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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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