END OF THE SEMESTER IS MID-SWEEPS

My end of the semester frustrations
seems to be echoed on my favorite shows...
where the heck are these storylines going?

2008 TCL Farewell

The County Line's 2008 Farewell Video-- A tribute to those TCL staffers, crew & BC Capstone students who wrap up their time with the show as they head off to the next stage of their careers...

Bumping into people at the NAB

Finding Jimm Needle in
the NAB haystack in Vegas
Look who I ran into at the NAB in Las Vegas. 2003 Westminster grad Jimm Needle. Jimm's now working as a video producer Midway USA and lives in Columbia, Missouri. He's one of the video producers for the company's corporate and programming video efforts. He was in Vegas with his team scouring over the acres and acres of new DV gear on the exhibit floor. We were able to catch up and check out the sites. I even convinced him to go on the Star Trek Experience with me. Sure it's geeky-- but I'm a geek. Jimm's birthday is Saturday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIMM!!! It was great to see Jimm and catching up. I think we walked a few miles talking...and walking...and talking. We also did the lunch thing and agreed the NAB looked a little ragged this year. Almost like the folks organizing it didn't really try.

I missed 2003 alum Jon Joy-- Jimm's old partner in crime at Westminster. Jon was in town at the beginning of the week. Sadly, MTV called him back to L.A. for "The Hills." It's tough working in the glamorous field of television and video production. Sorry I missed you, Jon.

BEA PANEL PRESENTATION A SUCCESS

Most people react to this trip to Las Vegas with envy. However, the pictures in your head may be like this....BUT WAIT....

This is not my reality. This is a picture of the pool at the Flamingo Resort and Casino I walk past every day to the monorail that takes me to the dull, colorless world of the convention center's conference rooms. Perhaps conference presentations and panels should move to a nice cabana next to the swimming pool?


The panel I presented with had a decent number of people in the audience. While there were some transient visitors who left, others joined us while our program was already in progress. Half our attendees were college students.

I consider that to be a positive. We had about two dozen people in the audience by the end of the 75 minute session. It really does help when people show up. Can you imagine the panel presentaton where there are more folks on the panel than in the audience?

My presentation on the REAL TV COVERAGE OF A MOCK CONVENTION was well received. Another plus-- I am only bringing home four of the 20 DVDs I brought of the 2007 Westminster Mock Convention. I offered the DVDs to the audience as a bonus in case they wanted to see what works and what doesn't when covering a live, one-time only event.

ANOTHER SIGN THE NAB/RTNDA CONVENTION IS IN TROUBLE...
The blogs about the NAB/RTNDA Convention are predicting it will die after this year. While the Las Vegas Convention Center puts out one set of numbers, blogs like FTVLive suggested that the once lavish and often hailed largest electronic show on the planet is powering down.

All the NAB exhibits were packed up and the hall closed today. That's a real smack in the face to BEA members who arrived Thursday. BEA's convention runs through Saturday and the exhibits didn't shut down last year until Saturday morning. I guess that could feed the myth that the BEA is just a forgotten pet project of the NAB.


The Final Cut Pro Discussion Continues...
All but two people I chatted with today indicated their institutions use Final Cut Pro (a Mac product). Bigger schools like the University of North Texas use Final Cut Pro and Avid for digital video editing. One high school teacher indicated her district uses Adobe Premiere, while another explained his school uses the software package that came with the consumer cameras they purchased. I've talked to nearly 40 people at the convention and I've only found one Adobe user. However, they all have acknowledged the absence of Adobe at the BEA once I pointed it out to them. INTERESTING.

Details details details

MILKING THE MOCK CONVENTION IN TIME FOR PENNSYLVANIA'S PRIMARY ELECTION
Friday, 1:30 PM
Broadcast Education Association Convention 2008
Covering the one-time-only-event: making the (academic) most of it
(Student Media Advisors)
This roundtable discussion will offer tips for campus media advisors on the broadcast of large scale one-time-only events. The panel will explore what worked and what did not work in the coverage of election returns, music festivals, parades, conventions and similar one-time-only events. The panelists will share tips on pre-production, production and post-production techniques that serve to maximize the academic benefits of such an event while providing quality programming to viewers and listeners.
Moderator: Richard Vogel, William Penn University
Mary Spillman, Ball State University
Using Your Web Site to Enhance On-Air Election and Special Event Coverage.
Frank Barnas, Valdosta State
Covering All Bases, Covering All Races: Managing Mulitple Breaking Stories in Election Night Coverage.
Scott Burke, Oakland University
When Presidents Visit and Rooms Fill: Video Coverage of Events Involving Multiple Venues and Audiences.
Gary Martin, Cosumnes River College
The March in March: A one-day documentary as 10,000 protest at the California Capitol.
Marjorie Yambor, Western Kentucky University
Mayhem & Moxie: Student Coverage of a College Radio Music Festival.
Brad Weaver, Westminster College Real Television Coverage of a Mock Presidential Convention.
Respondent: Nancy Carlson, Ball State University

BEA DAY 2

FIRST BEA MEDIA FESTIVAL AWARDS & THEN APPLE TOOK OVER

I kicked off the BEA events by attending the BEA Media Festival- News Division awards presentation. Arizona, BYU, UNC Chapel Hill and Marshall University were among winners. I was really surprised in the low turnout. Just yesterday I saw hundreds of college students making their way through the NAB/RTNDA Career Fair. Today, most of the students are gone along with the NAB execs.

I found it interesting that the radio feature reporting award winner was a story about favorite Christmas literature by a BYU student. While he presented solid production values, the clip played for the audience showcased clips of popular Christmas sounds and holiday sound effects and man on the street interviews. Where was the original sound from the field? The best television news feature award went to a Northwestern student and it was story slugged “Heard but not seen.” It was about a carillon at the school. That’s a story students have repeatedly covered for radio and television at Westminster. Feature stories do exist in your own back yard.

WHERE THE HECK IS ADOBE?
The keynote address was actually a dog and pony show presented by Apple pushing Final Cut pro. The company flew in one of its award-winning editors who uses the software and touted its use in this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner “No Country for Old Men.” While the keynote address smacked of promotions and marketing, it's clear Mac's Final Cut Pro is the dominant software tool for editing on college campuses. The Apple workshops were booked with faculty and students. I did not see Adobe and it’s Premiere system anywhere at the BEA this year. Finally, I chatted with about a half a dozen faculty and campus media advisors and all of them have made the switch to Final Cut Pro. Perhaps a larger, more significant survey is in order to confirm the writing I’m seeing on the all. The problem for Westminster is we’re a PC campus in a Final Cut Pro world.

Career Day @ NABEF/RTNDA/BEA

Wednesday: BEA @ NAB-- RESUME' RUN
Dozens of college students lined up at the booths set up by corporate recruiters inside the ballrooms at the Las Vegas Hilton on Wednesday to fill out applications, share resumes and network with potential employers. The longer lines were with big companies like ABC, Cox and Discovery Networks. The recruiters gathered resumes for sales, news, production and engineering.

I also attended the RTNDF/BEA/NABEF Super Session: What Would Murrow Do? The panel of experts explored how the father of broadcast journalism would handle the ethical questions of today's media? They didn't really come to a consensus about anything in particular about ethics. Instead they rallied around the issue of dedicating time and resources to important journalistic coverage. They also held out hope that the convergence of media may shake out opportunities to re-discover Murrow's vision for broadcast news.
The panelists included:

• Mark Effron, Senior Vice President, Titan TV
• Harvey Nagler, Vice President, CBS Radio News
• Stacey Woelfel, News Director, KOMU-TV
• Stanley Cloud, Co-author, "The Murrow Boys"
• Marci Burdick, Senior Vice President Broadcasting & Cable, Schurz Communications

Amy is well acquainted with Stacey Woelfel as she was a student of his at the University of Missouri- Columbia.

VEGAS VIEW

Here's the view from our room. We're staying at Caesar's Palace this year. The Hilton doesn't capture the "glitz" of Vegas like this joint does.

Las Vegas greets me with a hand deep in my wallet as I have arrived for this year’s National Association of Broadcaster’s convention dovetailing in with the gathering of the Radio Television News Director and the Broadcast Education Association. NAB holds it’s events inside the Hilton and its massive ballrooms Sunday through Wednesday. The BEA moves it all over to the Vegas Convention Center where the acres and acres of tech and consultant exhibits are on display.

While nothing is free in Vegas—not even a hotel shuttle—I’ll bump into folks who I haven’t seen in a while from academia to old newsroom pals to former students. In addition to the media advisors panel I’m presenting with on Friday, I am looking forward to a number of events including the RTNDA’s Wednesday morning panel on contemporary journalism ethics and issues entitled “What Would Ed Murrow Do?” I hope to add some additional pictures to my blog and check in through the week.

Capstone Presentation Schedule- BC 602

The Spring 2008 Broadcast Comm Capstone presentation schedule update...revised 03.28.08

“Living LIVE Television: Caught Between Producing & Directing”
A reception and presentation of Clarrisa Hunter’s e-portfolio and premiere the 2007-2008 County Line Special
By Clarissa Hunter

• April 10, 2008
• 5:00-6:30 p.m.
• Westminster Cable Network Television Studio & Master Control (where Thompson-Clark Hall meets the McKelvey Campus Center)

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DOUBLE FEATURE
"The Future of the Field: Television Reporting " by Pam Marlowe
&
"Selling Myself...It's Not What You Think" by Jill Carle.

• April 23, Wednesday
• 6:30
• Mueller Theater, McKelvey Campus Center

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"A look at Leukemia: Jeff's Story"
A documentary produced and directed by Terese Marzalek

• April 25, Friday
• 6:00-8:30
• Westminster College Art Gallery/Display & project back story during the Senior Art Show
• 8:30 Public Premiere in Patterson 131

"Lovestruck- Love Never Said So Little"
A student film by Josh Anderson

• April 25, Friday
• 6:00-8:30
• Westminster College Art Gallery/Display & project back story during the Senior Art Show
• 8:30 Public Premiere in Patterson 131

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"Not So Extreme Makeover: Titantown Sports"
by TJ Renninger
&
"Seven Must Dos for a TV Sports Resume Tape"
By David Craig

• April 25, Friday
• 6:00-8:30
• Westminster College Art Gallery/Poster Display and question & answer session

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"Big League Broadcasting"
by Chris Norris

• April 29, Tuesday
• 6:30-7:30 Reception (non-alcoholic happy hour)
  
• 7:05-7:15 formal presentation
• Club Room- McKelvey Campus Center

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"Welcome to New Wilmington: Promoting a local community with online video storytelling"
By Danielle Adams
Pitch to the Client- The New Wilmington Area Chamber of Commerce
May 2, Friday
11:30 at Shenango on the Green, New Wilmington, PA

Part of Channel 11's past is WCN's future

WCN CAN SET UP NEW STUDIO
WITH WPXI-TV's OLD NEWS SET
Westminster College station receives
Channel 11's old news desk and other set elements

WCN/Titan Radio chief engineer Charles Chirozzi headed up a salvage operation at WPXI-TV this week involving the old news set at the NBC affiliate in Pittsburgh. Station management generously donated elements of the old news set and the former Fedko Fone Zone sports set to our new studio at Westminster College. Thank you, Channel 11!

Deconstructing the set was a tricky process. Some of the staff at WPXI tell us it was originally installed in the 1980s and updated in various ways over the years (we saw the mauve paint under the some of the veneer). However, the news desk and key components of the central section of the set are now housed at WCN's future studio on campus as is the Fedko Fone Zone set. The staff and management at WPXI were very gracious in donating these element as the station has moved into it's new home with it's new HDTV news set. It may have been Channel 11's old set, but it will make a extremely nice news set for our efforts at Westminster College, our Broadcast Communications major and our local programming efforts on WCN.












Here's a vid clip highlighting some of the efforts moving the news desk into the new WCN studio at Westminster. Students Ryan Hitchcock, Alex Hines, Thomas Miller and Josh Anderson were kind enough to lend a helping hand with some of the heavy lifting and difficult navigation through the McKelvey Campus Center.

KUSA in Denver Going One-Man Band

Gannett is gearing up for full-blown VJ model for it's Denver station. They've been toying with it under the label "BACK-PACK JOURNALIST." KUSA also has a reputation for great videographers with station and shooters there winning repeated NPPA awards.

The VJ model is cheaper and faster (but not always better). The gear is easier to carry now making the one-man band the wave of the future for bigger stations and now for newspapers as well as online outlets. According to the Denver Post, KUSA is "rechanneling" the workload and news product.

Gannett station pushing multitaksing by staff and ad interaction by viewers, by Joanne Ostrow, Denver Post.

The changing realities of the broadcast industry are arriving at KUSA-Channel 9.

Multitasking by newsroom personnel and the push to drive viewers to interact with advertising are new priorities, according to KUSA general manager Mark Cornetta.

A recent visit to Channel 9 by Dave Lougee, the president of Gannett Broadcasting Division in McLean, Va., underscored the retooling. Lougee, the news director at KUSA from 1990 to 1996, is traveling to Gannett stations this month to trumpet what staffers call "the new normal."

"In the old world, one person shot a story, another edited it, a third told the story. In the new world, one person would be reporter/photojournalist/editor and producer for TV and the Web," Cornetta said.

Some complain about it, some love it, he said. "People are picking up a camera who never have before."

In reinventing itself as a multimedia producer for TV and the Internet, the station is "moving to a more customer-centric focus, trying to understand what advertisers look for," Cornetta said.

Accountability, namely measurement of ad "click- throughs" on the Web, is expected by today's advertisers. The station is working to accommodate advertisers by steering consumers to microsites on the Internet. An experiment, modeled after one by Dish Network, involves integrating traditional advertising with extra online content. Think of it as popup ads on TV. Nationally, cable- and satellite-TV companies are investing millions in interactive features that let viewers take more control of what they watch. A major trend is "triggers" that appear during live programming that lead to on-demand content or to interactive screens to let viewers sign up for contests, order brochures or make purchases. Regularly scheduled TV commercials are embedded with a graphic overlay, or trigger, urging viewers to leave the program they are watching to view a product or service video. Interactive TV lets advertisers know demographic information about households.