a Career & Marraige for Amber
Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Featured on Titan Radio's BEHIND THE MIC
She's a millionaire and reality television star who's turned what many called 15 minutes of fame into both a career and a marriage. Beaver County native Amber Brkich graduated from Westminster College in 2000 with a public relations degree and then was cast on Survivor on CBS. Now she's going by her married name, Amber Mariano. She's one half of of the Amber and Rob Mariano team born out of Amber's second reality TV appearance on Survivor: All Stars. After they became a couple they went on to star in a season of another reality show, The Amazing Race.

Amber and Rob went on turn their wedding into a CBS reality special. She's a published author who continues to work on reality projects with her husband working in Los Angeles. Now she goes "Behind the Mic" with Titan Radio's Danielle Adams talking about her journey into reality TV and how she keeps it going as a full-time enterprise.

Friday, November 3

December Capstone Presentations

You're Invited!!!
Time is running out for three BC students preparing for Capstone Presentations this month. Steve Brink, Kirstan Gides & Chris Zinkham will present on November 15, 2006. The capstone showcase begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Sebastian Mueller Theater located in Westminster's McKelvey Campus Center.

See how these students graduating this December
showcase their experience, achievements and bodies of work in broadcast communications.

Monday, October 30

Congratulations, Justin Egley!



A cat and a young girl have helped a Westminster grad gain national recognition by winning a broadcasting award for best television public service announcement (PSA). Justin Egley produced a 30 second PSA for the Lawrence County Humane Society last spring for his commericlal production class. That spot featured a young girl entertaining a cat at a tea party and he called the spot "Adopt Your New Best Friend." Now the College Broadcasters, Inc. (CBI) named Egley's spot as the best in the nation. The CBI announced its award winners at its 2006 CBI Student Production Awards in St. Louis.

Egley currently works as a videographer for WKBN TV in Youngstown, Ohio. Before that he shot and edited video for the New Castle News and its award-winning web site, Crunch, which is dedicated to Lawrence County high school football.

Egley majored in arts technology at Westminster College but discovered broadcast communications and made it his minor. His PSA now runs on the Westminster Cable Network promoting pet adoption in Lawrence County.

Wednesday, October 25

PAC Media Day

Titan Radio covered the PAC Media for basketball season by sending the entire BC 311 (Broadcast Journalism I) class to the Mellon Arena.


Armed with digital audio recorders, digital cameras and a state of the art digital video cam, the crew interviewed coaches and players for stories that began running that night.



Jill Carle's report on Westminster's emerging new rivalry in women's basketball with Chatham College was particularly interesting.

TJ Renninger and DJ Yokley also teamed up to file a report online with video. Check it out.

The PAC even linked to Titan Radio's coverage.

The success of the outing means this will probably become a fixture field trip for the class.

Monday, October 9

Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion


Wow...this is big! Does this mean they'll change the name to GOO TUBE?

Search giant’s purchase of video sharing service biggest in its history!

"This is the next step in the evolution of the Internet," Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said during a conference call Monday.

This confirms my urgency to encourage students to post and use Google Video or You Tube. It's fast, easy & free. Why not post projects, mini-movies, etc. What better way to share and showcase your work?

We're using Google Video to post stories and vlogs from the news & sports departments. This is clearly the shape of things to come.

YouTube says it serves about 100 million videos daily and has drawn scrutiny from major media companies for copyrighted material appearing on its pages without their consent.

Friday, October 6

Where Will You Stand?

Why should you watch "Battlestar Galactica"?

"Battlestar Galactica" is one of the most politically relevant and necessarily bleak series on television today." Rob Owens, Pittsburgh PG.

If you want thought-provoking, rich, well-written drama here it is...where viewers get frustrated with LOST, Battlestar Galactica gives you answers but rachets up the tension and forces us to look into a mirror about contemporary political issues. Each episode pushes the story forward and in two short seasons has created a deep mythology that is light years beyond the science fiction long associated with the geek stereotype. It's not the soft, gooey BG of the 70s & 80s. This is gritty and grown up television at it's best. So many television critics agree on this and it truly is worth watching.

Now I am beginning sound like I'm repeating myself from a post a wrote a year ago. Oh well.

Sunday, October 1

In Search of Job Links...

This week I asked the capstone students list (add links) and review three links where they can find postings about potential jobs that fit their career goals. In addition to identifying and reviewing the links (they should also bookmark each) they must also find a "pay" or subscription site that posts jobs.

The goal here is to compare the "pay sites" with what you can generate for free. New college graduates often have limited resources so generating a list of links in the job search from free sources clearly has advantages over those you pay for...plus most of those yank the postings off the free links.

OLD BC CAPSTONE JOB LINKS/RESOURCES STILL ONLINE...
The BC Career Links page groups some station groups and stations for your consideration.
The 2003-2004 Capstone Job Links is still available, however I do not know if all the links remain active.
The 2002-2003 Capstone Job Link page is also out there for you to visit.

Monday, September 25

Recent Capstone Blogger Now a CBI Finalist

Congratulations go out to Justin Egley.
Justin graduated in May with a degree in Media Arts and a minor in Broadcast Communications. He was also married this summer and just started working at WKBN as a news videographer.
Justin was part of the BC Capstone Weblog project last year as he audited the BC Capstone course as a BC minor.

While we have all those things wish Justin well for I'd like to extend another round of congratulations for his outstanding work as a PSA producer. Last spring, Justin completed a PSA in BC 410/Commercial Production course for the Lawrence County Humane Society. The 30 second spot promoted the organization's "Adopt Your New Best Friend" campaign.

Now the CBI (College Broadcasters Inc.) has announced Justin's spot is a CBI National Student Production Awards finalists. His spot is contending with an entry from Colorado State University and one from Berry College in Atlanta. You can see the spot here and the winner is announced by the CBI at the National College Media Conference in St. Louis in late October. Good luck, Justin!


Friday, September 22

Viewfinder BLUES: The Hardships of Handheld

Viewfinder BLUES: The Hardships of Handheld

This is a great entry for my beginning video production students as our tripods are a bit worn and battered.

Lenslinger's weblog is also very cool to read. He's a critically thinking video journalists with a greak nack for writing.

Tuesday, September 19

Be Professioanl With Your Capstone Weblog

Guidelines for the Capstone Bloggers

Put time and effort into what you write.
Never post a first draft. Edit what you write. Write it as a MS Word document, edit and then cut and paste into your weblog.

Put effort into the content.
  • Write enough to communicate meaning with the reader, but avoid overkill.
  • Demonstrate your knowledge and experience as a professional by correctly using the terminology of media.
  • Connect your entries to topical events and issues in media.
  • Offer your own style and voice and be consistent with it.
  • Be genuine.
Always attribute! Plagarizing, fabricating or other BS is not tolerated in the blogging community. Such misdeeds will often be challenged publicly and will haunt you in your professional efforts.

Add graphics or photo when it’s appropriate.
Offer Links.

Going Public- Remember the World is Watching

Never reveal personal, private information.
  • Never blog about your personal life.
  • Limit contact information to a web-based e-mail account.
Never write about proprietary or privileged information (never disclose company secrets or information shared with you in confidence). Off the record means off he record.
  • If blogging about internship or job-related experiences, inform your employer about your weblog.
  • Invite the employer to read your blog and offer feedback.
  • Ask about restrictions or limits on what you can and cannot blog about.
  • Ask if the company has any specific weblog guidelines you must follow.
  • If the employer prohibits blogging about work experiences, then comply.

Be Positive- Showcase Your Ability to Think Critically and Creatively.
  • Offer solutions instead of only pointing out problems.
  • Be clear when expressing opinion or comments.
  • When engaged in criticism, remain constructive.
  • Recognize opposing positions.
  • Support your points with evidence and attribution (include links).
  • Never engage in personal attacks.
  • Develop a routine so regular readers can expect timely updates.
  • Entertain and inform your readers
  • INCLUDE PICTURES: Offer interesting and appropriate images and context.
  • Write engaging headlines.

Be Prepared- Avoid Legal Entanglements
  • Be truthful & ethical.
  • Read and understand the Blogger User Agreement.
  • Understand the impact of what you write.
  • Remember libel applies to weblogs.
  • Remember false light applies to weblogs.
  • Remember invasion of privacy applies to weblogs.

Other Tips- Read & Comment
  • Read other weblogs.
  • Routinely search for weblogs discussing topics of interest to you.
  • Bookmark weblogs you think are written well or speak to you.
  • Offer constructive feedback and comments on blogs you visit.

Sunday, September 17

Proposal Deadlines on the Horizon




Capstone students also continue checking in with each other and finalize proposals for two keep projects due on Friday, September 22.


The first is the senior project proposal must be in some kind of document form provided to me and kept by the student.
  • It must include a description of the project and how it will add to their body of work and to their portfolio.
  • It must also include a timeline for reaching goals, deadlines, etc.

The second proposal due is an overview for the alumni project.
  • Each student must identify Westminster alum to profile in a report and presentation.
  • This proposal must include contact information and how interviewing this individual will help them network professionally and offer insight about the transition from the college environment to the professional marketplace.

Possible resources for tracking down a subject for the alumni project:
  • The Career Center
  • The WC Alumni Office
  • Faculty, staff & recent BC grads

Capstone students must select a subject who graduated from WC before 2002.

Grinding Away at the Ol' Weblog

This Week's Weblog Assignment
This week BC 601 students will check out the weblog reviews submitted last week by the class and offer their own take on what they find. Some of the weblogs they’ve reviewed include:
RTV6GM.com
TV Squad
Pixel Wrangler
Lost Remote


The First Show of the Semester
















The
County Line on WCN

Some of the BC 601 students are heading up our television efforts with The County Line. Aidan, Stevi, D.J. and Steve lead the BC 251 crew and other staff members to a great first show. The show only had a few minor bumps. Great job guys! Meanwhile Leanne is keeping Titan Radio News where Amy is also keeping Friday afternoon newscast on track. Meanwhile Mike's off leading remote crews and Titan Radio to another busy semester.


Megan Alexander sat in and produced/hosted the first interview segment. She talked with Scott Mackenzie about his year in Iraq.

Sunday, September 10

Deconstructing the First Two Classes

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."
--Alan Kay (American Computer Scientist & PC Pioneer)

What's this BC Capstone class?

We've met twice as a BC Capstone 2006-2007 class. During the firs gathering everyone introduced a framing statement about how each of them views determinism. Have our futures already been written? Who/what controls what happens next?

This week everyone wrote me an e-mail from the future. They imagined it was the year 2016 and they were checking in with their crotchety old capstone instructor with an update about their lives and careers.

Everyone also posted blog entries with three short term and three long term goals.

What we learned was interesting...

Some people have extremely specific ambitions while others feel pressured into deciding what they want to be when they grow up. Still others are curious about other career options and the idea of continuing their education after college.

People in the class also connected with each other over the conflicts and anxieties they're experiencing as their college life at Westminster is coming to a close.

Finally, I found it worthy to mention that in the e-mails from the future the women in the class saw themselves still single and moving about the country and experiencing a variety of career opportunities over 10 years. Most of the men were also listing of impressive resumes with experiences that took them across the country from radio, television and new media. The twist came in hearing most of the men imagined themselves as married with kids-- and the curious thing was these guys came up with names already for their children.

Coming next class-- toying around with your weblog...adding pictures, video, links, etc.

Thursday, August 31

2006-2007 BC Capstone Class


BC Capstone, originally uploaded by Brad Weaver.

Meet the 2006-2007 Broadcast Communications Capstone Class: Mike Wolenski, Amy Lavallee, Leanne Veres, Steve Brink, Kirstan Gides, DJ Yokley, Stevi Nelson, Aidan Mewha. They now have their capstone weblogs up and running!


Tuesday, August 1

Showcasing Student Produced Spots


You can watch two of the PSAs produced by students this year in BC 410. Both were tested befor focus groups and borth were received by the clients as the best offered. The first was produced by Mike Wolenski, Pam Marlowe and Jordan Hinds for their client, the Lawrence County Humane Society. It's called "WHAT ABOUT FIDO?"




This PSA was produced by Brian Campbell and Chris Zinkham for Consumer Credit Counseling Services. It's called "THAT TIME OF THE MONTH."


These public services announcements will now air during programming on the Westminster Cable Network with radio versions on Titan Radio.


The spots have also inspired me to include PSA or promo assignments in the beginning video production class. They can generate everything from a pitch, script, storyboard, shooting schedule down to the production and post production requirements. I also suggest any capstone student interested in sales/marketing/commercial production to consider taking on a client and producing spots for a senior project.

Tuesday, July 25

Striking Up the One-Man Band in Sacramento

Stations stand to save big bucks with one-man bands (video journalists or VJs). The Sacramento Bee showcases Dan Adams, a VJ working at News 10 (KXTV) in Sacramento, CA. What's interesting is Adams is not a cub reporter working his way up out of college. He's an established, award-winning broadcast journalist. Young journalists in college should take note of just how competitive this will make the industry and why a liberal arts approach to broadcast news will help them prepare for the future.

Here's more from SacTicket.com:

Technology is so advanced these days that some in TV news believe there soon will no longer be a need for the traditional news team of reporter and photographer. Large, shoulder-mounted cameras can be replaced by hand-held devices that shoot digital images that are just as vivid (or close enough). And laptop audio- and video- editing programs make it possible for anyone with tech knowledge to put together a report and transmit it to the station.

What this means, proponents of the VJ concept say, is faster, nimbler reports.

"You may have a local TV station with five cameras and live trucks go out on a story on any one day," says Michael Rosenblum, a New York-based former CBS news producer who has trained reporters at the BBC and San Francisco's KRON in the art of being a VJ.

"That doesn't make sense. It's like having 70 (newspaper) reporters, but only five pencils to go out and report a story. If you equip people to shoot their own stories, you've got everyone out in the field reporting."

There is an economic benefit, too. A standard TV camera costs $35,000 to $50,000; a hand-held one $5,000. Those fancy "live" trucks that camp out at breaking-news scenes would be history, replaced by compact cars. And, of course, there's the cost savings of employing fewer photographers or reporters (depending on which chooses to learn the other's skills). Analog-videotape editing booths at the station would be gone as well, a savings of about $50,000 apiece, experts say.

"(VJs) cut a station's cost by 70 to 80 percent," Rosenblum says. "But local TV news (outlets don't) like it. Why? It's a very conservative business."

Indeed, the VJ "movement" is still only in its formative stage. Just two local-news stations in the country -- San Francisco's KRON and WKRN in Nashville, both owned by Young Broadcasting -- have gone all-VJ.

A handful of other reporters in medium-to-large markets, such as News10's Adams and reporters in Reno and Phoenix, have persuaded their news directors to let them go solo as well.

Mark Antonitis, KRON's station manager, declined to be interviewed for this story because of negative press he's received in industry publications. As Antonitis told Media Week magazine in April, "I've been vilified in this business."

As many as a dozen veteran reporters at KRON and WKRN left for other markets rather than undergo mandatory VJ training.

The biggest complaint about VJing is the supposed loss of quality video journalism. Critics see it as journalism on the cheap, a slap in the face to photographers who for years have honed their craft, developing an "eye" and knowing precise angles, proper lighting and ways to edit hours of raw tape into coherent 90-second reports.


Saturday, July 8

Melissa Batulis Lands Close to Philly

Former BC Capstone student Melissa Batulis has a new station and new beat as she's reporting for WFMZ-TV in Allentown, PA (part of the Philly DMA- Market 4).

She's had a busy month with the flooding in Eastern Pennsylvania. And she's doing lots of LIVE reporting at her new station. She lives in Reading and can now get back to having a Pennsylvania drivers license.
Melissa graduated from Westminster in 2003 and recently worked at WENY-TV (ABC) in Elmira, NY (DMA 173).


You can check out Melissa's bio on WFMZ's site and even watch her stories. She looks great.

Here's a link (don't know how long WFMZ keeps them active-- you'll need RealPlayer).

More info on WFMZ from Answers.com:
  • WFMZ is an independent station in Allentown.
  • Part of the Philadephia DMA.
  • WFMZ serves mainly the Lehigh Valley and Berks County with cable coverage in much of the Philadelphia DMA including southern New Jersey. There is some over the air signal coverage in some New Jersey counties that are part of the New York City DMA.
  • The station broadcasts about forty local newscasts per week, including the Philadelphia area's only local Spanish-language newscast.

I love getting updates about former students and I really like blogging about them (hint to all you former students).

Friday, July 7

Blog Geeks & The Rocketboom Scandal

I'll admit I'm an Amanda Congdon fan.
She gave Rocketboom (the little vlog that could-- and it's now downloadable on TiVo) the window dressing to get me to watch. However, her personality made it the reason I subscribed to the Rocketboom podcast. Now the drama/dispute/calculated media event taking advantage of the summer news lull/pissing match has turned into the blogosphere's version of "The View versus Star Jones." Quick, get Amanda on Larry King Live!!!

Read any comments section on any blog topics about the Rocketboom brouhaha and it's clear LOTS of people are following this story.

Rocketboom producer Andrew Baron and Amanda Congdon have parted ways and it's a he blogged-she bblogged soap opera. Don't believe me? Even mainstream media is writing about the Rocketboom split and it's all over the 'net.

The Washington Post: Popular News Anchor Leaves Video Blog Site or Rocketboom Star Exits Her Famous Perch

The NY Times: A Rift at the Video Blog Rocketboom Triggers a Cyberspace Soap Opera

Businessweek: Splitsville at Rocketboom

MediaShift: Who should replace Amanda Congdon at Rocketboom (if that’s possible)?

Podcasting News: Rocketboom: Congdon Quit, but the Show Will Be Better Than Ever

Lost Remote: Rocketboom Jumps the Shark

CNET: Rocketboom Loses Its Famous Face

Thursday, May 4

Networking with Local News Professionals








Meeting News Professionals, First-Hand Research &
a Glimpse into the Future

BC 312 (Broadcast Journalism II) wrapped up an outstanding semester where students produced resume tapes, web content and insightful research papers. Three students presented their papers on the future of local broadcast news at the 2006 Westminster Undergraduate Research Symposium.

These papers included information from local media experts giving insight on such topics as converging newsrooms, the new primetime for local news, citizen journalism and the role of video journalists.

We hosted four guest speakers during the semester. In addition to offering our students a chance to interact with industry professionals, these visits offered information on making resume tapes, the importance of internships and how to go about getting that first job. They also received valuable feedback on their television stories produced for the class. Our visitors included:
  • Westminster College Webmaster Jonathan Smith
  • WFJM-TV Photographer & WC alum John Mikulas
  • WPXI-TV Photographer & WC alum Tony Ruffulo
  • WYTV-TV Sports Director/Anchor Bob Hannon
  • WJAC-TV Anchor/Reporter Rich Klindworth

I also wanted to thank some generous people in New Castle and Youngstown for hosting field trips. They gave a large chunk of time to talking one on one with students about the future of journalism, the state of local news and what skills and experience will help them succeed in the changing newsroom environment.



WFJM-TV News Director Mona Alexander

This field trip allowed students to meet with a television news director one on one. Students presented their television
reporting tapes for feedback while also talking with Mona on topics ranging from resume tape building to the future of local news. Students were also treated to a personal tour of WFMJ by the news director who came in on her vacation to meet with our group.


New Castle News Publisher Max Thompson & Editor Tim Kolodziej
The New Castle News field trip and interviews resulted in fostering a potential relationship with the newspaper about new media projects including talks about WCN and WC students producing content to air on cable and on the New Castle News web site. An interesting note here is one of the BC 312 students was interning at the NC News during this semester. Meanwhile a media arts student was also working as a freelancer at the paper while a media arts graduate from last year is working at the NC News.

One comment from Tim Kolodziej that I found compelling was his vision of using video and audio for the newspaper's web site.

He said, "One day we (The New Castle News) will be the local television and radio station for Lawrence County."

I think that's a wake up call for local radio stations. Most local radio stations don't even bother with local news let alone have any identity or branding online. But Titan Radio does!

If local radio and television stations want a piece of the future they better move now before the newspapers claim it all. I see the real vision for the future coming from the smaller, local newspapers. I also see newspapers as a place BC students can seek out career opportunities. Our students have skills and experience in interviewing, writing, storytelling, audio and video. They're producers, communicators and have worked all aspects of broadcasting. They truly have a liberal arts grasp of the new newsroom.