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.

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.

• For example...consider this links about weblog guidelines: EduBlog, Educational Weblogs, The English 105 Weblog, Yahoo! Employee Weblog Guidelines, Rebecca Blog Webog Tips
  
• The more links you offer the better the chances are your blog could turn up in a Google search.
• Link back to your sources (this offers transparency, attribution and validity to the points you want to make).
• Update entries on a regular basis.

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.

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.

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