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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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).

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

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.

BC Festival 2006

CAPSTONE PRESENTATIONS 2006
The reviews are now in for the BC Capstone presentations and everyone has great things to say about this group of students. People are calling this year's BC Capstone students "confident," "polished," and "professional." One guest suggested that all seniors at Westminster could benefit from watching this group in action.

Tuesday night's presentations came after capstone students staged a live remote on Titan Radio in front of the campus center. Chief engineer Chuck Chirozzi also pulled out the TV remote truck so folks could climb around and look inside to see how we do our dozens of live sports remotes on the Westminster Cable Network. We tried this last year as well and the weather turned cold and rainy. We had the same problem this year. But Heather Storm and Amy Sasfai gave it the old BC try.

We squeezed in 10 capstone presentations during the evening. Luke Garrett surprised many people with his his Wall Street look (this is a look I had a preview of when he conducted a County Close Up Interview for TCL this semester-- and he cleans up really well and looks great on camera. His presentation was perfect. He revisited the "On the Road" television segment he produced as a metaphor for his college journey and his upcoming graduation. Several other students also touched on similar metaphors. I was impressed with all the presentations.

We averaged 40 people in the audience during the evening. We witnessed a great juxtaposition with Alana Schuring's "umbrella" approach to communication, liberal arts and her career path paired with Amanda Hauger's focus on transitioning to magazine writing and multimedia. Amanda as well as Jolene Slattery (and '05 graduate Sarah Ubry) embrace writing across media and their interests and needs serve as a genuine reasons why we should add a journalism minor at Westminster.

Jolene hit on the multimedia theme hard as she made the issue of media convergence key in her presentation. She and Justin Egley shared their experience as broadcasters doing work at the New Castle News with audio and video and it speaks volumes about the need to prepare for new media in our program.

The "Sarah Bowers-Tear Factor" award goes to Shannon McClain. Her outstanding presentation was the only one that actually triggered the "Tear Factor" meter. She was so endearing and genuine when she thanked her family, fiance and friends and faculty. We tend to forget how these events can stir up a wealth of emtions as seniors become graduates and leave the Westminster bubble.

Wrapping up the evening was a job for Brian Campbell and Jason Mackey. Brian shared his discovery of just how much more blood, sweat and tears goes into a specialty radio show, His revival of Titan Radio's contemporary Christian music show, The Covenant, proved to be a big success this year. We also learned there is a loyal following for the program and Brian called for his co-host Pam Marlow to keep the tradition alive.

Jason receives the "Carpe Diem Award." His plan of action born out of his internship experience has landed him a foot in the door at WJLA-TV as well as a job at George Mason University where he can continue his education. Jason doesn't wait for destiny-- he takes command of his future by making brave and bold decisions down the path he designs.

Congratulations to everyone for a job well done!

Using Google Video

Showcasing Student Work!
Thanks to Google Video, I'm able to showcase student work at WCN. This first showcase features the work of Mike Wolenski as well as Luke Garrett.

You may recall my blog entry in Feburary where I related details about how these two young men currently work weekends as newscast directors at competing Youngstown television stations (while they participate in a full-time class schedule at Westminster).

It turns out both are also enrolled in my BC 312 course (Broadcast Journalism II/Television Reporting). Sure they're cordial to each other and some might even suggest friends, but deep inside burns an intense rivalry (LOL).

The first story comes from Mike Wolenski. After holding the Northwest Regional Science Olympiad for nearly 20 years Westminster College says goodbye to the event. The final Westminster-based Science Olympiad welcomed 900 high school and middle school students. The County Line's Mike Wolenski shows us how some of these students tested their skills, knowledge and problem-solving skills.


The next story is from Luke Garrett (a BC Capstone Weblogger). The County Line's Luke Garrett takes a different approach to storytelling by staying behind the camera shooting and producing a video essay profiling a Lawrence County man known as Cowboy Rick on the chainsaw carving circuit. This story introduces us to this colorful neighbor who wants to become a full-time chainsaw wielding wood carver.



So what do you think about their stories? What do you think about showcasing their work on Google Video and my blog? I welcome all feedback!

BC CAPSTONE PRESENTATION SCHEDULE

Here’s the line up for the Broadcast Communications Capstone Presentations scheduled for Tuesday, April 25, 2006, in the Mekelvey Campus Center Mueller Theater:

Round 1: 5:30- 7:10

1. Alana Schuring
2. Amanda Hauger
3. Heather Storm
4. Luke Garrett
5. Amy Sasfai

7:10-7:30: Refreshment Break

Round 2: 7:30-9:10

1. Shannon McClain
2. Jolene Slattery
3. Justin Egley
4. Brian Campbell
5. Jason Mackey

Capstone students will now draft guest lists, issue invitations and prepare for their senior presentations. They will showcase their work and highlight their efforts as liberal arts students studying and working in a highly competitive, professional field.